This review may contain spoilers
I liked the main couple. The side couples, not so much.
The main couple was great in that they were equals. They both took care of each other, they both pursued each other, they both took the lead. Neither shied away from or rejected affection for no reason. They were very cute together and I liked that the show ended with them engaged, and that we got to see a glimpse into their everyday HEA life.
There were a couple boundary-crossing scenes, and some sexual harassment, but no actual non-con / dub-con between the main couple. There were a few scenes where Xun An would get really close to Bai Lang while he was sleeping, maybe trying to kiss him? He backed off once when Bai Lang opened his eyes, and once when he turned his face. There was a lot of Xun An grabbing and touching Bai Lang, often to prevent him from walking away, even after Bai Lang repeatedly removed his hands and told him to stop touching him.
I wasn’t bothered by the patient-doctor relationship at first because Xun An was professional and their relationship was only being developed outside of the office. But at some point, he starts hitting on Bai Lang while he’s in the dentist chair, invading his personal space and getting up in his face, dismissing the nurse and working on him alone, all while Bai Lang had not yet signaled any interest on his part. It was textbook sexual harassment, objectively.
There were a few things I didn’t really like about their relationship, as well. When Bai Lang tells Xun An that he likes him too after seeing him with his ex, I understand Xun An’s concern that Bai Lang is only reacting as a panic response to the ex. I get why he doesn’t believe that Bai Lang is sincere in his words. And I get his whole, “you push me away but call me back when you want me” thing. But he’s pretty much already decided to forgive Bai Lang and that he still wants him, because he goes to Bai Lang’s sister for her blessing the same night. Meanwhile he has Bai Lang chase after him. I didn’t really like that he was essentially playing mind games - he was acting upset when he wasn’t actually because he wanted Bai Lang to chase after him like he chased after Bai Lang.
Also, the whole ex situation really annoyed me. There’s ex-drama from episodes 6-8. There were so many flashbacks of the relationship and romantic moments with the ex, including a kiss scene. We didn’t need to see all that. Xun An is friendly to the ex, still remembers his favorite coffee, and Bai Lang gifting him meal at the beginning of the series was enough to trigger a flashback. It’s been 7 years, they were never officially together, the ex got married and had a kid, and they haven’t spoken since, but Xun An has never dated anyone since him. All that gave the ex too much weight and importance. That being said, Xun An definitively rejects the ex and pursues Bai Lang without any hesitation, so I had more of a problem with the show’s depiction of the ex relationship and not the character’s actions. But also, the ex kept popping up, even after everyone got closure and moved on in episode 8. He literally hugged Xun An on purpose so Bai Lang would see, and he had a weird pissing contest with Bai Lang about who knew Xun An better at the market even after Xun An definitively rejected him. But despite that, he ends up marrying Bai Lang’s sister. Like wtf? You’re going to have the ex marry into the family and be around forever?
And they randomly threw in an abuse situation in the last two episodes. Xun An’s dad is abusive and beats Xun An after finding out about his relationship with Bai Lang, and Xun An basically ghosted Bai Lang for 3 weeks as a result. The whole situation annoyed me. First of all, everything was brushed under the rug. Not a single character acknowledged the abuse, instead treating it like it was a normal thing that Xun An had to endure in order to gain his father’s approval. They act like familial approval is so important, when sometimes your family can be garbage and their approval isn’t necessary or worth it. Also, Xun An never truthfully explains why he went missing or apologizes to Bai Lang - he finds out from Xun An’s mother. Bai Lang tells Xun An never to keep things from him again and that they should shoulder the burden together going forward, but it never felt like Xun An truly committed or agreed to that statement.
The side couples: I hated them. All of them.
The Alex / RJ pairing was gross, I’m sorry. They literally look like parent / child, or young uncle / child, at the very least. RJ looks and acts like a teenager and Alex looks and acts like a grown man. There’s an age difference in appearance, behavior, and attitude, and there’s no way a relationship like that can ever exist without an inherent power dynamic. Alex thinks of and treats RJ as a child for the vast majority of the show. It’s like if an 18 year old high school senior hits on their teacher — yes, they’re technically an adult, but there’s a power dynamic (boss / employee + age difference) and even if they’re the one’s initiating, it’s your responsibility as the adult to shut down any sort of inappropriate relationship. So the fact that Alex started to see RJ in a different light all of a sudden was really gross to me. Everything between them was nonconsensual anyways (RJ kisses Alex non-consensually twice, and sexually harasses him twice by pinning him up against the wall and getting in his face while he was sleeping). They don’t definitively end up together, but it’s hinted that there’s something there. I’m glad for it, because it was gross enough already that I fast-forwarded through the majority of their scenes.
The Bai Lang’s sister / Xun An’s ex pairing was stupid too, because I wanted the ex to just go away and instead he married into the family. There was another random couple, a delivery guy and another dentist at Xun An’s office, and they served no purpose and would have been better off cut from the show altogether.
The main couple was great in that they were equals. They both took care of each other, they both pursued each other, they both took the lead. Neither shied away from or rejected affection for no reason. They were very cute together and I liked that the show ended with them engaged, and that we got to see a glimpse into their everyday HEA life.
There were a couple boundary-crossing scenes, and some sexual harassment, but no actual non-con / dub-con between the main couple. There were a few scenes where Xun An would get really close to Bai Lang while he was sleeping, maybe trying to kiss him? He backed off once when Bai Lang opened his eyes, and once when he turned his face. There was a lot of Xun An grabbing and touching Bai Lang, often to prevent him from walking away, even after Bai Lang repeatedly removed his hands and told him to stop touching him.
I wasn’t bothered by the patient-doctor relationship at first because Xun An was professional and their relationship was only being developed outside of the office. But at some point, he starts hitting on Bai Lang while he’s in the dentist chair, invading his personal space and getting up in his face, dismissing the nurse and working on him alone, all while Bai Lang had not yet signaled any interest on his part. It was textbook sexual harassment, objectively.
There were a few things I didn’t really like about their relationship, as well. When Bai Lang tells Xun An that he likes him too after seeing him with his ex, I understand Xun An’s concern that Bai Lang is only reacting as a panic response to the ex. I get why he doesn’t believe that Bai Lang is sincere in his words. And I get his whole, “you push me away but call me back when you want me” thing. But he’s pretty much already decided to forgive Bai Lang and that he still wants him, because he goes to Bai Lang’s sister for her blessing the same night. Meanwhile he has Bai Lang chase after him. I didn’t really like that he was essentially playing mind games - he was acting upset when he wasn’t actually because he wanted Bai Lang to chase after him like he chased after Bai Lang.
Also, the whole ex situation really annoyed me. There’s ex-drama from episodes 6-8. There were so many flashbacks of the relationship and romantic moments with the ex, including a kiss scene. We didn’t need to see all that. Xun An is friendly to the ex, still remembers his favorite coffee, and Bai Lang gifting him meal at the beginning of the series was enough to trigger a flashback. It’s been 7 years, they were never officially together, the ex got married and had a kid, and they haven’t spoken since, but Xun An has never dated anyone since him. All that gave the ex too much weight and importance. That being said, Xun An definitively rejects the ex and pursues Bai Lang without any hesitation, so I had more of a problem with the show’s depiction of the ex relationship and not the character’s actions. But also, the ex kept popping up, even after everyone got closure and moved on in episode 8. He literally hugged Xun An on purpose so Bai Lang would see, and he had a weird pissing contest with Bai Lang about who knew Xun An better at the market even after Xun An definitively rejected him. But despite that, he ends up marrying Bai Lang’s sister. Like wtf? You’re going to have the ex marry into the family and be around forever?
And they randomly threw in an abuse situation in the last two episodes. Xun An’s dad is abusive and beats Xun An after finding out about his relationship with Bai Lang, and Xun An basically ghosted Bai Lang for 3 weeks as a result. The whole situation annoyed me. First of all, everything was brushed under the rug. Not a single character acknowledged the abuse, instead treating it like it was a normal thing that Xun An had to endure in order to gain his father’s approval. They act like familial approval is so important, when sometimes your family can be garbage and their approval isn’t necessary or worth it. Also, Xun An never truthfully explains why he went missing or apologizes to Bai Lang - he finds out from Xun An’s mother. Bai Lang tells Xun An never to keep things from him again and that they should shoulder the burden together going forward, but it never felt like Xun An truly committed or agreed to that statement.
The side couples: I hated them. All of them.
The Alex / RJ pairing was gross, I’m sorry. They literally look like parent / child, or young uncle / child, at the very least. RJ looks and acts like a teenager and Alex looks and acts like a grown man. There’s an age difference in appearance, behavior, and attitude, and there’s no way a relationship like that can ever exist without an inherent power dynamic. Alex thinks of and treats RJ as a child for the vast majority of the show. It’s like if an 18 year old high school senior hits on their teacher — yes, they’re technically an adult, but there’s a power dynamic (boss / employee + age difference) and even if they’re the one’s initiating, it’s your responsibility as the adult to shut down any sort of inappropriate relationship. So the fact that Alex started to see RJ in a different light all of a sudden was really gross to me. Everything between them was nonconsensual anyways (RJ kisses Alex non-consensually twice, and sexually harasses him twice by pinning him up against the wall and getting in his face while he was sleeping). They don’t definitively end up together, but it’s hinted that there’s something there. I’m glad for it, because it was gross enough already that I fast-forwarded through the majority of their scenes.
The Bai Lang’s sister / Xun An’s ex pairing was stupid too, because I wanted the ex to just go away and instead he married into the family. There was another random couple, a delivery guy and another dentist at Xun An’s office, and they served no purpose and would have been better off cut from the show altogether.
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