Watched the last episode and had a take a moment to feel the loss of a wonderful show coming to an end. It rare to come across a show engaging and one that forces to reflect on human relations. The last time I felt sad over a show's ending was for Whispers of Fate.
We have come to the end of this journey and I'm thankful to everyone who shared insightful comments about everything related to the show. I got to see so many different opinions on things and some were truly enlightening.
Some much has already been said about art and its ability to make us feel, think and become aware, and even be better humans. This is what makes art great, and here, with this show I got see, feel and learn things, about human nature, it's shortcoming, it's flaws and the beauty of love.
I truly appreciate how this show managed to strike just the balance in depicting sensuality without making it look vulgar. This show is amazing, not because it is an excellent piece of work in all aspects, but because it compelled us to engage with it, and learn something and appreciate the beauty of love.
It never tried to show this relationship as an ideal, rather all along, the premise of the story was to make us aware how toxic the relationship was despite real love being present. Many of could relate to it because we know we are far from the perfect characters that are shown in dramas usually. By the end of the show, I felt like I understood them both, their flaws and could appreciate and love them for who they are.
After completing the novel although I did not like Luke I understood him, but Jing Bo Ran's portrayal made love the character just as much Flora.
I was so eager for it's release since the first time I saw it's trailer and I'm glad that it has not disappointed me.
Haven't watched the last episode yet, but she too should've said sorry to Luke for dismissing his love and care as filthy, dirty and disgusting. I guess this shows who has changed more and was giving more to keep this relationship going. She should've met him half way and atleast showed some regret for misjudging him about the promotion fiasco. None of the voiceovers for her part even show a hint of regret or awareness of her part in the demise of their relationship.
NOVEL READERS PLEASE TELL ME IS IR SHANG ZHITAO'S FAULT THAT THEY BREAKUP THE PREVIEW IS KILLING ME 🥺I was…
Before I reply to your question allow me to say something.
I have a penpal and I was just replying to their letter, and in rambling I got thinking about Flora's reaction to Luke's cutting remarks and compared it how I myself have not been very active on that app because of slightly rude remark from one person.
I was getting a bit irritated with some people who kept saying it was only Luke's fault and he is the reason she reacts a certain way, but when I paused to compare my reaction to one remark and how it affected me, I could better understand where these people were coming from.
It's easy to say Luke has a sharp tongue but he truly loves her and is trying his best, but our minds are not rational. The emotional reaction we have leave a mark on us.
If just one person's remark has left enough impact on me to lose interest in being an active participant on that app, can you imagine how much Flora has been affected by everything Luke has said over the years?
So it's not simple as looking to blame one person or the other as to eho is responsible for the upcoming break up.
Luke in the novel never truly expressed himself or allowed himself to be anything apart from the image he showed to everyone. His words and his actions had been hurting Flora for a long time.
Then SYZ death broke her. And afterwards when the arguments about the promotion happened, it was like a dam broke in Flora and everything came out at once. All the words she never said in the 6 years came out in a vicious way as an accusation towards Luke. All the hurt came out suddenly.
It's like Luke had made 100 tiny cuts on her soul over the years and flora, when she lashed out, gave him one lethal cut that broke him completely.
Was she unreasonable about the promotion thing and refused to believe Luke? Yes. But it wasn't just about the promotion, it was all her grievances up to this point.
So, I refuse to hold one person at fault as to how they reached this point. Both contributed to it. If Flora was being unreasonable in her reaction to the promotion thing, so was Luke about SYZ and the ex. Also that conversation about marriage was a major thing. I have to applaud how well that conversation was handled in the drama. Both were shown to be so human and we could see where they were coming from and also how it went wrong, Flora's timing and Luke's brutally honest reply. Both were at fault about how they reached this breaking point in the next episode.
Yes, in the novel I remember she was devastated and couldn't get out of bed for a week, but then the focus was…
I wouldn't say it was closer in the novel. SYZ kept thing very clear with SY and it was mentioned in the drama, she made effort to go meet him several times to check on him.
It's just tonal shift of this episode felt a bit off. The novel and the drama is about SZT but today for whatever reason they decided to give SY the centre. I wish they have kept the focus on SZT while showing SY's reaction as well.
I have a sneaking suspicion that maybe the production chose this direction because maybe they weren't sure if Sun Qian will be able to deliver in it. Or maybe it's just drama politics. I heard that actors do their best to snatch the meatier scenes and whoever can promise to deliver what the director wants gets it. Maybe they thought this actress would do full justice to this episode, so they chose this narrative for the episode.
It has been a while since I religiously followed a drama discussion here on MDL, and stuck with an airing drama till the end, but this one has got me in chokehold.
Adding me two cents about Luke's jealousy here because I don't think any of the novel readers have mentioned it yet. I read the novel before the drama started airing and unlike the drama it hinted about Sun YuanZhu interest in flora and also that she was aware of it, without it being spoken out loud ever by either of them.
And Luke sensed Yuan Zhu's interest and lashed out with word like "ambiguous relationship" in another episode because flora let things be as they were, just being good friends with him because she was with Luke and knew of Sun Yu's feelings. This is something carried over from the novel, but they changed it to Flora wasn't aware of his feelings for her in drama.
Today's episode was so gut wrenching but they changed the focus of the narrative to Sun Yu in the drama. The novel mainly focused on Flora's reaction to it and it was so much more impactful than what was shown in the drama. I didn't feel half the heartache that Flora felt in the novel. She was so deeply affected by it in that. It wasn't just like losing a friend, it was like losing a family member to her. I wish they made her reactions more natural, it was very controlled in this episode.
I don't have any complaints about Sun Qian's acting, but today is the first time I wondered how another actress with better capabilities to emote would've handled this episode. Her acting was just enough, and you can see the " just enough" when compared to how beautifully Qi Tian Qing has acted.
We have come to the end of this journey and I'm thankful to everyone who shared insightful comments about everything related to the show. I got to see so many different opinions on things and some were truly enlightening.
Some much has already been said about art and its ability to make us feel, think and become aware, and even be better humans. This is what makes art great, and here, with this show I got see, feel and learn things, about human nature, it's shortcoming, it's flaws and the beauty of love.
I truly appreciate how this show managed to strike just the balance in depicting sensuality without making it look vulgar. This show is amazing, not because it is an excellent piece of work in all aspects, but because it compelled us to engage with it, and learn something and appreciate the beauty of love.
It never tried to show this relationship as an ideal, rather all along, the premise of the story was to make us aware how toxic the relationship was despite real love being present. Many of could relate to it because we know we are far from the perfect characters that are shown in dramas usually. By the end of the show, I felt like I understood them both, their flaws and could appreciate and love them for who they are.
After completing the novel although I did not like Luke I understood him, but Jing Bo Ran's portrayal made love the character just as much Flora.
I was so eager for it's release since the first time I saw it's trailer and I'm glad that it has not disappointed me.
I have a penpal and I was just replying to their letter, and in rambling I got thinking about Flora's reaction to Luke's cutting remarks and compared it how I myself have not been very active on that app because of slightly rude remark from one person.
I was getting a bit irritated with some people who kept saying it was only Luke's fault and he is the reason she reacts a certain way, but when I paused to compare my reaction to one remark and how it affected me, I could better understand where these people were coming from.
It's easy to say Luke has a sharp tongue but he truly loves her and is trying his best, but our minds are not rational. The emotional reaction we have leave a mark on us.
If just one person's remark has left enough impact on me to lose interest in being an active participant on that app, can you imagine how much Flora has been affected by everything Luke has said over the years?
So it's not simple as looking to blame one person or the other as to eho is responsible for the upcoming break up.
Luke in the novel never truly expressed himself or allowed himself to be anything apart from the image he showed to everyone. His words and his actions had been hurting Flora for a long time.
Then SYZ death broke her. And afterwards when the arguments about the promotion happened, it was like a dam broke in Flora and everything came out at once. All the words she never said in the 6 years came out in a vicious way as an accusation towards Luke. All the hurt came out suddenly.
It's like Luke had made 100 tiny cuts on her soul over the years and flora, when she lashed out, gave him one lethal cut that broke him completely.
Was she unreasonable about the promotion thing and refused to believe Luke? Yes. But it wasn't just about the promotion, it was all her grievances up to this point.
So, I refuse to hold one person at fault as to how they reached this point. Both contributed to it. If Flora was being unreasonable in her reaction to the promotion thing, so was Luke about SYZ and the ex. Also that conversation about marriage was a major thing. I have to applaud how well that conversation was handled in the drama. Both were shown to be so human and we could see where they were coming from and also how it went wrong, Flora's timing and Luke's brutally honest reply. Both were at fault about how they reached this breaking point in the next episode.
It's just tonal shift of this episode felt a bit off. The novel and the drama is about SZT but today for whatever reason they decided to give SY the centre. I wish they have kept the focus on SZT while showing SY's reaction as well.
I have a sneaking suspicion that maybe the production chose this direction because maybe they weren't sure if Sun Qian will be able to deliver in it. Or maybe it's just drama politics. I heard that actors do their best to snatch the meatier scenes and whoever can promise to deliver what the director wants gets it. Maybe they thought this actress would do full justice to this episode, so they chose this narrative for the episode.
Adding me two cents about Luke's jealousy here because I don't think any of the novel readers have mentioned it yet. I read the novel before the drama started airing and unlike the drama it hinted about Sun YuanZhu interest in flora and also that she was aware of it, without it being spoken out loud ever by either of them.
And Luke sensed Yuan Zhu's interest and lashed out with word like "ambiguous relationship" in another episode because flora let things be as they were, just being good friends with him because she was with Luke and knew of Sun Yu's feelings. This is something carried over from the novel, but they changed it to Flora wasn't aware of his feelings for her in drama.
Today's episode was so gut wrenching but they changed the focus of the narrative to Sun Yu in the drama. The novel mainly focused on Flora's reaction to it and it was so much more impactful than what was shown in the drama. I didn't feel half the heartache that Flora felt in the novel. She was so deeply affected by it in that. It wasn't just like losing a friend, it was like losing a family member to her. I wish they made her reactions more natural, it was very controlled in this episode.
I don't have any complaints about Sun Qian's acting, but today is the first time I wondered how another actress with better capabilities to emote would've handled this episode. Her acting was just enough, and you can see the " just enough" when compared to how beautifully Qi Tian Qing has acted.