ToGetHer recap - Episode 4

[dramasoliloquy]

Episode 4 in which Mars dies, soon to be reborn and the purification of sin continues. Oh wait, sorry, that's my spiel for my upcoming videogame review, sorry, sorry. And yet it can apply to this episode, without the purification of sin that is.

(Envy and its victim)

 

Momo arrives at the movie premiere with her VIP ticket, much to the shock of Mars fanclub members who are there. Yi Zhi is surprised as well, but Mars brushes it off, his Mom was busy, he didn't want to waste the ticket. Alone, he ponders why did he give Momo (or Ah Zhai as he calls her) the ticket, but tells himself it was because she helped him with his English.

Jia Sen refuses to start his birthday party without Momo, while Momo's sitting uncomfortably in the front row, when her classmate approaches, telling her Mars wants her. Momo reluctantly goes along, and finds herself in a bathroom surrounded by the four Mars fanclub members. Club president Sha Sha demands Momo hand over the VIP ticket, but Momo refuses to. She gets locked in a bathroom stall, with a bucket of water dumped on her as the fanclub members leave.

The premiere starts. Mars wonders where Momo could be, and I fall in love all over again with the music during this scene. Er... anyway, after it's over, Mars calls home to find out Momo had come to the premiere and he then overhears his fanclub members talking about locking Momo up. Mars rushes to find her, but she's gone. A cleaning woman set her free, and Momo walks home with heavy footsteps. For once, she took a step outside of her Prince Kashaba world, only to have it crush her.

Jia Sen has gone looking for Momo and finds her walking, so takes her home. Momo apologizes to him for missing his birthday.

Mars arrives and wants to talk, but she shuts herself up into her room, while he apologizes through the door, explaining he had come to find her as soon as he found out. She opens the door to give him back his handkerchief, haha, and that makes him feel she's blaming him for what happened. Momo's sis Chu Chu comes and chastises him for upsetting Momo, and Mars goes off in a huff. He thinks over what was said and decides to apologize in the morning.

(A pensive Momo, Birthday party at the zoo)

Breakfast time and Mars cautiously approaches the target with an apology and an offer of a day at the beach. Momo rebuffs him, leaving him to munch on dry ramen. To make matters worse, there's no mention of the movie premiere in the newspapers and Jia Sen comes to take Momo to the zoo.

Unable to believe anyone could reject him, Mars goes to spy on the couple wearing a helmet to prevent people from knowing it's him. Momo sees a strange person wearing a helmet popping up around her, and when she gets home to find said helmet in her living room, she goes to talk to Mars. Momo tells him she doesn't blame him for what happened and then confronts him about spying on her and Jia Sen, which Mars tries to deny.

(Momo with her usual bully avoidance method #1 in place: Gaze down)

Mars is in the newspapers again! But you know what they say, no news is good news and this is bad news. The movie Mars starred in is setting records at the box office due to its poor performance. There's a hilarious sequence of how Mars reacts to the news as his manager Yi Zhi attempts to comfort him, with Momo's help as well as she offers him a sandwich and Prince Kasaba quote:

"Prince Kasaba once said, that in Kasaba,
breakfast is an elegant, high class meal that can bring good fortune.
So no matter how busy you are, whether you're feeling good or bad, you should eat breakfast."

At school, Momo experiences more bullying as the fanclub doesn't want her speaking about what happened to Mars, but Mars arrives and castigates the fanclub members, telling them he's not popular anymore and he just wants them to let him lead a normal life and asks them to stop what they're doing.

Yi Zhi comes to tell Mars about Steve Wong, a director who's looking for someone for his new movie. Turns out Mars classmate, Sha Sha is Steve's cousin. Yi Zhi suggests Mars get Sha Sha to help him land the role, but it turns out Mars has values. Who knew? Nah, we already know he doesn't want to do things that way from episode 2, when he refused the casting couch director. They discuss Sha Sha's figure, and in a cute little nugget the camera pans to Momo stoically listening as she eats chips. Cute.

(Shopping with Momo and friends, Mars, even drowning, continues to be ignored)

Sha Sha's got something to announce at school, a barbecue pool party for her uncle, Steve Wong. Yeah! She invites the class, but adds she'll listen to others opinion if people don't want to go. Which begs the question, who wouldn't want to attend?

Well, by now it should be obvious who wouldn't want to go to a party with a famous director, lots of people, free food and a pool, Momo, who determinedly raises her hand. When Sha Sha adds that they'll just cancel the party if not everyone wants to come, Momo looks at Mars and lowers her hand. Sha Sha decides Momo should be in charge of buying food for the party.

Mars asks Momo about it after class and when she admits it was because of him, he's pleased and announces he'll accompany her to buy the food. But Momo tells him she's already got Jia Sen going with her. That doesn't stop Mars, and he and Jia Sen exchange looks, and jockey for position next to Momo. Mars also explains to Momo he doesn't want to be like Ben, who used his father's connections to get ahead, and wants to rely on himself.

But at the party Sha Sha introduces him to the director Steve Wong. Turns out the director saw his recent film and even wanted Mars for a movie three years ago, but is patently uninterested in Mars now. Mars realizes it and goes off to have a swim alone, but soon gets cramps.

(Mars finds out he was saved by Momo, A worried Tony)

Soon, fanclub members start to notice Mars hasn't come up yet, but they can't swim and scream for help. Momo turns to Jia Sen, but he's oblivious and so she goes and jumps in the water.

There's a scene of a theater with Momo and Mars in it as a film shows that intercuts the scene of Momo rescuing Mars. It's a beautiful scene, suggesting the deep connection between the two as Mars asks Momo what she thought of the film and she tells him he acted well in it and he smiles. More about this scene in final thoughts.

Momo starts CPR on him and it works of course. Would be a really short show if it didn't. Tony comes to see Mars in the hospital and be reassured by Yi Zhi that Mars didn't try to commit suicide because Tony froze his activities. Momo, meanwhile, reassures Jia Sen who says it should have been him that saved Mars. At the end of this episode, Yi Zhi tells Mars it was Momo who saved him and Chu Chu can't stop exclaiming over the mouth to mouth part of CPR and that it was between Momo and Mars.

Subbed by Billasub

Final Thoughts: And so Mars dies. Literally, he drowns. He must die, in order to live again, to be reborn anew. The Mars that died is someone who was always concerned about his public image and was rude, self centered and arrogant to a fault. For the new Mars, his celebrity and public image are insignificant compared to opinion and love of one girl: Momo, whom he is coming to cherish above all others. What a great scene! Simple, and yet packed with meaning. That's what makes this drama different from many other Taiwanese dramas. Sweet.