Protect the boss E18

Normally I fall for the actor’s looks and not how he gazes at the object of his affection, but PTB changed that for me. Soulful looks like this that were directed at E is why I fell in love with this drama in the first place. There is sincerity in those stares even when it is not supposed to seem so real. These convincing gazes brought me here and I fell for them each and every time. Even his comical looks get to you cuz you can’t stop grinning. Just look at all the screenshots for tonight – I went out of my way to capture as many as possible. Part of me wants to nickname him “expression guy” cuz he has a million of them and he pulls them out in the most random moments and it enlivens his character so much. I am going to miss this character the most – not because J’s change was the most uplifting, but for every word and gesture that made NES fall for him – it left a deeper impression on all of us.  

Dramas like this make me wonder if it’s possible for another one to be this good- and the only answer at the moment is – it will be really hard to top this one as the best romantic comedy in years.

Protect the boss E17

Leave it to PTB to do the exact opposite of most dramas. Instead of slowing down the episode and filling it with lots of flashback scenes, they packed every last second in with as much as they could. It’s like someone put this entire episode from start to finish on the fastest speed possible. I swear they have never spoken this fast before – it’s like they were trying to cram two episodes into one. My right hand went numb halfway thru. The episode went into overtime too.  I feel like a top that is still spinning. If you really want to know what this episode is like in a nutshell- picture a little boy who got his favorite toy taken away for not doing his chores so he gets busy and does all the work – thinking of his toy the whole time – and when he finally gets the toy back, he is so happy that he can’t stop playing with it. Except this toy kicks butt and holds grudges. 🙂

*The preview for E18 is daebak -finally romance the old fashioned way

** For those of you who were wondering about what I thought of Gong Yoo’s movie the crucible, there will be a post about it soon. get ready to bawl cuz it is going to be emotional. I can’t remember the last time I cried that much in a movie theater. we are talking uncontrollable sobbing and weeping.

Protect the boss E16

* it’s back on track – this episode will get to you and remind you why you fell in love with PTB in the first place -it’s beyond daebak-hard to believe, but that kitchen scene wasn’t the only highlight of this episode 🙂

Protect the boss E15

 

You have to give this couple props – even through their pain – they manage to find joy in each other’s company.

Now that I have translated most of this episode, I had time to reflect- singing a whole different tune at the moment. As far as creating drama out of thin air just for the sake of extending it another few episodes, this one wasn’t that bad. It could have gone a lot worse. Maybe cuz BOF is on cable these days and I had it on as background video while I was translating, but compared to some of those cringeworthy scenes and that god awful “almost paradise” song that makes my skin crawl, PTB is holding its own pretty well through this last stretch before the finale. It is still maintaining humor where it can and mustering through these angsty episodes rather well. If you noticed, each show doesnt drown everything in morose antics and doles it out sparingly. I think the shock of watching our beloved characters so sad threw us off a bit during the last part of E14 and some parts of this one, but we need to see the light at the end of the tunnel here. There are some great scenes headed our way soon. If we turn our backs on what this drama did to enrich our kdrama experience so far, we might miss some of the greatest comeback scenes in KD history. 🙂

Protect the boss E14

It doesn’t take much imagination to know what J’s answer will be to E’s question last night. He has been giving her the same answer for all these past episodes – not just with words, but with actions and looks. Like the way he stared at her in this scene. In his eyes, there is nothing she can do that he won’t love. That is – until tonight. Judging from the preview, this may be the first time when J hesitates when it comes to his love for E. Till now he was going to give up things to be with her, but I am not so sure he will be willing to turn his back on his father so easily. What E is doing is protecting J and JD in the long run, but at the same time, she is putting JD in a sticky situation. It sort of bothered me that she was following her conscience only and not thinking about how this will affect JD. He has been such a great father in law figure for her so far, shouldn’t she feel a little guilty pushing him to do something he wasnt already willing to do on his own? JD feels very strongly about betrayal and I hope E doesn’t go behind his back to do anything just for the sake of protecting him. For the first time last night, I realized why this drama had to be called Protect the boss. It wasn’t so E could protect J from his father’s constant abuse or help J with his phobia, it was so E could protect both men at a time like this – even if it means hurting one or both of them. With four episodes left, I hope tonight isn’t one of those typical episodes riddled with conflict and separation. This drama managed to break so many kdrama stereotypes so far, I would hate for it to start now and pick up some of those tired ways of resolving conflict. If I learned anything from this drama, it’s to remain optimistic so I am counting on the show to prove me wrong.

* the first half will keep you grinning and the last few minutes will make you want to throw something at certain characters

Protect the boss E13

 

The word adorable doesn’t even begin to cover how precious these two look. After watching the special, now that I know how that fake elevator works, I am just wondering if the guy closing and opening the door manually was grinning just looking at these two. They are like cute puppies you can’t resist stopping to coo at aren’t they?

  

I am still amazed by how first impressions change once you fall in love with characters. I used to think I could never get past J’s crazy perm, but now all I see is his genuine love for E and how sweet and sincere he is as a son and a human being.

 

Protect the boss E12 and “PTB Special” recap

I came this close to crying during this scene. It was the first time J said sorry to M and meant it with every fiber of his being. J knows what he took away from M – if anyone should know how special E is, of course it’s J. That is why he is willing to do anything to hold onto her -even if it means going against his own father’s wishes, giving up his home and wealth, and even if it means he has to break his cousin’s heart. I love that J realizes now how much M means to him – they grew up with each other like brothers and J is willing to make sacrifices for M- but just not her. Giving up E is the limit that J can’t and won’t cross. As he rested his head against M’s, for the first time I realized that through all the actions J has taken so far to hang onto E’s love, J earned the right to keep her.

click for PTB special 🙂