CUBIC (A SnarkCap) -- Episode 3
Trot: I’m really trying to make these snarkcaps shorter, but this episode is 100 minutes.
Kmuse: You can't rush good zoom in starefests.
Shuk: I think they are the perfect length now. More room for StareGifs!
Shuk: I think they are the perfect length now. More room for StareGifs!
Fake Title: Actually, She is Very Capable
This episode opens exactly where we left off with LLS walking into the meeting space as it looks like Carlos and Nark are leaving with a failed agreement. However, after LLS apologizes for what he assumes is Nark’s rude behavior, Carlos tells him (to everyone’s surprise, including Nark’s) that he will sign the contract with him in two weeks. San Gui and Lan Yong Wen are also surprised (and upset) that it looks as though this deal has gone through. Nark demands her reward—her two thumbs up. LLS cannot believe she was serious and looks to Jongsing to rescue him from this madness, but Jongsing just nods at him to do it. LLS reluctantly gives her a thumbs up (like it’s going to break something), but Nark just looks at him expecting the other. He finally puts both thumbs up and tells her she’s awesome.
It cracked me up that Nark looked like a spinster matchmaker who just made a true love match of the century while Carlos and LLS shook hands. I also liked the LLS thumbs up moment. His usual façade cracked a bit, and I swear that there was actual emotion on his face as he raised his thumbs.
The vest seems ill-fitting. Or perhaps some roundness about the tummy. It distracts a bit. But really, I think she's way too spirited for his comfort zone.
The vest seems ill-fitting. Or perhaps some roundness about the tummy. It distracts a bit. But really, I think she's way too spirited for his comfort zone.
I was thinking the same thing. Are we supposed to believe that being a gun runner is the ethically superior career choice?
Is it better to be a kinder, gentler mafioso, or a hair-flippy gun runner? I'm going to say GrumpySer gets my vote.
Both Jongsing (who I like more and more) and I are staring at LLS, who looks awfully unhappy for a person who just closed a deal that will make his company lots of money and secure his place as leader of Chaihong Group. However, LLS is suspicious of why Carlos would deal with them now. He doesn’t believe it is just because they offered a great deal because they have offered great deals before. He wants to talk to Nark and tells Jongsing to fetch her so she can ride home with him. While he is waiting, Mei Jin comes in and snuggles up to LLS, asking him whether he’s eaten, and if he wants dinner. She even has planned to stay out with him all night, but he’s too distracted thinking about this whole Carlos thing to eat. He tells her that she should just go home. She pouts and complains that she isn’t happy because all he cares about is work, and he tells her that if she is tired, she should tell Jongsing so she can buy out her contract. Ouch.
Is it better to be a kinder, gentler mafioso, or a hair-flippy gun runner? I'm going to say GrumpySer gets my vote.
She is one of the few Lakorn 2nd leads that I don't openly detest. She hasn't even threatened to kill Nark yet or, in true Lakorn fashion, have her raped so she is no longer desirable.
I feel for FurBaby. She's not a screaming jealous nang'rai (at least not yet), and seems more sad than possessive.
I feel for FurBaby. She's not a screaming jealous nang'rai (at least not yet), and seems more sad than possessive.
In the car ride home, Nark is sleeping and snoring loudly with head lolling all about. Ah Laing, the poor henchman driver, is looking at her annoyed, but I think he is more annoyed at the fact that her snoring is clearly bothering LLS. He even asks LLS if he should wake her up. However, Nark awakes on her own, and immediately LLS asks her about Carlos and whether she has made some other deal with Carlos to get him to sign. She denies it. He threatens her about lying and agrees, when she asks, that he will kill her if she’s lied. After this, we get a full minute (I timed it!) of Stare Acting (SA) by everyone with Nark looking so guilty and afraid that she’s making it obvious that there is something else going on.
I wonder if the director had a certain amount of intense stare moments he wanted in each episode. I have this vision of a director holding a stop watch and yelling at the cast to stare harder since they need another twenty minutes of staring footage.
Let us pause for a moment: Why would this hostility surprise LLS? He made Nark go to this meeting in her school uniform, for goodness sakes. If he had dressed her in regular clothes, she might not have stood out so much, but she's obviously a high schooler. He didn’t even like the idea himself. Doesn’t a long-standing board member have the right to have questions about this?
I think he's used to being dismissed, and this conversation was dredging up some long-forgotten childhood memories that immediately put him into the defensive mode.
I think he's used to being dismissed, and this conversation was dredging up some long-forgotten childhood memories that immediately put him into the defensive mode.
Apparently not because LLS proceeds to be rude and defensive, which makes San Gui remind our bossman/principal that he was the one that recommended LLS for the presidency of the group and helped make Chaihong group into the conglomerate it is today and thus deserves some respect. It makes him reiterate that he is only giving LLS the two weeks, and if the deal falls through, LLS will be out as president. (Maybe that is why he is principal at the high school—job security).
I really don't understand this whole mafia conglomerate thing. I am going to just stop trying to figure it out and instead wonder if San Gui will go full flock in celebration if he becomes president.
One can always hope.
I really don't understand this whole mafia conglomerate thing. I am going to just stop trying to figure it out and instead wonder if San Gui will go full flock in celebration if he becomes president.
One can always hope.
When San Gui leaves, he sees Jongsing outside and asks him to warn LLS as his best friend and right hand man to not forget where he came from. Jongsing, bless him, goes in to an angry LLS and soothes him but also says that San Gui is a man that wants respect for what he has done and doesn’t want to feel like he’s not needed anymore. But LLS doesn’t want to be treated like he is still the 12 year old who lost his dad (Don’t act like one then, buddy!).
At another contentious breakfast meeting, we see Danny confronting his dad about the deal with LLS and Chaihong Group. Danny doesn’t like the risk, especially when he finds out that it all depends on Nark coming up with an idea for smuggling the weapons. Carlos believes that it is a win-win. If she can’t do it, they lose no money, and if she can, they will gain money and pay bills. Danny is near hysteria at the idea that his father is relying on a 17 year old girl, but his dad grabs him by the collar and tells him not to underestimate his friend.
Does this mean that Tilapia actually believes she can pull it off? Or is he just jerking her chain and hoping to piss off LLS? Also, they look like 1999 Grunge meets 1899 Newsies. But very very cute together. I think these two have the best natural chemistry in the lakorn.
I find Carlos the most sensible of all the characters. At least he realizes the fact that he is in a no lose situation. I can respect that. Makes a lot more sense than LLS sending Nark to negotiate the deal in the first place.
Danny also tries to talk Nark out of it, but she is determined to come up with an idea and that he is going to help her. We also see that LLS and Jongsing spot her goofing around on the street with Danny. Jongsing comments, smiling like an indulgent uncle, that she and Danny must be going out, but LLS is clearly annoyed. We next see a series of scenes of Nark at work and at school not really paying attention but only coming up with a plan. Hearing an ambulance gives her an idea.
Oooh. Do we have the first signs of jealousy?
Does this mean that Tilapia actually believes she can pull it off? Or is he just jerking her chain and hoping to piss off LLS? Also, they look like 1999 Grunge meets 1899 Newsies. But very very cute together. I think these two have the best natural chemistry in the lakorn.
I find Carlos the most sensible of all the characters. At least he realizes the fact that he is in a no lose situation. I can respect that. Makes a lot more sense than LLS sending Nark to negotiate the deal in the first place.
Danny also tries to talk Nark out of it, but she is determined to come up with an idea and that he is going to help her. We also see that LLS and Jongsing spot her goofing around on the street with Danny. Jongsing comments, smiling like an indulgent uncle, that she and Danny must be going out, but LLS is clearly annoyed. We next see a series of scenes of Nark at work and at school not really paying attention but only coming up with a plan. Hearing an ambulance gives her an idea.
Oooh. Do we have the first signs of jealousy?
She shows up in LLS’s rooms to supposedly pay off some of her debt, but it is clear that she really wants to talk to Jongsing, who is busy working in the background while LLS reads the paper. LLS notices her dawdling and takes the opportunity to warn her against hanging out with Danny. He wants to know why she doesn’t have anyone else to talk to, and she replies that since a picture of her appeared in the paper next to him at company, people believe that she’s Jongsing’s gangster right hand. Jongsing chuckles at this and gets back to work.
Mei Jin enters the room in yet another fur collared strapless dress (I’ve only seen her in another kind of dress once) and promptly sits on LLS’s lap and tries to kiss him, which shocks Nark at first (I don’t think she is a prude but just can’t imagine LLS kissing anyone) but then makes her laugh at his discomfort. She even starts making kissy faces at him to tease him before she starts to sneak out. LSS asks her if he has given permission for her to leave, which causes Jongsing to look up again (he had stopped watching when Mei Jin comes in). Nark comes back and wonders why she needs to stay and watch them snuggle, which amuses Mei Jin and makes her wonder at Nark’s nerve. Mei Jin seems to like Nark, and Nark is bowled over by her beauty. LLS, frustrated by the whole situation, declares that he going out to lunch, leaving Nark with what she wanted: access to Jongsing.
Jongsing is totally the enabling parent in this whole weird mafia family. He always gives in easily and wants to think the best of everyone. I can also easily imagine Jongsing in an apron making cookies for LLS when he gets into a snit and needs cheering up.
LLS and Mei Jin are at lunch, and she is working very hard to be warm and loving. She tells him that she loves him even after he reminds her that he has never loved anyone. She knows it; she just wants him to know and feel her love. Yong Wen and Bai Ling (most boring couple ever) show up to have lunch out for her birthday. They stop by the table to greet LLS, and Bai Ling asks for a picture with Mei Jin, acknowledging that the other woman is actually prettier in real life than she is on television. After they leave to sit down, Mei Jin watches them with envy because they look so in love, with Young Wen doting on Bai Ling (pfft). LLS wonders if she is saying that for his benefit and is satisfied when she tells him that she knows her place because otherwise he would grow to loathe her (shivers—did anyone else feel the cold air blowing through here?). Mei Jin gets up to go to the bathroom but really to cry there, thinking of her unrequited love. SA tears for over a minute while her theme song (TS) plays.
They are pretty much invisible tears, though. I couldn't find a single frame showing anything glistening besides her nose. But here is a sadface pic at least.
While she is gone, Puey In enters and basically starts a fight with LLS. He, too, has heard that LLS has used a school girl to negotiate with Carlos. LLS basically tells him to mind his own business and probably would have just considered him like the annoying mosquito that he is if he didn’t start in on Nark being LLS’s new woman. LLS pops him in the face without batting an eye. Puey In is of course mad that he got hit in front of (his) people and pulls a gun. In fact, everyone pulls a gun. I’m surprised the waitstaff didn’t pull a gun.
They are pretty much invisible tears, though. I couldn't find a single frame showing anything glistening besides her nose. But here is a sadface pic at least.
LLS didn't pull out a gun. He's too bads$$ for such a plebeian response.
All I could think about during this scene is how hard it must have been for Puey In to hide a gun in those too tight pants.
LLS doesn’t flinch at this and tells him to shoot him now then. Yong Wen runs into the room from his table, pointing his own gun at Puey In. Puey In puts his gun down, but threatens both LLS and Yong Wen on his way out. Bai Ling is afraid that Yong Wen has made an enemy, but Yong Wen asks her what he was supposed to do. Watch LLS get shot before his eyes? Frankly, if anyone needs to be shot, it’s Yong Wen who insists on wearing knitted turtleneck sweaters under dress shirts under suit jackets.
So the vest did nothing for you, lah? Or Hong Kong Puey's natty Ascot?
Puey In is back at his house having a tantrum with a gun which freaks out his nanny/aunt(?). Yes, she still lives there and takes care of him. [In the subs, she calls him Cherub. I wonder if that is what it really means in Thai?] She goes to make him noodles, and one of his henchmen come in to tell him that there is a Thai businessman there to see him. We’ve another Thai businessman coming in to borrow money because they are in debt and promising to pay back money—this time within a month. Oh yeah, and Vishanu, our gambling Thai Businessman, also has a beautiful daughter, Mina. We need to meet her because we need more characters to watch SA. She comes in to use the bathroom, and Puey In can barely stop staring. She thinks he is attractive as well and not only peeks at him on their way out but asks her father about him.
Maybe she likes guys with Ascots under Polos under Vests under Jackets. Or maybe she's an idiot.
I vote for idiot. Nan might have competition for dimmist girl.
We move to Nark and Danny meeting by the river (why?) while she tells him part of her plan to smuggle the weapons. She is going to be a patient in an ambulance with a broken leg and a heart condition. The heart condition makes her an emergency patient, and she can say she has metal in her leg for fixing the broken bone in case the gun detector machine goes off. She can’t really break her leg, but she needs to have an injury to the bone, so she takes a box cutter and stabs herself in the leg, a long gash that requires stitches. Danny can’t watch her while she does it. Ironically, she can stab herself with a box cutter, but she screams bloody murder during the stitches.
I loved the subtitle: "Screaming and Painful Noises" during this scene, which, by the way, included him making noises too. I snickered. A lot.
All I could think about during this scene is how hard it must have been for Puey In to hide a gun in those too tight pants.
LLS doesn’t flinch at this and tells him to shoot him now then. Yong Wen runs into the room from his table, pointing his own gun at Puey In. Puey In puts his gun down, but threatens both LLS and Yong Wen on his way out. Bai Ling is afraid that Yong Wen has made an enemy, but Yong Wen asks her what he was supposed to do. Watch LLS get shot before his eyes? Frankly, if anyone needs to be shot, it’s Yong Wen who insists on wearing knitted turtleneck sweaters under dress shirts under suit jackets.
So the vest did nothing for you, lah? Or Hong Kong Puey's natty Ascot?
Maybe she likes guys with Ascots under Polos under Vests under Jackets. Or maybe she's an idiot.
I vote for idiot. Nan might have competition for dimmist girl.
We move to Nark and Danny meeting by the river (why?) while she tells him part of her plan to smuggle the weapons. She is going to be a patient in an ambulance with a broken leg and a heart condition. The heart condition makes her an emergency patient, and she can say she has metal in her leg for fixing the broken bone in case the gun detector machine goes off. She can’t really break her leg, but she needs to have an injury to the bone, so she takes a box cutter and stabs herself in the leg, a long gash that requires stitches. Danny can’t watch her while she does it. Ironically, she can stab herself with a box cutter, but she screams bloody murder during the stitches.
I loved the subtitle: "Screaming and Painful Noises" during this scene, which, by the way, included him making noises too. I snickered. A lot.
While this plot is in motion, LLS corners Jongsing about Nark. He had noticed how she wanted to talk to Jongsing (because, frankly, he notices everything about her now) and asks him point blank what she wanted. Jongsing tells him about the weapons deal she made for him, and LLS gets angry. He can’t believe that they would send her to do this. What’s interesting about this is that he seems more worried about Nark than he is about the deal or what the possibility of failure might have on his position as chairman. He wants to stop it, but Jongsing warns him that it’s too late.
So, it's okay for you to throw her into the fray, but not for your underling to assist her in throwing herself into the fray? Hmm, sounds a bit possessive.
So, it's okay for you to throw her into the fray, but not for your underling to assist her in throwing herself into the fray? Hmm, sounds a bit possessive.
This is true because Danny has already called an ambulance for Nark, they’ve transferred the weapons, have a fake nurse and driver, and are on their way. They make it through the first two check points, but Patrick is at the third and insists on searching. He checks the registration and ID and whether the patient is registered at hospital. He questions them about why his detector goes off, and they point to her leg. Even the other police officers think he goes too far when he rips off the bandage to check if her leg is really injured. Episode ends with Patrick requesting a call to hospital to check on whether the workers actually do work there. Nark does not have a plan for this. Patrick is beating everyone out with his angry SA.
I'm including a pic of my favorite side actor, whose name I have never been able to discover, but who shows up in almost every lakorn that needs a police officer or soldier for Channel 3. As for Patrick, I'm waiting for him to stroke out from all his stressful pacing and snarling.
I'm including a pic of my favorite side actor, whose name I have never been able to discover, but who shows up in almost every lakorn that needs a police officer or soldier for Channel 3. As for Patrick, I'm waiting for him to stroke out from all his stressful pacing and snarling.
Favorite Line of the Episode:
"Random smoochy sounds" Nark as she mocks LLS's snuggle technique. That counts as a quote right?
Comments
Oooh how the dramatic BGM swells at the end of this episode. What a cliffhanger at episode 3! Will our impassively impassioned pra'ek decide to wear brocade only for his love? Will our tomboy fall for GrungeBoy GunRunner? Will this show make any sense in the next episode? Stay tuned!
With all these sexy men in suits running around, not to mention a grungy Danny, you would think that Nark would profess some romantic interest. But so far there is no emergence of teenage hormones. I need some reciprocation to LLS's nostril flares of love.
Who has energy for that? She's trying to raise $20 million in Hong Kong dollars in Taipei with part-time jobs. She probably doesn't even have time to go to the bathroom let alone think about relationships. At school, it looks like she only knows Danny, and that is because he reached out to her and treated her to lunch. She has noticed that LLS is handsome though. She's commented on that more than once, but it's also clear that she doesn't see herself as a possibility. She, too, has bought into the whole "Nan is the pretty sister" and the kind of girl that men like bit.
Oooh how the dramatic BGM swells at the end of this episode. What a cliffhanger at episode 3! Will our impassively impassioned pra'ek decide to wear brocade only for his love? Will our tomboy fall for GrungeBoy GunRunner? Will this show make any sense in the next episode? Stay tuned!
With all these sexy men in suits running around, not to mention a grungy Danny, you would think that Nark would profess some romantic interest. But so far there is no emergence of teenage hormones. I need some reciprocation to LLS's nostril flares of love.
Who has energy for that? She's trying to raise $20 million in Hong Kong dollars in Taipei with part-time jobs. She probably doesn't even have time to go to the bathroom let alone think about relationships. At school, it looks like she only knows Danny, and that is because he reached out to her and treated her to lunch. She has noticed that LLS is handsome though. She's commented on that more than once, but it's also clear that she doesn't see herself as a possibility. She, too, has bought into the whole "Nan is the pretty sister" and the kind of girl that men like bit.