Meteor Garden: Episode 11 - That son of a bitch

Netflix Synopsis: Before going to London, Ah Si makes a scene at Shancai's workplace. Tian Ye is about to lose his shot at becoming head chef, but Shancai saves the day.

You see DMS tell his sister that he's decided to go to the UK, and she's surprised that he wants to go. He's turned soft and fluffy like his hair, a little defeated and a bit more pensive.

Tian Ye is a young chef who hired Shancai at the restaurant and needs to pass his exam. Not that interested in the sub-plot here, but Shancai is no sloth in this kitchen, even though she did show up wearing that Forever 21 top at the very beginning of this episode.

News break on campus that DMS is going to London, but let's take a quick fashion break to admire the outerwear on F4 in this scene. And is it me, or why do they always have their coats on inside? Can we turn the heat on?

DMS - can't go wrong with a black leather jacket, and it's a trench my friends.
Ximen - that punch of green is as bright as your hair. I like it.
Meizuo - that cobalt blue looks promising from the side, but with you.. we never know.
Lei - one of the best Meemaw of them all.
Oh - but then DMS gets up when Shancai comes down the stairs and you notice that his leather jacket/trench has a blue Japanese rising sun meets the Lion King musical poster motif on its back. Hmmm. Well, I'm convinced that he could wear a garbage bag and make it look good, so let's just go with it.




There's something dead in his eyes when he replies back to Shancai when she asks if he's going to London.

That pineapple hair is back, so I guess his bite is back, too. He lays it on thick, about getting out of the way so that she and Lei can get together, and that he'll find a nice blonde in London to romance. This seems to fluster Shancai and she throws a little tantrum with her "goodbye forever!" speech before she stomps off.

You also get a better view of Lei's fab sweater...

Clearly distracted at work, she burns herself at the restaurant and you see Tian Ye dressing her wound, as he's probably undressing her with his eyes. Gross. Yes. DMS finds out that she's working at the restaurant, orders a grip, demands to see Shancai and refuses to leave. Tian Ye and Shancai come out and I love the fact that he never takes his eyes off of her, and barely looks at Tian. He sees the bandage on her arm and like a true Chinese adult, chastises her for not being able to take care of herself and for working too much. He wants to know why she didn't tell him? Not sure why she should tell him, she tells him that it's none of his business.

Uh-oh - the sun rises and the lion king roars, as he stands up and reaches for Shancai and pulls her to leave.
Tian tries to manage the situation, but no one says it better than DMS when he's like "Who the hell are you?"

Really dude. Who the hell are you? No one important, DMS, but Shancai does get up on her high horse and wants DMS to respect her job and her colleagues, and tells him to leave. That chefs hat must be on way too tight, because she's not thinking straight.

So many expressions in just a few seconds...

It's the dead eyes again, and then he looks away, as if it's too much to see what's happening now. He just wanted to say goodbye. As he turns to leave, she calls out his name, but he doesn't look back and tells her that he won't be coming back and Goodbye. She really does look like she's going to cry here. We're right there with you.

Tian wants to know if DMS is Shancai's boyfriend, and she sadly replies that he's no longer any of her concern. She realizes that she didn't have a proper chance to say goodbye, and wonders if she'll regret it, but believes that maybe it's better this way. Back at the tea shop, she and boba bestie talk love shop and doesn't understand why she's so mad at him and doesn't accept that he's leaving so soon. Bestie states the obvious and says it's because Shancai cares about DMS, but Shancai still claims that that would be impossible. Ugh, we really need to slap some sense into you!!!

At home, Shancai tells her parents about her new job at the restaurant and they are hopeful that their daughter will take their take out business to the next level. At home, DMS is looking red-faced and solemn. Even the dead eyes are tinged red tonight. He really needs to look at Banana Bestie who is hanging out in the F4 man cave, because there's no way you can look at him and his 24k TAPOUT bling and not crack up.


It's Double D-Day (DMS Departure - Day) today and even Li Zhen is wondering why Shancai isn't at the airport sending him off. It's even obvi to her that Shancai likes DMS and wonders why Shancai won't admit it. Li Zhen tells her the story when Si got drunk and said that Shancai wouldn't betray her own heart...


Cut to the airport and F3 are sending off DMZ and DMS. A+ outerwear again, but will save for the fashion outtakes.


They hug it out and are about to board, and Lei asks Si to wait, because kiwi needs to say something to pineapple. The dead eyes come to life. Lei is so pretty.

Si is looking rather fierce on this flight, fingers crossed, slight furrow in his brow and he slams his fist into his hand as he calls Lei a son of a bitch, before he yells out that he needs to get off the plane. He gets the beat down from DMZ, who karate chops him unconscious. Gotta love older sisters.


Shancai has her DMS flashbacks in her Charlie Brown sweater.
She doesn't like arrogant and pushy people, and people don't need air and water to survive, right? *SIGH* Good grief. She is a blockhead. 

And we get to see one of our favorite scenes again!


As soon as DMS and DMZ arrive in London, DMS wants to head back to Shanghai. DMZ doesn't get it. Hands on hips for both of them as they bark it out. Lots of references to the mean, controlling matriarch here and also the foreshadowing plot of the expectation that DMS will be taking over the family business. DMS's defiance is stoked and ready to burn....

He's so dark and broody, like a dark spot on Jing' pristine white childhood dress in his Euro mansion, and doesn't even care if his boots dirty that shearling cover. He lives so dangerously.

You see flashbacks of what Lei tells Ah Si at the airport, that nothing ever happened between Lei and Shancai and that he believes that the person that Shancai likes is HIM! That final eye contact is killer. That was a strong checkmate move, Lei. You are a (cotton) baller, shot caller, twenty-inch blades on your bike in China....


DMS pretends to be her dad, as he calls the restaurant to hear her voice, and it's hard to tell if she really believes that it's the wrong caller. How could she not recognize his voice, and his tender concern? DMS heads into the Chinatown in London and is greeted by a restaurant owner who is also clearly fawning over him. He does have strong appeal to the over 30+10 female demographic. 
I mean, really, how can you resist that charm?

As he eats, he starts reminiscing about her, and the times he was mean to her, and also scrolls through his phone to find a social media post about Tian.


Back at Tian's restaurant, he impresses her with his lobster thermidor dish and wants to get a critic's approval to become head chef. He tells her about the laborious prep and also a shortcut, and during his prep he falls asleep and now the flavors are all wrong. Too bad, so sad. But of course Shancai runs off to save the day in search of the rare ingredient for the shortcut prep. She busts a move on her bike with the leaves and gets into an accident, and the 1,500 yuan ($215 USD!) per bunch of this plant catapults into the air and gets run over. She runs into the old woman she saved from the bike dude who gives her a new bundle. Tian presents his dish to the critic and tells his story of his humble beginnings and makes head chef. Snoring.

Don't want to end with Tian, so closing with this frame, and an answer to this question:

You. Always You, except maybe when you do rap videos, but that will be for another post.

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