Perfect 10 Liners 1×02 Review: Episode 2

It turns out that even the so-called perfect members of the Perfect 10 Liners group can make mistakes, as Arc learns in this week’s episode. Meanwhile, our first side couple has their first interaction, and it’s love at first sight.

Arc obviously rolled a +1 on charisma, because he continues to have absolutely no game when it comes to romancing Arm. Though his friend Warm can clearly tell what his bizarre behavior signifies, Arc is apparently still in an outdated elementary school mentality. That is, “If he picks on you, he likes you.” (Even Po caught on! Though he doesn’t believe it.)

First, Pun asks Arc to post a photo of Arm as a welcome to the group. Naturally, Arc chooses a photo of Arm falling off the stage. Arm immediately vows revenge, but luckily his friends are able to talk him down. That is, until Jet and Pun ask Arm to bring Arc’s soccer cleats to him. Why they have Arc’s cleats, and why they can’t do this themselves, is never explained. It doesn’t need to be! This is a romcom.

Second, Jet says that Arc should be the one to mentor Arm, because of reasons. This means that Arc should lend Arm his lecture notes, which means that Arm should go to Arc’s apartment. And of course, Arc decides to be a snot and stall for time.

It’s pretty common in many romcoms that you have at least one side character who seems to be aware that they’re in a romcom and are hurrying things along. For Perfect 10 Liners, it seems to be Warm and Jet, who keep doing whatever they can to get Arc and Arm some alone time. Both of them know Arc pretty well and can see through his bullying to the care and worry underneath.

The audience gets to see some glimpses of the softer side of Arc in this episode. This is a good thing, because to be quite frank, Arc’s reckless behavior behind the wheel of his car near the end of the episode does him no favors in my book. The fact that he was more concerned with his own feelings – of what, pride? – than Arm’s safety is a red flag. His genuine distress and remorse redeems him somewhat, but he still has some work to do to get in my good graces.

As I said, though, we’re able to see hints of who he’ll become. If you remember from the first episode, the Arc we meet with Wine’s introduction is loving and doting in public. So we know that he gets there. And the little things in this episode – getting Arm snacks, buying him medicine, covering him with the blanket – show that he is capable now. He’s just completely socially inept.

And I’ll admit, that final scene in the hospital, where Arc can’t even look Arm in the eye and Arm very carefully takes his face in his hands to get through to him, was very tender and sweet.

During one of the many confrontations between Arc and Arm, Sand is trying to defuse the situation when he is almost hit in the face with a soccer ball. He is spared when Pond jumps in front of him and takes the hit. #1 ArcArm shipper Warm encourages Pond to get Sand out of the way so Arc and Arm can talk, so Pond plays up his injury in order to have Sand escort him to the clinic.

This is a legit meet cute. Sand and Pond are clearly smitten right from the beginning, because they get one of those long stares when they first lock eyes. There’s no other reason why Pond would just hand his car keys over to a guy he’s just met. (Or why Sand would keep this a secret from his friends.) And Pond keeps doing what he can to spend more time with Sand.

I don’t want to spend too much time comparing this show to We Are, but it’s hard not to when they seem to be making deliberate references. I mentioned in the review for last week’s episode how much I love the oblivious idiot trope, which perfectly describes Marc and Poon’s characters from We Are. However, Sand and Pond are completely aware of their attraction to each other, and I love that as well.

The dynamic between Arm, Sand, and Po continues to delight. I especially loved the scene where they’re all crowded on Arm’s bed helping him message Arc. Book, Poon, and JJ are all pretty gifted at comedy, and I wouldn’t be at all surprised to find out that some of their interactions are unscripted. (Sand’s shriek when he fell off the bed? Pure gold.)

Judging by the trailer for next week’s episode, we’re not going to be stuck completely in flashbacks. I’m just as interested in seeing how they’re going to structure the three separate love stories as I am in seeing how the relationships develop.

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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