ToGetHer 愛就宅一起 - Episode 11 (A Contest Squeecap)

Trotwood: I am back to try to help finish up our promise. There has been a lot of anger and slap threats going on in these posts. But this episode gives us love and loss but little anger on my part. The episodes don’t have titles, but I’m calling this one “I Really Want to See My Mom.”
kakashi: *sniff*
Sparks: It's nice to tap into much sweeter (and some sadder) emotions for a while. 
JoAnne: We're so close to the end...that kiss better be from Mars.
Shuk: As long as WeiBiatch doesn't show up, I'm pretty okay with it.

Episode 11

The episode opens at Jia Sen’s practice pool. Momo is waiting for him, and she doesn’t look happy. Even when Jia Sen goes up to her, she doesn’t look very happy. He wants her to smile, so he goes back to the pool to show her some tricks he’s learned. All of his teammates ooh and aah over him doing marital arts in the water, but really they look like synchronized swimming moves. More importantly, Momo is mentally thanking him for being by her side since she was small and wishing she could stop time to before Mars came into their lives. Why. Are you stupid, girl? Afterwards, she tells him that she isn’t coming over the next day because she is going to visit her parents, and she wants to go alone to sort some things out.
His tricks looked like something a kid would come up with. I don't get why his teammates were so impressed?
I'm giggling like crazy over the typo, please leave it in.
She just needs to get motivated to scrape him off. Sorry. Jia Sen, but you wore out your welcome 5 episodes ago. No doubt he's a sweet boy who needs lots and lots of therapy.

Next day finds us in front of Mars’s new apartment. He comes out with a bag and Yi Zhi pulls up. They are up bright and early to get to a shoot. Yi Zhi’s impressed at his good mood. He’s even thought to bring Yi Zhi breakfast. He is so excited about today’s shoot that he couldn’t sleep. While on the drive, the film crew calls saying that they have decided to change the location and to film outside. This makes Yi Zhi angry. It’s such a last minute change. How can Mars prepare for it? See, the old Mars made gigantic fusses over stuff like this. New Mars isn’t worried. It’s a beautiful day. Besides of course he’s prepared; he’s memorized everything. Yi Zhi is impressed.
He's become the consummate entertainment professional.
Mars has become so laid back and chipper. :)
New Mars has on too much shirt.
Still with a V-shaped neckline, so it's a good thing.

Meanwhile, Momo is home talking to Mumu and commiserating with him about the both of them missing Mars. She is wondering why she is always alone and feeling so lonely. I get the feeling that she was always this way but didn’t realize what she was missing until Mars came into her life. That whole Tennyson business about it better to have loved and lost than never to have loved at all (from In Memoriam, which is—by the way—about the death of his very best friend not a lover) or Congreve’s “tis better to have been left than never to have been loved” is a bunch of crap my friends. Momo’s misery is exhibit A. She wasn’t happy before Mars, but she wasn’t bereft either like she is now.

I wonder. A sweet, short happiness and then horrible misery vs. constant, dull unhappiness? I'm not sure.
Maybe Mumu wouldn't be lonely if she kept him in her room like she's supposed to instead of locked in isolation for a year? 
Maybe someone could go out and make another friend out of the 1 billion people wandering the streets?
In all honesty, I'm surprised she still hasn't gained any social skills in a year to expand her base of friends and acquaintances. After being in a holding pattern for an entire year, I don't know if I have a lot of sympathy for her. 

Momo’s scene at the cemetery at her parents’ grave is heartbreaking. She tells them that her sister is taking care of her (really?) and that she is fine. I would lie about this to my dead parents too! So that they don't need to worry in the afterlife. Um, if they can hear you, they can also know it's a lie. What Jo said. She just wants to know why she is always alone. She wants to know why if he likes her and she likes him, why she is still alone. This is the question we are ALL asking, Momo!! She asks her parents to look after him and to wish him well because he is such a good person and is working so hard. Good thing Mars can’t see her here. He’d probably kidnap her and run away with her.
Yes to heartbreaking. But is she really NOT realizing that she made a decision (though pressured) and acted on it and now has to bear the consequences?
But she's wishing why the decision had to even be made. Why couldn't they just be in love and be happy and have no obstacles? Um, because that's life, Missy!
Exactly.  It's not that she doesn't know why they are the way they are, and it's not that she's questioning the decision she made. She believes that the circumstances of her life result in this particular way, and she wishes it weren't true.
She barely moved from her non-action non-decision-making and let everything happened to her. So it's silly to feel that circumstances bullied her into her solitude and aloneness. But I like that she wears his scarf to talk to her parents.

She goes to the bus stop to wait for the bus. When it arrives, screaming fans come running off talking about how Mars is going to film here now. She hesitates about getting on bus.
Okay, now THAT is a decision that I call halfway intelligent.
Go, go, go!!!
If they're getting off the bus, he's going to film where she is currently. Getting on the bus means going AWAY from Mars. Doesn't it? So DON"T go, go, go! (I meant go after the girls. lol)
It's an excellent decision to go race to your love, even if you have to trample all those twinkies to do it. She has sensible shoes, so it won't hurt her...

At the film site, they are wrapping up. Ha. Yi Zhi is warning them again about not changing the filming schedule last minute. But who is that peeking through the tall grass as the fans gather around Mars? Momo! She didn’t get on the bus. She stayed just for a peek and  . . . walks away (UUGGH).
It's her terribly low self-esteem. She still thinks he is not for her.
Yes. But she should remember what he said at the dance and take courage from that.
Just a peek - like that poster she keeps rolled away in her bedroom...
It's all she trusts herself with, awww.  I disagree that it is her self-esteem that is the issue, though. It's her misguided take on what friendship requires and also on whether she fits with Mars, living such different types of lives.  

However, fate cannot be denied. Yes, sometimes, fate is useful. While Mars and Yi Zhi are driving away, he glimpses her walking down one of the paths. He makes Yi Zhi back up the car to see. He gets out and calls to her. She stops like a deer in the headlights, wondering what to do. He calls again, but the fans come running. She takes off. So does he. The chase begins. (Note: Whenever I see fans chasing after someone, I think of the opening of A Hard Day's Night)
Someone explain to me why she is running.
Impulse? And then once she started she couldn't stop? Plus that mob of fans would run over over? This chase up and down streets cracks me up. 
Maybe she thinks it would be too hard to face him?  She wants to be with him but feels she can't be.
Just stop already and let him tackle-hug you, dammit!!

They play this cat and mouse game for a bit until they finally come face to face on top of a levee. What a random location, lol. It's the one place she had no escape route. He wants to know why she is avoiding him, but she just turns away so he can’t see her tears. He walks up to her taking her hand and is about to say something when he sees her tears, but before he can really talk to her, the fans show up. They take off again and wind up in the middle of a lake on a motorboat. When he cuts the engine, he tries to talk to her. The scenery here is so beautiful. I wonder where they are.
I LOVE the way his hand just tentatively slides into hers as he sidles around to look her in the face. And then he reaches up to wipe her tears - so tender.  
This was truly lovely but they stole a boat, guys.
Maybe it's owned by a fan who will forgive him. And if the owner refuses to prosecute, then he's golden.

Anyway, he jokes about her coming to see him, but she is quick to correct him and tell him about visiting her parents. He thinks this must be why she is crying. He tries to lighten the mood by asking her questions. How is her sister? Did she rent the room? Did she see him on tv? Did she hear about the Kasaba show? He's one of these people who babble when they're nervous. Yes. She just wants to go back, so he gives up and tries to start the engine, but it’s stalled. He immediately calls Yi Zhi to help them. I like how he doesn’t use this as a ploy to stay longer when she clearly wants to go.

It's why we like him so.
I know we're a little mad at Yi Zhi but his running back and forth: "Lake...! Lake...! Which lake?!!" So funny.
It's amusing that it isn't the tired "Oops out of gas let's spark in the backseat" ploy. He really had no motive other than to spend time with her.

He still wants to know why she is avoiding him. But she just starts going on about how she is used to being alone—eating alone, walking home alone, watching television alone. She keeps crying as she says this, but he’s noticed something important. She is wearing his wrist band, so he calls her out on her lying about being used to being alone. Why won’t she admit that she wants him by her side? Yes, why? Why won’t she answer his question about whether she has ever liked him? Yes, why? She wants him to answer why she always has to be alone? He tells her to trust him. He won’t ever let her be alone again. Then KISS TIME. He kisses her. And they really kiss and kiss. Let the heavens be praised!!!!!! I am not embarrassed at all at how many times I replayed this scene. We were owed, people. We are owed.
And all this standing up on a boat. I am very impressed.
He finally realizes she's saying it in everything she's not saying. It's a little dizzying but worth it. Head movement and everything. Finally!!
KISSES YES
I was happy watching this after what felt like years of waiting for this. Yaaassss!

They are adorable on the way back with the rescue boat as he puts all his numbers in her phone. She wonders why, and he says, so she can always find him. They smile so sweetly about this that my sides ached. However, I want a gif of this scene, because I find the stick figure of Yi Zhi waving in the background on shore adorable.
He's waving so enthusiastically at their backs. I love that Mars thought to give her all those numbers. 
He wants to be found. I love him.

Keep this in your memory, guys because the episode gets painful.
Lalaaaa, can't hear you.
Deef, I'm deef.
Oh, no, don't tell me...

First, we have to go to Jia Sen’s house. Why? Momo tries to tell him something important, but his mom just shows up with the application packet for a school in England. Really? The woman has picked out a university for her, too? She needs a trip to boundary land STAT. She must be seeing Momo’s hesitation because she tells her to think about it. This makes Jia Sen get worried and wondering why his mom thinks Momo doesn’t want to go. She quickly assures him and says that Momo has a lot to do before she can be ready to leave. Wow. Back pedaling much? Fearful that he isn’t really “all better” much?  I’d be ready to get out my slapping gloves if I weren’t still basking in the glow from that kiss.
RAAAAAAAGE!
Grrr. Can't we forget about them yet? 
The US National Center for Biotechnology compared mental facilities in New York state, Taipei, and Zienjiang Mental Hospital in mainland China and found there are more females admitted to Taipei City Psychiatric Center than the other locations. Looking at Wei Mama, I can totally understand this.

Momo meets Mars for dinner. Hahaaaa, his camouflage. He notices that she seems down, so he tells her if she is bored or unhappy, he will always try to do something about that because he loves seeing her smile. This makes her smile. (so cute these two). But he gets a phone call. His mother has fainted. He needs to leave immediately. (Can I say here that I was worried about the check? We all know Momo cannot afford to eat in places like this)
Gah!! The way his hand just wraps around hers! I never thought I had a hand fetish but seriously! (And I worried about the check, too! lol)
His hands are gorgeous and I never once thought of the check. Hands.
Hopefully Yi Zhi is nearby to pay for it, just in case.

Turns out that his mom fainted because her cancer is back. Is back, he asks? She never told him she had cancer in the first place. She had breast cancer three years ago, and they thought everything was going well, but the cancer is back with tumors spreading. The worst part is that his mother doesn’t seem to want to get chemotherapy. In fact, they have an argument about him wanting to take care of her. She insists that he keep working—even going back to the press conference for that afternoon. She threatens that she will stop seeing the doctor altogether if he stops working just to take care of her. *Sigh* She hasn’t worked all this time to for him to be successful for him to quit now. This seems particularly cruel considering how much he actually likes spending time with her, and she doesn’t have much time left. However, I’m going to say this now. If I’m dying, people better just better do whatever the hell I say.
I kinda get her, but I don't like that she's someone else blackmailing people into doing what she wants them to do. Doesn't he also have a right to be with her and care for her if he wants to? 
Is his career that precarious that spending a little time with his dying mother could hurt it? (I hated when they wrestled over her IV, too. Needles and IVs skeeve me out!)
No, he does not have a right to take care of her or be with her if she doesn't want him with her. But I wish she'd reconsider.
I'm guessing he hasn't had a lot of contact with her over the last few years, so it's cruel of her to not to spend more time with him, knowing the grim reaper is standing behind your playing Soul Candy Crush

We get exposition of the following time from the fan girls at school reading news reports about Mars and his sick mother and he keeps on working. He really is working a lot and fitting in visiting his mother whenever he gets. Both Yi Zhi and Momo are worried about him because even if he only gets to spend ten minutes, he’ll travel to get to see her. His response to Yi Zhi is that he just wants to see his mom; it doesn’t matter how short of a time they have. And his working really is making her happy. He gets to sit with her while she sees his new MV, for example. They look so happy.
Okay, he is making this work. Kinda.
It's a horrible, tough thing to go through no matter what your career path. He's getting that quality time in, that's what matters.
Tiny dribs and drabs, all the more precious for their brevity.

He gets a couple of minutes one night to call Momo. She will only talk to him briefly because she is worried about him getting enough rest so he can take care of his mother. He tells her that he thinks his mom is doing better. When he comes out into the stairwell looking for Yi Zhi though, Yi Zhi is in tears. I love that Mars assumes his manager is being bullied again. But that’s not it. Yi Zhi tells Mars through his tears that his mother has passed away.
Oh no. Poor, poor boy.
I love the Yi Zhi hid to cry. Trying to be strong for Mars but got caught. Poor, sad Mars!
This is so sad. He really believed she would improve, I think.
Poor poor guy. Come here, gimme a hug. in one of your V-shirts.

Mars disappears. He doesn’t tell anyone where he is going. The phone calls are coming in frantically to the agency and Tony Ge is having a fit. He demands to see Yi Zhi and begs Yi Zhi to tell him where Mars is. Yi Zhi really doesn’t know, which Tony find hard to believe, but he says he understands about Mars needing to take a break, but communication is important. He needs to hear from him so he knows what to tell people.
Maybe tell them that your cash cow needs time for himself? I wish this guy had his back at least once.
The least they can allow him is all that time he didn't get to take while she was still alive. And I doubt he wants all the public sympathy rubbed in his face while he's grieving.
Tony is running a business. How does he not have Mars back? He's not raging at him to return, he's asking for information. How long is Mars going to be away? How many projects will have to be rearranged for how many different people? What projects will need to be cancelled altogether because they can't make all the schedules work? These are real things that require real work and they cannot be done unless Mars gives at least minimal information. Tony isn't at fault here. He's trying to do his job.
I can see both sides of this. Yes, Mars should give Tony Ge a date for his return. He has become this conscientious in the past year. But right now, he probably feels like he can barely move, much less see himself out of his sadness. He can't see a future without his mother.

We cut to the classroom and the university. The fan girls/exposition fairies are reading the newspaper and talking about how Mars has disappeared for two weeks and may be taking a break from the industry to get over his mother’s death. Momo hears this and tries to call him again, but her call goes straight to voicemail. Yi Zhi calls her to ask her if Mars is with her. He doesn’t initially believe her when she says she hasn’t heard from him either. Finally, he just asks her to tell him if she sees him.  Of course, as she is saying this, Mars is showing up in front of her house.
Two weeks and he didn't even call Momo? 
His behavior is excessive.

She is at work, listening to her colleague complain that she worked so hard to get those Mars concert tickets and it looks like the show will be cancelled now. Momo gets a frantic call from her sister telling her she needs to come home NOW. Mars is there!

It is so touching he went back to her place.
He looks like a lost waif, too.
He finally realizes that she is his anchor. I hope she realizes it too.

Momo makes an excuse at work and leaves. She rushes home busting into the house only to be shushed by her sister because Mars is asleep. She gives Momo a blanket to take into the room. There she finds Mars sleeping on the mattress with Mumu. She puts the blanket on him and touches his face.
Ohhhhhh.
So sweet. But the blanket doesn't even cover his bare feet?
They should have yanked the one off the sofa and covered him with that one, too.
The blanket thing bugged me, too. Don't they have a bigger blanket? They have to remember how much taller he is than either of them.
What, can you buy blankets based on height in Taiwan?

When she gets up to leave he opens his eyes and grabs her hand. We close the episode with him asking her to stay with him.
Aww, so sweet.

Comments

I'm glad that they finally know they are stronger together. Well, he has known that for many many months, but now she is aware of her impact in Mars' life. And she had better step up and acknowledge that she is happier by his side than sitting quietly as SteamRolling BiatchMom decides the path for her life.

The entire second half of this episode is so sad. On a side note, I've always thought this part probably didn't take much acting for Jiro - it's been just him and his Mom since he was 17 and they're very close. But Momo finally realizes Mars needs her, too. It's not just Jia Sen - who has a mommy, btw. Even if she is a psycho...
I feel bad for Mars Mom to some extent, but with the physical brutality she applied to him while he was growing up (including her recent actions), I'm glad she isn't around to poison Mars and Momo's relationship.

I love the gentle way he takes her hand. None of that wrist grabbing business. She is so precious to him.