Which "One"?
A mature Chinese drama about ordinary people and their daily lives in the bustling capital?
Everything I'm looking forward to watching.
The story of three couples at different stages of life shows us how the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle of the metropolis transforms us in different ways we don't even realize, regardless of the country we live in.
After all, people are people.
Mundane yet extremely relatable dramas, with a couple in their 40s afraid and insecure about having to start over, and other couples realizing they're looking for different things for the future, and their partner doesn't seem to be the right companion for that.
But as the drama's title suggests, we were born to be the "one." But what is this "one"? What are we expected to be? What we already are now, or the result of others' expectations? These questions permeate the psyches of our protagonists, bringing about different actions and consequences in their lives.
What is truly important?
Be loyal to your bosses who treat you as disposable, or be loyal to yourself and those who will be by your side when you hit your lowest point?
Adapt to a lifestyle that makes no sense to you, just to please your partner's materialistic desires?
Accept the reality that society imposes on success and give up your health in pursuit of the desired financial freedom, in exchange for all other aspects of your life?
The drama's strongest point is developing these stories without making a definitive judgment value about which path is the right "one" or who is definitively right and who is wrong. On the contrary, it reinforces the different ways of living in this modern world we inhabit, and how different personalities and goals can, and should, bring different meanings to what it means to be the "one," something that everyone is to themselves, their own protagonists in their own story, but who are not necessarily beings who follow and aspire to travel the same path.
Once again, a Chinese series, from a country on the other side of the globe, manages to connect with me in a way that no other series from a "neighboring" country can, demonstrating the country's strength in this style of narrative, which for me is its strongest point in these fictional stories.
Everything I'm looking forward to watching.
The story of three couples at different stages of life shows us how the hustle and bustle of the concrete jungle of the metropolis transforms us in different ways we don't even realize, regardless of the country we live in.
After all, people are people.
Mundane yet extremely relatable dramas, with a couple in their 40s afraid and insecure about having to start over, and other couples realizing they're looking for different things for the future, and their partner doesn't seem to be the right companion for that.
But as the drama's title suggests, we were born to be the "one." But what is this "one"? What are we expected to be? What we already are now, or the result of others' expectations? These questions permeate the psyches of our protagonists, bringing about different actions and consequences in their lives.
What is truly important?
Be loyal to your bosses who treat you as disposable, or be loyal to yourself and those who will be by your side when you hit your lowest point?
Adapt to a lifestyle that makes no sense to you, just to please your partner's materialistic desires?
Accept the reality that society imposes on success and give up your health in pursuit of the desired financial freedom, in exchange for all other aspects of your life?
The drama's strongest point is developing these stories without making a definitive judgment value about which path is the right "one" or who is definitively right and who is wrong. On the contrary, it reinforces the different ways of living in this modern world we inhabit, and how different personalities and goals can, and should, bring different meanings to what it means to be the "one," something that everyone is to themselves, their own protagonists in their own story, but who are not necessarily beings who follow and aspire to travel the same path.
Once again, a Chinese series, from a country on the other side of the globe, manages to connect with me in a way that no other series from a "neighboring" country can, demonstrating the country's strength in this style of narrative, which for me is its strongest point in these fictional stories.
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