I'm still in the process of educating myself about Chinese dramas. I've noticed that usually they are divided into three categories: Mainland, Taiwan, and Hong Kong. I'm trying to learn what the difference between all of them are. I guess up until this point the few Chinese dramas I've watched are under the Mainland category, so I have purposely hunted up something different to try. Not only will Drunken to Love You be my first Taiwan drama, it will be my first Chinese contemporary story. No top knots or aerial sword fights that I know of. Let the adventure begin.
The Chinese really do like their long opening credits to shows. Anyway, from what I understand so far, short-haired modern gal Lin Xiao Ru is planning for a vacation in Las Vegas, hoping that her boyfriend, Yi Xiang, will pop the question there. She's so confident this will happen she's even willing to risk quitting her job at... uh, where does she work and who is this pregnant woman she's talking with on the phone? Hopefully as things go along they'll clear up for me and I'll get a better understanding.
An airline pilot is announcing the plane's descent to Taiwan's airport. Is this Yi Xiang? OMG, somebody get this man some 5 Hour Energy, quick! He sounds like he's about to pass out asleep at the most critical moment. And who is this random white guy sitting next to him?
Another whiplash scene change takes me to a Mont Blanc fashion show at a hotel, with models showing off various pieces of jewelry. From all the "Tiffany!" comments I see at Viki, I take it this lead model is Tiffany Xu, who will be playing Tang Ai Wei. A photographer falls to the runway taking pictures. Is he trying to get a shot up her dress? Tiffany - I mean Ai Wei - aw hell, I'll just call her Tiffany, twirls forcefully, the skirt of her dress knocking the photographer's expensive camera out of his hands. Ok, she's obviously not someone to mess with. (I do hope Yi Xiang is getting some sleep somewhere. Besides the cockpit, I mean.) After the runway portion is over there is a press conference. This is Tiffany's last modeling job. She'll next be moving on to acting in a film. That annoying photographer is asking if she'll do any frontal nude scenes for the movie. I'll give Tiffany's character credit for trying to remain professional during these crass questions. We also learn that the only reason she got the lead role in the film is because the actress previously cast for it ran off to get married and got pregnant. Annoying Photographer asks Tiffany if she would give up her career for marriage. Standing in the back of the crowd is Song Jie Xiu, who is looking longingly at Tiffany. (Jie Xiu is called Xiu Ge by an associate. Xiu Ge sounds to my American ears like "Sugar" which is what I'll call him.)
Sugar gets a phone call from some guy to remind him of a very important meeting with a Miss Shen Hui Qin. He'd better hurry because she's only giving them three minutes of her time. Sugar hurries to the meeting, introducing himself as an architect/designer. Hui Qin likes what she sees, and I don't mean his blueprints. When Sugar starts to sit across from her, she pulls him over to sit next to her on the couch. The sound effects people include a cartoon boing sound as she does this. Within two minutes Hui Qin is sold and gives the job to Sugar. She gladly hands over her house key as well as her car key. These keys may be important to the story later on.
Hui Qin is flirting outrageously with Sugar. Sugar points out the wedding ring (on her index finger?) prevents him from being anything more than her designer. Hui Qin insists the ring is just from a friend and as she struggles to take it off it suddenly comes loose and goes flying across the floor. Just at that moment Xiao Ru is walking by holding a tray with hot coffee on it. (I think she works here at the hotel.) She steps on the ring and falls (again with the cartoon sound effects!) right into Sugar's lap.
Oh dear Lord, I don't know if I can describe what happens next. She's still on her knees when he jumps up. She tries to wipe the hot coffee off his family jewels. The camera angle suddenly switches to the back of her head and it looks like she's.... Then she grabs his legs, shaking him and begging that he not call the manager. Again the camera angle changes to the back of her head vigorously moving... Dear Lord! I thought Asian television was more conservative than this. Sugar gets a text from Tiffany waiting in room 612 and quickly exits. Hui Qin is frustrated. Xiao Ru offers to get the woman something to eat but Hui Qin snaps that the only thing she wanted to eat has just left. Ack! I totally see the difference now between Taiwan and Mainland dramas.
A room service lackey tells Xiao Ru she doesn't feel well and Xiao Ru agrees to take the cart up to room 612. Inside the room Tiffany is telling Sugar she's pregnant. He tells her to get an abortion. Oh my. But wait, he's just helping her with her lines from the movie she'll be doing. Sugar is worried that success will spoil Rock Hunter and Tiffany will fall in love with her leading man. Apparently this is a regular problem in Taiwan.
Xiao Ru arrives with the room service cart. As she waits for the door to be answered she spies that Annoying Photographer hanging around. She believes he's here to reveal an affair which would be bad publicity for the hotel. When Sugar answers the door, Xiao Ru rams him back with the cart so the Annoying Photographer can't get in. Sugar recognizes Xiao Ru and demands to know what's going on. Xiao Ru says his wife has sent a photographer to get evidence on him. Is that a condom package in Sugar's hand? Whatever it is, Xiao Ru assumes it is a condom and she screams at him to flush the evidence. Flush it!
Tiffany and Sugar try to come up with a plan for her to avoid the paparazzi. She can't have a scandal just when her acting career is getting started. Xiao Ru comes up with a suggestion: she and Tiffany switch clothes. As the Annoying Photographer waits just outside the hotel room, Tiffany (wearing the hotel uniform) backs out, head down, and pushes the cart down one way of the hall. The paparazzi dismisses her. Then right after, Sugar and Xiao Ru (under a sheet) rush out and run down the opposite way. Naturally the paparazzi follows after the suspicious couple. Hmm, pretty clever. And again with cartoon noises. Why??
The photographer catches up to the duo in the stairwell and he yanks the sheet away, only to find Xiao Ru. He isn't fooled, though. He knows Tiffany had been in that room. Even though he didn't get a picture, he's not giving up on the story.
Later, Xiao Ru meets up with that extremely pregnant woman she was talking with earlier. Pregnant woman has a gift for her friend's trip to Las Vegas. It's a boatload of condoms (that pregnant woman obviously didn't bother to use herself.) Another hotel employee comes rushing up to tell Xiao Ru there is a difficult customer out front that only she can handle. It's all planned as Xiao Ru discovers the difficult customer is actually Yi Xiang. Thankfully he sounds well-rested. Xiao Ru is surprised to see him as she expected to meet up with him in Vegas. She sees he's been looking through a travel brochure and has marked a page with a little white chapel. When she asks about it he explains this is the same church his parents got married at and he would very much like to visit it. Xiao Ru immediately thinks to herself that Yi Xiang is going to propose to her in Vegas and they'll get married at this same chapel. They seem like a cute couple together. I wonder how it will all go wrong.
We go back to Sugar at his design office/coffee shop. He and his co-worker are discussing work and how Sugar just can't leave well enough alone and keeps revising and revising. (The sound man on this show appears to be asleep on the job. I could do a better job of micking the actors.) The co-worker doesn't know about Sugar's relationship with Tiffany. Co-worker talks about how difficult it would be to be the boyfriend of Tiffany with all these perverted men drooling over her nude pictures. This starts putting seeds of doubt in Sugar's mind but in the end he stops by a jewelry store and buys the exact same engagement ring Tiffany had been modeling in the show.
As he is walking out, Yi Xiang is walking in. He's here to pick up a ring, so it looks like Xiao Ru's instincts were right. Suddenly the music turns somber. Yi Xiang receives a phone call. We don't get to hear what is being said (because the sound in this show is awful) but from the serious look that comes over him, I take it it is not good news.
I think that's the end of episode 1. It's very confusing how they've got it set up at Viki.
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