Love You


The incomparable Rainie Yang is as charming and funny as ever in this 18-episode series.

No, this is not the latest drama import from Taiwan. This post is about "Love You" because sometimes you need a little joy in your life. Even that joy is imported from near past. At the moment, Taiwan dramas on Netflix have become eerily dark. There's Light the Night, Shards of Her and The Victims Game -- all of which are moody explorations of past crimes and the painful secrets that haunt the present. Don't be mistaken--these are all standout series, but sometimes you just want to have a delightful romp after a long day of remote work.

"Love You" came out in 2011--toward the end of the golden age of idol drama in Asia.  It has all the elements that you've come to expect from the genre: a fake marriage, opposites that attract, romantic rejection, lots of eavesdropping, and some over-the-top comedic performances by Rainie Yang and Hsin-Ling Chung. Xiao Ru (Rainie Yang) is a bubbly restaurant manager in the unfortunately named Farglory Hotel in Hualien. Jie Xiu (Joseph Chang) is a successful interior designer. One day, Xiao Ru is dumped by her boyfriend, when he tells her that he's leaving her for another woman, Peggy. I love how this young Taiwanese woman is saddled with such an American old-lady name. 

Jie Xiu (Joseph Chang) is the fastidious interior designer who thinks Xiao Ru has the manners of a pig.

Jie Xiu, meanwhile, is having major problems with his girlfriend, a beautiful fashion model played by the omnipresent Anne Hsu, currently starring in "Shards of Her." Jie Xiu and Xiao Ru cross paths when they meet at a bar, where they proceed to get very, very drunk. They decide, if their loved ones don't want to marry them, they are going to marry each other instead. No, the bar they meet up in isn't at Caesar's in Vegas--but, they do have the presence of mind to travel all the way to the registry office to make their marriage official. 

Then there's hotel vixen Kelly (Jessica Sung) whose motives are always ulterior. 

When they wake up the next day, they try to put the pieces together about what happened last night. Xiao Ru still hasn't gotten over her boyfriend's rejection, so she's not eager to go along with the fake marriage and play house, even though they live in a baller house--a perk of being married to an interior designer. The other perk is that she'll walk away with a small fortune if they stay married for six months, provided she conforms to the lengthy contract he makes her sign.

Ivy Tang (Anne Hsu) is the glamorous model/actress who just dumped Jie Xiu, but will want him back.

So as you can imagine, we'll spend a good part of the series with Xiao Ru and Jie Xiu hating on each other, but both harboring desire bubbling beneath the surface. We'll see others vie fort their attention, stoking jealously between this fake couple. We'll also see a photojournalist who is intent on breaking the story of the suspicious marriage, played to the comedic physical comedy hilt by Hsueh-Liang Pu. Hsin-Ling Chung, who we last saw in the excellent Taiwanese series U Motherbaker  plays Xiao Ru's best friend. She works at the hotel as well and happens to be pregnant, which only amplifies the comedy. 


Hsin-Ling Chung is Xiao Ru's bestie who always has her back.

Further adding to and complicating the proceedings is the high-pony-tailed Kelly, who is Xiao Ru's new supervisor. When Kelly isn't plotting, she's using cameras installed in the employee locker room to spy on workers and check out the hotties who are changing. She thinks Xiao Ru is a skinny brat  and is determined to get her and out her fake marriage to the world by leaking it to the photojournalist. 

"Love You" is not the latest import from Taiwan. Some of the humor may not translate to American audiences who are used to Euphoria and other HBO shows. It's full of coincidences that are implausible, even to tweens. IMDb gives it a rating of 6.7, which is insanely respectable for a romantic comedy, especially an Asian import. It's silly. Not Japanese silly, but silly nonetheless. But Rainie Yang brings so much charisma to her role that you are willing to overlook everything. Trust me, there's a lot to overlook when it comes to plot holes. But living in such a divided world with war and a climate apocalypse looming, "Love You" might just be the perfect antidote to the present. 

"Love You" is available on Netflix.




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