Go Ahead

One of the best

I’ve sometimes been critical of certain popular Korean or Chinese dramas. But I’m having a hard time finding anything negative to say about GO AHEAD, a 40-episode Chinese family drama made in 2020. It’s certainly not a perfect production. Still, it’s entertaining, interesting, and touching. And it dodges so many of the common traps that these kinds of series fall into, that all I can say is: Bravo!

Most of the actors were impressive, especially the three male leads: Weilong Song who plays the older brother (and also the young actor who plays him as a child), Steven Zhang/ Zhang Xin Cheng who plays the younger brother, and especially Tu Song Yan the Dad, the owner of the noodle restaurant, where so much of the action takes place.

Whenever one of these three incredible actors was on screen, I was totally immersed in the drama, and emotionally convinced that I was watching a slice of reality and not a fictional work. I’d also be remiss if I didn’t mention Yi Sun who plays the best friend of the FL. She’s convincing as a kind, generous, but inhibited young woman who’s oppressed by her overly-dominant mother.

I did have some problems with Songyun Tan, an actress in her 30s who plays the FL, Li Jianjian. For half the series this character is supposed to be sixteen years old. When playing a teenager, the actress seemed to be working too hard to make the character spunky, cute, and childlike. She came across as childishly petulant and performative way too much of the time. Also (as is often the case in older Chinese productions) she seemed more like a twelve-year-old than a sixteen-year-old, throwing whiny tantrums and hitting her brothers in fits of pique.

But I really can’t blame the actress. Because this is such a common problem in older Chinese dramas, I suspect it’s due to other considerations. Perhaps she was given instructions to play it that way from the director.

In the second half, when the same character is in her late twenties, Songun Tan is much more appropriate and believable in the role–more relaxed and also more likable–although still a fun-loving, cheerful tease.

The series got a little too sentimental for me in the end. “Emotions aren’t like a faucet where you can turn them on and off at will.” Too many bromides along with the schmaltzy music...but by and large the skillful acting sold it–so it was OK.

A winner.

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What's up with the semi incest plot

I get that its to set backstory or wtv and like the show cleared up the fact that ML always saw FML as a love interest not family but like it was NOT reciprocated the other way around???? like to FML that was BROTHER like that's kinda odd icl if you grew up with someone like siblings AND you saw them as a sibling 10 years won't change shit
Additionally, I DESPISE THE SML PLOT why the fk was he so hung up on the fml like wtf bro does not even like her and fml bsf was like RIGHT THERE. Ong it pissed me tf off that the writer insisted on having a love triangle between ml fml and sml. Highkey did jack shit for plot and like made the initial relationship 100x weirder for me I was so happy they took it out in the kr remake cause that was like the worst part of the show
other than that its q a ok watch, the actors were q good w what they were given but due to the love triangle I won't rewatch

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What an endearing coming of age family drama!

Likes: All the different layers/dynamics that comes from being in a non traditional family. The acting was great from everyone from the younger versions to the old. Song Wei Long was incredibly handsome.

Dislikes: The chances the 2 MLs return on the same exact day is a bit of a stretch. The 2nd half had more draggy parts and I didn't like how they wrapped up the drama at the end. Also the eng subs weren't the greatest so sometimes I was confused during some of the conversations.

Let me preface to say, I normally don't enjoy family dramas that much, but this one was done really well esp during the first half. I went in for Song Wei Long, but wound up really enjoying the story. It's endearing. You watch the 3 friends grow from kids to adults and watch how their relationships and personalities form from all the love, hurt, and trauma that's happened to them. What really stood out to me were the multiple layers that every character had that made them relatable and actually interesting to watch. The dynamic between the parents and their kids was also interesting to see play out. This drama handled the complexity that comes with family really well. Sometimes the people who love you the most can cause you the most damage.

I did think there were too many side characters however and I wished there was a bit more romance, but overall it was a great watch and would recommend it!

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Rated No 1 in my Cdrama in 2024

Beginning of the year, was my No 1 Cdrama. The closeness of the family was undescribable. 3 different children from different families grew up to forge a strong bond. I like the 2 brothers. The actress is cute but I am a bit uncomfortable of her age and Song Wei Long's. Especially kissing an older sister. She is also very tomboy and not pretty. I dislike the fact that the 2 became lovers. Same opionion from my friends whom I recommended this drama. One of the likeable actor is the father, very generous and taking care of all 3 children and even his neighbour. I also regretted that the children upon returning home, did not stay with their own families. Look empty nested.

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started of on a good note but got weird

DISCLAIMER: this reviews contains criticism of the show if you do not wish to read it please don't read my post, this is my personal opinion on the show, this comment is not meant to upset go ahead fans or make them mad, this show in my opinion is really good other this one thing I find fault in. PLEASE GO WATCH THE SHOW FOR YOUR OWM PERSPECTIVES ON THE SHOW, even though i watched it years ago, I remember it being good, not all reviews are accurate please do not blindly listen to reviews do more research before you decide not to watch a show because of one comment!!!

So i don't really remember this show because i watched it a long time ago but one thing i do remember is how this show is somewhat incest to me the way i looked at it, the show starts of with the brothers and Jian Jian, who if i remember right play together when they're little and were close. Later on we know the brothers mom runs away so they and their father end up living with Jian Jian and her dad, but not all of the time they have an apartment right next door so they spend alot of time at Jian Jian house and have a room at her house so i said they are living with them but not really. this is where i feel the story starts to get weird so in the plot she ends up with one of the brothers, but multiple times in the show the two father talk about how they want them to be a big family and how the brothers and Jian Jian are siblings: even Jian Jian and the brothers themselves call each other siblings and regard each other as siblings , so years go by with Jian Jian/ the daughter and Ling Xiao, He Zi Qiu the brothers, treating each other as siblings and later they developing feelings for each other, this is the reason i sort of say this show has incest, , how does one fall in love with the guy they called brother for years and no i do not believe they are using brother as honorifics for them being older and closer to her. its just hard to comprehend how both of the non-biological brothers have developed feelings for a girl whom they have genuinely regarded as a sister for many years, its honestly a little disturbing, to me it was weird how accepting their dads were of them dating when they basically raised them as SILBLINGS???? other than the whole siblings thing the show itself was good

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Cute Storylines

at first in the beginning I was a bit sceptical and I couldn’t really relate to the characters an found 小哥 a bit annoying but once they became adults I started to really enjoy the story.

小哥’s storyline lowkey hit me the hardest and the actress roommate which I never expected cause I lowkey found them the most annoying in the beginning.

I loved that the father got with his mother they’re honestly such a cute pair. I also like how we didn’t get hot romance but a softer version because it honestly would’ve been weird since they grew up together.

anyways I think the way the story wrapped up was super rushed but overall I really enjoyed this show.

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Disappointed, but already expected it.

I'd always heard great things about this drama, but I always avoided it because I don't really like family-centered stories. I decided to give it a chance as soon as I found out there was romance, but there was so little of it that I ended up disappointed. The drama focused way more on family conflicts and things I just wasn't interested in. Honestly, it even felt like the side characters had more screentime than one of the male protagonists at some points. A lot of things were also badly developed, especially Ling Xiao's trauma and his relationship with his mom. She suddenly changed and accepted everything out of nowhere, which felt rushed and unrealistic. The ending for Jianjian and Ling Xiao was disappointing too. Their romance was the main reason I started watching, yet we barely got to see them together. It had some great moments, and I cried and laughed, but the feeling that stays is the disappointment of finishing a drama that could've been exceptional.

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A drama with a lot of family heart!

After watching Song Wei Long in another show this past week (Shine on Me) I wanted another fix, so I went back and re-watched Go Ahead. I saw this when I first got into Asian dramas, and I wanted to rewatch it to see if I still felt the same about this family story.

Now I knew what to expect, the slower paced, longer episodes, I did appreciate the family dynamic a lot more a second watch. The siblings closeness was enjoyable as before. I loved their banter and tight bond.

The dads were fantastic – Mr Lin, especially. Those moments when he was cooking for the family were perfect and I loved how peaceful the family was when it was just the five of them. One of my favorite scenes was when Xiao’s dad took him to the Chinese medicine doctor, it just felt very real and his love for his son came through clearly, though he wasn’t always able to show it.

I wasn’t entirely sure I believed in the romance aspect of the show. It felt like Jian was talked into it instead of falling for Xiao naturally. I did adore how devoted to her he was. His yearning eyes gave me butterflies. And standing up to his disapproving mother had me giddy!

The girl friends were perfect additions and I really enjoyed their side stories. And I covet their cute little apartment!

What stuck with me most from the show were the moms. Oh, they made me have the biggest feelings! And most of those feelings were boiling rage!
These were fully grown adults yet the moms were pulling the strings in their lives! By the end, I could understand Tang Can’s mom maybeeee changing for the better. But there’s no way sweet Ming Yue’s shrill, overbearing mother changed. If we’d had a look into the future, she would still be the same. I was glad the dad wanted a divorce!

Now, let’s get to the vilest villain in this show. Xiao’s mother.
What a vicious piece of work she was.
She was the most insincere snake, and I never once felt she was being genuine in anything she said. She abandoned her young son, blamed him for her mistake, and yet wanted to force him to take care of her while she treated him like crap.
I was furious watching her on screen, her attempts to manipulate Xiao were infuriating.
She could see how utterly miserable she was making her son and yet she clung to him like an octopus on his face. Were we meant to feel sorry for her in the final episode with her inexcusable last ditch action? Were we supposed to feel redeemed by her “nice words” and seemingly changed attitude toward Jian? Because I felt nothing. She did exactly what a narcissistic would do and that was manipulate everyone’s emotions to turn the tides her way again. The best thing Xiao could have done was go no contact with that emotional succubus.

The parents are my biggest pet peeve with these types of characters that appear in most of the shows I watch. (sadly, it’s usually the mothers, which saddens me) Despite the parents' terrible behavior, the child is pushed to forgive and reconcile. Oh, I get steaming mad! I try to understand it’s a cultural difference, but as I see it, you don’t need to redeem every vile character by the finale. This mother was a fine example, I would have been happy if she’d fallen into a bubbling volcano.

It's a testament to all three actresses who played the mothers how great their skills are because the objective was met and I hated them all, lol.

Overall, lovely watch and I’d watch it again one day (fast forwarding through the mom!) The acting was exceptionally good, especially the emotionally heavy scenes. Those guys sure can cry so well!

(Also, I didn't intend for my review to become this long - that's how big my feelings were lollolol )

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Ugh! way too long and just too much constant angst

This probably would’ve been a great 20 episode show. as always, Song Weilong did a great job acting, but could not save the constant angst and just too much filler. The female lead never acted her age, she’s so goofy all the time. I found myself fast forwarding through most of the show after the first eight episodes.
the two fathers did a great job, acting wise and all three of the kids in the young early years did a great job. But when they become adults, the show takes sharp turn downhill.
they kept trying to see why it had such high ratings and so I never wanted to give up on it, but there are far better shows out there.

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Went in a weird direction

good points:
•really good acting from the second male lead
•interesting dinamics between characters
•some funny scenes
•heartwarming moments
•bromance between the two dads

bad points:
•didn't feel the romantic chemistry between the leads
•bad acting from male lead
•ending felt unsatisfactory


I feel like they didn't do enough to explore the way the 3 of them started to have romantic feelings towards eachother. Close to the ending I wanted to skip the main leads romantic scenes all together because it felt strange.

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