---------------------------- Novel to Series Comparison -----------------------------

Lovesick Season 2, Episode 18: The One With The Break Up

Chapters: 41, 42, & 39 (1/10, full and 1/8)

 

Meh. This episode was great for PerWin but just okay for PhuNoh near the end of the episode. I know, “he doesn’t like PhuNoh again”, big surprise. That’s not completely true. I love PhuNoh. Freaking LS season 1, I can’t get over it. Made a freaking MV on just PhuNoh, I loved their dynamic so much. This is why it makes it a bit hard to watch them sometimes this season.

 

The MV I made of LS Season 1

 

Differences and Missing/Added Parts

1.) Shooting the breeze

Well, they decided to add a sliver of dialogue at the end of Chapter 41 as the opener for this episode. It was nice and we get to finally see PhuNoh just be. We see them spend time together. Kind of like an insight on how they could or should be if they had no girlfriends to worry about. We all love some PhuNoh screen time since it’s the main plot of the whole Lovesick Franchise. There are genuinely some good scenes of them interacting. An example is when Noh is talking to the bird. We see Noh’s personality shine through and Phun act mature and playful even when he has a lot on his mind. This however makes things obvious that the Season 1 spark they once had has faded a lot. Technically these scenes aren’t in the novel but they could have been since it’s supposed to be a few days before Phun goes to official break up with Aim.

 

So back to my qualms of, it’s not as lovey dovey as it used to be. People have had their theories. Some say it’s because the actors themselves now have girlfriends so they feel awkward doing these things and some blame the productions team. On the production team’s end, I get it. The way some scenes are shot, the way it’s written, the constant Korean drama references, and of course the product placements, the lack of actual skinship or BL kisses, it makes it feel very watered down.

 

Although I feel it’s a combination of the two, I like to add one thing, and that is they don’t hang out as much as they used to. When Season 1 was shot, they were constantly with each other, hanging out on set and even on their off time. Now Captain is more preoccupied with school, White is very well known for being an introvert, and even during taping, they’re not exactly seen as hanging out much. You rarely see them hang out with other LS cast members on their off time, let alone with each other unless for an event or a “planned” meeting. I think this has played a big part into why we’re not getting intense scenes or those butterfly moments we got from Season 1 or even the Novel.

2.) A “B” line to the point

They basically skipped the plot from the novel of Noh and Phun deciding to confront Aim by getting Golf’s help in advance. It’s different, it works, and it’s passable but I enjoyed the idea of a time skip from event for about a week. Season 1 was all about showing how great they can give clips of the cast just being their characters and hanging out as friends while showing the passing of time. That’s one of my favorite things that Lovesick brought to the table that the novel never could. Since the novel just kind of says, “a week later” and a quick summary for what happened, seeing it portrayed on screen and done well was what really made the series stand out.

The way it was handled now though, it makes it look rushed. Like they rushed and jumbled the plot in two days, rather than give a few “good” filler episodes concerning the other cast. This is where they should insert side stories, when the novel explicitly states there’s a time frame unknown. Throw in the focus on PerWin, OhMick, PetEarn, and hell, Jeed’s plot during the times where PhuNoh is just being known to be planning something out. We can take an episode not exclusively focused on PhuNoh, just make sure it has a purpose. Actually propel the other ships somewhere and not have the disaster from episode 4 of Yuri and Mo wasting time. We want progression while developing characters.

3.) Hello missing hug scene

They seemed to have combined the missing hug scene from chapter 39 into this episode. It’s supposed to before the whole concert and when Phun is helping Noh out with papers. I didn’t really mind it, but I liked chapter 39. I guess you can say PhuNoh shooting the breeze at Phun’s house was kind of the substitute for their interaction when filling out the papers at school and all that but I don’t know. The dialogue and interaction between them in the novel was very dynamic and it showed the progress that Phun is going through despite recent events. I wished they stuck to the novel in that respect instead of rushing through everything but we can’t do much about it now since the next few episodes are rushed through as well. I’m at least happy they tried to put it in there somewhere instead of abandoning the idea. It is a strong scene in the series and in the novel so the idea is there and I’m glad they tried to emphasis how reliant Noh is and how he’s the pillar of support that Phun has.
 

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Irked moments:

Prim, really? The last time we’ll probably see you and now you learn to act? It would have helped 12 episodes ago when the focus was basically on Aim and her drama during Hua Hin (-_-)

 

Let me get this gay. Phun is a filthy rich guy who probably has a cook or someone able to make him food whenever he wants, and yet they indorse a cheap microwave food? I’d expect a large spread of food almost 24hrs a day by the way he’s described as rich.

 

Positives the Episode brought:

- PhuNoh the old couple

- MarWin’s interactions

- Shirtless boys XD

- Prim’s and Game’s acting

- Golf is back

- Phun and Aim finally break up

- Great emotional acting from White in the second half of the episode

 

Overview:

1.) Fading

2.) Meh, let’s just rush it

3.) Huggies
 

Personal Opinion:

So let’s get it over with. It’s unavoidable and it has to be mentioned since it takes a huge chunk of the episode, MarWin. Mark is basically flirting and asking Win out formally. Kudos for him, however, fixing something broken is much harder to do than breaking it. Win is in a state of depression despite Mark’s efforts to cheer him up. Win even attempted suicide via drowning and that’s pretty dark. In the end though, Mark successfully cheers him up or at least gives Win a reason to smile.

Then we have a face off, Per versus Mark. This is why I’m starting to side with Mark despite the strong feelings we all had for PerWin in the beginning. He brings up good points and pulls off an "Earn". Don’t question my actions because frankly, you aren’t even involved. It does open up the question, why does Per care all of a sudden? For most, we all kind of guessed the answer and that he’s purposefully doing it to drive Win away, however it makes MarWin much more adorable, and we want to root for Mark.

It is what it is. PerxWinxMar thing going on is interesting. Just like OhMick, I never thought anyone could replace one of the couples but watching Bank interact with Oat as Mark and Win, I’m totally into it. Do I hope that PerWin is endgame? Yeah, because before all the drama they were a very good pair but am I okay with MarWin? Yup. I could ship them. I believe that Win deserves someone who can love him correctly. Not out of pity, or duty, or guilt but just like him for him.

For PhuNoh, not really anything to add since we finally did get a time where they weren’t put in a situation for Phun to be jealous of some person Noh is talking to. The product placement however is getting annoying. It takes us out of the mood of the scenes and reminds us we’re watching a show. They say a movie or tv show is good when it can distract and get you invested in a story, despite its flaws. The adverts are taking me out of it and making me look at the simple errors so that’s my problem with their scenes. I think if the advertisements were a bit more subtle and weren’t as long I would have enjoyed their scenes more.