As we all work through the trauma of Ep 9, there is a recurring theme around communication and miscommunication. As many noted, a lot of the angst in this episode could have been avoided if Kinn and Porsche discussed what they were up to.
This seems like an easy fix from the outside, but it does bring up an issue with both Kinn and Porsche, which is just how alone they both are. Neither of them are used to discussing with another person.
On Porsche’s side, he was orphaned young, essentially had to rush into adulthood to take care of his brother. From what we see, there’s one uncle of dubious value and no other adults that Porsche could lean on. He has to make decisions himself, take care of his brother himself, and wrangle loan sharks by himself. One could point to his friends, but we don’t actually see him opening up to them. At the end of Ep 5, they point out that he seems upset, but he doesn’t actually admit or say why. It’s interesting that Yok is the only person he seems to really request help from. If she knew he was communicating so little with Kinn, she’d probably yell at him to sit his man down at the end of the day and talk.
But maybe, Porsche, sweetie, you should say what is bothering you.
With Kinn, he has a father who gives a lot of advice, but doesn’t seem like someone Kinn opens up to. This feels more like a distant dad that Kinn is constantly trying to please. He has one brother who has disappeared. (I still wonder if there was a falling out). And another brother who is determined to be ridiculous. Although the most recent episode suggests Tankhun can offer useful advice, Kinn may have gotten used to indulging his brother without really listening to him. He does have two friends and he has opened up to them about his feelings regarding Porsche. Somewhat.
Now we have Porsche and Kinn together. They have opened up to each other as we saw beautifully in episode 6. However, Porsche has little experience relying on someone else and Kinn as the head of the mafia family feels like he has to do everything alone. He’s the lonely king at the top. Most couples slowly level up their communication over several smaller, lower stakes interactions. They don’t take on a proverbial boss fight after a few dates. So where does that lead us in episode 9?
When under stress, people tend to revert back into old behavioral patterns. Porsche doesn’t talk to Kinn because that’s not something he’s used to. He’s used to protecting people (see: Porchay), so he’s taking it all on himself to watch out for Kinn. Then Kinn is going into this episode trying to make up for past mistakes and since trust was his failure last time, he’s not making that mistake again. He’s only trusting himself this time and holding his cards close to his chest.
Controlled mafia boss pose. I am not letting any of my feelings out.
(I really hope Porsche’s pleading voice was like a knife in Kinn’s chest)
Ep 9 was the first real test of their relationship and they both made mistakes. They weren’t out of character and Kinn’s were telegraphed from episode 1, but still…mistakes. What this relationship needs is frequent open communication. There are five episodes and if everything were perfect now, we wouldn’t have a story. Kinn needed to stumble, then resolve his trust issues and open up to Porsche.
