Overdo

Story was interesting but…

The story of Overdo was interesting. Four prominent families all vying for power, prestige and the institutions of their own ideals.

the backdrop is the turmultuous time of the China Republican era. I’m not sure how historically accurate this drama is but there appears to be some very corrupt people around at that time all with bad motives.

Our heroines are girls that have been kidnapped by the elite, installed in an orphanage and abused , trafficked and killed for amusement. they escaped and plan revenge for justice.

Our heroes are brothers. Two by blood and one, due to a hospital mistake was adopted, Two were treated well by the parents (Quinq yu and Bose) even if their destiny was somewhat controlled by a wicked and selfish mother.

Quinq yi was the outcast abused by his adopted father and shunned and abused by his biological mother. his life goes from one bad event to another. despite that his older brother shielded him to some extent and he became a doctor. but ruthless and corrupt men in the peripherals of high society are trying to bring the family down and take their place.

Love is found and lost, found again and lost again through circumstances and in the pursuit of revenge, justice and ideals. Betrayal is inevitable as one or more tries to keep the promises to ancestors, friends and family and protect their loved ones.

Many have thought Qinqyu was a doormat. but I don’t. he understands the hardships and evil behind the situation he and SuSu have faced. maybe not everything but enough to know she has her reasons and that it . may not preclude a love for him.

they will all team up from time to time to fight the bad guys but will love and hate each other out of necessity.

the main actors were brilliant but many supporting actors were just too dramatic for my liking.

The production was not the greatest. fight scenes were generally poorly executed. backdrops were so fake looking.

The worse for me were the continual memory flashbacks and a rehash at the end of what life might have been.

the ending was so painful to watch. it was left open which is okay but so cringe worthy.

the music was repetitive.

such a shame this show didn’t live up to expectations. the director and producers let some very fine acting skills go to waste.

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I am so disappointed kms

ugh idkkk 😭 i had such high expectations from the trailer, but this looks bad TT who gave this director the job bro... what a waste of such high-calibre actors and gorgeous costuming.

i'm constantly sitting there questioning why he chose to shoot a scene a certain way, or why he thought something was a good idea. i even looked through his previous work, and yeah... i did NOT like those dramas either 💀

- there are WAY too many camera cuts in every scene. it feels so amateur, and it's honestly distracting. the cuts aren't even smooth, and they make the blocking confusing. you'll get a close-up from one side, then a front-facing shot where you can clearly see where everyone's standing, and then the next cut suddenly makes it look like everyone's magically swapped positions 😭 it's genuinely awful visual storytelling omg.

- the lighting is so overpowering that it completely flattens everything. there's no contrast, no atmosphere, nothing visually interesting. everyone just looks washed out, and the colour grading is so dull. i genuinely feel like i've been catfished because that poster is communicating vibrancy and interesting lighting, but this is just straight buns.

- he decided to use AI for the intro and a bunch of other shots instead of using that budget to pay actual animators and artists who know what they're doing. idgaf what anyone says, using AI here just screams lazy and cheap.

- don't even get me started on the sound effects 😭 the jingles are literally the same stock sounds every mini drama/vertical drama uses. it makes the whole thing feel incredibly amateurish omgggg.

can we just get zeng qing jie to direct every drama from now on because holy hell 😭 the difference in quality between this and Provoke is actually insane.

I'm going to keep watching because I've been waiting for this since forever, but my hopes and dreams are officially in the gutter... I'm just going to treat this like any other mini drama... 😭

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Director and production team needs to retake class again

I watched this since i am quite republican enjoyer and even some of low-budget duanju republican production are quite better than whatever this director created. His editing style was quite messy and the effect were mismatched. The Music Background choice were questionable for republican drama. The sloppy AI on the opening is not helping at all and glad the production team listened to complain. The production left people who anticipated it was disappointed (including me) since they got visual actor and actress. The styling and make up are quite good.

The plot was quite short-drama code with melodrama makjang and fast-paced which i preferred for republican drama. I quite how fast pace this drama and not confusing viewer with many elements. The story flows smoothly, without any disjointed or fragmented feel which is rare gem foo Republican drama. Therefore, it's a show suitable for watching for plot but not for promotion. Supporting casts are quite decent and found the Brother and SFL story was quite tragic. ML biological mom was shit and even ML older brother was quite hypocritical despite ML stills cherish him. Both of main character were quite morally gray especially the Female Lead who focusing on revenge while Male Lead is quite tragic like Little Match Girl who begged for FL love. For Zhang Linghe case, i found his acting was tremendously grow since i found his earlier dramas are quite not my cup of tea and yeah he needs to let out the expression but his acting style tends to use eyes expression to minimize the mimic on his face. His eye acting was slightly better on portraying sadness and he slowly got away from dead-fish-eye acting which is surprising me as non-fans.

For Wang Churan, i need to make confession she never got romantic chemistry with her male leads but she got some dynamic aside of romance feeling which is rare because i still forgive for everyone who never had romance sparks with her other leads. She may not best actress for the expression same as Zhang Linghe case but her acting was not cringe and i enjoy her mannerism as Ren Susu.

I still got this drama chance because i quite enjoy republican drama even with sad ending.

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Am I in left field?

I had noticed the overall rating the MDL has by its viewers on Overdo and was really shocked by it being so low. I have now started it and am beginning episode 10, and I actually really like it! I think the costumes and sets are "right on" for this era. The acting is excellent (IMO Zhang Ling He and Chang Wu Ran only get better with each new series). The storyline is intriguing with mystery and twists.

There are reviews on this page left by people who supposedly watched all 33 episodes which are so hostile towards it, and I just don't get it. If it was so bad, why did so many keep watching it until the end? I can't help but think that, as I see quite often, that people who are so negative about a drama only watched the first few episodes yet felt like they had the authority to give a review of it which I find ridiculous. BTW, I have liked all episodes so far and the music is anywhere from enjoyable to lovely and appropriate for that era.

Since I am only on episode 10, I can only comment on my perception of it through this point, and at this point, I am eager to keep watching.

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Oh, I'm dropping this!

Yeah, I'm fairly new to cdramas, I admit it but this is awful. Like horrible. Disaster. Titanic sinking.

I'm not the target audience, I'm neither hater or lover of ML/FL and I'm not into yandere ML's. With that being said, I have eyes and ears and I can objectively say that the editing of this is a joke, the camera work I can't even describe, over the shoulder blurry shots, fast close ups that's giving hindi soap opera. Overall cinematography is meh. Sound editing? Never heard of her. The writing and dialogues are cringe and not like in the "I kinda like it" way but it's "I have second hand embarrassment". VFX? 90's and beyond. (Of course, the opening credits are made with AI, that itself is a disappointment.)

The biggest let down is the acting, the leads have no chemistry whatsover, and the performances themselves are below their usual standard. Most of the time they just smirk and scoff, but like.... make it sexy smirk or disappointed scoff or confident smirk and tired-to-pretend scoff. ZLH is unbelievable as Alpha male and Wang Churan tries and fails to act, and just seems blank (unless she scoffs or smirks, of course.) You can blame it on poor writing, I think it's combination of everything going wrong here.

I'm happy I never waited for this drama, genuinely watched it because I had time today and there was a lot of buzz around it.I'm feeling for everyone who went into this with high expectations. I don't understand that this is high profile S+ tier drama and I'd like to ask where the money went because it surely wasn't production.

TLDR: This is a vertical mini drama with very famous actors. And that's not a diss to vertical minis because at least they don't waste your time. They are on budget and they entertain you for couple of minutes. This eats your time, 4+ hours of my life I'm never getting back, and entertainment value is well.... you can hate watch it, probably, if that's your thing. Or if you are massive fan of the leads, I guess.... good luck. I don't know what to tell you.

I'm giving it 2* because I guess everyone showed up to work and Wang Churan and Zhang Linghe are both very pretty.

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The biggest disappointment of 2026

After seeing a lot of BTS footage while filming, I couldn't wait for this drama! My friends and I were just burning inside, so excited for it — and finally, the day came.

At the beginning, the story was quite interesting, but later it got worse and worse. Watching over 30 episodes about one handsome, good-hearted person who's perpetually wronged and harassed made me sick. How many times can you suffer with the ML and cry because of how he's treated? I started feeling exhausted... I didn't see any sunrays — just endless darkness, rain, and sadness.

Wang Churan was cold as ice. In the middle of summer, I had to wear a sweater just watching her :P Some emotion, any positivity, even a little bit of joy — all desperately needed, but completely absent. Her character was revenge-driven and ruthless, treating her "partner" terribly. I didn't like the role, although she played this emotionless, apathetic woman quite well.

If you're a fan of Zhang Linghe, you can watch it, but the minutes with his smile are very limited. He's good-looking as always, and he acts quite well. But if you're not — don't waste your time. It's definitely NOT worth it.

All in all, I couldn't stand it and dropped it a few episodes before the end. And honestly, I'm glad I did — I already know how it ends, and that's something I really didn't want to watch. That was the final nail in the coffin.

It's such a pity that a drama with this cast turned out to be so terrible.

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Biggest disappointment of 2026

It's really disappointing when high budget drama fails to fill the expectations.After watching upto episodes 7,I decided to drop it,Biggest disappointment.The editing feels like a sequence of short-form social media clips stitched together.The VFX looks too childish.They must have used all their budget on makeup and clothes.
Instead of letting emotional moments build naturally, scenes cut abruptly from intense confrontations to sudden tonal shifts (thriller to comedy to romance), breaking immersion.
I am frustrated with the production’s lighting and color grading. Rather than having the rich, moody aesthetic typical of Republican-era pieces, the sets look overly bright, sterile, or flat-washed.
Intrusive Sound Design: The background music (BGM) is overly loud, mis-timed, or jarring, pulling focus away from the actors performances.Overall the drama is 5.5/10 for me.They are only depending on intimate kiss scenes,other part of drama is a huge failure.

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high-budget production, massive marketing effort, and poor delivery

Readers, as a matter of long-standing personal discipline, I make it a rule to finish what I start; however, I must admit that *Overdo* joins the list of exceptions—out of respect for the viewers, whose intelligence was underestimated by the production's marketing strategy. My summary assessment is this: *Overdo* does not appear to be a ratings failure, but rather a case of inflated expectations and questionable technical execution. Critical consensus and entertainment media coverage suggest the main issue wasn't the cast, but rather the direction, editing, and visual choices; these factors undermined the "premium production" feel, contrasting with initial engagement—fueled by fandom, official marketing, and premiere-day curiosity—that was later dampened by a wave of criticism affecting critical perception and scores on international aggregators. In short: while actor Zhang Linghe’s fanbase clearly helped drive early attention, that alone doesn't explain the high "heat" metrics on Chinese platforms, as there was also editorial coverage, paid advertising, and organic interest from those eager to watch the premiere. The agency and campaign team likely amplified the hype, but the subsequent backlash and the final product itself demonstrate that the debate is not merely manufactured. Please note: this is not a critique of the actors' professionalism, but rather an invitation to reconsider how productions with smaller budgets are often delivering more compelling storylines and more enjoyable entertainment experiences.

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A Strong Beginning That Couldn't Stay on Track

OVERDO started off on a really strong note. At first, it was engaging, the pacing was solid, and it felt like the story knew exactly where it was heading. Unfortunately, everything started to fall apart after the fall of Huo. It was as if the driving force behind the story disappeared, and the plot just kept moving because it had to rather than because it had something meaningful left to tell.

The middle portion was honestly the weakest part of the drama. It became unnecessarily messy, frustrating, and overcomplicated. The main couple also felt quite toxic at times, but since they were the central pairing, the story kept pushing them back together. Their relationship never fully convinced me emotionally. The ending was decent enough, though Qingyi's death added a bittersweet touch.

One aspect I genuinely loved was Qingyu's relationship with his brothers. They brought warmth and emotional depth whenever the main plot started losing its direction.

The biggest disappointment, however, was what the writers did to Li Boze. After the seven-year time skip, his character felt completely different, almost as if all of his earlier development had been forgotten. And then they killed him off. His death genuinely made me cry. I absolutely loved his chemistry with Boss Hai, and their storyline had so much potential.

From a production standpoint, the editing was a hit or miss. Some scenes felt overly dramatic with excessive zoom-ins and exaggerated transitions that made it resemble a soap opera. I've even seen people refer to OVERDO as one, and I can understand why. On the brighter side, Ren Susu's wardrobe was absolutely stunning throughout the series.

Overall, OVERDO is a drama that begins with a lot of promise but gradually loses its footing. If you're looking for a drama with an excellent opening, an emotionally frustrating and chaotic middle, and a fairly acceptable ending, this might still be worth watching. However, if you prefer a consistently well-paced story with strong plot twists and satisfying character development from beginning to end, OVERDO probably won't be your cup of tea.

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Loving the uniqueness!

Update: I’m just finished episode 6, and I am finding it more difficult to get through each episode. I’ve adjusted my overall rating accordingly. But it is still very early in the show, and things could pick up again!

I wasn’t planning to start Overdo until more episodes had dropped, but I saw so many negative reviews that I became too curious to wait. I’ve only watched the first three episodes, but so far, I absolutely love it.

I love that it doesn’t look, feel, or unfold like many other C-dramas. This is my first Republican-era drama, and I’m fascinated by the costumes, the visual style, and the presence of the characters.

It also doesn’t drag or feel slow to me. Things are moving, and we’re constantly receiving new information. The story begins in the present day, then moves back to three years earlier for a few minutes before returning to the present. Nuggets of backstory are woven throughout each episode, gradually revealing more about the characters and what happened between them. I keep wanting to uncover the next piece.

I’m still very early in the drama, and even if I had finished all five currently available episodes, I would consider it too soon to make any final judgment. But at episode three, I’m completely sold.

People naturally react to dramas very differently, and that’s part of what makes discussing them so enjoyable. I’m used to seeing disagreement over whether a drama was wonderful, disappointing, or somewhere in between. What surprises me here is just how extreme the divide seems to be. Right now, people appear to either love Overdo or hate it, with very little middle ground.

As for me, three episodes in: I love it.

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