absurd

I'm just chalking it up to adrenalin. It's a very consistent two day adrenalin, but you know, artistic license LOL

What bugs me is why did they do it? For all that there are a lot of instances where they push GL forward and praise him, why not just write him as a person that everyone is talking about? It's like they wanted people to dislike Gao Liang. And in contrast, Gu Yiye is written very well actually. For all that I don't like his decision to sacrifice his life to take care of A Xiu, it's very much in character. He's consistent and his actions are always in line with any praise that he's given. For the life of me, I can't understand what they were trying to to with Gao Liang. His story is written as lead story, but his character is like an annoying SML, that everyone wants to just go away, please.

Well, they are now (as of ep 40). But yes, he did actually push it for like 10-12 years.

She just creeped me out with all that marriage talk. I mean, yes, he was leading her on for more than 10 years before finally proposing, but it just looked like after his trauma she went a little mentally unstable, the creepy bride.
I could not for the life of me take them seriously with that drill. Letting the exercise go on to see how it will pan out... ok. There was no real combat for years, they wanted to give them some harsh experiences. But it's like everyone in the blue team just forgot that they are fighting their brothers in arms and not an actual enemy. The kid jumping in the water and almost killing himself, because GL told him to protect the flag was probably at the top most ridiculous things in this drama, and it has GL as a lead. Don't soldiers get psych evaluation before joining the army? That jumping guy needs to go home and take his medicine, that is not a normal thing for the healthy person to do.
GL literally told his second in command, at one point, to go "solve the provisions problem", when he brought it up to him. Yeah, just go to the nearest supermarket dude, why are you bothering your commanding officer with this?

And the marriage obsession, lol. Don't get me wrong, GL dragging it out for more than 10 years is also something I can't really understand, but JNZ marriage craze was kinda creepy

The last episode was actually pretty good. They wrapped up well. Overall this was a lot less plot driven, than what I expected in the beginning. More of a character driven slice of life. For all the inconsistencies and, sometimes, ridiculousness, I will still give this drama an 8 because it made me very invested in it's characters, to the point where I cried for several episodes. It's not amazing, but there are a lot of good parts that make it worth watching.

It's all very confusing in the end there. GL's victory or a draw(?) seems like bs, but I think they made everything so messy on purpose, because they couldn't find a reasonable way for GL to win.
The one on one fight was also just... no words. I mean, GL was limping afterwards, while GYY was walking straight, but GL is the winner? How.

Gu Yiye's team is red though. So according to the observation they won then

They butchered everyone, imo. I liked JNZ and they turned her into this typical whiny FL, dreaming about marriage. GL was annoying, then actually started to grow on me, but this constant forced narrative that he's some kind of tactical genius just makes me angry and it's not actually supported by anything, but "bla bla bla, don't you see how great he is?". And then they do actually show GYY as a tactical genius, but make him loose over something dumb. Every. Damn. Time.

I would also like add that Niu Mancang is an ungrateful drama queen. No explanation, I just never liked him

I am disappointed. This drama really took a turn for the worse after about episode 30.
JNZ's obsession with marriage is creepy. The wedding dress in the hospital was beyond weird. Then, when she and GYY were discussing how to help GL and she said "we need to get married", I almost spit out my tea. Is it her solution to everything? The guy was dying, what was marriage going to solve? Make him feel guilty that he's making her an on paper widow? And then her going to the island... why? They were all acting like it's a real battle. It's an exercise! What was she bawling about? Why was she allowed to go to the island? Why did she even go? Kindergarten.
The whole military exercise was soooo melodramatic. People having breakdowns, crying, that guy jumping into the water and almost drowning. Why? Is he an idiot?
SJS trying to liberate red army soldiers is cheating, imo. Whatever they say, hostages or not hostages. They were getting reports about the situation! He was not a part of the exercise! He was an observer and had no right to involve himself.
And GL winning? I don't dislike GL or find him as annoying as I did at some point, but that was a load of BS. GYY destroyed all of their defenses seamlessly and suddenly could not land an attack on the island for several times? And then blue army almost won, because they... what exactly? Destroyed some kind of commanding post? And? Reds still had more soldiers and ammunition, the island was taken! If they wanted it to be a draw so badly, they should have made it more even from the start. But they always do it, they show GYY as a superior strategist and fighter... and then GL wins. Just call him Rambo and be done with it, why don't you.

And most of all... what is the actual culmination here? GL and JNZ getting married? I'm sorry did I miss the part where this is a romantic comedy? I guess we can call it a slice of life with the military as backdrop, but... idk, the plot direction after the time skip just makes no sense. It's just random events without any common storyline. It's like I'm watching a sitcom.

He's probably prepared everything for the wedding and waiting for her. At last that's the only thing that would make sense. It's still dumb, but... whatever

Ok. I am confused. Did I miss how much time has passed? Why Xiaofei is already 18?
Gao Liang's letter though... my guess is that it's a tasteless joke.

Ok. I call BS. The difference in numbers, is one thing. Small army can win against the bigger one with tactics. BUT THEY HAD NO AMMUNITION! How the f? This "Rambo" victory is a load of bs.

If they still can't pass censorship... I'm afraid the poor drama will be mutilated by the time the review board is through with them.

I feel like they overdid it with the melodrama. It's an exercise, not real war. I am trying, but can't really take it seriously. Competitiveness, I get. People crying and having breakdowns... if they can't even get through the exercise, why are they in the army?
I also don't understand why all of those people in the observation room (not on the island) are so against Gu Yiye's tactics. If you can't adapt your plans according to the situation, what kind of army commander are you? A dead one. At last Commander Big Boss (whatever his name and rank is, I didn't catch it) gets it. Commander Big Boss is a smart man, he gets a cookie

They painted him as very dumb in the beginning and when during the war GL decided to sacrifice himself, I thought that this is the narrative they are pushing: Gu Yiye the ruthless commander and Gao Liang the saint hero to save the day. But because they apparently needed them to constantly go head to head, they are forcing this idea that education and training had turned GL into a tactician. But imo, being smart and being educated are not the same thing. People can be hella smart without any education and vice versa. If they had at last given us some hints of his smarts in the beginning, it wouldn't look so forced now. They didn't though. He said that he was the first in class before he had to quit school, but how can I believe it when he is also the guy that asked an officer responsible for promotions to help his friend out and didn't think that he was doing anything wrong?
I did actually start to warm up to GL recently, the episodes about his trauma and recovery were very good and I really felt his despair and frustration. If they'd just stop forcing him into this genius role, that he does not fit...

I have actually stopped watching since the drll started, because I wanted to watch it all in one go, but it's still going?! I hope it will end in today's episode 🤦‍♀️

Well, sure, if it was a completely different drama. But given what it is, that would be just an irrelevant piece of information to go along with all the propaganda, that everyone skips.

This is not a war drama and it does not try to be. It's about soldiers and military internal affairs. The single battle was there as a plot device: for character and relationship development, it's not actually relevant or has any impact on the plot who they are fighting with.