Would have given this a 10 if it were not for the ending - sooooo many unanswered questions/plots left hanging. this is really such a well-done drama - great characters, great filming and costume, good pacing of the story - thought ALL the actors did such great jobs - really is worth the watch. But, that ending is so, so so wrong, UNLESS they really do plan on a season 2 - we still dont know who the head of Wufeng is (the mysterious lady behind the curtain), what happens to Yun and her twin, what is the deal with back, back-hill people (the people created by infinite heat), shangguan needs to get her revenge - SO many things left undone
Just finished and overall - a pretty darn good kdrama - if you like this genre. Thought all the actors did a fantastic job Starts off strong and then gets kind of draggy through the middle with way too long back story arcs (seriously - did not need 3 episodes for Joowon’s back story) - then a strong, action packed finish Maybe its just me - but found it a bit odd that Doo Shik was not on screen more - I mean he is one of THE central characters, but has the least amount of screen time - just felt strange and maybe they make this up in season2. Also felt the ending where he rejoins his family VERY tepid - I mean FFS, he has been missing for like 8-10yrs (something like that) - and we only get a hug as they pan away LOVED that Joowon and his daughter adopt the NK guy And, Lordy 0 could Bongseok BE any cuter!
This is on my watch list -but one of the biggest reasons I keep putting it off is the complete turnoff on how they styled the FL - like, seriously, wtf were they thinking. She is already a tiny woman and they put her in all these horrendous, puffy-sleeved, way-too-big for her, grandma dress that just swallow her up - so not a good look AT ALL. And what is with all the HUGE lapels on everything. I mean, I will eventually watch at some point - but just needed to vent that out a bit as it just bugs the heck out me every time a see a clip from the show.
Just finished this and will just say - it’s just kind of ‘meh’ - there is just something underwhelming about it. The plot premise is kind of interesting - just feels like it failed on execution. The main couple had their ‘cute’ moments - but just didn’t fully connect for me - so they also felt awkward a lot of the time. Honestly, my favorite character was Cassandra - she was fantastic! There there was the choice to wrap the main story up at ep14 and then have these two, weird hanging episodes in 15 and 16 that just added nothing to the story - just kind of added fluff.
I trudged through 45 episodes and finally had to give it up. The plot lines must became so repetitive it just become boring - usual palace intrigue stuff just done over and over again. The usual crazy princess who is obsessed with one of the ML - but she isn't even very clever and her antics just got so overplayed that she just became a pathetic, boring character. FL that they typically try to canonize/romanticize with being so kind and noble - again - it just got old, really quick. Mixed feelings about Lu Buwei and Haolan pairing - mostly, he just felt too old for her and the whole 'father-figure' syndrome which I don't much care for. Haolan and Zichu pairing worked - but she clearly doesn't 'love' him - which annoyed me, because he actually gave her what she wanted, as opposed to Lu Buwei. The thing I enjoyed he most was the costumes - beautiful! I so want one of these hanfus from that era - much heavier fabric and detailing.
Just finished this and it was a mixed bag for me - mostly ok, but some really bad spots It starts off with a bang and the mom character is a hoot - but by ep 5, I was so over her bad behavior. She was stuck in her teens emotionally - just wants what she wants when she wants and everyone else just has to deal with it. Did not see her take into account anyone else’s feelings or emotions too often. She was a bit of an emotional bully that way. Daughter was the typical daughter of a single mom who has never really grown up and she takes on the ‘parent’ role - bothered me that this was never really acknowledged by mom. WHnever she does, finally, express her emotions - mo either yells at her or blames her for believing what others say - never hears her insecurity or why. This was truly a toxic, codependent relationship And while I understand where all the behavior comes from (abusive family, teen mom, etc..) - there isn’t much character growth until the very end They spent waaaayyyy too much time on mom’s romance and not nearly enough on daughters - we literally have to wait until ep11 and then she decides to go leave - so, basically we got nothing. HATED that mom, even in the end, couldnt let her daughter go on a trip by herself - she as well, then had to set off - once again, she showed how her feelings were more important Agree with other commenters that the whole murder-mystery thing was kind of pointless and I didn’t like that we dont get any real resolution to Chief Eun’s situation Other weird observations - mother/daughter never hug each other
Just finished this and another cdrama that falls victim to some really bad writing. The potential for this was pretty good. - but just not executed well. You will pretty much just endure watching this because of Johnny Huang and the fox brothers The most interesting story was the whole throuple relationship with the food brothers and Xin Xiao - they need their own whole drama - truly the most fun and interesting part of this drama.FL was one of the most boring FL’s out there - just spends the entire drama waking around with this sad puppy-dog face - has no self-agency, is horribly insecure and so helpless most of the time. They try yo play it off as she si kind - but being kind doesn’t equal being a doormat. They also try to explain that this is her curse - but the curse is just about her dying - not being miserable Here is why she is annoying - she never expresses or explains herself - while expecting everyone else to, is soooooo passive in her own life, has that annoying martyr complex, the horrible overthinker, is never direct about anything, does that awful drama trip of listening to people she hardly knows - you basically, just want to throttle her for most of the drama. I just DO NOT get AT ALL the appeal of these kinds of female characters
Interesting change of tone from season 1 to season 2 - some of you will like it and some won’t - this season is definitely darker and creepier than the last season. Still love the counter crew as a whole - they have great chemistry together. Could have done without the evil spirits Gollum voice - it was just weird and that is all I could think about any time she was on screen. Loved So Moon’s poney-tail hairstyle at the end when he is in Germany (very sexy) - DID NOT like the died red hair at the end. And what is the obsession with mullets in Asian dramas and culture - NEVER a good look, EVER.
Just finished this - overall, very sweet story - not a lot of ‘fireworks’ - but very gentle. I think the biggest fail for me on this was the editing - it was so choppy in so many places - abrupt starts and stops in the story - for instance - we open with the knowledge his grandpa is in the hospital and dying - you have one scene where the FL finally goes to hospital to meet him, they have a very heartwarming scene and grandpa is very active - cut to next scene and she is causally mentioning on the phone that her husband is busy cause his grandpa just died and you are like. - wait, what!?!?! - this happens ALOT. If you can move past that - it’s quite a nice story and you will LOVE Jing Gardens!
Just finished and would say, overall, a good watch. Thought Physician Li was fantastic - Cheng Yi has wonderful comedic timing - this was a great character and he did a fantastic job. Wasn’t that excited about the Fang Duo Bing character - kind of shallow for me - not much depth there - just basically a golden retriever puppy following Physician Li around - did make me laugh when he refers to him as a meathead in one of the story arcs - cause that is exactly what I was thinking before he said that. I thought the more interesting relationship duo was Physician Li and Director Di - there was just more depth there
Slightly better than season 1 - only because they dropped the whole leukemia story arc (thank god!) - otherwise its the same story with some reversals of roles. Not sure if that contributed to it being a bit boring as you knew what was coming and the characters didn’t really change. Only real fun part was catching all the easter eggs from season1.
Just finished this and I had so many thoughts about how ridiculous and tropey this was - but the list got too long. Let’s just go with the things I wish they would really, really stop doing in rom-coms. Pairing the FL and ML’s best friends together, the horrible baby-voices for female characters, the stupid drunken scenes, asking the friends who have no experience for dating /love advice, apartments/houses/offices where all the pictures are of themselves - just stop it! And here are characters/story arcs I wish they would stop - when the leads get together after some huge misunderstanding and promise never to lie to each other again and then they turn right around and lie about a rather huge thing (in this case its the FL how decides she has to stick her nose into the ML’s past re: his mother - thinking she is going to save this relationship - just to have it blow up spectacularly in her face). This speaks to the next thing - stop going and doing stuff that people do not ask you to do - most of this is done out of some need to constantly help and its based on what that person would want - not what the person they are actually helping wants. And, for the love of god - stop, stop, stop with he FL going to the bad guy (after explicitly being asked not to) - and what is the deal with FL’s always talking to complete strangers about the most intimate details of the their lives - who does that! And can we stop with the overly proud, I can do it all myself, don’t need to ask for help, kind of bratty, not very bright - but full of attitude female characters?? I honestly did not get why anyone would have been attracted to this character Don’t get me wrong - the ML character has a HUGE flaw - the whole set up regarding the leukemia diagnosis - well, it’s just so wrong. SO WRONG. But this FL character was just so bad - an actress who couldn’t act to save her life, the horrible pony-tail hairdo that she wore everywhere, was never is dressed appropriately for work situations, signs a contract and spends the 1st half of the show trying to get out of/ignore it - she was kind of annoying.
I want to watch this but the idea of the mal lead getting married to another woman instead of only the fl is stopping…
Don’t let it stop you. It is forced upon the ML and they both don’t want it - she becomes a bestie of the FL. Yes the Sedona wife does try to break up the leads - pretty typical of these dramas - but, again, doesn’t affect the leads at all.
Just finished and man, that was some seriously jacked up shit - some good, some REALLY bad, confusing/rushed ending. Starts off pretty wild/fun - then after about ep 8 - just spirals out of control. Thought all the actors did a fantastic job in their roles - just weird, weird script (which seems typical for this screenwriter)
Just finished this and man, was it a trudge to get through - mostly because it was all so contrived. By that I mean I couldn’t really buy into any of it from the beginning - the whole premise starts off bad and then everything becomes contrived to fit that original plot ploy. They then drag out everything unnecessarily because of these contrived excuses that I just felt like I was constantly spinning in place waiting for things to progress that never did. Then you have to wait until you get to episodes 23/24 before you see any real progression and then it’s a whirlwind to the end as they try to wrap everything up. I enjoyed the ML character, but the FL character was not so enjoyable. While I initially appreciated her scheming (given she was kidnapped and trying to get home) - this is one of the story arcs that just went round and round and round forever with no progression to it until near the end - and by then, she has become so annoying and petty in in her actions, that you just want her to go home. Didn’t really enjoy too many of the side-characters either besides that ML’s side-kick. REALLY hated the FL maidservant (the cat lady) - so childish and that horrible baby-voice (really wish they would stop with that) Ending was totally rushed and a complete let-down - they spend all this time and energy on the bad guy and his plot to take over and then do nothing with it in the end - mostly because they have waisted so many episodes on her trying to escape and silly side-stories that they left no time at then end for this piece This drama had such great potential - but in the end was kind of childish and not very clever
Just finished this and man, what a hot mess of drama this one is. Couldn’t decide if it wanted to be a comedy or a serious soy thriller - should have just picked a side on gone with it. If it were me, would have gone with the straight spy thriller - it was more interesting. The whole slap-stick family silliness was just stupid and not worth the effort.
this is really such a well-done drama - great characters, great filming and costume, good pacing of the story - thought ALL the actors did such great jobs - really is worth the watch.
But, that ending is so, so so wrong, UNLESS they really do plan on a season 2 - we still dont know who the head of Wufeng is (the mysterious lady behind the curtain), what happens to Yun and her twin, what is the deal with back, back-hill people (the people created by infinite heat), shangguan needs to get her revenge - SO many things left undone
Thought all the actors did a fantastic job
Starts off strong and then gets kind of draggy through the middle with way too long back story arcs (seriously - did not need 3 episodes for Joowon’s back story) - then a strong, action packed finish
Maybe its just me - but found it a bit odd that Doo Shik was not on screen more - I mean he is one of THE central characters, but has the least amount of screen time - just felt strange and maybe they make this up in season2. Also felt the ending where he rejoins his family VERY tepid - I mean FFS, he has been missing for like 8-10yrs (something like that) - and we only get a hug as they pan away
LOVED that Joowon and his daughter adopt the NK guy
And, Lordy 0 could Bongseok BE any cuter!
The thing I enjoyed he most was the costumes - beautiful! I so want one of these hanfus from that era - much heavier fabric and detailing.
It starts off with a bang and the mom character is a hoot - but by ep 5, I was so over her bad behavior. She was stuck in her teens emotionally - just wants what she wants when she wants and everyone else just has to deal with it. Did not see her take into account anyone else’s feelings or emotions too often. She was a bit of an emotional bully that way.
Daughter was the typical daughter of a single mom who has never really grown up and she takes on the ‘parent’ role - bothered me that this was never really acknowledged by mom. WHnever she does, finally, express her emotions - mo either yells at her or blames her for believing what others say - never hears her insecurity or why.
This was truly a toxic, codependent relationship
And while I understand where all the behavior comes from (abusive family, teen mom, etc..) - there isn’t much character growth until the very end
They spent waaaayyyy too much time on mom’s romance and not nearly enough on daughters - we literally have to wait until ep11 and then she decides to go leave - so, basically we got nothing.
HATED that mom, even in the end, couldnt let her daughter go on a trip by herself - she as well, then had to set off - once again, she showed how her feelings were more important
Agree with other commenters that the whole murder-mystery thing was kind of pointless and I didn’t like that we dont get any real resolution to Chief Eun’s situation
Other weird observations - mother/daughter never hug each other
You will pretty much just endure watching this because of Johnny Huang and the fox brothers
The most interesting story was the whole throuple relationship with the food brothers and Xin Xiao - they need their own whole drama - truly the most fun and interesting part of this drama.FL was one of the most boring FL’s out there - just spends the entire drama waking around with this sad puppy-dog face - has no self-agency, is horribly insecure and so helpless most of the time. They try yo play it off as she si kind - but being kind doesn’t equal being a doormat. They also try to explain that this is her curse - but the curse is just about her dying - not being miserable
Here is why she is annoying - she never expresses or explains herself - while expecting everyone else to, is soooooo passive in her own life, has that annoying martyr complex, the horrible overthinker, is never direct about anything, does that awful drama trip of listening to people she hardly knows - you basically, just want to throttle her for most of the drama. I just DO NOT get AT ALL the appeal of these kinds of female characters
I think the biggest fail for me on this was the editing - it was so choppy in so many places - abrupt starts and stops in the story - for instance - we open with the knowledge his grandpa is in the hospital and dying - you have one scene where the FL finally goes to hospital to meet him, they have a very heartwarming scene and grandpa is very active - cut to next scene and she is causally mentioning on the phone that her husband is busy cause his grandpa just died and you are like. - wait, what!?!?! - this happens ALOT. If you can move past that - it’s quite a nice story and you will LOVE Jing Gardens!
Pairing the FL and ML’s best friends together, the horrible baby-voices for female characters, the stupid drunken scenes, asking the friends who have no experience for dating /love advice, apartments/houses/offices where all the pictures are of themselves - just stop it!
And here are characters/story arcs I wish they would stop - when the leads get together after some huge misunderstanding and promise never to lie to each other again and then they turn right around and lie about a rather huge thing (in this case its the FL how decides she has to stick her nose into the ML’s past re: his mother - thinking she is going to save this relationship - just to have it blow up spectacularly in her face). This speaks to the next thing - stop going and doing stuff that people do not ask you to do - most of this is done out of some need to constantly help and its based on what that person would want - not what the person they are actually helping wants.
And, for the love of god - stop, stop, stop with he FL going to the bad guy (after explicitly being asked not to) - and what is the deal with FL’s always talking to complete strangers about the most intimate details of the their lives - who does that!
And can we stop with the overly proud, I can do it all myself, don’t need to ask for help, kind of bratty, not very bright - but full of attitude female characters?? I honestly did not get why anyone would have been attracted to this character
Don’t get me wrong - the ML character has a HUGE flaw - the whole set up regarding the leukemia diagnosis - well, it’s just so wrong. SO WRONG.
But this FL character was just so bad - an actress who couldn’t act to save her life, the horrible pony-tail hairdo that she wore everywhere, was never is dressed appropriately for work situations, signs a contract and spends the 1st half of the show trying to get out of/ignore it - she was kind of annoying.
Thought all the actors did a fantastic job in their roles - just weird, weird script (which seems typical for this screenwriter)
I enjoyed the ML character, but the FL character was not so enjoyable. While I initially appreciated her scheming (given she was kidnapped and trying to get home) - this is one of the story arcs that just went round and round and round forever with no progression to it until near the end - and by then, she has become so annoying and petty in in her actions, that you just want her to go home.
Didn’t really enjoy too many of the side-characters either besides that ML’s side-kick.
REALLY hated the FL maidservant (the cat lady) - so childish and that horrible baby-voice (really wish they would stop with that)
Ending was totally rushed and a complete let-down - they spend all this time and energy on the bad guy and his plot to take over and then do nothing with it in the end - mostly because they have waisted so many episodes on her trying to escape and silly side-stories that they left no time at then end for this piece
This drama had such great potential - but in the end was kind of childish and not very clever