DramaAjumma

It has murders at the centre of it. There are definitely thriller/melodramatic elements. The romance is okay and the leads have good chemistry. But that's not unique with this show. Plus it's the writer who is using the time skip elements to drag out the push and pull as well as the resolution of the murders. Unnecessarily, I might add.
I don't watch dramas with the aim of disliking them. I expect more from a show that rates 9 on MDL but maybe I shouldn't given the track record of the last few years. :P

It's incredible to me (and convenient) that Sol manages to come to wrong conclusions at every time jump. I suppose it's one way to drag out the push and pull. But what a frustrating character. Hard to believe she's a woman in her 30s the way she's written.
It's no Signal or Kairos that's for sure.
Even from the first 2 episodes it's obvious that this isn't a 16 episode drama. 10 at the most.

I enjoyed this one. Lee Joon-hyuk is reliably great in the titular role. Dong-jae is many things and no doubt deeply flawed as a prosecutor but there's no denying his investigative ability. it's amusing to listen to his internal monologue and him counting his chickens prematurely. The highlight for me was watching his evolution from his Stranger days. He really is a lot less garrulous.

It's not bad so far (15 episodes). I like the consistent darker tone and of course the leads especially Zhao Lusi are doing their best work. It's a horrible cutthroat marketplace and I'm glad that they didn't sanitize it too much.

One of them is called Your Trap.
The other I don't have the title to. But it can be found on YouTube. He's a hidden CEO who is playing a model to pursue her. She's just come off a bad relationship.

This must be the third drama I've seen the leads together in.
Anything with Shen Haonan is a automatic watch. No matter how absurd. He's probably the king of the short dramas.

I guess I'm not disappointed because I never really had high expectations of the show and I haven't read the novel either. By the 6th episode, I knew that this wasn't any kind of serious great drama especially with a character like Zigu in the mix. If the show had any real gravitas, she would have been dead within the first 5 episodes because a character like that doesn't belong in a credible palace drama. The one thing that kept me watching was Liu Xueyi who is in my opinion, one of those rare acting talents who never looks like he's acting. He completely draws you into his world and immerses you in it as long as he's in the frame. The fact that he's easy on the eyes certainly doesn't hurt.
For the story the showrunners wanted to tell, the ending is fine. It's about the recovery and redemption of Murong Jinghe, a bitter vengeful man who finds his way out of the pit of despair because of love. It's not a great script by any stretch of the imagination but at least his story is one that I can live with. No doubt this show would have been better off being only 24 episodes long. Pacing is a huge problem in C dramas. Not to mention the egregious use of fillers.

The problem with C dramas more generally is that they are largely beholden to tropes. This one is no different. It is riddled with all the usual tropes that is the staple of the douyin short dramas. A disabled CEO/feudal lord entering into a contract relationship with a young woman after revenge. Those dramas are plentiful to say the least. Tropes are safe and reliable. Especially from the scrutiny of censors who are the servants of state control. Even the relationship between Zigu and the emperor is a hugely popular trope in the short dramas: Stories featuring an older man and a younger woman entering into marriage out of expediency are a dime a dozen.

It is sad to me that the only consistently good C drama that I've seen all year is Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2. Even the execution of the storyline in Joy of Life 2 is pretty patchy although the plotlines are interesting.

I'm glad to see that Yue Qin's words and hubris came back to bite him. And bite him hard.
All that posturing about the fact that Mei Lin is better off with him than with Jinghe. He can barely look after himself much look after anyone else. The complacency is what I expected. I also expected what he said to come back and haunt him at some point. When you're close to the seat of power and close to the fire, protecting the people around you is much harder than you think.

I actually came here to post something about the episodes that I just watched. The first thing I saw was that comment. Not everybody comes here for spoilers.

Can people be considerate of others and use spoiler tags? There are still plenty of people who haven't finished watching the show. Alternatively wait a day or two before posting.

Spoiler tags are provided for a reason. Please use them.

More thoughts on the show:
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/lost-you-forever-2-2024-ramblings-b27

After seeing the previews for Episodes 22-23, I'm super hyped. I can't wait to see the leads sweating in angst. it's what I signed up for. Not all the fluff and cute. Yay! Pile on the pain.

I'm okay with the rivalry too although I don't entirely buy into Yue Qing's intentions. I've never thought that the leads had an equal partnership to begin with. Falling in love was never part of the plan so I'm not necessarily rooting for them to be together at this point. My problem is mainly with the fact that the siblings don't really know what is going on or what the basis Mei Lin and Jinghe conduct their relationship.

Can't you? I sure can. :P It comes off pretty hollow.
Causing genocide is par for the cause undoubtedly but own your choices. That's what tyrants do.

There are things that can be done in a novel that just don't translate well on television. The showrunners need to give the audience some credit.

My ramblings pertaining to the drama -- the first part.
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/lost-you-forever-2-2024-ramblings

This is the kind of tragic historical drama that I've been craving for. I love the psychological exploration. But why is the pacing so terrible? Why is it such a hard slog? Why are there so many scenes of people sitting by themselves in contemplation with loud BGM? I can't believe they wasted 23 episodes on so much filler. The people who made this don't know what's important to the audience.
Edit: No regrets watching. Zhang Wanyi and Yang Zi were great. And Tan Jianci was magnificent whenever he had screentime.

I don't care how well-intentioned the Xiyan siblings are regarding Mei Lin, they are annoying the heck out of me with all the meddling. I like Baron Chen well enough and he's doing okay in the role but I wish they wouldn't try and make the crown prince a sympathetic villain because at times he comes across as a whiny cry baby. "Boohoo. I had such a pathetic childhood. Boohoo. I'm not as good as my brother." Sure some of it is an act for Luomei's benefit and to garner sympathy. But he's a crown prince. The successor to the throne. His eagerness to portray himself as a victim is laughable.

At this point I'm just watching this for Liu Xueyi who is just a joy to watch. His facial expressions are just to die for. The build up for the romance is good and the chemistry is fantastic. Wu Jinyan is doing well too. But there's just too much fluff for this to be a serious palace intrigue drama. What I think is really going on is the unfolding of a contract marriage with a family power struggle in the background. There's enough key jangling to remind me of the douyin dramas.