Eleison

He's SO different from Li Haichao in Go Ahead! Almost didn't recognize him in this.

Are peonies not supposed to get wet? In the opening scenes of Episode 1 of FL she kept trying to keep them from rain (so confused by this), but I've seen peonies in garden beds in England (so much rain there), and they looked as happy as clams.

Maybe when I finish FP you can fill me in on any important stuff (very briefly) preceding Episode 17 if I skip everything before that. 😅

😆😅

I might just do that! 😅

Yes, agree. I thought he was a green flag, and that was rare for this era.

Yes, definitely. Can't name another drama that does it this well.

Thanks for the recs! :)

Good to know! *sigh*

😬 Well, maybe I'll maybe check back in to see what you'd recommend once you finish, haha.

So should I just skip most of Season 2 and skip to a later episode that ties everything up nicely to bypass the angst? 😅

Ah. Honestly, there is a part of me that gets that this happened. Season 1's frustrating/disheartening historical scenes/characters/themes (even the leads' vow not to marry, which in a rom-com costume drama would be for funny content later, but in this felt a bit ominous, to say the least) threatened to overshadow the cozy parts, and I felt wary of the leads "getting together" because it does feel like this story/writer is prioritizing social commentary over pleasing viewers who want cozy, happy, functional interactions between characters.

And the main theme from Season 1 seems to be that no one during this time period can do what they really want, even the Emperor. So... doesn't bode well for the leads, I suppose. Bummer! I don't mind social commentary, but don't throw in a basically functional, modern, healthy couple and tease their happiness (certainly should have left out all those adorable scenes with the ML's aunt matchmaking), but when push comes to shove subject them to this theme after all. It feels like a bit of a low blow. 😅

Figure out what kind of show you're writing, please! Sheesh. 🙄

Great poster!

Based on your list, I feel like you'd like Fated To Love You, The King2Hearts, Goong (Princess Hours), and Playful Kiss. Seen those?

Oh dear, this doesn't really give me much hope. 😅 Another user said they felt the ML got shoved to the background in this season. He's one of my favorite parts, so if that happens, I'm not sure I can hold on, haha. He and the FL were the bright spots last season for me.

I felt like that the time skip was so they could make them mid/late twenties in the later half of the drama, but it did feel really, REALLY long, didn't it? It was sometimes hard for me to believe that Jian Jian actually did care about them as much as she claimed to because she really didn't put in as much effort as the boys to stay in touch (though, like you said, they never visited, either), and was so distant for a while when they returned. I sometimes found her a bit frustrating.

Maybe a $1000, 14 hour flight makes sense to keep close family apart for NINE YEARS in the like the 80's at the latest, but in the 21st century? I agree it felt a bit too dramatic for the sake of creating angst.

What are some of your recs in those genres?

I hear not-so-great things about In The Name Of Blossom (season/part 2), but so far this season is very good (I have 8 episodes left currently).

If you've seen The Double, A Dream of Splendor, or When Life Begins, it has some very similar themes, tropes, and beats. But this one is a bit more... dark? Not the right word, but the female characters suffer a lot in this (it doesn't have the sensual darkness of The Double, but more like domestic abuse and just the plight of women historically which they're showing basically sucked; also, just being a child (boy or girl) of a poor family or a family without connections meant your life probably sucked because you have zero choices in life, and only get to do what your parents tell you to do).

Also, this has less overt romance than any of those dramas; the leads are more like comrades than lovers, but they have really fun interactions (and feel like a very modern couple inserted anachronistically into a historical setting 😅; to be clear, I don't mind it. It's what makes watching the more historical scenarios bearable), it just doesn't really feel like it's going anywhere beyond close friendship.

It's a bummer, because I think season 2 was supposed to tackle the "lovers" part of this story and it sounds like it didn't deliver from what I'm reading.

From what I've seen so far, Season 1 is wortth watching by itself, as long as you don't need any overt romantic culmination/conclusion and are content with the leads working nerely together having good chemistry (up to Episode 24, at least, that's all I've seen).

I love the interplay of realism and positivity; many dramas that try to be realistic go for depressing and gritty; while this drama doesn't shy away from tough scenarios, it combats their potential hopelessness with community. "You don't have to face any of this alone," and that makes all the difference. Life is hard, but doing it with people who care about you makes it not only bearable but even sweet.

More like it makes me respect her more to think she'd fall for Sang Gi, who is not from a "good fanily," flashy or charismatic and just infinitely practical and at times almost crusty (but if she's seeing the goodhearted gem underneath and attracted to THAT... awwww 😌).