Overdo

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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Overdue for Quality Control!

Overdue — such a frustrating disappointment.

There are dramas where you can immediately see that the casting department understood the assignment — and Overdue is one of them. The FL, the ML, and the supporting cast were, in my opinion, excellent choices. On paper, this had almost everything going for it.

Unfortunately, that is precisely what makes the final result so disappointing.

The hype surrounding this drama was enormous, particularly on social media. And following Zhang Ling He's stellar performance in The Pursuit of Jade, expectations were understandably through the roof. Many of us were eagerly waiting to see what he would do next, and I genuinely never thought I would be the person to drop a drama with Shanling Ha as the male lead.
But Overdue managed to achieve exactly that.

I went into this expecting to be completely hooked. Instead, I found myself increasingly frustrated until eventually I had to admit defeat. I TRIED REALLY HARD TO WATCH....

Dropped.

And honestly, that hurts more than dropping an average drama, because Overdue had the ingredients to be something genuinely memorable. The talent was there. The potential was there. The anticipation was certainly there.
You even have an actor coming off an exceptional performance in The Pursuit of Jade.
That is what makes Overdue such a shame.

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Don't Let the First Impression Keep You from Enjoying Overdo

I honestly don't understand why Overdo is receiving so much negative feedback.

Is it because of the AI-generated intro? The visuals? If those aren't your preference, that's completely fair—but why let those things overshadow the drama itself?

For me, the most important part of any drama is the story, the acting, and the emotions it delivers. Overdo has an engaging storyline that keeps you invested, and both lead actors gave their all to bring their characters to life. Their chemistry, emotional performances, and character development are what made me stay.

I've seen comments saying the CGI, editing, and production quality aren't perfect. Others feel the pacing is slow or that the AI opening is distracting. Those are valid opinions, but they don't automatically make the entire drama bad.

Sometimes it feels like people judge a drama after watching only a few minutes instead of giving the story a chance to unfold. Every production has strengths and weaknesses, but the heart of Overdo lies in its characters and the journey they take.

At the end, not every drama has to be a blockbuster with a huge budget to be enjoyable. If a story can make you laugh, cry, feel anxious, or root for the characters, then it has already done something right.

For me, Overdo deserves to be appreciated for its story and the hard work of the cast and crew—not dismissed because of an AI intro or a few visual imperfections. ❤️

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Wasted potential

This drama should have been my favourite drama of the year, and yet it became the worst. It had everything going for it that I like and nothing worked, absolutely nothing. Not the actors (weakest perfomance of the main actors in my opinion, I blame the director), not the story (nonsensical), not the chemistry (barely there), nothing. So many tropes, all butchered. URGH.
I finished this drama out of sheer stubbornness because I bought VIP for this (and regretted it).

Absolutely HATED the directing and editing in this drama. Usually I don't care that much about it, but it was horrendous! Horrible! Awful! Seriously who hired them? BY FAR the worst part of this drama. They butchered so many scenes, even short drama productions do better??? Music was awful.
Even the AI usage, honestly... if AI is doing a better job then the director, he should maybe find another career (yes I hate the directing so so much) and yes, the AI scenes were not good. It cheapened an already poor drama. Well done.

BUT there are things that I liked (yes they do exist, since this doesn't have 1 star, yay):
It was watchable, even though annoying, until the second half and then just went absolutely off the rails.
The storyline with the orphan house was okay and could have been a powerful storyline (but they butchered it in the end)
I liked the (only one!!!) episode of their past relationsship. Lasted not long enough in my opinion.
I liked the costumes (not the make up choices).
Acting wise, I thought Zhang Linghe and Wang Churan were okay (they both can do much better, but at least they looked pretty while doing it) but the guy who played his adoptive father was actually really good. The other actors, not so much (Li Bo Ze I'm looking at you).

Anyway don't waste your time.

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you know this love/hate pairing will be iconic

first time i watch republican-era dramas, the reason is my last sentence.

so far lots of underwhelming things about it:
>>>ai-slop opening, the scenes sometimes feel off in the way the actors look frozen or extra melodramatic and the scenes have the pace of a short drama, the overly edited effects...
about the ai and editing style: it's only natural to see more and more attempts like this that seem to rely less on human creativity, and more on average/generic expectations.... i heard BTS content was more impressive visually.

all of these have nothing to do with this 'era' drama,

But i still love it so far
>>>the attention to the details and dialogue are really nice.
>>>extravaganza melodrama is so fun 😅
>>>ZLH roles of hate/love are really iconic like kunning palace, i think this role will also be incredible tension! especially with WCR as co-lead. i just hope the direction gave them enough room to showcase the nuance of such a tende relationship! so far it seems still so dramatic that it doesn't leave enough room for the greyzone...and the growth of these characters doesnt look well established yet...

but one thing for sure, i know these 2 main leads will carry this show regardless!!

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Don’t waste your time watching this drama!!!

My Review of Overdo

I wanted to like Overdo because the concept had potential, but overall it just didn’t work for me.

The Story
The plot feels all over the place. Instead of building up tension or emotion, it just drags. There are too many filler scenes that don’t add anything to the main story, and the pacing is super slow. The storyline could’ve been deeper and more meaningful, but it ended up feeling shallow and repetitive. I kept waiting for that "wow" moment and it never came.

The Acting
This is the biggest issue for me. The acting felt forced and unnatural. There was no real chemistry, and a lot of the emotional scenes came off as awkward instead of touching. The delivery was flat, and it made it hard to connect with the characters. For a drama that’s supposed to make you feel something, it just fell flat.

Overall
Overdo had the chance to be something good, but between the weak story and stiff acting, I just couldn’t get into it. If you’re looking for something with strong writing and actors you can actually root for, I’d say skip this one.

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