Celebrity 
7
3
This review may contain spoilers
50 Shades of Luke?
I know I have used this phase before, “it pains me to write this . .” This time I really mean it.
Let's start from the top. The A-plot concerns a rich tsundere boss who stole the heart of a beautiful new employee. Their entanglement is built upon a web of love, lust and control. The power dynamics is obviously lopsided. Only when the FL walks away after 6 years does he realises he cannot live without her.
If you are thinking, that's just the typical office romance trope, this show dials up everything. Both the OTP's interactions and their skinship (by Chinese standard) are intense. In fact, a lot of the publicity is centred around the series employing an intimacy coordinator, a first for any Chinese production.
I am sure there are a lot of discussions about their love story by now. I don't want to turn this into some kind of relationship manifesto, so I’ll keep things succinct. What I'm about to say is not going to go down well in some quarters. ;)
To put it bluntly, the ML is a rich, arrogant piece of work. He is a narcissist and woe to any female who falls in love with him. He can be a condescending green eye monster and prone to gaslight his victims, I mean girlfriends. Yes, he has his softer side, but it is locked away deep in his psyche and is only let out occasional.
On the other side is the sweet and naïve FL. She is a new grad just entering the workforce. She is eager to please and craves recognition from the ML.
The FL is often belittled by him and withers on the vine depending on his mood. Hot or cold, she suffers through them all. It is difficult to watch unless you switch off your empathy circuit.
How I wish it was a cheap and nasty production then I can laugh it off. Unfortunately, this is a top-notch drama by all matrix. This makes the story even more poignant. There are many triggers, so many.
If this is not problematic enough, there are other narrative issues as well. For instance, the death of the SML was a key trigger for their eventual break-up. While the show keeps telling us the SML is so important to her, I don't get it. The FL studiously kept their relationship platonic. Good friends, absolutely. Besties? I’m not sure. We know the SML has a crush on her, but the FL has never shown any interest in him.
Ditto, the implausibility of keeping an intense office love affair secret for 6 years. Even the HR director told the ML how obvious it was after the fact. They were literally leaving breadcrumbs everywhere. The show just ignores the used-by date of that trope.
However, it is the show’s treatment of FL’s once she is back in Harbin that got my goat. I read those chapters in the novel. I liked them very much. It acknowledges the FL’s struggles and her determination to stand on her own two feet. The fact they trivialised much of her progress is disappointing. To rub salt into the wound, the ML is back in her life before the episode is over. BTW, the book's Luke is a changed man by then. It is more vague in the show.
I get that with 2 eps left to go; they must turn the ship around. Their reconciliation is swoon-y and heartfelt, but once again, the focus is largely on the ML. Most of FL's growth feels perfunctory without proper context. Montages and flashbacks are used extensively to speed things up. This whole act feels rushed and breathless.
I chalk this up to the series being trimmed from 32 to 24 eps. I gather most of the cut came from the final act. I noticed a marked deviation from the book at this point. Many key events are excised.
The end result is a solid start, a draggy middle, and then a hurried final act. It delivered as promised, but ends on a discordant note.
For me, the saving grace is the leads' acting. Jing Bo Ran never fails to deliver. From his cold countenance to his ugly crying, he embodied the soul of his character. Whether you love or hate Luke, it is all thanks to his superb acting.
While, the role of the FL was unfairly reduced towards the end, Sun Qian delivered a solid performance. She can play the young and naïve character well as seen in Love Stories of the 70's, but this role is more demanding. She definitely rises to the challenge.
I was vacillating on my score, and finally settled on an 8 because of their superior acting. It would have been lower otherwise.
In the end, the show is making waves both in China and overseas as it is streaming on Netflix. It has gained serious traction. I do wonder how much of this is due to hype and curiosity. My own opinion has certainly changed during its run.
This is unfortunate. The drama is well made. The source material is there. The actors are up for the challenge. It started well, but it became an ouroboros by mid show. I’m sure the HEA ending will assuage many fans.
Overall, I enjoyed this series, but with reservations. It is not a rewatch for me. I won't mind a highlight reel though. That will keep me warm in the depth of a Harbin winter. Peace.
Let's start from the top. The A-plot concerns a rich tsundere boss who stole the heart of a beautiful new employee. Their entanglement is built upon a web of love, lust and control. The power dynamics is obviously lopsided. Only when the FL walks away after 6 years does he realises he cannot live without her.
If you are thinking, that's just the typical office romance trope, this show dials up everything. Both the OTP's interactions and their skinship (by Chinese standard) are intense. In fact, a lot of the publicity is centred around the series employing an intimacy coordinator, a first for any Chinese production.
I am sure there are a lot of discussions about their love story by now. I don't want to turn this into some kind of relationship manifesto, so I’ll keep things succinct. What I'm about to say is not going to go down well in some quarters. ;)
To put it bluntly, the ML is a rich, arrogant piece of work. He is a narcissist and woe to any female who falls in love with him. He can be a condescending green eye monster and prone to gaslight his victims, I mean girlfriends. Yes, he has his softer side, but it is locked away deep in his psyche and is only let out occasional.
On the other side is the sweet and naïve FL. She is a new grad just entering the workforce. She is eager to please and craves recognition from the ML.
The FL is often belittled by him and withers on the vine depending on his mood. Hot or cold, she suffers through them all. It is difficult to watch unless you switch off your empathy circuit.
How I wish it was a cheap and nasty production then I can laugh it off. Unfortunately, this is a top-notch drama by all matrix. This makes the story even more poignant. There are many triggers, so many.
If this is not problematic enough, there are other narrative issues as well. For instance, the death of the SML was a key trigger for their eventual break-up. While the show keeps telling us the SML is so important to her, I don't get it. The FL studiously kept their relationship platonic. Good friends, absolutely. Besties? I’m not sure. We know the SML has a crush on her, but the FL has never shown any interest in him.
Ditto, the implausibility of keeping an intense office love affair secret for 6 years. Even the HR director told the ML how obvious it was after the fact. They were literally leaving breadcrumbs everywhere. The show just ignores the used-by date of that trope.
However, it is the show’s treatment of FL’s once she is back in Harbin that got my goat. I read those chapters in the novel. I liked them very much. It acknowledges the FL’s struggles and her determination to stand on her own two feet. The fact they trivialised much of her progress is disappointing. To rub salt into the wound, the ML is back in her life before the episode is over. BTW, the book's Luke is a changed man by then. It is more vague in the show.
I get that with 2 eps left to go; they must turn the ship around. Their reconciliation is swoon-y and heartfelt, but once again, the focus is largely on the ML. Most of FL's growth feels perfunctory without proper context. Montages and flashbacks are used extensively to speed things up. This whole act feels rushed and breathless.
I chalk this up to the series being trimmed from 32 to 24 eps. I gather most of the cut came from the final act. I noticed a marked deviation from the book at this point. Many key events are excised.
The end result is a solid start, a draggy middle, and then a hurried final act. It delivered as promised, but ends on a discordant note.
For me, the saving grace is the leads' acting. Jing Bo Ran never fails to deliver. From his cold countenance to his ugly crying, he embodied the soul of his character. Whether you love or hate Luke, it is all thanks to his superb acting.
While, the role of the FL was unfairly reduced towards the end, Sun Qian delivered a solid performance. She can play the young and naïve character well as seen in Love Stories of the 70's, but this role is more demanding. She definitely rises to the challenge.
I was vacillating on my score, and finally settled on an 8 because of their superior acting. It would have been lower otherwise.
In the end, the show is making waves both in China and overseas as it is streaming on Netflix. It has gained serious traction. I do wonder how much of this is due to hype and curiosity. My own opinion has certainly changed during its run.
This is unfortunate. The drama is well made. The source material is there. The actors are up for the challenge. It started well, but it became an ouroboros by mid show. I’m sure the HEA ending will assuage many fans.
Overall, I enjoyed this series, but with reservations. It is not a rewatch for me. I won't mind a highlight reel though. That will keep me warm in the depth of a Harbin winter. Peace.
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