you are only coming to this series now if you are a Bai Yu fan - otherwise, skip it. Horrible script, bad direction, low production quality - VERY dated. FL is kind of annoying - she talks way too much, her analysis of things take way too long (I will give it to the actress - she had way more lines to memorize than anyone else in this drama!) So NOT believable that they would pick a rookie cop, still in training/school to infiltrate a high functioning murder gang. The only interesting part of this for me was to see how the character, from the beginning - just thought she was smarter than everyone else - all the while, getting played and everyone knew it. It brought me back to the beginning and her not seeing that Dr. Xu liked her - even when everyone else around her knew it. It just screams - I don't pay attention to stuff around me very well - which then lends to the problem of her being a criminal psychologist. This really was one of the most flawed female characters I have seen in a while.
you are only coming to this series now if you are a Bai Yu fan - otherwise, skip it. Horrible script, bad direction, low production quality - VERY dated, FL is kind of annoying.
Just finished this and my god - what absolutely horrendous writing. I really only stuck it out because of Bai Yu. Now, I get it - its from 2016 - but it felt like it was from the 90's with the bad Flock of Seagulls hair for too many of the male characters (like, seriously, someone had a fetish for the sever side part, come-over). Way too heavy makeup for the guys (which is funny, cause it's usually a problem on the female character end) - but the heavy contouring for the ML was laughable. And whoever wrote this had some very serious issues with women - the first three 'cases' involved rape that got more violent as we went along - it was kind of disturbing. They also did not know how to right a bad-ass woman character - they just thought if we make her act like a guy (be all tough and hang on the guys around you and slap them around) - that will do it, cause she is pretty. Instead, she just came across as bratty and arrogant. I constantly thought that if this was a male character - we would have hated him for those reasons, but, no, because its a woman and she is pretty - I am supposed to think she is badass - yeah, no. I knew this was going to be dated and had read a bunch of the comments as I was deciding to watch or not and folks said it was worth it because the main couple had great chemistry. I guess they just liked all the kissing scenes - cause I did not enjoy them as a couple at all. He was super-pushy and got SUPER clingy once together. She was just a brat most of the time (which was an attempt at her being 'fiesty') Now, I did enjoy that he totally had her number - but it just got old, real quick. So many second-hand embarrassment moments for her - mostly of her own making cause she kept wanting to show off. She really had a need to be the center of attention and when she went from the big fish in the small pond, to the small fish in the big pond - it just got worse. REALLY got tired of all her monologues - so just wanted her shut up after a while And she wasn't even that great at her job - almost every analysis she did was wrong and she missed key points in almost everything. After a while, I couldn't even really understand why she was there or what she added - cause most of the cases were solved by the ML. You also can't make me believe that a woman who is afraid of heights and has no sense of direction would ever become a cop. And do not even get me started on how they chose to dress this character - my god! The stiletto high heels everywhere were just so stupid.
Just finished this and I have rather mixed feelings about it. It wasn't bad - but too many things that just didnt work (for me) Right out of the gate it was the whole premise of the best friend/roommate who has killed herself - am I really supposed to believe that the FL just falls apart because her bestie came to her, pretty much out of the blue and declares she is in love with her boyfriend and thinks she should break up with him so she can have a shot - like, wtf absurdity is this! and when the FL says no, she runs off and kills herself?? And she doesn't find ANYTHING odd about this?? No, instead, let me consume myself with guilt, break up with my boyfriend and runaway. I just couldn't buy to this narrative AT ALL. Someone PLEASE go save the goldfish from that tiny, TINY bowl she sticks it - just drove me nuts every time they showed it - its a fish and needs space to swim! Had NO sympathy for the mother, AT ALL. She abandons her child, leaves him with an abusive parent and pretty much just goes on with her life. While she claims to have looked for him - she is married to a frickin' police officer! You cannot make me believe, in any way - that there wasnt more she could have done with the help of her husband - this was just absurd. Then, when she does find him - all she does is cry and constantly puts the FL in completely awkward situations to help her. Nope, not a big fan of this character at all. Romance/chemistry of main couple just didnt work for me. They had their cute moments and I did like, once together, they had good communication - but there really wasn't much spark there. As usual - it takes waaaayy too long for them to even get together and the whole, original misunderstanding, was just stupid and when she does finally blurt out what it is (after he has asked , very respectfully multiple times) - it was just a nothing-burger. It was a 'thorn' (her words) - that she has completely manufactured in her head and if she had ,just once, tried to have a convo - the whole thing could have been resolved - yeah, I know, that doesn't make much for a drama - but it was so stupid! HATED that Peng's dad suffered NO real consequences or accountability for his behavior -he was an abusive, alcoholic asshole and he he suffers nothing - and the whole thing at the end with him crying and saying sorry - I wanted to throw things at my screen - grrrr! The actor who played Peng was magnificent! I look forward to seeing him in other things - especially a main ML role.
this could have ben a pretty good drama -but the horrendous subtitling (especially at the end where it was completely missing through much of ep 23) - just ruined it. Usually I would go over to myasianttv to watch - but it's not even been subtitled at all over there yet - which is surprising given it was done in 2023.
started out ok and then just got messy. Ending is a bit weird and not that clear on what happened. For a cdrama short - its ok and if you need a filler - not bad
Just finished this and overall it was ok, but I did struggle through it - but happy with the end result Where I struggled - is, once again a poorly written FL and since she was the center of this drama - it made this drama hard to get through too often. She does get there in the end - but another FL who is kind of unlikeable for far too long that you really want the ML to just walk away. Another FL who is incredibly stubborn to the point of ridiculous - must be pushed the point of her loved one almost dying before she will budge (just makes my head hurt) Dealing with mental illness - while I want to applaud a drama that even approaches this topic and even mentions someone seeing a psychiatrist - they handled this so poorly. Why is it that the ONLY person who is actively seeing a therapist for 10yrs is the one who goes obsessive/ crazy and tries to injure people and yet it really is the the other three female leads who all could have uses some good therapy. From the FL who clearly has trauma from her childhood (narcissistic, philandering father; mother who kills herself), to the bestie who has been in a domestic violence marriage, to the other bestie who clearly has anger issues and needs to be in couples therapy - ALL could have used a good therapist. But, yeah - let's make the one who is actually getting help be the crazy one and the villain of the story. Domestic violence - again, kudos for even going anywhere near this - but to let the guy off the hook cause you have figured how to get him to stop coming around - with no thought that he would go on to do this to someone else. The appropriate message should have been to call the cops as soon as he breaks into your house and assaults you. The relationships" Main - while it does kind of work out in the end - it was just such an unbalanced relationship. He does al the chasing and changing and adjusting, while she just doesn't move at all. Granted, she makes the one big adjustment in the end - but ti was so out of wack for far too long. Married couple - these two just need to go marriage counseling and no, a baby is not going to fix, what is their inherent problem - she is a drama princess and he is a child. Introverts - they were a good fit, super-sweet - would have preferred more time here than with married couple.
I don't want to be rude but she looks exactly her age, he looks 18, that is why it's weird. If he looked his age,…
Yes, she looks her age, which was 40 at the time of filming and the character was only 30. He looks late 20’s to me. Like i said, its more that feels like a mom here and not a love interest
overall, I really enjoyed this and its definitely worth a watch ML was spectacular in this - have enjoyed him since Mr. Sunshine and he did not disappoint here FL was just ok for me - has more to do with the character than the actress - she did play her role well - which is the forlorn, sad, woe-is-me girl. As someone else said to me - she just has that resting sad face - so it works for this character. I do wish they had just made her a little more clever/smarter and here is where it most bothered me: Right out of the gate with the whole set up - why does she think she is going to outsmart her FBI negotiator trained, special forces husband with her little kidnapping prank? This immediately made me shake my head. Does she know NOTHING about him (I only say this because it was mentioned publicly about him, so she must know). Now,I get it was all for the setup and the phone, etc.. - but she was just so dumb about it all so much of the time. Then there was the whole - I am going to sneak into rebel territory to go see a sunset in my beige/white outfit and headscarf - no problem, I won't get caught - ugh!! 🤦♀️ Again - I get it s setup to get us to their reunion which btw, is one of the best - but it was a bit absurd. These were the two biggest ones for me - there were other smaller ones I could let go SO very annoyed that there was absolutely no accountability for her mom at then end and that they even try to make her sympathetic - just, no - this woman was horrible and was willing to sell off and pimp her daughter so she could stay in the chairman's good graces - there is no coming back from that. On the other side - very happy his mom got her comeuppance - but his dad didnt really. I really like what they did with In-a - it was a great twist on the what could have been the usual, evil sister comeback - so, so happy that they went in a totally different direction - she turned into a great character Really liked what they did with the news reporter woman - again - the usual setup is to have her be obsessed with the ML - LOVE that she really was just a stan and had no romantic interest in him at all and could easily move to falling for the dr/crime story guy. Also enjoyed that they didnt make him obsessed with FL (which would be the usual) - this made this second coulee VERY refreshing. Villain was great - they gave us great background on him - he totally made sense and tied so much of the story together (they usually fail big time here) Now - I dont come and read comments BEFORE I watch a drama (I also wait until its completely finished so I can binge it) - so, I was completely astonished at all the outrage about the last episode - cause I didnt catch it all and I may go back and rewatch to see what everyone is all up in arms about. (and no, I dont need anyone to come and tell me, I am quite familiar with the issue and have worked on ceasefire resolutions in my city). I am just going to point out - that I didnt even notice it AT ALL - mostly because they are talking about made up countries and conflicts and the point of the story at this point is to show was she was back to work and he was off negotiating for the release of hostages
Was excited for this because of Ju Ji Hoon - but, man, was this a huge dissapointment. No real chemistry between main leads - not bad for younger versions, but for older/current version - pretty non-existent. They tried to play off constant bickering off as chemistry and it's not. So, you were pretty much left with two adults bickering at each other for far too long. While I enjoyed the younger versions of them slightly more - they still bickered for no real reason. I honestly did not get what he liked about her beyond just being 'pretty' - cause she was very high maintenance and got mad at the drop of the hat. Another FL written as kind of mean and unpleasant for 2/3 of the drama - which makes it hard to like her and by the time she calms down -when she finally does, I just didnt care anymore and I dont like her and dont want her with the ML. While they were both pretty childish and petty - FL just had this meanness to her that the ML did not. I had a hard time believing either of them were in their mid-to late 30's - especially the FL - she was just so childish much of the time). It also did not help the FL character that, once again, let's dress her like a disheveled mess. Now, I get that this was supposed to be reflective of her depression - but it really was a hot mess and it is just not believable that a teacher would go to work like this - certainly the gym clothes, as a PE teacher - but she was also a homeroom teacher and there were times that she looked like she was still in her pajama's. HATED the two older men colleagues - the vice-principle guy and his constant want to go drinking with everyone, the main gossiper and all around butt-insky was just horrible. The ML's dad was also pretty bad - just constantly yelled and as soon as he hits the ML - I am out - no redemption for me The redemption of the bestie was also pretty bad - no consequences whatsoever and they even try to give her a romance at the end - just NO
holy toxic relationship story batman - like this is seriously bad, on both sides. ML is violent (as is the FL - she stabs him 3 times) and has no emotions. FL is the most severe push/pull girl out there - it gave me serious whiplash - it was almost disturbing how utterly f*cked up this character was. She is also seriously dumb most of the time - EVERY scheme she tries to pull off is an utter failure and when caught relies on trying to seduce whoever caught her (it goes back and forth between main ML and the brother) It was an interesting concept - but a bit too heavy on the S&M erotica fantasy game. Whoever wrote this has some very serious relationship/ love issues And, in the end -to try and romanticize this horribly toxic relationship as some grand love story, was just so wrong
not bad for a short - I expect plot holes and rushed story lines - and this one wasn't THAT bad. Mostly worth the binge for the ML. FL was ok for me - I just dont particularly enjoy the pipsqueak girls. And she would have been better if she could actually fight, instead of just walking around with a sword and pretending like she is some big marital artists. Dont get me wrong, I mostly enjoyed her attitude - but it did get real old, real quick and showed up in places it shouldn't The biggest letdown is that this was clearly meant to be 2 seasons - you cant leave a HUGE cliffhanger like that without the idea that there will be a second season - we will see if that happens - not holding my breath since this was made in 2022
overall, I really enjoyed this. Love both the main leads - they just didnt quite work for me as a couple. As characters- she isn't that much older than him (she is only supposed to be around 30 and he is mid-to-late 20's - so not a huge age gap here). The problem lies is that the actors in real life have a bigger age gap (she is 40 and he is 28). Even with this, I can sometimes be ok with it - but she just felt too much like his mother, than a love interest. If they had just kept this to them being partners in solving crimes and not introduced the romance part - it would have worked better for me - but every time they got 'romantic' - it just felt awkward to me cause she had such mom vibe to me. But, that was just my feeling watching it. Beyond that - I do love seeing a kick-ass woman and she did rock this part!
found myself accidentally rewatching this again - mostly because I keep forgetting what its about (which says something about it overall) - but was waiting for another drama to finish and started watching it again. I did immediately remember, but was like, WTH, I need to kiill some time. I will once again downgrade my rating on this and will say - worth a watch, but definitely dont need to see it again. The weird decision to make the main couple so, overly chaste was kind of weird - like, neither of them have any intimacy desires At ALL. While they are a pretty healthy couple in that they actually communicate - the weird setups of them sitting on the bed and just holding hands while talking and both totally fine with just that, like COME ON already - this is not normal. Kind of made sense early on, but after the escape to Younzhou - it was just ridiculous. There was just something off about this couple - they just always seemed more like brothers-in-arms, than lovers. Other weird directorial decisions - the decision to have the ML basically whisper through so much of their dialogue - I know they were going for a sense of intimacy, but it was just him whispering all the time - it was weird. Her sniffling crying all the time (ALL THE TIME) - it was a bit much and the sniffling was annoying SOOO mad about General Qin - this made no sense AT ALL And, basically, Uncle He could have solved/prevented ALL OF THIS if he had just said something sooner - its all on him
Just a horribly crafted script. Chopping editing that made the story hard to follow in way too many places. Actors all did their jobs fine - but it couldn't overcome a bad script. While I usually enjoy this actress - this character has to be one of the more annoying FL's out there. They tried to thread the needle of a newly formed human (therefore, emotionally a child), but in a full-grown woman's body. She had the maturity level of an eight year old, but lets put her in adult situations. It just didnt work at all. They tried to make her 'naive' (because she just became human) - but she just came across as super-dumb most of the time. You can be naive and 'innocent' without being stupid - yet, most writers just dont know how to do this properly and so they just come across as stupid. I did appreciate that they didnt do the ridiculous love triangle thing with the 2FL - usually this is the spoiled girl from a noble family who crushes on the ML and causes problems - SOOO happy they didnt go down this road and instead made her besties with the FL - this was a great relationship. The psycho prince regent got boring real quick and whoever thought the whole lets make him think we slept together thing was a good idea should never be allowed near a script again - this was just so wrong on so many levels and if the gender roles were reveres, we would be screaming bloody murder. FL has SERIOUS bad judgement about men - repeatedly. She does finally get it together on the 3rd turn - but, oof, this was painful to watch (just because she was so stupid all the time) Chemistry was ok with leads - but, honestly, this was another one of those pairings that I couldn't quite understand what everyone found so fascinating about her - especially the ML - beyond the cutesy, super-cheerful thing - she really wasn't that interesting and with all her shenanigans - she was just exhausting most of the time.
just finished this and it was just ok for me. Not bad, pretty typical romcom stuff. Had not seen the ML in anything before and I did enjoy him in this FL is kind of hit or miss for me - didnt mind her in this, but she wasn't my favorite. Almost all of her characters have this over-exuberant, because I am hiding from emotions thing that I dont really enjoy. On the plus side - they kind of address it in the drama and once she kind of calms down - I do enjoy her more. Two things I dont enjoy - the over-comsumption of alcohol and hitting people for fun/playfulness - not extreme here, like in Love Next door - I had to stop watching it because of how much the FL hit the ML - but enough that it is bothersome. Its the weird striking out hitting because they dont want to deal with their emotions Will have to say they did strike a good balance between the business stuff and the romance - usually it goes to0 heavy one way (usually to the business side) - and since I could have cared less about alcohol sales and making beer - because it was balanced well, I didnt mind as much having to suffer through all that silliness. REALY could have done without all the silliness with the village crew - the aunties were just annoying - got better once they 'adopted' her and the village head guy was just stupid. One of the few romcoms were I enjoyed the second couple - I usually hate that they always insist on having them in the first place - but this couple was good and I look forward to BSC in more stuff - he was just too adorable here.
overall, I enjoyed this - keep me interested through 7.5 episodes - then lost me at the end (which is pretty standard for asian dramas - they just dont know how to end things all) I agree with many commenters here that part of the fail of this drama is that the description and how it was marketed are way off from what actually happens. This really is more of a commentary on broken people, love and contract marriages. The mystery part and the whole contract marriage company, which were interesting, just not that central to the story - almost felt like that needed its own seperate drama So, this made the drama unfocused - like, what were they going for - romcom, melodrama, mystery??? And, because they tried to do it all in only 8 episodes - nothing quite came together. The thing I HATED the most was that the ex-wife faces NO real accountability for her actions - like NONE and I just find this inexcusable given her actions Loved the main leads - thought they were great together
I honesty dd not think I was going to like this - slow melodramas are not usually my thing - but, man, am I glad I watched this. I savored every moment of it - no fast-forwarding on this one! Loved the whole cast, cinematography was wonderful, loved all the great art in her house, and office, the drawings at the beginning, the use of film (I am a photography, so this was wonderful). Kudos to all who worked on this. D Definitely worth a watch!
you know the you start to make a laundry list of everything that annoyed you about a drama - that its pretty bad. One of THE worst FL characters written - if there was an equivalent to a dumb blonde in asian terms - this would be it. They try to write it off as the result of her being 'locked' away - which in-of-itself was stupid - its not like she was in a cave somewhere and didnt interact with other human beings for 20yrs. While a cage is a cage, no matter how pretty - she was able to sneak off, could read books and talked to people. So, the very idea that she didnt understand basic human/social interactions annoyed me right off the bat. And, then, she is just stupid and annoying through most of the drama - such an awful FL character for so many reasons. You also know its bad when you are rooting for the character to NOT end up with the ML and you just kind of want her to go away. It didnt help that the actress who played this character is not so great. I almost didnt recognize her from Follow Your Heart (hated her in that as well and almost same criticism of her acting) and now in Fangs of Fortune (where she works, but only because that character is stoic and emotionless). She just has so little emotional range and kind of blank look on her face all the time. ML wasn't that great either and absolutely no chemistry between the two.
Horrible script, bad direction, low production quality - VERY dated.
FL is kind of annoying - she talks way too much, her analysis of things take way too long (I will give it to the actress - she had way more lines to memorize than anyone else in this drama!)
So NOT believable that they would pick a rookie cop, still in training/school to infiltrate a high functioning murder gang. The only interesting part of this for me was to see how the character, from the beginning - just thought she was smarter than everyone else - all the while, getting played and everyone knew it. It brought me back to the beginning and her not seeing that Dr. Xu liked her - even when everyone else around her knew it. It just screams - I don't pay attention to stuff around me very well - which then lends to the problem of her being a criminal psychologist. This really was one of the most flawed female characters I have seen in a while.
Horrible script, bad direction, low production quality - VERY dated, FL is kind of annoying.
Now, I get it - its from 2016 - but it felt like it was from the 90's with the bad Flock of Seagulls hair for too many of the male characters (like, seriously, someone had a fetish for the sever side part, come-over). Way too heavy makeup for the guys (which is funny, cause it's usually a problem on the female character end) - but the heavy contouring for the ML was laughable.
And whoever wrote this had some very serious issues with women - the first three 'cases' involved rape that got more violent as we went along - it was kind of disturbing.
They also did not know how to right a bad-ass woman character - they just thought if we make her act like a guy (be all tough and hang on the guys around you and slap them around) - that will do it, cause she is pretty. Instead, she just came across as bratty and arrogant. I constantly thought that if this was a male character - we would have hated him for those reasons, but, no, because its a woman and she is pretty - I am supposed to think she is badass - yeah, no.
I knew this was going to be dated and had read a bunch of the comments as I was deciding to watch or not and folks said it was worth it because the main couple had great chemistry. I guess they just liked all the kissing scenes - cause I did not enjoy them as a couple at all. He was super-pushy and got SUPER clingy once together. She was just a brat most of the time (which was an attempt at her being 'fiesty') Now, I did enjoy that he totally had her number - but it just got old, real quick. So many second-hand embarrassment moments for her - mostly of her own making cause she kept wanting to show off.
She really had a need to be the center of attention and when she went from the big fish in the small pond, to the small fish in the big pond - it just got worse.
REALLY got tired of all her monologues - so just wanted her shut up after a while
And she wasn't even that great at her job - almost every analysis she did was wrong and she missed key points in almost everything. After a while, I couldn't even really understand why she was there or what she added - cause most of the cases were solved by the ML.
You also can't make me believe that a woman who is afraid of heights and has no sense of direction would ever become a cop.
And do not even get me started on how they chose to dress this character - my god! The stiletto high heels everywhere were just so stupid.
Right out of the gate it was the whole premise of the best friend/roommate who has killed herself - am I really supposed to believe that the FL just falls apart because her bestie came to her, pretty much out of the blue and declares she is in love with her boyfriend and thinks she should break up with him so she can have a shot - like, wtf absurdity is this! and when the FL says no, she runs off and kills herself?? And she doesn't find ANYTHING odd about this?? No, instead, let me consume myself with guilt, break up with my boyfriend and runaway. I just couldn't buy to this narrative AT ALL.
Someone PLEASE go save the goldfish from that tiny, TINY bowl she sticks it - just drove me nuts every time they showed it - its a fish and needs space to swim!
Had NO sympathy for the mother, AT ALL. She abandons her child, leaves him with an abusive parent and pretty much just goes on with her life. While she claims to have looked for him - she is married to a frickin' police officer! You cannot make me believe, in any way - that there wasnt more she could have done with the help of her husband - this was just absurd. Then, when she does find him - all she does is cry and constantly puts the FL in completely awkward situations to help her. Nope, not a big fan of this character at all.
Romance/chemistry of main couple just didnt work for me. They had their cute moments and I did like, once together, they had good communication - but there really wasn't much spark there.
As usual - it takes waaaayy too long for them to even get together and the whole, original misunderstanding, was just stupid and when she does finally blurt out what it is (after he has asked , very respectfully multiple times) - it was just a nothing-burger. It was a 'thorn' (her words) - that she has completely manufactured in her head and if she had ,just once, tried to have a convo - the whole thing could have been resolved - yeah, I know, that doesn't make much for a drama - but it was so stupid!
HATED that Peng's dad suffered NO real consequences or accountability for his behavior -he was an abusive, alcoholic asshole and he he suffers nothing - and the whole thing at the end with him crying and saying sorry - I wanted to throw things at my screen - grrrr!
The actor who played Peng was magnificent! I look forward to seeing him in other things - especially a main ML role.
For a cdrama short - its ok and if you need a filler - not bad
Where I struggled - is, once again a poorly written FL and since she was the center of this drama - it made this drama hard to get through too often. She does get there in the end - but another FL who is kind of unlikeable for far too long that you really want the ML to just walk away. Another FL who is incredibly stubborn to the point of ridiculous - must be pushed the point of her loved one almost dying before she will budge (just makes my head hurt)
Dealing with mental illness - while I want to applaud a drama that even approaches this topic and even mentions someone seeing a psychiatrist - they handled this so poorly. Why is it that the ONLY person who is actively seeing a therapist for 10yrs is the one who goes obsessive/ crazy and tries to injure people and yet it really is the the other three female leads who all could have uses some good therapy. From the FL who clearly has trauma from her childhood (narcissistic, philandering father; mother who kills herself), to the bestie who has been in a domestic violence marriage, to the other bestie who clearly has anger issues and needs to be in couples therapy - ALL could have used a good therapist. But, yeah - let's make the one who is actually getting help be the crazy one and the villain of the story.
Domestic violence - again, kudos for even going anywhere near this - but to let the guy off the hook cause you have figured how to get him to stop coming around - with no thought that he would go on to do this to someone else. The appropriate message should have been to call the cops as soon as he breaks into your house and assaults you.
The relationships"
Main - while it does kind of work out in the end - it was just such an unbalanced relationship. He does al the chasing and changing and adjusting, while she just doesn't move at all. Granted, she makes the one big adjustment in the end - but ti was so out of wack for far too long.
Married couple - these two just need to go marriage counseling and no, a baby is not going to fix, what is their inherent problem - she is a drama princess and he is a child.
Introverts - they were a good fit, super-sweet - would have preferred more time here than with married couple.
ML was spectacular in this - have enjoyed him since Mr. Sunshine and he did not disappoint here
FL was just ok for me - has more to do with the character than the actress - she did play her role well - which is the forlorn, sad, woe-is-me girl. As someone else said to me - she just has that resting sad face - so it works for this character.
I do wish they had just made her a little more clever/smarter and here is where it most bothered me:
Right out of the gate with the whole set up - why does she think she is going to outsmart her FBI negotiator trained, special forces husband with her little kidnapping prank? This immediately made me shake my head. Does she know NOTHING about him (I only say this because it was mentioned publicly about him, so she must know). Now,I get it was all for the setup and the phone, etc.. - but she was just so dumb about it all so much of the time. Then there was the whole - I am going to sneak into rebel territory to go see a sunset in my beige/white outfit and headscarf - no problem, I won't get caught - ugh!! 🤦♀️ Again - I get it s setup to get us to their reunion which btw, is one of the best - but it was a bit absurd.
These were the two biggest ones for me - there were other smaller ones I could let go
SO very annoyed that there was absolutely no accountability for her mom at then end and that they even try to make her sympathetic - just, no - this woman was horrible and was willing to sell off and pimp her daughter so she could stay in the chairman's good graces - there is no coming back from that.
On the other side - very happy his mom got her comeuppance - but his dad didnt really.
I really like what they did with In-a - it was a great twist on the what could have been the usual, evil sister comeback - so, so happy that they went in a totally different direction - she turned into a great character
Really liked what they did with the news reporter woman - again - the usual setup is to have her be obsessed with the ML - LOVE that she really was just a stan and had no romantic interest in him at all and could easily move to falling for the dr/crime story guy. Also enjoyed that they didnt make him obsessed with FL (which would be the usual) - this made this second coulee VERY refreshing.
Villain was great - they gave us great background on him - he totally made sense and tied so much of the story together (they usually fail big time here)
Now - I dont come and read comments BEFORE I watch a drama (I also wait until its completely finished so I can binge it) - so, I was completely astonished at all the outrage about the last episode - cause I didnt catch it all and I may go back and rewatch to see what everyone is all up in arms about. (and no, I dont need anyone to come and tell me, I am quite familiar with the issue and have worked on ceasefire resolutions in my city). I am just going to point out - that I didnt even notice it AT ALL - mostly because they are talking about made up countries and conflicts and the point of the story at this point is to show was she was back to work and he was off negotiating for the release of hostages
No real chemistry between main leads - not bad for younger versions, but for older/current version - pretty non-existent. They tried to play off constant bickering off as chemistry and it's not. So, you were pretty much left with two adults bickering at each other for far too long.
While I enjoyed the younger versions of them slightly more - they still bickered for no real reason. I honestly did not get what he liked about her beyond just being 'pretty' - cause she was very high maintenance and got mad at the drop of the hat.
Another FL written as kind of mean and unpleasant for 2/3 of the drama - which makes it hard to like her and by the time she calms down -when she finally does, I just didnt care anymore and I dont like her and dont want her with the ML.
While they were both pretty childish and petty - FL just had this meanness to her that the ML did not.
I had a hard time believing either of them were in their mid-to late 30's - especially the FL - she was just so childish much of the time). It also did not help the FL character that, once again, let's dress her like a disheveled mess. Now, I get that this was supposed to be reflective of her depression - but it really was a hot mess and it is just not believable that a teacher would go to work like this - certainly the gym clothes, as a PE teacher - but she was also a homeroom teacher and there were times that she looked like she was still in her pajama's.
HATED the two older men colleagues - the vice-principle guy and his constant want to go drinking with everyone, the main gossiper and all around butt-insky was just horrible.
The ML's dad was also pretty bad - just constantly yelled and as soon as he hits the ML - I am out - no redemption for me
The redemption of the bestie was also pretty bad - no consequences whatsoever and they even try to give her a romance at the end - just NO
ML is violent (as is the FL - she stabs him 3 times) and has no emotions. FL is the most severe push/pull girl out there - it gave me serious whiplash - it was almost disturbing how utterly f*cked up this character was.
She is also seriously dumb most of the time - EVERY scheme she tries to pull off is an utter failure and when caught relies on trying to seduce whoever caught her (it goes back and forth between main ML and the brother)
It was an interesting concept - but a bit too heavy on the S&M erotica fantasy game. Whoever wrote this has some very serious relationship/ love issues
And, in the end -to try and romanticize this horribly toxic relationship as some grand love story, was just so wrong
Mostly worth the binge for the ML. FL was ok for me - I just dont particularly enjoy the pipsqueak girls. And she would have been better if she could actually fight, instead of just walking around with a sword and pretending like she is some big marital artists. Dont get me wrong, I mostly enjoyed her attitude - but it did get real old, real quick and showed up in places it shouldn't
The biggest letdown is that this was clearly meant to be 2 seasons - you cant leave a HUGE cliffhanger like that without the idea that there will be a second season - we will see if that happens - not holding my breath since this was made in 2022
Love both the main leads - they just didnt quite work for me as a couple.
As characters- she isn't that much older than him (she is only supposed to be around 30 and he is mid-to-late 20's - so not a huge age gap here). The problem lies is that the actors in real life have a bigger age gap (she is 40 and he is 28). Even with this, I can sometimes be ok with it - but she just felt too much like his mother, than a love interest. If they had just kept this to them being partners in solving crimes and not introduced the romance part - it would have worked better for me - but every time they got 'romantic' - it just felt awkward to me cause she had such mom vibe to me.
But, that was just my feeling watching it. Beyond that - I do love seeing a kick-ass woman and she did rock this part!
I will once again downgrade my rating on this and will say - worth a watch, but definitely dont need to see it again.
The weird decision to make the main couple so, overly chaste was kind of weird - like, neither of them have any intimacy desires At ALL. While they are a pretty healthy couple in that they actually communicate - the weird setups of them sitting on the bed and just holding hands while talking and both totally fine with just that, like COME ON already - this is not normal. Kind of made sense early on, but after the escape to Younzhou - it was just ridiculous. There was just something off about this couple - they just always seemed more like brothers-in-arms, than lovers.
Other weird directorial decisions - the decision to have the ML basically whisper through so much of their dialogue - I know they were going for a sense of intimacy, but it was just him whispering all the time - it was weird.
Her sniffling crying all the time (ALL THE TIME) - it was a bit much and the sniffling was annoying
SOOO mad about General Qin - this made no sense AT ALL
And, basically, Uncle He could have solved/prevented ALL OF THIS if he had just said something sooner - its all on him
Actors all did their jobs fine - but it couldn't overcome a bad script.
While I usually enjoy this actress - this character has to be one of the more annoying FL's out there. They tried to thread the needle of a newly formed human (therefore, emotionally a child), but in a full-grown woman's body. She had the maturity level of an eight year old, but lets put her in adult situations. It just didnt work at all.
They tried to make her 'naive' (because she just became human) - but she just came across as super-dumb most of the time. You can be naive and 'innocent' without being stupid - yet, most writers just dont know how to do this properly and so they just come across as stupid.
I did appreciate that they didnt do the ridiculous love triangle thing with the 2FL - usually this is the spoiled girl from a noble family who crushes on the ML and causes problems - SOOO happy they didnt go down this road and instead made her besties with the FL - this was a great relationship.
The psycho prince regent got boring real quick and whoever thought the whole lets make him think we slept together thing was a good idea should never be allowed near a script again - this was just so wrong on so many levels and if the gender roles were reveres, we would be screaming bloody murder.
FL has SERIOUS bad judgement about men - repeatedly. She does finally get it together on the 3rd turn - but, oof, this was painful to watch (just because she was so stupid all the time)
Chemistry was ok with leads - but, honestly, this was another one of those pairings that I couldn't quite understand what everyone found so fascinating about her - especially the ML - beyond the cutesy, super-cheerful thing - she really wasn't that interesting and with all her shenanigans - she was just exhausting most of the time.
Had not seen the ML in anything before and I did enjoy him in this
FL is kind of hit or miss for me - didnt mind her in this, but she wasn't my favorite. Almost all of her characters have this over-exuberant, because I am hiding from emotions thing that I dont really enjoy. On the plus side - they kind of address it in the drama and once she kind of calms down - I do enjoy her more.
Two things I dont enjoy - the over-comsumption of alcohol and hitting people for fun/playfulness - not extreme here, like in Love Next door - I had to stop watching it because of how much the FL hit the ML - but enough that it is bothersome. Its the weird striking out hitting because they dont want to deal with their emotions
Will have to say they did strike a good balance between the business stuff and the romance - usually it goes to0 heavy one way (usually to the business side) - and since I could have cared less about alcohol sales and making beer - because it was balanced well, I didnt mind as much having to suffer through all that silliness.
REALY could have done without all the silliness with the village crew - the aunties were just annoying - got better once they 'adopted' her and the village head guy was just stupid.
One of the few romcoms were I enjoyed the second couple - I usually hate that they always insist on having them in the first place - but this couple was good and I look forward to BSC in more stuff - he was just too adorable here.
I agree with many commenters here that part of the fail of this drama is that the description and how it was marketed are way off from what actually happens. This really is more of a commentary on broken people, love and contract marriages. The mystery part and the whole contract marriage company, which were interesting, just not that central to the story - almost felt like that needed its own seperate drama
So, this made the drama unfocused - like, what were they going for - romcom, melodrama, mystery??? And, because they tried to do it all in only 8 episodes - nothing quite came together.
The thing I HATED the most was that the ex-wife faces NO real accountability for her actions - like NONE and I just find this inexcusable given her actions
Loved the main leads - thought they were great together
Loved the whole cast, cinematography was wonderful, loved all the great art in her house, and office, the drawings at the beginning, the use of film (I am a photography, so this was wonderful).
Kudos to all who worked on this. D
Definitely worth a watch!
One of THE worst FL characters written - if there was an equivalent to a dumb blonde in asian terms - this would be it. They try to write it off as the result of her being 'locked' away - which in-of-itself was stupid - its not like she was in a cave somewhere and didnt interact with other human beings for 20yrs. While a cage is a cage, no matter how pretty - she was able to sneak off, could read books and talked to people. So, the very idea that she didnt understand basic human/social interactions annoyed me right off the bat. And, then, she is just stupid and annoying through most of the drama - such an awful FL character for so many reasons. You also know its bad when you are rooting for the character to NOT end up with the ML and you just kind of want her to go away.
It didnt help that the actress who played this character is not so great. I almost didnt recognize her from Follow Your Heart (hated her in that as well and almost same criticism of her acting) and now in Fangs of Fortune (where she works, but only because that character is stoic and emotionless). She just has so little emotional range and kind of blank look on her face all the time.
ML wasn't that great either and absolutely no chemistry between the two.