noor1234

Watched a few short-form dramas that starred him such as 'Deep Love Love Again.'

After a great start, this drama descended into a farce pretty quickly. This was an average, forgettable production. The ending is nonsensical. There are plenty of 'celebrities' & business people in the world, there are only a few 'royals' - it's a USP & glamorous status that provides a certain shine, gravitas & historical context to a country - As regent / prince, Yi Ahn was attending all kinds of charity & diplomatic gatherings in SK & abroad, this is a ceremonial role, he could've 'modernized' the monarchy & continued as a constructive head, instead of 'abolishing'. To leave all that stardust, just to 'cook' & kiss on baseball cam wearing a ridiculous team merchandise shirt is dumb. The prince turned into an ordinary moron (frog) with a rich wife & direction-less existence. So what was the point of it all? And Disney executives agreed to this ending!!!!

People who humiliated Heejoo since childhood for e.g. her father & step brother are given redemption arcs & turned into her solid support system! By the end, Prince Yi-Ahn is as lost as he was in the first episode - but now he is not even a 'prince' (or is former prince/ king) - AND he is shown having 'The Last Emperor' 1987 film kind of a moment as a former king seeing his robe in a museum!!!! Extremely bad ending.

Plus, such a copout that (in Ep.12) Yi-Ahn says he 'always' liked Heejoo - we know he had a crush but we also know for a fact that he neither approached nor knew of her existence till she aggressively started pursuing him. The romance was on the back burner for last 6 episodes.

Prime Minister turning into a bad guy was lame writing. I don't for a second believe that a man who is voted into power by the people - & is ambitious - would jeopardize everything for some 'obsession' he NEVER acted on for 30 years over a rich girl who only looks at him as a friend & he loses his 2 best friends since high school in one go. Where's the responsibility & bromance?

Extremely average drama. Has no repeat value beyond Ep. 6 or 7 (whenever the boat kiss happened).

Personally I don't think he redeemed himself, it's just that the FL accepts him back in her life after he shows up 4 years later, that's it. He didn't change, nor said sorry, not really, he just wants her back & tones his sharpness / rudeness a bit to get her back.

But yes, they had great physical chemistry / connection & maybe the author wants people to focus more on that, & not his bad, distant, rude attitude as a boyfriend/ lover.

His problem is that he never gives her emotional support as a boyfriend / lover, just spouts rude & abrasive remarks you're likely to hear from a leadership coach. He's extremely distant unless they have s*x. He used her for physical intimacy even though he knew she liked him more than just for s*x. He doesn't want to admit he loves or likes her. He hides behind the 'we are just s*x partners' lie for SIX years. They never had a relationship beyond the bedroom, as in doing things couples do, spend time together as normal people. She lets it all happen to her (puts up with his whims & rules, because she loves him & is in awe of him as a boss) till she grows tired of his attitude & wants to escape the city where she has entangled herself in a dead-end stale relationship, where she has failed to get a promotion, where she has lost her good male friend. He doesn't understand any of it.

The novel is good but the guy is not a catch. Even in the end, when they have a kid together, she is constantly busy, rarely available on weekends, he's traveling for business all the time, away all the time, & actually says to her he doesn't know or can promise whether he'll sleep with someone else or not on one of his travels! There is a basic courtesy in relationships, & he doesn't give it till the end.

Read the novel. An HR / company nightmare relationship (boss-employee), but intriguing concept (no strings attached casual s*xual attraction). Upcoming shorter series 'Touch Me Like You Lied' (based on a short webnovel) also has a similar concept. Will watch both but I wish 'miscommunication/ non-communication' as a trope to separate a 'couple' runs its course. It's unrealistic in such longterm encounters. For six years the guy is trying to make up his mind, & when he does, she's gone! (this is not a spoiler - it's a HE). She also did not have a backbone & never told him her likes & dislikes during that period & when she wants emotional support from him as to work (since she looked up to him), he mocks her & is rude to her. That broke her because she realized he would never give her emotional support but was great to have s*x with. He never understood why she broke up!

I was glad when she built her own business after separation. Though it was sad when she realized that they did love each other in those 6 years, despite the misgivings she had at the time, I think the guy wasn't good to her on a human level.

The webnovel tells a toxic non-'love' story (typical miscommunication mumbo jumbo) & technically is a tragedy, so I don't know how much of an adaptation this is going to be. The title 'Overdo' seems to be indicating this Republican Era will not end well either, just like other dramas set in that period. Zhang Linghe is coming off a successful project, despite his limited acting range he is the man of the moment, so his character may have been toned down a bit, made more righteous even, & the drama is sure to get eyeballs & bots, but it can't have a HE. I know some commenters are saying it's not the same as novel, but I doubt it.

Thanks.

FL slayed with her decision regarding 'mastership' of Pavilion, great scene & dialogue. Then ML's scenes with the remaining villain & convo with his father (King) were great. FL coming to the caddish king's rescue & seeing ML again was also great. The best was the proposal scene, such a nice way of asking her hand to be his partner because he needs a smart adviser to assist him, not just a lover & wife. He knew she was an asset, not just a pretty face in love with him. And Thank God instead of talking, she simply kissed him a yes!

Technically, ML & FL will encounter the same problems that caddish 'King' had with imperial politics, since ML's mom's background was not as influential as the Right Chancellor's (second wife's father) & King became indifferent to first wife (though her kids came later than second wife's). But seeing ML & especially FL, my hope is that their future will be different. But even if ML changed down the decades (wives & concubines), it would not break FL (like it did Left Chancellor's wife & King's first wife). FL would still be strong & independent.

The biggest cad & coward in this drama was the wheelchair guy ('Master') who lied / kept hidden both FL & Zhiaoxi's true parentage from them (& King), denying them the right to make their own future or protect themselves better. He literally raised FL to be an assassin!!! And raised co-crown prince (Zhiaoxi) to be a mere hanger-on for his corrupt kids! His kids were either awfully cruel or opportunistic or both - & none of them was intelligent.

Ep. 24: What an incredibly beautiful wrap-up. [more in spoiler below]

This short drama may not have gotten much eyeballs, but it is the best one released this month (despite being shot two years ago!) Even the director has potential for greater stuff.

I am also extremely saddened by the confirmation (in Ep.20-23) that Zhiaoxi did indeed die in the wolf pit - I was hoping maybe he made it out alive somehow or was saved by someone once Wuxiang left & was kept in safehouse. Especially after we were given flashbacks of how good he was & of him being in the pit itself.

What a terrible, pitiful life the co-crown prince led trapped in a place he didn't want to be in only to be killed off by a jealous guy who wanted his betrothed - & I think the Pavilion master (wheelchair guy) is to blame for 'hiding' him & not investigating or even knowing what the king's son looked like - especially since the pavilion is supposed to be an investigative law enforcement agency of sorts. He was also an extremely bad father. Imagine raising 3 corrupt kids!

The cruel way in which Zhiaoxi is killed was in line with Wenshaung's unhinged anger & obsession because the poison he wanted to give to second-Zhiaoxi (ML) would have made ML suffer a painful death. So he wanted every rival to get painful deaths, hence wolf pit makes sense.

But I wanted both brothers to survive & a resolution to the question: Did FL fall for ML because he looked like Zhiaoxi (because she got attracted to ML very early on) or because they had different personalities (ML hiding his dangerous side & FL sensing him as intriguing).

Ep.23 is very boring & ridiculous: I expected the family to at least have ONE conversation about the fact that 1) the 'groom' (ML) was 'his highness' i.e. prince / crown prince - that was big news, but no one even mentioned it! 2) that they at least talk to returned-'Zhiaoxi' or 'Zhiaoxi' would have at least some question about ML with FL (so that we see FL talk about ML indirectly) - but no. 3) that FL would 'miss' ML a bit more or think about his 'princely' status (or remember that ML saved her from Xuwanxu/Gen.Shen OR that he said he'd 'die a thousand deaths for her') but no.

It was a very disjointed, slow & cold episode in which nothing major happened - a crime for a second-to-last episode. The big reveal at the end of episode was predictable & expected, so the episode should've moved forward or resolved more things, so that more scenes of ML-FL romance could be included in the last episode.

What was the proposal & what did he say to his father? Did she move into the palace as wife of heir to the throne or he got stuck in the pavilion?

@kate if you'd read the first post on the thread, you'd know I dropped it on Ep.1. I know the story / what happens later. You are finding excuses for her behavior in a professional setting as a 30-plus woman & blaming uncle/ mother / ML for it.

Nobody with a job in real life (abused or not) acts the way FL does: there's no excuse for being beaten up by strangers (she should've filed charges against the parents), looking like a bean bag (no self-care as professional) & ignoring your actual duties (absent mom).

Such a teacher would be fired in real life & such a mother would get called to principal's office in real life. Uncle / mother / ML have nothing to do with her professional commitments. You want to blame them, fine. If she got the wakeup call after being with a psycho, great!

@kate your 'victim blaming' argument does not suit FL's case: In Ep. 1, when we are introduced to her, she's 30+, ill-kempt, disheveled even though she's a teacher / college professional & I've never seen a person that disorganized & doormat in a professional setting as her - is it ML's fault? Or the fault of her bad childhood? Or her own fault? She gets beaten up by strangers / parents of a girl who cheated in exam (instead of parents & girl accepting their bad actions) - whose fault is that? Is it fault of ML's / gaslighting manipulative people of the world? She ignores her kid - whose fault is that? Can anyone imagine FL at a conference or meeting or date without being unsure or mumbling or embarrassing herself? Whose fault is that? She's in her thirties & has zero self-awareness. You cannot blame your childhood or bad relationships for your mistakes in all spheres of your life, all the time, for the rest of your life. You have to take ownership. She did zero work on herself. This is before she allowed ML to enter her life.

I believe women should take ownership of their own problems - it's no accident that ML chose FL - she's his type. But FL chose to make bad choices every step of the way in Ep.1, in every area of her life. There's no excuse for that.

I rewatched all 14 before watching 15-16 too. Actually he isn't empathizing with the missing husband - he at first was jealous of this 'incredible bond' between FL & his replica, & irritated by her constant praise of him which she was doing at first to show she had the 'incredible bond' (so that he doesn't think she only met him once) and post-makeout, she used the praise to rile him up because he created the distance by blaming the make-out totally on the drug & not any attraction/love & ignored her & hurt her. Then in Ep. 15-16, of course he found out the 'dead' husband is his long-lost secret brother, so he mourned the fact that he had lost his brother before even meeting him AND mourned the loss of his love because she is betrothed to the bro & he believes she has this 'incredible bond' with Zhiaoxi. He's depressed at the loss of both at the same time. He only stayed to give her the fake marriage which she needs to get control of Investigative agency (Z. Pavilion). After that he will leave (they even spoke very formally about it), but of course IF the real Zhiaoxi comes back, ML will still have to leave.

Thanks! I think it's ML. Let's see how it goes.

Any guesses on who is the man in the mask killing everyone at the end of this trailer- ML (impersonator) or real Zhaoxi? And what does he say to FL while dropping the sword?
https://x.com/darkrivertes/status/2047832749667398042

Edit: Just saw a new series trailer, & it seems the real Zhaoxi is not dead & shows up on their wedding day! (If he's not wearing a face-mask, then he is ML's twin.)

https://x.com/darkrivertes/status/2047832749667398042

This is well-made, very different from other short dramas - there's a lot of silence in this one. Wire work for action is also a surprise, usually these dramas have a small budget. Drama title is strange. ML is mostly on the sidelines. Ep. 13 was a shock (the make-out out of the blue which is more graphic than in other C-dramas) but resultant on-off between them due to bad timing (& separate goals), while having immense attraction for each other, has provided good tension.

I doubt this will have a HE. All of the songs are sad & lonely. She's from a shadow organization, her family was killed most probably by king's right hand man (on orders of king) & it seems like ML is also working for a shadow figure, & trying to stay alive from king's right hand man. What happened to real Zhiaoxi is awful (eaten alive by wolves) - even though he was wearing a mask (or was ML's long-lost twin).

The conspiracy is of course who gets the kingdom, & I think Prince Rui wants to kill both ML & Zhiaoxi to become 'crown prince.'

Btw, in case it's a HE, as the wife of the Prince / heir to the throne, FL will have to contend with concubines & wives for the rest of life! (as is the case in monarchy). I wish her to have a happy life away from intrigue & chaos because she's known no stable life as an assassin/spy.