MyLangyaList

It also helps that they are close friends in real life. ZYW and ZSW were literally classmates at Beijing Film Academy, and ZYW has also been supportive of ZSW during some trying times as Zhou found success earlier, but ZSW struggled for so many years before The Bad Kids and exploding in popularity with The Knockout.

No it's still mostly a mystery, hence future seasons.

Yeah please, for the love of god, just let people have one quality costume drama with 'old people' as casts. There are a million costume dramas already ruined with young idol casts.

For detailed background, see Sent-Down Youth: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sent-down_youth

There are a lot of cultural and historical context that would be missing for intl audience or even young Chinese audiences. The late 70s was when China just emerged out of the chaos and policies of the Cultural Revolution. During that time, many young adults were sent from the city to remote provinces to 'aid the countryside'. And this was a terrible ordeal because there's a huge gap in resources, opportunities, and status from being in the city vs. countryside, especially top tier cities like Shanghai or Suzhou. Keep in mind, China has a Hukou, or household registration system. Think of it as an internal residence permit, that's tied to the city or countryside you are in. And that also applies to your children.

For families with several children, they had to decide which one to send to fill that quota. And the countryside was rough, the sent-down youth were doing really grueling labor. So when the cultural revolution ended, policies were relaxed, the sent-down folks were desperate to return to their home city, for very significant practical reasons, but also to be back with their family and their 'hometown'. To complicate things, many also got married and started families in the countryside. And the policy wasn't clear yet and was changing, so many were rushing to get in line, or make a gamble on the matter.

And this also causes a lot of family squabbles because the sent down member felt they sacrificed for the family, and it's now for the city folk to make the sacrifice for them. But the city folks are also juggling many demands, and often struggle to accommodate those siblings or relatives trying to return to the city. So it's the situation with Li Jia, Xiang Peng Fei, and Wu Shanshan (the girl from early eps who couldn't go to college).

Keep watching, her Mom's motivation and reactions are not unreasonable, and pretty reflective of the realistic context in China.

I was also expecting a more triumphant story of overall obstacles, but I also really appreciate the different direction the writers took and the story they told.

Because the core story went beyond simply gathering the courage to be yourself, to the very real struggles and cost of being yourself in the world. Having the courage and passion to be yourself is already hard, but negotiating the trade-offs, the inevitable challenges, and different set of compromises is even harder. And WXY, Shi Ye, Da Yong, and others are all took the first step to pursue a life authentic to themselves, and are now trying to navigate the even tougher challenge of dealing with other compromises. This would be very realistic situation, and especially for China.

So in many ways, this is an even more profound exploration, even if it leads to more sobering and challenging circumstances.

Some thoughts regarding the story and ending:

As viewers we often get furious about obtrusive parents trying to control the lives of the characters, including in this show. Yet we are often acting exactly like the parents, trying to dictate how the plot should unfold to our own satisfaction, without fully understanding the story and messages that the drama is trying to convey.

As long as it's largely self-consistent (stays true to itself), why not let go of preconceptions and try to absorb the story as presented. Here, I thought the writers had beautiful story and complex, realistic messages are trying to convey. And it was a sensible, coherent, and profound ending. They could have gone with a more typical and predictable ending that would make many viewers even happier.

But I'm much happier they have their own voice and the courage to tell a unique story.

yeah that's a good point. I guess the show ended with her being still a work in progress, the standup pursuit a WIP, and the two suitors and respective relationships WIP as well, which while realistic, is not the most satisfying way to go out.

Yeah I agree from the romance angle that would be pretty disappointing, especially with how much they leaned into the Shi Ye and WXY setup. Even as someone who's not watching for the romance I can see how it could have been much more satisfying that way, even if they still sprinkle in various caveats of realism.

On the other hand, I understand and appreciate this ending as well. In that they are cautioning against the romantization of pursing your dream with wild abandonment that often ends up smashing into reality, a situation that's even more acutely felt in China for cultural and practical reasons. So pursuing your dream is also quite difficult and one still need to make compromises is an important and realistic message.

Overall a reasonable, though unspectacular ending for me.

You definitely want to check out the OG CDrama then, as the family relationships and their youth days are top-notch.

I'll have to check but it's not that significant and I doubt they miscounted.

She's introduced as someone who has never performed before, which is true. But she's also rocked the crowd at the club twice already in unofficial, unscheduled performances. Both times, she just wanted to rant, and just grabbed the mic impromptu and took the stage. It's just a minor detail though, not very consequential.

That's the difference between this and romance dramas. It's not about the romance, but life, complex fleshed out characters with their merits, faults, and growth. The typical show will force the plot in some direction with something dramatic, whereas this more organic.

And you are right with the ex-bf. He's not the typical evil unredeemable ex, but someone who was also misguided and searching for himself in a society pulling him in different direction. And it's a commonality all the different characters share. So in many ways, this is much more of a slice-of-life comedy.

And same writer for Ordinary Greatness.

Nice, time to pick this one up.

This might be my over-interpretation, but I'm pretty sure it's intended:

The balloons are a symbolism for the relationship between ZH and WXY, and also WXY herself. ZH had an image of WXY as pretty balloons that need to be held onto and protected. And just as his failed balloon gambit signals the nail in the coffin of their relationship in his mind, the balloons floating away from his grasp symbolizes the new WXY.

She is no longer being held down by him or others at work, and is ascending greater heights like she's always been capable of. The events in the episode of her triumphing at work and winning respect and overcoming cold reception at standup dovetails nicely with the balloon symbolism.

There are a lot of meticulously placed details, layers, and symbolisms in this show, even though the comedy and plot is also terrific. It's why I rate it so highly and love it.

Fingers crossed

Can someone tell me whether the show maintains the quality to the end. Since it's possible to destroy the entire show with a bad/nonsensical ending to a spy drama, I'm waiting for this to finish.

It's a budding field, but it's still taking off like a rocket ship from virtually nothing a few years back. Yes, they stir clear of Chinese politics, but that's the unfortunate red line in China. Though from the clips I've seen, some performers like Li Xueqin has sets that are up there with the best in the US, including her delivery and storytelling style.

That's pretty impressive considering she's only been doing it for a few years.

2015 was when the first comedy club opened in China, it was a cozy comedy bar called Kung Fu Komedy in Shanghai.
https://www.smartshanghai.com/articles/community/shanghai-famous-kung-fu-komedys-andy-curtain

Around that time, very few people who didn't haven't been abroad in China knew what stand-up was. And actually the Chinese translation mixed up talk-show and standup comedy. KFK was founded by an Irish man and a local Shanghainese. The performers and open-mic entrants were mostly expats (esp Americans) for a long time, simply because there's greater familiarity with it. There were also mandarin performers and comedy nights. But localized standups really took off the last few years as there were TV shows and competitions about it.

Like a lot of things in China, things can go from nothing to exploding seemingly over night.
It happened with hip-hop a few years ago, and now with stand-up. Now you have a crop of very strong Mandarin performers. I watched some TV show performances, and some of them are very funny and talented, including a well known female comedian Li Xueqin.