Nepeta 22

It's not even redeem. You need to watch this right up to the last minute of this drama to get it.

The drama is a parody. The drama was first layer creation by the scriptwriters. You are entitled to your views but your views are what the writers know will be like. It's a tribute to all the tropes. She's not real. She's in the script.

I didn't name call you. I think you are getting me mixed up with someone else. Of course you're entitled to your opinions. Your opinions make up part of what the scriptwriters want to point out.

It's a parody. Her character up until near the end was written by a scriptwriter and the drama is making fun of the mainstream idol industry of misunderstanding and stubborn FL that is the only one or the last one to notice the ML's true affection.

Your annoyance is needed to see up to the end. The writers were the 1st layer of the drama. This prolonged under developed FL is not realistic, which makes sense when you see up to the last second of the drama after the credits.

I'm not saying you cannot have your opinions. In fact, the scriptwriters were deliberately involving your feelings and opinions. Your opinions are part of the storyline.

The FL's actions were a parody and if you watched it right to the end, her character was that. Created by the scriptwriters to poke fun of that classic oblivious FL that behaves in a formulaic way. It's only towards the end do we see you are able to re-write your own script. It's a tribute to the mainstream drama industry in China, and FL's character and ML characters are seen in many other dramas.

I agree totally but when a female characters play the parody it's just not accepted, very interesting, and what I find it odd that up to the very end those that were moaning all the way through could not bring themselves to admit that the scriptwriters had the last laugh. Those viewers rose the the bait like hook, line and sinker.

Why would she need to show sympathy? He loves her anyway, and the script is like this. I think you need to watch right up to the last second of this drama and then see how you are part of the laugh. The drama makers will make their point and it's going to be like a back handed slap at those judgmental folk that fallen right into the trap of biases and passed for ML. A bit like propaganda in the news today. How smart are you to step back and work it out?

But the real deal is for him to judge so whilst many are offering their penny's worth on what he deserves it just goes to show that love cannot be helped. He simply loves her and cannot help himself. I really like that. In fact, I think the script-writers did this intentionally to make a point about love. We can judge and have opinions all we like but he the ML just loves her, no explanation. That is how love happens sometimes. Until you get to the very end will you realise, the drama makers were having the last laugh at people like you with your opinions.

But the real deal is for him to judge so whilst many are offering their penny's worth on what he deserves it just goes to show that love cannot be helped. He simply loves her and cannot help himself. I really like that. In fact, I think the script-writers did this intentionally to make a point about love. We can judge and have opinions all we like but he the ML just loves her, no explanation. That is how love happens sometimes. Until you get to the very end will you realise, the drama makers were having the last laugh at people like you with your opinions.

Yes he did, such a great character actor.

I'll give this drama a go. I like Li Guang Jie and Feng Jia Yi.

Have you watched The Long Night? I think that was made 5 years ago. Very difficult watch.

Thanks for your insight. It's reassuring to hear this from a novel reader. Sounds like the adaptation may have made SML more cruel with hardly any let-up. As for Kill me Love me, I was surprised they wanted to adapt this!

Yes, I separate actor with the character. Very difficult viewing for me. Some of it I felt didn't need to be there. But they are following the novel. I was told it had been dialled down. It is common on adaptations to re-write characters in a more acceptable way. In Kill Me Love Me, I heard original novel, lead actor raped FL and was treating women bad. But this was covered up in the drama. In The Double, FL's husband was full on evil but in the adaptation he was made to look like a victim trapped in an abusive obsessive relationship he was not in control of.

Fair enough, you are entitled to your opinion. Yes he was a victim of the time's social confines but by contrast FL showed especially in the first episodes, she lowered herself to "get by", and had to be humiliated to survive, something I cannot see his character doing.

His interest was always trying to be the do-gooder but not the actual real sharp-end of doing good. It was more image and status of saying he can make change. He's just chasing a noble label. All the while, he was heinous when he was married to her. He was abusing her when he wanted because his parents also were on-board. But noticed when it didn't go his way , he wanted to poison his own parents, even though they too were stuck in the system and of survival and bettering themselves.

Yes the final arc of finally seeing the light, it was a little too late. Both he and SFL were bad in their own ways, but I was disappointed not to see her break out of marriage earlier. When she held the knife up to him or when she could have killed him whilst letting FL escape, they were examples of someone so beaten down she had decided her fate was already sealed and she cannot go through with betraying him fully. All quite tragic.

For some reason, this couple and I knew it would bother me more, even though the main couple had their HE, it was not interesting towards the end.

No problem, the novel was altogether more direct in their approach to these characters. I think the adaptation as predicted gave them more greyness making both seem like they were sort of victims of their circumstances at the time (social status and expectations).

I cannot agree with you. His behaviour made it so hard for me to finish the last 4 episodes. I was begging for him to be topped off somehow then I can have peace watching as I was creeped out by his very unhealthy obsession with FL.

I was told by someone Wang Duo auditioned for this role. I think, had he played this role, he'd make a lot more people emphasis with his plight. Here, I felt WJM played it very hard and almost to the point of being theatrical which made his character seem more two dimensional and cartoonish. Just my view.

I have finished it now. Can I ask, do you feel the ending for this couple fairly done in the drama? As predicted, they made the SFL have a way out by ending up at the nunnery. Whilst SML ends up dying on the floor in public. Sorry to say, the novel sounds callous to SFL. She was not able to form a rounded life because of the trapped life she had from her upbringing.

I agree with you. I just cannot watch. These last episodes are taking me so long to watch. I was considering if I could fast forward but know this might be a disaster. I'm annoyed that the author or scriptwriter had to make these scenes and scenario. It just feels so unnecessarily cruel & unhealthily written.

I feel for FL and I think there was enough trauma porn for her already and it feels disgraceful they had to do this to her.

Well I'm on episode 20 now and can see they are just going through the emotions on these episodes. There seems to be no depth and the plots in court are definitely an afterthought but I don't know if this is because the novel was sub-par to begin with but original scripts seem to be more interesting than some of the novels. Perhaps some novels were not that exciting to begin with. It's just trying to squash some Mills & Boons type book into any old setting. This one just so happens to be Tang Dynasty.

I think they did it to steer her focus onto using plants for medicine more and start all the Mary Sue act so it didn't look too contrived but I agree, it was a very odd bit of drama which made it even more odd her father withheld such info from her which just doesn't seem realistic considering his relationship with his next wife seemed more distant so they are suddenly both on code to keep that from her, it was poor writing.

I preferred part 1 but I did come to watch for different reasons. Normally I steer clear of court stuff and all that intrigue, harem tittle tattle stuff that Chinese audience quite like, I find it draggy and inward looking and sometimes repetitive, but I came because I wanted to see what all the research was about for the costumes and horticulture of peonies and it did not satisfy me.

But part 1 was good in a sense it should have finished where it did with the obvious loose ends sorted within those episodes. These new parts are repetitive and the court stuff is very 2 dimensional. Like an after thought (same with the peonies) for the main plot that is the love of the leads. That part they did well despite others finding the pacing draggy and hated all the interactions without being the couple throughout the drama. That doesn't bother me as officially being a couple as such is just a label. Their interactions were sweet and realistic enough to believe such a relationship could exist between their class at the time of Tang Dynasty.