EPISODE 7 July 08, 2008

"Saan mo ba gagamitin ang pera. Ah alam ko na, let me guess. Mag-papabanat ka ng mukha para magmukha kang lalong mas bata o magpapasaksak ka ng isang daanglipo para matanggal ang taba mo dyan. Para ano nga? Para magpaganda? Para may pumatol sayong lalaki? Para ano? Bumili ka ng lalaki?"

--- Cyrus Ruiz

"Hindi mo kilala ang pagkatao ko kaya wag mo akong husgahan!"

--- Kim Samsoon Buot

ENGLISH TRANSLATION
"Where are you going to use the money? Oh, I know. Let me guess. You will undergo botox treatment so that you will look young. Or you will undergo a hundred liposuction sessions to get rid of all your fats. For what? To make yourself beautiful? So that you can lure a guy? For what? To buy a guy?"

--- Cyrus Ruiz

"Don't you dare judge me! You don't know me well enough."

--- Kim Samsoon Buot

+10 Cyrus caught off guard
I find it funny that Cyrus always has his share of embarrassing moments every now and then. On the early part of this episode, Samsoon caught him off guard while trying to act pitiful for his mother. In MNIKSS Jin Hun can always get away with his embarrassing moments. At Sam Soon's second attempt to borrow money from him, he was actually online, researching about Mijiwang / Lunatic Prince (the movie that I've mentioned in episode 5), but he was fast enough to close his browser, before Sam Soon got the chance to see him.

The whole sequence of Samsoon agreeing to Cyrus proposal and borrowing money was almost the same as the original scene, but as always, executed differently.

In the original MNIKSS, at Sam Soon's first attempt to approach Jin Hun, she backed off. But when she got home, she found her mom and her sister still faced with their family's predicament. She must have felt that it was time for her to do her part. Though she almost backed out again on her second attempt, she swallowed all her pride and she finally approached Jin Hun.



In ASKSS, being the eldest daughter in their family, Samsoon shouldered all the responsibility. She don't have the time to think about her pride, so she immediately approached Cyrus. Although I always complain about Samsoon being weak, at least for a short period of time, she showed her strength. I also like how direct she was in borrowing just a "small" amount of money - 1 million pesos ($22,740.00 USD / ￦22,906,196.00 KRW). It seems like she was just asking for 100 pesos from Cyrus. +100 points for Samsoon

(TRIVIA: In the original MNIKSS Sam Soon borrowed 50 million Korean Won. That's equivalent to 2.5 million pesos or 49,840 US Dollars in the year 2005. In our Tagalog dubbed version last 2006, they used 50,000 pesos only.)

In MNIKSS, Jin Hun spared Sam Soon the difficulty of directly asking him for money and surprised her a bit by immediately asking "How much?". And with no questions asked, he transfered 50 million won into Sam Soon's bank account right there and then.



In ASKSS, Cyrus was apprehensive about the 1 million pesos. And I can understand his reaction more than Jin Hun's reaction. Even though he is rich, 1 million is still 1 million. I'm not sure if there are really rich people who behaves like Jin Hun in Korea, but for sure there are a lot of rich people here who behaves like Cyrus. +100 points for making Cyrus' reaction more realistic. But I'm not saying that I don't like Jin Hun's reaction. It fits his characterization - the carefree, rich and arrogant guy who could care less about his money (and also connected to a later part of MNIKSS). Cyrus reaction was just perfect for his characterization so far, although he is as arrogant as he can be, he is not as easygoing as Jin Hun regarding the things and people around him.

And how arrogant can Cyrus get? Just look at how mean he is when he insulted Samsoon. It was him who needed her in the first place. Though I understand he was surprised by her "asking price", he doesn't have the right to say those things to her. +50 for Mark's effective acting. I pity Samsoon and I almost wanted to kick Cyrus' shin.

And I'm glad that it was Samsoon's reaction as well. She may not have kicked Cyrus' shin but she beat him up with her bag and told Cryus that he doesn't have the right to treat her like that just because he is rich. Which was the same dialogue that Sam Soon said in an earlier episode in MNIKSS (during the time that she was drinking right after Jin Hun ruined her blindate). +100 points for that scene


In MNIKSS, Sam Soon still tried to save a bit of her pride by promising Jin Hun that she'll pay him as soon as her sister would be able to sell the apartment. She also offered to pay it with interest. And she even stalled a little and asked Jin Hun how come he didn't ask her the reason why she need that big amount of money. Jin Hun simply asked her back if there is a reason why he needs to know. She said no and that ended their converstation.

In ASKSS it's the other way around. Samsoon walked out after being insulted by Cyrus. Apparently, among the things that fell off her bag was the document (notice of final eviction) indicating that their house was foreclosed. Thus Cyrus already know the reason why she needed such a big amount of money.

-50 points short from Over The Rainbow
While feeling depressed because her plan didn't work, Samsoon accidentally glanced at the wristwatch given to her by her father before he died. Memories flooded her thoughts and we went back to the time when his father was in his death bed, making Samsoon promise that, being the eldest, she will take care of her mom and Eliza.


In MNIKSS, Sam Soon is on her way out of the house when she accidentally glanced at their yard. Along with "Over The Rainbow" background music, we joined her journey back to her childhood days when her dad was still alive. This flashback deals with her name as well. Her dad named their flowerbed, a tree and a new swing as Sam Soonie's flowerbed, Sam Soonie's tree and Sam Soonie's swing respectively, while the young Sam Soon is crying her little heart out desperately asking her dad to change her name to Hee Jin.




Though both scenes were different from each other because of the different priorities of the local Samsoon and the Korean Sam Soon, it was excellently executed in MNIKSS - the combination of the script, the lighting, the music, the mood, the camera shot and the simple transition to the present time in the swing was simply perfect for me, marking this scene as one of the most unforgettable ones in MNIKSS.
I don't see anything wrong with the local version of this scene but it doesn't stand out for me. Maybe it's too dramatic. Maybe if they used a kid and a music at par with Over The Rainbow it might work. But I like to commend the great acting shown by both Regine and Dido. +10 points each


+50 as Samsoon returned to reality
We went back to present time with Sam Soon on the swing nostalgic about their house - her flowerbed, her tree and her swing.
In ASKSS we went back with Samsoon crying her heart out, asking her deceased father for help.
Although I find the entire flashback scene better in the original MNIKSS, I felt the same feeling I had when the scene returned to Samsoon. Maybe it's how Regine said her lines, "Tay, tulungan mo naman ako" (Dad, please help me!) that gave me the same sentimental mood.

But -200 for Samsoon's admission of defeat
With her over-the-rainbow-flashback in MNIKSS, Sam Soon was prompted to find a way to look for money (thus resulting to her first attempt to approach Jin Hun).
But our local Samsoon's flashback resulted to - nothing. And she simply said, she'll just pray instead. Yes I know she went to Cyrus already before the flashback, but still, she shouldn't have given up. It's another manifestation of Samsoon's weakness. At the same time it shows the stereotypical Filipino trait reflected in our dramas and movies for many decades now. Our reliance to prayers. Not that I have anything against prayers, but merely depending on prayers alone without actions or at least plans for the next action is so cliche and can go back as far as our movies in the 50s. I thought we already moved on, but to bad it's still here in ASKSS.

Samsoon was lucky that her prayers were answered immediately by the being-sensitive-again Cyrus.




+20 for Cyrus' "golden heart and check"
At first, I was like - why does Samsoon have to hug Cyrus? In MNIKSS even if Jin Hun lend Sam Soon 50 million won, she still sees him as an arrogant jerk. In fact she did not even thanked him (because she was surprised with his reaction and she did not have the time because he pulled her out of his office immediately).
But I must admit, I was moved when Cyrus went down and gave the check to Samsoon. If I were Samsoon, as hopeless and as helpless as she is at that moment, I would have hugged Cyrus too.
I also like it when he did not admit why he suddenly changed his mind and let her have 1 million, giving us a little sense of mystery.

I like it when Samsoon made it clear that she is just borrowing the money from Cyrus and she will pay it as soon as possible. Because earlier she asked for the money directly, then she said she'll borrow instead when Cyrus did not bite her bait. I was a bit confused with their set-up about the money (because it has something to do with later episodes), but again, it's good that Samsoon made it clear. Although, at the moment, no one knows when and how she can pay it (unlike in the original MNIKSS they are just waiting for Yi Young's apartment to be sold).

The school scenes of Eliza that are not related to the story of Samsoon is starting to get into my nerves especially if I am so engrossed with the Cyrus-Samsoon scenes and they have to intercut it with those scenes.

-50 for the announcement
+100 for the Cynthia-Dina tandem




The announcement made by Jin Hun in Bon Appetit that he and Sam Soon were dating for about two months already was so funny. Top if off with Sam Soon's funny-surprised reaction.
ASKSS' version is so simple. And I hate Cyrus' dialogue, "Simula ngayon gusto ko na respetuhin nyo si Hannah kasi girlfriend ko na siya" (From now on I want everyone to respect Hannah because she is now my girlfriend). Does it mean that it's okay not to respect Samsoon before? Does it mean that they must give special treatment to her now because she is the boss' girlfriend? Or is Cyrus just trying to defend Samsoon because he overheard that Cynthia is reprimanding her? I don't get what they are trying to say. It made me a bit confused. Poor word choice I guess.
But Cynthia and Chef Dina's extreme reactions were the saving grace of this scene for me. I simply love the chemistry of Sheena and Eugene. It's fun to see them together.

RATINGS: 33.5% vs My Girl 19.8%
(ratings courtesy of: aria_Productions of RVMM)