The Butterfly

This was a sweet, entertaining drama. I find it interesting that Gong Yoo likes to push the boundaries of traditional relationships. In the ones I’ve seen up to now he’s been a man who falls in love with another man (even though he’s a woman), a younger man in love with an older woman, and an ancient man who falls in love with a much younger woman. Im curious to see what he does in the future if he comes back to tv.

I’m on episode 5. I told my husband I may finish this by 2021 at the rate I’m going. Honestly, I’m watching it mostly for Bae Doo Na’s performance at this point. May eventually skim the story for the few minutes she’s in an episode soon.

I have trouble watching violence but the characters and story were just so compelling I had to finish this drama-even if I had to watch through my fingers a few times!

The ballerina from Fated/Destiny was a good example. She took an amazing job opportunity and paid the price for it. In the Taiwanese version I thought the ML yanked her around as much as he did the FL. (Later he did find out she’d done something despicable that was hard to forgive though). I was more sympathetic to the Korean Anna.

The fate of many a SML-being too cautious and conscientious.

Even Li Jing with his forked up family came through for her. He may have betrayed her initially but ended up saving her life at least twice, helped her when she was a mortal in the heavenly realm, and ultimately sacrificed himself to give her a chance against his father. And truthfully, I always wished she had been the one to kill Qing Cang after all she’d been through. She was glorious when she was a badass.

Poor Mo Yuan. He had 17th with him for 20,000 years but never let her know his feelings. Broke my heart when he woke up and found her engaged. Loved Ye Hua and had no problem with the ending but found Mo Yuan sexier.

I enjoyed this drama. The first two-thirds were captivating but I found what should have been the most exciting part, the last third-dragging. Maybe I was just tired. More problematic for me was the love triangle. I would have preferred Woo Tak to be just a friend or interested in the female officer or gay. It was so not needed. I’d also read concerns about Suzy’s acting but I thought she was fine. I struggled more with LJS. He has a beautiful smile and cries beautifully but for me he doesn’t show all the nuanced emotions in between. Overall I thought the premise was interesting and the acting serviceable. There was enough external conflict to keep it exciting. I’d recommend it to a friend. : )

I always felt bad about the feisty nine-tailed fox ending up with those stuffed shirts. Bet it made for some awkward family dinners.

Re: Bai Qian and the amnesia potion-I’d never thought about that alternative. };->
Might have made a very different ending though. Or maybe she would have just cleaned house and gotten the ending she deserved anyway.

If this is a beloved drama for you please disregard my comments and scroll down for praiseworthy ones. My comments are for others who disliked this drama and to let them know there is an Auntie in their corner. I mega-loathed this drama. I thought the ML was repulsive, abusive and downright criminal. He coerced other students to gang rape the FL. There’s no coming back from that. And he was unrepentant for all his ill deeds. I don’t care if he stood out in the rain, lightning hit him in the cajones all while he was clutching a photo of Rosebud he was never going to be sympathetic in my book. In any other drama these vicious boys would be seen as the villains, not romantic leads. The FL did a good job of acting but I had no respect for her character for falling in with these guys. I am at a loss as to why this drama is so highly rated.

Great article! Thank you!
I’d have to add another life challenged character-Fu Yao ( Yang Mi-again)

Driving people to suicide is not heroic or attractive. I agree with you.

I am so thankful you and others posted this info because otherwise that was a brutal ending. Leaves room for hope.

The first few episodes were sizzling then it seemed like the middle bogged down into a weird office drama with FL dealing with her ex and ML dealing with his. Only redeeming quality was Jasper standing around looking fine in his suits. I agree they dropped the ball in not having the leads spend more time together after the previous relationships got resolved. The ending was unsatisfying to me because of this.

I agree. The 2FL’s scenes didn’t match the mood of the rest of the story which at times got pretty dark. Plus the character was annoying.

I think I’ve seen her in more dramas than any other actor. She must be a go-to for a stern supporting character that can also do comedy. Edit—I’ve now seen her in 12 roles and she makes every character different and every character her own. I have really come to love this amazing actress.

I wanted to comment on this drama but stylishgirl summed up perfectly what I was thinking. Difficult choices for the characters. I have to say I liked the ending. It made sense for these characters.

I feel like I’m in the minority. I really liked this drama. It wasn’t perfect but I found it entertaining. I would watch a second season of them taking on corruption and baddies.

Without all the goopy lip gloss and heavy eye makeup I thought LJG never looked better. As far as his weight, he’s getting older and doing all those stunts can be hard on the body. Even a little extra weight can put more stress on the joints as we get older or so sayeth my husband who is big into training and martial arts. Hopefully, that’s all it is.

I thought Seo Ye Ji more than held her own with him. It was good to see a strong, capable FL working with the ML to take down the villains.

The male villain was over the top, but tolerating him was a small price to pay for the entertainment I derived from this drama.

Naz- Don’t feel bad. I dropped and started this drama four times for the same reasons you stated about it being so popular. I had the same problem you did with the FL and never warmed up to her despite some character growth in the second and third acts. I finished watching the drama but it was painful to get through. I never could understand the unconditional love and devotion the character inspired in others. Some people are absolutely devoted to this story and characters and that’s okay. We all have stories and characters we like but it doesn’t mean we all have to like the same things- vive la difference!