Where’s the line, Georgie? I gotta be first to get that guarantee!!

Now that I’m free from The Way We Were, I decided to check out a newly premiere SETTV’s drama, Love Cheque Charge, featuring baby Georgie and Phoebe Yuan, an actress who has an uncanny resemblance to his previous co-star, Annie. Then I belated realized it’s a freakin’ daily drama! For a whopping 70 episodes…. I am not happy with this arrangement. Georgie, I don’t do dailies! You know that! Can’t you be more a little more considerate and star in a normal 15-episode drama? With Gui Gui? (I had to throw that in there, drifters.)

First episode is decent.

Episode 1 Picture Commentary:

Year 2011.

We dive right into the main event, two strangers sitting across from each other. The man: He Bu Fan, and the crying woman is Xu Man Man.

His purpose:

Her response is unlike that of a real person…

Bu Fan thinks of a quick solution. He makes her an out-of-this-world contract because that’s what strangers do.

Outside, Bu Fan meets up with this “friend.”

Man Man walks away, holding the check.

Now that’s over. Let’s learn more about our male lead.

Because Georgie is my bias:

Those cherry lips. heehee.

3 years later. 2014.

Not much is known about Man Man yet, except she lives and takes care of three kids.

Man Man arrives at the train station and slips through the train doors, she misses the pole and falters backward…and..

Mental Pause.

Okay, I’m back.

She goes to a different seat and turns on her fangirl mode.

At a fancy building, she finally recognizes his face on the poster as the guy who broke up with her.

He’s currently a speaker at a conference, relaying the idea to people that “Love is a high-risk investment.” She tsks at his theory and gets up to leave but her cellphone rings and this irks the presenter and he publicly chides her, reminding her how important contracts and principles are in the business world. She turns around and challenges him, “You’ve never broken a deal before?” He confidently says yes, which prompts her to walk up to the stage and presents him with the Love Cheque he made three years ago.

What kind of person is she? Carrying that check around for three years?

They relocate to the cafeteria, with her having the upper hand now. Exasperated with her taking his silly promise literally, he calls himself the victim of the situation too and she’s incredulous. Since words do not enter her mind, he takes a bathroom break….

For 30 minutes. Man Man calls her doctor friend and wonders what could be wrong with him.

Nothing is wrong. He just gotta run far, far away from her.

That’s what I’m sayin’.

He returns home. The awkward moment where the father would like to ask how his life has been in the states but the son doesn’t want to speak too much.

Meanwhile, we meet two more important characters. The man in pink without the glasses is He Guan Yu (Jet Chao), and he’s Bu Fan’s younger brother. The nerdy guy is Wang Bo Hao (Jay Shih), a close friend.

Immediate observation about Guan Yu:

Flowers literally bloom under nerdy friend’s supreme strength and skill. LOL.

The brothers and friend meet up at the gym. Afterwards, we get these shots:

Some rippling back muscles. 😉

Story-wise, Bu Fan encourages socially-inept Bo Hao to step out of his comfort zone (read: Playing video games all day in the dark) and finds a decent job as a system engineer.

Guan Yu puts his arms around the two men and suggests they come work for his new online company. He’s the CEO and really needs all the manpower.

Bu Fan does not like the idea his younger brother threw out.

One is a serious business man whose obsession with time is gonna go haywire in the same area as his easy-going, devil-may-care brother.

A minute later, Bu Fan receives a notification from his company – they’re firing him. O_O

Lol, the silly brother is elated. “YESH!! Come work for me!”

Guan Yu reveals that if he doesn’t, the debts will fall on their father since the loans are signed under his name. Oh, you sneaky! Next day, Bu Fan visits the bank and runs into Man Man. He has the worst luck!

Within seconds, trouble comes in the form of a masked man trying to rob the bank with a fake gun.

I’m glad Bu Fan is no idiot and charges forward to pull her away.

She’s angry at him for risking her life and when he explains that it’s a fake gun, she sputters out nonsense, “SO? IT COULD HURT! WHAT IF IT HITS MY EYE?”

This mama needs a spankin!

Man Man complains to her doctor friend about the handsome yet irritating guy.

PREACH IT, SISTER. I’M RIGHT HERE WITH MY HOOK!

Guan Yu welcomes his brother to his new store.

Then…

———————————– END ——————————————

Kappy: As with all dramas, passing off a judgement after one episode is hardly fair, let alone a daily drama with over 60 episodes. But since I’m not planning to follow this monstrous baby, episode 1 felt a bit off to me. I don’t blame the actors but the writing definitely needs some brushing up. Man Man’s reaction to the break-up scene? Clearly a set-up and not to be taken realistically (what kind of women react that way? Shouldn’t she be asking where the dude is and why? Shouldn’t she be suspicious of this stranger?) The absurdity, of course, is needed to move the plot forward without a logical explanation. This screams laziness on the writer’s part.

Character wise, I’m liking the the supporting secondary boys – Guan He and Bo Hao. They are natural in their roles and because of their contrast in personality, it makes up for some fun teasing and bonding moments. They might steal the limelight away from the main pairing, if the writers are not careful. As for George’s Bu Fan, so far he’s irritable and too anal at the moment. I’m trying to remember whether he smiles at all during episode 1 and I can’t think of one. Georgie! Where’s that sunshine smile? Phoebe’s Man Man is also slightly exaggerated right now. Maybe she’ll calm down in a few episodes.

Performance wise, too early to judge. It might help Phoebe to turn that bugged-eyed expression down a notch or two. No comments on the rest.

This has potentials but too long for moi! Daily drama fans must be happy though!