The Earth

A fairy tale about a marriage of convenience.

A captivating, fun, and romantic story with a fairytale vibe. Rose and Din have great chemistry; I found myself yelling for them to kiss several times. However, for me, the highlight of the series was the cousins, especially Lom. Believe me, I'm not saying this because this character is played by Freen Becky; I'm not a number one Freen Becky fan, but I must admit she's my favorite character. Lom is giving a charismatic performance. There's humor, fun, and suspense too. I liked the villain of the series and the serious issues it addresses. I hated him and was afraid of what he might do to the protagonists... In other words, I loved him! That's how a villain should be.

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Perfect Start, Rushed Second Half

Let's first start off with what I loved about this show.

The plot was plotting. They did such a great job storytelling and introducing the 4 Elements universe, I genuinely enjoyed the first four episodes and even kept rewatching them because they just gave you the feels. Just like my headline, the start was so perfect. Din and Rose's dynamic got you hooked, the pacing was just right, and the consistency throughout the quality and writing in the first four episodes was evident.

However, Episode 5 was where it all went downhill. First strike was when Din's character started making no sense. Tell me why Din was painted as this still super shy and respectful gentlewoman in Episode 4 but then suddenly got the confidence and guts in Episode 5. The switch-up had me extremely whiplashed. It would have made more sense if Rose verbalized anything wanting Din to be the way she was starting from Episode 5, but no. So it made absolutely no sense and it gave me the ick. I also hated how dense they made Din's character towards the end considering she was so thoughtful in the earlier episodes. Like what do you mean you're more worried about the woman who got the love of your life SA'd than your actual lover. The one who you even confessed to about having genuine feelings toward.

Lastly, I want to express how 8 episodes was definitely way too short. It made Rose such a boring main character with only the jealousy trope and last episode (caring daughter montage) showcasing anything else aside from being Din's love interest. It left no room for anything else but plot progression. There were no more feels, just plot movers.

In conclusion, this had such immense potential to be a masterpiece, but it is unfortunately evident that the writing from start to finish was not thought out well enough. The show lost its spark, feels, and magic in the second half which left me detached to the show and characters as a result.

My Rating(s):
Episodes 1-4 = 10/10
Episode 5-8 = 7/10

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A Rose Petal Bed on Firm Land to Rest Your Weary Heart and Head

Present, embracing, and nurturing. That just about perfectly sums up this drama and the romance at the heart of it.

Not only was The Earth so warm both with its earth tones and general concept, but the FLs love for each other as well.

In every word and action, stolen glance and direct stare, you could feel their tender affections for each other.

Their love was like the sun I gratefully basked in.

And the rally of support for their blossoming relationship from their close circle of people was lovely to see.

I do think conflicts between the side characters/antagonists could have been wrapped up better. Some wrongs were too quickly forgiven and forgotten. But the bad case of "love aggression" I came down with covered my eyes with a rose-petaled veil and made me forget all my objections/criticisms as quickly as they came up.

I hope you watch it and fall for this couple as hard as I did! Don't miss out!

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Not for me

First series of this mega project.

I really liked the telenovela and lakorn vibe it clearly shows on screen. The budget is there, and you can feel that the series is well-crafted, well-acted, and thoughtfully produced. The main couple has good chemistry and works well together.

However, I don’t think this series is really for me. I found it quite slow and sometimes boring. The only moments I truly enjoyed were the ones with the cousins.

I also feel like Rose and Din’s personalities are too bland and a bit too polished there’s a lack of passion or conflict, which is something I was hoping for.

Hopefully, The Water will do better.

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Full house cast but predictable storyline

First of all, my review is more about how I got entertained. Given that this is four elements saga which includes a full house casting of famous GL actors. I felt that this part of the series has a good storyline and beautiful actresses. On the entertainment value side, it is eye candy, sweet, and comedic. The downside is that I got bored at some point. The reason is that it is very cliché and predictable. I even predicted that on those love scenes, it would not push and it would be pushed on the very last episode. Also, the 2 main leads do not have any chemistry. The love scenes were like, okay, let's do this! It is so obvious that they aren't comfortable. And funny, the last episode they were finally making love and they made it seem they finished orgasm, but still fully clothed. Like, okay, they really don't have to show skin, but their reaction was obviously faked. So, yes, I got entertained for the cute moments, if it were other GL actors who had the chemistry..I would have loved this series more!

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Maybe not for me

THE GOOD
The supporting characters are written in such as way as they are rooting for the main couple, as stand-ins for the audience, and its fun.

Din feels pretty authentic.

THE BAD -- BY EP2
Falling in love happens way too soon. Din has essentially always been "i would die for you" in love with her. And she immediately can tell. We don't get any of the fun flirting and actually falling in love with who a person is.

The "romance" is all just sound effects and drawn out gazing shots. Very little substantial interaction.

One of the FLs is like completely helpless. Multiple scenes are "escalated" just because she acts like a damsel instead of saying something simple like "don't touch me" or "I don't want to go with you". The entire bodyguard angle is also just based on this weird choice "pick between your neighbors who will take care of you" like what, she is a grown ass woman. If she needs security, then go buy / arrange it? Never speaks for herself, and it becomes such an assumed reality that many scenes just come across as if everyone's top priority is catering to her.

That princess dynamic is even more uncomfortable as the secondary characters are all treated like servants and it's weird. And not just that FL's supporting characters, its on both sides. Like your auntie that raised you just being a full time maid for you, when you live alone as a full adult, is crazy work. And all of her labor is taken for granted, just constantly asking her to do trivial things.

The secondary characters constantly give all credit to the leading characters. It is very heavy handed and overused. Just every single thing they do (which is always as servants) is stated out right "I did this but Din was the mastermind".

Antagonists behave like villains for no reason. Pretty much the whole initial premise that there is a threat to be protected from, is just the villain attacking her for absolutely no reason. Their interest is to marry their families and gain ownership of her land. In what way does trespassing in her home, assaulting her servant and ultimately physically forcing her into a car? Not only are those all crimes and they already know cops are watching them, but also she definitely isn't going to marry you if you do that? How does kidnapping her get you the deed to the land? Shouldn't you be romancing her? At least maintaining a cordial relationship so you can maybe buy the land? But no instead just random assaults. That /conveniently/ are not recorded.

It is all only possible because we have to pretend technology is just not an option the whole time. No video security on her farm or home, the only answer is to move in with your gf. Nobody can ever have a phone on them because pulling it out and recording would end these scenes immediately.

In theory she is already working with a cop, and investigating *human trafficking* and is still making zero effort to obtain *evidence* for crimes that we know they will commit with such certainty that we are going to move in together, that Din is going to carry a gun -- so many plotlines are relying on this premise to support. We will do everything but record them doing crime on us.

We ended ep2 with a motorcycle that for whatever reason already tried to run them off the road (so we definitely are on alert), stop in front of them and point a gun at them.............she is driving a car. A pretty big one too. Am I supposed to stop so that you can shoot me and not be run over in the process? What is the thought process of these cartoonish villains.

EP3
2 guys on a motorcycle chase an SUV because... that makes sense at all. Openly demonstrate that they are hostile / trying to kill them. At any point we could have just run them over and this is over. Instead they get in front and shoot at us from like forever away. Again we don't run them over.

They give us a flat I guess? Even with a flat we could run them over, they park right by us, it wouldn't be hard.

We also JUST established that Din keeps a gun on her because of all this stuff. But she gets out of the car with no weapon.

He doesn't shoot her immediately because... he has to say something nonsensical about her asking for it. His lines literally make no sense, and his method of trying to kill her has not made any sense and now he's not doing it so he can say nonsense. Just how many layers of a scene can make no sense?

The answer is at least one more because oh this was all a sting. We just really wanted to arrest a... hired gun for some reason. I guess they will interrogate him into rolling over, at this point I don't know what they can get from him that is worth this "plan" where she VERY EASILY COULD HAVE DIED (and should have, since she didn't run them over). Like damn, bullets were fired, they didn't miss "because you had it under control" you were just lucky. And he had a gun pointed at her in the end, and all it would have taken is 1 squeeze...

Freen walks up "I had it under control" (literally didn't) "I had to wait for him to incriminate himself" (he literally didnt do anything different right before then, he had been pointing a gun at her and shooting the car already)

And destroying any premise that Din is smart. Her plan is to block the antagonists by marrying her first, but she doesn't explain a single thing and just proposes. In what world would she do that? And then to still not have a clue that she skipped explaining something important. At some point you are lying so much that you don't even have a grasp of your partners POV is pretty bad for a romance story. But this is just played for a laugh. A proposal before they even have been open with their feelings at all.

EP4
...who could have predicted that people would expect you to kiss at your wedding. We really are going to act like this is a surprise. And then have a whole conversation about it while people are watching and chanting to kiss... But we did discuss that convincing people it was legit was important (for some reason? i forget)

EP6
We start the ep and a doctor looks at dad with a flashlight once and turns to just say "no, the movement didn't mean recovery it was just". Guess he was very sure immediately.

Yep, continuing to act like they don't have people that want to kill them. Let's sleep in separate buildings alone.

Everyone stop Rose! There is nothing we can do! We have to scream at this building instead of break a window so someone right there can climb out.

Aaaand, Din just appears. Who needs to know how or why! Moving on!

AAAAAA THEY STRAIGHT UP ASK ABOUT SURVEILANCE. Nope! She never bothered to. Despite having multiple attempts on her life. I am dying.

Rose making it all about her. Din was just in a fire, is apparently receiving no medical treatment, and has to facilitate the authorities. And she's still checking on Rose T_T Why is Rose so self absorbed.

hmm we took pictures of some people in hoods ..somewhere. but they just raid the house and of course find nothing. Gee I wonder how they will get out of this. Maybe the lack of any evidence they were involved?

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Predictable Story With Some Good Moments

The series begins with a promising premise and introduces its main characters and conflicts fairly quickly. However, the early episodes establish the central dynamics a little too clearly, revealing too much too soon and removing some of the potential tension that could have made the story more engaging.

The writing often relies heavily on familiar clichés, especially when it comes to jealousy, misunderstandings, and convenient plot developments. Some plot points lack proper explanation, while others are resolved far too easily. Character reactions occasionally feel rushed or unrealistic, and several twists become predictable long before they are actually revealed.

That being said, the series still has a number of enjoyable and funny moments. Certain character interactions are entertaining, and there are several well-done scenes that help keep the story engaging.

Overall, the drama has an interesting premise but struggles to fully realize its potential. While it can still be entertaining in parts, the predictable storytelling and reliance on clichés make the series feel less impactful than it could have been.

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MY COMFORT SERIESSSSS

first time i see the overture, idgaf about this series.
but, after i know the couple (applemim) and i see the teaser, i think, i'm fall in love with this couple and series.
they're my comfort zone. they're not loud, soft couple, 100% my type of couple.
and, when the series start, i really love the acting, the chemistry, the bgm, and.....everything about this series.
i read the novel too btw, and not 100% scene in the novel its included in the series, but its okayy.
they're add an additional scene, and a more detailed description of an event, like about wasu and his human trafficing (trigger warning about that btw).
the comedy its always make me laughing, its so fits on me, and i love phi din and nong rose chemistry too. they're such a green flag couple.
you must watch this bro, trust me.
yauda gitu doang, gw ga bisa bahasa inggris, makasi.

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A great way to start this anthology series

The earth being the story of Din and Rose falling in love, both of them being farm owners, their love being one full of protectiveness. I really liked how everything was setup.

We started the story well, giving good backstories and setting up conflicts well. Din and Rose reuniting after all those years was sweet. The way Din didn't force Rose to stay with her even though Rose's father gave Din the responsibility and Rose chose Din by seeing how loyal she was....all of this was perfect. Their fake marriage setup was also good. It lost me after that point onwards.

We see them play a bit of a jealousy game and then finally confessing their feelings but it didn't hit for me. I can understand why Rose would fall for Din, she was so protective and attentive to her every need and did everything to make her comfortable, but why does Din like Rose?? We never get to see them have a more deeper convo or bond. Most of their convos were 'Sorry u stuck protecting me, thank u for saving me'-'Ofc i will protect u, tell me anything u need'. They kind of suddenly shift personalities after their confessions. The Din who made sure she had consent for every single thing just kisses Rose when she drunk out of her mind? Din who was so shy is suddenly very confident everywhere?? I wish Rose was a bit more developed as a character.

Their breakup/break in the last ep didn't make any sense either. Rose didn't show any discomfort in the fact that her father gave Din the responsibility to look after her but she wants to break up cause that responsibility is not there anymore? Din never made it look like it was a burden but the way Rose talked gave a different vibe. I don't understand why they couldn't stay together and talk on the phone like long distance couples do in 2026. They didn't even use the break to get to know each other more, they just got married the instant they saw each other again.

The tone shift of the series was a bit drastic too. All the scenes with Din-Rose were romantic, cute, playful and very sweet and then suddenly we have Wasu with their dark, sinister evil plans and sex trafficking. I felt like I was more tensed about having such evil ppl walk free than these ppl who lived next to him. I couldn't even enjoy the cute moments that much cause deep down i was scared that Wasu and his gang will pop up any moment to assault them. Maybe they could have toned down them a bit and made it a purely land conflict/legal thing.

My fave part was the cousins. I love how they were all integrated into the story and we get to see their personalities shine. All of their interactions added so much to the story. I'm surprised that Water is the next one to air, given that we don't see Nam too much here.

I'm excited for the rest of the stories and to see Din in the future

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