In a conventional romance drama, this would be about the time in the story when the writers would contrive some reason to separate the two romantic leads. They would then gradually find their way back together. In a longer series, that might repeat, with increasing drama each time. In this series, which is not a conventional drama, the writers decided to separate the budding father-daughter relationship between Ren Xinzheng and Sun Tou Tou. For a pretty flimsy reason. But whatever. It was pretty emotional and interesting to see how each person deals with it. I really liked how LingLan Song called out her husband for holding on to his pride and pointing out how that had meant all the people around him kept having to swallow their own pride to do things for him. Overall, Ren Xinzheng is a wreck and handles the separation poorly. Meanwhile, Sun Tou Tou, being much emotionally tougher and having grown so much, handles it like the boss queen that she is.
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This episode was made great by both the growing trust and bond between Professor Ren and Sun Tou Tou and then especially by the cute drinking session they have together to cap off the episode. This episode is also notable because, finally -- FINALLY -- Run Tian Zhen does something positive for Sun Tou Tou. I guess he does feel guilty for the stupid stunt he pulled with getting her drunk and leaving her because in this episode he helps her get her 'punishment' assignment done. This is a huge step forward for his character and one that is way overdue.
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Just when I noted in reviewing last episode how Ren Tian Zhen had finally seemed to show a little positive growth, he immediately starts this episode by showing himself to still be a complete and total a**hole, getting Sun Tou Tou drunk and just leaving her on the bench by the river bank. On purpose! And then the little coward hides his involvement in getting her drunk. He is SO absurdly petty, cruel and irresponsible. And also a coward. This all blows up terribly of course. And STT takes all the blame. Maybe, just _maybe_, the little punk will finally be kicked forward by guilt over this to start to grow up and stop being such an arrogant, insensitive jerk? But when spoiled RTZ is not alternating being an a**hole to STT and exploiting the emotionally dependent Meng Meng for handholding, hugs & cuddles, he takes time to kick his friend Li Quan, who is struggling the weight of his own family's poverty, to the curb. The show is 10 episodes in and up to now RTZ has not grown one bit. If we are supposed to start to accept him as the romantic interest, he has a lot of changing to go through. Oh - and thank goodness for Mr. Wu, paying attention to what is going on with Li Quan and understanding the mission. Though it appears there are some tiny cracks in the Wu+Ren partnership. Watching Li Quan sit marginalized at the meal was painful, having experienced similar situations. Lots of empathy for him. Finally some tiny hints into STT's real family background. And the father-daughter relationship between Prof Ren and STT is so endearing to watch grow.
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This episode deals mainly with the emotional trauma of Chen Ying and Zhu Xia. How each finally starts to heal from the emotional damage of the accident when Chen Ying's car hit Ding Jian Xi. And the lesson about the importance of healing from one's anger is delivered in purified form of a very nice lecture by Professor Ren towards the end. On the surface, it's kinda cheesy. But the way the episode plays out it works very well. This episode also marks the actual first steps forward in Ren Tian Zhen's growth as a person since the show began and, along with that, actual forward progress of a relationship between he and Sun Tou Tou. Sun Tou Tou herself shows increasing respect for her master and an innate understanding of his lessons. Very subtly, her character is changing. Her posture is taller, more upright in more scenes, making her look more and more like a competent young lady rather than the hunched-over wild ruffian she used to be. Oh - and a low-key cool side bit seems the quiet emergence of Meng Meng and Ding Jian Xi as potential besties. They immediately look cute as friends. Maybe this can start to ween Meng Meng of emotional dependency on RTZ?
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When is RTZ going to start to show some growth and maturity as a character? He continues to be pretty insufferable and I don't really blame his dad for losing it with him at times. He continues to be arrogant, self-absorbed and incredibly insensitive. Yes, Tou Tou is her own kind of crazy and irritating. But even though she acted tough and played like she was just kidding around, RTZ's ignorant statements about how she should not need her mother to help her fall asleep were incredibly insensitive. Yes, she acted like she was goofing, but I wouldn't be surprised if those kind of comments did hurt her, behind the tough-girl facade. And RTZ's whole hero complex with regard to 'saving Memg Meng' is almost enough to make me gag. I guess we just have to be patient with him. Other than reinforcing just how annoying RTZ is, though, this episode is very good. with some interesting storylines growing. Gawd, the reveal that the woman, Chen Ying, who hit Ding Jian Xi is also one of Prof Ren's patients and has been suffering a pretty awful life of her own is pretty sad. I feel so bad for both sides of that accident. And wow. Prof Ren throwing the "She's dead." guilt trip at Zhu Jia was just brutal (but probably necessary) psychological manipulation.
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I would have rated this episode MUCH higher but I found the way Ren Tian Zhen laughed at and took such joy her misfortune to get so badly stung by bees to be disgusting and it really bothered me that the show-writers seemed to want to play off the scene as 'comedy'. Bee/wasp/hornet stings - especially multiple stings like this, can be life-threatening, especially if one has an allergy. It is simply not something to laugh at. All the scene accomplished for me was it made RTZ look like a complete jerk. I get it that he is supposed to end up was the romantic lead as the story develops. But right now, he is not a good person.
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Finally watching this series (it's been on my list for a long time). I've got to say that I'm really, really impressed by Zhou Lusi's rendering of the Sun Tou Tou character. Yes, she seems superficially feisty and silly and difficult. And obviously good for a laugh or too. But Tou Tou is actually so clearly very, very complex. There is a deep sadness and tragedy behind the silliness and it surfaces as a sincere practical wisdom at times. Her words of absolution and encouragement to the boys who were so depressed about mis-diagnosing Meng were pretty touching. And her legit talent as a cook surprises all her higher-status peers. And then the episode closes with her honest bewilderment at not understanding the point of bowing in memory of the TCM predecessors, speaking the words: "I don't know them. And they are not your relatives. ... This is so strange." Many would find her behavior disrespectful but she is speaking with sincere bewilderment. Lusi's well-known talent for connecting the emotions of the audience with those of her character is on full display here as, even with an unconventional character like Tou Tou, she still draws us in so she becomes our surrogate in each scene.The layered, complex nature of Tou Tou seems apropos for the show itself. On the surface, this drama seems fairly light weight, cute, funny and not heavy on drama. But it keeps dipping it's toes into some pretty heavy topics such as Meng nearly dying due to an ectopic pregnancy, the risks of mis-diagnosis and social class-distinctions (Tou Tou's poverty up-bringing as an orphan compared to the others - and how that affects one's view of things like ritual and what is/isn't practical). I suspect the show will be bringing most of these topics back up in more depth as the series progresses.
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I'm having a hard time warming up to the ML, Gu Chan Seong. He has several traits that just annoy the heck out of me. First off, his first instinct is always to argue against whatever the FL intends, even if he has no clue about all the concerns and consequences involved. I guess he has some sort of oppositional defiance disorder? And then he has two very irritating tendencies. First off, he only asks questions that he knows the answers to - which the FL points out and gets extremely irritated by. Second, he doesn't ask the actual questions he needs to ask to fill in the giant gaps in his understanding of what's going on. He is arrogant in assuming he knows best again and again, when repeatedly it is clear he does NOT know best. He's like the stubborn husband driver who gets lost but refuses to ask directions. Finally, his worst trait is he keeps trying, more and more, to control Jang Man Wol. He keeps insisting on what she can and can't do.But that's not a good way to help someone. Despite dreaming glimpses of her past life, he seems to make no attempt to really understand why she is the way she is. What traumas led her to become the owner of Hotel Del Luna. He just arrogantly criticizes her constantly. She even tried to work with him to understand his dreams but he insisted on just snarking back at her to trigger her temper and that fell apart.Basically, he is kind of a jerk and not someone I would like in real life. I hope that the story gives him some character growth that will make him more likable.
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It is hard for me to decide which episode is worse: The 28th or this one. This one continues the same absurd "Shi Yi lying in a coma" storyline and it is just so, so dumb. Again, the behavior of multiple characters is just weird and bizarre in order to stretch out this plot gimmick. The episode just drags things out with a combination of unreasonably stupid behavior on the part of some characters filled in with lots of flashbacks. We get no Shi Yi time on screen except in memories. And the Zhou Sheng Chen we get in this episode is a regressive throwback to the emotionally stifled, hyper-reticent, absurdly deferential-to-a-fault Chen that the was at the start of the series. We lost so much character growth that he had shown through 27 episodes. Without the main leads (especially without Bai Lu's character) on screen the show really suffers. The whole episode just drags slowly and is filled with flashbacks to stretch out screen time.
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Ugh. After a mostly well written show, this episode is giant hot mess. The contrivances in the plot to create the 'drama' event are just so bad and cringe. So much stupidity required by too many characters. And then we get the aftermath of everything that happens starting in the hospital. My god it is so bad. The behavior by so many characters is just plain bizarre . The actors are trying their best through this but the script is just so absurd and silly.
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This episode was full of all kinds of sad. But it was beautifully rendered and one of the better recent episodes by far. One thing this episode clarified for me was it reinforced the reincarnation premise of the series because it becomes clear that this modern life is not just a chance for Shi Yi and Zhou Sheng Chen to find love & happiness together that was denied them in the past life. It is also a life of atonement, obligation and penance for Mei Xing, who was the prince, Liu Zi Xing in the past life. His loyalty and sense of obligation to Chen is his soul's obligation to pay back the debt he owes Chen from the prior life. This includes coming to terms with and dismissing his former obsession over Shi Yi. The pain he is suffering now at the loss of Zhou Wen Xing is his penance. But it is also his chance for his soul's atonement as he finally comes to realize the love he had overlooked - not just in this life with Wen Xing, but also in the past life with Qi Xing Hua (who was probably Wen Xing's past life). Mei Xing's story clearly has been to atone in this life for the sins of the past life, with the hope that he and Wen Xing will finally find happiness in the next life.
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Whomever wrote this episode has zero idea what acute appendicitis is about. It extremely rare that it is not treated with an appendectomy and that needs to be done promptly. You need to go immediately to the hospital and they perform the surgery. There is no leisurely waiting around to have the surgery at some convenient time. You are in pain until it is treated. Now, if it has not burst, modern laparoscopic surgery means you can usually go home within a day or two, unlike with open surgery which typically means 3-5 days. But it is very serious and definitely life-threatening if not treated promptly. This show put out all kinds of absurd misinformation about appendicitis and the writers should be chastised for that. This show is mostly well written and very enjoyable but every now and then it dips into weirdly extreme stupidity. Aside from this appendicitis silliness, an earlier example were when Lin Fei stopped the car and GOT OUT OF THE CAR when the road was blocked by the 'bandits'. That was insanely stupid behavior on the part of Lin Fei. And then later, when Shi Yi and Wenxing stood up in the boat. THAT was stupid enough but the scene was compounded further by the sheer insane stupidity of a boatman not knowing how to swim! All of these scenes could have easily been written to have the same plot impact without being so obviously stupid. These are the big, obvious script failings. There are also little fumbles. Chen tells Shi Yi he is taking the day off from work ... but later, he is working in the study - a plot point solely for the purpose that Shi Yi, Xiao Yu and Du Fang can talk without him for a moment - until he dutifully emerges to check on Shi Yi's needs, just for a little mild humor. These problems with the script lower the whole experience for the show.
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Haven't dropped a review in a while but need to put down some thoughts at this point in the story. First off, overall, this is a very good show and it's interesting to watch the growth of a relationship between someone who is clearly neuro-divergent (prob autistic) and someone who prob has non-hyperactive ADD. But on the other hand, it's getting annoying just how the plot keeps 'coincidentally' contriving reasons to separate the ML & FL. Dropping the fact that ML has to stay in Bremen another 30 days at the end of this episode feels silly and contrived. It' obviously a cheap plot mechanic to put FL into vulnerable position during that time. I really hope that the writers won't stoop to such stupid lazy gimmicks very often.
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This episode was a huge improvement over the last 4 episodes. Plotwise, it's still a sad episode, given what his going on. But the events in this episode don't feel as silly and contrived and the dialog is much better. There are some legitimate funny scenes and also some heartfelt moments.
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The writing has really dropped in quality over episodes 21-24. I get it that the writers wanted to contrive a breakup in order to fill out some episodes. And there were definitely plenty of grounds for creating a breakup. But the implementation of that was done so poorly with so many really stupid plot contrivances that it was embarrassing to watch at times these last few episodes. So many contrived 'conisncidences' and then supposedly smart characters behaving incredibly stupidly. Also, the whole Zheng Qi + Yuan Lishu romance sub-drama is just awful because both characters are awful. Both are pathetic characters in different ways but it's just hard to feel any sympathy for either of them. So much screen time has been devoted to them these last several episodes and it has just been annoying. Plus both those characters were involved its that disgusting embarrassingly racist 'thug' scene in 'England' that should never have made it past the editing room. I really hope the writing / directing quality improves going forward.
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