DramaAjumma

Well, on hindsight I was a bit stingy grading Sansan. :D

Thanks for that.
I'm also a part of a One Piece family by the way.

https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/the-oath-of-love-2022-first-impressions?s=w

My 2 cents on the show so far... under spoiler tags

Gao Xi 0, San San 1, Gu Wei 10

She's a complete waste of space.

I know that every show feels that it needs villains of some description but Gao Xi is becoming rather insufferable. Jealousy is one thing but invasion of privacy and indulging in tattle taling is rather too much especially considering her age.

It gets a lot better. The first 2 to 3 episodes don't really do the rest of the show justice.

Sigh. This show is just crack. The one-episode per day thing on the weekend is pure torture.

Episode 7 and 8 are just joy because it has my favourite romance trope ever -- the male lead falling for the female lead first and doing all kinds of delightful, out-of-character things while sauntering around her going "look at me, look at me."

I feel the Pride and Prejudice resonances every time Xiao Xiao banters with anyone but especially Gu Wei.

I've turned into a hopeless cause.

It ran through the entire gamut of emotions -- from fear and anger to utter relief. A lot of the father-daughter baggage were brought to the fore and they were forced to deal with their own insecurities as individuals in this crisis moment. Dad seemed unusually vulnerable.

Not surprising. Episode 6 was pretty good too.

Well, you know. It's always the one who is loved who is the last one to realise it. ;) Besides, she doesn't know him as well as the others.

I have to give the writer a lot of credit for that cake eating scene in Episode 7. It's really well-written with all the underlying currents between Gao Xi, Gu Wei and Zhixiao. The interpersonal dynamics in how they were played out was actually pretty good. It's a great exemplar of show over tell. A superb way of intimating a love triangle in its formative period. I like the way it was staged and really demonstrated Gu Wei's incremental shift in attitude towards the one woman over the other. As well as his preference for one.

I'm hooked. Hope to see more good stuff like this in future episodes.

Specialists don't know everything. Believe me. They often don't know much outside their own area of expertise. You'd be surprised how narrowly focused doctors are.

Loved Episode 7 -- The show goes from strength to strength. I really like the pacing so far.
Qiuqiu is such a perceptive kid and doing his bit to play Cupid but yeah, it's becoming obvious that a certain surgeon is developing more than a professional interest in a certain cellist. Even Gao Xi senses it.

After watching 6 episodes of this show what I really like about it is the way that the leads communicate with each other even before they have arrived at the dating stage of their relationship. There is that initial rocky, awkward start but it thankfully evolves into something quite delightful and meaningful. Even if they just remain friends, let's just say for argument's sake, their relationship is still healthy -- one that's based on a solid foundation of honesty, sincerity and a desire to understand the other's perspective. It's nice to see two people who aren't afraid of being vulnerable with each other even before they've made any kind of confessions.

When I look at how relaxed Gu Wei is with Lin Zhixiao as opposed to how he is with Gao Xi who is supposed to be the one everyone thinks he should be with... yeah, it's night and day.

A straightforward, no nonsense sequel to the original series with a new addition to the ensemble. It's an old fashioned police procedural where cases wrap up in a nice neat bow in a matter of 2 or 3 episodes. None of the cases are a huge stretch for the seasoned imagination. There's also a hint of a potential romance between team leader Shang Jie and medical examiner Xia Ying all throughout. Other than that there are no complicated interpersonal relationships among the team -- just a lot of friendly ribbing and banter.

My only beef with the ending and final case is how hastily it all comes together.

I do think the set-up is awkward. I think they were trying a little too hard to force a bad first impression trope onto something that really didn't call for it. It is a really serious, life changing scenario for the family and the humour can feel misplaced and jarring.

But I'm going to keep watching because with C dramas one has to give it a bit more time.

The drama is actually quite good for about 27 episodes and there are crime elements to it so it doesn't feel that the romance takes long to build because everyone's busy. I have to say that the leads have some of the best bickering scenes I've seen in a C drama. It's a pity about the last 2 episodes really.

Yes it is.