This review may contain spoilers
Three Different Generations, Three Arcs Ordered from Best to Worst
As the synopsis says, this drama follows the journey of three different women across three different generations. Many came for Ryan Cheng and left immediately afterwards which was the correct choice in hindsight.
Arc 1
-Setting: A vibrant Shanghai with undertones of war
This was the best arc for many reasons. The actors and plot was head and shoulders above the other arcs. This follows Lin Si Yun who is a woman ahead of her time. Educated abroad and raised in a well-off family, LSY is an aspiring ob-gyn. Upon her return to the country, she realizes her family has become bankrupt after her father's passing due to her brother's gambling debt. Her brother and mother both want to marry her off in exchange for a fortune to clear their debt. When the debt collectors arrive at her family's house, she meets the gang's lawyer Cheng Ao who takes care of legal disputes.
Girl, when I say Ryan Cheng outdid himself in this role, I mean it. He played the role of well-educated bastard/smooth 'criminal' so well. He is what Wattpad girlies dream of. Coupled with Jelly Lin's excellent portrayal of LSY, it was quite good in terms of chemistry and plot.
Arc 2
- Setting: A devastated Shanghai rebuilding after the war
This was an interesting yet frustrating arc. Again, the actors were quite good in this arc but the plot made me raise a couple of eyebrows. Given how strict China's censorship is, especially regarding historical events, I was surprised this made the cut and was shown as it didn't really paint the new society after the war in a completely good light. The main character of this arc is YiYi who is LSY's niece. From the previous arc, we know that YiYi fell in love with a young man who later joined the Kuomintang army. Our starting place with YiYi was already rough as she's being sidelined and poorly treated as the widow of a KMT official. She insists on staying in Shanghai to await news of her husband but in the mean time, she's being interrogated and questioned every other day by everyone around her, including her own sister-in-law. It gets so bad that even her own thoughts written in her diary were considered revolutionary and nothing is 'private'. Her room is searched multiple times; she cannot drink coffee without it being considered a luxury/bourgeoisie, and she's framed a couple of times based off of prejudice. When it is revealed that her husband is actually a martyr and her status changes, she again is not given any peace. Now she has to 1) speak of her husband's heroic actions, 2) cannot grieve or have negative emotions regarding her husband's death, and 3) has to be even less bourgeoisie because she needs to be a model for others as a martyr's wife. At the same time, her stinky sister-in-law is demanding all sorts of things from her despite also participating in her ostracization, reporting her for revoluntionary thoughts, and ignoring her (and her brother) because of ties to the KMT.
As frustrating as this arc was, I still watched through it because I wanted to know how it passed through inspection. Surprisingly, I think because the prejudice, sidelining, and framing were done by people and not necessarily condoned by the party itself, censorship let it slide which gave the arc a sense of realism. In real life, China did go through a period of societal unrest/distrust in one another because of the Communist party takeover. The only part I found to be unrealistic in this arc was YiYi 'staying' for her new love. Respectfully, she did not come across someone who was willing to take things down lying. Given the amount of crap that they put her through, I was sure she would have left for good after they found out that her husband was a martyr. And then later when they continued to persecute her for liking art, literature, etc. and then barring her from falling in love with an official in the Communist party. From Arc 1, we know what a spitfire YiYi is but it was like they completely changed her character. The number of times she had to make clear that she didn't blame anyone or that she wasn't resentful seemed unreal. Sorry girl, no man is worth having to live your life being persecuted for liking coffee or literature or having 'revolutionary' thoughts. (Edit: I skimmed this part too because it made me mad but apparently she did leave but her ending with Wen Pu was kinda unclear)
Arc 3
- Setting: An increasingly commericalized Shanghai
Honestly, I skipped this arc but caught glimpses. This arc follows Ye Xi Ning who is YiYi's granddaughter and LSY's great grandniece (?). Ye Xi Ning is an aspiring entreprenur in a society that had become more lax towards capitalism. She as a female business owner is navigating a male dominated field, scams, and pitfalls. Her love interest is a grad (?) student who hold more lofty ideals than her which kind of sets up the issue that later follows. The premise wasn't that interesting and so I didn't bother watching it.
TDLR: Just watch the first arc and treat it like a short drama.
Arc 1
-Setting: A vibrant Shanghai with undertones of war
This was the best arc for many reasons. The actors and plot was head and shoulders above the other arcs. This follows Lin Si Yun who is a woman ahead of her time. Educated abroad and raised in a well-off family, LSY is an aspiring ob-gyn. Upon her return to the country, she realizes her family has become bankrupt after her father's passing due to her brother's gambling debt. Her brother and mother both want to marry her off in exchange for a fortune to clear their debt. When the debt collectors arrive at her family's house, she meets the gang's lawyer Cheng Ao who takes care of legal disputes.
Girl, when I say Ryan Cheng outdid himself in this role, I mean it. He played the role of well-educated bastard/smooth 'criminal' so well. He is what Wattpad girlies dream of. Coupled with Jelly Lin's excellent portrayal of LSY, it was quite good in terms of chemistry and plot.
Arc 2
- Setting: A devastated Shanghai rebuilding after the war
This was an interesting yet frustrating arc. Again, the actors were quite good in this arc but the plot made me raise a couple of eyebrows. Given how strict China's censorship is, especially regarding historical events, I was surprised this made the cut and was shown as it didn't really paint the new society after the war in a completely good light. The main character of this arc is YiYi who is LSY's niece. From the previous arc, we know that YiYi fell in love with a young man who later joined the Kuomintang army. Our starting place with YiYi was already rough as she's being sidelined and poorly treated as the widow of a KMT official. She insists on staying in Shanghai to await news of her husband but in the mean time, she's being interrogated and questioned every other day by everyone around her, including her own sister-in-law. It gets so bad that even her own thoughts written in her diary were considered revolutionary and nothing is 'private'. Her room is searched multiple times; she cannot drink coffee without it being considered a luxury/bourgeoisie, and she's framed a couple of times based off of prejudice. When it is revealed that her husband is actually a martyr and her status changes, she again is not given any peace. Now she has to 1) speak of her husband's heroic actions, 2) cannot grieve or have negative emotions regarding her husband's death, and 3) has to be even less bourgeoisie because she needs to be a model for others as a martyr's wife. At the same time, her stinky sister-in-law is demanding all sorts of things from her despite also participating in her ostracization, reporting her for revoluntionary thoughts, and ignoring her (and her brother) because of ties to the KMT.
As frustrating as this arc was, I still watched through it because I wanted to know how it passed through inspection. Surprisingly, I think because the prejudice, sidelining, and framing were done by people and not necessarily condoned by the party itself, censorship let it slide which gave the arc a sense of realism. In real life, China did go through a period of societal unrest/distrust in one another because of the Communist party takeover. The only part I found to be unrealistic in this arc was YiYi 'staying' for her new love. Respectfully, she did not come across someone who was willing to take things down lying. Given the amount of crap that they put her through, I was sure she would have left for good after they found out that her husband was a martyr. And then later when they continued to persecute her for liking art, literature, etc. and then barring her from falling in love with an official in the Communist party. From Arc 1, we know what a spitfire YiYi is but it was like they completely changed her character. The number of times she had to make clear that she didn't blame anyone or that she wasn't resentful seemed unreal. Sorry girl, no man is worth having to live your life being persecuted for liking coffee or literature or having 'revolutionary' thoughts. (Edit: I skimmed this part too because it made me mad but apparently she did leave but her ending with Wen Pu was kinda unclear)
Arc 3
- Setting: An increasingly commericalized Shanghai
Honestly, I skipped this arc but caught glimpses. This arc follows Ye Xi Ning who is YiYi's granddaughter and LSY's great grandniece (?). Ye Xi Ning is an aspiring entreprenur in a society that had become more lax towards capitalism. She as a female business owner is navigating a male dominated field, scams, and pitfalls. Her love interest is a grad (?) student who hold more lofty ideals than her which kind of sets up the issue that later follows. The premise wasn't that interesting and so I didn't bother watching it.
TDLR: Just watch the first arc and treat it like a short drama.
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