Summaries (Spoilers, Obviously) and Comments

Note: I group summaries by story line, not in presentation order. If you want to know how the scenes actually played out in their official sequence, why not follow this link to the episode and watch for yourself?

Episode 18 Summary

The episode opens on the night of the Live Band competition. Phun and Noh continue the conversation from the previous episode in the auditorium. Phun brings up Aim’s infidelity and says that it’s time for him to learn the full truth. He asks Noh if he will remain by his side when the time comes. Noh responds by holding Phun’s hand and committing to always be by his side. Phun asks Noh to stay with him that night as he doesn’t think he can make it alone. Noh assents by tightening his grip.

Win is in a hallway at Friday College by himself, weeping bitterly. Mark finds him and sits next to him, offering him a handkerchief and offering to take care of whomever made him cry so much. Win tells Mark that it isn’t anything anyone did, but that someone hates him and finds him disgusting. Later Mark drives Win home on his scooter. Win asks to be dropped off a little way from his house. Mark asks if he afraid to have anyone see him drop Win off. Win lets him know that his father has been in a bad mood, lately and its better that he go home alone. Mark is disappointed because he wanted to greet Win’s parents. Per watches the drop off from his window.

At the Phumipat mansion, Phun and Noh are preparing for bed. Noh tries to get the bird in Phun’s room to talk, but Phun informs Noh that it is a dove and doesn’t speak. He asks Phun if he’s planning to keep it as a pet, but Phun hasn’t decided. He doesn’t want to release it as it is injured and life would be hard for it if he let it out. Noh tries to come up with a good name for the bird and settles on Mrs. Chomchai. He feels sorry for the bird since it should be free and Phun doesn’t spend time with it. This reminds Phun of Aim and the conversation they had at Hua Hin about Phun being too busy to make time for her. The boys sleep. When Phun wakes up the next morning, he releases the bird before Noh awakens.

Noh prepares a snack in the kitchen. He has covered his hair with a towel as part of a conditioning treatment. Phun asks why he does that when he doesn’t have much hair. Noh reminds him that he used to have longer hair and likes to keep it soft. When he had long hair, girls always wanted to touch it. Phun and Noh share the dumplings Noh has made. Later, Phun is also seen wearing a towel. taking a hair spa treatment himself. Surprisingly, I don’t think the spa treatment is a branded product placement.

Phun asks Noh what he wants to do that day. Noh would like to go out and runs through a long list of activities he would like. Phun says that he was hoping to just stay in with Noh to play video games. Noh agrees. Later, they are in Phun’s bedroom, playing with Phun’s new tablet and after that with his Xbox. After their game, Phun cuts the post-game conversation short with a question about something Noh had said about there being more videos that Phun hasn’t seen yet. Noh confirms the existence of more videos. Since Phun would like to see them, Noh must call Golf to send him a new set as Noh destroyed the last set at his party. Golf picks up the phone and while chiding Noh a little for calling about the videos again, he looks out his condo door in time to see Aim entering Aek’s apartment. He tells Noh to come over quickly if he wants to catch her in the act.

Phun, Noh and Golf wait in Golf’s apartment. Phun is preparing himself for the confrontation. Golf comforts Phun by saying that there are many more girls than Aim in the world. Noh affirms that he’ll be there when Phun returns. Phun and Golf cross the hallway to knock on the door. Aek and Aim have just stopped making out. She tells him that she isn’t going to have sex with him as she doesn’t to feel more guilty than she already is. Phun knocks. Aek gets up to answer the door. Phun spies Aim, seated on the bed, partially disrobed. It’s too late for her to feel remorse.

On the balcony of Aek’s apartment, Phun and Aim have a tearful breakup. Aim asks Phun if there is a chance that they’ll get back together. Phun admits that he’s also cheated on her. She wants to know if they should break up, but before he can answer her, she breaks up with him so she won’t have to hear him say those words. She asks for one more hug. Phun hugs her but tells her that he doesn’t feel love for her any longer.  After he leaves Aek’s apartment, Phun begins to cry in the elevator on the way down. He presses all of the buttons in the elevator to buy himself some time while he is crying. When the doors open in the lobby, Noh is waiting for Phun. Phun has stopped crying, but starts again when Noh reaches out to hug him before he can leave the building. Aim leaves Aek’s apartment after he asks he can date her now that she doesn’t have a boyfriend. He tells her that he likes her and will wait for her, but she rolls her eyes and leaves. When she reaches the lobby, she finds Noh and Phun embracing. She looks like she suspects that Noh might be the third wheel in their relationship.

The morning after he dropped off Win, Mark climbs over the fence to sneak into Win’s yard. He calls up to Win, but Win can’t hear him as he is still asleep. Mark finds some of the pebbles on the ground that Per used to throw to get Win’s attention. He picks them up and throws them against Win’s window. Win has been crying again at night as his bed covered with tissues. Win wakes up and at first thinks that Per wants to speak with him. He opens his window to find that Per isn’t there. Mark calls up to him. Win wants to know how Mark got in the yard. Mark responds that the power of love flew him in. Win warns him to leave lest his father catch them, but Mark won’t leave unless Win agrees to go swimming with him. Win agrees.

At the pool, Mark and Win are splashing around when Mark closes in on Win. Everything goes silent as Mark grabs Win’s hands and they stare into each other’s eyes. Unfortunately, Win is reminded of Per’s song and comments his father made and swims away to the side of the pool. Thinking about how others find him disgusting, Win gives in and allows himself to sink to the bottom of the pool so that Mark won’t see him crying again. Mark waits for Win to resurface but when he doesn’t he dives under the water to bring Win back up. Win says he’s o.k. but goes to the edge of the pool to hide his eyes in his hands.

Late in the afternoon, Mark again drops Win off away from his house. Win thanks Mark for the day. Mark puts his index fingers on Win’s cheeks and draws his face to a grin. He reminds Win to smile and lets him know that he’s adorable and shouldn’t forget that. He lets Win know that he makes him smile.  Win awkwardly lets Mark know that its time for him to depart, and leaves for his house. Mark is about to leave on his scooter when Per calls out to him to stop. Per says that he’s noticed that Mark and Win have been hanging out lately and wants to know when it started, since the two had been classmates for years and never spoken much with each other. Mark says that he noticed that Per and Win used to go home together but don’t any longer and asks why that is. Per responds that Win isn’t disabled and can get home on his own and speculates that Win has managed to find someone new to feel sorry for him. Mark let’s Per know that he doesn’t feel sorry for Win, but wants to walk home with him. Per asks if Mark likes Win, but Mark won’t answer. Since Per doesn’t like Win any longer, Mark doesn’t need to answer.

Rambles

So, what is wrong with Mark? I mean, there has to be something wrong with him? Buoyant, cheerful, all full of smiles, he’s got honey where that angsty and surly teen-aged tar is supposed to be. He’s what Win needs right now, even if Win doesn’t yet seem to return his feelings. Actually, he’s more what the show needs at the moment, since everyone else has been down in the dumps lately. No one is actually enjoying their love lives to the fullest and its great to have someone around who appears to be genuinely happy when near their lover or crush. Unlike Ohm, Mick, or Earn last season, Mark isn’t dancing around waiting to figure out how to slip his feelings out. He just climbs right over that fence and declares what is motivating him to wander close by – the fence Per refuses to jump any longer, using the pebbles Per left behind. He’s what Win should want…but probably won’t take…because Win has baggage at the moment, which is one of the themes of Episode 18.

Emotional baggage and the distinction between acting out of love or acting out of pity are the ideas bandied about in Episode 18. Oh, it can be hard to move on, can’t it? It was one of the better episodes this season, because it was so simple. Just PerWinMark and AimPhunNoh. The team could have rolled out any number of characters to illustrate the difficulty we have letting go, and how that that keeps us from better things, but they kept it simple for a change. We could have Earn pining for Noh again, or Mo thinking of returning to Moan, or Jeed still angry with Neung, Khom waiting for Jeed to give him one more chance. Lots of connections would do. But they opted for the one secondary couple that best illustrated the point this time.

Win can’t let go, although it looked for a moment that he was about to be swept away in the pool. I don’t think Per is moving on, either. Mark was right to call him on those questions – really, if you’ve decided to hate Win, why are you so curious about what is going on in his life? I don’t think Per is jealous, but I do think he’s wondering how he can be so easily replaced. And maybe he still cares enough, but I’d rather he just stay away since his primary function right now is to make Win cry. Let’s wait until he stops feeling sorry for himself enough to talk to Win about what is actually going on.  I think Per does feel sorry for himself. But does he really think that the only thing Win does is make people feel sorry for him? That’s a fine though coming from someone who is picking on someone else. He seems to have convinced himself that sorrow is how Win tricked him, however, forgetting that he was friends with Win long before Win had the problems he’s facing now.

In many ways, Per’s feelings for Win are a reflection of the feelings Phun could be expressing toward Aim, but won’t. It’s probably a coincidence that Per’s “I Hate You” song is about a reaction to infidelity. That song may not apply to Per and Win except for the lines of hate and condemnation. Win hasn’t been unfaithful, but Aim and Phun both have been unfaithful and Phun could have easily sung Per’s song about Aim. The only thing he’d be guilty of is hypocrisy. Phun is too circumspect for that. While Per is convincing himself that he only felt sorry for Win and that’s why he hung around him so much, Phun is finally realizing that those feelings he’s been holding onto for the past few weeks are more pity than love. It seemed heroic at the time to distract himself with Aim’s damaged reputation and concern that everyone would look down on her, but that desire to rescue someone one is feeling sorry for isn’t necessarily love. Not if a person actually doesn’t want to be around. He doesn’t actually want to face her. Aim is somewhat like Mrs. Chomchai, who he brought into the house to distract him from his own sorrows two episodes ago. He may be concerned that Aim can’t recover without him, but if he isn’t going to pay attention to her while she sorts things out, why bother to stay together? He’s just been using his pity for her to avoid his own sadness, which all finally comes out once he releases Aim.

Phun doesn’t have time for Aim and if he was really concerned about her reputation and her feelings, he would have been seeking her out during her crisis, rather than avoiding her. Yeah, it’s tough to run into someone’s problems, especially when one has every right to be upset. But staying around for those problems because one wants to be there is what people who actually love each other are supposed to do. Ideally.

We’ll hopefully see sooner rather than later whether Per’s claim that he was only feeling sorry for Win actually holds up. I don’t think he was, but I am starting to wonder what other problems he is covering up by thinking that. For now, we’ll just have to be content that Mark wants to be there for Win, hope that he’s sincere about that, and ask the shipwrights to start drawing up new plans if Per doesn’t start behaving like a friend. I think they’ll need to build a clipper – Mark likes to move fast.

Up Next:

It’s Christmas! Convent girls go wild! And Ohm finally reveals his heart.

Fearless predictions:

Well, something has to take the shine off Mark.

• Mark just wants a friend and brother he’s never had and will be shocked when Win starts thinking he wants more than than that (The Hormones Torpedo: 20%)
• Mark is dying of a rare, mysterious, and conveniently dramatic disease and just wants to experience love one time before the end (The Takumi 2 Iceberg: 20%)
• Mark is Win’s lost brother (The Munmee Incest Twist: 20%)
• Mark is the son of Bangkok’s most violent crime lord. Win’s father heads the country’s top anti-mob task force (The Blossoming Love Star Double Cross: 20%)
• Mark has a more sullen twin, Matt, and Win will be forced to choose between the two (No Kimi, Just No: 20%)

Yeah, it’s likely that Win just won’t be able to get past Per, but how boring would that be?