BLISS RATING: ★★★★
“Cooking is like love. It should be entered into with abandon or not at all.” – Harriet Van Horne
Warm, soft, gentle, tender. These adjectives best describe this adorable BL series. Sure, it does not go deep enough but it did tackle topics that are normally glossed over or not talked about in other BL series. Briefly, it is a story about two couples, neither one is the ‘main’ couple, however. It is a short series of about 15 to 18 minutes for each of the 10 episodes.
The one couple is a budding relationship between a rather persnickety pastry chef named Sung YiFan [Kent], (David Chiu) who partners up with a rising musician, named Kane, (Chen Chang Fan) to promote a symbiotic partnership. Kent seems cold and distant but that is just a façade. He can and does make beautiful pastry creations, so it is obvious he has a warm, softer side to him (which he does). Kane, on the other hand, is a bit narcissistic and immediately distrusts this whole arrangement. He prides himself on capturing anyone within 8 seconds, which is the name of his song that he created. (The song ‘Eight Seconds’ reoccurs throughout this series and can be interpreted in many unique ways).
Kent offers him a bet that if he can get him to like a pastry he will create for him (which Kane generally dislikes) in one bite, he must agree to the arrangements and be obligated to him for winning the bet. When Kent prepares the pastry, Kane takes one bite, fully expecting to not like it, but thoroughly enjoys it, as the expression on his face obviously says so. Thus, begins their connection.
Honestly, this scene could have been trite, but the acting here makes it believable, and you can sense a connection between the two. There is almost an immediate attraction between the two of them and when Kent is confronted with his phobia of being in the dark, Kane helps him and as they look into each other’s eyes (for more than eight seconds), they are drawn together and kiss. Kent is much more into Kane, as Kane is just not sure of what a commitment really looks like.
I relished the idea that it was Kent who assertively revealed that he liked Kane, which he knows at this early stage is only one sided. Kane who is way more outgoing and expressive, should have been the pursuer but he realized that this budding connection is being felt in a more deeply more intense fashion and is leaning towards increased commitment.
This symbiotic arrangement that they have is offering unique cakes and music arrangements for wedding ceremonies. In this case, their first customer is a gay couple named Noah, (Xi Teng Chen) and his boyfriend Soda, (Yu Lun Song). Kane is shocked to realize that Soda is getting married. Soda was his first love years ago when they were in college. Thus begins their tale of re-litigating old memories some of which are very painful and difficult to deal with. What appears to us as observers is that they both have feelings for each other that are unresolved and perhaps the marriage and relationship between Soda and Noah is in jeopardy. Yes, there is no doubt that they have strong feelings for each other, but is all in the past?
Seeing each other made them both question their own current realities but in a new and different light. Intuitively, they realized they were not in ‘love’ with each other. It was more like being in love with love. It was all memories — remembering the ‘highs’ from being together. But as you get older, you begin to see things in different perspectives and at different angles. Soda was NOT in love with Kane anymore and Kane was also NOT in love with Soda anymore; only the memory of that.
Those memories are extremely powerful and give you a sense of comfort and you have fond, warm feelings of those days’ past. I know from personal experience what those feelings are. I have been in ‘love’ before and have such tender moments of thoughts about those days and sometimes even erotic thoughts, but I know that it is a fantasy. Who I can touch, feel, and be with now is the real world and that real world is awesome. They had to realize that in their own unique way. Kent, for his winning the bet, told Kane to be happy no matter what the cost, even if that meant not caring about him. Therefore, Kane must come to grips with what will make him happy and what cost will that be, not reliving the past or relying on the past for guidance. He does. He chooses…..
Who really S.T.O.L.E. the series? David Chiu as Kent is the story. He presents two facades. The outer one is strong and seemingly tough while the inner one is a scared little boy. This was a good acting challenge to present such a person not for either pity or admiration but only for understanding. This role was deeper than I was expecting but it showed us so many sides to Kent. Impressive and kudos.
There are a lot of flaws in this series. It is choppy, feels rushed, and perhaps their individual actions seem contrived. But it is a warm and surprisingly sensitive story. The main characters and supporting roles are gifted with the perfection of beauty. It all worked for me because I know how irrational we are as humans. We do things that sometimes make no sense and realize that what we have right in front of us is what is really best for us. This series showed that and these characters, even with all their vulnerabilities, did not succumb to the past but had the strength to see things as they are; not what might have been or was.
Maybe I made this too complex or read too much into this series, but this is what I got from it. I have been there with them. They made the right decisions; I did not. So, I understand their mixed emotions and the difficulty of making these decisions. Of course, I wanted more from this series, but it did tackle the difficulty of making a commitment to another person and do so with the idea you are doing it for the rest of your life.
Is this more difficult for gay couples? I do not know but I think it is. We still to some degree have the stigma of being gay with others just waiting in the wings to say loudly, “See I told you so. Gay marriage will not work”. We are scared, frightened, and unsure but we are also wanting love, to be loved, and to feel secure in that feeling. This was a good first attempt at showing this, perhaps clumsily, but it was there.
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