EPISODE 4 July 03, 2008

"Gusto ko, syempre yung mabait, mapagbigay, pasensyoso. At saka yung kapag kasama ko siya alam kong hindi niya ako pababayaan. Tapos yung mapagmahal. Kahit na ano pang itsura ko. Tapos para sa kanya ako ang pinaka-maganda at pinaka-seksing babae. Higit sa lahat yung handang talikuran ang lahat para sa akin. Ayoko yung mga mayabang at matataas ang pride na akala mo kung sino. 'di ko type yung mga yun. Yung bang mga parang ano. Parang tipo mo ba."

--- Kim Samsoon Buot

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
Of course I want someone who's nice, generous, patient. And someone who'll take care of me whenever we're together. Someone who'll love me for who I am. Someone who'll see me as the sexiest and most beautiful woman in the world. And most of all, someone who's ready to give up everything for me. I don't like someone who's boastful and full of pride. Someone who's full of himself. Someone like you.

--- Kim Samsoon Buot

"My type of guy is... someone who has a stable job who can put food on the table... A good kisser... And... someone I can proudly introduce to my sisters and parents saying, 'He's my man...'. That kind of guy. And someone who'd proudly introduce me to his parents and friends saying, 'She's my girl...'. That kind of guy."

--- Kim Sam Soon

+500 for Regine's acting - one more time
The continuation of the blind date scene was as good as how it was executed on last episode's ending. However, at first, I almost hate Samsoon's funny reaction when she was hitting Cyrus until her reaction when Nicole slapped him. Maybe a bit sitcom-ish for me.




And just when I was on the verge of getting annoyed, she started crying. And I was engrossed once again to the scene. Regine was able to capture Sam Soon's pain for a hope lost, thanks to the childish behavior of the bored Cyrus. And again, GMA was able to retain the same i-was-just-laughing-now-i-am-suddenly-crying feeling.

+200 for the whole Cyrus-following-Samsoon sequence





I enjoyed watching the whole sequence. And I appreciate the bits of changes given to make it more Philippinized. Like our very own jeepney for the cable car.
I just find the pedestrian lane shot funny. I don't know why but every time I re-watch that particular scene, I can't help but laugh. Seems a bit trying hard. Or maybe I feel uneasy with the grandness of the pedestrian lane leading to the famous NamSan stairs versus the pedestrian lane leading to a - jeepney terminal. But I won't take it against ASKSS, it's just my personal reaction.

+20 points for Cyrus in the ladies' room scene
Good for him! That jerk! How I wish that Jin Hun also had his share of a teeny bit of embarrassing moment like this. Serves him right!

+10 points for nicer Cyrus
I also find Cyrus two notches nicer than Jin Hun. Both were following Samsoon because they felt sorry for their childish actions earlier. Cyrus is more sensitive and man enough to directly ask for Samsoon's forgiveness, Jin Hun on the other hand was trying his best to stop Sam Soon from quitting as his patissier rather than being clear with his intentions to ask for forgiveness. You have to be observant with his actions to know that he was sorry as well.
I'm actually giving the points, not because I want a nicer Cyrus, but for their way of dwelling more on the emotions than continuous bickering and negotiating among severance pay, salary increase and regularization that may not be appreciated by the local audience.

-500 for the ugly Piggy
I feel sorry for Sam Sook. Of all the characters in MNIKSS, so far he's the first one that was mis-casted.


The original was so cute that merchandisers must have gained so much profit for producing Sam Sook clones to cater to MNIKSS fans all over the world. Every MNIKSS fans dreams of owning a Sam Sook. I wonder if ASKSS fans would dream of owning a Piggy.

+500 points for the drinking Samsoon
It is very common in Korean Dramas that girls would drink soju (most of the time if they are heartbroken). Koreans are fond of drinking because their country is cold. So Sam Soon drinking is not new to them (it's her manner of drinking and getting very drunk that's new to Korean Dramas at that time). I love that they maintained this scene and let the local Samsoon drink beer.




Correct me if I'm wrong (because I haven't really followed a Philippine drama for ages), but it's very rare to find a Filipino drama heroine drinking beer and being unglamorously drunk. Samsoon gave way to a different presentation of our usual Philippine heroine.

+100 for the videoke scene
-10 for "Fallin'" vs "It's Raining Men"
I always find it funny and cute every time Regine tries singing out of tune. I once heard her doing that during a rehearsal for her weekly musical variety show SOP a few years back and I can't help but laugh.
Kim Sun Ah may not be Korea's Singing Sensation, but she sings good because of her musical background (she majored in Piano at Ball State University in Indiana). And she was supposed to be the lead singer for the all-boys group singer "G.O.D.".


I just felt that they could have chosen a better song than "Fallin'". I can't think of any, but I wish they used something that could better depict Samsoon's feelings at that particular moment. In the original, Sam Soon, after loosing hope because of her blind date failure, belted out the Korean version of "It's Raining Men". Most probably to convince herself that there are still a lot of men for her somewhere out there.
I know singing "It's Raining Men" now seems a bit off in our local version, but I'm looking for something closer to that mood. But it's not very important anyway. Just my two cents.

-10 for Samsoon's dream guy
Though I appreciate Samsoon telling Cyrus straight in his face that she doesn't like someone who's boastful and full of pride like him, her entire description for her ideal guys falls 10 points behind Sam Soon's description of her ideal guy.


Sam Soon's ideal guy is someone with a stable job and can put food on the table (practical). And when Jin Hun told her it's too general, she said, a good kisser (funny). And someone she can proudly introduce to her parents, and likewise, someone who would introduce her proudly to his parents and friends.
Samsoon's ideal guy on the other hand is someone who's nice, generous and patient (too cliche), someone who'll take care of her whenever they are together (it gives me hints of weakness), someone who'll see her as the sexiest and most beautiful woman (it gives me hints of a low self-esteem), someone who's ready to give up everything for her (seems a bit selfish). The only strong point is when she said, someone who'll love her as she is.
I guess a problem on this part is that we weren't fully introduced yet to the real personality of Harvey (Hyun Woo) which was primarily the basis of the original Sam Soon's ideal guy.

+100 for the "after drinking" scenes
I don't have much to say with these sequences aside from the fact that it was executed well. Though I miss the funny ATM sequence, the piggyback ride until the time Cyrus left Samsoon on the streets were retained and executed well.



One difference (aside from the absence of the ATM sequence and the street crossing scene) is that while on piggyback, Samsoon hits Cyrus because of what he did earlier. In the original, Sam Soon hits Jin Hun because she thought he is Hyun Woo (Harvey).


The last scene from this sequence also gave the same impression of viewer's resentment towards Cyrus (Jin Hun), when he left the helpless, drunk Samsoon lying on the streets (though of course, I already know that he will go back and bring her home).

+200 points for Mrs. Ruiz and Secretary Marcus - the power of two
I like the Mrs. Ruiz-Marcus tandem. John 'Sweet' Lapuz' portrayal of Mrs. Ruiz secretary was excellent. Although very different from the no-reaction secretary Yoon Hyun Sook (Secretary Celine), there's something in him that gives me the same level of fun Hyun Sook was able to give me - their mere presence is enough to elicit laughter.



In this episode I am sensing a true-blooded villainess in Mrs. Ruiz. But I still cannot gauge her character this early. I hope she won't be too much of a stereotypical Filipino villainess. That's one thing I hate most in Philippine dramas.
In comparisson, Na Hyun Sook / President Na, can be as difficult as she can get. But since she's old, her advantage is her motherly aura tones down her feistiness. Since Mrs. Ruiz is younger looking, there's a tendency to be more associated in being a villainess.

+100 points to Tessie Tomas
I just need to say this: Hats off to Aling Teysi's dramatic moments.

-5 points for the bad impression for Samuel Buot
In the original, Sam Soon's ahbuji* (*ahbuji means father, I'd prefer to call Sam Soon's dad as ahbuji because she calls her dad as ahbuji a number of times) was a guarantor or a co-maker for his brother's loan a few years before he died. Since Sam Soon's uncle went bankrupt, he ran away and hide. The creditors are now after Sam Soon's family's house and lot since it was the collateral for the loan.
I'm not very familiar with the lending procedures in Korea. But it seems they are very strict when it comes to money-lending matters. In the local version they made Samuel as the main debtor, and not merely a co-maker because it's kinda unrealistic in Philippine setting to force a co-maker to foreclose his property.
Unfortunately, it just gave me a bad first impression on Samuel. For borrowing a large sum of money without letting his family (at least his wife) know. I'm just deducting 5 points because I know they don't have much choices for this element.

waking up in Jin Hun's place
I personally prefer the original morning scene. There's just a certain mood given in the original that may be too difficult to capture. The combination of the loud-mouth Sam Soon and the not-so-nice Jin Hun gave that scene a different feeling. The whole scene was filled with non-stop curses from Sam Soon and of all sorts of sarcasm and mockery from Jin Hun.
But that level of bickering may be too much for the local version, hence it was presented in a more subtle way. Anyway, it was executed well enough, so I'll leave it as it is.





And at the same time it was already establish that Cyrus is nicer, yet still exuding arrogance through his one-liners. This time it's, "Oo, nakita ko nga yung taba mo eh. Sa tingin mo yang katawan mong yan pagnanasaan kita." ("Yes. In fact I saw all your body fats. Do you think I'd desire someone with a body like yours?") Plus +20 points for that line.
However Samsoon, once again, noticed Cyrus' nice body (this time). In the original, Sam Soon is still full of rage with this jerk to notice his body. -5 points for that. I don't why they are giving away such clues as early as now.


Overall
So far this episode was the most difficult episode for me to compare and contrast. There's so many points of reference from the original and bits and pieces of deviation were everywhere. I have to change my perspective from time to time and consider previous and future episodes of both MNIKSS and ASKSS. Makes me wanting for more episodes.

RATINGS: 33.5% vs My Girl 21.9%
(ratings courtesy of: Les Samsoon of RVMM)