John Hart

I'm not directly comparing FX to Harry Potter. I'm saying there's a storytelling style in both JOY and HARRY where rather ordinary things are all 'heightened' as if amazing. "Oh look, that staircase moves!" Yeah, Ok. But so what too?

There's a notion in story telling that less is more. This year's Oscar nominated PAST LIVES I feel was better than OPPENHEIMER because it did more with less.

Similarly, JOY has all sorts of talent and story -- but they all water each other down. I remember being shocked when JOY S1 wrote out Li Qin because... basically... they didn't know what to do with her. I felt half the series was this way, introducing things and then kinda moving on when they got bored.

I may not be the audience for this show, but if it were less actors, tighter story, and more serious -- I likely would enjoy it.

"Great for you if you can Form your opinion after one ep"

Please understand I watched 46 episodes of Season 1, which I felt was terribly over-rated until the last third of that Season. So I started watching this first episode to see if they had adjusted to smarter writing or were still stuck in their cheesy style of writing. Cheesy it still was, congradulating itself for being 'clever' where really it's just more comic book-ish.

I'm currently finishing up a show called THE YOUTH MEMORIES. In it are Li Qin and Xiao Zhan as the leads. The young might consider this show 'slow' or 'nothing special' or 'predictable', and they wouldn't be wrong. But --

-- it's so amazing to see Li Qin actually acting instead of just carrying a chicken leg around. And Xiao Zhan in YOUTH is so much more engaging than 'Fan Xian'. (And better looking.)

Dying for the subtitles to drop on SHANGHAI BLOSSOMS because my fave from JOY1 is Xin Zhi Li and I can't get enough of her.

Also awaiting a strong lead for Song Yi, because her support in LOUYANG was the best thing about that show.

So I tried Episode 1 of this new Season and couldn't get thru it. I'm happy this show makes so many people happy, but to me it's Harry Potter. It thinks it's every move and turn are so clever and 'brilliant' but nothing to me comes off as remotely real. And I'm a big fan of half this cast. SIGH.

Me Three

There's a wild thing in this series, because I fear it's coincidental. There's a couple that are the Chinese answers to Ralph and Alice Kramden.

-- unfortunately this is one of those dramas where nobody seems to kiss. I'm 11 episodes from finishing and it's really unnatural not to see a kiss here and there. It's still worth seeing the series but I'd prefer a kiss once in a while.

I would offer their are five couples focused in on, six technically. So the notion of romance is almost always in the air, one way or another. Mild Spoiler in my reply to this --

I believe we're entering an age where movies are simply too short. That a movie will not be 4-8 hours long, a micro-series.

Do you feel that was her voice? I keep fearing the reason she's not appearing in all sorts of things is that she might have been dubbed. I'm not saying it looks dubbed, but I wonder if that's why.

Once you've seen MAKE A WISH you'll know why I'm DYING TO SEE anything Gia Ge is in.

Well this raises an interesting question. If historically a girl was allowed to be romanced at 16-17 years of age in this period -- and with older men -- is it wrong to cast that age?

This is a surprisingly engaging series for an almost plotless predictable story.

Okay, we've finished SPLENDOR and are now watching the sweet YOUTH MEMORIES, a simple but surprising well made 'soap' on a budget. That gives the translators more time. But after that WE WANT OUR SUBTITLES lol

Thanks for your thoughts. If you don't mind, I have some replies.

My first point is that if we are to embrace your notion that a story based upon reveals is a better form of storytelling, than THREE BODY needed to be a LOT shorter. By the time we got to the 'big' finish boat sequence, to me, it was too little too late. Anti-climatic. But if it had been 12 episodes, better.

I'll also agree that if a story is intentionally stretched by artificial unneeded romances and such, yes, that stinks. But not because emotional bonds between characters are bad. But because it was just 'filler' to give us 40 episodes.

To me -- the entire point of story telling is what Gene Roddenberry once coined 'The Human Adventure'. At the end of the first Trek feature, he didn't say 'Star Trek will return' like Bond movies do. It instead read, "The Human Adventure... continues."

STAR WARS is not a human adventure as much as a series of reveals. This is why there are STAR TREK people and STAR WARS people. I'm STAR TREK.

I learned love, tolerance, compassion, empathy -- pathos and tragedy -- all because of STAR TREK. "May you find your way as pleasant."

Me three. Who is this? Peng Bo?

Look People -- the wifey and I are almost done with A DREAM OF SPLENDOR and we need this damn thing TRANSLATED! lol

I'm 9 episodes away from finishing this and can share a Pro-Tip for anyone who needs it:

1. This is a solid show but kind of like a 'summer movie', meaning it's light and airy. That's not bad. So see this, enjoy it for this strength --
2. -- and then watch IMPERFECT VICTIM that winter. It was created by the same people and repeats two of the actors and is superior to this.

Think of it as a TV double-feature.

Thanks. I was afraid this comment might go ignored.

Here's the interesting thing about China, though. The focus on careers in women driven stories is.. fascinating. It suggests it's not enough to be a young charming girl that gets the boy. No. In addition you must not only have a respectable career but be advancing too, for the good of everyone.

American films, on the other hand, have been criticized for their female characters... who only need their male characters to fall in love with them and nothing more. As long as she's 'pretty' and 'sexy' that's enough.

The following comment isn't aimed specifically at this drama but Chinese shows in general It is these wordy resume show synopsis' which are driving me CRAZY.

I don't wish to suggest that the way America does something is superior to the way the Chinese do it. I actually find both cultures fascinating and it's why I'm enjoying these Chinese TV shows.

But MAN ON MAN these shows need to do something Americans do: describe the show's premise in one or two lines.

"A young woman decides to become a dog trainer for the Fire Department... with the real goal of getting closer to the man she loves... who has completely forgotten her after a decade."

That's it! We don't need to know their resumes. Or any other elements of the story. If that summation doesn't draw people in, come up with a better version of this idea.

IKR?