Girl are you being paid by the Sweet Home social media team or something? My 'complaints' are clearly not about my 'fave' like did you even read my comment? Lmao. This was a poorly-paced, poorly-written, poorly-shot season of television and was not a good follow-up, end of.
Omg. I have been looking forward to this for three years, but I never imagined the immensity of my disappointment.
Season 1 was INFINITELY, exponentially better—by virtually EVERY single metric—than this one. Holy CGI batman!! Gone are the almost stop-motion graphics of yesteryear, which was part of the show's charm. Tbh I thought nearly everything about this season was shockingly bad. It looked and felt so cheap, which is amazing considering the enormous budget they were working with, but bigger is not always better and this is proof.
Eight thousand new characters who take up tons of screen-time and are poorly developed, so the the human element felt very distant. I didn't care about any of these people whatsoever besides maybe Park Chan Young. Completely all over the place plot-wise. I cared about everyone in the first season—even the b*stards. I was still intrigued by them, drawn into the environment, and interested in tracking their experiences and the subtle dynamics at play. Not so here. It was just cliches and caricatures and filler all jumbled together so they could stretch it for another season and milk the success and $$ from the initial run. Holy crap, I have whiplash.
Song Kang was fantastic as *main character* Hyun Soo—in all 3 episodes he appeared in lmfao. It's absurd he was listed as top billing when his story was barely explored. BARELY EVEN TOUCHED. But I guess this is the Lee Eun Yoo 'girlbossing' show now. And don't even get me started on Jisu's totally unceremonious departure. She was easily the best part of S1, and the way her death was handled was such a huge slap in the face.
zhang ling he really exceeded my expectations in SOKP, and zhao jin mai is one of the best young actresses working in china—i believe they'll have excellent chemistry. plus, the costumes look absolutely GORGEOUS.... this drama is gonna be such a doozy. i can't wait.
WAITING FOR THESE TWO TO GET TOGETHER HAS BEEN THE MOST DELICIOUSLY PAINFUL THING OF MY EXISTENCE AND THAT CAVE KISS LITERALLY RELEASED ME FROM THE BOWELS OF HELL. I AM IN TOTAL ECSTASY
This is all very nice but how’s the romance front advancing? Is it still in its infancy? turtle steps? lol
They are not 'romantic' yet per se, though there is still a super satisfying chemistry just watching them work together and be one another's secret-keeper.
XW clearly has feelings for XN and everyone around him knows it except her. She still has feelings for ZZ, but that will come to an end within the next 3 eps -- SPOILER --and then it's a pretty steep fall into love with XW once she realizes the truth of his identity and his intentions. Zero to a hundred.
I actually went to double check its 36 episodes. They have been dwelling on Shu Yi falling for Shi Yan because…
This summary was so helpful because wtf is even going on in this drama??? Lmao, what is the actual point that I NEED AN OUTLINE in order to make sense of it. Somehow nothing is happening in the middle of....25 things happening....oof.
I loved how Xie Wei called out Xue Ning on her arrogance. I adore her character for her intelligence and ability to make decisions under pressure, but he's absolutely right in that she relies too much on her own cleverness and doesn't give things proper weight for their potential to go wrong. She's had several wins in a row, which gave her the hubristic tendency to forget there's many lives caught in the balance if she makes a mistake.
It was adorable how she wanted a little acknowledgment from Xie Wei (like, "See?? Didn't I do so good?" lol) but she isn't perfect, and that whole plan was MASSIVELY risky in ways it didn't necessarily have to be. Because she involves herself so vitally in these matters, any lapses in judgment will have dire consequences. He was like, "Nice plan bro, but what the hell would you do if something went wrong?" The answer of course is, 'You'd be totally f****d, Ning'er, along with everyone else in your vicinity.' She needed the reminder.
I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, UGH. I love how they are making one another the best versions of themselves with each conflict. *chef's kiss*
Oh so they did fix the Dr. Jekyll/Mr. Hyde problem? Haven’t gotten there yet. Honestly was worried that after…
I was worried it would create a several-episodes-long misunderstanding too, but they resolved it in the same episode in SUCH a satisfying way tbh. It didn't feel rushed at all—I'm loving the way this show takes its time. It's marinating at the perfect pace, without ever feeling slow.
A) Yao Xi getting her butt handed to her by Xue Ning and finally being called out as the terrible gossip she is, which is truly what landed her in this whole mess aside from her own naïveté B) Xie Wei being able to enact a tangible and brutal piece of his (deserved) revenge C) Xue Ning and Xie Wei having *that* conversation, wherein he giggled!! at how frickin' smart and clever and observant his future wife is, nbd
...is akin to that amazing feeling one gets when they jump into a room temperature pool after sitting in the hot tub for 30 minutes. Utterly divine
What happens to Shen Jie? Does he end up marrying the elder sister? Also, does he end up becoming an emperor like…
In the novel, in the past life, Xue Ning married Shen Jie, stealing him from her sister, which is how she became Empress. Now that she knows what will happen in her second life, several changes occur (i.e. sister comes to the palace, another male baby born from the Emperor's concubine is named Crown Prince instead of Shen Jie) so Shen Jie doesn't become emperor as he's no longer next in line for the throne. I think he does end up with the sister and remains a member of court.
I was beyond excited to see this in IQ's Coming Soon section over the last few months, but with Angelababy's latest scandal, I doubt this one will ever see the light of day now. I'm sooooooo upset. We were SO CLOSE!
It helps that the petty politics are important to the story and integrated well. If you skip it then you might…
Exactly! It's not tacked on just for the sake of having more episodes—every 'side' story is actually clearly a part of the 'main' story, if that makes sense. Rather than feeling like an entirely separate narrative, the political stuff is very well integrated. It's part of a larger whole.
I'm really impressed, because with all the airing delays I was honestly expecting this drama to be edited and cut to shit, so I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief so far 🤣
This is a very rare drama in that I actually ENJOY the petty politics scenes. I often find myself skipping them in other shows, but not here. I'm loving seeing all these pockets of manipulation and how they function to reach their ultimate goals, and watching Xue Ning free falling, trying to keep her loved ones safe in this 'new' future.
This is hands down my favorite livewatch experience I've had in 2023. Praying this show maintains its momentum and doesn't fall flat. And I CANNOT WAIT to see Xue Ning finally start falling for Xie Wei....their chemistry is impeccable and only gets better with each episode. When she told him she trusted him, and that she knew he would accomplish what he set out to do, my heart nearly burst.
Season 1 was INFINITELY, exponentially better—by virtually EVERY single metric—than this one. Holy CGI batman!! Gone are the almost stop-motion graphics of yesteryear, which was part of the show's charm. Tbh I thought nearly everything about this season was shockingly bad. It looked and felt so cheap, which is amazing considering the enormous budget they were working with, but bigger is not always better and this is proof.
Eight thousand new characters who take up tons of screen-time and are poorly developed, so the the human element felt very distant. I didn't care about any of these people whatsoever besides maybe Park Chan Young. Completely all over the place plot-wise. I cared about everyone in the first season—even the b*stards. I was still intrigued by them, drawn into the environment, and interested in tracking their experiences and the subtle dynamics at play. Not so here. It was just cliches and caricatures and filler all jumbled together so they could stretch it for another season and milk the success and $$ from the initial run. Holy crap, I have whiplash.
Song Kang was fantastic as *main character* Hyun Soo—in all 3 episodes he appeared in lmfao. It's absurd he was listed as top billing when his story was barely explored. BARELY EVEN TOUCHED. But I guess this is the Lee Eun Yoo 'girlbossing' show now. And don't even get me started on Jisu's totally unceremonious departure. She was easily the best part of S1, and the way her death was handled was such a huge slap in the face.
I doubt I'll tune in for the third season.
AND THAT ENDING!!! My god, the universe is healing
XW clearly has feelings for XN and everyone around him knows it except her. She still has feelings for ZZ, but that will come to an end within the next 3 eps -- SPOILER --and then it's a pretty steep fall into love with XW once she realizes the truth of his identity and his intentions. Zero to a hundred.
It was adorable how she wanted a little acknowledgment from Xie Wei (like, "See?? Didn't I do so good?" lol) but she isn't perfect, and that whole plan was MASSIVELY risky in ways it didn't necessarily have to be. Because she involves herself so vitally in these matters, any lapses in judgment will have dire consequences. He was like, "Nice plan bro, but what the hell would you do if something went wrong?" The answer of course is, 'You'd be totally f****d, Ning'er, along with everyone else in your vicinity.' She needed the reminder.
I LOVE THEM SO MUCH, UGH. I love how they are making one another the best versions of themselves with each conflict. *chef's kiss*
A) Yao Xi getting her butt handed to her by Xue Ning and finally being called out as the terrible gossip she is, which is truly what landed her in this whole mess aside from her own naïveté
B) Xie Wei being able to enact a tangible and brutal piece of his (deserved) revenge
C) Xue Ning and Xie Wei having *that* conversation, wherein he giggled!! at how frickin' smart and clever and observant his future wife is, nbd
...is akin to that amazing feeling one gets when they jump into a room temperature pool after sitting in the hot tub for 30 minutes. Utterly divine
I'm really impressed, because with all the airing delays I was honestly expecting this drama to be edited and cut to shit, so I'm breathing a huge sigh of relief so far 🤣
This is hands down my favorite livewatch experience I've had in 2023. Praying this show maintains its momentum and doesn't fall flat. And I CANNOT WAIT to see Xue Ning finally start falling for Xie Wei....their chemistry is impeccable and only gets better with each episode. When she told him she trusted him, and that she knew he would accomplish what he set out to do, my heart nearly burst.