There are many things i dislike about this(even if some of there are small details) maybe its because Ive read…
It's from you I learnt that the Drama is based on a NOVEL.
Now I get WHY the Drama is sooo uneven and hashed up in SO many parts .. while it smells of a GREAT STORY and SUPERB characters .. It FAILS in SO MANY ways.
I just finished the show and needed get a load of my chest .. SO wrote a LOOOONG spiel ..
After 5 Years though doubt you will remember much go the 'details' I got dissecting ;-p
If you like male chasing female first plots then you’ll like this. I really enjoyed and even rewatched it. I…
GOD BLESS YOUR STRONG Heart to Rewatch LOL
I just finished the show and ended up feeling stuffed and needed to get it out of my suite .. Maybe you will find echoes of some other stuff you liked or disliked
Target Audience - fresh from the DRAMA or remember the drama clearly.
Honestly, this Drama evoked many different thoughts and feelings. I'll first get the UGLY and the BAD out of the way.
# Shu Yin Jin # ------------------
The CASTING of the FL (Yang Zi Shan) Su Yun Jin (SYJ) didn't sit well with me. The show started off SO well and she came across as an interesting character ... Not ditzy or given to unnecessary facial expressions as many actresses are.
Her calm demeanour in Ep 1, when the Xu-Wife (now we know she was an ex-wife probably) threw coffee at her and yet she kept her composure and wrapped up her scheduled office meeting unfazed.. She shot up my respect AND curiosity scale. She had me on her side, at get go, wondering what happened and what preceded this?
Then Drama went pretty much wholesale into flashback mode and hooked me in for almost 12 episodes. I LOVED the young Su Yin Jin (Landy Li) actress. She played SYJ young to the T. Beautiful, grave, reserved, mature, sensitive; she KNEW how to say NO firmly.
(IDEALLY Landy Li should have played the ADULT also. I mean it was JUST a few years later that they were in college .. right? They took the College entrance exams and morphed? New set of Actors???)
And then came the college dorm years .. and SYJ was already on a slide for me. I had NO view into her inner self. The script - director - actress steadily ERODED any sense of empathy and connect I had at the beginning for the character. Her face and demeanour began to chafe and irk AND AGE. Her naso-labial crease became SO prominent that she looked not like a young college kid in her twenties but someone who could be cast as a mid-forties, mother of a teenager. A "cold FL role" need not also be CAST using an actress whose visuals are ALSO stiff / dour / dismal with a perpetual surly expression. Her pinched, thin lips (she adds to it by constantly sucking it in making it thinner) are more suited to "the witch" who curses the baby princess when not invited by the king to the christening party.
The "cold" needs to be enacted .. not 'looked' like. (Landy Li does the COLD also but we FEEL her)
A 'cold' role needs to be condignly presented to the audience; requires a view into her true, vulnerable heart, her lack of self confidence around moneyed people from the upper classes, around high achievers; her weakness, her despair and her bottled up suffering (Landy Li does it SO effectively).
NOT once is she shown harbouring ANY warmth for the ML. (except when LAndy Li acts. Her ONE HUG speaks VOLUMES .. while grown up SYJ's hugs leave the audience feeling a freeze. By the time ML Cheng Zheng (Elvis Han) and her have gotten together (beyond the midway point of Drama) the viewer cannot care less or be bothered with the couple.
In fact; was SO SHOCKED at my OWN response to DRAMA's OTP romance. For the FIRST TIME in the 250 plus Drama viewings, did I FFWD ALL the hug and kiss and intimate scenes of the OTP. It was pissing me off to see her puckering up - not only I FELT NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL, I ACTUALLY HIT the FFD HARD to not have to see her. Elvis Han was DOING ALL the work!!! And that was SUCH TORTURE!! She was made to play 'little Miss Prissy' - a FRIGID woman almost .. a adult woman who would NOT 'sleep with her guy' and made 'disgusted' expressions when CZ got passionate. Viewer would imagine 'she was faking' herself into a couple relationship. One HAD to agree and NOD vigorously when CZ laid it out to her; that she is a FRIGID "Beyotch" who had NO real emotions for him .. Her palm actually "DID NOT sweat" (MHY's explanation of what 'sparks' felt like) and she never showed ANY sparky reaction to him. Robot was not a wrong description of her by CZ.
The directors had JUST let SYJ devolve into a 'hated' character by the time she was 'supposed' to have achieved her 'changed' feelings and persona. There had been NO arc. The viewer FELT NO connect .. the opposite .. they managed make her a "DISLIKED" character. She was made to go from morose-gruff to "smiling" in one leap. (smiling in quotes because it was bereft of any warmth).
Nothing softened her face, joy did not reach her eyes - inspite of the blurry lighting and camera. She even had these HARD lines like double brackets next to her lips (visible in some lighting shots). So when drama kept having other characters repeatedly calling her 'pretty' / 'good looking' viewer was left even more aghast!! Cummon!!! Zhang Hue was stunningly BEAUTIFUL .. Mo Yu Hua (MYH) glowed, so lovely to look at (and she played the "plain" looker??!!! REALLY??) At that point I was HAVING serious doubts about the CASTING director being the same person because some of the characters FIT so well.
Thus SYJ's visual further emphasised her "HARD" heart. Her spartan adherence to principles began to sound SO PREACHY!! Gaunt-drawn faced, Nun-like Matron at a Girl's Boarding School. She seemed to be 'working at loving him' .. Not exactly what drama intended for the story outcome for sure!!
Yet in the last episodes we are expected (via her SPEECH) to BUY that SHE always had 'feelings' for him. YEAH .. sure .. it came across as double FAKE; similar to the other ML character's wide smiley expressions - Shen Ju An - played by the excellent Toby Lee.
Now Toby pulls of the complex character of grey tones so convincingly .. one could have easily 'HATED' him in the role .. but one never stopped feeling deeply sorry for him and his frailty .. even understood and worried about him as he foolishly pursued his misguided notions of how to be "successful"; as he got more and more lost, one grew anxious for him losing everything, especially his compass. Drama could have cast a less 'pleasant face' for him, to take the easy way out and make him a detestable character rather than the dubious sorry figure he was whose final redemption therefore is well earned and something we can root for and support. In the last few scenes his earlier "hyper-smiles" had dropped .. he didn't need them any more. He had found his grounding core.
# Second LEAD Romance - Relationship - Friendship # -------------------------------------------------------------------
The development towards the relationship endgame of Dr Mo Yu Hua (MYH) and Footballer Zhou Zi Yi (ZZY) was dropped like a hot brick!! Until close to the end it was a finely balanced, growing house of cards, delicately put together, which we couldn't take our eyes off. It was Tan Jian Ci's stellar portrayal, so convincingly played. An easy, carefree, external silliness, an extrovert self that hid a LOST soul, an anger and pain. Coming from a broken home, he had nurtured a deep, complex parental resentment. He is the classic Attachment-Avoidant (AA) Personality TYPE. (google description) "You value your independence and freedom to the point where you can feel uncomfortable with, even stifled by, intimacy and closeness in a romantic relationship."
This description accurately pins his attitude towards MYH (who he is of course drawn to).
Suddenly the rug was pulled from under us, that arc collapsed .. the House of Cards crashed. No, worse!! VANISHED without trace, loped off.
ALL the time that was INVESTED on working on the complex dependancy on MYH (as well as on his childhood buddy CZ) - his blindness - his denial; careful build up of arc of MYH, actress's (Su Qing) beautifully and soulfully captured suffering, enduring loyalty and patience, was discarded.
Suddenly at the FINAL PARTY we are told that "they were together" - like WHEN DID THAT golf ball fall into the hole???
I felt CHEATED out of the RELEASE and CLOSURE; A PASSIONATE KISS (CUMMON) for THAT couple .. Waited for it way more than the OTP's closure. By the time I was deeply into the Drama, ZZY-MYH were FAR more engrossing to follow than any other thread.
(Caveat : Tian Ci Jian is on my list to check out in other dramas - he's excellent in the range he can cover .. from comic goofball to tortured and deep)
# THE MARRIAGE of Zhou Zi Yi # --------------------------------------------
What was with the absence of his wife Chen Zie Zie from the ENTIRE drama after a brief back shot of a bride being yelled at by her father (ZZY uncle Chen) at the cancelled-wedding scene!! Got too expensive to shoot extra scenes and hire extra actress?
(Caveat : Ironically that's where OTP gets together. Does that precipitate in some sense ZZY's actions?)
ZZY's SURPRISE announcement later required a "flashback" to what had transpired later that day .. we NEEDED to see the transformation; it was imperative for his arc .. We needed the camera on ZZY's face, to see his expression on 'seeing' the Bride (he must have known her since he knew uncle Chen?) It would highlight his capacity for deep EMPATHY to the point where he self-destructs - one would imagine - locking himself into a marriage with a pregnant woman who definitely tied the knot out of convenience.
He was a saviour, a "hero" in her eyes, more so in his own eyes too. He felt he had found a purpose, a redemption of sorts. His life had meaning now. This act of self sacrifice required of him no TRUE attachment but the safety of a contract .. an emotion-free relationship - an act of a Good Samaritan. Remember his was an Attachment-Avoidant (AA) character.
Accepting or entangling with MYH was the most frightening, self-threatening, panic inducing thought in his subconscious mind. While would run miles away he also couldn't because he also felt the safest with her in his knowledge that she would NEVER abandon him. Fear of abandonment is the driving force of the AA personality. That's why anytime his MYH pillar shook (her dating / her leaving for Dublin) he reacted with such severe physical expression towards her - like he's drowning!!
That's why seeing him interact with his pregnant wife WAS essential for us to explore more sides of him. IF SO many scenes and dialogues were not wasted on exploring his 'part time' superficial 'crush' with the doc colleague of MYH, then this HUGE development of this part of his arc would have added depth to the drama and ZZY personality.
This marriage is ALSO disposed of brashly and rashly, just by a few lines of dialogue!!!! Seriously??!! The end arc of ZZY was turned into an unbelievable mockery .. and showed little respect for the viewers, they had been carefully cultivated and then callously flicked away.
#THE GROWING UP OF CHENG ZHENG# -------------------------------------------------------
The child actor actor was a perfect fit for CZ as a kid (he wouldn't have - absolutely couldn't have LOL - transitioned into an adult role, unlike Landy Li) and segued well into Elvis Han's adult CZ.
CZ's arc needed to move forward in scenes where he is in college .. His engagement with his Uni in Beijing had NO scenes of classes attended .. proffs met .. No establishing of father's influence (was it required to keep father character as a script secret to be jumped at us ONLY in the competition scene??). I think introducing father at an earlier episode would have established and strengthened the Competition scene as well as heightened the tension (and comic play-out when he's hiding from dad at the registration). Same time that mom is shown .. dad could have been introduced. We NEVER see CZ looking at his dad's office or him working .. so his speech on the stage looks hollow and pasted on. The actor who played Father was a great fit for the role, no reason why he couldn't be in more scenes.
Fine maybe CZ barely grows up after his award win. But what about later? We don't see the DAWNing of his sense of responsibility, except saying a few flippant 'hallmark card' lines to SYJ after his win.
During the couple episodes once the OTP comes together one expects to see him move into his "earning" phase. The maturing of CZ Post breakup is essential. WHAT was he doing while she was working her way up the company? Working? Regretting? Mooning for her? The time when we expect to see his growth arc is an ellipsis .. The story pasted on with his last episode dialogue!! THE cheapest, most unattractive way to handle a 'visual medium'. Did we not need to see him engage maturely? Drop the 'kiddish' act .. Change his body language?
Why does SYJ accept him WITHOUT seeing ANY of those characteristics in him .. JUST based on his written hanging words and that he stayed single? AND stalked her DAILY?? Which mature adult does that .. Wasn't he supposed to have graduated from OBSESSION to Mature Love?
It was his obsession and wish to possess her that drove him during all those chasing years. She fell for him when he finally began to display signs of maturity in the way he executed the their internship job, looked after her. Ironically it was this same obsession and possessiveness that also broke the spell for SYJ and revealed his unchanged "childishness".
So where is the convincing portrayal of the growth into maturity suitable for someone like SYJ who is looking for stability ALWAYS. She is STAID .. and can handle only a teeny dash of madness. HE is ALL MAD!!
She has NEVER been shown as someone who can laugh and enjoy a joke .. or be playful!! How the heck does she suddenly begin to 'like' a goofball .. the kind she stayed far from! He is the EXACT opposite of the STAID Shen Ju An, he too doesn't have a humour bone in his body.
By the time the final episode roles in .. Elvis Han looks depleted of all enthusiasm for the Drama .. bored .. and doing lip service to the role (literally - because Drama plot is all DIALOGUE driven now to patch in the missing elements of story).
No ONE cares if the OTP packs up and says OK DRAMA team 'it's a wrap', right in the middle of the last episode's rooftop party. What a tacky way to hook up ALL the couples!!
A Drama which dealt with such COMPLEX relations does a hash up of the end - all cardboard and staple finish.
# THE RISE OF She Yin Jin # -----------------------------------------
So here is this low IQ, slow at math, terrible at ALL academic subjects, with NO HINT that she has 2 cells in her BRAINS that have the ability to shine in any way EXCEPT to wield her STAFF of PRINCIPLES .. Needing help from CZ to accomplish most of her successes .. SHE suddenly is a Tech Crack, a super topnotch, trail blazing intern who finds her way into the CEO's level of confidence, wins key projects, graduates while doing all this. This dim average intern might as well have had a brain-graft to be swimming in shark waters that Mr Xu navigates.
I thought only MYH is the 'brains' of her class. As is CZ.
It was completely understandable that her 'low IQ skills' made her pragmatic enough to settle for the "peaceful, simple, stable" life in a quite corner .. She doesn't see herself anywhere near high buzz, high pressure performance, BIG corporate spaces. She even can't relate to Shen Ju An's excitement and ambition to be part of something faster and bigger than campus life. So her SUDDENLY choosing a company in the fast lane and speeding along in it .. has ANYTHING to do with a calm, steady, peaceful, simple life. It's is puzzling and JUST doesn't WORK.
One would expect HER to have stayed at campus 'studying and failing and studying' to graduate and then slogging to try for a PhD or looking for a teaching job or at best opening a handicraft store .. wasn't that something she had mentioned .. YEAH THAT would suit her need for the SIMPLE LIFE.
So how did this transformation come about .. from wanting a simple, uncomplicated life being a spendthrift and looking down on 'ambitious' people; to high flying top honcho of a company riding expensive cars and wearing expensive clothes .. Where did she even get the BASIC ACADEMIC requirement to hold onto such complex roles. Her being yelled at by her first boss Ms Guo for a sloppy, half baked, full of mistake job was organic and MADE TOTAL sense. THEN? CZ sashays in and saves the day. Like he did in school.
Shen Ju An's exposure and slow change into the high life and from his low ambitions was organic and VISIBLE .. His ability at the Hengkhai corps was matched with his TOP student reputation, he had the intellectual ability for such work. EVEN he was shown as someone who failed at his job so badly, he LOST the project to this dim-wit intern!!! This 'almost failing' student was striking gold and re-imagining Cellular Phone futures like a visionary, winning projects!!!! What IS THIS .. Groucho Marx selling his WILD PLANS?? Complete farce in this angle.
Gimme a Horse Egg instead!!
# THE GOOD and THE EXCELLENT# ------------------------------------------------
~ Zhang Yue's Father, Zhang Jing Meng (played by Ling Dong Fu) WOW what an actor; his voice, his delivery, body language made my bones feel his maturity and gravity and wisdom. Wisdom that came from having failed a lot and lost a lot; learnt from mistakes. His patriarchal moorings are visible; but he also wants to do the right thing as the Chief, as the father, the uncle. He is strict, but affectionate and indulgent in equal measure. He know HOW TO PICK his BATTLES. His life experience has taught him to sniff out fake .. His rise to his current status has taught him the difference between Aspiration and Dignity .. His long reigning position at the top has turned him into a highly polished authoritative man. SO he is also most qualified to spell out the 'life lessons' and pass it on to those he comes to care for and considers worthy of it. I'd LOVE to see him in other dramas.
~ Mr Xu Zhi SYJ's final Boss He's a politician. He knows how to smartly hedge his bets. He knows how to play people .. and has his own justifications for his actions and his methods of getting what he wants. He ALSO has dignity and he'll not drop it to reach his goals.. Be it in becoming his own boss or winning over someone he fancies. He'll stop at the wall of his dignity. I think SYJ recognises that in him and thus admires, trusts, works for him. He does not EVER make her feel uncomfortable. His last interaction with CZ is once again him taking the upper hand .. giving solid advice and continuing to stand on his own pedestal.
Played so well by Archie Kao .. the low pitched voice, the controlled expression, and movements, a man such as him would NEVER allow someone to see his true face. His composure thus is not broken even when his suit is damaged by a coffee spill in public view.
# THE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS of ALL the couples and friendships # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A wonderful palette of greys .. like a chiaroscuro .. that emotions and love aren't that simple .. that they mean different things to different people .. some don't even know it .. so understand it very late .. The Fears and insecurities of those who fall in love, and those who dare not or those who fail at love. The conversations between the characters are RICH .. slice of life REAL .. The entanglements true to life. The coming together and falling out of the couples.. organic.
Deeply angst driven .. BUT SUCH Cracky dialogues. Especially the ones delivered by and between CZ and ZZY The situational comedy relieved SO much of the heaviness that might have pulled down the show. The BROMANCE melty - shweet. Poignant - remember that 'face scratch' story CZ tells SJY about ZZY when they were kids. The SIBLING LOVE .. warmed the cockles of my heart and their playful teasing and protecting each other .. their banter also cracked me up.
This Drama would have been a disaster HAD it's 'preachy' parts, 'angsty' parts and IMPOSSIBLE-to-enjoy FL (Yang Zhi Shan) parts not been sprinkled with such delightful, playful, funny bantering and dialogues between the characters.
CZ is a Top Cat when it comes to playing the goofball, uninhibited, swollen with confidence raised by a warm bubbly indulgent to a fault mother. A mother who knows how to orchestrate a happy balance between conflicting family members as well as when to make herself scarce.
Overall I gave the drama a 8/10 for the SERIOUS way it explored the above themes. I'd have given it a 10/10 had the FL been better cast .. and all those weak joints and fallen arcs been carefully treated.
Not an easy watch, a great choice ONLY for those who are willing to engage SERIOUSLY for a SLICE of life treatment of multiple relationships; who are not fazed or confused or upset by flawed characters who have the capacity to see their own failings; who make an effort to improve, course correct their lives.
# THE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS of ALL the couples and friendships # --------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A wonderful palette of greys .. like a chiaroscuro .. that emotions and love aren't that simple .. that they mean different things to different people .. some don't even know it .. so understand it very late .. The Fears and insecurities of those who fall in love, and those who dare not or those who fail at love. The conversations between the characters are RICH .. slice of life REAL .. The entanglements true to life. The coming together and falling out of the couples.. organic.
Deeply angst driven .. BUT SUCH Cracky dialogues. Especially the ones delivered by and between CZ and ZZY The situational comedy relieved SO much of the heaviness that might have pulled down the show. The BROMANCE melty - shweet. Poignant - remember that 'face scratch' story CZ tells SJY about ZZY when they were kids. The SIBLING LOVE .. warmed the cockles of my heart and their playful teasing and protecting each other .. their banter also cracked me up.
This Drama would have been a disaster HAD it's 'preachy' parts, 'angsty' parts and IMPOSSIBLE-to-enjoy FL (Yang Zhi Shan) parts not been sprinkled with such delightful, playful, funny bantering and dialogues between the characters.
CZ is a Top Cat when it comes to playing the goofball, uninhibited, swollen with confidence raised by a warm bubbly indulgent to a fault mother. A mother who knows how to orchestrate a happy balance between conflicting family members as well as when to make herself scarce.
Overall I gave the drama a 8/10 for the SERIOUS way it explored the above themes. I'd have given it a 10/10 had the FL been better cast .. and all those weak joints and fallen arcs been carefully treated.
Not an easy watch, a great choice ONLY for those who are willing to engage SERIOUSLY for a SLICE of life treatment of multiple relationships; who are not fazed or confused or upset by flawed characters who have the capacity to see their own failings; who make an effort to improve, course correct their lives.
# THE RISE OF She Yin Jin # -----------------------------------------
So here is this low IQ, slow at math, terrible at ALL academic subjects, with NO HINT that she has 2 cells in her BRAINS that have the ability to shine in any way EXCEPT to wield her STAFF of PRINCIPLES .. Needing help from CZ to accomplish most of her successes .. SHE suddenly is a Tech Crack, a super topnotch, trail blazing intern who finds her way into the CEO's level of confidence, wins key projects, graduates while doing all this. This dim average intern might as well have had a brain-graft to be swimming in shark waters that Mr Xu navigates.
I thought only MYH is the 'brains' of her class. As is CZ.
It was completely understandable that her 'low IQ skills' made her pragmatic enough to settle for the "peaceful, simple, stable" life in a quite corner .. She doesn't see herself anywhere near high buzz, high pressure performance, BIG corporate spaces. She even can't relate to Shen Ju An's excitement and ambition to be part of something faster and bigger than campus life. So her SUDDENLY choosing a company in the fast lane and speeding along in it .. has ANYTHING to do with a calm, steady, peaceful, simple life. It's is puzzling and JUST doesn't WORK.
One would expect HER to have stayed at campus 'studying and failing and studying' to graduate and then slogging to try for a PhD or looking for a teaching job or at best opening a handicraft store .. wasn't that something she had mentioned .. YEAH THAT would suit her need for the SIMPLE LIFE.
So how did this transformation come about .. from wanting a simple, uncomplicated life being a spendthrift and looking down on 'ambitious' people; to high flying top honcho of a company riding expensive cars and wearing expensive clothes .. Where did she even get the BASIC ACADEMIC requirement to hold onto such complex roles. Her being yelled at by her first boss Ms Guo for a sloppy, half baked, full of mistake job was organic and MADE TOTAL sense. THEN? CZ sashays in and saves the day. Like he did in school.
Shen Ju An's exposure and slow change into the high life and from his low ambitions was organic and VISIBLE .. His ability at the Hengkhai corps was matched with his TOP student reputation, he had the intellectual ability for such work. EVEN he was shown as someone who failed at his job so badly, he LOST the project to this dim-wit intern!!! This 'almost failing' student was striking gold and re-imagining Cellular Phone futures like a visionary, winning projects!!!! What IS THIS .. Groucho Marx selling his WILD PLANS?? Complete farce in this angle.
Gimme a Horse Egg instead!!
# THE GOOD and THE EXCELLENT# ------------------------------------------------
~ Zhang Yue's Father, Zhang Jing Meng (played by Ling Dong Fu) WOW what an actor; his voice, his delivery, body language made my bones feel his maturity and gravity and wisdom. Wisdom that came from having failed a lot and lost a lot; learnt from mistakes. His patriarchal moorings are visible; but he also wants to do the right thing as the Chief, as the father, the uncle. He is strict, but affectionate and indulgent in equal measure. He know HOW TO PICK his BATTLES. His life experience has taught him to sniff out fake .. His rise to his current status has taught him the difference between Aspiration and Dignity .. His long reigning position at the top has turned him into a highly polished authoritative man. SO he is also most qualified to spell out the 'life lessons' and pass it on to those he comes to care for and considers worthy of it. I'd LOVE to see him in other dramas.
~ Mr Xu Zhi SYJ's final Boss He's a politician. He knows how to smartly hedge his bets. He knows how to play people .. and has his own justifications for his actions and his methods of getting what he wants. He ALSO has dignity and he'll not drop it to reach his goals.. Be it in becoming his own boss or winning over someone he fancies. He'll stop at the wall of his dignity. I think SYJ recognises that in him and thus admires, trusts, works for him. He does not EVER make her feel uncomfortable. His last interaction with CZ is once again him taking the upper hand .. giving solid advice and continuing to stand on his own pedestal.
Played so well by Archie Kao .. the low pitched voice, the controlled expression, and movements, a man such as him would NEVER allow someone to see his true face. His composure thus is not broken even when his suit is damaged by a coffee spill in public view.
#THE GROWING UP OF CHENG ZHENG# -------------------------------------------------------
The child actor actor was a perfect fit for CZ as a kid (he wouldn't have - absolutely couldn't have LOL - transitioned into an adult role, unlike Landy Li) and segued well into Elvis Han's adult CZ.
CZ's arc needed to move forward in scenes where he is in college .. His engagement with his Uni in Beijing had NO scenes of classes attended .. proffs met .. No establishing of father's influence (was it required to keep father character as a script secret to be jumped at us ONLY in the competition scene??). I think introducing father at an earlier episode would have established and strengthened the Competition scene as well as heightened the tension (and comic play-out when he's hiding from dad at the registration). Same time that mom is shown .. dad could have been introduced. We NEVER see CZ looking at his dad's office or him working .. so his speech on the stage looks hollow and pasted on. The actor who played Father was a great fit for the role, no reason why he couldn't be in more scenes.
Fine maybe CZ barely grows up after his award win. But what about later? We don't see the DAWNing of his sense of responsibility, except saying a few flippant 'hallmark card' lines to SYJ after his win.
During the couple episodes once the OTP comes together one expects to see him move into his "earning" phase. The maturing of CZ Post breakup is essential. WHAT was he doing while she was working her way up the company? Working? Regretting? Mooning for her? The time when we expect to see his growth arc is an ellipsis .. The story pasted on with his last episode dialogue!! THE cheapest, most unattractive way to handle a 'visual medium'. Did we not need to see him engage maturely? Drop the 'kiddish' act .. Change his body language?
Why does SYJ accept him WITHOUT seeing ANY of those characteristics in him .. JUST based on his written hanging words and that he stayed single? AND stalked her DAILY?? Which mature adult does that .. Wasn't he supposed to have graduated from OBSESSION to Mature Love?
It was his obsession and wish to possess her that drove him during all those chasing years. She fell for him when he finally began to display signs of maturity in the way he executed the their internship job, looked after her. Ironically it was this same obsession and possessiveness that also broke the spell for SYJ and revealed his unchanged "childishness".
So where is the convincing portrayal of the growth into maturity suitable for someone like SYJ who is looking for stability ALWAYS. She is STAID .. and can handle only a teeny dash of madness. HE is ALL MAD!!
She has NEVER been shown as someone who can laugh and enjoy a joke .. or be playful!! How the heck does she suddenly begin to 'like' a goofball .. the kind she stayed far from! He is the EXACT opposite of the STAID Shen Ju An, he too doesn't have a humour bone in his body.
By the time the final episode roles in .. Elvis Han looks depleted of all enthusiasm for the Drama .. bored .. and doing lip service to the role (literally - because Drama plot is all DIALOGUE driven now to patch in the missing elements of story).
No ONE cares if the OTP packs up and says OK DRAMA team 'it's a wrap', right in the middle of the last episode's rooftop party. What a tacky way to hook up ALL the couples!!
A Drama which dealt with such COMPLEX relations does a hash up of the end - all cardboard and staple finish.
# THE MARRIAGE of Zhou Zi Yi # --------------------------------------------
What was with the absence of his wife Chen Zie Zie from the ENTIRE drama after a brief back shot of a bride being yelled at by her father (ZZY uncle Chen) at the cancelled-wedding scene. Got too expensive to shoot extra scenes and hire actress?
(Caveat : Ironically that's where OTP gets together. Does that precipitate in some sense ZZY's actions?)
ZZY's SURPRISE announcement later required a "flashback" to what had transpired later that day, we NEEDED to see the transformation; it was imperative for his arc. We needed the camera on ZZY's face, to see his expression on 'seeing' the Bride (he must have known her since he knew uncle Chen?) It would highlight his capacity for deep EMPATHY to the point where he self-destructs - one would imagine - locking himself into a marriage with a pregnant woman who definitely tied the knot out of convenience.
He was a saviour, a "hero" in her eyes, more so in his own eyes too. He felt he had found a purpose, a redemption of sorts. His life had meaning now. This act of self sacrifice required of him no TRUE attachment but the safety of a contract .. an emotion-free relationship - an act of a Good Samaritan. Remember his was an Attachment-Avoidant character.
Accepting or entangling with MYH was the most frightening, self-threatening, panic inducing thought in his subconscious mind. While would run miles away he also couldn't because he also felt the safest with her in his knowledge that she would NEVER abandon him. Fear of abandonment is the driving force of the AA personality. That's why anytime his MYH pillar shook (her dating / leaving for Dublin) he reacted with such severe physical expression towards her - like he's drowning!!
That's why seeing him interact with his pregnant wife WAS essential for us to explore more sides of him. IF SO many scenes and dialogues were not wasted on exploring his 'part time' superficial 'crush' with the doc colleague of MYH, then this HUGE development of this part of his arc would have added depth to the drama and ZZY personality.
This marriage is ALSO disposed of brashly and rashly, just by a few lines of dialogue! Seriously?! The end arc of ZZY was turned into an unbelievable mockery .. and showed little respect for the viewers, they had been carefully cultivated and then callously flicked away.
Now I get WHY the Drama is sooo uneven and hashed up in SO many parts .. while it smells of a GREAT STORY and SUPERB characters .. It FAILS in SO MANY ways.
I just finished the show and needed get a load of my chest .. SO wrote a LOOOONG spiel ..
After 5 Years though doubt you will remember much go the 'details' I got dissecting ;-p
FFD all the Romance of the OTP.
Anyway I did end up exuding a LOOOOOONG write up .. if you still remember the show from 4 years ago .. have a go and see if anything vibes ..
It's on the main MDL thread
I just finished the show and ended up feeling stuffed and needed to get it out of my suite ..
Maybe you will find echoes of some other stuff you liked or disliked
They could have easily retained her as the older role too.
I just finished the show .. and ended up writing a long agonising spiel.
Wonder if any of my thoughts would strike a cord with you.
True!! Actress and FL role evoked SOME serious "punch" feelz ..
I just got it all out of my system by WRITING a HUGE HUGE HUGE piece on the MAIN thread of this page
Looks like you did a SERIOUS WATCH.
I had a LOT LOT LOT of stuff going on in my head .. so I shot off a LARGE long review sort of piece of MY impressions and take aways.
Top of the MDL thread today
I just finished the show and then was struck by a bout of Logorrhoea .. you will find it at the main thread today.
Things uncountable were swimming in my head
I just finished the show ; and because I has a million thoughts in my head I went WORD CRAZY .. and wrote a long spiel
I just finished and then suffered a bout of Logorrhoea ..
MDL main thread entry
And then discovered Tan Jian Ci
I just exuded a LOGORRHEIC ESSAY sized review of the show.
To exorcise the the BRICK of a Drama ..
****FULL OF SPOILERS SPOILERS SPOILERS***
Target Audience - fresh from the DRAMA or remember the drama clearly.
Honestly, this Drama evoked many different thoughts and feelings.
I'll first get the UGLY and the BAD out of the way.
# Shu Yin Jin #
------------------
The CASTING of the FL (Yang Zi Shan) Su Yun Jin (SYJ) didn't sit well with me.
The show started off SO well and she came across as an interesting character ... Not ditzy or given to unnecessary facial expressions as many actresses are.
Her calm demeanour in Ep 1, when the Xu-Wife (now we know she was an ex-wife probably) threw coffee at her and yet she kept her composure and wrapped up her scheduled office meeting unfazed.. She shot up my respect AND curiosity scale.
She had me on her side, at get go, wondering what happened and what preceded this?
Then Drama went pretty much wholesale into flashback mode and hooked me in for almost 12 episodes.
I LOVED the young Su Yin Jin (Landy Li) actress. She played SYJ young to the T.
Beautiful, grave, reserved, mature, sensitive; she KNEW how to say NO firmly.
(IDEALLY Landy Li should have played the ADULT also.
I mean it was JUST a few years later that they were in college .. right?
They took the College entrance exams and morphed? New set of Actors???)
And then came the college dorm years .. and SYJ was already on a slide for me. I had NO view into her inner self.
The script - director - actress steadily ERODED any sense of empathy and connect I had at the beginning for the character.
Her face and demeanour began to chafe and irk AND AGE.
Her naso-labial crease became SO prominent that she looked not like a young college kid in her twenties but someone who could be cast as a mid-forties, mother of a teenager.
A "cold FL role" need not also be CAST using an actress whose visuals are ALSO stiff / dour / dismal with a perpetual surly expression.
Her pinched, thin lips (she adds to it by constantly sucking it in making it thinner) are more suited to "the witch" who curses the baby princess when not invited by the king to the christening party.
The "cold" needs to be enacted .. not 'looked' like. (Landy Li does the COLD also but we FEEL her)
A 'cold' role needs to be condignly presented to the audience; requires a view into her true, vulnerable heart, her lack of self confidence around moneyed people from the upper classes, around high achievers; her weakness, her despair and her bottled up suffering (Landy Li does it SO effectively).
NOT once is she shown harbouring ANY warmth for the ML. (except when LAndy Li acts. Her ONE HUG speaks VOLUMES .. while grown up SYJ's hugs leave the audience feeling a freeze.
By the time ML Cheng Zheng (Elvis Han) and her have gotten together (beyond the midway point of Drama) the viewer cannot care less or be bothered with the couple.
In fact; was SO SHOCKED at my OWN response to DRAMA's OTP romance.
For the FIRST TIME in the 250 plus Drama viewings, did I FFWD ALL the hug and kiss and intimate scenes of the OTP.
It was pissing me off to see her puckering up - not only I FELT NO CHEMISTRY AT ALL, I ACTUALLY HIT the FFD HARD to not have to see her.
Elvis Han was DOING ALL the work!!! And that was SUCH TORTURE!!
She was made to play 'little Miss Prissy' - a FRIGID woman almost .. a adult woman who would NOT 'sleep with her guy' and made 'disgusted' expressions when CZ got passionate. Viewer would imagine 'she was faking' herself into a couple relationship. One HAD to agree and NOD vigorously when CZ laid it out to her; that she is a FRIGID "Beyotch" who had NO real emotions for him .. Her palm actually "DID NOT sweat" (MHY's explanation of what 'sparks' felt like) and she never showed ANY sparky reaction to him. Robot was not a wrong description of her by CZ.
The directors had JUST let SYJ devolve into a 'hated' character by the time she was 'supposed' to have achieved her 'changed' feelings and persona. There had been NO arc. The viewer FELT NO connect .. the opposite .. they managed make her a "DISLIKED" character.
She was made to go from morose-gruff to "smiling" in one leap. (smiling in quotes because it was bereft of any warmth).
Nothing softened her face, joy did not reach her eyes - inspite of the blurry lighting and camera.
She even had these HARD lines like double brackets next to her lips (visible in some lighting shots). So when drama kept having other characters repeatedly calling her 'pretty' / 'good looking' viewer was left even more aghast!!
Cummon!!! Zhang Hue was stunningly BEAUTIFUL .. Mo Yu Hua (MYH) glowed, so lovely to look at (and she played the "plain" looker??!!! REALLY??)
At that point I was HAVING serious doubts about the CASTING director being the same person because some of the characters FIT so well.
Thus SYJ's visual further emphasised her "HARD" heart. Her spartan adherence to principles began to sound SO PREACHY!! Gaunt-drawn faced, Nun-like Matron at a Girl's Boarding School.
She seemed to be 'working at loving him' .. Not exactly what drama intended for the story outcome for sure!!
Yet in the last episodes we are expected (via her SPEECH) to BUY that SHE always had 'feelings' for him.
YEAH .. sure .. it came across as double FAKE; similar to the other ML character's wide smiley expressions - Shen Ju An - played by the excellent Toby Lee.
Now Toby pulls of the complex character of grey tones so convincingly .. one could have easily 'HATED' him in the role .. but one never stopped feeling deeply sorry for him and his frailty .. even understood and worried about him as he foolishly pursued his misguided notions of how to be "successful"; as he got more and more lost, one grew anxious for him losing everything, especially his compass.
Drama could have cast a less 'pleasant face' for him, to take the easy way out and make him a detestable character rather than the dubious sorry figure he was whose final redemption therefore is well earned and something we can root for and support. In the last few scenes his earlier "hyper-smiles" had dropped .. he didn't need them any more. He had found his grounding core.
# Second LEAD Romance - Relationship - Friendship #
-------------------------------------------------------------------
The development towards the relationship endgame of Dr Mo Yu Hua (MYH) and Footballer Zhou Zi Yi (ZZY) was dropped like a hot brick!!
Until close to the end it was a finely balanced, growing house of cards, delicately put together, which we couldn't take our eyes off.
It was Tan Jian Ci's stellar portrayal, so convincingly played. An easy, carefree, external silliness, an extrovert self that hid a LOST soul, an anger and pain. Coming from a broken home, he had nurtured a deep, complex parental resentment.
He is the classic Attachment-Avoidant (AA) Personality TYPE.
(google description)
"You value your independence and freedom to the point where you can feel uncomfortable with, even stifled by, intimacy and closeness in a romantic relationship."
This description accurately pins his attitude towards MYH (who he is of course drawn to).
Suddenly the rug was pulled from under us, that arc collapsed .. the House of Cards crashed.
No, worse!! VANISHED without trace, loped off.
ALL the time that was INVESTED on working on the complex dependancy on MYH (as well as on his childhood buddy CZ) - his blindness - his denial; careful build up of arc of MYH, actress's (Su Qing) beautifully and soulfully captured suffering, enduring loyalty and patience, was discarded.
Suddenly at the FINAL PARTY we are told that "they were together" - like WHEN DID THAT golf ball fall into the hole???
I felt CHEATED out of the RELEASE and CLOSURE; A PASSIONATE KISS (CUMMON) for THAT couple ..
Waited for it way more than the OTP's closure.
By the time I was deeply into the Drama, ZZY-MYH were FAR more engrossing to follow than any other thread.
(Caveat : Tian Ci Jian is on my list to check out in other dramas - he's excellent in the range he can cover .. from comic goofball to tortured and deep)
# THE MARRIAGE of Zhou Zi Yi #
--------------------------------------------
What was with the absence of his wife Chen Zie Zie from the ENTIRE drama after a brief back shot of a bride being yelled at by her father (ZZY uncle Chen) at the cancelled-wedding scene!!
Got too expensive to shoot extra scenes and hire extra actress?
(Caveat : Ironically that's where OTP gets together. Does that precipitate in some sense ZZY's actions?)
ZZY's SURPRISE announcement later required a "flashback" to what had transpired later that day .. we NEEDED to see the transformation; it was imperative for his arc ..
We needed the camera on ZZY's face, to see his expression on 'seeing' the Bride (he must have known her since he knew uncle Chen?)
It would highlight his capacity for deep EMPATHY to the point where he self-destructs - one would imagine - locking himself into a marriage with a pregnant woman who definitely tied the knot out of convenience.
He was a saviour, a "hero" in her eyes, more so in his own eyes too. He felt he had found a purpose, a redemption of sorts.
His life had meaning now.
This act of self sacrifice required of him no TRUE attachment but the safety of a contract .. an emotion-free relationship - an act of a Good Samaritan. Remember his was an Attachment-Avoidant (AA) character.
Accepting or entangling with MYH was the most frightening, self-threatening, panic inducing thought in his subconscious mind.
While would run miles away he also couldn't because he also felt the safest with her in his knowledge that she would NEVER abandon him.
Fear of abandonment is the driving force of the AA personality.
That's why anytime his MYH pillar shook (her dating / her leaving for Dublin) he reacted with such severe physical expression towards her - like he's drowning!!
That's why seeing him interact with his pregnant wife WAS essential for us to explore more sides of him.
IF SO many scenes and dialogues were not wasted on exploring his 'part time' superficial 'crush' with the doc colleague of MYH, then this HUGE development of this part of his arc would have added depth to the drama and ZZY personality.
This marriage is ALSO disposed of brashly and rashly, just by a few lines of dialogue!!!!
Seriously??!!
The end arc of ZZY was turned into an unbelievable mockery .. and showed little respect for the viewers, they had been carefully cultivated and then callously flicked away.
#THE GROWING UP OF CHENG ZHENG#
-------------------------------------------------------
The child actor actor was a perfect fit for CZ as a kid (he wouldn't have - absolutely couldn't have LOL - transitioned into an adult role, unlike Landy Li) and segued well into Elvis Han's adult CZ.
CZ's arc needed to move forward in scenes where he is in college .. His engagement with his Uni in Beijing had NO scenes of classes attended .. proffs met .. No establishing of father's influence (was it required to keep father character as a script secret to be jumped at us ONLY in the competition scene??).
I think introducing father at an earlier episode would have established and strengthened the Competition scene as well as heightened the tension (and comic play-out when he's hiding from dad at the registration).
Same time that mom is shown .. dad could have been introduced.
We NEVER see CZ looking at his dad's office or him working .. so his speech on the stage looks hollow and pasted on.
The actor who played Father was a great fit for the role, no reason why he couldn't be in more scenes.
Fine maybe CZ barely grows up after his award win. But what about later?
We don't see the DAWNing of his sense of responsibility, except saying a few flippant 'hallmark card' lines to SYJ after his win.
During the couple episodes once the OTP comes together one expects to see him move into his "earning" phase.
The maturing of CZ Post breakup is essential.
WHAT was he doing while she was working her way up the company?
Working? Regretting? Mooning for her? The time when we expect to see his growth arc is an ellipsis .. The story pasted on with his last episode dialogue!!
THE cheapest, most unattractive way to handle a 'visual medium'.
Did we not need to see him engage maturely? Drop the 'kiddish' act .. Change his body language?
Why does SYJ accept him WITHOUT seeing ANY of those characteristics in him .. JUST based on his written hanging words and that he stayed single? AND stalked her DAILY?? Which mature adult does that ..
Wasn't he supposed to have graduated from OBSESSION to Mature Love?
It was his obsession and wish to possess her that drove him during all those chasing years.
She fell for him when he finally began to display signs of maturity in the way he executed the their internship job, looked after her.
Ironically it was this same obsession and possessiveness that also broke the spell for SYJ and revealed his unchanged "childishness".
So where is the convincing portrayal of the growth into maturity suitable for someone like SYJ who is looking for stability ALWAYS.
She is STAID .. and can handle only a teeny dash of madness. HE is ALL MAD!!
She has NEVER been shown as someone who can laugh and enjoy a joke .. or be playful!!
How the heck does she suddenly begin to 'like' a goofball .. the kind she stayed far from! He is the EXACT opposite of the STAID Shen Ju An, he too doesn't have a humour bone in his body.
By the time the final episode roles in .. Elvis Han looks depleted of all enthusiasm for the Drama .. bored .. and doing lip service to the role (literally - because Drama plot is all DIALOGUE driven now to patch in the missing elements of story).
No ONE cares if the OTP packs up and says OK DRAMA team 'it's a wrap', right in the middle of the last episode's rooftop party.
What a tacky way to hook up ALL the couples!!
A Drama which dealt with such COMPLEX relations does a hash up of the end - all cardboard and staple finish.
# THE RISE OF She Yin Jin #
-----------------------------------------
So here is this low IQ, slow at math, terrible at ALL academic subjects, with NO HINT that she has 2 cells in her BRAINS that have the ability to shine in any way EXCEPT to wield her STAFF of PRINCIPLES .. Needing help from CZ to accomplish most of her successes ..
SHE suddenly is a Tech Crack, a super topnotch, trail blazing intern who finds her way into the CEO's level of confidence, wins key projects, graduates while doing all this.
This dim average intern might as well have had a brain-graft to be swimming in shark waters that Mr Xu navigates.
I thought only MYH is the 'brains' of her class. As is CZ.
It was completely understandable that her 'low IQ skills' made her pragmatic enough to settle for the "peaceful, simple, stable" life in a quite corner .. She doesn't see herself anywhere near high buzz, high pressure performance, BIG corporate spaces.
She even can't relate to Shen Ju An's excitement and ambition to be part of something faster and bigger than campus life.
So her SUDDENLY choosing a company in the fast lane and speeding along in it .. has ANYTHING to do with a calm, steady, peaceful, simple life. It's is puzzling and JUST doesn't WORK.
One would expect HER to have stayed at campus 'studying and failing and studying' to graduate and then slogging to try for a PhD or looking for a teaching job or at best opening a handicraft store .. wasn't that something she had mentioned .. YEAH THAT would suit her need for the SIMPLE LIFE.
So how did this transformation come about .. from wanting a simple, uncomplicated life being a spendthrift and looking down on 'ambitious' people; to high flying top honcho of a company riding expensive cars and wearing expensive clothes .. Where did she even get the BASIC ACADEMIC requirement to hold onto such complex roles. Her being yelled at by her first boss Ms Guo for a sloppy, half baked, full of mistake job was organic and MADE TOTAL sense. THEN? CZ sashays in and saves the day. Like he did in school.
Shen Ju An's exposure and slow change into the high life and from his low ambitions was organic and VISIBLE .. His ability at the Hengkhai corps was matched with his TOP student reputation, he had the intellectual ability for such work.
EVEN he was shown as someone who failed at his job so badly, he LOST the project to this dim-wit intern!!!
This 'almost failing' student was striking gold and re-imagining Cellular Phone futures like a visionary, winning projects!!!!
What IS THIS .. Groucho Marx selling his WILD PLANS??
Complete farce in this angle.
Gimme a Horse Egg instead!!
# THE GOOD and THE EXCELLENT#
------------------------------------------------
~ Zhang Yue's Father, Zhang Jing Meng (played by Ling Dong Fu)
WOW what an actor; his voice, his delivery, body language made my bones feel his maturity and gravity and wisdom. Wisdom that came from having failed a lot and lost a lot; learnt from mistakes.
His patriarchal moorings are visible; but he also wants to do the right thing as the Chief, as the father, the uncle. He is strict, but affectionate and indulgent in equal measure.
He know HOW TO PICK his BATTLES.
His life experience has taught him to sniff out fake .. His rise to his current status has taught him the difference between Aspiration and Dignity .. His long reigning position at the top has turned him into a highly polished authoritative man.
SO he is also most qualified to spell out the 'life lessons' and pass it on to those he comes to care for and considers worthy of it.
I'd LOVE to see him in other dramas.
~ Mr Xu Zhi
SYJ's final Boss
He's a politician.
He knows how to smartly hedge his bets. He knows how to play people .. and has his own justifications for his actions and his methods of getting what he wants. He ALSO has dignity and he'll not drop it to reach his goals.. Be it in becoming his own boss or winning over someone he fancies. He'll stop at the wall of his dignity.
I think SYJ recognises that in him and thus admires, trusts, works for him. He does not EVER make her feel uncomfortable.
His last interaction with CZ is once again him taking the upper hand .. giving solid advice and continuing to stand on his own pedestal.
Played so well by Archie Kao .. the low pitched voice, the controlled expression, and movements, a man such as him would NEVER allow someone to see his true face. His composure thus is not broken even when his suit is damaged by a coffee spill in public view.
# THE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS of ALL the couples and friendships #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A wonderful palette of greys .. like a chiaroscuro .. that emotions and love aren't that simple .. that they mean different things to different people .. some don't even know it .. so understand it very late ..
The Fears and insecurities of those who fall in love, and those who dare not or those who fail at love.
The conversations between the characters are RICH .. slice of life REAL ..
The entanglements true to life.
The coming together and falling out of the couples.. organic.
Deeply angst driven .. BUT SUCH Cracky dialogues. Especially the ones delivered by and between CZ and ZZY
The situational comedy relieved SO much of the heaviness that might have pulled down the show.
The BROMANCE melty - shweet. Poignant - remember that 'face scratch' story CZ tells SJY about ZZY when they were kids.
The SIBLING LOVE .. warmed the cockles of my heart and their playful teasing and protecting each other .. their banter also cracked me up.
This Drama would have been a disaster HAD it's 'preachy' parts, 'angsty' parts and IMPOSSIBLE-to-enjoy FL (Yang Zhi Shan) parts not been sprinkled with such delightful, playful, funny bantering and dialogues between the characters.
CZ is a Top Cat when it comes to playing the goofball, uninhibited, swollen with confidence raised by a warm bubbly indulgent to a fault mother. A mother who knows how to orchestrate a happy balance between conflicting family members as well as when to make herself scarce.
Overall I gave the drama a 8/10 for the SERIOUS way it explored the above themes.
I'd have given it a 10/10 had the FL been better cast .. and all those weak joints and fallen arcs been carefully treated.
Not an easy watch, a great choice ONLY for those who are willing to engage SERIOUSLY for a SLICE of life treatment of multiple relationships; who are not fazed or confused or upset by flawed characters who have the capacity to see their own failings; who make an effort to improve, course correct their lives.
PART 5
(cont.) from above)
LAST WORDS
# THE RELATIONSHIP DYNAMICS of ALL the couples and friendships #
--------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
A wonderful palette of greys .. like a chiaroscuro .. that emotions and love aren't that simple .. that they mean different things to different people .. some don't even know it .. so understand it very late ..
The Fears and insecurities of those who fall in love, and those who dare not or those who fail at love.
The conversations between the characters are RICH .. slice of life REAL ..
The entanglements true to life.
The coming together and falling out of the couples.. organic.
Deeply angst driven .. BUT SUCH Cracky dialogues. Especially the ones delivered by and between CZ and ZZY
The situational comedy relieved SO much of the heaviness that might have pulled down the show.
The BROMANCE melty - shweet. Poignant - remember that 'face scratch' story CZ tells SJY about ZZY when they were kids.
The SIBLING LOVE .. warmed the cockles of my heart and their playful teasing and protecting each other .. their banter also cracked me up.
This Drama would have been a disaster HAD it's 'preachy' parts, 'angsty' parts and IMPOSSIBLE-to-enjoy FL (Yang Zhi Shan) parts not been sprinkled with such delightful, playful, funny bantering and dialogues between the characters.
CZ is a Top Cat when it comes to playing the goofball, uninhibited, swollen with confidence raised by a warm bubbly indulgent to a fault mother. A mother who knows how to orchestrate a happy balance between conflicting family members as well as when to make herself scarce.
Overall I gave the drama a 8/10 for the SERIOUS way it explored the above themes.
I'd have given it a 10/10 had the FL been better cast .. and all those weak joints and fallen arcs been carefully treated.
Not an easy watch, a great choice ONLY for those who are willing to engage SERIOUSLY for a SLICE of life treatment of multiple relationships; who are not fazed or confused or upset by flawed characters who have the capacity to see their own failings; who make an effort to improve, course correct their lives.
PART 4
(cont.)
# THE RISE OF She Yin Jin #
-----------------------------------------
So here is this low IQ, slow at math, terrible at ALL academic subjects, with NO HINT that she has 2 cells in her BRAINS that have the ability to shine in any way EXCEPT to wield her STAFF of PRINCIPLES .. Needing help from CZ to accomplish most of her successes ..
SHE suddenly is a Tech Crack, a super topnotch, trail blazing intern who finds her way into the CEO's level of confidence, wins key projects, graduates while doing all this.
This dim average intern might as well have had a brain-graft to be swimming in shark waters that Mr Xu navigates.
I thought only MYH is the 'brains' of her class. As is CZ.
It was completely understandable that her 'low IQ skills' made her pragmatic enough to settle for the "peaceful, simple, stable" life in a quite corner .. She doesn't see herself anywhere near high buzz, high pressure performance, BIG corporate spaces.
She even can't relate to Shen Ju An's excitement and ambition to be part of something faster and bigger than campus life.
So her SUDDENLY choosing a company in the fast lane and speeding along in it .. has ANYTHING to do with a calm, steady, peaceful, simple life. It's is puzzling and JUST doesn't WORK.
One would expect HER to have stayed at campus 'studying and failing and studying' to graduate and then slogging to try for a PhD or looking for a teaching job or at best opening a handicraft store .. wasn't that something she had mentioned .. YEAH THAT would suit her need for the SIMPLE LIFE.
So how did this transformation come about .. from wanting a simple, uncomplicated life being a spendthrift and looking down on 'ambitious' people; to high flying top honcho of a company riding expensive cars and wearing expensive clothes .. Where did she even get the BASIC ACADEMIC requirement to hold onto such complex roles. Her being yelled at by her first boss Ms Guo for a sloppy, half baked, full of mistake job was organic and MADE TOTAL sense. THEN? CZ sashays in and saves the day. Like he did in school.
Shen Ju An's exposure and slow change into the high life and from his low ambitions was organic and VISIBLE .. His ability at the Hengkhai corps was matched with his TOP student reputation, he had the intellectual ability for such work.
EVEN he was shown as someone who failed at his job so badly, he LOST the project to this dim-wit intern!!!
This 'almost failing' student was striking gold and re-imagining Cellular Phone futures like a visionary, winning projects!!!!
What IS THIS .. Groucho Marx selling his WILD PLANS??
Complete farce in this angle.
Gimme a Horse Egg instead!!
# THE GOOD and THE EXCELLENT#
------------------------------------------------
~ Zhang Yue's Father, Zhang Jing Meng (played by Ling Dong Fu)
WOW what an actor; his voice, his delivery, body language made my bones feel his maturity and gravity and wisdom. Wisdom that came from having failed a lot and lost a lot; learnt from mistakes.
His patriarchal moorings are visible; but he also wants to do the right thing as the Chief, as the father, the uncle. He is strict, but affectionate and indulgent in equal measure.
He know HOW TO PICK his BATTLES.
His life experience has taught him to sniff out fake .. His rise to his current status has taught him the difference between Aspiration and Dignity .. His long reigning position at the top has turned him into a highly polished authoritative man.
SO he is also most qualified to spell out the 'life lessons' and pass it on to those he comes to care for and considers worthy of it.
I'd LOVE to see him in other dramas.
~ Mr Xu Zhi
SYJ's final Boss
He's a politician.
He knows how to smartly hedge his bets. He knows how to play people .. and has his own justifications for his actions and his methods of getting what he wants. He ALSO has dignity and he'll not drop it to reach his goals.. Be it in becoming his own boss or winning over someone he fancies. He'll stop at the wall of his dignity.
I think SYJ recognises that in him and thus admires, trusts, works for him. He does not EVER make her feel uncomfortable.
His last interaction with CZ is once again him taking the upper hand .. giving solid advice and continuing to stand on his own pedestal.
Played so well by Archie Kao .. the low pitched voice, the controlled expression, and movements, a man such as him would NEVER allow someone to see his true face. His composure thus is not broken even when his suit is damaged by a coffee spill in public view.
PART 3 of REVIEW
#THE GROWING UP OF CHENG ZHENG#
-------------------------------------------------------
The child actor actor was a perfect fit for CZ as a kid (he wouldn't have - absolutely couldn't have LOL - transitioned into an adult role, unlike Landy Li) and segued well into Elvis Han's adult CZ.
CZ's arc needed to move forward in scenes where he is in college .. His engagement with his Uni in Beijing had NO scenes of classes attended .. proffs met .. No establishing of father's influence (was it required to keep father character as a script secret to be jumped at us ONLY in the competition scene??).
I think introducing father at an earlier episode would have established and strengthened the Competition scene as well as heightened the tension (and comic play-out when he's hiding from dad at the registration).
Same time that mom is shown .. dad could have been introduced.
We NEVER see CZ looking at his dad's office or him working .. so his speech on the stage looks hollow and pasted on.
The actor who played Father was a great fit for the role, no reason why he couldn't be in more scenes.
Fine maybe CZ barely grows up after his award win. But what about later?
We don't see the DAWNing of his sense of responsibility, except saying a few flippant 'hallmark card' lines to SYJ after his win.
During the couple episodes once the OTP comes together one expects to see him move into his "earning" phase.
The maturing of CZ Post breakup is essential.
WHAT was he doing while she was working her way up the company?
Working? Regretting? Mooning for her? The time when we expect to see his growth arc is an ellipsis .. The story pasted on with his last episode dialogue!!
THE cheapest, most unattractive way to handle a 'visual medium'.
Did we not need to see him engage maturely? Drop the 'kiddish' act .. Change his body language?
Why does SYJ accept him WITHOUT seeing ANY of those characteristics in him .. JUST based on his written hanging words and that he stayed single? AND stalked her DAILY?? Which mature adult does that ..
Wasn't he supposed to have graduated from OBSESSION to Mature Love?
It was his obsession and wish to possess her that drove him during all those chasing years.
She fell for him when he finally began to display signs of maturity in the way he executed the their internship job, looked after her.
Ironically it was this same obsession and possessiveness that also broke the spell for SYJ and revealed his unchanged "childishness".
So where is the convincing portrayal of the growth into maturity suitable for someone like SYJ who is looking for stability ALWAYS.
She is STAID .. and can handle only a teeny dash of madness. HE is ALL MAD!!
She has NEVER been shown as someone who can laugh and enjoy a joke .. or be playful!!
How the heck does she suddenly begin to 'like' a goofball .. the kind she stayed far from! He is the EXACT opposite of the STAID Shen Ju An, he too doesn't have a humour bone in his body.
By the time the final episode roles in .. Elvis Han looks depleted of all enthusiasm for the Drama .. bored .. and doing lip service to the role (literally - because Drama plot is all DIALOGUE driven now to patch in the missing elements of story).
No ONE cares if the OTP packs up and says OK DRAMA team 'it's a wrap', right in the middle of the last episode's rooftop party.
What a tacky way to hook up ALL the couples!!
A Drama which dealt with such COMPLEX relations does a hash up of the end - all cardboard and staple finish.
Continuing the REVIEW from above
# THE MARRIAGE of Zhou Zi Yi #
--------------------------------------------
What was with the absence of his wife Chen Zie Zie from the ENTIRE drama after a brief back shot of a bride being yelled at by her father (ZZY uncle Chen) at the cancelled-wedding scene.
Got too expensive to shoot extra scenes and hire actress?
(Caveat : Ironically that's where OTP gets together. Does that precipitate in some sense ZZY's actions?)
ZZY's SURPRISE announcement later required a "flashback" to what had transpired later that day, we NEEDED to see the transformation; it was imperative for his arc.
We needed the camera on ZZY's face, to see his expression on 'seeing' the Bride (he must have known her since he knew uncle Chen?)
It would highlight his capacity for deep EMPATHY to the point where he self-destructs - one would imagine - locking himself into a marriage with a pregnant woman who definitely tied the knot out of convenience.
He was a saviour, a "hero" in her eyes, more so in his own eyes too. He felt he had found a purpose, a redemption of sorts.
His life had meaning now.
This act of self sacrifice required of him no TRUE attachment but the safety of a contract .. an emotion-free relationship - an act of a Good Samaritan. Remember his was an Attachment-Avoidant character.
Accepting or entangling with MYH was the most frightening, self-threatening, panic inducing thought in his subconscious mind.
While would run miles away he also couldn't because he also felt the safest with her in his knowledge that she would NEVER abandon him.
Fear of abandonment is the driving force of the AA personality.
That's why anytime his MYH pillar shook (her dating / leaving for Dublin) he reacted with such severe physical expression towards her - like he's drowning!!
That's why seeing him interact with his pregnant wife WAS essential for us to explore more sides of him.
IF SO many scenes and dialogues were not wasted on exploring his 'part time' superficial 'crush' with the doc colleague of MYH, then this HUGE development of this part of his arc would have added depth to the drama and ZZY personality.
This marriage is ALSO disposed of brashly and rashly, just by a few lines of dialogue!
Seriously?!
The end arc of ZZY was turned into an unbelievable mockery .. and showed little respect for the viewers, they had been carefully cultivated and then callously flicked away.
She also didn't shy away from Kisses Etc .. as many actresses do.
Are there kisses? Any skinship?