Booksandtrees

My vote:
True Beauty
IOTNBO
Itaewon Class
DOTS
W
The Secret Life of My Secretary
Romance is a Bonus Book
Weightlifting Fairy
Everything after True Beauty I couldn't decide where to score them 2nd or 3rd.

I watched as much as I could stomach...Sorry and I can tell you why I think it is Overrated. Firstly, the premise of the story is just silly. No woman/girl is going to leave the house as often as she did without her " face" if she was that concerned about her ugliness which may I also say if wearing glasses and having pimples deems you ugly then no woman would ever find a partner in life LOL . Next, the Love Triangle-completely unnecessary and do not get me started on the "coincidental run ins with the high school bullies. Yeah, it should be #1 of Overrated dramas for 2021.

For sure Jia Min's mom was always a detached replacement mother to Qi Qi but a few episodes back I remember Jia Min telling Yi Cheng that he was joined at the hip with her and would never leave her side as much as he wanted to take him along to the countryside. So the baby isn't Qi Qi's though right? She annoys me so much that I use the time for their scenes to snack LOL. You are right though, Qi Qi does show some sort of developmental stunting which is probably why Ling Zi targeted him. When her mom told Qi Qi in the hospital that "Ling Zi likes you." I was like, Noooo, Ling Zi is a ho and wants an idiot to look the other way while she does her thing. The irony is of all the older moms so far, she seems the most kind.
Serious question for you though.....do you think the writer has some sort of male angst? I can't remember ever watching a drama with this many lozapaloozas (I made up that word). I mean where is the good news.
I am still banking on Simei and Cheng Gang even though he is not the warm fuzzy type. Definitely all alpha male.
BTW. I too prefer a format like this where we can share our opinions as opposed to me writing a or reading a review.🥰 Patiently waiting on full subs for episode 22.

-Xiao Rong, Xiao Rong, Xiao Rong....where did that shy, mousy, introverted girl go? Now she is this cold calculating beast. So now we have her backstory. But I am confused, can she no longer have kids because she aborted the first one for the Chief? Her mother keeps talking around and around in circles so I never know if she is accepting of Erqiang or chiding and poking him for being a fool. Speaking of which, given their past, she sure had some nerve dismissing him earlier for not being good enough for her daughter.

-So now we have new antagonists (The moms of both Erqiang and Xiao Rong) Arrgh!

-Finally, Erqiang and the Master have reunited in a very made for TV dramatic fashion but her son isn't having it LOL.

-I am loathe to say this, but I have to agree with Qing Yuan. Xiao Lang really does love Yi Cheng. Unfortunately, it is that selfish love that doesn't leave room for anyone else. What do you do when two people want different things in a relationship? I think deep down Yi Cheng knows she will not be back, at least not to him. I am guessing from her expression after opening the envelope from Yi Cheng that she had no idea that her father went ahead and collected on her promissory note.

-Qing Yuan...what a good friend. He sure got rid of Xiao Lang's parents fast so hopefully we have seen the last of them at least for a long while. I thought though that he was dating Xiao Meng in earlier episodes but that seems to have fizzled. He seems quite salty about it.

-Once again Yi Ding is faced with another unreasonable request from his mother on behalf of his do nothing brother. Let's see what he does.

Ah....I see. Well I am starting My Dear Parents today based on your recommendation.

WOW....Perfect timing. What did you think honestly?

Have you tried Nothing But Thirty?

"I still can't understand why they're so attached to their good-for-nothing parents." Xiao Lang seems to try the distancing approach with her blood sucking parents...But it still is laughable that she is so irate that they continue to have their hands out on when she was the one who brought them into the picture. But yes, I plan to follow to the end but may have to keep some smelling salts nearby to regulate the blood pressure. 🤣

Too funny...Asian drams are out of control sometimes with their PPLs. 😂

Yes I want him to have more screen time too....and I disagree with you, He is a close second to Erqiang in terms of eye candy followed by Jia Min. Plus he has all those military muscles . 😊

But what good is Yi Ding's goodness if he will continue to defer to his mother. How can something as simple as treasuring an expensive wedding gift given to you by your wife cause conflict? It didn't take much for his mother to wear him down did it and as far as them discussing things as a couple, why didn't he make a better argument to Sanli about bringing their good for nothing father back into their lives considering according to her they decided together. She tells Yi Cheng that it would have made her sad that at least one of her Guardians was not present for her wedding....Wait...What? So what has Yi Cheng been all those years to her. That decision affects not just her but all of them collectively. Leopards do not change their spots and if that had been her intention all along, why not discuss it as a family before the wedding. What is the point of having a wedding gathering if all are sitting there irked about something. This drama seems to give a message of act first, then placate after. Yi Cheng, Erqiang, Loser Dad Zu Wang, Yi Ding and now a new generation with Qi Qi all are extremely flawed. I get it that they are all young but where is their common sense? I am holding out hope for Cheng Gang at least when his scenes finally appear and as you mentioned Jia Min (the cousin) at least was a breath of fresh air but we no longer get to see him. I think I will read the novel after the drama is concluded to get a better sense of these male characters because no doubt if the drama followed the novel closely then I probably would have high tailed to the last chapter just to see if there was any progression in their storyline.

WTH is wrong with the men in this drama. They are emotionally draining to watch. Yi Cheng who as a child then teeanger came across as tough and rock solid, but now I can only describe him as having an inferiority complex. I wish now that Sanli had moved on from Yi Ding when she had the chance. Sanli bringing her Dad back into their lives...OMG! Team Simei all the way! She may an idealist and romantic with her head in the clouds, but at least she is no pushover.

The chickens finally came home to roost for Zu Wang. While I am definitely not a fan of Xiao Lang, when she told Yi Cheng that neither he nor his siblings should have to pay for Zu Wang's crimes, I am 100% in agreement. Of course she conveniently forgets that her father also fleeced him for money for himself and her brother.... and just when I start to wonder when is she going to tell Yi Cheng that she is pregnant, she does the lowest of the low...aborts the baby and lies that she had a miscarriage. This passive aggressive jealous nature of hers is head spinning as it relates to his family. When is Yi Cheng going to wake up from the fog he is in. So I am confused, did Erqiang and Xiao Rong get married or not? The epilepsy episode in the bathroom seemed to come about after they walked out of the municipal building almost as if she regretted going through with it. Then to have a flashback memory of the Director makes me wonder what am I missing. I am telling you all, Simei is a riot and a half. I cannot imagine anyone else playing her role.

You hit the nail on the head with all your points made above. Having no other reference to this Writer/Producer than Reply 1988 and a little over 4 hours of viewing time with Reply 1994 (the love triangles wore me out), I felt for sure that HP was a different vibe from the usual every day cooker cutter clichés in dramas. Sadly though, they went there with Jun Wan and Ik Sun for reasons will we ever know?. From being such a dynamic couple in Season 1, it just makes no sense that their relationship is reduced to what we are now seeing from Ik Sun. and is just piss poor writing IMO and for the first time in my HP history, I actually hit the FF on the remote whenever they appear, so annoyed I am.

When the Donor's wife finally consented?

The very first scene when we are introduced to the friends, Ik Jun appears to be quite shocked that one of the two will be the Donor and explains to them that because they are not "family", the screening process would be very lengthy to rule out any shady reasons behind their decision. The cut away scenes with the KONOS Coordinator who normally comes across as warm and sympathetic instead appeared that she too was skeptical of their relationship and she seemed to imply to them that the process itself would be more of an ordeal than they would want. Seok Hyeong himself told Ik Jun that such a situation was "unheard of." The patient asked Ik Jun "How do we prove that we are close friends?" Then the Donors wife tells the KONOS Coordinator via phone that she does not believe that they are best friends because they fight every day. I thought hmmm, what is going on here. Also for most of Ik Jun's appointments with his Transplant patients, the family of the patient is almost always included at some point. In this case, although both friends were married, the wives were absent from all the appointments. This episode did spend an inordinate amount of time on their dynamic, and my take away was Love was the reason for such a serious and heady commitment from one friend to the other....but what kind of love? Then I got my answer from none other than Ik Jun.....simply Platonic Love.

From the intro specs it does appear that she ends up with him....But I laugh when I see how excited she gets reading the letters....sigh takes me back to the good ole days

To be fair though Yi Cheng is just as much to blame for making such a poor choice. Xiao Lang showed him exactly who she was but he chose not to believe her. The irony is he is so critical of everyone else but unable to take off his own blinders. Text book cognitive dissonance.

His wife was just as annoying in Like a Flowing River. I think that she just has that personna that she easily projects unto the screen.

I know I am not the only one who up until the last appointment/scene with Ik Jun thought that the two "best friends" were something more (less platonic) should I say.... Writer Lee sure had me convinced with that one.