✒❌️Wrong Car ✅️Right Destiny °7.5° °VG°
They say nothing is free. WIL is about a free ride that isn't free, in the end.
“How could I have leukemia?” Xia Lin (aka "Lin Lin" aka "MuMu”) knows this makes no sense. Her personal and family history are clear of health issues. She's flummoxed as she bulls her way out of the hospital and flings open the door of her Uber. A strange man is in her ride!?! Whatever, just “drop me off first, I'm in a hurry,” she honks. “Well? Scoot Over!” The stranger scoots. (We all Uber in Maseratis all the time, right?) The stranger takes a call from his friend: “I'm alone on the street! Where are you, you were supposed to pick me up!” Sounds like that come from the other end of his phone convo. Stranger, Ling, (Xu Kai Cheng from Novoland: Pearl Eclipse) laconically shuts him down cold: ”Take a cab.” Next, Ms MuMu gets a call from her actual Uber driver… Whoops! Wrong car…
Or wuzzz it?
WIL is a 2019 release that is rated 7.6 on MDL, which is actually a middling rating for that site. Viki has it at 9.3. Why the disparity? WIL contains some triggers that many viewers will find unpleasant, specifically the making of a monster. It's also about the unmaking of a monster. Some viewers will not get beyond the triggers, while others will enjoy the dopamine rush that a classic style romance delivers - he's really, really into her. Our ML grew up with a domineering father. His mother is gone - she finally had to escape her horrible husband and she abandoned her son. Ling picked up some bad tendencies from Fughee (dad) and brings them to his love life. There's nothing unrealistic about that pattern. WIL is about how MuMu‘s presence reforms Ling’s tattered emotional state. The point is that he has issues and needs some work. It isn't justifying his behavior, even if his wrong acts work out in the end. If abusive and domineering men are a hot-button trigger for a viewer then (based on the ratings and reviews) WIL is not the one to watch.
This is a non-spoiler review, so no specifics, but our ML pulls an outrageous stunt because that is all he knows. Fughee brought him up to be emotionless, manipulative, authoritative, and domineering. He desperately craves love but is not equipped to give or receive it. Some watch this and can't get beyond the urge to cancel our ML entirely. On a core programming level, I'm incapable of hating a show in which the ML loves the FL as much as Ling loves MuMu. Keep in mind that equality of the sexes in Asia is decades behind the West. This show is actually performing a service in representing this behavior as wrong and in need of reform. Our FL absolutely refuses to put up with it.
Perhaps that will help you decide if you will enjoy WIL or not - it's only value is in its wind-down escapism, so if it will get one worked up, one should avoid it. People take every trend too far, and our cancel-culture has gone too far. Wrongs should be addressed, corrected and even punished, but we are too quick to throw out human beings. ‘Bringing out the lions’ has never fixed any society or any wrongs, and it never will. None of us are without blemishes. Our first goal should be to promote growth in others. Blocking, mocking, and cross-offing might make a person feel better (superior) in the short run, but it does harm and not good, ultimately. Now I've gone way overboard for a piece-of-fluff show. Moving on…
Mixing up cars is not enough to bring them together. They didn't even exchange names, after all. MuMu glimpses her medical file & learns that the closest match for a bone marrow donor is a stranger, Ling Yi Zhou. She studies up on him - he's a CEO & he will be hard to reach. FeiFei (Liu Jia Xi from The Last Immortal) is her cute & spritely friend. She will teach MuMu how to hook a guy. There's 3 main principles: 1. Commitment. 2. Be Shameless. 3. Be committed to being Shameless. With help from Fei Fei she starts scheming.
Many women have already schemed to meet Mr. Ling, so MuMu & FeiFei are to be congratulated, as it isn't long before MuMu gets her 1-on-1 and sees he is her kind Uber-stranger who gave her a free ride. He won't help, though! He's a businessman, and there's nothing in it for him. No deal. MuMu becomes very emotional and decides she's going to die in a beautiful way. She jumps into the water. For those of you who haven't watched many Asian features, particularly Chinese ones, walking or jumping into the water is treated as a tragic threat of imminent death. It's something I found amusing the first few times I saw it, but now I'm so used to it I just take it in stride. It's a representation of a suicide attempt and it should just be taken as such, no matter how inauthentic and downright silly it appears. Even the Netflix show, Marco Polo-8, has such a scene. It's obviously a cultural thread that connects a patch of ideas and images to which we, in the West, are not privvy.
Anyway, near drowning (her acting was perfect, too. He complimented her) wasn't enough to bring them together, or save her life. She had to go on a campaign. She learned his schedule and he got used to seeing her face until he finally breaks down and agrees to help her. He has 1 condition: Marry him. Marrying her will chase away all the annoying women coming after him. He doesn't have time to work on human relationships. He really doesn't have the desire to, either. She is well suited for the position because she needs something from him. MuMu has a dream of being an actress. Perhaps being married to this well connected guy will save her career as much as it saves her life. Tit-for-tat he understands. Ling can make sense of that. FeiFei theorizes that Ling's real motive is to hide the true nature of his relationship with his actor friend, Chu Yan (Ian Yi from Killer and Healer). Ling needs MuMu to keep him “straight,” ahem. Come to think of it, their first date was /shopping/... 🤔
Actually, what Ling cares about most is making his grandmother happy. It's Grandma who wants him to get married. So, they get to work. Contract signing (with only moderate haggling), civil ceremony (more like a registration), the surgery, recovery, and choosing what family property to occupy (such problems)… They keep the marriage 100% packed away until the move-in stage. She wanted it kept under wraps completely (“😤You're supposed to keep it a secret!” ”😶I took that clause out.” 😤😤!)
Soon she becomes curious about whether Ling finds women attractive or not. More exactly, whether he finds /her/ attractive. She tries an experiment👙 or 2… They fall for eachother early, so most of the show is adjustment issues. He was honed by his father to be ruthless. He's done some ruthless things and he's accustomed to having complete control. How will she respond when the truth comes out? More importantly, is that gonna fill 30 episodes? They have a couple surprises. This duo has some 👛👜🎒stuff💼👝🛍🛄 to work out.
Ms Mu is played by Simona Wang (The Legend of Du Xin Wu). She is bright and endearing. Her manner allows her to appear cute though her looks are more classically beautiful. She was born in ‘91 and was 28 years old when WIL was released. She's supposedly just 21 in ep1, but she does appear older than that. The show covers a few years so it catches up with her. Director, Wu Qiang also brought us General's Lady, Miss Crow with Mr. Lizard & The Eternal Love S2) and screenwriters, He Dun and Yang Huai penned Cute Programmer & The Romance of Hua Rong.
They've almost completely course-corrected in recent years, but for a long time it was common for a Chinese modern-day feature to have inane dialogue to the point of… - well, pinch yourself to check that you aren't dreaming, and confirm they actually committed something that feeble to film. That bad habit probably led to the plot twist that got women's rights groups in a twist (they ain't wrong!). It's more a matter of 1. How seriously do you take a show like this and, 2. If a character makes a mistake, even a particularly bad one, but they have sincere remorse coupled with a complete turnaround later, can we forgive h/h?). WIL has above average writing and dialogue.
The acting is above average. Ling's mother had to hold back tears at one point and the actress was breathtakingly effective. I held /my/ breath. The wardrobe is above average (except for Chu Yan's suit of blue squares which brings on morning sickness). Speaking of wardrobe, Ling looks fabulous in a suit, and I'm not crazy about suits. The script and the plot are well above average. It could be argued that Chinese modern-day dramas are best watched while in rem sleep. They're melodious and often soothing though overflowing with poor plots, wooden acting, and awkward dialogue. The value and/or rating of a feature is in both its technical excellence and its emotional connection. Chinese historical and fantasy features are among the best in the world, but their modern-day stuff has been technically appalling while being emotionally palliative. Guess what? Emotions win 90/90 -> They win 90% of the time for 90% of the people. And Chinese modern-day features are Prozac.
WIL has the 🇨🇳usuals: Flashbacks. Amnesia. Poison. There's a plot twist with one character that's just laughable (Ling's mom). Some of the sequences and side stories are nonsense. Romance fans should still like it quite a bit, though. The building where he works looks like poured liquid with wavy sides. It's an architectural jewel. The filming location is Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, which is on Taihu Lake, 100-150 miles from Shanghai. Another building is a horizontally lit sphere. Swanky. She's always wearing star jewelry and I love it. Each episode ends with a cute vignette looking back on a scene from a different take.
QUOTES📢
S1
In this world there are three things you can never hide: a cough, poverty, and love.
I guess poverty has limited my imagination.
〰🖍 IMHO
S1
📣7 📝6.8 🎭7.3 💓7 🦋7.5 🎨6 🎵/🔊6.7 🔚7.5 ♦ 🌞5 ⚡5 😅3 😭3 😱3.4 😯2 😖1 🤔2 💤2.5
Age 12+ kidnapping, Adult situations, sexual content with lots of kissing, pregnancy, violence
Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned. Re-📺? Not impossible
Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1 (there's a minor fantasy element),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in the style of ancient Chinese opera),
Ruyi's Royal love in the palace (episodes 1 - 49 are a 9.3. While looking up it's historical accuracy, I learned how heartbreaking the rest of the show is. It's over 80 episodes, so that's a hella-lotta hurt. I am not up for it now, so I stopped at episode 49, which is a perfect ending. I cannot recommend episodes 1 - 49 enough. It's near perfect).
K:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5;
The Kings's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9
Fantasy - Heavenly realm:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome siblings 8.7;
Heavenly Sword 9 (Kung-fu!);
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Eternal love 8.3 + its sequel Eternal Love Of dream/Three Lives, Three Worlds, 10 Miles Of Peach Blossoms 7.7 (I watched these in the wrong order, which was a shame. EL is not without flaws, the FL being the biggest issue, but overall it's outstanding. The sequel was not originally planned. EL actually tells the same story as ELOD as a secondary romance, and the show was so popular that they did the sequel and changed quite a bit).
Love and Redemption 10
Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1 (there's a minor fantasy element),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in the style of ancient Chinese opera),
Ruyi's Royal love in the palace (episodes 1 - 49 are a 9.3. While looking up it's historical accuracy, I learned how heartbreaking the rest of the show is. It's over 80 episodes, so that's a hella-lotta hurt. I am not up for it now, so I stopped at episode 49, which is a perfect ending. I cannot recommend episodes 1 - 49 enough. It's near perfect).
K:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5;
The Kings's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9
Fantasy - Heavenly realm:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome siblings 8.7;
Heavenly Sword 9 (Kung-fu!);
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Eternal love 8.3 + its sequel Eternal Love Of dream/Three Lives, Three Worlds, 10 Miles Of Peach Blossoms 7.7 (I watched these in the wrong order, which was a shame. EL is not without flaws, the FL being the biggest issue, but overall it's outstanding. The sequel was not originally planned. EL actually tells the same story as ELOD as a secondary romance, and the show was so popular that they did the sequel and changed quite a bit).
Love and Redemption 10
“How could I have leukemia?” Xia Lin (aka "Lin Lin" aka "MuMu”) knows this makes no sense. Her personal and family history are clear of health issues. She's flummoxed as she bulls her way out of the hospital and flings open the door of her Uber. A strange man is in her ride!?! Whatever, just “drop me off first, I'm in a hurry,” she honks. “Well? Scoot Over!” The stranger scoots. (We all Uber in Maseratis all the time, right?) The stranger takes a call from his friend: “I'm alone on the street! Where are you, you were supposed to pick me up!” Sounds like that come from the other end of his phone convo. Stranger, Ling, (Xu Kai Cheng from Novoland: Pearl Eclipse) laconically shuts him down cold: ”Take a cab.” Next, Ms MuMu gets a call from her actual Uber driver… Whoops! Wrong car…
Or wuzzz it?
WIL is a 2019 release that is rated 7.6 on MDL, which is actually a middling rating for that site. Viki has it at 9.3. Why the disparity? WIL contains some triggers that many viewers will find unpleasant, specifically the making of a monster. It's also about the unmaking of a monster. Some viewers will not get beyond the triggers, while others will enjoy the dopamine rush that a classic style romance delivers - he's really, really into her. Our ML grew up with a domineering father. His mother is gone - she finally had to escape her horrible husband and she abandoned her son. Ling picked up some bad tendencies from Fughee (dad) and brings them to his love life. There's nothing unrealistic about that pattern. WIL is about how MuMu‘s presence reforms Ling’s tattered emotional state. The point is that he has issues and needs some work. It isn't justifying his behavior, even if his wrong acts work out in the end. If abusive and domineering men are a hot-button trigger for a viewer then (based on the ratings and reviews) WIL is not the one to watch.
This is a non-spoiler review, so no specifics, but our ML pulls an outrageous stunt because that is all he knows. Fughee brought him up to be emotionless, manipulative, authoritative, and domineering. He desperately craves love but is not equipped to give or receive it. Some watch this and can't get beyond the urge to cancel our ML entirely. On a core programming level, I'm incapable of hating a show in which the ML loves the FL as much as Ling loves MuMu. Keep in mind that equality of the sexes in Asia is decades behind the West. This show is actually performing a service in representing this behavior as wrong and in need of reform. Our FL absolutely refuses to put up with it.
Perhaps that will help you decide if you will enjoy WIL or not - it's only value is in its wind-down escapism, so if it will get one worked up, one should avoid it. People take every trend too far, and our cancel-culture has gone too far. Wrongs should be addressed, corrected and even punished, but we are too quick to throw out human beings. ‘Bringing out the lions’ has never fixed any society or any wrongs, and it never will. None of us are without blemishes. Our first goal should be to promote growth in others. Blocking, mocking, and cross-offing might make a person feel better (superior) in the short run, but it does harm and not good, ultimately. Now I've gone way overboard for a piece-of-fluff show. Moving on…
Mixing up cars is not enough to bring them together. They didn't even exchange names, after all. MuMu glimpses her medical file & learns that the closest match for a bone marrow donor is a stranger, Ling Yi Zhou. She studies up on him - he's a CEO & he will be hard to reach. FeiFei (Liu Jia Xi from The Last Immortal) is her cute & spritely friend. She will teach MuMu how to hook a guy. There's 3 main principles: 1. Commitment. 2. Be Shameless. 3. Be committed to being Shameless. With help from Fei Fei she starts scheming.
Many women have already schemed to meet Mr. Ling, so MuMu & FeiFei are to be congratulated, as it isn't long before MuMu gets her 1-on-1 and sees he is her kind Uber-stranger who gave her a free ride. He won't help, though! He's a businessman, and there's nothing in it for him. No deal. MuMu becomes very emotional and decides she's going to die in a beautiful way. She jumps into the water. For those of you who haven't watched many Asian features, particularly Chinese ones, walking or jumping into the water is treated as a tragic threat of imminent death. It's something I found amusing the first few times I saw it, but now I'm so used to it I just take it in stride. It's a representation of a suicide attempt and it should just be taken as such, no matter how inauthentic and downright silly it appears. Even the Netflix show, Marco Polo-8, has such a scene. It's obviously a cultural thread that connects a patch of ideas and images to which we, in the West, are not privvy.
Anyway, near drowning (her acting was perfect, too. He complimented her) wasn't enough to bring them together, or save her life. She had to go on a campaign. She learned his schedule and he got used to seeing her face until he finally breaks down and agrees to help her. He has 1 condition: Marry him. Marrying her will chase away all the annoying women coming after him. He doesn't have time to work on human relationships. He really doesn't have the desire to, either. She is well suited for the position because she needs something from him. MuMu has a dream of being an actress. Perhaps being married to this well connected guy will save her career as much as it saves her life. Tit-for-tat he understands. Ling can make sense of that. FeiFei theorizes that Ling's real motive is to hide the true nature of his relationship with his actor friend, Chu Yan (Ian Yi from Killer and Healer). Ling needs MuMu to keep him “straight,” ahem. Come to think of it, their first date was /shopping/... 🤔
Actually, what Ling cares about most is making his grandmother happy. It's Grandma who wants him to get married. So, they get to work. Contract signing (with only moderate haggling), civil ceremony (more like a registration), the surgery, recovery, and choosing what family property to occupy (such problems)… They keep the marriage 100% packed away until the move-in stage. She wanted it kept under wraps completely (“😤You're supposed to keep it a secret!” ”😶I took that clause out.” 😤😤!)
Soon she becomes curious about whether Ling finds women attractive or not. More exactly, whether he finds /her/ attractive. She tries an experiment👙 or 2… They fall for eachother early, so most of the show is adjustment issues. He was honed by his father to be ruthless. He's done some ruthless things and he's accustomed to having complete control. How will she respond when the truth comes out? More importantly, is that gonna fill 30 episodes? They have a couple surprises. This duo has some 👛👜🎒stuff💼👝🛍🛄 to work out.
Ms Mu is played by Simona Wang (The Legend of Du Xin Wu). She is bright and endearing. Her manner allows her to appear cute though her looks are more classically beautiful. She was born in ‘91 and was 28 years old when WIL was released. She's supposedly just 21 in ep1, but she does appear older than that. The show covers a few years so it catches up with her. Director, Wu Qiang also brought us General's Lady, Miss Crow with Mr. Lizard & The Eternal Love S2) and screenwriters, He Dun and Yang Huai penned Cute Programmer & The Romance of Hua Rong.
They've almost completely course-corrected in recent years, but for a long time it was common for a Chinese modern-day feature to have inane dialogue to the point of… - well, pinch yourself to check that you aren't dreaming, and confirm they actually committed something that feeble to film. That bad habit probably led to the plot twist that got women's rights groups in a twist (they ain't wrong!). It's more a matter of 1. How seriously do you take a show like this and, 2. If a character makes a mistake, even a particularly bad one, but they have sincere remorse coupled with a complete turnaround later, can we forgive h/h?). WIL has above average writing and dialogue.
The acting is above average. Ling's mother had to hold back tears at one point and the actress was breathtakingly effective. I held /my/ breath. The wardrobe is above average (except for Chu Yan's suit of blue squares which brings on morning sickness). Speaking of wardrobe, Ling looks fabulous in a suit, and I'm not crazy about suits. The script and the plot are well above average. It could be argued that Chinese modern-day dramas are best watched while in rem sleep. They're melodious and often soothing though overflowing with poor plots, wooden acting, and awkward dialogue. The value and/or rating of a feature is in both its technical excellence and its emotional connection. Chinese historical and fantasy features are among the best in the world, but their modern-day stuff has been technically appalling while being emotionally palliative. Guess what? Emotions win 90/90 -> They win 90% of the time for 90% of the people. And Chinese modern-day features are Prozac.
WIL has the 🇨🇳usuals: Flashbacks. Amnesia. Poison. There's a plot twist with one character that's just laughable (Ling's mom). Some of the sequences and side stories are nonsense. Romance fans should still like it quite a bit, though. The building where he works looks like poured liquid with wavy sides. It's an architectural jewel. The filming location is Wuxi, Jiangsu Province, which is on Taihu Lake, 100-150 miles from Shanghai. Another building is a horizontally lit sphere. Swanky. She's always wearing star jewelry and I love it. Each episode ends with a cute vignette looking back on a scene from a different take.
QUOTES📢
S1
In this world there are three things you can never hide: a cough, poverty, and love.
I guess poverty has limited my imagination.
〰🖍 IMHO
S1
📣7 📝6.8 🎭7.3 💓7 🦋7.5 🎨6 🎵/🔊6.7 🔚7.5 ♦ 🌞5 ⚡5 😅3 😭3 😱3.4 😯2 😖1 🤔2 💤2.5
Age 12+ kidnapping, Adult situations, sexual content with lots of kissing, pregnancy, violence
Rated TV-14: Parents Strongly Cautioned. Re-📺? Not impossible
Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1 (there's a minor fantasy element),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in the style of ancient Chinese opera),
Ruyi's Royal love in the palace (episodes 1 - 49 are a 9.3. While looking up it's historical accuracy, I learned how heartbreaking the rest of the show is. It's over 80 episodes, so that's a hella-lotta hurt. I am not up for it now, so I stopped at episode 49, which is a perfect ending. I cannot recommend episodes 1 - 49 enough. It's near perfect).
K:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5;
The Kings's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9
Fantasy - Heavenly realm:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome siblings 8.7;
Heavenly Sword 9 (Kung-fu!);
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Eternal love 8.3 + its sequel Eternal Love Of dream/Three Lives, Three Worlds, 10 Miles Of Peach Blossoms 7.7 (I watched these in the wrong order, which was a shame. EL is not without flaws, the FL being the biggest issue, but overall it's outstanding. The sequel was not originally planned. EL actually tells the same story as ELOD as a secondary romance, and the show was so popular that they did the sequel and changed quite a bit).
Love and Redemption 10
Historical/Period:
Overlord 8.4,
The Sleepless Princess 9.1 (there's a minor fantasy element),
The Romance of Tiger and Rose 9.8,
Under the Power 8.6,
The Rebel Princess 9.1,
The Sword and the Brocade 8.6 (in the style of ancient Chinese opera),
Ruyi's Royal love in the palace (episodes 1 - 49 are a 9.3. While looking up it's historical accuracy, I learned how heartbreaking the rest of the show is. It's over 80 episodes, so that's a hella-lotta hurt. I am not up for it now, so I stopped at episode 49, which is a perfect ending. I cannot recommend episodes 1 - 49 enough. It's near perfect).
K:
My Only Love Song 8.7 excellent comedy;
Mr. Queen 8.5;
My Sassy Girl / Yeopgijeogin Geunyeo 8.5;
The Kings's Affection 8.3;
Mr. Sunshine 9
Fantasy - Heavenly realm:
Love Between Fairy & Devil 8.9;
Once upon a time in Linglian Mountain 7.5;
Douluo Continent 9.4;
Handsome siblings 8.7;
Heavenly Sword 9 (Kung-fu!);
Ancient Love Poetry 8.6;
Eternal love 8.3 + its sequel Eternal Love Of dream/Three Lives, Three Worlds, 10 Miles Of Peach Blossoms 7.7 (I watched these in the wrong order, which was a shame. EL is not without flaws, the FL being the biggest issue, but overall it's outstanding. The sequel was not originally planned. EL actually tells the same story as ELOD as a secondary romance, and the show was so popular that they did the sequel and changed quite a bit).
Love and Redemption 10
Was this review helpful to you?
