Thursday, July 3, 2008

EPISODE 2 July 01, 2008

I never expected that I would feel the same feeling that I felt while watching MNIKSS here in ASKSS as early as Episode 2. I was surprised to find myself laughing and crying at the same time.
For me, this is a confirmation that ASKSS was able to capture MNIKSS' heart. As a MNIKSS fan, that's my biggest fear about this remake. But I guess I don't have any worries anymore. I just hope that I am not speaking too soon.

+5000 pogi (handsome) points for Mark Anthony as Cyrus


Mirror mirror on the wall, whose the fairest of them all?
Maybe I'm more open seeing another Jin Hun aside from Hyun Bin than seeing another Sam Soon aside from Kim Sun Ah. Or maybe it's as simple as 'Mark Anthony fits the Cyrus role perfectly'.
Episode 2 was Cyrus' episode. This is the episode where we were able to get to know him. Although based on the teasers many already concluded that Mark is perfect for Cyrus, I was only able to confirm it on this episode.

I love his arrogance when he was telling his bestfriend about the incident in the hotel, when he witnessed the Samsoon-Harvey break-up.


I also liked it when they also used the same music: Mozart's 'Eine Kleine Nachtmusik' as the background music when Cyrus was going through his morning routines. It gives MNIKSS fans a nostalgic moment. And the more it makes me feel weird watching Cyrus. It seems like he was possessed with Jin Hun's spirit. How can he be so perfectly-arrogantly handsome?

+1000 for Sheena


I've heard so much about her good performance in Marimar, but I haven't witnessed it. I have rooted for Sheena to be Cherry, but she is just perfect as Cynthia (Jang Young Ja). I can't believe she was able to make me laugh. So, this girl really has talent huh!

-10 points for Cynthia's name
However, we weren't able to incorporate issues about Cynthia's name. It was actually lost already during the Tagalog Dubbed version. Cynthia's Korean name is Jang Young Ja and it's not a very good name as well, though not as bad as Sam Soon. There was a Young Ja who was a relative of a former president of Korea who has acquired his power through military coup in 80s. She gained her notoriousity for financial fraud and embezzlement she has committed. Thus Jang Young Ja is not very proud of her name. She prefers to be called Captain Jang. She is always bullying Sam Soon because of her age and later on her name, when her age and name issues are almost as bad as Sam Soon's. But of course this is just very minimal, however we will miss the witty answers of Sam Soon to Young Ja every time she tried bullying her.

+1000000 points for THE GREAT Eugene Domingo
Need I say more? Just look at her. Period.


This comedic legend seems to have comedic blood flowing through her equally comedic veins.
I LOVE Eugene. She never fails to surprise me with her one-liners as well. A very witty comedienne indeed! Chef Dina is a combination of Chef Dino (Lee Hyun Moo) and Manager Oh (Ms. Oh).


+1000 points for Tessie Tomas
I grew up watching 'Teysi ng Tahanan' and 'Abangan Ang Susunod Na Kabanata' and I loved her since then until her most recent stint in 'Bahay Mo Ba 'to'. I'm giving Aling Teysi points not because of her acting and comedic skills since we all know what she is capable with (yet sometimes she is doing slapsticks, maybe because of sitcom influences). I'm giving her points for being a very good Mommy Letty (Park Bong Sook). I love her chemistry with Regine (and Jennica). The three of them look so good together whether it's a dramatic or a comedic scene. I wasn't able to notice her much on Episode 1, but how can I miss the bus scene on this episode?
How I wish Sam Soon and Bong Sook had more scenes together in the original. I bet it will be as funny as Samsoon and Sonia's scenes in ASKSS.

+100 points for the bakery's backstory
In the original, Sam Soon's dad is a miller and they have a millery. I'm not sure how a millery looks in Korea, but it was mentioned that her dad is very good in cooking rice cakes. Maybe if you have a millery, you also cook and sell rice cakes since you have all the flour and rice available.
Anyway, in the Philippines milleries operate differently, so they opted to have a low-class bread bun bakery for the Buot family.
Actually, I'm giving the majority of the points to the entire Buot family, crying in front of the burned bakery. I didn't realized I was crying with them already. At that moment, I already felt that GMA was able to capture MNIKSS heart.

Carmi Martin, a younger and sexier Na Sajang


I have to see more of Carmi Martin before I can make a comment, but it seems she's good anyway. I'm just thinking that Na Moon Hee (the veteran actress who played Na Hyun Sook / Na Sajang / President Na) must be glad to know she have a younger and sexier counterpart in ASKSS. And I think that is just logical. We have a younger guy here, so her mom can be younger than Samsoon's mom right?

+100 points for the adaptation of Samsoon's career
Here's another deviation from the original. From the bakery until the time she was looking for a job.
The original Sam Soon is a professional patessier who studied in France. She was working in a very good restaurant. She was fired because she did not show up on Christmas day because she was spying her boyfriend Hyun Woo (Harvey). She applied as a patissier in Jin Hun's mom's (Cyrus' mom's) hotel and got rejected because she was over qualified. She accidentally encountered Jin Hun. Out of rage (because he cut her hair), she threw a cake on his face. Jin Hun knew that he found what he was looking for through Sam Soon and he offered her a job in Bon Appetit.


Here Samsoon doesn't work in a nice restaurant. They have a meager bakery that caught fire. So she needs to look for a job. She applied immediately at La Dolce Vita (Bon Appetit), and not in Cyrus' mom's hotel, and got rejected because of her lack of experience in professional baking.

I like it that they changed Samsoon's career history. The original's career history would land her a job in a 5-star hotel in the Philippines. This may be another cultural difference. I know that not showing up for work on a critical working day can merit you termination, but still she bakes well and studied in France. It's also good that Samsoon only took up a crash course in Baguio. How can they afford schooling abroad? In Korea, even if a family is not well-off, most of the time they let their kids study abroad, wherein in the Philippines, only those who belongs to the upper class family can send their kids abroad to study.

+1000 points for the well executed men's restroom scene
Out of depression, Samsoon cried her heart out in the men's restroom, giving way to a classic scene from the original.





This time Samsoon was crying because of all the things that happened to her lately.

I was waiting for the heart of this scene, but I failed to see it. I feel more for the original Sam Soon crying over lost love than the Pinay Samsoon crying over every bad thing that happened to her entire life. I simply can't focus my emotions. But I think that's just fine, since they were able to incorporate this scene anyway in Episode 1 already.

Then the classic knock was heard...



... and it swayed me back to the familiar mood of the original MNIKSS.


And Cyrus, how arrogant can you get? I liked how they changed Jin Hun's dialogue, "Are you breastfeeding inside the men's restroom?" to Cyrus' dialogue, "At pwede bago ka umalis dito, isarado mo muna yang blouse mo, kitang-kita yang bilbil mo!" ("And for God's sake, before you leave, please button your blouse up, your belly fat is showing."). Maybe it's the new dialogue. Or maybe it's Mark's delivery. Whatever it is, it was damn good!

but two things I hate
-10 points for the intercut
Just when you are so engrossed in a very good scene, they have to intercut it with Eliza and Kokoy's scenes. Good thing it was Jennica. It's forgivable this time because I like Jennica's screen presence. So fresh! But if this intercut thing will go on forever, I will definitely get annoyed.

-50 points that Cyrus blurted out that he recognized Samsoon
I got a bit disappointed though when Cryus blurted out that he remembers Samsoon right there and then. We are now going to loose a few funny scenes of Samsoon trying to guess if Jin Hun recognizes her or not, and the embarrassingly funny moment when Jin Hun accidentally revealed that he remembers every detail of their first meeting (which was the Hotel lobby and the men's restroom scene in the original).

+500 points for keeping up the original's mood until the ending


Still, out of rage (because of the fateful encounter in the men's restroom), Samsoon threw the cake on Cyrus' face and the story went back to the tracks of the original storyline - now sparkled with hilarious punchlines from Cynthia and Chef Dina.






I love how they twisted the story to make it more Philippinized, then at the same time they still incorporated classic scenes from the original without being awkward.

+2000 points for the chemistry I never expected
Whoever said that Mark and Regine doesn't have an on-screen chemistry should die now (Help! I'm dying!).
As short as the men's restroom scene as it is, I can already sense overflowing chemistry in our local Samsoon-Samshik.
I remember I once said that it' one of the factors GMA must work hard on. Kim Sun Ah and Hyun Bin's chemistry was a major element for the show's popularity. I didn't expected that it would be effortless for Mark and Regine to archive the same chemistry.
Seems like there's a magic between Sam Soon and Sam Shik characters. As long as they will be portrayed by good actors, the chemistry, the laughter, the sweetness will simply be awesome.
Looking forward to more Samsoon-Cyrus moments from now on.

Overall
I enjoyed this episode more than Episode 1. It's not boring anymore and it makes me excited to meet the other characters on the next episodes.

RATINGS: 31.5% vs My Girl 22%
(ratings courtesy of: Les Samsoon of RVMM)

OTHER REVIEWS FOR EPISODE 2
Second Episode Keeps the Promise
by: Ophelia_Kills of PinoyExchange.com

9 comments:

Anonymous said...

Si Sam Soon, binato ung cake sa muka ni Jinhun.

Si Samsoon, minudmod hahahaha

Anonymous said...

Favorite episode ko talaga ito! It exceeds all my expectations!

... said...

Hi maica!
Me too, among the episodes on it's first week, Episode 2 is my favorite.

Anonymous said...

Hi there! Got here from the PEX forums. :) Are you the same Alodia who cosplays? Love your reviews! Cheers! :)

... said...

^i believe you are referring to Alodia Gosiengfiao(?). No I'm not her. Apparently we have the same name - however unique our name may be.

Anonymous said...

Hi, I was the anonymous commenter who asked if you were Alodia Gosengfiao. Wow, two famous bloggers with the same unusual name, not bad! :)

MNIKSS was very special to me because my life story hews very close to the plot: I'm her age, I bake (sometimes for profit), I talk to my dead mom in my imagination, and to top it all off, I had an ex of four years who left me for a younger woman! Unbelievable, but sadly, true. All I need now is a Cyrus to complete the story and I'd be all set, haha.

Having said all that, you can imagine my chagrin when I heard that GMA was doing a remake of the original, and starring Regine, no less! Though I had my doubts at first about ASKSS, I find myself slowing starting to love this show now that I've seen a few episodes. Though I do have a number of comments, most of which you've brought up in your reviews as well, Mark and Regine have a certain chemistry that's growing on me. Now I find myself hooked on catching the episodes on tv and lurking in PEX, iGMA, and your blog trying to get more info about the episodes that I missed. :)

Anyway, thanks for the great reviews/recaps, and I hope to read more from you in the future. Sorry for quite a long post, just wanted to share my Sam Soonie looniness with someone who I'm pretty sure will understand. More power to you! Cheers! :)

-- Ako Talaga Si Kim Sam Soon :D

Anonymous said...

Ay, at oo, overweight din ako. :P

- ATSKSS

... said...

^Hi anonymous lol
I enjoyed reading your comments. MNIKSS is very special to me too. I may not have experienced all the things that happen to Sam Soon just like you, but we have the same personality... like on how she reacts in a certain situation... given that i'll be on the same situation, my reaction will definitely be the same.
(sino ka sa PEX? care to PM me there?)

Anonymous said...

Hi Alodia! It's me, ATSKSS. :)

Unfortunately, I'm not a member of PEX, I just lurk as a guest on the threads. :) I'm a bit unnerved by how the story is going these days; medyo malayo na talaga ang takbo sa original story. In fairness to the show, they're trying to incorporate the changes that you guys suggested on the ASKSS thread, so I'm still holding out hope for the series. :)

Looking forward to more reviews and comments from you, and hope to hear from you again soon. Cheers!