My Magic Prophecy 1×04 Review: “The Temperance”

As the anniversary of In’s parents’ deaths grows closer, so do In and Thap. Meanwhile, back in Bangkok, the plot is plotting away.

OK, first off, remember how last week I decided that I wouldn’t put too much thought into the “mystery” storyline, since it was starting to seem pretty straightforward? Yeah, that’s gone out the window after “The Temperance”. Karn, I’m starting to suspect you again!

There are two moments with regards to this that gave me pause. The first is when the brain trust is in Karn’s office, looking at the security footage of Kasidis in the pharmacy. Ton mentions that Tara is the only true witness to what happened, so they need her to wake up and tell them what’s going on. Karn adds, “Assuming she tells the truth.” Now, perhaps that’s just a general statement, because it’s possible she may try to protect her husband for a variety of reasons.

But I am already suspecting Karn of nefarious deeds, and that statement seemed so unnecessary at the time that it made me sit up and take notice. Is he perhaps already laying seeds of doubt in his friends’ heads? Implying that she may lie about what happened, so that if or when she accuses him, he can just be like, “See, I told you she wouldn’t tell the truth.”

Later, Kasidis is on the phone with someone after discovering that Thap isn’t in Singapore as he thought. Now, Ton had called to warn Thap that Kasidis knew where he was, but that isn’t entirely true. Kasidis only knows that he isn’t in Singapore, but not that he’s in Mae Hong Son. However, he’s on the phone with someone and ordering them to find out where Thap is. After the scene earlier in the episode, my immediate thought was that it was Karn.

We don’t know, of course. That’s the point. But methinks I was too hasty in writing Karn off as a suspect.

Oh, also, I gave up on the Thiu Is A Ghost theory pretty quickly, but apparently, in some parts of fandom, it is still going strong!

Anyway, back to In and Thap. They make a lot of progress in this episode. I had worried, after seeing the teaser, that Thap would be very dismissive of the villagers’ beliefs. I wouldn’t necessarily have put it past him; given that he is a doctor, I can imagine that it’s very frustrating watching people mistrust something to which he’s dedicated his life.

So I very much appreciated that he approached it in a way that would make the people more accepting of his help. Giving the mother medical advice for dealing with a colicky baby while framing it as advice from a spiritual medium was pretty genius, actually. And he didn’t even sound condescending when he did so. I’d wager that doctors have to deal with all sorts of people, and what’s important is getting them to do what they’re advised to do, regardless of how or why.

I am concerned that someone is going to find out that he’s a doctor and something bad will happen, though. The number of times In reiterated that he shouldn’t tell anyone that he’s a doctor seemed to imply that it will be something that comes back later.

Especially given that In continues to dream about something happening to Thap, and Kasidis now knows that Thap isn’t in Singapore. There’s also the small matter of Thap being seemingly unable to follow In’s instructions about his safety. (He told Thap to make sure no one spotted him, and the little girl spotted him immediately, because he was basically hiding behind a plant.)

It was obvious from the first episode that In and Thap were into each other, but Thap didn’t even try to put away his heart eyes at all during “The Temperance”. Watching In with the kids, watching him cry at his parents’ grave, making sure he was more comfortable after he fell asleep on his shoulder, the blanket sharing… Sir, those heart eyes are deadly weapons. Please stop. (Don’t stop, though. Keep going. This is gold.)

We also learned why Thap is so anti-fortune teller! I knew it couldn’t be something as simple as him just being too “logical” or “scientific” to believe in it. It turns out, not only were his parents scammed by a fortune teller, but his last partner (no gender specified, but I also don’t speak Thai, so it may have been clearer based on the language) left Thap after a fortune teller said that they weren’t soulmates.

(While we’re on the subject, my Thai is still super rudimentary, but I’m starting to really appreciate the differences in honorifics that indicate when two people are getting close. This was big in The Trainee, and now I’m noticing it here. In has started calling Thap “phi” instead of “khun”. I try and watch out for this stuff, but I don’t always catch it.)

I really, really hope they go the soulmate route in My Magic Prophecy. I don’t care how clichéd it is; I love a good soulmate story. And given that this series features prophetic dreams and Tarot and fortune telling, it stands to reason that soulmates aren’t that far off. (You can’t tell me that these after-credits scenes aren’t hinting at something. Are you saying that they randomly gave us a flashback of med school Thap saying he wants to live in Mae Hong Son for no reason?)

By the way, the scene with drunk Thap was hilarious. Jimmy played that really well. Sometimes with scenes like that, it doesn’t seem very realistic for how drunk people are. (Although, to be fair, not everyone acts the same when drunk.) Him just jumping on In for a piggyback ride, demanding a sponge bath, asking for noodles after he was already in bed, and how he just refused to go where In wanted him to, was fantastic. As someone who very rarely drinks, dealing with drunk people often feels like herding toddlers and cats.

Thanks to the tried and true trope of in vino veritas, Thap is more than accommodating when it comes to answering In’s questions. Not only did he immediately launch into a diatribe about his ex, but he also confessed that he feels burdened by the expectations of his family. It made me so sad that he never even thought about what he would do if he didn’t go into medicine, because he had to go into medicine, to bail out his family.

It was nice to get a little bit of backstory about In’s parents as well. If In’s mother was also a fortune teller, and they traveled around a lot, she must have been very good – or famous or something – because that’s a nice house. They also sponsored the village in a way, making sure everyone was taken care of. And now In does the same. I wonder if that’s because he wants to, or if it’s because he feels he has to. (Or he feels guilty for not being able to save his parents. Though if his mother also had dreams, I’m sure they understand.)

Next week, we get a visit from Tul, which is perfect for kickstarting this relationship. Nothing throws fuel on the fire more than a rival suitor making themselves known. (But also, no one is supposed to know Thap is there, right? Is this going to cause problems?)

Author: Jamie Sugah

Jamie has a BA in English with a focus in creative writing from The Ohio State University. She self-published her first novel, The Perils of Long Hair on a Windy Day, which is available through Amazon. She is currently an archivist and lives in New York City with her demon ninja vampire cat. She covers television, books, movies, anime, and conventions in the NYC area.

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