marelle

I didn't read the novel, so it's hard for me to comment on that. But in those new episodes she's crying cause she cannot be with TJ. She is selfish, but I get where it comes from, she felt abandoned for most of her life, she's afraid of being lonely and XL is a bit unpredictable, especially at the beginning . She behaved badly even towards TJ, distancing herself from him every time she got disappointed, which is quite typical behaviour after such trauma (it doesn't mean it's cool though).
I love XL with all my heart :P he's actually my favourite character of all c-dramas (maybe together with Tantai Jin ;) but I would still call him 'toxic'. In the end he hit (and bite <3) the woman a lot of times. BUT, what I like the most in East Asian content is that the characters are often real in a sense that no one is entirely 'good' or 'bad', and that they often focus on character development. XL was treated as a monster for most of his life, so he behaved like a monster, she treated him as a human and hence he became more human. I preferred him being 'toxic' though :D but I like that he developed the most of all the characters. Sorry for the long comments, I could write essays about him and Tantai Jin :D:D

Actually, I don't agree. TJ didn't give up the power either and became the leader of his clan. And all three of them did that for the similar reasons - being filial and honourable, which is extremely important in chinese culture. They wouldn't be respected at all if they didn't do it. XL is the only one of them that doesn't treat her as a 'poor woman' that needs to be saved by a man, but as his equal. He teaches her the ways she can protect herself (like archery.. and new poisons :D). He was the one that saved her life and took the poison bug for her, giving his life in exchange. He was always there for her whenever she felt sad and lonely and she is most honest with him, they have the best chemistry. Actually, he changed a lot thanks to her too and became more human. What TJ did for her, except from helping her once transporting the goods for XL? Also, XL knows she doesn't love him, so them being toghether wouldn't make her happy, he would be just a replacement. And of course she would have to give up all her family for him, as he's their enemy. TJ just wants to be with her because... he wants it, XL is always there for her, despite knowing she'll never be with him. If TJ was as persistent and bold as XL, they would already be together.

I like how you assume things ;) The way people act is the result of the culture in the given society. You may not like the korean way of acting because of cultural differences but it doesn't mean the acting itself is bad. The standards are just different from the ones you are accustomed to. I, for example, think that Breaking Bad is a utterly stupid show with no value whatsoever (at least 1st season that I wasn't able to finish, even though I tried 4 times) and I thought so even before I discovered korean dramas. Same with HIMYM. That doesn't mean I necessarily think that the acting was bad because I don't like the shows. Rowoon is not popular for being an actor, but an idol, so let's compare him to Christina Aguilera and Justin Timberlake for example ;) Are they better actors? I personally think that they are doing much worse than him.
Getting back to The Married Life (which I actually started to watch after reading your comment ;)), this series perfectly portraits most of the korean society problems (like divorced women situation and the attitude towards women in general, living for their kids and forcing them to study, corruption and domination of rich people to name a just few). It also touches very well the toxic relationship problem and shows that everything is not as black and white as we would like it to be (and how it's usually portrait in US shows, for example). US dramas focus on the story while korean focus more on the inner life and character developement, which is why I like them better. But you don't have to :)

Edit: Oh, and I agree with your opinion of Flower of evil and I know that a lot k-dramas are overrated because of the cultural differences of the relationships between celebrities (especially idols) and their fans. What can you do, this is how it is.

Take care ;)

Jae Hee in 3-iron, Wi Ha Joon in the Worst of Evil, Namkoong Min in My Dearest, Woo Do hwan in Bloodhounds, Yoo Ah In in Secret Love Affair to name just a few. From what I see you watch mainly Romance dramas so I don't understand why do you compare them to Peaky Blinders and Sherlock... Compare them to Sex and the city and Emily in Paris and you'll see the difference. Also, why did you score 2 of them as 10 if the acting was that bad then?