Mystery

This is the first time I've felt compelled to write a review for a drama, but I just had conflicting feelings about this series. The first half was solid; good acting, good pacing, and the story was entertaining. But after that, the enjoyable moments felt fewer and further between. The show did not have to be this long. It felt like we had reached a satisfying ending around the halfway point, and then it just kept going, becoming more drama for the sake of drama rather than a cohesive story.

The moment that infuriated me the most was the third-act misunderstanding, which is unfortunately a common trope in romantic fiction, though sometimes it can be executed well; this was not one of those times. It felt incredibly out of character for Suo Wei to lie when confronted. That just reeked of forced conflict to pad out the runtime, and I actually had to stop watching at that point and continue later because it was making me emotional in all the wrong ways. I'm just glad Chi didn't then go and hook up with his ex, that probably would've made me drop the series completely.

Obviously there were moments in the back half that were necessary, like resolving Xiao Shuai and Cheng Yu's storyline and the unfortunate fate of Wu's mom, which was such a gripping scene. If some of the fat was removed, and if the breakup hadn't been so ridiculous and out of left field, this would definitely have a higher rating.