When last we left our time traveler and his admirer, their developing romance was going well until it wasn’t.
Armin is surprised Tada still supports him.
Janine is pro-Tada, pointing out how special he treats Armin. Also, Tada probably wouldn’t have gotten close to Narin if he knew he’d get close to Armin. But he can’t change the past. Very on point, Janine.
Tada wins Armin back with notes inside a lunchbox. They meet, and Tada swears that he’ll prove himself if given time. Armin wants that time, and I feel like he’s enjoying being a brat. Tada says he’s good at waiting.
After an angsty shower, Armin calls Tada and tells him to be at the perfume shoot tomorrow with his lucky necklace.
But the past still ain’t done with Armin
Armin recognizes the perfume shoot. Originally, it happened later, and he was on the crew. It’s where he met Charlie, who shows up on cue.
Tada wants to help. Armin is a mess again and no longer wants Tada’s necklace or help.
His emotional struggles again come out in his work, to Charlie’s delight and Ren’s resentment. A bucket of blood that is inexplicably set up ahead of time becomes a Carrie-style moment orchestrated by Ren. Charlie loves blood-covered Armin, taking more pictures.
Armin vows that if someone has to die this time, it won’t be him.
This success isn’t good for Armin
Charlie wants to take his portrait, but Armin wants to run away and turns down Tada’s dinner invitation. But Sam is at Jeed’s. He heard Armin met Charlie and wants an autograph.
Armin can’t escape, so he decides to charge head-on. He calls Charlie to get his portrait taken.
Meanwhile, Ren can’t make a deal with Tada about Armin, but he can leave him some info tucked into a manila envelope.
Armin meets with Charlie in return for a favor for Sam. He rambles about their future secret relationship and betrayal. Charlie thinks it’s an act and wants sex. Tada bursts in and attacks Charlie.
Armin drags Tada outside, still babbling about time travel. Tada is just someone new, getting in the way, and he wants nothing to do with him. He breaks poor Tada’s heart.
Later, Armin texts Charlie that he forgives them and sends a gift. Armin’s gift is Sam arriving at his studio. Charlie uses the same lines on Sam as he used on Armin.
Tada’s Assistant is the Real Hero
Tada doesn’t want to send his gift to Armin anymore, but Assistant delivers it anyway. Armin recognizes the watch from the original timeline. We saw it too, when he won the award. Finally, he’s realized Tada is TD.
Tada has retreated to Phuket to look tragically out at the ocean. Armin follows and tries to apologize, but it’s Tada’s turn to be a brat, and he walks away dramatically.
Armin finds him brooding on the beach later. He talks about how Tada is his everything, and knowing he was TD makes him love TD as a lover. When Tada disappeared, his heart felt empty. He’d never truly valued how TD had always been there, never once drifting away.
That’s all it takes. Tada records himself saying that whatever it is Armin needs, he will support and care for him.
They start kissing on the beach, but no one wants sandy sex, so they move to the hot tub for some hot hot sex.
Then they have a nice vacation together
Before that, we see original timeline Armin depressed about his failures, about to jump off a bridge. TD called him and stopped him, talking about being his fan.
Present-day Armin rubs sunscreen all over Tada and spends the day frolicking in the water with him. Tada wants to know why he never revealed himself to Armin in their past life. Armin explains how long it took him to achieve fame last time, so he didn’t even meet him the day he died.
Tada flashbacks to sobbing over Armin’s dead body. He becomes extremely anxious and doesn’t want Armin to talk about dying. He felt the same way when he saw Armin’s death scene in episode one.
He’s not a normal fan. He loves more than Armin’s acting. He loves all of him.
Then we get the backstory
When Tada’s father died, his stepmother cut him out and ruined his life. He was going to jump off the same bridge from earlier, but another kid stopped him, gave him instant noodles, and kept him company. That kid would be Armin.
That gave Tada the energy to fight to reclaim what is his. He reset his life, and the only thing that remained was the feelings for the boy who saved his life.
He explains that it’s like how Armin described his feelings for TD. His feelings for Armin and his feelings for the boy who saved his life became one.
Armin doesn’t know how to repay him. Tada says he has already repaid him with the cup of noodles. But Armin wants to grant him 3 wishes.
Meanwhile, not lying on a beach
Thiwthit struggles with his “destroy Tada” plan. He learns that Ren is having his mom’s paper run a nasty article on Armin and gets Lily to introduce them.
Ren is not interested in challenging Crown, only Armin, who he thinks Tada will discard easily. Thiwthit is still interested in working together in the future.
Ren’s manager worries his Armin smear campaign will hurt his film. It turns into a nasty argument, with Ren accusing her of not being there for him in the past, calling her names, and kicking her out.
Armin can’t remember what happened to Tada in the, er, future
He knows Crown exists, and that TD is his TD, but not if Tada has control of Crown.
Tada feels that his life has now reset multiple times. Armin feels similar. He’s gone from wanting success and fame to wanting to love Tada.
Tada surprises Armin for his birthday with fireworks and a cake he made. Then he asks for his first wish, that no matter what he gives him, Armin must accept it. It’s an expensive car.
Armin blows out his candles and doesn’t tell Tada his wish. But he VOs that he prays this life will be their final reset.
Then, we get to my second couples-bathrobe-leads-to-sex scene of the week. Armin wants to slow down and enjoy his time with Tada. And sex. Because Tada’s second wish is… Sorn would approve.
Now that they’ve spent the episode being happy together, Ren’s news is published. It’s pictures of Armin with Charlie. Is that what he showed Tada? How did he hand them to Tada while Armin was still with Charlie?
Whatever. Armin wants to hold a press conference, but Tada has a risky plan to get rid of Armin’s enemies once and for all. And we don’t get to know what it is. Armin trusts him. I do too.
Janine faces the press at the airport until Armin arrives, ready to answer the questions.
I see parallels between this and the first episode
Once again, Armin is going to go back and deal with the press. But last time he was the one to break the news, and he died before he could talk to them. I have no idea if there is meant to be a parallel here, or if actors just cause scandals.
What will we learn about Ren’s past? The fact that he hates Armin in both timelines, successful or not, makes it feel like there’s more to the story. Ren, what is your sad story? Or is he just that threatened?
I disagree with Armin. I don’t think Charlie and Sam were conspiring against him. I think they’re the non-murderous, average kind of awful people. Right now, I’m wondering if Thiwthit poisoned him. I don’t remember seeing him in the first episode.
Are we stuck with a 26-year time skip at the end of the show? While we need to know that Armin will be okay at the end, that would be jarring. The way Armin keeps talking about the timeline moving faster, maybe that’s so the events of episode one happen much sooner. Then we get our resolution without a big time skip.
I guess we’ll see! We’re past the halfway point, so it won’t be too long.
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