ShortCircuit

Because they released it to China only, though. It felt like a whole year passed til they actually released the last 4 eps *wink*

If it was genetic, it would've been almost impossible to guarantee successful treatment. If it had been an obstruction, then yes, maybe, in time. But she was too old to wait and hope, and her husband's solution was the shortest and easiest to do - just get a kid with better genes that is closely related to her son, and pass him as his actual heir - poof, problem gone. She was more pragmatic than her son or husband on that note. And she seems to have actually wanted to have the kid/heir before the supposed divorce. She was already running out of time.

You missed the part where the father and son are actually enemies and each are eyeing the family fortune (that is based on the mother's family original money). Instead of trying hard to have the son get an heir, the father goes right to making a spare (and having him treated before implantation of the embryo so that the genetic cause doesn't make him infertile, too.)

They obviously did not change their minds when they learned about his psychological difficulties, it just made them decide to use whatever he's good for and then get rid of him.

I don't care if they later change their minds or it "comes out" they actually wanted him to succeed for his own interest and just pretended not to care. They're adults, professional adults too, in their late 40s or around 50, they are not children who can't express feelings. Especially when around vulnerable people.

Selling his contract or giving him over to another agency is part of the business, true, but this drama set it up as a human-contact/relationship story, not a business venture and then continued to heap on loads of mental health issues that the main character should be dealing with... and we're a 3rd through the story and nothing seems to indicate they'll ever talk about it in the open.

It seriously irks me whenever dramaland pretends mental, physical or financial abuse is all worth it because eventually the kids (or adults) will "make it big", get a chance for success, get rich etc.

Just take Zhao LuSi's case that's come out these days - it's not that different. And she already is a well-known actress. If a drama takes on the subject of abusive practices in the entertainment industry, maybe not do it in such a crass way and not even try so far to talk about changing the practices and/or treating the trainees/idols/singers/actors like they're mindless and soulless merch.

I've considered putting this under a spoiler, but anyone who made it through the first ep should already have an inkling on the plot by now so I guess I'm not spoiling anything much.

PS Yes, I've already said - this might be a hate-watch for me. I'm not going to try and give any excuses for the plot and characters and keep moving the goalposts to find their redemption arcs, if any.

So I'm not the only one feeling that was a quite out in the open love declaration, LOL. (Though they both did get a bit giggly afterwards right along with me, hahaha, I guess the censors forgot about doing their job for that minute :D)

I think it's an obsessed twin. He's probably the one who slashed Shen Yi's painting at the end of the first season. We'll see...

Though it works perfectly as a metaphor - former SY would've stabbed DC, current one takes a different path.

Both Du Cheng and Fang KaiYi are so tall compared to him, LOL, he's so smol. Truly an unruly and curious kitten :D

Oh so we're getting at least a hint that there might be a third season :D Yes please!

(Though... Be still my fujoshi heart, they did serve, and heavily, at the end of the ep, LOL. Du Cheng is his anchor? "Wherever you're running to, I'll also be flying to"? "If we were a compass, I'd be the circle and you'd be center - the circle always runs around the center"? Oh WOW! I mean, what more could they have said? "Let's get married and have (nonGMO) kids"? LOL. )

The best eps - the opera ones. The support cast helped setting it up beautifully and I feel like the main cast also truly got invested in that part of the story.

And it turns out the whole Dr Fang plot was a fake out, because he's not the one doing the slashing at the end of the first season (or so it looks right now). I'll be waiting to see if they really make more (I hope so!) I'll always be ready to watch some Sherlock and Watson shenanings from Shen Yi and Du Cheng :D

I have seen all the tropes, have you not? They already had a fated meeting (that ended hilariously, I'll give them that), then he fell for her out of the blue (other than wanting to use her to socially climb or something), they're the main pairing and doing "cutesy" things together - meanwhile there's no plot progression at all. It all just comes back round and round to the misunderstood identities (and their identical personality type).

It was funny for a little bit, but not for two eps.

I haven't seen the next eps, just the teasers for the next 4 eps, but I sure hope they move on from this.

Wait wait wait... why is it 10 eps now?! Wasn't it 11 before?

Treating him as merchandise... Planning to sell him to the highest bidder as soon as he's worth anything... Talking to him as if they cared, interim...

Could these people be any more worthless? Yeah I get it, we're pretending (or maybe copying) this is going on in real life all the time, bla-bla-bla - if I wanted real life, I'd watch a documentary.

What IS IT with the cheerpy music when she's talking about getting rid of him when she gets her money's worth out of him?! Or when her husband agrees to help her but just to make that happen faster?! That's so f@cking horrible. Am I supposed to feel good about it?! This guy's been through the wars already, what with his merchant mom, and now he's getting used for what he can do - and sing - and they're all going to pretend everything's just fine until he's not their problem anymore?!

The only one I kind of like is the in-your-face Chris/HanYoo. At least he's not pretending to be a good guy...

All the adults in his life suck big time. I hope they didn't get any presents for Xmas.

Also, that a capella song better be released soon.

I could do with (a lot) less romantic shenanings. The last two eps are draggy with it already...

YES!!!!

Basically he's so broken that he's cutting himself and has done it for a good while, years even. And maybe he even tried to kill himself at some point (you've seen those lines across his wrist.)

I know movies and dramas gloss over suicidal ideation (they're "easily" fixed in dramaland), but people so depressed they're considering and even trying to commit suicide aren't going to be 1. very energetic/aggressive enough to make it in their chosen field, usually and 2. well-motivated to do well (because depression is taking all their energy and whatever's left is just enough to struggle by). So that's their "problem" right now - their ticket to the success of the new agency will have to deal with the depression and cure it if they want to win the contest (and get the son's factory money that she's obsessing over).

Don't mind it though, I bet they'll "fix" him soon enough, most dramas don't even try to touch on actual treatment (not even psychiatric, not to mention a psychologist), because treatment with some actual results takes a whole lot of time... and some never work properly anyway.

The way she's letting off her guilt through something her son wanted when he was 10 - when I was a kid I wanted to be 7 different things throughout the week, only made a serious decision in highschool. But she's hanging it all on his half-formed idea of being ~like her~. That's so dysfunctional it's hurting me just to even try to look at it in a logical manner.

Then there's the instant friend clique - are you telling me her son NEVER ever made any friends of his own and needed the new JinWoo to come bring his (also-idol-in-making) female friend so that JinWoo the son can finally smile again?! And she's "so sweet", and oh, we are all seeing where in the love triangle all this is heading, right?

Then there's the way the new JinWoo is falling for creepy situations when he all but begged for a little chance of finally making it as a singer... Why would he risk it?! It makes no sense, if he's truly committed - and if he's not, why did he have to go through with the whole almost-begging part? (And it can't be just about the debt.)

This is seriously some deep, anger-triggering misery porn and that's all there's to it so far.

Pure misery porn... And he'll never get any meaningful therapy (because where could it fit in 12 eps when he has to go and win that audition contest?) but it will all be healed through the power of winning some obscure talent show that in no way, shape or form will mean he made it. And in the meantime he gets to be put in some career-cancelling situations before he even starts, because adults can't do adulting.

I must be crazy, coming back to this.

ETA Decided to try to make it through my second-ever hate-watch. After The Impossible Heir, what's one more?

They have amazing VoIP or cell coverage in the Dafeng :D Is that thing actually a phone? LOL

Sooooo... becoming a Guardian basically means he gets to sort even MORE files. I bet he felt just... thrilled :D

Who the f cares about the doomers? This drama is fun and that's all there is to it. On the other hand... I've already grown accustomed to fabricated black water in c-ent, that's their vibe and everything.

Still - for all MDLers hesitating to start it - dive in. It's hilarious and fast-moving. Good entertainment for de-stressing. If you're in the mood for a more serious drama, this won't be it - but relax once in a while, the year's already been tensed as f anyway.

There's something a bit off with the editing/pacing (on ep3), but Hou MingHao is looking amazingly good (better than in FoF, I can't believe that), and I already liked the FL (because of WoH :D)

So I guess I will be watching it after all :D