Perfect 10 Liners 1×17 Review: Episode 17

We’ve arrived back at the beginning of Perfect 10 Liners. We’re now where we started, with Wine joining the group. Only now we have a lot more context for everything, and we’ve gotten to know a lot more about Faifa and Wine.

I’ve been saying for the past few weeks that I’m really looking forward to Faifa and Wine’s story. I didn’t think I would be excited for them at all, just based on past perceptions. But Junior has really impressed me so far this series; he is absolutely nailing it as Faifa. And Faifa as a character is way more nuanced and complex than I expected him to be, based on his introduction.

Because we’re back at the beginning, so to speak (remember, the last sixteen episodes were basically one giant flashback), we’re reminded of our first impressions of everyone, particularly Faifa. I was not kind to Faifa when he was first introduced; the way he immediately latched onto Wine, even though Wine seemed to be uncomfortable, made him look like such a playboy.

But then we found out in episode 3 that Faifa and Wine had actually met before, so his initial behavior looked more like a well-worn pattern than a guy aggressively flirting with an uninterested party. And of course, over the span of episodes nine through sixteen, we saw more context for their relationship. Not only that, we have important context for Faifa’s behavior that we didn’t have when we first met everyone.

We have to think back to what Newton told Yotha, about how they were all affected by their parents’ divorce. And compare that with what we’ve seen of Faifa so far. Newton claims Faifa needs everyone to like him, and that certainly seems to be the case from what we’ve seen already. (Faifa is, after all, the campus star.) In this episode especially, we see that not only does Faifa seem to know everyone on campus, but he’s constantly offering assistance to everyone he sees.

I am reminded, loath as I am to admit, of a John Mulaney bit from his Kid Gorgeous at Radio City standup special, where his then-wife said that walking with him was like walking with someone who was running for mayor of nothing. Faifa very much reminds me of that. It’s wonderful that he wants to help; but he needs to stop setting himself on fire to keep other people warm.

And you know what’s great? Wine calls him on it, like, immediately. When he finds out that Faifa is allergic to milk, yet ate some cake that had milk in it because Wine offered it to him, he is very upset. He essentially gives Faifa the same advice I mentioned in the previous paragraph. I really love that he sees right through Faifa; his brothers call him out on his irreverent, flirtatious behavior (Yotha threatens him multiple times not to mess with Wine), but no one seems to understand the root of it.

The thing about Faifa being a flirt, though, is how confusing that must be. Wine has had several interactions with Faifa before he comes to university and becomes Yotha’s peer mentee. And Faifa’s definitely been flirting, even if he doesn’t realize it. The way he asks for Wine’s name (even though he already knew it), the way he offers to tutor him, the way he says he’ll treat him to a meal or that he wants to be the first to congratulate him. I can totally understand someone reading too much into that, particularly because Faifa can be very intense in these moments.

But Wine has only ever met Faifa one-on-one. So this is the first time he’s seeing him around others, and he’s realizing that – even though Faifa literally says that Wine isn’t like anyone else – he isn’t special. Faifa is this way with everyone. There was a moment when Wine’s face fell, that you could tell he was disappointed. (I know Wine mentioned being brokenhearted, but I sort of got the sense that he maybe had a little crush on Faifa.)

So now we have to wonder, does Faifa really like Wine, or is he just, you know, like that? If we go back to Newton and Yotha’s conversation, Newton says that he doesn’t think Faifa knows how to love. I don’t think that’s accurate; I think Faifa is one of the most loving people on this show. While he may be nice to everyone, his niceness is not a front. His behavior is genuine, and he goes above and beyond for the people he cares about. Look at how he took care of Gun during the last arc!

I think the issue Faifa isn’t able to really recognize love when he sees it, and I think that’s because no one’s ever really chosen Faifa. Especially because we now know that their mother only took Faifa with her because otherwise she couldn’t be bothered to visit her other children. I think he also struggles with intimacy in the same way that Yotha did; if you’re never vulnerable, if you never let anyone in, you can’t get hurt. And Faifa has been hurt so much already.

I do think Faifa likes Wine already. He seems to be genuinely upset that he isn’t the first to congratulate Wine on his acceptance to the university. (As though Faifa, who had no way to contact Wine, would be able to congratulate him before Wine’s own parents.) And he really wanted Wine to tell him his name, even though he already knew it. Plus, while he may be nice to everyone, he really seems to be going out of his way to make himself available to Wine, and spend time with him.

Faifa tells Wine that his heart isn’t broken, only chipped, and Faifa will fix it for him. Something tells me that Wine is going to “fix” Faifa just as much as Faifa will “fix” Wine. I’m really looking forward to this arc. I’d wager that it’s going to be difficult for Wine to distinguish between Faifa’s unconscious flirting and actual flirting. Although I guess we’ll have to see first if Faifa becomes aware of his own feelings before Wine does.

I don’t know that we have a side couple in this one? We have so many already. I suppose if we do have one, it’s Wine’s friends, Jay and Ben, just based on their positioning in the opening credits. (By the way, I’m a little bummed that they’re using the same cast clips from the previous arc in this one. They changed between the first and second arcs, so I was hoping we’d get different ones for the last eight episodes.)

But, as I said, we have so many couples already! We check in on almost all of them in this episode. I liked the contrast between the ArcArm and PondSand scenes, with both of them planning their futures. Arc asks Arm about marriage, while Pond is trying to figure out where Sand wants to work, so that they can start buying a place to live.

Also, I have to say this, I absolutely love that Yotha and Gun have become and still are that couple. After all the issues the two of them had, I am so happy to see them so happy. Yotha seems to be focusing on his relationship to the detriment of all else. He does warn Faifa off of Wine, but he also doesn’t seem to know what to do with his own mentee. It’s Arm who buys Wine’s gifts, it’s Faifa who picks Wine up for his welcome party, it’s Jet who handles the introductions. So I’m also eager to see how much interaction Yotha has with Wine as we go on.

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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