Early Access Extra: Lesson In Love [Taiwan] E1, E2

E1. So originally, I'd had very little intention of checking out this drama, because the promos basically indicated a love affair between a teacher and her high school student, and that's just a premise that hasn't worked for me in the past.

I mean, it's very problematic, objectively speaking, and I was hesitant to invest drama hours in something that appeared to glamorize a teacher-student romance.

However, I found myself poking around for potential new shows to cover here on Patreon, and coming up quite empty, in that, there were dramas to check out, but they weren't exactly grabbing me.

I tried half an episode of The Interest of Love, but it didn't grab me, and I tried half an episode of The Forbidden Marriage (because some folks seem to like it quite well), but that didn't grab me either.

Not only did neither show grab me, I didn't have enough interest in either show, to actually finish watching their respective first episodes. Oops.

And then I remembered someone on my Twitter feed actually saying something positive about this show, and so I went to MyDramaList, and was pleasantly surprised to find quite a lot of positive reactions to this one, by drama fans.

Essentially, folks have been praising the writing and acting in this show, saying that it's basically top tier, and therefore not to be missed.

That made me curious enough to dip my toe into episode 1, and whaddya know, I actually finished watching it, where, with the other shows, I'd struggled to even get to the halfway point of each first episode.

That already gives this show a bit of an edge, I'd say.

Something that's quite important to mention upfront, I think, is that Show doesn't appear to endorse or encourage the teacher-student affair, after all.

In Show's first few seconds (so this isn't really that much of a spoiler), it already establishes that the student ends up stabbing the teacher.

Woah, right? That had not been the vibe that the trailers had served up, that's for sure.

That alone tells us that this is very likely more a cautionary tale than salacious romance.

The other thing that stands out to me, from episode 1, is how it's the student, Yi Xiang, who's harassing the teacher, and not the other way around.

In student-teacher affairs, a lot has been said about the power imbalance, and how it's the teacher who has power and influence over the student.

While that may be true in many cases, it doesn't seem to be the case, in this story.

In this story, the teacher, Meng Yun, is doing her best to discipline Yi Xiang, who is, I would say, every teacher's nightmare, and is struggling to get him to cooperate.

She doesn't actually want to have anything to do with him, and is just trying to do her job, as his teacher, to instill discipline and to give him guidance.

But, so far, anyway, her efforts are basically pretty useless, and he's the one who's holding all the power, at least for now.

He's defiant to the nth degree, and has no fear of anyone in school, down to the principal, because his mother is head of the PTA, and will do anything to protect him.

Not only that, he's a senior in high school, so he's bigger and taller than Meng Yun, even though she's the adult in this equation.

And, to make things even more complicated, it seems that Yi Xiang is instantly attracted to Meng Yun, when she appears in school as the new teacher.

So of course, when he realizes that she's his new Chinese language teacher, he's thrilled - and proceeds to make her life more difficult than she'd imagined possible. Eep.

As someone who's been a long-term relief teacher before (what our friends in the US would call  a substitute teacher), this would have been my worst nightmare, no lie.

When I'd done that relief teaching stint, which had lasted about 9 months, I had freshly graduated from university, and teaching in an all-boys school.

I was all of 23, and my students ranged from ages 13 to 17. Which means that in many cases, especially with the older boys, my students were bigger and taller than me.

Discipline was a huge challenge for me, especially as a relief teacher, because the boys would delight in testing the boundaries with the "new face," and I was often exhausted by lunch time, from having to wrestle (figuratively) with the boys.

Seeing what Meng Yun goes through this episode, really made my imagination come alive, because so many of the details feel familiar to me.

With Yi Xiang ruling - well, more like terrorizing - the entire school, and Meng Yun being his teacher, I actually think that Meng Yun's simply trying to do her job, in attempting to discipline him, and stand up to his nonsense.

I mean, he's obviously trying to get a reaction out of Meng Yun.

From the way he refuses to listen to her instructions, to the way he gives her taunting looks, to the way he sets up that prank, where she gets sprayed with soda right there in the front of the class, he's clearly working to get an outburst from Meng Yun.

If I were in Meng Yun's shoes, I would try to keep my cool, too. After all, why feed the monster, right?

That's why I can believe Meng Yun's reaction to the soda prank, which is to basically act like nothing's happened, and just carry on with class.

Throwing Yi Xiang's attraction to Meng Yun into the mix, complicates things, but in a believable manner, in that, I can believe that this situation could occur, given this set of circumstances.

Of course, as a teacher, Meng Yun's just trying to understand Yi Xiang as an individual, and figure out what makes him tick.

That, and his terrible behavior, is what leads Meng Yun to request counseling for Yi Xiang (my subs say tutoring, but counseling seems like a better translation).

I feel like that's only what a good teacher would do, for any student.

But, no one actually wants to counsel Yi Xiang, because the entire school knows what a terrible handful he can be. And that's how we end up with Meng Yun personally counseling Yi Xiang, because she doesn't want to be intimidated by Yi Xiang into letting him do whatever he wants.

Which is how we end up with Show's literal title, "The 9th Period," because 9th period is when Yi Xiang's counseling sessions with Meng Yun take place.

I must say, I'm impressed with Show's characterization of Yi Xiang, so far.

What I mean is, I was so completely convinced that he's just a psychopath, judging from his actions in the first three-quarters of this first episode.

But then, by the end of the episode, I found myself reluctantly buying into the idea that Show starts to introduce, that Yi Xiang is kinder than he first appears.

From the way we see that his mother is saved as "Devil" on his phone, we can guess that he's suffering under his mother's brand of care, and is likely acting out, as a response to her.

And then there are hints that he cares more about the people around him, than he wants to let on.

We learn that the reason he helps his friend Sato cheat on the exam, is because Sato had wanted to make his grandfather happy, and not for any other reason, like defying the school system, for example.

And we also learn that the reason he'd taken bullied boy Liu You into that club room and locked the door behind the, was to protect Liu You from his tormentor, rather than to bully Liu You himself.

It seems that Yi Xiang's kinder actions are done covertly, so that he can maintain his reputation as the school's resident bully, and that makes me think that there's likely a lot more to Yi Xiang than meets the eye.

That said, Yi Xiang's bully persona is extremely convincing and pretty darn scary, and so, trigger warning that there are bullying scenes in this episode, which might make some folks uncomfortable.

As we close out the episode, Meng Yun seems to have touched a raw nerve with Yi Xiang, as she asks him why he allows himself to be controlled by his mother like this.

Ooh. This is the very thing that Yi Xiang seems to want to hide, I feel like, so I'm curious to see how this affects his behavior, going into the next episode.

For the record, I'm no longer looking at this as a potential romance; this feels more like a melodrama, a character study and a case study, rolled into one.

And I have a sense of morbid fascination towards how Meng Yun eventually gets entangled with Yi Xiang, and how he ends up stabbing her, as we see from the top of the episode.

E2. I think part of the watch experience, when it comes to this show, is having Show mess with your mind. 😅

Y'know, the whole dynamic where Show slowly starts to entice you to root for a pairing that your brain says isn't kosher, but you somehow get lured into rooting for it anyway?

Which, honestly, reminds me of That Winter The Wind Blows, where Song Hye Kyo's character believed that Jo In Sung's character was her brother, but was drawn to him anyway. I remember feeling soo conflicted, even as I lapped up the sparks between the two characters. 🙈😅

For the record, Show isn't quite there yet, with the connection between Meng Yun and Yi Xiang, but I can imagine that if they do embark on an actual affair at some point, that Show is more than likely to dip its toes in those waters, and mess with our minds while it's there.

I just.. feel the potential for it, and just the idea of it, is already messing with my mind, a little bit. 😅

So far, I'd say that Meng Yun is still conducting herself in a professional manner, this episode, in that, I can see how a teacher (who isn't trying to seduce their student) might make the choices that she does, when faced with Yi Xiang's variety of antics.

In that sense, I absolutely believe that Meng Yun isn't thinking about pursuing Yi Xiang, like in some real life cases that have come through the media, where the teacher is the one preying on the student, and an affair results.

That said, I can't be certain that she is completely unmoved by Yi Xiang's advances towards her.

There's just something about the way she stiffens, when he tries to get into her personal space, that makes me think that there might be some hyper-awareness reactions going on, that she's studiously trying not to show.

For the record, I do think that Yi Xiang's behavior is not ok. He is essentially harassing Meng Yun, with his declarations of love, and with that kiss on the cheek that he gives her, this episode, in front of the entire school.

I did find it weird that all the students would root for Yi Xiang's crush to be reciprocated, like in the way they egged Meng Yun to accept his love declaration, when he put up those posters.

But, I rationalize that when a popular student moves in any given direction, his peers, who look up to him, would likely cheer him on, even if they wouldn't cheer someone else on, in the same situation.

And, Yi Xiang is popular, despite his reputation as a bully. It's one of those dysfunctional things that we see in high school dramas quite often, where the popular kids, who bask in everyone's adoration all the time, are actually big bullies on the side.

That said, I do think that Show is doing a nice job in peeling back some of Yi Xiang's layers, so that I'm starting to see him as more than just a big bully.

This is a process that Show had started, as early as the tail end of episode 1, and Show leans into that some more, this episode.

In particular, his conversations with Yu Xin show us that he's actually a pretty considerate friend, with the way he's been holding himself back from performing at his best, so that Yu Xin would come out on top and get the scholarships that she legitimately needs.

The fact that he's been doing this for years, since middle school, does speak of a deep sense of loyalty, I have to admit.

And, the way he opens up to Yu Xin a little bit, to admit that he's confused about what Meng Yun had asked him, about why he lets his mother control him, makes him appear a lot more normal and approachable, to me.

I have to admit that I'm still trying to figure out exactly what the deal is, with Yi Xiang thinking of his mother - and therefore saving her on his phone - as a demon.

From what I can see, she's ambitious and naggy and controlling, in that she wants him to excel, and will do anything to make sure that he will excel, but this wouldn't be as big of a problem as it is now, if he would just not act out in school?

Like, if he's putting on this whole rebel persona as an act to make things difficult for his mother, then imagine how relatively smooth-sailing things would be, if he would just not bully kids and teachers, and not hack into the school system to steal exam questions?

I'm just thinking aloud here, but maybe he felt smothered by his mother, and that's why he's been acting out?

But.. then there's the thing where he swaggers around, unafraid of anyone, because he has full confidence that his mother will somehow get him out of trouble. How does that fit into the picture?

That's where the disconnect lies, for me, because I can't seem to reconcile these two points of view, just yet.

Of course, I could also just sweep it all under the carpet, and say that teenagers don't always make a lot of sense, since their brains are still developing, and their hormones are raging..? 😅

For the record, I did feel rather grossed out by Yi Xiang's slobbery kiss on Meng Yun's cheek.

If that was meant to be appealing in any way, then Show failed. But if that was meant to make me feel sorry for Meng Yun, then sure, that worked, because I wouldn't wish that humiliating, slobbery kiss on anyone. 😅

I'm still trying to make up my mind as to what to make of those flashes of past sexytimes with a past lover mean, because we see that those come to Meng Yun's mind, right when Yi Xiang first tells her that he likes her.

From the length of the man's hair in the flashback, I can at least tell that it's not Yi Xiang, so it's not like she's instinctively fantasizing about him, just because he's leaning into her space and whisper-growling that he's already fallen for her.

On another note, and closer to what I was talking about earlier, about Show potentially messing with my mind, I have to admit that while my brain protested that it was very wrong for Yi Xiang to pull Meng Yun towards him like that in the storeroom, I did feel a bit of a crackle, between them, in that moment. 🙈

And, judging from the whimsical, melodious music that plays during this scene, I think we are to believe that Meng Yun does feel a bit of that crackle, too, with Yi Xiang.

To her credit, Meng Yun does extricate herself quite quickly, and I don't find anything untoward in her behavior towards Yi Xiang, in that, she certainly doesn't encourage his behavior towards her.

How very sticky though, that the slobbery onstage kiss gets circulated among students and parents alike, and before we know it, Yi Xiang's mother has marched herself to the staff room, and slaps Meng Yun, hard, upon laying eyes on her - for something that her son did.

That is pretty messed up, alright, but it's completely in line with Mom's behavior thus far, where she blames everything and everyone, but her precious son.

The question is, how will Meng Yun respond to this, and also, what will Yi Xiang do, when he finds out that Mother Dearest has dared to lay hands on his precious Miss Chen??

* This is a First Impressions sort of post only. *

Episode 1-2 notes for "The Makanai: Cooking for the Maiko House" [Japan] will be out on: Tuesday, 17 January 2023!