#but i could absolutely imagine changing drastically. changing is second nature to me i'm a whole entire new bucket of feral farts everyday

[psalmsofpsychosis]

lmao

[ryansjane]

I love offgun in this new show, the dynamic is great and it's cartoony but in just the right way *coughmiddlemanslovecough* but what has been your favorite and least favorite elements so far and do you think it will get deeper or stay sweet and candy-coated? (I'm down bad for either!)

yessssss, the cartoonish aspect is so fun! ngl I haven't watched middleman's love when they decided to replace mii2 but apart from that I always feel like no other country can do silly like thai dramas lol. like idk they just can push the boundaries of comedy while still making their show good in a way most other tv shows I've seen can't!

anyways, my favorite elements are the chemistry, of course, which is just so... offgun. even though I usually prefer offgun in shows where they're more upset (lmao I love my men crying leave me alone), it's really nice to see them in this kind of show & their natural chemistry is so perfect you can tell they barely have to put any effort for it to look amazing. apart from that, I truly love ten & prem as characters SO FUCKING MUCH. I'll try to keep it short bc I legit could write a whole essay about them but I truly love how they're both genuinely good people who should be bland & boring, but instead are not AT ALL. also, despite the cartoonish-ness of the show, they genuinely feel like real people. we have ten who is both a hot, rich, smart & perfect love interest (which are usually boring ngl) but is also very dramatic & silly & has that nerdy loser quality to him (and it's not just the glasses I promise) which is such a paradoxical combo yet works SO SO well??? as for prem, I wasn't as sold to him before the show aired but I FUCKING LOVE HIM??? he's again, kind of the cliche main character good guy that the viewer is meant to see themselves reflected in, but they made him sassy and feisty, and proud but also insecure and I just... root for him so hard ngl. these two are such strong characters they're really carrying the show, but another element I love is the acting bc I didn't think gun could slay a comedic role this well & I'm sorry I ever doubted him! as for off, it's incredible to see that he once again managed to make one of his characters absolutely unrecognizable from his others, idk if anyone else noticed or if I'm just that one completely unhinged off stan but he kinda changed his way of speaking for this role??? he speaks way softer & more proper which is a very drastic change from who off is usually lol. also another element I love are the locations & especially prem's house/restaurant... it looks so cozy & beautiful 🥺

the element I don't like is gmmtv not putting up the uncut version of the episodes on their channel. the cut version can stay on tv who fucking cares but them not putting out the uncut version for inter fans is ACTIVELY hurting the show. first of all, the cut scenes should NEVER have been cut in the first place, they are not superfluous at all & develop the relationships (especially firedynamite's one) further. second of all, the cutting of the scenes just make the editing look SO weird bruh, the cut eps look unprofessional. and lastly, it hurts the views of the show, of course, bc most people are not gonna watch it on gmmtv's channel & are just gonna wait for it to leak on kissasian & dramacool, which is simply horrible. the whole thing about gmmtv releasing their shows on youtube is bc it profits them greatly in terms of viewerships & marketing. so yeah, that's my least favorite thing about cooking crush. there's some other things but they're nowhere near that bad lol so I'll wait for more episodes or for my official 'axelle judges bl shows' review to put everything out at once.

lastly, I do think the show will stay just sweet & quit surface-level. from the original mock trailer, we know there will likely be one crying scene but that's kinda it I imagine. personally, for a show to become my favorite I need more angst & more depth, but I never really went into cooking crush thinking it would give me that. I've rarely encountered a comedy that doesn't stay quite surface-level. do I wish the show would explore the characters' sexualities, ten's daddy issues, fire's mommy issues & tenprem's social inequality more in order to make it more deep? yeah, I'm ngl. do I think that's what they're going for? absolutely not. that being said they might surprise me bc girl next room: richy rich (with off as lead & by the same director and screenwriter) did explore the mindset of an ex-poor person become suddenly rich as well as social inequality with quite a bit of nuance, so we never know!

xxx

[meetmeatthecoda]

It certainly would be asking too much of the show (since, apparently, a canon Liz, even as a certified profiler she is, just has to fall for Tom's manipulations time after time again, ugh), but, please, consider this as an AU scenario that would get rid of Tom once and for good and improve relationship between Liz and Red:

In the 2.19, if Liz somehow came back to Tom's warehouse earlier – either with Caul or by agreeing to split with him so he could make a copy of the Fulcrum, just in case – when Red hasn't come to after his surgery yet and, therefore, had an opportunity to have a brief respite from all the turmoil of that day's events and sort through her feelings as she waited anxiously for Red to wake up (because you just know she would be there, not in any other part of the warehouse, not with Tom, but by Red's side, if things went a little differently like that), she would realize whom she truly loves – Tom or Red – because the panic she felt back when Zamani stabbed Tom pales considerably in comparison to the one she felt when she saw Red get shot (that "NO!" of hers will haunt my dreams, I'm telling you... if I didn't know already, when I was watching this episode, that Liz loves Red – Braxton and Kings episodes have good enough evidences of that – this "No!" scream of hers would certainly be that moment that would make me go "Yup, she's in love with him"), the terror she felt in the car and then at the first warehouse – when she saw the surgeon dead – at the though of losing Red, the pang in her heart when Nick updated her on his condition and legitimately told her that there was a bullet-turned-land-mine in his chest, fear and frustration she felt when Nick kept stalling time instead of helping Red and anxiety and bone-deep need to get back to Red's side as soon as possible mixed with fear that she would come back only to find out that he was no longer there she felt while she was away from the warehouse. Having had enough time to come to this startling realization and to calm down (both after this realization and in general) by the time Red comes to, she would tell him, when he tried to explain to her the situation with Tom (because you know he would, as soon as he saw her), that they certainly need to talk about that but later and for now she just wants him to focus on getting better.

And – once she terminated the immediate threat to Red's life by showing the Director the Fulcrum and, as a result, they could finally move him to a proper hospital and didn't need the warehouse anymore – Liz would finally end things with Tom for good and, instead of conspiring with him to find out the answers she seeks, she would spend that time by Red's side, helping him through his recovery in whatever way she can – from keeping him company at the hospital to taking walks with him as a part of his physiotherapy – and strategically avoiding talking about Tom and her mother and anything that has to do with their shared past until she's certain that Red is back to normal.

I can easily imagine her fretting over him more than is necessary simply because she loves him – as she finally admitted to herself but yet to admit to him – and nearly lost him and Red getting a little... overwhelmed because of it – especially, considering the fact that his last clear memory before he woke up after the surgery to her standing over him with genuine concern and breathtaking relief written all over her face is her telling him (or, rather, yelling at him) that she wants it (as in their relationship) to stop right that instant – and wondering quietly as to what could possibly make her change her mind so drastically (not that he minds) but coming up blank because he can't possibly fathom the possibility that she might love him but loving the attention he gets from her nevertheless and trying to enjoy it as much as possible while it lasts because he's certain that she'll eventually go back to how she treated him before.

I can also imagine Liz trying to convince Red to take it easy when he gets discharged from the hospital while he insists that he's right as rain and wants to go straight back to his work as both the Concierge of Crime and FBI's CI as if nothing had happened even though he struggles to catch his breath after as much physical activity as a walk in the park near the hospital and grimaces each time he moves the wrong way or takes too harsh of a breath and tries to sit down or lean against something for support as much as possible and Liz actually sees all that, no matter how good Red thinks he is at keeping his discomfort and clearly far from ideal state of health from her.

Also, Liz freaking out when Dembe informs her – because she made him promise that he would let her know about everything that happens to Red, especially if he makes big or possibly life-threatening decisions, but also because Dembe doesn't like that idea, either, and secretly hopes that Elizabeth will make Red reconsider it – that Red wants to fly to Boston and rushes to reprimand him because "no sane person would get on a plane just five days after being shot in the chest and getting his lung damaged, Red, and frankly I'm surprised I even have to tell you that!" (okay, maybe I'm projecting a little with this last one, because it honestly freaked me out a little when I was watching Quon Zhang, because he certainly shouldn't have been flying for at least a couple of weeks after being shot)

Wow, anon!! 🤯 What a beautiful essay of an ask!! 😍 I love, love, love basically any scenario that involves less T*m & MORE RED & LIZ enjoying a good relationship for once... so this was quite a joy to read!! It's so funny how you can change the one small detail of Liz just having some time to think & - from there - logically spin a much more lovely Lizzington story than anything we ever got on screen... and by "funny", I naturally mean "ridiculous", bc if wonderful fans like you can do it, TPTB should have been more than capable, jfc. BUT I love every detail of this, anon, including but not limited to: Liz analyzing her feelings like the profiler she was supposed to be & realizing both that she cares deeply for Red AND the first second he awakens after life-saving surgery might not be the best time to work through all their drama. Past that, I adore the idea of Liz ignoring their issues while Red gets better, fretting so affectionately over him that Red is thoroughly confused but intensely grateful, vehemently opposing him going back to work, finally opening her eyes enough to observe how Red manages to hide his suffering from her, & - last but not least - absolutely flipping her shit over Red wanting to fly 4 seconds after being shot cause, let's face it, you're right, anon - that shit's just not realistic 😂 Ugh, what a lovely & relatable AU scenario you gave us here, anon, thank you so much for sharing!! 🥰 Much love to you, of course, my friend!! ❤️