The missing piece

大家都想知道，在我原本構想下，
大仁和又青為什麼化敵為友？

重新回想，這個部分的情節在我第一版的劇本裡，
確實做了一些著墨。
但由於劇本過長，而我自己也不是很滿意，最後被我刪去了。
剛剛找了電腦裡、隨身碟裡的資料，都沒找到那個版本，
所以，只能簡單的敘述一下當初的構想。

大學時代，再沒有男女敵對的狀態-----
又青和大仁，終於成為「和平相處的同學」。
經過曹老師事件，又青和丁立威戀愛了，
第一個情人節，立威送了又青一個戒指，
就和後來求婚的那個戒指一樣，它，太大了，
但當時對愛矇懂的又青，心裡卻只有喜孜孜，
於是仔細的用紅繩纏著戒圍，成日戴著這份愛的禮物。

但，一個不適合的戒指，終於還是有不慎脫手的一天，
那天在校園，大仁發現又青在校園一角著急的找東西，
大仁好心問著她在找什麼？最後甚至幫忙又青尋找。
終於，在校園的池塘裡，大仁捲著褲腿、滿身是汗的，
找到了那個立威送給又青的愛的圈套。

於是，所以，又青請大仁吃了路邊的串燒攤，
於是，所以，他們開始天南地北的聊------
從此，聊個沒完沒了。

我依舊不滿意。
但願，有朝一日，它可以是一個有趣的新故事！

--- 徐譽庭

Aftermath

strangely enough, i have more questions/thoughts in my head after watching the final episode of in time with you for a bajillion times.

1. what happened after youqing fainted in liwei's home when she was heavily soaked under the rain and found out he was sleeping with his assistant?

2. when youqing went on a 8-month trip around the world, were the postcards the only form of communication between her and daren?

3. when did youqing and daren became best friends? that wasn't properly explained in the series.

4. why didn't the director filmed the scene with youqing's family after the wedding? i can sense the happiness from the cheng family because daren is finally part of their family.

5. i would like to know how are they like after getting married - like hanging out with their high school friends, at work and even with their families. I AM SO CURIOUS.

6. how did daren and his high school buddies get together again after that fight? was it all awkward or was it all back to normal?

to be honest, there is a lot to explore in their lives but this show is more about their (hidden) feelings for one another and the obstacles that kept them apart for that long. i thought it would be genius if we could look into the life span of those 15 years. i simply adore their high school friends and their families. SIGHING FOREVER AT THE ENDLESS STORIES.

on the day of youqing's 32nd birthday, i found it amazing and touching when daren suddenly appeared in the ikea showroom to wish her happy birthday. it's like the timing for everything seemed to be right. he didn't even have to ask whether she wants to be together with him. when he kissed her, it felt everything was perfect in its place to the extent my heart wanted to explode. basically it was more of a silent gesture to show their consent to be a couple? so worth the wait of 12 episodes. it was my favourite scene from the original screenplay and to see it being executed in the most awesome manner, i am too gleeful about it.

i can't hope there would be a sequel for this since ariel lin won't be taking television work for the meantime. however, if the writing for the sequel is good and if all the members of the cast do agree to come back, i will be looking forward to it anytime. in my opinion, the ariel lin + chen bolin combination is really undisputed. this is their best work yet.

and yes, this show is my favourite idol drama of all :)

Along parallel lines

i have my fair share when it comes to watching taiwanese idol dramas but nothing comes close to in time with you.

as the 13-part series is nearly coming to a close, there is a bundle of mixed emotions in me. this is the first time that i felt the show could have come to two possible endings: they either get together or they don't. surprisingly, i would be satisfied with both. why? min from noises from the closet explains this well:

They’re already walking life together in parallel lines, and they’re not even sure that they want to intersect, but like two lines that intersect they’re afraid that they’ll end up losing that easy companionship and be forced to move away from each other.

what is this show really about? basically, a woman and a man being best friends for a ridiculous long period of 14 years and going. we know how this will go down in idol drama terms: they will end up together. platonic relationships will never last forever. however, the beautiful writing makes everything in this show much more realistic and you will come to consider the option that they might never end up together once you've reached the halfway mark of the series.

in the first episode, the first half revolves around cheng youqing's life as she turns 30. we also learn about how she and li daren became best friends through various flashbacks: they were enemies in high school and slowly turned into acquaintances when they majored in the same thing while attending the same college.

as we move on to subsequent episodes, the focus starts to move towards their personal lives, their friends & families and who they are during work. i was absolutely delighted to see how well both of them can get along with each other's family and their own. it is good that the writer decided to place youqing as the cheng family's youngest child whereas daren is the li family's eldest child because the atmospheres of their respective homes are worlds apart. taking note of that, it will explain why their characters turned out to be the way they are.

apart from that, you'll get a more detailed look of their relationship as best friends - which i simply adore: eg. she knows what he doesn't like in his food and he could travel to taichung without any hesitance for the sake to console her.

at the halfway mark (episode 7, which is my favourite episode to date): youqing and daren's friendship will be strongly tested by the appearance of youqing's ex-boyfriend, ding liwei. to summarize it in simpler terms, daren doesn't like liwei just because youqing was totally distraught by their break-up and this was the relationship which she took the longest time to recover from.

from the 8th episode to the 12th, youqing faces the extreme ups and downs when she's back together with liwei. over to daren's side, he starts to struggle even more when his feelings for youqing starts to sink deeper. between this timeline, we get to know more about daren, his feelings for youqing and the path he purposely made to get close to her.

i have the original screenplay book with me but i am not going to spoil the ending because, like what i said from the start, the ending may go in any direction.

one thing which i have to praise this show for: the omnipresence of youqing or daren when either badly needs the other to be around or when one calls the other on the phone. this happens frequently in almost every episode. in episode 8, the scene where omnipresent!daren was helping youqing to wipe off her make-up as she lies in bed feeling very exhausted from quarreling with liwei and dealing with her own grief due to the death of their beloved high school teacher was amazing on its own. for girls, your inner soul will squeal at the sight of this.

on a random note, episode 6 and 10 are transitional episodes. i can't say these episodes are not interesting but it's more like the series take a subtle u-turn from time to time.

itwy is more of your comfort food drama as it takes on a more laid-back style and not your typical melodrama which pushes you to blow up at the characters at every chance you get. it's definitely suitable for times where you just want to snuggle in bed during a rainy day. even if you don't want to watch this show for the cast, do watch it for the brilliant writing and directing.