Footnoted

It is incredibly upsetting and sadly there are alot of real life victims of the abusive n manipulative men portrayed here. Yes! I like how it tells the victim's stories in a very realistic but humane manner, and shows how gray all characters good or bad can be.

I'm amazed at how this drama covers so many things and quite well as well. The long effects of childhood trauma, psychological abuse n manipulation, love scams and dirty PUA stuff, complicated n toxic parent/child relationships. I never expected a cdrama to cover these things well. Ep 11 and going!

I'm intrigued by how the men in this show all seem very manipulative and/or abusive in various ways except the FL's ex and the hardworking cop. The women have all gone through various forms of abuse here and are very vulnerable to the abusive men.. interested tovsee how it all develops and goes down.

LOL Another uneducated oppa apologist who can’t read. I said I pay high taxes — probably more than you ever will.

The demographic that hangs out here usually isn’t doing great in school, has no social life, and spends all their time caping for rich men who don’t know they exist.
Maybe focus less on defending men who don’t know you and more on fixing your sad life.

You might also want to examine why criticism of privilege feels so personal to you. 😉

Girl, why are you all up and down this comments section making out like this article's OP is spreading some weird rumour on cha eun woo and talking sh*t? It literally is big news in SK right now. Her articles or reputation on MDLhave nothing to do with the plain simple fact that this dude did dodge a large amt of taxes, and had his paper company's address to be his parents' eel restaurant in the boondocks no less. A restaurant he constantly talks about on videos, posts etc but acts as if he has no links to them btw. Capping this hard for a rich dude who doesnt know you, and blaming someone who writes an article on what is really going on with him, is frankly embarrassing and quite weird. Give it a rest now.

This. China literally destroys their career and even, lives if they wanted to. And this person is here capping for a rich korean male celeb who probably has been quietly dodging paying up full taxes for years now, and is way richer than all of us on the comments section combined.

Wow its only on this site where comments are more balanced and rational. Literally everywhere else people are defending this rich talentless korean man with "oppa didnt mean it" comments. I pay pretty high taxes in my country though im part of the working middle class and i absolutely hate people like him. It's always the filthy rich doing this until they slip up and get caught. Also, his paper company's address lmao is his parents' eel restaurant out in the middle of nowhere. He has spoken on camera quite a few times about this restaurant/getting eels from his dad etc but has never come clean about his personal connection to them. There is no way he didn't have any knowledge about this going on and most likely kept quiet cos him/his fam never thought it would blow up until the Fantagio top guy got investigated.

And...still not interested in her story. Have seen her trope in many dramas and it isnt new to me

Uhh she is shallow to me. All her scenes are just of her talking about men or with some guy. Such an unnecessary filler character n i skip all her scenes, am only interested in the FL's growth

On ep 3 and i like some things abt the show. I actually like the FL and i love seeing the workplace dynamics cos sadly it reminds me of mine (an incapable micromanaging boss who throws her anger on capable colleagues). It made me realise that being capable doesnt pay off with such a boss, u just get more work and more abuse. I like her fashion which is not OTT like alot of modern drama FLs can be. And i like that they didnt portray her as some arrogant snob like a lot of lawyer types, even on tv are.

Im not quite into the ML yet and ff all his workplace stuff as i cant quite relate to his industry.

The FL sister is insufferable tho. Superficial, vain, materialistic and a cheap gold digger. She has a 10 sec interaction with an older man at the park and is alr telling him to run together in future n thinking of dates n all. Gross. I have no idea why her character appears so much. Im not interested in her at all!

Am on ep 7 and I really love this series! Thank you random redditor for recommending this! It's way better than My Best Friend's Story and To Dear Myself. And I found it much less draggy than Nothing But 30 (this had annoying characters) and Delicious Romance (abit boring). This series also made me discover Li Yi Tong, whose acting I love here and I'm gonna check out her other works. Gina Chen is always captivating in whatever I see her in, and no different here. I loved the stylish and understated fashion both their characters had.

random but the lao yao character comes off abit greasy/slimey and creepy. I'm not sure if the character is supposed to be like this or the actor played it like that but i couldn't stand him in alot of the scenes lol.

On their relationships - cheng nan is such an mcp, reminds me of all the emotionally immature male leads we've seen who can't communicate well. si yi x yao will not last - called it here. there is nothing much going on for them except lust/attraction and maybe slight loneliness from her side. still quite surprised at how many cdramas depict couples jumping into bed so quickly and so early on in the characters' relationships.

Will come back with more updates and a proper review in time.

Lol only a true brainless idiot like yourself will project your own brainlessness on another person. Imagine getting triggered by a random internet comment over a stupid idol show u arent even involved in the making of. Heres some advice: get a life, go do your homework, get out of your parents basement, get a job and/or seek help for your mental health issues.

It's always on tje background for me to be fair wahaa. Ya HRZ is annoying, i dont know if hes like that in the book but the way he interprets everything as romantic.. ughh

Same.. I was so tired of the stonefaces of both the husband and muyao.. and then omg they had to have HRZ have sooo many scenes and his character was pretty annoying. I'd have preferred changing all those 3 characters out with more scenes of ZXW and the FL/ML. I wanted to see her make amends as well, those laying around scenes could have been swapped out for those lol. oddly this drama has a very high rewatch value for me, i find it oddly calming to watch

Yeah there's soo much of mu yao, HRZ and ZYL... all 3 of whom I'm not interested in. Wanted to see more of WXY and his character zhong xi wu's development but there wasn't much if any. The main couple are rarely seen together as well. I oddly liked this drama and found it very rewatchable I guess cos nothing really happens.. it's slow and not high-drama and not political. The FL spends alot of time laying in the sun tho yes HAHA

I agree! It takes skill to hold an audience's attention and have them remember that piece of work yearsss after. Sadly, I don't see many good movies these days. Haven't even stepped into a cinema since the last terrible Transformers instalment.

Yes, I do think C-dramas are trying to cut things short - probably explaining the rise of short verticals which are wayy too tropey and makjang-ey for me - but their dramas at 40 eps is still way too long for me. They end up with alot of weak scenes and filler stuff in order to fill up those 40 or so eps when they could have done away with alot of those. I always think cdramas' set designs, cinematography and costumes will always always be top-notch - but they are still lacking quite alot in the writing dept for a country that is so cultured and creative, and produces so much of content per year.

I do hope LIRD is good for him though looking at his FL and the cast - i don't think it's a very high budget film and am not confident about the writing and general acting, though I'm sure he will always bring his best to the table. I'm just hoping YZ doesn't bind him in some nasty long drawn-out contract that makes it difficult for him to leave.

OMGGG i've been looking for someone to spazz about Beloved with!! It takes alot out of me to watch it haha cos it has this really suspenseful, eerie vibe and I needa focus on the scenes, but goodness what I've seen of it has been wonderful. Just superb acting all around! Are you finished with it?

Apologies for the late reply btw, life has been a bit crazy!!

Yesss they are a very dull bunch, quite different from what I was sold via the teasers and stuff. The mum is also insufferable. I'm a constant dropper of dramas tho haha, I used to hang on much more and just drag it out. But due to the lack of time and so many things to watch and read, I just can't justify the time spent 😂 I actually finished alot of dramas just cause my mum had it on - including the double, I paused quite abit in the first arc - haha and would discover many nice ones that way, including MLC (yes some scenes are filler but the chemistry is soo good it just doesn't bother you heh).

I really liked the Duke Su character too and I don't think I can picture anyone playing it with such gravitas and flair like WXY did. I could see his potential in earlier roles but this was made for him. The character was abit camp in some parts tbh haha and feminine and theatrical in some ways, but he played it so well, it didn't come off forced like you said. I just wished he had more screentime haha. Oh him as the lone swordsman I'd love so much! I actually thought Wanted Detective might have abit of that heh, but I liked it as it is nonetheless.

He kinda reminds me in some ways of Luo Jin and Chen Kun, in terms of style and presence on screen, both of whom are amazing actors and had some really nice roles. Hoping his career goes in a similar nice path too and that yes, he leaves YZ's agency in time lol.

Yeah I saw the OG pics and it was a brightly lit area with alot of people around. Hmm. While I think western media culture is similar somewhat I think there are stark differences though cos of quite a few factors tho. Just the sheer amount of online discourse that can never be controlled - on weibo/xhs/douyin etc, the undercurrent of money and manipulation behind alot of dirty tactics, the emphasis on data and the such, an emphasis in the c-culture on celebs being 'pure' and 'virtuous/lack of transparency around many things and putting up a certain image means the fallouts from scandals are huge, the incredibly systematic, organised fan culture and insane parasocial relationships all the above creates. Also a real lack of verifiability/authenticity of anything online in c-ent, anyone with an online account can post anything they want, which creates ripples of unfounded rumours, nonsensical theories and the like. In western culture, you at least get a semblance of which sources tend to be more authentic, and the media culture doesn't punish celebs for having a life/being real/dating/marrying/hanging out with friends/being a jerk etc. Having dabbled in fan cultures in china, korea, and the west I find c-ent to be the most toxic of the 3. 🤷‍♀️

I think I dropped PM around ep 9 or sth - i can't even remember, but just everything about it isn't nice - the plot, the way the men are written, the relationships etc. As a huge fan of Little Women and Pride & prejudice - it felt abit insulting to see this drama constantly compared to those 2 classics lol. And i totally agree - multi-lead ensemble type shows is a precarious thing usually as they usually dont quite get the balance right, or they focus too much on all the characters and the plot suffers.

Oh gosh i just love mysterious lotus casebook and i agree with the great chemistry! now why have I not heard about wild ambition bloom before this?! it looks amazing! no idol actors. sth up my alley. it seems we have similar taste as I unintentionally binged light on and really enjoyed it. c-ent does crime/police procedurals really well.

lemme know if you ever finish PM and how u find it 😅

Ah same thoughts! i wanna see him go all out playing an intense scheming villian.

OMG. I was thinking the same when i was watching tan jianci in under my skin - where he was really good in - and at the same time watching wanted detective and thinking hmm. wxy would totally fit that sort of junior detective, all brash but clearly talented and then learns something. here's hoping there's a role for him like that soon. tbh i don't quite enjoy his romance dramas - PM, probably LIRD also and i dont think i will enjoy XZW lol. but i do like the other roles he's played. the rumoured upcoming one he's about to film sounds really good!

Im very curious about c ent online culture in general tho. It seems so easy to just.. say anything without much backlash. Like i can just go around talking trash about any of these celebs with nothing to stop me. The chances of getting sued is also slim.. im always never sure what infor is real or who to believe. There are so many melon accounts, hater/black marketing accounts, agencies n individual actors' teams trash talking other actors, cnetz just saying whatever they want.. fans posting rumours and untrue things..fanclubs distorting the narrative..how does one even get any sort of real infor or verify anything omg. I cant be bothereed with all the "activity" these days and just watch the dramas.. not even the promos or interviews.. i just find it all too much and i sometimes wonder how the celebs even survive in such an environment. It's insane on all levels