dramateaque

Same. It's a very unfortunate situation but in any case he was taking risks already going into a restricted area. And especially in a tricky situation like this, where there's literally no witness around to his death, it's word against word too. They won't believe that the rangers didnt see the bomb but they don't have evidence that the rangers could have seen the bomb in the first place. // Off-topic but this is why I like the suspense in Jirisan so much; so many of the deaths seem like accidents and in that sense "perfect murders" since no one would suspect that there's one person behind all these seemingly unrelated cases.

Okay, thanks! Yes, of course just notify me again once they're out and I'll definitely check in. Anything with interesting women or women in interesting situations and I'm in! :) I'm a bit over the cross-dressing trope tbh because it's been used so many times before (and not interestingly done), but I'm excited to hear your thoughts on it. Have a nice day too!

This was a really thought-provoking (and pretty funny too – some of your word choices....) read! I only watched a few of the dramas you've mentioned but I appreciate the detailed explanation of your arguments so that I was able to follow along well even if I didn't know the referenced show.

I agree with you on all the behaviours you mention. From my point of view I don't mind a dubious or non-consensual scene as long as they are being called out as such (after all dramas shouldn't only represent the ideal but also the real, and in real-life cases like these exist, as the stats you used have also highlighted). But I guess that's where the big problem lies, in that either these incidents are being glossed over, lazily "justified" (best example: "biologically uncontrollable" urges, noble idiocy) or worst, romanticised as desirable and thrilling.

This part here stuck with me the most: "In real life, there should be no shades to consent, but when I review C-dramas, I often find myself writing sentences such as..." because same, me too, and it feels very jarring when after a few of these kinda scenes I realise that I've let my line a bit loose instead of keeping it as taut as I usually do in real life.

Not sure what to do either "from our humble place" far away from writers and producers but I do think bringing up these kind of conversations time and time again, as you do, is a good place to start!

What's part 2 going to be about, if you don't mind me asking?

In fact, I was just thinking about it the other day! Thanks for the link, I'll check it out!

So there are the longer BTS (there aren't many however), that you can find on the official weibo. Then there are incredibly many super short ones on douyin (which I don't have), which I watch on the drama's weibo supertopic because people would cross-post them there.

However, you can also find them on this fan-run YT channel (https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCq1aWQULGHvYLbYBqLVSsnQ) though they haven't uploaded everything yet (and only subbed a few videos) or if you have Twitter you could also check out @zxc_gallery, they're quite quick! (But the videos are unsubbed, if that's important to you.)

One of the best parts about this show has got to be the behind-the-scenes clips. Both lead actors are so comfortable with each other and just have an overall great time fooling around on set like a pair of six year olds, haha. I was wondering beforehand if you'd feel their age gap (it's only 5 years but still)... and I gotta say, nope, not at all. Wenjing is such a bright, playful sunshine whose personality fits well with Xincheng's equally playful but also often more solemn / mature demeanour. I know both are incredibly busy with their many projects but I do hope they stay friends for a long time!

Oh definitely! I originally watched because of Steven but she really captured my heart. Her character is pretty complex and she carries her throughout so many different situations & dialogues really well. (She also has quite good line delivery imo!)

on wb they’ve been saying sth about roughly 10 years since the first marriage… not sure how ppl made that conclusion tho

Yep, that's what I wanted to say. Which in my opinion... not that necessary. A failed suicide mission already would be dramatic enough to bring a stop to their marriage and her revenge plans but they almost force the parallel on us... and I think the same, it could have been better! More smoothly edited, more gaps filled etc.

I think the problem is that they’re not good at juggling all the diff. story arcs together so in the end none of them really excel. For me it’s, the “crazy” episodes included, still okay though; given how unstable she is , I do think the big climax was needed (+ there were I think other reasons for why they wrote her the way they did in Ep. 18 but I don’t wanna spoil you).

Sounds interesting, thanks!

Off-topic, but how did you like The Confidence? Someone recommended that to me when I told them that I like her acting in The Justice :)

Me too. But she's always been feeling guilty when it seems her hunch wasn't right; she also apologised to Xu Shu for deceiving him. That said, let's hope she gets a good arc of growth!

And yeah they just need open communication. But she distrusts him and he wants to protect her from things she never asked any protection for; so that will be interesting if and how they can resolve this.

Watching her on her suicide mission is truly like watching a car about to fall off a cliff. I actually think that both are manipulative. They differ in terms of impulsivity: Yi Zhi has always been one to think of the long game, Li Zi is very much a "get it done asap" person.

The scene with the daughter really went under my skin but to be honest (and one of the reasons why I see Yi Zhi as manipulative) is that Yi Zhi has lied his way into that charity before to scoop out info about the director's mentally ill wife. For me that was a no-go; Yi Zhi's way of "threatening" is just always coated under a beneficial friendship (which tbh he's not wrong to offer but the means to get to that friendship are questionable).

The longer the show goes on though, it's fascinating however to see how Yi Zhi does less and less of the lying and approaches people right away to do something good. (Li Zi meanwhile is still on her revenge high... which probably will climax within the next few episodes).

Overall, as you said, fascinating!

I kind of would love to see a scene where she realises that revenge is not a satisfactory as she may think, and has left her empty & the relationships around her strained. She's really (as of today's ep.) pretty much at the edge right now, going so far as to prepare herself for death – I honestly don't know how long it'd take to come back from such a one-track mindset. Not sure either if the writers will be able to deliver or not since they tend to rush things in this drama.

Also I find it interesting, that her feelings towards YZ are warmest / most receptive whenever her suspicions got disproved for a moment (e.g. when she thought it might not be Huang Ru Hong but Zhou Guang Xin who's the murderer). For a while I thought she'd have no feelings for him at all but I think she's the type to block it out until everything else in her life is settled (+ she's been suspecting him throughout).

I think Li Zi (though they sadly never showed us the direct aftermath of her father's death) has always desperately sought closure. And with time it became even worse; revenge was the only thing on her mind and it blinded her to many things around her. I mean if she existed in real-life and I happen to know her, I'd advise her to go to a psychologist directly because she has SOME things to process there.

I don't think however, it's that easy to send Huang Ru Hong to jail – especially with his growing ties to the government. And she still distrusts Yi Zhi because he doesn't tell her details about his work so she's unclear about how much he aligns with Huang Ru Hong (and thus symbolically is also an "enemy" to her).

And yeah, I think we can almost see from the beginning that she has no qualms whatsoever to cross moral boundaries (whether that's due to her thirst for revenger or just her normal self is unclear). She's very manipulative. But I also think that it's quite refreshing to see a FL that is not set up to be a "good person" or a "saint"!

Thank you!

Where do you watch it? Is it available on YouTube?

Exactly! I think it’s quite a sober and truthful portrayal of their rush marriage and what pitfalls it brings. I really like that it‘s not fluffy all of a sudden! Wouldn‘t make sense either…

Me too. I feel like 80% of the time what is being narrated is already perfectly well acted by the characters on screen. The narration just takes me out (and sometimes, when it's really obvious, it annoys me because it makes me feel as if they underestimated the viewers' intelligence to get what the actors want to convey).