Spukhafte Fernwirkungen

Well well well.... after looking through some of the recent comments here, I think I'm beginning to understand why some of this drama's stans don't think Gu Yi's behavior is unhealthy. Wow. Seriously - are they getting paid to be this offensive? Not a good look for the drama 😕

I sincerely hope everybody who's enjoying this drama continues to do so. I actually like the large majority of it for many different reasons, but, unfortunately, Gu Yi's behavior is a total deal-breaker for me. I was completely on board for finishing the drama when I thought Gu Yi might have some serious character development and eventually realize how harmful she's being to not just Liang Dai Wen but herself, too. But, another commenter who finished the web novel mentioned that Gu Yi's behavior remains the same for the entire story, so I'm not going to stick around and watch a character I think is toxic for 34 episodes when there's no hope that they will become a better, less harmful person by the end of the tale.

The actors are all doing a great job, and I hope this drama is a hit because that means they can continue to show their talent in top tier dramas. But, I do think discussions like we're having here need to happen. Just because the majority of people in this comment section either don't see how toxic Gu Yi is or are just okay with her being that way, there are enough other people in this comment section who independently came to view her behavior as unhealthy to the point where we can say it is an actual issue and not just something one person imagined. And, given that there are indeed at least a few people who view her behavior as toxic, I think we need to have discussions like this so that behavior we view as unhealthy isn't normalized and just swept under the rug. Yes, Gu Yi is just a fictional character in a romance drama, but not only does art imitate life, it also influences it, and it's been quite easy for movies and TV to influence society for as long as they've been around, so analyzing and criticizing a character for what appears to be unhealthy behavior is not a bad thing for any of us because it creates discussion and thought. None of us here are hating on the drama. And, none of us here are hating on Shen Yue. From what I see in these comments, however, we are quite opposed to seeing what we view as a toxic character having her behavior treated as healthy by the story when, in our opinion, it is quite far from healthy.

Anyway, I typed all that out just to clarify where I'm coming from in my comments. Having said all that, I honestly do hope you continue to enjoy the drama 🙂

Agreed. I hate saying things like this, but I think if we switched genders for the main roles we would probably see a whole different conversation happening in the majority of this comment section. I mean, even Shen Yue has said that she relates far more to Liang Dai Wen than Gu Yi and hasn't been comfortable with some of the direction she's been given about how her character should act towards him, so that seems pretty telling right there if the actress portraying Gu Yi thinks her character shouldn't behave in certain ways towards him.

Yes, we are watching the same drama, but I understand that if people are swept up in the romance aspect, it would be pretty easy to overlook how self-absorbed she's behaving.

She actually doesn't really, really like him - she really, really likes the idea of a person she's created in her mind who loves her and then has spent the entire drama trying to force him to be that person, and then gets upset with him when he doesn't act how she wants him to act or say the things she wants him to say, even though she's fully aware he has a condition that makes those things almost impossible. That's toxic. Sure, she took the time to try to understand what alexithymia was about, but has done almost nothing to try to understand him as an individual. She sees him simply as an object, and she's projecting her idea of a romantic partner onto that object - that thought is backed up in the story by her continually referring to him as a "robot" or "plant" or some other inanimate object, which, even if he can't process emotions enough to be hurt by that, is still demeaning as hell (and don't forget that she refers to him as an inanimate object - and not in an affectionate or playful way - to other people). She has no desire to make him happy (although I should say "no desire to make him not feel anxious", given his condition) - she has proven time and time again through her words and actions that the only happiness she cares about is her own and throws a tantrum when he doesn't do things she wants him to do to make her happy. None of that is "love" or even "like" - it's controlling and abusive. As Kinara mentioned, it's quite ironic that the only person in the relationship who cares about the happiness and well-being of the other is the one with alexithymia. I really like Shen Yue's work and will definitely watch her in future projects, but her character here is not healthy.

You'll probably see in the comments, but someone who says they've read the entire web novel mentions that she stays that way all the way through the story. I really like many parts of this drama, but not enough to sit through another 16 episodes of her behavior and have it never change. Ah, well... just not for me. Hopefully we'll cross paths in another drama and commiserate (or even debate) again. And continue to enjoy the parts of this drama you do enjoy watching!

Ugh. Thanks for mentioning she stays that way to the end (I mean that non-sarcastically, btw). I was considering sticking around to witness her character growth, but I won't be able to sit through her behavior if she continues like she has been until the end of the drama. What a drag 😮‍💨

Looking at the director's page on MDL, this drama is his first directing credit, so maybe that explains everything. Although there are a couple people commenting on here that the drama is faithful to the web novel, so maybe the source material is to blame for some of it.

I finally had a chance to finish episodes 17 and 18 after writing my previous comment, and I think I may have to drop this drama and find out what happens later through reading the comments. Gu Yi is just too unlikeable at this point for me to be invested in her part of the story, and it's difficult for me to imagine a time when I'd ever be cheering on her and Liang Dai Wen as a couple after the way she's been behaving for 18 episodes.

Agreed. Love Shen Yue, but I think I'm going to have to take a break from watching this (or drop it completely) because Gu Yi is so toxic. I keep hoping she gets some character growth, but it's just episode after episode of her being self-absorbed and unhealthy.

Unless the director is purposely trying to make her unlikeable before having her hit rock bottom to confront her own issues and become a better person. I mean, you and I agree that she hasn't been all that likeable from the start, so maybe that's the plan. In recent episodes, she seems to be really spiralling out of control, which I find interesting as an individual character study, but I certainly don't want to see her in a relationship with Liang Dai Wen. I honestly don't know what the director's thinking or where he's going with things, but I do know the story he's presented so far has made it really easy for me to feel a lot of sympathy for Liang Dai Wen and almost no sympathy for Gu Yi . So, I guess I'm sort of split - either the director is pulling the right emotions out of the character and this is mainly a story about Gu Yi's fall and redemption, with Liang Dai Wen as the sympathetic character we're supposed to travel with on her journey to becoming a better person (which kind of trivializes everything Liang Dai Wen is going through), or the director's pulling the wrong emotions out of the character and we're just left with a messy story. Either way, this drama definitely isn't working that great as a romance for me so far because after watching Liang Dai Wen try so hard to overcome things, I really want him to be happy (or, given what he's facing, I guess "not filled with anxiety" might be a better way of putting that), but his happiness is definitely not a priority for Gu Yi (or even anything she really seems to think about, for that matter),

Edit: one of the really strange things I've noticed as far as direction goes is that we're getting a lot of music cues in scenes informing us that a scene is supposed to be cute/funny when the scene itself isn't cute or funny, like we're supposed to think the scene is something it's not because the music is telling us "this is a funny scene". It just feels so...... off. I've found it very curious, and it does back up the idea that the director may be out of his depth.

Thank you 😊

The best way to figure that out is to dive in and see if you like it! But, if you're looking for outside opinions...

There's not a lot of comedy, and it starts off in a fairly generic way, but both of our leads have some complex character issues that make it a compelling watch and help it to lose a lot of the generic feel it started with. As mentioned in other comments, the editing (and, honestly, writing) feels somewhat disconnected continuity-wise in places, but that gets a little better as the drama goes on, and the cinematography is above average. I find the visual tone and atmosphere really pleasing, although a few people have commented that they don't like how dark the drama is and some of the digital grading that's been used. The performances are quite good by pretty much everyone, although the direction seems off for me at times with Shen Yue's character, like she's being told to smile at times that seem inappropriate for the scene (I say this as someone who likes Shen Yue's work, and it seems like it's what the director wants from the character and not a comment about her acting skills). Lin Yi is giving a standout performance, and for a least a few people (myself included) is the heart and soul of the show. Overall, this isn't the best drama I've ever seen, but it's definitely held my attention and been a fairly enjoyable watch. Give it a go!

I hope this isn't misunderstood as trying to put down the show, but my take on it is that she's an incredibly flawed character who's exceedingly self-absorbed. Almost all of her actions toward Liang Dai Wen are based in the thought of what benefits her - in the beginning, she's upset that he won't laugh at her jokes, not because of anything relating to him, but simply because it makes her feel bad someone isn't laughing at her jokes. That type of behavior continues throughout the drama, with most (although not all) of her "acts of caring" coming from a place where she's mainly concerned about what she can get out of it, not because of any real concern for his well-being. She doesn't want to understand him and love him for who he is, she wants him to be her version of the person she wants, on her terms. This is backed up by her constantly referring to him as an inanimate object (robot, plant, etc.), all of which I find pretty thoughtless and demeaning. Another interesting flaw they've introduced is that we're seeing her getting wasted drunk as a first resort to things that upset her on a pretty regular basis, and unless the writers are going to completely gloss over it, I think we're going to see her dealing with some serious issues and growth before the drama is over. I certainly hope so, at least.

I'll admit I do find it interesting that so many people commenting here find her character cute and warm while I find it self-absorbed and unsettling, but I also understand if people are really only focusing on the romance aspect it would be easy to turn a blind eye to her flaws and see her behavior in a more positive light.

And I kind of hope they address her drinking to excess so often. She appears to have a little bit of a problem with it given how many episodes she's gotten totally wasted in (with her even commenting once that she missed the sleepwalking alarm because she drank too much and throwing up because she got so drunk), so I hope they don't just brush it off as the usual "I'm sad so I'm getting drunk" thing we usually see in dramas.

Agreed. I'm really hoping that character growth happens soon because her behavior is starting to test my patience 😞

I'd say to just watch the first three episodes and see how you like it. Outside of the extremes of the 1 star "worst drama ever" and 10 star "best drama ever" war, my take on it is that it's pretty good but not great. For me, the story isn't really presenting anything we haven't seen numerous times before, but the actors are solid and the cinematography is better than average.

Oh yeah, I'm totally on board to see how things progress with Liang Dai Wen. The slow build-up to the incident surrounding his trauma has been really good so far.

(And I'm in thorough agreement about perfect characters, haha)

Yeah, I'm definitely still watching too. While I may not place this in the list of best dramas I've ever seen, I really only have a problem with Gu Yi's behavior - and I'll admit that I keep trying to make excuses for her to get my mind past it... but then she goes off and acts all self-absorbed again, haha. I'm waiting for some serious self-reflection and character growth from her so I can feel good about this pairing. Here's hoping it happens 🙂

It's interesting to me to contrast this drama against 'Use for My Talent', which has a very similar set-up (albeit with different disorders). I thought Shen Yue's character was probably a little too sensitive and self-sacrificing in that drama (I know..... I'm a tough customer, hahaha), but the romance in 'Use for My Talent' worked for me because it was much easier to believe that both of our leads' hearts were in the right places. Anyway, I still find 'Smile Code' entertaining enough to keep watching. And, who knows - maybe by the end of it Gu Yi will have had enough character growth to make me change my mind about her character.

I love the cast, but think the story is pretty average. And, even though I like Shen Yue, I really don't like her character here, who I view as incredibly self-absorbed - sure, Gu Yi's taking the time to learn about alexithymia, but not really being sensitive about Liang Dai Wen's specific case and how he is as a person dealing with it. She seems to spend a lot of interactions with him projecting a relationship she wants onto him and trying to force him to feel something he can't easily feel and show emotions he can't really show, and she does this not really for his benefit but because it's what she wants. So, yeah, I view most of her actions as trying to please herself without much consideration given to Liang Dai Wen as person - it's more like he's just some object to her, so that's making the romance between the leads completely fail for me. Given all that, I would certainly give this drama a pretty mid rating, and there might be others who feel the same.

But, for those who are enjoying the drama, I'm legitimately happy for you. I hope it's a great viewing experience for you from start to finish 🙂