There is such a lovely romantic simplicity to In A Good Way. All this talk of Christmas parties and dancing and makeovers are really quaint but I enjoy watching it so much because it all occurs in the still formative years of a bunch of college students. Some are more worldly than others, but still its very entertaining to see everyone trying to have fun and bumbling their way through the confusing morass of their feelings. Episode 6 was yet another fantastic episode with all the action centered around the campus Christmas party but there was lots of great developments in every aspect of the story. Jia En’s friendship with the girls has been such a treat to watch, with Tracy being very helpful and candid with Jia En but still complimenting her all the time on her strong suits. Bai Xue is every inch the perfect mentor and friend, even if she’s clearly clued in that Liu Chuan might like Jia En. What I like about Bai Xue is that she doesn’t force things, which is probably why nothing has changed in her friendship with Liu Chuan. She likes him but doesn’t want to risk losing the comfortable friendship they have so she has never made it known unlike all the girls around him.
I’m not saying that if she told him then he would reciprocate because I’ve seen none of that from him, but she did have a choice about whether to confess and she chose not to so now she is watching Liu Chuan falling for Jia En before her eyes. I’m relieved Jia En’s makeover finally arrived and am actually thrilled she did it herself! She chose her own style and beautifully donned her first party dress to wow all her classmates and she stayed true to herself. I’m a little disappointed Jia En didn’t find out that Liu Chuan is 3631, because the earlier she finds out the quicker their friendship can start getting new clarity. I don’t necessarily think Liu Chuan will confess his feelings when he tells her but it would help if Jia En discovered the extent of her connection with Liu Chuan. Ren Wei continues to be adorable as both Bai Xue’s suitor as well as Jia En’s friend but I don’t know what to think of the possibility that he may have feelings for Jia En one day. I love their friendship too much to have it ruined, and it will be ruined because Jia En has Liu Chuan around to call her “Joan” and step up to dance with her when he dances with no one else. How could she ever pick Ren Wei when there is Liu Chuan?
Episode 6 baby recap:
Liu Chuan and Jia En run into each other on the MRT Muzha Line, with Liu Chuan realizing that Jia En is his BBS online chat buddy Sky but Jia En doesn’t know he’s 3631 yet. She apologizes for pressing him to share what was bothering him and that was overstepping as a friend. He accepts her apology and they’ve technically made up but still the mood is awkward between them. At the Treasure Hunting club, talk turns to the upcoming Christmas party where a girl is voted the queen of the ball and Bai Xue has won the last two years. Every year the Schumann piano concerto plays and legend has it that any pair that dances to the tune will become a couple, but they have to stop before the final notes otherwise they will break up. Last year a couple of girls fought over who got to dance with Liu Chuan but he took them aside and resolved it smoothly. When Ah Qing presses him on what exactly he said to resolve the situation, Liu Chuan is unwilling to answer since he doesn’t gossip like that. Ah Qing goes to ask Jia En to ask Liu Chuan and she fairly yells at him to leave off and not push Liu Chuan because if he doesn’t want to say anything then he won’t.
Ren Wei and his Men of Steel are discussing the party as well with Ren Wei determined to dance with Bai Xue. Jia En claims she doesn’t want to go but Ren Wei pushes her as a friend to continue trying new things and not get scared. Ren Wei asks Bai Xue to the party but turns out she’s on the planning committee with Liu Chuan so she uses working the party that night to decline. Ren Wei mistakenly thinks she’s into magic and decides to learn some tricks to impress her that night. Liu Chuan asks Ah Qing what to do if there is a fight with a girl and they’ve made but it’s still weird. Ah Qing claims the girl is just playing hard to get and wants to have Liu Chuan keep thinking about her. They run into Jia En with Tracy and Xiao Wei and Ah Qing immediately zooms over to pick up Tracy. Liu Chuan only has eyes for Jia En and Xiao Wei notices it. Liu Chuan quickly takes his leave because the mood is weird since Jia En is very polite and formal around him, introducing him as a sunbae.
Jia En girlfriends Tracy, Xiao Wei, and Bai Xue all try to encourage her to go to the party and Tracy decides to take them all out shopping. All the girls buy something except for Jia En and Bai Xue tells her that even if appearances are not the most important it is still one part of who we all are. Jia En goes online and chats with 3631 and admits she wants to go to the ball but she’s afraid of being embarrassed. She envies the Taipei girls who all know how to dress whereas she’s so dorky. Liu Chuan tells Jia En that she’s not dorky in the least and encourages her to think of her best assets and show it up and still be herself. She needs to love herself before others will love her. Liu Chuan promises to dance one dance with her at the party so she’s not embarrassed.
Jia En decides to go to the party and spends all day getting ready. Ren Wei comes to pick her up and he’s wearing a full coat and tails. Jia En walks down the stairs and everybody gapes at how pretty she looks wearing a short white dress. Ren Wei jokes that if she wasn’t his best friend Lin Jia En he might just fall in love with her. They arrive at the party and meet up with Xiao Wei, Tracy, Jacky, and Ah Di. Everyone compliments Jia En’s makeover and they head inside, with Ren Wei hilariously offering up his arm to Jia En and she asks if he has back pain since he’s sticking out his elbow like that and Ren Wei tells her that she’s so pretty that she needs to be his arm candy. The party goes underway and Jia En is quite the hit. She gets a note from 3631 to meet him outside. She heads out while Ren Wei tries to get Bai Xue to dance with him and eventually they do towards the end of the piano concerto.
Jia En goes out to meet 3631 but Liu Chuan has to step away to help the drunk and puking Jacky and Ah Di. Jia En finds a bag containing a note from 3631 and a pair of earrings as a present. She puts the earrings on and heads back to the party just in time to be crowned the queen of the ball. She gets to pick a dance and Jia En awkwardly says she only knows how to jitterbug. The music comes on and no guys step forward to dance since no one knows how to jitterbug. My heart fairly leapt into my throat when a familiar figure in a blue suit jacket steps up to Jia En and says “Joan” and she turns around to see Liu Chuan smiling at her and extending his hand to ask her to dance.
Jia En and Liu Chuan dance together while Bai Xue watches forlornly from the side, having been looking for Liu Chuan to dance with all night. Ri Qi asks Xiao Wei to dance and Ah Qing also manages to get Tracy to dance with him. The party ends as a success. Liu Chuan walks Jia En home and puts his jacket around her to keep her warm. He hears that she was supposed to meet a BBS online pal who never showed up. He’s about to confess when her protective parents arrive to bring her home since she just missed curfew. Jia En wakes up the next day feeling like it was all very magical, especially the earrings she received. She reads on the BBS portal postings about her with guys talking about how pretty she is and how they all want to get to know her better.
Everyone gathers at the outdoor lunch tables and when Jia En arrives with Bai Xue, Tracy, and Xiao Wei, other guys offer her a coke which confirms she’s now very popular. Ri Qi makes a joke that Xiao Wei looks like omega (meaning her hair) and everyone winks at how they are getting close. Ah Qing tries to recruit Tracy to the Treasure Hunting club but gets shot down. Everyone thinks Jia En looks different and prettier now. Jia En wants to find out who 3631 is because he hasn’t been online since the party and she hears from Ah Di and Ren Wei that Liu Chuan is the webmaster of the CDU BBS portal so only he can help her. Jia En rushes to find Liu Chuan and asks him to help her find 3631 and reveals she thinks he’s got someone in the family in politics since she’s gone back to read his old postings. Liu Chuan looks alarmed at her request.
Click here to watch In A Good Way.
AHHHHH~ LOVE U! I’m going to watch it once my download is complete~
You can’t miss the BTS for this episode. Full of love & laugh out loud hilarious moments. Unsubbed BTS here: http://m.youtube.com/watch?v=KOhxMov2qP0
Um, I may be under the influence of major shipping endorphins, but this is possibly the greatest thing I’ve ever seen. I am dying of the cuteness that is Lego and Kirsten. DYING.
i love the BTS, it’s too hilarious. can they be any more adorable, lol. but i think Lego Lee was kind of mean tho the way he makes fun of Kristen. but still cute.
Would you mind translating how he made fun of her?
im quite sure i cant be the only one who can’t wait to see what you have to say about the latest BTS 😉
Renwei is so much win! ♥
I fell in love with him in this episode.
Me too! He is such an adorable friend for jia en and his courting of bai xue is too cute! Gah that moment when she came down the stairs and ren wei saw her …swoon~~
Im soo glad I love everyone in this show, its such a nice feeling! I just finished watchig the episode raw so thanks ms koala for the recap. Now just have to wait until the subbers finish their work so I can watch it again!
yes, especially after watching the vapid Heirs where everyone was so unlikable and annoying.
WHY ARE THEY SO CUTE???? Why must you post such cute photos of them together, Koala??? I can’t handle their cuteness. Must watch this episode now. I like the “who’s 3631?” game but they better not drag it out.
I like how they include real college activities into the drama, not just house parties or random meetings in the city at some bar lol. It all feels natural–not forced. This drama is so laidback and easy to watch without any angst (yet) lol. It only pains me that it’s once a week. The finale won’t be til after the holidays, ack.
My thoughts exactly.
I enjoyed this episode immensely. So good.
Though I wanted to punch someone at the end when JiaEn still doesn’t know who 3631 is. I totally understand why, and I have to say it’s quite nicely written and believable. Like you, I want JiaEn to know, to see how their relationship is gonna turn out, to see them take next step, or not. Lol, impatient audience here.
I love how the friendships are being played out in these couple of episodes. RenWei is such a good friend. And it’s so lovely to see Tracy, Xiao Wei, Jia En and Bai Xue bond together.
And the BTS is just…..omg I couldn’t stop grinning!! So fun to see them having a good time filming. It’s always nice to see that kinda camaraderie on and off screen.
The usual laid back, and absolutely natural sense of love developing – this episode was another win for me!
Really like how Jia En has a good head on her shoulders, being more eager to find her online buddy whom she can chat with, then to draw closer to the campus hottie who has shown interest in her.
Personally do feel for Bai Xue as well.
I hope the story will continue to develop them as sane, considerate beings – please don’t throw in angst and dramatic plots for the sake of it! Campus life is exciting enough without crazy plots!
I love it when they dance together. It’s as if they are in their own little world. Loving all of it.
I can’t gush enough about our OTP on and off-screen. The glances, awkwardness, awareness and just the friendship, as a whole, is love.
Anyways, I also love the way the other pairings were introduced here, it just feels organic. Campus parties just have away in making people hyper-aware of the opposite sex, and the writer was able to utilized it very well.
My happy pill right now, LC and JE! 🙂
OHHHHMYGEE!!! this show activates my drama addiction button. and that’s thanks to you oh captain my captain for introducing this to me. i found this bts and gee,it made me more crazy. how i wish somebody would translate it. heheh!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=FrAa1-gI1B0
IKR!!!!!!! So addicted to this gem and all thanks to our captain. 🙂
For episode 1 bts translation, you can check sphereofgray(.)wordpress(.)com
These 2 are really so adorable and comfortable around each other. Every friday, aside from the drama itself, I also look forward to the BTS. 🙂
awwww!!! thankies for the link 🙂
I do love this show and the way the relationship development is so realistic. I do have to say I’m surprised that no one has mentioned Liu Chuan’s misstep with Jia En. She apologized to him so sincerely and he was all ok thanks for understanding……whut?! And she asks do you have anything else to say to me? and he’s all ……ahhhhhh…. nope. Ummmm what the heck? He was just as rude to her and he did not apologize! And he is so Obilvious he doesnt even think he has anything to be sorry about. What’s up with that? I don’t like that, he’s been pretty great as a guy so far so I was kinda confused about that. Are the writers going to address that or just move on. Is it just me that was annoyed by that?
I was definitely thrown by that too! Don’t know what the writers are aiming for, but I hope it’s explained later on.
On the other hand, another great episode. Ren Wei and Jia En are the best <3 Ri Qi and Xiao Wei are adorable. Not sure about my stance on Tracy and Ah Qing so far, but Tracy is so pretty, and Ah Qing is handsome, ridiculous, and hilarious, and they're both social butterflies, so I could definitely see it work. Bai Xue is all sad because of ChuanEn and I need her to get over Liu Chuan because she is making me sad being being sad, poor baby. Ren Wei is great and ridiculous, and if he really does get a love line with Bai Xue, I'll be happy to watch it. Aaand, of course, Liu Chuan and Jia En were adorable together. Loved how playful they were during the jitterbug dance. Their expressions were the cutest. Also think it's very telling how Jia En backs off immediately after their fight and becomes distant, and while both are dissatisfied with their 99% make-up, Liu Chuan is the one who tries to fix it (because he is the one being closed out, rather the one doing the closing out this time). Glad he's making an effort this time, since I've been pretty disappointed with his lack of response to Jia En's recent apologies.
Must address the BTS too, of course, since it's one of my favorite parts of the show! This week's the one of the best, imo. Regardless of whether or not they'll ever be together, or if it's put on or not, the interactions between Rong Rong and Guo Yi are impossibly adorable. This week's BTS was essentially an episode of 'Let's tease Rong Rong' hosted by Lego Li, and it was the best thing ever. (If anyone hasn't watched it yet, GO DO IT.) The teasing of her smile was a little mean, but it wasn't malicious, and was so utterly adorable that I'm having a hard time being bothered at all.
I have a feeling that his closed-offness & the double-standard that he holds Jia En to about not shutting him out of her pain is going to build up to a bigger storyline/reveal later in the show w/r/t him and his father. He definitely should’ve apologized to her, and I think the show is very conscious of that. I actually find it very interesting that he’s so into freedom and self-sufficiency–he’s established as this impossibly mature, put-together guy–but he’s as lost as Jia En is, just in different ways. Opening up will be a big struggle for him, and I look forward to seeing his walls come down when it happens!
Yes, the character has a lot of growth left in the months of episodes ahead. He isn’t going to say he is sorry because he still hasn’t figured out what the heck he is feeling right now.
He IS closing her and the world off. He has a lot of secrets he is afraid of revealing. He doesn’t trust people will be able to accept him as he really is.
All of this is incredibly realistic. It hurts to watch him try to figure it out on his own, and I also can’t wait to see how much better he will feel once he starts to open up to JE.
Yeah, there is a really beautifully understated emotional core to this that is just mesmerizing. Like trotwood said in the comment below, there really don’t need to be big melodramatic plot turns because the emotional hook of the show–two people learning who they are and what they want out of life, and falling in love in the process–has a lot of inherent tension in it. So excited to see this continue to develop!
Is there any subbed bts videos of In A Good Way??? Can someone please link them
I just got to watch this episode. Can I say how much I like the fact that Tracy tells Ah Quing to “look at my face” and does not ditch her friends when they are sitting and she is clearly more popular than they are. I also like the Xiao Wei loveline and how slow she was to figure out “omega”; how true. I would have been that slow. I like the fact that the show is letting us like everyone and understands (keeping my fingers crossed that the writers remember this to the end) that we do not need a traditional villain (withcy second lead girl, crazy snobby mother, mafia overlord holding the mortgage on the tea house) to build up tension because being in school was tense enough. I was as excited and nervous about this Christmas party as if I were 18 again and going to my first one.
What I love about this drama is the subtle little details given to each characters, even secondary ones. Like it’s established before how Xiao Wei is coming from financially struggling parents and this episode had her checking out the price tag of a dress. It was just a brief scene, no big showing of her lamenting her poor state that dramas usually love to do to poor characters and I really appreciate that. Btw, who else finds XW and Ri Qi’s game of alphabetizing people beyond adorable? (Omega! More like Omagah so cute!)
Oh, also this episode was so cute but I’m missing Momo already. Good thing he’s back next ep!
Miss Koala, the opening song is out!
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mhzPLC38FwA&list=PL7YGgVCW4Nnk6VrLoyN5K3u8aVwlOrZcm
Maybe it was this episode because of the dancing but I’m finding the drama to be slightly awkward. I’m loving the subtle connections the characters have and the lack of zany is refreshing but I find the drama to be awkward in an unspoken way. Take for example, rw and bx’s dance, they’re supposed to be in their own world but the dance itself was so random that it distracted from the emotions.
It may also be that I find BX to be slightly untrustworthy, something about her screams bad news when she sees LC interacting with JE. I’m starting to find it difficult to watch for the awkward moments between the side characters, but I’m pulled into the drama more by the chemistry of the OTP.
I too found the BX and RW a bit awkward.. I mean there were no sparks flying or anything.. but I think it was supposed to convey that BX has started to accept the fact that LC will never reciprocate her feelings and its time to move on and take notice of someone who actually does like her..As Koala mentioned somewhere, BX is/was interested in LC.. thats obvious.. but she is not the type to force herself on him thereby making their friendship awkward
I am a bit confused by LC in episode 6.. So has he realised that he likes JE? or does he still think she just is a reallly good friend and has not realised that he has crossed the border btw friendship and love as yet?