A trainwreck
I love wang kaimu and ma lejie individually so imagine my delight for their own drama but it was such a disappointment. No romance here, just pure agony and humiliation of the female lead. It's like her and only her against the world. No love between the leads as well. The female lead got involved with the man due to desperation to save her sister. The man was just horny and needs a bed warmer. No indication that he loves the woman. He's egotistic and selfish. If I'm the woman, I'll walk away, everything be damned. This is really very stressing to watch.Was this review helpful to you?
I am rating this Mini-drama higher stars because of the trainwreck it was!
"Abstitent Boss has Fallen" had me on my seat over all the three hours i watched it. I mean, wow.Quite a dark journey! One of the better written vertical dramas where every second scene hit me like a slap and i just wanted to marvel over all the crazy situations the very damsel in distress heroine put herself in. Poor girl had to even squash her dignity, all for her beloved sick sister. The transactional relationship she has with the very rich and powerful Male Hero was humiliating and toxic, and the difference in that relationship with other MCs relationships i have seen in other dramas is that the ML let the FL feel the humiliation every step of the way.He tried really hard just to treat her like a plaything, desiring her body while refusing to even care for her. I mean, he was one cold-blooded piece of sh**! The psychological aspect of his situation was way more understandable when you see how extremely guilt ridden he is over his fiance`s car accident which had her sleep in a coma for one year and being a cripple when she woke up. The fiance uses emotional blackmail and manipulation every chance she gets, but i like the emotional developement in the relationship between the mainleads...how he slowly and carefully shreds away the layer of indifference and against his will cares for...and passionately falls in love with his heroine.
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Sex, drugs, and denial
So I was pulling my hair out of frustration watching Half-Awake, that minidrama has a very solid cast, loved the aesthetic, premise was my catnip (twisted mutual revenge) but the writing is just abysmal, to the point where nothing could save it from being a rage-inducing trainwreck with no reward in sight. Feeling deprived of my hate-love romance crack, my attention was caught by this drama : it has Wang Kai Mu, is made by director of critically acclaimed What a Good Girl and Please Tell Me If You Are Moved, and features a sexy scumbag ML I will inevitably root for (my bar for fictional ML's redemption is very low).It's not for everyone, but it was certainly for me, I liked every minute of it (and it's not a short vertical at 3:40 hours), it surpassed my expectations, even surprised me at times. I find it so well written, appreciate it didn't shy away from some truly dark places. The hero is the anti-prince charming, he is absolutely two-timing his recovering fiancee and blackmailed mistress, turning both crazy, one with his lies and the other with his hypocrisy and mixed signals, he is caring but distant to his fiancee and abusive but all over the FL in the classic madonna/mistress complex. I find the drama made him feel very human by showing how he's trapped by guilt, self-loathing, and loyalty, until he's finally able to admit he should be more blunt to his fiancee who's spiraling out of control and gentler to his lover who's just trying to survive (I live for the moment these antiheros become sweeter, and the hospital scene ? Amazing) . The FL was also great, first I discovered a new favorite in Ma Le Jie, she's a bombshell and a talented actress, and second the character was truly moving. Yes, it's again a poor girl in a tragic situation where she's alone in the world with no support and a dear sick family member she will sacrifice everything to save, but it's well written and effective : her sister is such a sweetheart you understand why FL wants so desperatly to protect her innocence and save her, even if it means shredding her dignity (the scene where she begs under the rain : oof), the subplot about her reporting job gives her another dimension (and confirms that she does have a savior complex that puts her in very dangerous situations) and, something that too many of these love-hate romances never dare to do : she's not innocent in the deal, she does chase the ML, she wants him to be her support, even if he's clearly not willing, and yes, she weaponizes his sexual attraction to her to get what she wants. Yay for multi-dimensional characters ! The plot starts because of money, and is later moved by the magic pills that cures her sister, but the ML is nothing like your usual sugar daddy who provides the goods, falls head over heels for the FL and pampers her, noooo, their relationship is way more complex (and more interesting IMO) than that. I was glued to my screen to see how it was going to evolve, and the drama over-delivered. SFL was also very well written, not your usual green tea, she herself was dealt an unfair deal, and her excessive codependency to the ML made her more tragic than infuriating.
To be clear : the drama isn't trying to be realistic or feel like big TV, Zhai Shi Fan obviously adores the format's freedom to be over the top and soapy and she's a true master at it, shooting crazy but powerful and memorable scenes. This is an acquired taste obviously, I don't recommend it to anyone who isn't at least a bit into slap & kiss or makjang, and knows what to expect (or, you never know, let the show introduce you to a new type of crack !).
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Like the CP and cannot stand the Plot
I watched this because My friend recommend this drama and I cannot finish this. Even Ma Le Jie and Wang Kaimu have strong chemistry but the plot is just focused on torturing FL.The Plot is about FL has a seriously ill younger sister. ML possesses an unreleased drug that might save her. He uses this drug as bait to torment and abuse the FL, making her completely subservient to him.
I love Wang Kaimu, but this drama gave me a lot of heartache and the smoke kiss was not really cool at all. The forced happy ending is not good since ML didn't have any redemption point.
Since it was forced Happy Ending, i dropped this drama.
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he isnt celibate and he isnt in love.
The ML is a slutty gimm reaper through the entire first half.And it gets scarier.
Listen I liked this but dont fall for the title.
Our FL is abused nonstop by this guy and a few others.
And that is before the rival wakes up and appears.
I was just worried about her for 50 episodes. she has not even a moments peace. She is over here being mistreated by everyone, all to keep her sister alive. ML could be nicer but he never is. He enjoys her pain and adds to it.
We see no kindness until he hands her a drink in a club and that is the first time we think "oh he might be human." And then he is even meaner to her for a while.
He acted the role perfectly. I hated him. bravo.
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First of all, no I'm not sick in the head, secondly, I liked the storyline more than the story, some parts of it were really insufferable but some really were guilty pleasures, so if you look at it as a whole, it's a mess, but the way everything unfolds is great imo.
The ML is the epitome of a bad guy, and seriously when someone write about a "bad guy" falling in love they would literally make him a nice guy in disguise, but sometimes we want to see the evil deeds too, at least I do, that's why I liked the ML, not as someone I fancy or want to meet IRL mind you, but as an evil character in love I like to watch or read about, that's how I'd imagine Agamemnon or Typhon in love lol.
Be that as it may, the pure evil here is really the SFL, she was the Eris of the show, and a very obsessed one, definitely beyond redemption, the FL was nothing but a punch bag so I can't really say anything about her.
I loved some scene, where we can see the awkward tenderness of the ML, one of the reasons I liked the ML is how he is amused in some intimate moments, of course he deny his love all the way till the end but that's understandable.
The end was abrupt however, which is weird considering this is almost 4 hours long and didn't need to be that long, since it's full of suffering and pain the FL is facing, we didn't get to see the redemption arc the ML is supposed to walk through, also the Evil SFL wasn't really punished or anything and that's why everyone was furious I believe, we couldn't see how the ML would make up for what he did, and we didn't see any sweet moments between the two leads that wasn't tinted by humiliation.
My overall rate is high, the two leads were great, and I liked the storyline as I said so it's higher than it deserve but I was entertained so I've nothing to complain about ~
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Go for the ride with this toxic red flag trope
Definitely an imaginative piece of work. I kept watching holding onto hope the FL could catch a break. The FL does an amazing job acting out fragility, dignity when there’s none to be had and actions stemming from love for a family member. Beautiful and pitiful throughout. As for the ML, he is the definition of why watching someone attractive being toxic becomes tolerable. You can’t stop watching his portrayal of cold masculinity waiting for any type of redemptive arc to begin. Even the villainess did great staying true to an evil punishing plot trying to keep her man. I didn’t really notice the soundtrack it must have blended well and not been intrusive. I’d rate this a one time watch only due to how poorly the FL was treated. Go along for the ride and allow the story arc to take you down to the depths and rise back up again.Was this review helpful to you?
