Broker (2021)

Decepcionante

Primero que nada no es un drama para todos por la enrome cantidad de palabrerío técnico que hay en el drama, esto puede llegar a alejar a algunas personas o aburrir en alguno que otro caso porque es algo que se va a ver en los 42 episodios así que es entendible que alguien pueda llegar a dar una baja puntuación por ese motivo.
Personalmente creo que el drama esta partido en 2 partes, la mejor para mi gusto, fue desde el principio hasta que mo li y zhou xiao shan tienen que volver a Europa. Pasando esta mitad creo que el drama se transforma en otro que tranquilamente podría ser una segunda temporada y como norma general "todas las segundas partes son malas" y esta no es la excepción porque literal nos vamos a olvidar de la continuación del desarrollo y de los personajes de la primera mitad, el ejemplo mas claro esta en mo li, personaje que solo va a volver al drama para morirse y no aportar absolutamente nada a la historia.
Este drama me estaba encantando creo que tanto victoria song como luo yunxi tenian una hermosa química (el final de ellos me saco las lagrimas ) no los sentí forzados y tampoco creería q luo yunxi no encajaba en el personaje de zxs por su físico, creo que hasta encaja mejor por el físico que tiene .
La pareja secundaria si me pareció algo desubicada, ni su principio ni su desarrollo ni su desenlace me logro atrapar para nada y tranquilamente podrían haber no estado y no me hubiera molestado para nada.
En fin creo q era un drama que lo tenia todo para mi y a mitad de camino se fue por las ramas y no supo encontrar el camino de vuelta.

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A very flawed drama for die-hard LYX fans with a kick-ass FL ...**BUT**...

If you are a die-hard Luo Yunxi fan, Broker might be worth it as it really showcases his talent. He gives an emotional performance as a flawed and tortured anti-hero who falls in love with a woman who changes the entire course of his life. Broker could also be for you if you love your female leads strong, brilliant, independent, and mature. Victoria Song’s portrayal will have you wishing there were more characters like her in Chinese dramas. (I was going to add sensible to the FL's list of attributes, but unfortunately I can not due to her actions and words in the final two or three episodes.)

BUT. And this is a huge BUT. For everyone else? It’s kind of a toss-up. Broker is flawed and messy, and whether it’s for you or not will depend on your enjoyment or tolerance of soapy, unrealistic melodramas and other elements that some people love and others hate: the science talk, the office politics and scheming (only in the early episodes though -- it's great later), the secondary OTP, very tortured heroes/heroines/antogonists (To say Leo is put through the wringer, especially at the end, would be an understatement). As the series progresses, it also flirts increasingly with “dog’s blood (狗血)” plotlines -- until it VERY predictably goes all-in on the makjang melodrama in the final quarter. (A couple of the characters even reference “dog’s blood” dramas, which makes one think it’s a sly nod of self-recognition.)

Personally, I genuinely enjoyed nearly every ridiculous, soapy, melodramatic moment and couldn’t wait for the next episode. At the same time, I have a lot of caveats. I did park most of my usual standards aside and simply went with the flow. I tried not to think too much about details that didn’t make sense; annoying tropes; the rather ham-fisted effort at depicting anti-Asian/Chinese racism; the heavy-handed overtones of patriotism/nationalism; inconsistencies in pacing, tone, character depiction, and story arcs. Unfortunately, these last elements became very difficult to ignore at the end, especially in the final episode. While expected, the execution of the story arc was frustrating -- and almost cruel -- at times. (You can read my more spoilery views about the ending in the comments section below.)

REWATCH VALUE: If I could break it down, I'd give all of Leo’s scenes a 10 (no bias here :P) and many (but not all) of Victoria’s very high marks too.

MUSIC: Like many Chinese dramas, the instrumental background was sometimes too much, but the songs were solid. I especially adored the closing credit piece, Signature (署名) by Azora Chin (尤长靖), and Leo’s haunting theme, It’s Time To Stop (时间停止吧), by ANU.

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