In A Good Way Episode 14 Recap

When episode 12 rolled around with the amazing concert and the group effort and the hugging and more hugging, I said that was the best episode of In a Good Way to date. Who knew that the drama would promptly up its own awesome right around the corner, using a relatively slow burn episode 13 to set up for what is pretty much everything I wanted from Liu Chuan and Jia En when those two finally said what they were feeling to each other. It wasn’t rainbows and unicorns and flower petals falling, it was filled with a mixture of worry and pain and longing all wrapped into one. I forgive that stupid confession interruption in episode 12 now because Liu Chuan told Jia En straight up that the hug was because he liked her. I forget how powerful the simple words “I like you” are, and he followed up with the intensity of his feelings coupled with the complete and utter breakdown of his own principal axis. “I like you” is put aside when the bigger picture is who Liu Chuan is and how he’s going to exist in this world. He can’t break free of his dad if he wanted to and the school expulsion clean up is a stark reminder of that. I loved that Jia En gets to confront her feelings for Liu Chuan under the spectre of this daunting pressure.

Their romance isn’t easy sailing no matter what, and in choosing to be candid in their moments of weakness is exactly the way the two of them have walked the road from friends to falling in love. That this episode was amazeballs is an understatement. The music was perfect (new songs!), Ri Qi and Xiao Wei make the cutest clarification and breakthrough perfectly encapsulating their personalities, Bai Xue chews out Liu Chuan and I was rooting for her all the way, and poor Ren Wei is now the resident silent suffering observer left to see everyone figure things out left and right. Liu Chuan’s problem isn’t life and death, so he has a controlling dad who he finds despicable, but we keenly feel the suffocating pressure he’s under and the self-loathing that eating away at him. I worried all his moping would make this down right depressing to slog though yet the drama continues to rock my world and upend my expectations. The angst was perfectly done and the breakthrough was amazingly crafted, pulling together every detail between Jia En and Liu Chuan to lead them to yet another hug to end all hugs. At this point, I really might pass out if these two ever kissed. *fans self*

Episode 14 recap:

Jia En knocks on Liu Chuan’s family residence and Liu Chuan comes out and opens the door. He asks why she’s here but she immediately shares the happy news that they are not going to be expelled. She registers his lack of enthusiasm at hearing the news but before they can discuss it, Liu Chuan’s dad walks out surprised that a girl is here to see Liu Chuan. Jia En introduces herself as his classmate and Dad immediately invites her in and to stay for dinner. Jia En can sense Liu Chuan’s discomfort but his Dad is a master of social networking and entreats her to stay because he wants to know more about campus life and Liu Chuan doesn’t talk much with him. Jia En has no choice but to go in.

Dinner is an awkward affair of Dad asking Jia En questions while Liu Chuan sits in between them eating silently. Dad hears that Jia En is from Pingdong, her parents run a teashop near campus, and that she’s a Foreign Languages major. Talk turns to the recent protests and Jia En reveals that they are not getting expelled. Dad acts all surprised and happy at the news. When Jia En talks about protesting to fight for the right of a student treated unjustly, Dad says he totally supports fighting for justice and it’s great for the students to win in the end. Jia En is impressed that Liu Chuan’s dad is so warm and understanding, and shares that her parents are very supportive constituents. Liu Chuan’s dad talks about serving the people and wants to meet Jia En’s parents next time. Liu Chuan just keeps shoveling food in his mouth while looking very pained. He tells Dad to talk less so Jia En can eat more and the conversation dies there.

After dinner, Liu Chuan walks Jia En out and she brings up again that Liu Chuan’s dad is very warm and engaging. She thought he would be cold and harsh knowing that Liu Chuan isn’t close to his dad. She asks why Liu Chuan is upset and he reveals that he’s upset at himself. Their protest was to fight the powerful injustice, but in the end he used the same power to get them out of expulsion. Isn’t that pathetic? Jia En finds out that Liu Chuan asked his dad for help and that is why they were not expelled and she doesn’t look happy either. Liu Chuan offers to take her home on his motorcycle. He takes off his jacket for her to put on since it’s cold, and when Jia En puts on the jacket he helps fix her collar and hair.

When Liu Chuan drops Jia En off outside the house, Jia En apologizes for not knowing that Liu Chuan asked his dad for help in resolving their expulsion crisis. She realizes now that his dad asked her questions during dinner that he must’ve known the answer to. Did she say anything wrong? She gets up her courage to ask him why he accepted his dad’s help? Doesn’t he hate people knowing he has a congressman for a dad? Liu Chuan is silent so Jia En asks if it’s because of her. Liu Chuan answers “maybe” but tells her not to overthink it. He tells Jia En to go inside but she asks if she can ask him another question. He nods. Jia En asks him what the hug at the concert meant? Liu Chuan looks at her and says “That hug means that I like you.” KYAAAAAA!!!! Jia En’s eyes widen and Liu Chuan continues “That like is as strong now as it was then, but the initial like was so pure and beautiful, and now it’s been affected and the purity has been changed. I need to think about it a bit.” Jia En looks stunned and can only nod wordlessly. Liu Chuan rides off leaving Jia En staring after him.

Later that night, Ren Wei sits at the counter hollering for Jia En to quickly get him that fried egg because he’s hungry. She comes out with the egg and asks why he wants her to make it all of a sudden. Ren Wei claims he can’t forget the tasty dish after he ate it that one time. He notices she’s got something on her mind and asks to share and give her advice. Jia En reveals that it’s romance worries. Jia En hypothetically shares with Ren Wen the situation – a person likes another, that person isn’t sure yet if its reciprocated, but then the first person needs to think about it again because something has changed. Ren Wei cuts to the chase and asks if Jia En is trying to say that she’s in love. Jia En doesn’t know so Ren Wei asks if she’s asking for his advice on how to know whether one is in love. Ren Wei says to like someone is to want to see them every day, their every move affects them and will find any reason to spend time with that person, and even if initially the excuse is that it’s just friendship finally it becomes a type of anticipation. Ren Wei asks if Jia En has someone that popped into mind right now? Who is it? Jia En refuses to tell him. Ren Wei asks Jia En where the earrings she used to wear went. It was very pretty, was it a gift or did she buy it herself? Jia En tells him to hurry up and eat so she can lock up. She walks into the kitchen leaving Ren Wei eating his egg all alone. When Jia En is in her room, she takes the earrings from Liu Chuan out and looks at it with a smile. She picks one up and looks at it against her ears in the mirror.

Jia En arrives at the Treasure Hunting club to find Bai Xue and Tracy already busy working. Bai Xue explains that the semester end school review of the clubs is imminent so she needs to gather all the information and details. Usually Liu Chuan handles this but he’s been MIA so Bai Xue has to do it now and she’s not sure she can get it all together. Bai Xue thinks she can do it without him but it’ll be hard. She asks Jia En what happened with Liu Chuan, word is he hasn’t been back to his dorm room recently either. Jia En doesn’t explain and instead offers to help with the review prep. Jia En walks by a payphone later and calls Liu Chuan, leaving a voicemail for him. He hasn’t been to school in many days and everyone is worried about him. She shares the club review coming up and how it’s hard for Bai Xue to do alone. Everyone is helping and it should be fine. When he’s done thinking about it, can he call her? She’ll wait for him.

Liu Chuan listens to that voicemails and sits on the sofa brooding. His mom walks over and asks if he’s really planning to accept his dad’s plan for him to move out of the dorm and prepare for the lawyer’s exam? Mom tells him to live his own life and not follow what his dad planned for him. Dad walks over and tells Mom to stop interfering because he loves Liu Chuan and wants what is best for him. Mom knows he loves Liu Chuan but he won’t let him be himself. Dad gave him 4 years to be himself and look what happened, he almost got expelled. Mom is fine with it since Liu Chuan is being true to his principles. What Mom does for Liu Chuan is to not interfere with his life, and even if he got expelled it would still be fine with his ability. He can get into another college. Liu Chuan’s parents go back-and-forth arguing about who is doing what’s best for Liu Chuan. Liu Chuan asks them to stop fighting and tells his Mom that he doesn’t mind moving back home since it’s quieter here and he can think about his future. The lawyer’s exam isn’t hard so she doesn’t need to worry. His mom tells him to do his best and come to her if he needs anything. Dad doesn’t think what happened recently is a bad thing if it gets Liu Chuan to think seriously about his future sooner rather than later. Liu Chuan silently walks up to his room.

Ri Qi and Xiao Wei have a collision accident on campus and the fall causes Xiao Wei to scratch up her hands and knees. Ri Qi assists her to the medical clinic to get patched up and then takes her back to her dorm room. Xiao Wei forgot to call her boss and ask for the day off so Ri Qi offers to do it for her. He goes to her desk to get the phone book and finds a comic strip that Xiao Wei drew of the night they went treasure hunting and they stopped to look at the stars. Ri Qi thinks it’s adorable but Xiao Wei tries to get him to not look at it. There is a moment of awkwardness and then Ri Qi calls her boss. He tells her to rest, he’ll be back tomorrow to check on her and bring some snacks. As Ri Qi is leaving, Xiao Wei tells him not to come. He asks why? Xiao Wei gets up her courage and tells him that she likes talking to him and really likes him spending time with her. But she knows he’s 3631 so he should spend more time with Jia En. She asks him not to come find her in the future. Ri Qi looks really pained but doesn’t explain and just leaves.

A bunch of Treasure Hunting club members are working through the night gathering all the information they need to present their club status to the review board. Jacky comes in sighing that there is still no word from Liu Chuan despite repeated attempts to contact him. Bai Xue calms everyone down and hands out specific assignments to each person and if it’s all done then they will be ready for the review. The club works through the night getting everything done. The review board teachers arrive in the morning and the entire club is there to greet them enthusiastically. The teacher asks where the president is and Bai Xue says the president can’t be here today but she’s doing it in his place. The teachers find it dismissive for the president not to be here during this important review. Bai Xue hands over all the information and the teacher starts asking questions about the club. He asks Tracy what the club emblem means. Bai Xue interjects that it’s a six-point star and explains the meaning. The teacher then points to an old painting and asks what special meaning it has. Everyone looks around without a clue.

One of the teachers spots the expenditure used for the Era Freedom Concert and asks if this was a club activity? Bai Xue says this was concert to fight for the injustice of a student in the Foreign Languages department. The teachers cannot allow club funds to be used for a non-club activity. Bai Xue asks for another review because they were really swamped before this review and couldn’t prepare properly. In the past years the club has always received exemplary reviews. The teachers agree to re-do the review and tells them to prepare well next time. The kids thank the teachers profusely. After the teachers leave, Jacky stares at the painting wondering who the heck can understand what it means. Jia En walks over and keeps staring at the painting. Bai Xue says everything can be resolved except for the money spent on the concert, they need to find a way to make it back. Ah Di suddenly runs in panting to reveal that Liu Chuan is back on campus and in his dorm room. Jia En grabs her bag and is the first to rush out with everyone else following behind.

Everyone arrives at Liu Chuan’s dorm room to find him packing up. Everyone is happy to see him especially Jia En. She stares at him with a smile which disappears when he looks back at her very dispassionately. Bai Xue asks where he’s been and why he just disappeared and left the club. Liu Chuan reveals he’s moving home to prepare for the lawyer’s exam and asks Bai Xue to take over the club going forward. Bai Xue cannot believe he’s just leaving like that. Everyone looks around in shock. Bai Xue says the Liu Shan Feng that she’s known for the last 5 years is not someone who would just leave the club like that! Liu Chuan looks at her and asks what she thinks he’s like? Bai Xue stares back and Ren Wei steps forward to break the tense mood. Jia En speaks up and asks Liu Chuan to come to the club review re-do, just half a day is enough. Liu Chuan says nothing, looking around at everyone and thanking them for taking on the burden. He then leaves with Jia En running behind him. Bai Xue is so furious she storms out. Tracy wonders if Liu Chuan ate a bomb? Ren Wei says he’s going to chase after Jia En but Ah Di points out that he ought to be chasing after Bai Xue instead. Ren Wei tells him to stop being so irritating and then leaves.

Jia En catches up to Liu Chuan as he’s about to ride away and asks if he’s okay. Liu Chuan wants to know what else is needed for the club review? Jia En asks about the theme for next year so Liu Chuan tells her to write it down. Next year’s theme is the six-point star and the treasure hunts are based on deduction and extrapolation. He gets a page and needs to leave. Jia En asks him to share what’s bothering him with her, not to carry the burden by himself. Liu Chuan says “If I can’t handle it myself, how can I toss it to you?” Jia En puts her hand on his and her hand is shaking. Liu Chuan stares at her and then he turns his hand over to clasp her hand back. His thumb strokes her hand tenderly and they stare at each other and their joined hands. Liu Chuan asks her not to worry, he’ll be fine since he hasn’t the luxury of being weak. Liu Chuan pulls his hand out of her hand and rides off. Jia En looks really pained watching him ride off.

Ren Wei finds Bai Xue sitting on the park bench and stammers a few times before apologizing. He didn’t know things had gotten so bad between her and Liu Chuan and for that he’s sorry. Bai Xue asks if she should accept his apology but Ren Wei is very bad at comforting a person. Bai Xue smiles and says he did well since he just made her smile. Ren Wei points out that it was so hard to make her smile in the past but now when he’s not even trying she smiles for him. Bai Xue can’t believe how things could lead to her fighting with Liu Chuan. Ren Wei agrees that Liu Chuan’s attitude was so bad back there. Bai Xue starts to yell at Liu Chuan and Ren Wei eggs her on. All the yelling gets Bai Xue to stand up and yell loudly at the tree like it was Liu Chuan, calling him all sorts of names for being such a irresponsible bastard. Ren Wei laughs that he never saw this side of her. Neither did Bai Xue and she’s surprised herself but kinda likes it. Ren Wei asks how she feels now that she told Liu Chuan her feelings last time. Bai Xue is glad it’s over, and perhaps she fell in love with a fantasy but now that fantasy has been destroyed. She fell in love with her image of Liu Chuan, perfect and can do anything. But the real Liu Chuan isn’t who she thinks he is. Ren Wei listens to this and wonders if he also fell in love with an image and then turns to look at Bai Xue.

Jia En comes back to the Treasure Hunting club revealing that she caught up with Liu Chuan but he still left like that. She hands Bai Xue the notes she took of what Liu Chuan said was the club theme for next years. Bai Xue asks what Liu Chuan wants to do to make up for the money spent on the concert and hears he didn’t say anything before he left. Bai Xue knows that if Liu Chuan doesn’t want to come back they can’t force him, and they also can’t rely on him for everything. Bai Xue gets a great idea to hold a used goods sale. Ah Qing likes the idea and asks if everyone has things to sell. As they as discussing, Jia En goes back to the old painting and looks in the corner where there is something written there that is illegible. She reads it backwards and it says “For Liu Shan Feng.”

Ri Qi goes to the comic bookstore and is happy to see Xiao Wei is all better. He reveals that the club is holding a yard sale next week but doesn’t tell her that it’s for making up the money used on the concert. He asks her to draw a comic so it can be sold at the yard sale. She demurs that she’s not a very good artist. He thinks she is and shows her a comic he drew that isn’t as good. Xiao Liu looks at his comic which tells the story of a wide eyed guy who asked a small eyed friend to go meet a girl with long hair and it was so urgent the small eyed friend agreed. Xiao Wei doesn’t get the hint so Ri Qi pretty much flat out explains that he’s not 3631 and she’s really relieved. He asks if they are good now and then Ri Qi stammers out that he really likes talking to her. They stand there nodding at each other adorably. Xiao Wei agrees to draw the comic for him to sell at the yard sale.

Ren Wei goes to see Jia En and offers to sell his autographed Wu Bai cassette tape for the yard sale despite it being one of his prized possessions. Jia En looks at a book containing pictures of their club activities and Ren Wei asks if the person she likes is in the picture? Jia En says no and Ren Wei warns her that she might’ve fallen in love with a fantasy in her mind. Jia En says no and opens the picture album up to stare at it. Ren Wei tells her that if a person isn’t around, there is no use to stare at pictures. He leaves the cassette tape on her desk and Jia En remembers that last time Ren Wei used a cassette tape to confess to Bai Xue his feelings. Ren Wei asks if she wants to confess? Jia En just want to cheer Liu Chuan up since he’s so depressed lately. She runs out to buy blank tapes leaving Ren Wei staring after her.

Liu Chuan’s mom tells her son that she’s leaving tomorrow for Nepal since his dad’s public service events are done for now. They say their farewells here and Mom really wants him to live happily. She doesn’t want him to live a life so consumed by pressure. Liu Chuan smiles but after she leaves he sighs. Suddenly Liu Chuan gets a message on BBS from sky inviting 3631 to meet at the plaza where the tea confession takes place tomorrow at 3 pm.

Liu Chuan arrives at the plaza and finds it empty, wondering where Jia En went since she wasn’t leaving until they saw each other. He turns around and his eyes are attracted by a reflection in a mirror. He walks up to the mirror and gets a note from Jia En to push play and carry the tape player with him. Liu Chuan plays the tape which starts with instructions for a treasure hunt designed by Jia En for Liu Chuan. He looks around for the first clue which is written on the mirror “In 1995 I arrived in Taipei and Liu Chuan helped me understand happiness.” In the mirror is the classroom to the Foreign Languages department so Liu Chuan walks over there. Inside the classroom on the chalkboard is a doodle of a castle named Lin Jia En’s castle and an arrow with “Castle Building Secrets” pointing to the gate to the castle. Liu Chuan pulls open the curtains on the window and written on there is the secret of feeling happy that Liu Chuan shared with her. Being one’s own castle owner, trusting in what one believes is right, darkness will pass and the sunlight will come in, don’t care about what other people think, and how much one’s understanding of freedom is how much freedom one has.

Liu Chuan gets a page 1995 0926 Cry. He walks to the place where Jia En went to cry after Ren Wei outed her at the tea confession. Some standing mirrors have been placed there and Liu Chuan looks at his own reflection in the various mirrors. He sees a hammer along with another cassette tape. He plays the tape and Jia En asks if he doesn’t want people to see him now. Is he afraid people will judge him and feel like he’s not the man they all think he is. Jia En agrees because she feels like she was also wrong in the way she thought of him. Liu Chuan looks crestfallen and asks if she also thinks so? Jia En was wrong because she thought he grew up in freedom which is why he understood it so well. But it’s the opposite which is why he understands so much and can give it to others. She doesn’t know how much he’s struggled and suffered in the world he grew up in, all she knows is that it makes her heart hurt to think about him like this. Back then she thought Taipei sucked but he told her not to lock herself up and to breakthrough. Does he remember? So now if he can breakthrough he’ll find the treasure. Liu Chuan looks at the hammer and uses it to smash the mirrors. Behind each mirror is a note that reads what Jia En wrote in the Treasure Hunting club autograph book when she first joined. Liu Chuan reads it and it ends with an unfinished statement from Jia En that she….. Liu Chuan asks himself again what she was going to say?

Liu Chuan goes to the empty Treasure Hunting club headquarters and picks up the autograph book. He flips through the pages until he gets to Jia En’s note where she finished writing “and I know more about love.” Liu Chuan looks up and Jia En is standing right outside the club room staring at him through the window with a smile. She walks in and they come face-to-face with each other. Jia En asks if he remembers that she promised to share with him first once she figured out what she learned about love. He asks if she figured it out and she did because of him.

Love first starts off like a mirror, one can see oneself, one can grow, one can learn to become better. But after some time, love is no longer a mirror and becomes courage. To have courage to break the mirror, to break through the person in the mirror, to break through the boundaries set by oneself, to break through the boundaries outside of love. Jia En feels like Liu Chuan really underestimated her – he thinks she can only love one type of Liu Chuan and not the other. He is the one who puts boundaries on their love, but he is also the one who gave her the courage to take down the boundaries he set between them. She learned that the Liu Chuan who is free is someone worthy of her love, and the Liu Chuan who is not free is also someone worthy of her love. Jia En finishes “Liu Chuan, you let me understand that love is a type of freedom.” Liu Chuan smiles at her and she hands him another cassette tape. Liu Chuan pops in the tape and it’s Jia En singing Liu Chuan’s favorite song to him. It’s the song that he played the night she spent in his room so that she could feel at ease.

They stand there listening to her sing. Liu Chuan turns to face her with a smile and she smiles back at him. It’s so so so lovely I’m crying. Jia En sings the verse “I want you freedom, like a bird.” The song finishes and Liu Chuan is about to say something when Jia En flies forward and wraps herself around Liu Chuan for a hug. He hugs her back and blinks back his tears and smiles. I AM OFFICIALLY DEAD. THIS RECAP WRITTEN BY ZOMBIE KOALA.

Thoughts of Mine:

This episode belonged to Lin Jia En. Period. Okay, maybe share a bit of the limelight with Bai Xue. Either way, the girls rocked and the guys got their world rocked. This was one of the best emotional breakthrough confession scenes I’ve ever seen in a drama, delivering not only immediately catharsis but tying in to everything leading up to this moment between the OTP. The treasure hunt. The clues at each location containing only private moments between Jia En and Liu Chuan, the way she pushed him to break free, how she dared to put herself out there first. I thought he would confess first, and he did with the “I like you” question about the hug, but Jia En caught that ball he’s been tossing at her and then hit it out of the park. I thought these two would get the “I like yous” out of the way first before tackling the big pressures behind them, who knew they would do it at the same time. I loved how Jia En’s confessions didn’t even involve a single “I like you”, it was already way past that and she was talking about their love and how she felt about it. If he put boundaries, barriers, restrictions, compartmentalization, and so on and so forth between them in order to make their relationship neat and orderly, then she just ripped it all apart and said she was loving him in his messy glory.

Whether he’s Liu Chuan who leads a school with his dashing intelligence and sincere effort, or whether he’s Liu Chuan who can be colder than the arctic when freezing people out, she wants all of him because every part of him is worthy of her love. This romantic confession belies all the previous ones in this drama and shows us that feelings can be real but sometimes it’s not based on the complicated reality and merely sustained by an idealized image. Bai Xue finally sees that and her fight with Liu Chuan was exactly the final hammer on the nail that sealed their friendship back to being just friends. She’s over him and better off for it. Jia En’s confession is based on reality because we’ve seen that she’s the only way who has ever seen more of Liu Chuan that his perfect exterior. I can’t wait to see where everyone goes from here. There is so much story to tell and as long as the writers continue to tell the story with such delicate sweetness then I’m all in for as long as this ride lasts and wherever it takes us.

Click here to watch In A Good Way.


Comments

In A Good Way Episode 14 Recap — 51 Comments

  1. Great episode! Jia En hit the nail on the head when she told Liu Chuan that she loved him no matter what. He was afraid that his image was tarnished in her eyes …. But she accepts him for what he is. Yayyyyy

    I kinda feel bad for Jia Wei now…..

  2. OMG. Chills from your recap. CHILLS. I’m not sure I’ll be able to properly watch the episode since your recap alone has turned me into a zombie! IAGW, turning drama addicts into zombies through the simple power of love and storytelling since 2014. Take that, Walking Dead!

  3. Kyahhhhhh! That’s my reaction from reading your recap. Simply beautiful! I cant wait to see where the writers take JEs comfessions.

  4. “I’M OFFICIALLY DEAD. THIS RECAP IS WRITTEN BY ZOMBIE KOALA”

    I supppose so many people died today we could start our own “The Walking Dead” series… LOL

    I have zero comment about this ep. Because it TOTALLY BLEW MY MIND!!!!!

    This show is AWESOME.
    LIU CHUAN IS AWESOME.
    JIA EN IS COMPLETELY AWESOME.
    I LOVE THEM BOTH!!!!!!!!!
    And I’m completely hysterical, sorry….

  5. I’m joining your zombie club. This ep was amazing, wonderful, sweet, wordless., Liu Chuan and Jia En are so cute!!
    In A Good Way is soooooo good! Can’t wait for next week!! I sense lots of sweetness coming…<3

  6. Thank you again Koala for the wonderful recaps! Thank you show for keeping up the great storyline. I was starting to feel worried, but I should’ve know better! What a sweet sweet super sweet episode! Jiaen, you are so lovely! LOVE LOVE IAGW!

  7. This episode belongs to Jia En. I was a little disappointed by how lack luster Liu Chuan’s confession became, “The hug meant that I like you. The feelings I have are as strong as before but while in the past the feelings were pure and carefree, some things happened recently to affect those feelings. Now those feelings have been tainted by something and I realize that I need time to think over this.”

    That is like the worst confession ever! How nice to hear from a guy that he likes you only to hear in the same breath that he is reconsidering his feelings! Only such a person like Liu Chuan can be so cruel and gentle at the same time!

    This episode showed me the awesome that is the actor Guo Yi’s acting ability. His eyes can speak volumes whether he likes someone or is hurt or cold. Ren Qi and Ah Qing both have their sweet love lines but neither actors were able to portray their scenes as convincingly as Guo Yi.

    Kirsten has been trying hard to improve her acting but she is not on par as Guo Yi, that said, her character Jia En has a great storyline this episode. I was half afraid that she would be too desperate for Liu Chuan after he avoided her but her confession was done in a manner typical of a loyal friend, to encourage him and love him which I felt was sweet and exactly what someone cold and hurt like Liu Chuan needs.

    Bai Xue was great, every new actress relegated to second female leads should strive to play well written second female leads like Bai Xue. A mixture of ladylike, unreciprocated feelings, elegance in releasing her love and cursing like a boy, this episode made me love a jilted but still elegant and spunky second female.

    Ren Wei had no such luck, poor boy. He is always two steps too late in liking someone after that someone likes another already and worse still, he has to witness the other party’s relationship unfolding twice! Someone give that boy a break! I felt that he was a great friend supporting Jia En last episode and I was disappointed that Jia En wasn’t more appreciative or sweet towards him.

    I look forward to the next episode. Now that Jia En has made such an apt confession, Liu Chuan, you mustn’t be stingy now. Make sure that you take the initiative and give trooper Jia En many sweet, heart thumping moments in the near future!

    • Lin Jia En showed what she’s totally made off in this episode. She’s one character whose sense of loyalty and honesty knows no bounds. The kind of friend whose gonna walk a mile in your shoes, to understand with no judgment and be willing to stay by you and share her warmth, but at the same time she has balls enough to be upfront if she thinks you’re under-estimating her or taking her for granted. And she is just THE right person for a complex and can-be-cold Liu Chuan. And Liu Chuan’s confession may seem cold and lack luster, but I appreciated it for its honesty.

      And with regards to acting, I’ve watched a few T-dramas but haven’t seen any of the actors here. But since the start, Lego with his ~9 acting years on him, is above and beyond the other casts. However, Rong Rong as the female lead, as been okay for me. Though admittedly she’d have moments of facial awkwardness in the earlier episodes. But somehow this episode, she’s able to control her expressions better and I guess it’s true what she said that she has learned a lot from Lego in terms of acting just by observing him, and it shows that she’s trying to improve on her weak points, and appreciate that.

      And with Ren Wei, it seems he can’t escape his pattern of liking someone. JE have previously mentioned that most of the girls he chased are those he can’t seem to have, either they’re too perfect (physically, background, academics) or taken. Though JE is one person he has easy camaraderie with, but she’s taken and he started realising his feelings a little too late.

      • Yeah that whole treasure hunt confession was way more meaningful than a kiss scene. My god. The writing was so delicate and spot on. It was so Jia En and the moment belonged to them.

  8. Thanks for another great recap! I only picked this up at about episode 6 or so, after reading your recaps and seeing how much you loved it, and I’m so glad I did. I don’t watch a lot of TW dramas because , honestly, they’re usually not very good, but this one is such a gem! I’m normally all about the Kdramas, but the 2 best dramas I’m watching right now are this one, and the Jdorama “The Hours of My Life”.

  9. So excited to watch this that I watched the unsubbed version! Haha. Thanks to you Koala that I can understand the gist per frame. Wow what a big step up from last week. JE is so sweet but not weak. She complements LC and was able to be his strength at one of the lowest point in his life. She made him smile again. I love the hug scene, seems like the reversal of the Ep12 hug with LC being the tentative one at this time…haha.

  10. thank you so much for the recap, Ms. Koala! ^__^ even w/o subs, i kept watching the last part of this episode hundred times…love the way JE confessed to LC and i love LC’s reaction to JE’s sudden hug. Lego Li who plays LC, perfectly conveyed a mixture of raw emotions: sadness, happiness, longing, shock/surprise, relief, lingering, hunger for freedom/love, and so on if i missed more

  11. Thank you so much for the recap – this was such an AMAZING episode!!

    I cried buckets for Liu Chuan’s self-hate, almost feeling the heart pain that Jia En said she felt for LC in the tape. I love love love how JE so creatively planned her confession to LC, which is not just a confession but her act of love to lift LC up from his depression. It’s brilliant how the script weaved in the treasure hunting element in the whole drama – surely there are Taiwanese Uni/ college students out there forming treasure hunting clubs right now. 😀

    Lego Li’s acting was brilliant and Kirsten is really a natural. Yes, she is still quite raw but I love her simple, unaffected screen presence.

    Bai Xue is an awesome 2nd female lead. I really hope that she and Ren Wei will now get a 2nd chance to know each other in a REAL WAY, and not just an imagery.

    Finally, Xiao Wei and Ri Qi are the most cutest couple ever!!! EEEEee!! Love their shy confession. Love that cute cartoon drawn by Xiao Wei on their first encounter and later the amateurish drawing by Ri Qi. TOO CUTE!!!

    Love this drama. I wonder why they translated the title as In A Good Way. The more direct translation of ERA OF FREEDOM would have been much much better. 😀

  12. I would gush over the OTP but have to gush over the writer. That was masterful writing. I cannot remember I last watch such good writing. I didn’t even curse at the angst. It all had meaning.

    This is wonderful.

    • It goes to show that great writing is rare. Everything about this story is fabulous. We love all the characters and how awesome they are. Everyone has a real motivation and is not a one note boring person.

  13. Thanks for the recap and your thoughts.

    oh, Koala!!!!
    I am crying all over my keyboard.
    So many awesome moments to enjoy.

    I think, though, as usual, the best line of truth came out of Tracey. I was all worried that LC wouldn’t be able to get back to school because of his promise to study for the LSATs, and T’s like “What’s he have to worry about, prepare? He’s a genius.” That made me LOL at how flimsy an excuse Dad had, and that LC would be baaaaack.

    What I love about the writing is that they are highlighting how intelligent and thoughtful this OTP is. I guess we knew waaay back in the first ep that JE was smarter than the average bear, at least smarter than RW, and her quick processing of events in the earlier episodes underlined it.

    LC’s appreciation of her brain gives me more flutters than if he fell in love with her looks. First when he was shocked and happy that SHE was the one who solved the Treasure Hunt he designed, and even more so in this ep with his reaction to her event,”I can’t believe she thought of this.” How he kept himself from jumping her bones when he saw her shows masterful control on his part…but I see it coming soon, right?

    The hammer, the mirrors, the castle, the speech about freedom was perfect. I cried the entire time, and kept (good) swearing. Thank goodness I was alone in the house at the time, teeheehee.

    I must now go back and watch again!!

    • Yes, I like that too. That (contrary to Ren wei who loves first Bai Xue because of her look) Liu Chuan loves Jia En because of her brain…
      LC and JE love each other because of what they are. Completely the contrary with Ren Wei and Bai Xue (till now….).

  14. I teared up while reading your recap. It’s so beautiful how they handled this problem and referenced everything from this show, the mirror code and being the owner of your castle. Liu Chuan’s confession at the beginning of the episode was the saddest confession I’ve seen in a while on tv, and compared to that, Jia En’s confession at the end is one of the strongest and most beautiful confessions. I can feel the love the writer(s) have for their show. Can’t wait to watch this episode!

  15. Just noticed when bai xue finds out Liu chuan is abandoning the treasure hunting club, she says: ” this isn’t the Liu Shan feng I know” …so she knows his true name? And wouldn’t everyone else wonder about his name then?

  16. Brilliant recap, as usual, Koala. Thank you. How many episodes do Taiwanese dramas have? How long will this drama run? Kinda angsty a bit after reading the first line of the synopsis on your link– When Jia en came back to taiwan in 2005, she recalls….So, we don’t know the present yet, right? or did I miss something? Anyway, awesome proposal from the treasure hunting princess. But did you get the sense that Liu Chuan wasn’t quite prepared to accept it until Jia En jumped on him? Writer-nim you took us through a fantastic proposal episode. Please don’t rest until we get the ending Jia En, err we, deserve.

  17. LOL at “THIS RECAP WRITTEN BY ZOMBIE KOALA”!!! And Kristen was just SO mischievous during the BTS: “So when we hug, I will make sure to move my hands around to *accidentally* touch his butt.” Ha ha ha!

    • Really?!?! Hope it’s not too much to ask, but can you give us a rundown on the episode 14 BTS? It just seems so fun and light, plus Kirsten is a hoot. I really love her personality, so bubbly and able to laugh and make fun of herself. And she’s able to draw out Lego and join her crazy antics some times. 🙂

      • I love her too!!! Anyway, a quick rundown on the BTS (it’s mostly Kirsten flirting with Lego):
        1. In the Treasure Hunting club meeting room: they were rehearsing a scene where Lego was supposed to exit the room.
        PD to Kirsten: Make some space for Lego to exit the room.
        Kirsten: No. Just push me. I WANT some skinship.
        Lego (caption): I really can’t stand this!.
        Ah Qing to Kirsten: You just want EVERYTHING.
        Ren Wei to Kirsten: How can you be like this? (moves between Lego and Kirsten, caption: if there is someone Lego pushes, it should be me not you).
        Lego to Ren Wei: I should offer you a kiss before I leave.
        2. Kirsten was poking Lego on his arm.
        Lego: Stop pressing the house bell. What’s the matter?
        Kirsten (after several pokes): Happy Valentine’s Day. This chocolate is for you. (caption: glaring at Lego). Are you not going to eat it?
        Lego: I’m sorry. I didn’t notice your feelings all these while (caption: trying to return the chocolate to Kirsten).
        Kirsten (grabbed the chocolate and opened it): You better EAT IT!
        3. I think they were filming in front of Liu Chuan’s house.
        Kirsten: Lego hurt his waist while working out, so now he is taking painkiller in order to continue filming. He is actually having a very hard time now.
        Lego (sobbing): Don’t tell my mom. Don’t tell my dad.
        BTS cameraman: Your mom will see this BTS and know.
        Kirsten: Lego’s mom, I will take good care of him.
        4. They were filming the confession scene:
        Kirsten to Lego: You are SO good-looking, OMG, even when you are applying lip balm.
        Kirsten: Because Lego hurt his waist, he wasn’t able to sleep well and was a bit down. So now I should give him some confidence by praising him non-stop and making him even more uncomfortable (laughter), no, to cheer him up a bit.
        Kirsten: When we hug later, I will make sure to move my hands around to accidentally touch his butt. (Turning toward Lego) Can I do that, my idol?
        Lego: She has been teasing me, like, everyday. Yesterday she told me (imitating Kirsten): you come over here, let me touch your butt. It is so firm.
        Kirsten shook her head.
        Lego: Now it’s your turn (caption: I am going to do the same thing to you).
        5. Still filming the confession scene:
        Lego to Kirsten: I found a hair on my coat.
        Kirsten: Whose is it? You better be honest with me. You’re finished. I am not going to confess to you anymore. PD, let’s cancel this scene.
        Lego was leaving the room.
        Kirsten: (In Korean) kajima, saranghae.

    • Thanks for the translation!!!!!! I think it’s a good thing that Rong Rong doesn’t seem to take herself that seriously, hence she can just brush off Lego’s onscreen rejection. 🙂

      • Thanks JJK for the translation! That was so mischievous of Kirsten! Lol. She really brings life to these BTS scenes.

  18. I know no one is reading this anymore, but I could not watch until today. I have watched and rewatched that ending so many times that I do not think I will sleep without dreaming of my OTP (not a bad thing!). I have always liked Jia En, but I feel as though she really grew up in this episode. I do not think she has been lied to so blatantly before as she was lied to by Liu Chan’s dad. Now she really gets it and gets him and what it has cost him to be such a great guy. He has been helping her since the beginning of the series, and she is definitely ready to help him and up to the challenge. Part of the problem I think he has had with others is that everyone expects him to solve everything–to lean on him. He needs someone to lean on, and Jia En has shown (even before this episode) that she is the perfect person on which to relay and to place trust.

    But I have to give a shout out–RI QI and XIAO WEI for the Win!!! They are completely adorable here.

  19. I watched it today too! So so so happy with this episode. Utterly amazing. It’s one of the days I’m glad I understand Mandarin. This is what I miss when watching kdramas.

  20. i will watch it later, too!
    been mastering wu bai’s song in the past weeks since ep.12.. totally influenced by this drama.. thumb up!

  21. I’m catching up on IAG and this episode is sooo good. Indeed, this is Jia En’s ep. She really did shine. That confession has to be one of the cutest thing everrhh. And Bai Xue’s realization of an imaginary love is spot on. I love how strong and realistic she is. I’m loving all the developments.

  22. I agree, this was the best confession ever. It was so amazing and heartfelt IDE. It made me realise that Jia En really understands Liu Chuan more than anybody.

    When Liu Chuan was misunderstood by everybody and even the audience, she understood what he was going through. That he was unable to express the frustration he felt towards the people who looked up to him and so he decided to go into a cave. He even put their relationship on hold just to deal with his own problems first. Not because it’s a plot device, but because it’s the right thing to do. How can you go into a relationship with a person when you feel a boundary so huge that it blocks communication with her?

    From the comments I realised the drama didn’t show effectively that Liu Chuan genuinely could not go on with the relationship. And that it’s not just some angst thing. But it’s okay, the confession already explained everything. It was perfectly concise and was for Liu Chuan afterall, not for the audience. Many Taiwan dramas make the mistake of explaining things to the audience rather than putting character relationships, motivations and reactions at priority.

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