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Thank you for the vindication, Flora!

Beyond the projection we look for in any drama, I never expected Flora to be my redemption hero after reflecting on myself at my age, in a drama whose main attraction was realistic, ordinary people in situations that could happen to any of us, instead of unusual fictional situations, overacted CEOs, gifted geniuses, or Cinderella stories.

This is not a toxic love relationship in an office environment, but a credible plot based on the attraction to power working as an aphrodisiac, between a normal woman and a man who is excellent in his work, but not an out-of-this-world genius, that could happen to any of us, despite the differences between Eastern and Western cultures. Any young, inexperienced woman in the world, like Flora, could never resist being impressed by a handsome, powerful, and results-oriented executive who built a career in the corporate world, watching him successfully face daily challenges with the right decisions, facing customers, employees, suppliers, and business partners, while carrying the responsibility of delivering results and meeting KPIs, quotas, and profitability goals, always ready to fight. As Flora said, it was the relationship between one above and the other below, between the boss and the subordinate.

From a personal perspective, Luke's character was written a little bit over the top, but the actor did a great job, not falling into the traps of a sometimes unrealistic and exaggerated character, but showing him as a credible, ruthless, hard-to-deal-with, no-empathy, no manners, and a control freak, with a behavioral problem acknowledged by his mom; the portrait of the character credibly showing the required toolset to survive the corporate battlefield, plenty of rivals doing whatever it takes to take you down, as happened to him several times (as shown when Alex’s assistant published the photos and videos). He protected himself by being stubborn and proud, imposing his way even on his superiors, and rarely admitting mistakes to avoid giving his opponents tools to attack him. This clearly sets the stage for his behavior when he tries to escape the trap of relying on what has worked for him to overcome setbacks and plan every step. Luke’s moving acting after the breakup lets us feel the helplessness, pain, anxiety, and depression over his responsibility in the breakup, the knot in the stomach of regret, and the emptiness that makes you blur reality and fiction, making everything that came before very important in your life.

Flora was also convincing as a young, inexperienced, beautiful woman with strong principles, arriving in the capital, needing a job, knowing her disadvantages, and impressed by an imposing Luke. She was credible as a normal person who needed to work hard to catch up (unlike the usually unconvincing gifted characters in other dramas), using opportunities, learning, and falling in love with her boss along the way. Her performance was very good, evolving from a shy employee to a woman in love, eager to go deep in her relationship with Luke, even when she couldn’t understand the big picture, which led her to make serious mistakes, as she recognized while narrating certain episodes. Her character development as an employee was also credible, conveying the mood and momentum through her expressions and body language. She was convincing as anyone’s girlfriend at work and never looked like a beautiful actress playing a hard-to-believe corporate clerk, so common in dramas.

Then came the equally credible office-romance setup: an easy-to-fail relationship built on secrecy and hidden encounters. Luke’s behavior shows what happens when a relationship develops at work, dating on his terms and following the only patterns he knows: control, harsh language, and a thin separation between personal and corporate life. Luke showed the changes in his life very convincingly when he fell that hard in love, a new feeling beyond his understanding, and he started losing control, scared to let his guard down, trying to understand what to do to stay with Flora, and always doubting if she was taking advantage of learning opportunities. On Flora’s side, she became a victim of the cocktail of attraction, admiration, and an addictive secret office romance; instead of making him feel secure, her insecurities led her to lies and misbehaviors, sent the wrong message, and fed his insecurities, which is repeatedly shown multiple times, as when Alex tried to poach her, sleeping in the guest room instead of marking her territory as Luke’s partner in his house, not telling him that she was being harassed after he directly asked about it, the dating site episode, and her relationship with her ex, without establishing boundaries. The flaws in the relationship started to crack the foundation, reducing communication to a primitive level of survival; they couldn't react properly, even when they were profoundly sorry, leaving a bitter sense of unreciprocated love, betrayal, and deep wounds. Unfortunately, Luke had the authority and the sharpest tongue, causing so much damage that Flora returned it to him in his own style, as shown in the breakup dialogue.

Unlike the common drama trope of unnecessary breakups used to manipulate emotions, this breakup was necessary to find peace after the emotional storm and to end a relationship that had gone wrong, with both of them exhausted, suffocated, and frustrated. In the breakup scene, we see Luke again, without reaction, consumed by anger, and Flora saying the same harsh words as Luke would. I can say Luke’s performance is real because I have been in his position: controlled by anger and saying hurtful words, only to end up with an emotional hangover after realizing the damage.

This is when Flora became my real hero and redeemed my experiences. She became aware and decided to stop being the person below in the relationship, doing what was necessary to rise to the same level, even without him; she evolved into a more mature woman, growing personally and professionally as she overcame her broken heart and disappointment, accepted his change, worked hard to achieve, and became a confident woman. Flora’s credible rebuilding process was the backbone and the only way to eventually earn Luke's trust to change. He was ready and looking for it after the reality check of losing what he wanted most, feeling safe to start changing after finding her again and letting her even lead the process, leaving behind his pride and arrogance, stepping out of the trap of being the leader, and relying on an equal partner to build a long-term relationship in which both evolve beyond physical attraction.

After watching Flora’s evolution, I realized that it wasn’t right to feel guilty for the most significant breakups of my life because my partners did nothing to evolve during the times we tried to get back together, and they never tried to evolve as Flora did; they stayed in the same stage as before the breakup, sure that it was my fault, complaining and never giving me security and clues to realistically make a change without stopping being myself, which led the relationship to the rocks. Thank you for the vindication, Flora!

Regarding the intimate scenes, they supported the plot with a credible interaction of couples in love enjoying each other, avoiding the stupid puritanism shown in Asian dramas (which, for me, is a factor in my lack of interest), and without falling into the almost required explicit sex of Western dramas and movies (even when it looks awkward being dressed after sleeping together). I have watched a few other dramas showing acceptable attraction and couples openly enjoying getting intimate; however, the scenes in this drama were on another level of emotion, tension, and sensuality, evoking the same level as it was clear they had immense passion to support their love, and a couple freely devouring each other like any other ordinary people could and do.

I was surprised by the intimacy coordinator's presence. She really made a difference in creating sensual scenes you can identify with, letting the actors express their feelings and convey the atmosphere you expect when watching adults in intimacy, without needing nudity (another Western practice, which, for me, is a cheap trick to catch attention). Even the scenes with several kisses showed different emotions and how control of the moment shifted between them, with hand placement on another level showing deep emotions; for me, that’s the art of movies. As I read in an article, because the scenes were choreographed, the crew and the actor were very comfortable, stopped guessing, knew what to do, and stayed focused on their jobs. I hope this marks a turning point toward dramas aligning more closely with reality.

Additionally, the dialogue felt very true to life, showing a couple communicating beyond the acting and matching how normal people behave. In key scenes, the metaphors carried an underlying message they exchanged, showing how they could evolve without exposing the other to “defeat” or acceptance of wrongdoing, and she often used that language to contrast his directness. For example, when they were in Tibet, he was attached to the stubbornness of not being in photos, and Flora didn’t fight over it, but asked the store employee if he knew a handsome model, sending the message, “I want my memories with or without you. When Luke was asking Flora for a job, you can almost read the statement: “I was wrong; I need your guidance; I would do what is necessary to be with you, and what was very important for me in my career means nothing without you.” On her side, she recognizes the need for Luke’s help without feeling inferior. The scene in Flora’s apartment when Luke asked for “permission”, the message of “are you ready to go back?” and her reaction were realistically well acted. Her directness was straight and to the point when needed, which was superb and left him speechless. The scenes of the mistakes' acceptance were great, emotional, well-written, credible, and you can imagine saying the same words. Additionally, their acting in the scenes where Flora’s way of accepting her mistakes was shown through melting Luke with hugs and kisses, and his letting this happen. Additionally, all the expressions and body placement in the “silent” scenes transmitted as much as any dialogue.

The supporting characters stayed in their roles, without unnecessary side stories that added nothing to the plot or exaggerated portraits that undermined the drama's credibility. Luke’s friends were very sharp with him, and Flora’s friends gave her reality checks about her feelings; all characters added what was necessary to the plot, which made the drama feel like something that could happen in your life. Even turning down potential partners wasn’t framed in the “silent movie villain” way common in other dramas to manipulate emotions, which immediately made the drama feel like fiction. Even the suicide scene wasn’t more dramatic than needed, and the message about the importance of dealing with depression on time was good.

The office environment felt realistic and very similar to real life; you can find the corporate jargon and the shock of adapting to it, as seen in the many work interactions (even when marketing isn't my specialty, I still remember the difficulties and hard work when I started working). The actors never seemed to be repeating a script but really working in the business. I am not familiar with housing in China, but the portraits of the different houses were realistic too.

The drama showed all the pieces in place- good script, clean direction, excellent photography, good OST, and an episode rhythm that made the 45 minutes fly by and left me wanting to keep watching. Of course, we found the typical licenses taken with the dramas’ plots, among others, money to survive out of nowhere, successful companies without any explanation, reserved parking spots in front of the place they are heading to, small suitcases with tons of clothes for a week, unlimited laptop battery, Wi-Fi everywhere, connecting to the company from everywhere and from any laptop, drinking glasses magically moving from one side of plate to another in the next scene, drinking from a glass in one take and from the bottle in the following, three friends gathering together in the same take watching Luke, but magically one took the video from a window, decision-maker relaxing at work or not going to work because of love, the timing (getting ready in the morning for a night date), Flora left the suitcase in Luke’s apartment after the breakup, she never picked up her stuff from the office, and the creation of a place such as a museum out of nowhere: Who took the pictures?, How did the move a giant fishbowl like? How did he get Flora’s object? The mistakes were few compared with typical Chinese dramas, which have plenty of mistakes and plot holes.

I usually write reviews to practice my second language in a way different from work or daily life, and this drama first caught my attention because it was set in an office environment with adults, and social networks constantly showed intimate and fight scenes, with this “Intimacy coordinator” presence (Is this necessary nowadays?). Even when I was ready to criticize it harshly because I was in a bad mood about external situations beyond my control that were clouding my mind, and I didn’t have high expectations, thinking I had seen it all, this drama between normal people eager to share their passion and their desire to improve touched a nerve and made me reflect on how I could use it in the future, even at my age.

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Realistic comfort drama

Realistic drama in which two people face the ups and downs of surviving the demands of the corporate world, the wounds of the past, family stories and beliefs, and the challenges of living together, balancing the realities of different ways of life and how much you can give while still being yourself.

The plot approach is realistic, without the excessive puritanism of Asian dramas, with the necessary intimacy to make it credible, without being a Western series exploiting sexuality in excess.

Except for the manager, portrayed with excessive exaggeration, all the characters were within proper limits for a drama.

The way both couples resolve their differences and overcome setbacks makes the drama very enjoyable.

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Entertained drama

Even when the plot is dramatic and leans toward an action drama, the episodes have a great rhythm; they are easy to watch, keeping the mood up throughout. For me, it was very easy to watch several episodes without losing track of time.
The plot with the main leads could be more realistic, since they kissed, broke the intimate space, and they were living together, with impeccable acting representing the tension between them; the concept of selling excessive purity is not convincing, and, as a Western, it makes the script look fake, beyond the usual dramatic license that appears too frequently in the episodes. The FL always arrived before the police and the firefighters.
The healing together was nice; the audit process was overly aggressive in its approach to police investigation, with very few editing mistakes.
The end seemed to miss more commitment in terms of marriage, which was being announced during the last episode,

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Nice drama to watch

This is a nice drama to watch, especially for the FL, who always delivers a great performance.
Even with the license of exaggeration about the corporate world, showing several secondary leads that are impossible to exist in the corporate world, closer to a comic book than to reality, the episodes were easy to watch.
For me, the most important part is the reflection on having a relationship in the company (no serious organization would allow your subordinate to be your partner), the difficulties of living together with a partner with the demands of the competitive corporate world, and the evolution of the female leader as she seeks to find and overcome her flaws to build a relationship.
Overall, I had a good time.

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Mixed emotions

I ended up with mixed emotions after watching the drama.

On one side, I got a dopamine hit from the happy ending and enjoyed the main 'leads' performance, which convinced me of their true feelings, since, from my point of view, it is very difficult when you are framed in rom-coms. I personally like the no-dating-in-high-school campaign; I like this trend of the FL with great achievements complementing and even saving the ML, and the scenery and costumes, which made it worth going through 29 episodes.

On the other hand, the plot relied too much on main-character chemistry and soap-opera-typical drama, with exaggerated characters, and it lacked a consistent script, scene sequencing, and a credible story to identify with.

For example, when they eloped, they took a train with nothing but the clothes they were wearing, then suddenly appeared with a fully complete, neat wardrobe. Then two teenagers full of hormones living together, kissing each other, and nothing happened—too much asian drama style.

From my perspective, exploring the challenges of a rich ML suddenly exposed to poverty, doing low-level, hard-working jobs, and the challenge of daily life as a couple at such a young age will be very interesting, and even educational as a wake-up call.

The gangsters were also exaggerated, as was the grandfather, whose character could be deleted and nothing would happen, and no wonder the father almost looked like a silent-movie villain. The half-brother's performance was poor and unnecessary, with the same expression whether happy or sad, losing the opportunity to develop a good story about an illegitimate child born out of wedlock.

Then the ML's behavior after they found each other years later was like a maniacal, dominant psycho, and the independent FL suddenly became submissive, accepting the most outrageous situation.

The second leads’ story was very good and deserved more scenes, since it showed the challenges of a couple after getting married, as the female lead expressed in one scene. Still, it was left hanging because it seemed easier to rely too heavily on the main-character chemistry.

No wonder about scene mistakes, changing locations within the same scene, the typical wardrobe mistakes in Chinese dramas, sudden solutions without explanation, and characters living a great life without income.

In the end, I enjoyed it, but I regret not watching a better drama that wasted the great chemistry between the leads.

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Missing a great opportunity by playing it safe with the rom-com playbook

As part of my second-language practice, I'm focusing on what someone my age and with my experience would want to know before watching a drama. I chose this drama because the social network campaign caught my eye with appealing scenes that are “nice to watch”; the visuals and chemistry of both leads were great, and it fits my current trend of watching rom-coms with a happy ending as a dopamine source. My conclusion after watching the drama is that they missed the opportunity to produce a good drama, playing it safe with a “Rom-Com by the playbook.”

I didn’t read the book, but the plot, full of opportunities, was interesting for a self-improvement rom-com, with an ML as a powerful, foolproof airline CEO fighting to prove his value to the family, and a beautiful, smart semi-Cinderella in an irresistibly fitted uniform, following her dream of becoming a pilot from a flight attendant. They develop a credible, attention-grabbing enemies-to-lovers relationship and show the characters' growth despite their different personalities, incompatible careers, and backgrounds. The visuals were great, with good rhythm and no slow episodes, and the production was sometimes impressive, as in the emergency landing sequence.

Instead of exploring the complexity of such a different personalities with a relationship starting with the wrong foot, the production appealed to the playbook only focused on the usual rom-com stereotypes: the rich family accepting at the end the other lead, confessions while drunk, unnecessary breakup with the stoicism of one of the main lead know what is better to ease the burden but no caring about the emotional effect, the umbrella under the rain, the “close to accidental kiss” when almost falling down, the super-efficient 24/7 assistant, the love counselors without experience in dating, all the supporting character being die-hard fans of the leads like if they were idols, staff over celebrating main leads achievements (I have never seen people launching paper sheets in a board meeting or in an office to celebrate), a hidden family story, the ML randomly appearing just in time to save the FL, the sunset scene during a turning point moment of the relationship, bad guy with unmatching ugly shirts, expensive cars, luxury houses, amusement parks, leads being successful in business without experience, plenty of previous scenes as memories all over the episodes, long-distance relationship with one the leads traveling as part of the career improvement, a marriage proposal using the most expensive resources and inexplicable logistic (at least the scene at the bathroom pushing for an answer was funny and credible), and fantastic marriage scenes (how could this happen in real life without infringing airport security). I can’t help but think of tons of look-alike scenes in the international rom-com industry, which are good, but it would be nice if they showed more real-life ups and downs and evolution as the relationship developed, which the interesting plot opened the opportunity for.

The main leads acted well and conveyed emotions, with excellent chemistry and visuals that were the backbone of the drama. Their scenes of flirting, acceptance, fun together, and reconciliation felt credible and refreshing. The FL's evolution from being used to being alone and her difficulty sharing her feelings was well acted, showing the transitions and taking advantage of the script's possibilities with a non-common character. Her quote, where she tells her friends that different backgrounds expand horizons instead of being unsolvable obstacles, was a smart summary of her point of view. On the ML’s side, his business-related dialogue and behavior were weak, and the script felt like a straitjacket; he still showed his evolution from a ruthless CEO to a loving partner, learning to get along while keeping his grip on his job and working hard to maintain boundaries between business and personal life. Regarding the main leads' intimacy, the kissing scenes were adequate and timely, making them credible; and in the sleeping-together scenes, even when they could have developed more passion to support their relationship, they at least avoided the typical lack of credibility of excessive puritanism in maintaining un unreal chastity by stopping for respect after passionate kisses flooded with desire, while staying alone in an inviting apartment.

As for the secondary leads, their transition from antagonist to couple felt interesting at first, but instead of a funny character, they created an irresponsible second lead male who felt like something out of a cartoon, lacked credibility, and could never attract a smart woman. The female antagonist had little opportunity to develop; her transition from pursuing the ML, pushed by her parents, to focusing on her career and building a new romantic relationship instead of becoming a villainess felt credible. Unfortunately, their relationship felt like an attempt to inject comedy into the drama; it was too messy, bordered on sarcastic, and the serious moments didn’t help. The drama missed the chance to develop an interesting long-time friends-to-lovers plot, where they know each other's pros and cons and how they might overcome them.

The pilot and purser flight attendant plot felt more interesting, realistic, and deserved more attention, since it showed how attachment makes you stay in an impossible dead-end relationship and how hard it is to end it, even when you get plenty of signals that are usually ignored out of fear of being alone. The outcome felt expected and realistic, and I liked that neither of them is at fault; they were simply incompatible because their life goals didn't align, and she finished the relationship by pursuing self-improvement as a way out.

As expected in a drama by the playbook, we can find the list of required stereotypical characters: on the FL side, the man-eater friend, who, in the end, we assumed she found love; an almost dumb friend who needs a lot of care; melodramatic situations to play with our feelings; in this case, it was the death of her “almost boyfriend,” with no explanation and without even a formal relationship. At least that situation gave us one of the drama's best quotes, when she asked herself whether it was better to fail than miss out, which became the basis for the FL's acceptance of the ML. The FL's mother never showed a clear definition, and the sudden acceptance, without developing the relationship, felt fake. On the ML side, the parents were too exaggerated, especially his mother's behavior; his secretary was a joke and not even close to what the position required; and his assistant made it hard to believe he had what was required at that level. Instead of improving the drama, all those characters made it even less realistic and credible.

The supporting elements, such as the lighting, photography, direction, and cinematography, were good, with the OST supporting the scenes as an integral part of them. I am not an aviation expert, but the scenes felt credible and showed the importance and responsibility of preparing to protect passengers' lives. All the plane emergency scenes were very good, almost at a super production level.

I could find tons of mistakes, making it look like they were in a rush to meet the expected schedule to produce a rom-com; here are some of them: the wardrobe sequence, like changing the way they were dresses in continuous scenes (too many to mention); very difficult-to-follow time of day in key continuous sequences in which you will never know if they were in daylight or at night; meetings on weekends at night (I’ve never seen this happen in my decades in the corporate world); incoherent sequences as when they reconciliate, I couldn’t understand the sequence from being booked in a hotel, waking up up together in her house, going to the cemetery, receiving a plane as a gift, and meeting her mother in the gallery. The worst was the building's security: the antagonist's ex-girlfriend, with a thug, could reach the FL's door, stay for hours, and break into the apartment, but a delivery boy took too long to clear security. And let alone the FL’s apartment door: in one scene, the ML could get into the apartment, cooking while she was using the toilet, but in a critical scene, he was stuck at the door for hours when he was worried about her. Besides making the drama lose credibility, it gives the impression that relying on the leads’ chemistry, technical resources, proven scene formulas, and the editor's improvisation was enough to earn good reviews.

In summary, it is a nice-to-watch drama that leaves the expected good feeling of dopamine from a rom-com with a happy ending, even when you feel that it could be better if the production didn’t try to play it too safe, relying on the playbook of proven scenes with strong technical execution, focusing on easy-to-digest entertainment based on the leads’ chemistry, and avoiding the risk of developing credible character evolution by exploring their behavior and evolution in the different challenges they faced, leaving the sensation of a great plot with a missed opportunity.

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Another product of the mass production Asian drama industry

I started watching this drama because of the high reviews, but it quickly slowed down and became very difficult to watch.

I expected another drama-light romantic comedy built on sure bets for general public acceptance; for a moment, it seemed interesting, but it ended up as a superficial attempt to explore the challenges of adult relationships in today’s challenging world, with a hard-to-believe script.

It starts with a hard-to-believe love story between a PhD who becomes a makeup blogger, then suddenly jumps back to college to teach, establishing a romantic relationship with a bad-tempered millionaire PhD researcher who didn’t want to work in the family business. Their entire initial interaction stems from a college-day vendetta. Is that the behavior of a PhD?

From the start, a credible development of the plot wasn’t an easy task, but it went worse with scenes such as the lack of communication when the male lead went to study abroad without a word (is that really happening nowadays?), the exaggerated FL’s parents, and the unbelievable puritanical interaction between two almost 30-year-old people who like each other very much, they are also are neighbors and even sleep in the same apartment; the drama gets downgraded to a mass-produced, really basic level.

I liked the conservation message, the protection of savage species, but come on, all the plot around it seems more like a cartoon than a near real-life situation. From the dialogue, the costumes, the bad guys' attitude, and the arrest, it all felt too fake.

The drama relied too much on Esther Yu's signature cute, slightly mischievous expression, and the ML delivered a not-colorful performance, with few opportunities to show anything beyond a grey performance.

The supporting couple was exaggerated, hard to believe or explain, and so unnecessary that the drama wouldn’t change a bit if all their scenes were deleted.

Both antagonists were exaggerated and faced very poorly written characters.

For me, this was clearly a product of the mass-production Asian drama industry, meant to entertain the public, and it was only useful to wait for the next episode of the drama I currently watch, enjoying only Esther Yu’s signature expressions.

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Another typical romance drama

I have mixed feelings about this drama. I enjoyed it, and even the +1-hour episodes flew by. I like Hyeri a lot because she always delivers a strong performance, even as the stereotypical romance drama FL.

But as is happening in most dramas this year, their success is based mainly on the chemistry and the performance of the main leads, passing up the opportunity to develop interesting adult stories, playing a safe game spending too much time on youth and memories, and solving a forced happy ending in the last episode, full of plot holes that are very difficult to believe, lowering the quality of the drama.

In this case, they could cut at least half of the unnecessary story of their youth, which was frequently repeated throughout the drama, and spend more time on Ju I Jae's feelings and her need to study, the expected support of her partner, how to manage a long-distance relationship, and how to support her without invading or shadowing her, especially when supossely wrote and directed a movie in Canada in less than two years, when their movie took more than one year. She was selfish, just disappeared, and made “her dream,” with no interest in Woo Su Bin’s feelings. Additionally, who would believe that a rookie director in their first movie would disappear during editing, post-production, and promotion?

Woo Su Bin’s role was plain: it didn't convey much emotion (sometimes I feel the same face happy or sad), didn't define a clear behavioral line, and relied on looks. His character could explore in depth the ups and downs of a romantic relationship with a partner who wants to be bright and stay out of your shadow. His dad was another exaggerated character, and the drama didn’t do much to expose their regrettable behavior. At the end, the bad guy keeps his fortune.

The attempt to exploit the viewers' feelings with the breakup and magic return, as if nothing ever happened, to receive an award is too much of a cheap emotional trick, the same as the sudden and unnecessary death of Sim Yu Geon’s father.

CEO An Su Hui was exaggerated, to the point of being a discordant note each time she appeared. I know the “bad guys” are necessary, but in the context of the drama, they could give the character a more realistic entertainment CEO script.

Sim Yu Geon and O Ha Na’s story was naive, not a story at all, and pretty much felt like a forced script to fill in the second leads, with no clear character definition. It tried to sell a 30-year-old rich, beautiful, famous virgin, never-kissed actress with an unknown actor, almost under the same conditions, alone in their room and only briefly kissing. Is this believable?

On the other hand, the other secondary couple, Seo In Uk and Chae Sa Rang, is a man-predator woman, with almost the same on the man's side, who started a relationship on a fake, ridiculous reality show. After the only smart quote from that couple, when she said it was too difficult for her to keep a serious relationship, then, out of the blue, she appeared as a writer selling books, and he was buying the books. The last scene between them was dumb. Once again, they could explore the challenges of being a couple with no commitment, only enjoying the moment, who suddenly find someone who makes them change their minds.

The drama served to entertain, evoke emotions, trigger dopamine release, and function as another romance drama, missing the opportunity to do something better.

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Did the job as expected

I didn't have many expectations when I watched a drama called “Genius Girlfriend,” with Xiwei Tian as the main character, especially after the social media marketing campaign showed only a few romantic scenes.

As expected, Xiwei Tian's cuteness and convincing acting were the backbone of the drama, and the remaining characters, including the male lead, were just there to support her showdown.

I didn’t read the novel, so maybe, to avoid the project failing, they played it safe by sticking to the original plot to meet the difficult task of fulfilling hardcore fans' expectations. But from my mature perspective, they missed the opportunity to develop a contemporary story exposing the challenges of balancing a career, family, and love, which has been the challenge of the modern world and, from my point of view, the greatest challenge of modern society, even for mature people.

For those who love high school stories, the drama is accomplished. For me, I expected high school to shape the characters' behavior, but it spent too much time on slow, unnecessary scenes that added nothing to the plot.

As for the supporting characters, it was another missed opportunity to develop great stories about the challenges of becoming an adult, and Lai Wei Ming’s character was absolutely useless and unnecessarily punished. The only interesting contributions were the main character accepting the love, avoiding the usual antagonist trying to split the MLs, and the sick girl's quote about healthy people worrying about superficial issues when survival is the challenge for others. By the way, the final voice-message scene was unnecessarily melodramatic, illogical, and poorly timed.

About intimacy, I am still trying to understand the message of Asian dramas because, as far as I know, Westerns and Asian dramas have the same physical motivations. I think between the extremely sexualized American dramas and movies and the puritanism of the asian dramas, we can navigate more realistic situations.

Xiwei Tian's cuteness covered the huge plot holes. As part of the romantic-comedy license, money comes from heaven; the ML just wanted to study, and after five years of struggling with money, he could magically afford to pursue his studies, and just like that, he was a successful researcher.

For me, developing the story of how they became successful while trying to build a new married life, working remotely, was the real deal, and summarizing in a few minutes the most difficult part of their life was a wasted opportunity, forcing a happy ending which could be achieved, as we all expected, making sense of the plot.

As for cinematography, nothing special; as the comment said, it used too much AI, which didn’t affect the plot or cover the hole.

In the end, I had fun; the drama did its job, and it is another drama.

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Did the job

This drama reflects a mature entertainment industry that needs serial productions to keep the cash flowing, which, in my view, isn't a bad thing, since the drama did its job.
The main leads' chemistry was very good, and it was the backbone that helped the drama succeed. As support, they relied on simple physical scenes and exaggerated (almost comic-book) characters to entertain viewers.
As usual, they showed a world with plenty of bad people, extreme Asian puritanism, social-class differentiation, and successful people coming from humble origins. It seems that coming from the orphanage is a must to be successful.
Unfortunately, the opportunity to develop a good story of mature adults was lost in the need to make the show entertaining by relying on easy-to-achieve licenses such as exaggerated fights, extremely bad characters such as the gangster (it seems incredible to find people like him in Korea), and the village sisters who could beat armed gangsters.
They missed the chance to develop a strong second-lead story about overcoming social differences to stay with someone you love, beyond a Cinderella cliché.
Of course, to make all that fit, tons of potholes emerged in the script.
In the end, I had a good time and felt satisfied, since my expectations were very low for a smart script after seeing a good gangster fall in love with a very important prosecutor who disappeared after a near-death torture, as if the authorities were stupid.

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A Fast Food-like Drama

As usual, I am sharing what someone my age and experience would want to know before watching a rom-com with a happy ending as a dopamine source. Using food as a metaphor, I'd say, “This is a fast-food drama.”

Explaining myself: with fast food, after a repetitive process, anyone with the proper training and sourcing the right ingredients gets food very fast with known quality, an expected, not complex flavor, and immediate satisfaction. The joy is brief; it doesn't do much for your health, and the aftertaste doesn’t last long.

This drama follows the same principle: a safe rom-com that relies on a mechanical, well-performed process, uses proven formulas, and offers little to project onto; you know what you will consume, what you'll receive, it is fast with no complex development, and, in the end, only temporary satisfaction, bringing little to your mental health beyond immediate distraction.

We found the usual self-improvement rom-com, featuring two almost 30-year-old virgins: the dominant CEO with personal traumas, and the nice, innocent, and kind FL, trying to improve herself after living through tons of unfair situations where people took advantage of her kindness, improving thanks to the CEO’s support and transformation.

As expected in the fast food process, here the production selected from the typical scenes to receive good reviews in the make-it-fast rom-com: the “accidental kiss”, the CEO with traumas to be rescued by the FL's kindness, the hardworking FL that overpasses all her coworkers with her smartness, the coworkers insanely supporting the FL, confessions while drunk, the ML appearing out of nowhere to save the FL, the first kiss and first time intimacy for both leads, bad guys being punished, people with wrong behaviors turning friend due to the good dees of the main leads, frequent repetition as memories, the unnecessary breakup and the reconciliation after the life risk of some of the main leads, the temporary split in search of self-improvement of one of the leads, (in this case with difficult-to-understand trip to France after stabilizing their relationship, without thinking about the message to your partner when you want to leave for few months?), the transformations and self-reflection of the other lead to support the dreams, and of course, the last episode’s proposal. I expected the rom-com scenes, but when they are too superficial, it made me feel like something was missing.

Even with the predictable plot, the leads' acting met expectations: the leads had good chemistry, the FL's expressions conveyed the irresistible charm that made the CEO fall in love with her instead of more beautiful and successful women, and the ML showed convincing expressions in his evolution and in how he managed his troubles and setbacks, and in how he slowly fell in love with the FL. Like many Korean dramas, the production was polished with few noticeable flaws. As for the antagonists-turned-friends, they were too stereotyped; at least they weren't portrayed as villains, but as “nice people understanding they had no chance.” The leads’ overly exaggerated friends came across as a cheap attempt at humor rather than genuinely funny. Nothing good to say about the FL’s mother, whose character could be deleted without any impact. The lighting, photography, and direction were good, and the OST supported the scenes as an integral part of them, with a good rhythm and no boring episodes.

In summary, the drama was enjoyable to watch and worked well as light entertainment, as long as you aren't looking for deeper emotions or dramatic situations, you can live with the plot holes, or you need something to connect with personally. It is a standard Korean product from the light rom-com drama factory: a happy ending, proven scenes, little artistry, nothing new to expect, and designed to deliver exactly what viewers want to satisfy the domestic market and foreign fans of Asian dramas. Like fast food, it offers immediate satisfaction through a known flavor and convenience, where you can’t expect a dopamine-lasting sensation that you would get at a good restaurant.

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Could be a better plot

It was a pleasant drama to watch. The episodes weren't boring; the acting of all the characters was good; they conveyed both the sad and happy situations; and the casting was good.
Sometimes the plot used exaggeration for humor, making unnecessary gestures that, really, as in the final scene or the third couple, supporting the mother of the supporting male, who was close to ridiculous, left the son as retarded, which seems very surreal even for Asian cultures, and suddenly she accepted the girl because of a dance, which couldn't be faker, making all their appearence unnecesary.
The FL and the ML wasted too much time solving the overly dramatic deeds of bad people, which detracted from the reality of the acceptable verbiage used.
For me, as a Westerner, it seems improbable for two grown adults living together and liking each other to waste too much time on a sometimes-lacking-credibility "pure behavior".
Overall, it was entertaining to watch the drama, and it brought good feelings.

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