1
Toot
Australia
This review may contain spoilers
Not entirely a sexy romantic romp
WARNING: If you are looking for a light and fluffy sex-romp. THIS IS NOT IT.
I admit, I can be shallow. I came here at the prospect of seeing "more" of Chris Wu (Wu Kang Ren). Also, because I love Alice Ko (Ko Chia Yen). I must admit I do like the prospect of finding love later in life. And sure, this is a show about sex, and it IS hilarious, all the way through. BUT don't be taken in by the trailers: the very clear themes of this show, are loss, abandonment, grief and trauma, and as the episodes progress, if you invest, you will find yourself crying as much as laughing.
The story centres around Mei-Mei and her two adult daughters, Ruo-Rong and Ruo-Min. Both daughters are seemingly failing in their lives, because they are unmarried. And as the trailer will tell you, Mei-Mei believes marriage is a woman's purpose.
Mei-Mei decides to find a man to try to fill the gap left by the sudden passing of her husband Guang Hui Chen (played by Johnny Kou/Kou Hsi Shun). Ruo-Rong is a cheap romance novelist, working as a high school teacher, to pay the bills, whilst collecting stories from her uninhibited best friend, Kate (played by Vicky Tseng). Ruo-Min is a chicken shop manager, who is unable to let go of anything from the past, including an unapologetically cheating ex-boyfriend, whose smell reminds her of her father. Circumstances bring the three women together in the one house. Chaos ensues as they try to find a balance between their differing values, and their individual traumas.
The editing of the show is very sharp and sudden, and at first can be off-putting and confusing; however it becomes evident in later episodes that it was done this way for a reason. It also contributes to the sense of confusion and bewilderment the characters are experiencing, after the sudden loss of their husband/father.
Mei-Mei swings from spoiled teenage princess (quite a feat for an older woman to pull off - props to Billie who plays it with conviction), to desperately grieving widow. But as the show progresses, it shows us who she truly is - loving, supportive and desperately optimistic in her pursuit of LIFE! And with her progression, we also witness the subtle growth of both of her daughters.
Alyssa Chia plays a compellingly complex Ru Rong but I can't say I was satisfied with her conclusion, even if I'm meant to believe that she was, and even if the whole "telling" of the story is essentially hers. And whilst we do see substantial growth from Ruo Min, played with beautiful subtlety by Alice Ko, I still felt like I had to fill in the majority of the story with my own imagination. Admittedly, I usually like shows like this - that assume you are smart and can figure the story out for yourself. But this time, for me, the characters were not explored enough. I was left wanting more, hence my lower "story' rating. The show admits to its limitations in telling the stories of the support roles - especially Xioa Cha , Ruo-Min's cheating boyfriend, played with gleeful charm, by Austin Lin. We get almost nothing about the true character played by Chris Wu. The lack of character name in the MDL page is a giveaway, but he is only ever referred to as '"Senior". I could have watched a whole drama about Jin (Shen Hairong) and Lu Yi (Wasir Chou). And don't get me started about the side characters like "The Live Streamer" (played with an endlessly photo ready smile, by Chole Xiang) and "The Pokemon Grandpa". All of this makes the "re-watch" value high for me, as I feel like there is so much subtlety I have missed.
The acting was fantastic. Even when there was potential for it to become pantomimic and melodramatic, it continued to be very realistic. My one area of disconnect was, the scenes in Australia. Robert's (played by John Henry Richardson) accent slips. A LOT. But we (being Australian) have a long and storied history of famous actors, getting the Australian accent WRONG. The supporting cast in Oz, don't even attempt an 'Aussie' accent. But if you accept that Australia is in reality multicultural, varied accents are perfectly ok and quite realistic. The travel scenes however, are HILARIOUSLY unrealistic. I took it as a tribute rather than an attempt at fact.
With all of that, I still rate this a 9 overall. It took me by surprise and probably caught me at a good time, to cry and laugh through the grief and mayhem.
I admit, I can be shallow. I came here at the prospect of seeing "more" of Chris Wu (Wu Kang Ren). Also, because I love Alice Ko (Ko Chia Yen). I must admit I do like the prospect of finding love later in life. And sure, this is a show about sex, and it IS hilarious, all the way through. BUT don't be taken in by the trailers: the very clear themes of this show, are loss, abandonment, grief and trauma, and as the episodes progress, if you invest, you will find yourself crying as much as laughing.
The story centres around Mei-Mei and her two adult daughters, Ruo-Rong and Ruo-Min. Both daughters are seemingly failing in their lives, because they are unmarried. And as the trailer will tell you, Mei-Mei believes marriage is a woman's purpose.
Mei-Mei decides to find a man to try to fill the gap left by the sudden passing of her husband Guang Hui Chen (played by Johnny Kou/Kou Hsi Shun). Ruo-Rong is a cheap romance novelist, working as a high school teacher, to pay the bills, whilst collecting stories from her uninhibited best friend, Kate (played by Vicky Tseng). Ruo-Min is a chicken shop manager, who is unable to let go of anything from the past, including an unapologetically cheating ex-boyfriend, whose smell reminds her of her father. Circumstances bring the three women together in the one house. Chaos ensues as they try to find a balance between their differing values, and their individual traumas.
The editing of the show is very sharp and sudden, and at first can be off-putting and confusing; however it becomes evident in later episodes that it was done this way for a reason. It also contributes to the sense of confusion and bewilderment the characters are experiencing, after the sudden loss of their husband/father.
Mei-Mei swings from spoiled teenage princess (quite a feat for an older woman to pull off - props to Billie who plays it with conviction), to desperately grieving widow. But as the show progresses, it shows us who she truly is - loving, supportive and desperately optimistic in her pursuit of LIFE! And with her progression, we also witness the subtle growth of both of her daughters.
Alyssa Chia plays a compellingly complex Ru Rong but I can't say I was satisfied with her conclusion, even if I'm meant to believe that she was, and even if the whole "telling" of the story is essentially hers. And whilst we do see substantial growth from Ruo Min, played with beautiful subtlety by Alice Ko, I still felt like I had to fill in the majority of the story with my own imagination. Admittedly, I usually like shows like this - that assume you are smart and can figure the story out for yourself. But this time, for me, the characters were not explored enough. I was left wanting more, hence my lower "story' rating. The show admits to its limitations in telling the stories of the support roles - especially Xioa Cha , Ruo-Min's cheating boyfriend, played with gleeful charm, by Austin Lin. We get almost nothing about the true character played by Chris Wu. The lack of character name in the MDL page is a giveaway, but he is only ever referred to as '"Senior". I could have watched a whole drama about Jin (Shen Hairong) and Lu Yi (Wasir Chou). And don't get me started about the side characters like "The Live Streamer" (played with an endlessly photo ready smile, by Chole Xiang) and "The Pokemon Grandpa". All of this makes the "re-watch" value high for me, as I feel like there is so much subtlety I have missed.
The acting was fantastic. Even when there was potential for it to become pantomimic and melodramatic, it continued to be very realistic. My one area of disconnect was, the scenes in Australia. Robert's (played by John Henry Richardson) accent slips. A LOT. But we (being Australian) have a long and storied history of famous actors, getting the Australian accent WRONG. The supporting cast in Oz, don't even attempt an 'Aussie' accent. But if you accept that Australia is in reality multicultural, varied accents are perfectly ok and quite realistic. The travel scenes however, are HILARIOUSLY unrealistic. I took it as a tribute rather than an attempt at fact.
With all of that, I still rate this a 9 overall. It took me by surprise and probably caught me at a good time, to cry and laugh through the grief and mayhem.
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