Across the Ocean to See You Episode 33
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Same problem as recent episodes: The show is fine while it follows the two main leads' romance. Yes, they are encountering lots of resistance and friction - especially from the insane, evil Auntie Meiling who is setting new world record for hypocrisy and selfishness even as she heads toward her deathbed (not fast enough, unfortunately). But the writing on the main couple storyline at least feels decent and makes sense and the two leads are so endearing and easy to root for. The storyline for the secondary leads, however, is just a train wreck of bad, lazy writing and an SML who is not at all worth rooting for. And the toxicity of that storyline has finally infected even the formerly saint-like Xiaoqiu, who is clearly so hurt by what has happened to her that for the first time in this entire drama she gives out terrible advice to a friend. The secondary storyline is really dragging down the overall quality of each episode.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 32
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The main couple storyline is worth a much higher score, but the secondary couple storyline is an absolute mess. Mainly because the SML, Tang Ming is such a pathetic, unlikable idiot. All the commenters on Viki can't stand him and think Yan Xiaoqiu deserves a better man anyway. This whole secondary storyline is incredibly cringy with cliche' tropes and every bit of the plot feels contrived. Lots of viewers are actually rooting for Tang Ming to end up with Shan Shan because both characters just suck. He simply is not deserving of Xiaoqiu.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 27
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I'm getting tired of the recycled plot device of: Tang Guo Guo does something stupid to wreck things for Zheng Chu. The show has recycled this a billion times now and while yes, I can see the her character is gradually, sloooowly crawling through needed changes, it's just taking forever to get her past this stupid behavior. Similarly, it's frustrating watching her brother be nearly equally stupid (though in different ways) in each of his scenes. Both Tang siblings are just dumb as posts and the trouble their respective stupidities each cause is just being dragged out now for over 2 dozen episodes already.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 24
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This show is just plot-dragging around how incredibly stupid both Tang Ming and Tang Guo Guo are. So much of the drama is just waiting for each of them to stop being so consistently stupid. In TGG's case, we are waiting endlessly for her to finally grow up past her childish infatuation over Zheng Chu. In Tang Ming's case, we are just waiting for him to grow a brain cell of any kind other than medical information. Because he continues to dumb as a post on everything except medicine.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 22
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A very eventful episode. First off, Su Mang's pregnancy becomes publicly known and rumors that it is Zheng Chu's are flying. He wants to transfer to another team to create separation to protect her from rumors but she insists on facing things straight on so won't let him. This all seems fine ... until the two Tang siblings just mess things up so awful. First, Tang Guo Guo barges into Su Mang's office and starts a terrible argument with her and refuses to leave. Zheng Chu shows up and tries to escort her out but she gets crazy physical and pushes a weekened Su Mang down to the floor - which angers Chu so much he actually slaps TGG!! This is something that is probably years overdue but unfortunately will have repercussions. Su Mang feels like she needs to avoid Chu to protect HIM now and tries to go to the hospital without him but Chu is persistent and follows her there and is there for her to see the first ultrasound images of the baby. This is all super sweet again ... until he has to go meet with Dr. Idiot, Tang Ming, who is furious that Chu slapped TGG. Chu lets Ming beat him up. This scene just adds one more reason to dislike Tang Ming who just continues to be an absolutely stupid, idiotic a**hole. Earlier in the episode he did pretty much the lamest 'apology' to Yan Xiaoqiu and now he does this. He doesn't take into consideration that maybe there were _reasons_ why his sister got slapped. He just throws punches. He's a horrible, stupid blockhead about so many things, how can the show writers expect us to like him? Yan Xiaoqiu deserves a better man than this jerk.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 21
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A bit of an emotional up & down episode but forward progress on both the main and secondary romances was made and they also finally got rid of the annoying Auntie so overall a very good episode. I really like how the episode closed with a strong emotional moment between Zheng Chu and Su Mang. I also have to call out the acting performance by Zhang Wei, (the actor playing Mr. Yan, Xiaoqiu's father). In the scene in Tang Ming's office, when he tells the story of his family's past and breaks down remembering Xiaoqiu's words .... that was very real despair and regret in his voice. That performance in that scene by itself was worth watching the episode. On the flip side, I'm pretty much done with Tang Ming. He's so infuriatingly stupid and does not really deserve Yan Xiaoqiu. She consistently does nothing but the 'right thing' for everyone but her reward is to get just emotionally stepped on by both her sister (expected) and, worse, by idiot Tang Ming (not expected). She deserves a better man than him, though I know that the drama is probably going to make them end up together. So he had better do a lot to make up for the crap way he treated her.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 13
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Big improvement over the awful writing of last episode. It was good that they quickly resolved the stupid and contrived 'misunderstanding' trope of last episode and got Zheng Chu and Su Mang back on track. We are finally starting to see some tiny steps in TGG's being forced to reconsider her relationships with Zheng Chu, Su Chang and Su Mang. But it's still moving really slow. They are really dragging out her childish infatuation to near obsession levels and it's not really cute or entertaining anymore. The joke is past its due date. Hopefully the writers will contrive ways to get her to start to look towards Su Chang more earnestly and they will let her grow up. Meanwhile, on the Tang Ming front, we see some nice progress in his relationship with Yan XiaoQiu, who continues to be one of the very few likable characters. Here is the open question, though: Did Tang Ming actually sleep with Shan Shan on the night she pretended to be drunk in order to seduce him? Or did he do the right thing and leave? The show left that un-clear. Feels like that will come back to haunt things.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 12
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This episode is a dramatic downturn in script quality over the prior episodes because all of a sudden the writers have both the ML and the FL behaving as stupid and irrational as their surrounding cast of characters. Up until now, both the leads were the pillars of sanity compared to all the loonies around them but suddenly in this episode they both behave like idiots, leading, of course, to misunderstandings and over-reactions. In other words, the writers have leaned heavily into both the 'plot-induced-stupidity' and the 'contrived misunderstanding' tropes just to create some humor and false drama. I really hope this is not a regular occurrence in this show going forward.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 6
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So far, this show has been pretty good. On one hand, it is filled with many characters who are very unlikable for various reasons. Arguably, the only fully likable characters are the ML & FL, Zheng Chu and Su Mang and potential SFL, Yan Xiaoqiu. Everybody else is annoying for one reason or another. Even the SML (Tang Ming) is annoying because while he is a nice guy, he is also kind of pathetic with the way he lets himself get manipulated. But despite that, the show is fun to watch, moves the plot along briskly and whenever they use tropes, they make fun of doing so, either by calling them out in the script, diminishing their effect, tripping or even flipping the trope. The biggest such is of course the inversion of the classic C-Drama trope of the "cold-cruel-CEO boss" sternly but fair guiding the underling who they are destined to be with. Su Mang is excellent at being the female version of such a CEO trope. She keeps giving Chu more responsibility and he is growing professionally due to her guidance. And he literally acknowledges to Tang Ming that she is his "master" who is brainwashing his thinking. This whole dynamic is usually gender-flipped the other way around in so many c-dramas (and k-dramas).
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 2
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This episode hits all the silly contrived hijinks you expect to kick off a romantic comedy. The clingy Gou Gou is a bit much ("Clingy Self-Proclaimed Love Interest" trope), but all the other tropes are handled smoothly without pretending they aren't what they are. In fact, at one point in the episode they almost break the fourth wall with some foreshadowing that is clearly intended to make fun of the plot for including a variation of the "Secret One-night-Stand' trope (in this case, via the sperm donation). So it's refreshing that the writers so far are cognizant of the tropes, not afraid to use them, but not leaning into them to the point of annoyance.
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Across the Ocean to See You Episode 1
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First episode introduces us to both the ML and FL, starting in their currently separate lives, leading each to a pretty sad state of 'single' by the end of the episode. In the ML's case, he also ends up quitting his job on top of his romantic woes. BOTH failures are pretty clearly due to his own character flaws as we learn that while he is clearly smart and talented, he's also stubborn, temperamental and impulsive - the latter trait being on display again at the very end when he foolishly tosses the wedding ring away (wasting all the money he spent on it). On the FL side of things, she is shown to be diligently trying to support her marriage. Her Mother-in-Law convinces her that because her son is infertile but doesn't realize it, that FL should undergo IVF to get pregnant to have a child to strengthen their marriage. So she goes through the effort to get IVF treatment. She then immediately finds her hubby drunk, violent and obviously cheating on her. Plus, he reveals he knows she was trying to get pregnant and he knows he is infertile and he wants a divorce. This all makes it look like she may have been setup by her husband and mother-in-law. So her status is pretty pitiful at this point. She is tossed brutally to some steps by her husband who is obviously cheating on her. She's about to get divorced. And she's possibly pregnant with some stranger's child.
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Things are definitely dragging. The main 'reveng' plot is kinda barely moving at this point as the little time they spend on it in the show is just to show FL reaching dead end after dead end. And otherwise the bulk of the time has been spent on Kang Su and his pet tumor. I get it. The kid was cute and nice and I feel bad that the character was afflicted by a tumor. But from a viewer perspective I found this whole story arc to be a big drag. All drawn out to fill episode minutes. It's also just a continuing exasperation that the people working at this hospital just refuse to do simple, correct things. So many different people KNOW that Seo Woo had the responsibility for monitoring the VIP calls while Hye Jeong was in surgery. Yet no one testifies to this effect during the hearing? This show continues to have good, 'moments', but so many silly plot holes & plot gimmicks that are unnecessary.
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This episode really dragged slowly and was annoying because of how absurdly unrealistic the way so many of the characters act. And while I feel bad for Kang Su turning out to be ill, it is very annoying that the writers leaned so heavily into the tired drama trope of "character hides the fact that they are ill". And the incompetence of the hospital at conducting what should be a very simple investigation is mind-boggling.
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The episodes are getting better when they don't waste so much time on stupid contrived love triangle anymore. Still would like to see the residents and staff behave more like responsible adults and less like childish clowns, though.
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It's nice that the show finally remembered that the ML is a kick-ass fighter and finally contrived a situation where she could be her badass self again for a few seconds (which was all it took for her to take out the baddie in this case). This episode was overall pretty good because it not only resolved the case of the sort-of-paralyzed woman being terrorized by her stalker (pretend husband), but also moved several plot threads forward. ML & FL reconnect after his period of grieving and finish this episode in very good shape as a couple. Dr. Eyebrows seems to have matured just enough have finally accepted that he has zero chance with FL and .... there may be signs of something coming back to life between he and Seo U. Also, there may be a way to resuscitate the information from Granny's old case.
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