The White Olive Tree (2025)

This was an exceptional series that captivated me from start to finish. The actors did amazing roles, and I loved their emotions. The main actors were especially good at showing how they felt. I was particularly impressed by the depth and nuance displayed by the main actors, whose portrayals evoked a powerful emotional response. However, I found the decision for the characters to commit suicide at the end of the movie to be deeply unnecessary. While the somber conclusion may have been intended to reflect the gravity of their struggles, it left me with a sense of sadness that overshadowed the overall impact of the story and I didn't think I rewatched it.

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Mixed emotions

Okay so first of all this is a love story going on in middle of war. I understand that writer wants people to know about the sacrifices and sufferings of soldiers. I actually loved it.but this could have been shorter.ML became ill 2 times still he wanted to go again. And after 2nd time when he lost his 2 fingers then what happened in that country? Nothing was clear.did that stop? 2 supporting actors died. When Ben died where was his DR. Friend? Nothing was clear. Why they wanted to go again when he was already having PTSD. Ending could have been better. Its emptional drama. We can imagine what people in war countries face.what soldiers face. I respect army. Salute to you guys. 🫡
ML acting was so so good omg. I loved supporting actors specially Ben.♥️

I am only disappointed for their ending. I was wishing he is normal and they get married and everything is okay. But it was tragic to see him like that. I was crying 😢 😭 😪 😫.

Thanks for reading.🫰🏻

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I saw the angst and the trauma yet I marched on anyway

The Ending I actually thought it would be a Happy one how silly of me!
some points I would like to talk about in here because I finished this yesterday and I couldn't get the Ending out of my head!

~ This whole series is so filled with details I didn't know it would be like this ,, the way they have showcased the real victims of the war the people the ones who couldn't afford to leave ! who didn't want to leave their land to go and feel like an outcast in another country that will never acknowledge them as a citizen of their own.

~The way they have talked about the effects of those of have survived ( survival guilt ) and how people wish they haven't even made it they didn't want that type of luck because they felt they survived but at what cost? they have lost everything they cherished and what a burden it is to be the one who lived on solely because someone had sacrificed their own life .

~ *The scenery* of the whole Drama and all the green in the Drama it shows that there is in fact some new sprouts getting to grow so perhaps hope shouldn't be all lost .But so much beauty had to be destroyed because of the greedy people who were never concerned with anything but their own gains .

~ The Characters even the supporting ones have been written well and displayed in a manner that led to us sympathizing with them in such environment it doesn't really had to have a big scene some matters are spoken about in between the lines like daughters being sold in war times like a pawn. or when meals being had could be the last. a person who could sense the suffering of another and stand up for them even if it could harm the latter.

~in spite of the main leads being both introverts both of them have tried their best even tho they were both broken and had heavy hearts, feeling like their hands are tied and could not offer their hand to those who are in dire need of help. How could they help a whole nation ? when they are only two humans right? No, they gave it all they could which have in conclusion led to their demise. one who can't function properly and the other unable to let go of the love of their life, thus making them go to such extreme measures.

that's a lot of words if you've made it this far please give it a go and I hope it is to your liking

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Love in the midst of harsh reality

Let me just start by congratulating both the actor chen zen yuan and actress liang jie for the superb and commendable job they have done and giving the life to the character of the drama so beautifully so fabulously that I lived story with them. Chemistry was top notch.. I wish they had more intense scenes.

Now talk about the storyline.. story could have been better I felt liZan loved song ran but not as much she loved him.

Somewhere I blame ml character for the agony they went through because female character was never his first priority and that hurt me the most.

I would definitely recommend to watch it once because I am sure for second time you wont have the courage to watch it after crying your heart out and to go through the pain again.

Hope both actors will have more drama together where they can have happy ending..

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ONE OF THE BEST CDRAMAS IN A WHILE!

The drama makes you feel like you're reading a book. You're completely immersed in the story. The acting and chemistry between the leads is what lifts this story. There are a lot of dramas where the acting is just meh but this one. . .the acting has been amazing, especially for the main leads. The ML always has a smile on his face but behind that smile is sadness, and despair and the actor delivers it so beautifully. The same with the actress, her eye acting conveys so much that it feels like I'm in the story.

The plot hasn't been completely established yet but it's a 38-episode drama and we're only on episode 8 now. I don't expect it to pick up immediately so I don't mind the slow pace of things. If it's too fast pace, it doesn't feel authentic to me.

I can't wait for the following episodes to see where Li Zan and Song Ran takes us.

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Lack of action and lack of chemistry

The main couple are… boring. There’s no personality, just shyness and sweet glances. The rest of the side characters are more interesting than the main couple!

Also, this is so dragged out. The slow motion, the standing around, the unnecessary close ups. You did not need 38 episodes for this. You could’ve cut out all the almost-tension between the main couple who obviously both like each other and take way too long to get together, and this could’ve been maybe 16 or 18 episodes at the most.

For a show that takes place in a warzone, the action was barely there. Apart from a few scenes that show some actual fighting, the geographical area was quite calm. The most work the soldiers had to do was planting vegetables and ferrying the reporter protagonist around.
And they never did explain why the country was at war and who they were at war with which only goes to show how weak the writing was.

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Script is the weakest link

This drama was so anticipated and so the letdown was major for me.

Chen Zhe Yuan and Liang Jie’s acting was good. Their chemistry was on point. They carried and are still carrying the show as best as they can.

The cinematography is awesome, the stills for this drama are so great and they capture so much emotion.

The direction is ok. Nothing much to complain there. They did make the sets look as real as it possibly could. Making sets look like war torn areas definitely must not have been easy. Maybe they spent too much on sets and side roles because the script is so so bad.

Honestly I wanted so much to like it. I can tolerate a lot of lame dramas, but this one takes the cake. So why is it lame? Every role that is not the FL and the ML are simply tools existing to put the FL and ML together. Take for instance the 2FL, who is the team lead of the FL. her sole purpose in the drama is to one up the FL, she exists solely to take the ML away from the FL. She goes to a war torn country as a journalist to take the ML away from the FL. Let’s not talk about being unprofessional as a journalist or going to a war torn country as a journalist with personal reasons, she goes up to the FL in the first instance she gets and tell the FL that she is going to make sure she wins the ML over. Another instance is when they use some extras to push the FL to the ML for a critical moment for the ML to reach out and hold the FL closely. The moment seems so staged and so unnatural that if it wasn’t for CZY and LJ, it wouldn’t have been pulled off. Last instance is that being in a war torn country, CZY’s team mates are only concerned about the female journalists. It’s all they talk about. I mean the story and the script is so incredibly incredulously weak. Here they have a entire set of a war torn country and they have such a sad script to back it up. It’s honestly rubbish.

Another honorable mention -rant is the speed of their speech. It’s as if the director made them deliberately talk 0.5x the normal speed because all their dialog is so so so slow you really ought to watch the show in 1.5x speed.

Last honorable mention is the music. Granted there are a lot of songs, but please please please get the English right or at least make it sound normal. Most of the songs feature strange English lyrics. Yes, they are English words but the words don’t make sense. It takes you right out of the drama.

I guess I’m writing this because I really need to drop it but I needed some closure because I looked forward to this drama for a long time and I wanted so so much to love it.

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