Asian Addicts Anonymous

That’s it. The show is now over. What did this series leave me with? Well, truthfully, more complaints than I would have liked. That being said, this ending made me at first go WTF and then had me laughing over the complete absurdity. Well, at least this ending didn’t leave me screaming give me back 22 hours of my life like Breakout had me doing at the end of 25. This show wasn’t quite as bad in the acting or horribly segmented plot department. That being said, there were WAY too many unanswered questions and rushed events. This series was originally slated for 24 episodes and was cut short. Quite honestly, they could have tightened the plot, cut down the number of episodes and created a much more satisfying ending, but this seems to rarely happen in dramaland.

Step 22: Do You Love Me?

Tian Ze rushes off to stop Ai Xing from leaving Taiwan with her newly discovered father. Why? Well, his inner monologue is kind of annoying in that it’s a selfish reason.

Ai Xing, you must wait for me. Although I haven’t made my mind up yet, I’m not ready to let go either. I can’t let you leave me like this.

If this wasn’t Tian Ze, I would say the boy needs a good smacking. As it is, I am kind of frustrated with his thinking. Sure, he just discovered that he was initially in love with Jing Jing first making him more confused, but shouldn’t he trust the now and NOT the past?

Anywho, Ai Xing is thinking of going along with Da Chuan not because he’s her father, but because it would be the best thing to do. Leave and cut all ties with Tian Ze and Jing Jing so that they can be happy with one another without feeling guilty. Um, didn’t Mrs. Meng’s message get through to you? That’s part of the reason why her own marriage suffered so badly, because of Hui Mei’s “selfless sacrifice.” I did like this scene as it did realistically portray a girl who isn’t ready to move to another country just because her dad happens to be found. Of course, Tian Ze rushes in and begs her not to leave him and of course this makes Ai Xing happy and she decides to stay. Da Chuan declares that while Ai Xing is staying, he will still take Zhi Xing with him.

Ai Xing, Zhi Xing, and Grandpa go shopping to ensure that Zhi Xing has all that he needs. Poor Grandpa cannot stand to send his adopted grandson so far away. Zhi Xing has become an integral part of his life. Ai Xing promises to watch out for and care for Grandpa in Zhi Xing’s stead. She even tries to convince the gentleman to move in with her or she can move back to Mei Ze. It’s touching, it really is what with Zhi Xing giving Grandpa the marshmallows so that Grandpa can eat them and think of his human marshmallow Zhi Xing.

While the Zeng children are out shopping with Grandpa, Da Chuan is giving some sage advice to Tian Ze: stop dillydallying. If Tian Ze is more concerned with not hurting one girl, he will end up hurting them both. Tian Ze needs to man up and make a decision. Choose Jing Jing and break Ai Xing’s heart (in which case Da Chuan will get his daughter to live with him in America so she can forget Tian Ze) or choose Ai XIng, make her happy or you’ll answer to her dad, and break Jing JIng’s heart. Da Chuan made the wrong decision 20+ years ago and lost Hui Mei and getting to know his children. He doesn’t want to see this group of friends end up regretting their choices (or lack thereof) later.

The day arrives for Da Chuan and Zhi Xing to leave. Ai Xing goes to the airport, but sends Tian Ze off without her as she can’t watch her dear twin brother leave. However, Zhi Xing can’t leave without seeing his jie. He cries and runs through the airport until he spots her. He tells her that he will learn well and make money to help fulfill her dream of becoming rich. Ai Xing hugs her brother and cries and tells him that he must be good and become a famous artist. Zhi Xing promises this and leaves with their father. And that’s it for Da Chuan and Zhi Xing. They have now left the episode/series to never appear again.

Although Zhi Xing left, I’m still here. I’ll be with you always. I won’t let you be alone.

After saying that to Ai Xing, the two go back to her apartment where Grandpa is lamenting not cherishing Zhi Xing more. He then warns TIan Ze not to be like him and regret not cherishing a loved one like they should be. He encourages Tian Ze to cherish Ai Xing while she’s there and don’t be sad only after she’s gone (basically meaning it’s too late to realize your love and be sad only after they are gone, which is true). This makes Tian Ze call up Jing Jing. At this point, you can pretty much figure that he is NOT trying to rekindle the old flame, but when Ai Xing overhears him arranging to meet Jing Jing, she immediately thinks of the worst case scenario and cries along in her room, calling herself a fool for getting so involved in her own one-man show. And of course she cries more as this means she’ll be alone. There is no more Zhi Xing and now no more Tian Ze and Jing Jing.

Ren Wei picks up Jing Jing’s diamond ring that has now been properly sized. He wonders what will happen. Will she stay by his side or choose to leave him? He heads home only to find Jing Jing on her way out. She meets Tian Ze at the church and urges him to complete the wedding ceremony. Once they do this, their past will be officially behind them and they can both move on. Ren Wei misinterprets this as them moving on together and walks away. He calls up Ai Xing and tells her what happened while Jing Jing and Tian Ze throw out the rings he bought and run to the bank to sell their souvenir so that the entire past connections have been done away with. Thank god that they were not renewing only to regret their decision later.

Ren Wei and Ai Xing scream, laugh, and cry their sorrows away at an amusement park where AI Xing wonders if she and Ren Wei shouldn’t get together now that they have both been disappointed in love. Ren Wei wonders if she is serious and AI Xing says she is. They then take the rollercoaster for another round, promising to only laugh with no tears this time. They then return to work where Ling Li is saying her farewells and they shock everyone by announcing they are officially an item. Tian Ze overhears this as he came to tell Ai Xing that he has put his past behind him. He pulls her outside and she tells him to be happy with Jing Jing. Yes, Ai Xing does love Tian Ze, but it turns out she loves money more, thus she chooses Ren Wei. Dumb Tian Ze. He should have made her listen to what he had to say instead of letting her lie about Ren Wei making her dream come true so Tian Ze shouldn’t stand in her way. Sigh. Really? How much you want to bet she wouldn’t have gotten away with that if Tian Ze still had his memory as he knows that Ai Xing’s love of money wasn’t strong enough to keep her with Ren Wei.

Jing Jing then goes to confirm whether or not that Ren Wei is really in love with her. Ren Wei pours her wine and tells her that he’s toasting the end of his pursuit of her. Say what? Ren Wei then goes on to say that he believes love is not his cup of tea after all. Instead, he believes that a person is right for him. He then tells Jing Jing that he and Ai Xing have decided to be together as they compliment one another nicely. Jing Jing cannot believe this. Well, in all honesty, the way she and Tian Ze kept circling around each other and not moving on for the longest of times, it would serve them right if Ai Xing and Ren Wei did end up together. Jing Jing then meets up with Tian Ze and the two wonder if they should let Ren Wei and Ai Xing go. Do you know what I find odd? This quartet’s carefree attitude. I mean, they all seem pretty calm and okay with what’s going on and that seems…wrong. There should be more there than what is being show after all the carp that’s happened.

Ai Xing takes Ling Li out to an expensive dinner, her treat, in order to thank Ling Li for doing all that she did for the younger girl. Ling Lie brushes some of it off, but is very happy that her protégé turned out so nicely. Ai Xing then sends Yia Nan, all dudded up again, as a present. Yia Nan wishes to go to China with Ling Li and work with her and see where this growing attraction takes them. Yes, he’s heartbroken over AI Xing, but the girl never looked at him. Only Ling Li looked at him and he looked at her. That has to mean something. Aww, what a nice exit for these two. Ai Xing leaves the two alone and goes shopping for new shoes. She happens upon a boy drawing who reminds her of Zhi Xing. And…yeah…I guess there wasn’t too much significance with that scene.

Ren Wei and Ai Xing watch Tian Ze help Jing Jing move (out of Ren Wei’s place?) and are content that the two are together. Um…right. Did Jing Jing and Tian Ze pretend to be dating again, or is this just what Ren Wei and AI Xing assume since they bowed out of the equation so they can be together? Who knows? The day comes and Ren Wei and Ai Xing are leaving Taiwan. They say their goodbyes to Jing Jing and Tian Ze and then go their own separate ways (they pretended to be leaving together in front of the other two). Ren Wei heads off to America and Ai Xing to China to work with Ling Li.

Okay. We then get a three year time jump in which Ai Xing moves up in the world of real estate in China. She has severed almost all ties with Jing Jing and Tian Ze except for the occasional holiday postcard and random phone call when she knows they won’t answer. Thinking she can finally face the two again, Ai Xing heads back to Taiwan where she is greeted by Jing Jing. A pregnant Jing Jing. And up comes Ren Wei. So, I know Ai Xing wasn’t really communicating with Jing Jing or Tian Ze, but how could Ren Wei keep her in the dark? Or did their ties end when they parted ways, too? So, I am going to guess that since Jing Jing’s expecting, that means she and Ren Wei fixed the misunderstanding and got married (again, how Jing Jing could marry without Ai Xing is beyond me). I did love Ren Wei’s sudden appearance which flustered Ai Xing and how he said “Give me a hug.” Yes, since we had all this smattering of English exclamations in this series, we couldn’t end it without Ren Wei using it yet again.

Ren Wei and Jing Jing then rush Ai Xing to meet a huge philanthropist. Looks like Tian Ze is back in full swing. He’s a wealthy, powerful lawyer who does lots of pro bono work for the poor. He scolds Ai Xing for being late the moment he sees her and then grabs her hand and rushes out the door. We then cut to a scene with the two running in wedding clothes. Ai Xing cannot believe that TIan Ze really wants to marry her (and given the way this episode goes, it actually makes no sense without at least one more scene here, but whatever). She then kisses him and Ren Wei and Jing Jing show up. Ren Wei hugs Jing Jing and she yells to Ai Xing that their dreams have finally come true. Omo. How corny and ridiculous, but that is seriously how this ends.

Too much rushing and no real justification for this ending. Things were not tied up and questions went unanswered. Like how did Jing Jing and Ren Wei end up together again? I’m not complaining, but it just doesn’t make logical sense when they don’t even put that in their at all. And it’s great that Tian Ze waited three years for Ai Xing. It really is, but to rush into the wedding scene at the end? Give me a break. Oh well. This show is definitely worth one watching in spite of its many, many faults. I would really like to see our OTP together in another drama—a better one hopefully.

I’m thinking of a doing an MV for this show, but don’t know for sure. I have an idea and we’ll see how long it takes me to try and accomplish it. I am sad that we didn’t get to see what happened to Grandpa, Mrs. Meng, Mr. Du, Zhi Xing and Da Chuan, and even to see if Yia Nan and Ling Li’s relationship really did take off, but oh well.