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I came late to Amidst a Snowstorm of Love, and I found a division of opinion. My own opinion, though is not divided. I am blown away by this passionate, perfect drama. I can’t get enough of the screenplay’s densely packed excellence; intriguing characters; and complex personal, social, professional, and family relationships. I love that it has that comfiest of tropes, The World Is Your Wingman! And I adore its moving touch with life transitions. With no antagonist nor any catastrophes to get in the way, the drama stays with the beginning uncertainties of falling in love, and the emotional journey of becoming a couple and facing obstacles together. I’m grateful for this drama’s emotional rewards, compelling mood, and romantic intensity.

But since I began my the journey despite the critics, I was curious: What’s up with the negativity? And I have some thoughts.

First, there are ways Wu Lei’s brand of celebrity is unique, so there may be more people with conflicting opinions about his projects. Second, this drama has a lot more going on than just romance, including not only large themes but also a complex, symbolically charged male lead. And those elements aren’t to everyone’s taste. And third, Chinese TV uses innuendo, while Western media is all about show and tell. So the drama’s strategies in adapting a web novel about a sexual relationship for Chinese TV may have frustrated viewers, if they aren’t into reading between the lines.

First, because of the longevity and variety of Wu Lei’s career, his fans cannot all be on the same page. Older fans remember the “Nation's Little Brother” as a child actor. Fans who came along later first saw him as a teen action hero. A still younger group met him as the badass elite cavalry commander, the relatable comeback athlete, and the vengeful Han dynasty general. And some fans may have taken a shortcut to Amidst a Snowstorm of Love directly from his arthouse role as the iconic Mulian. For westerners who followed Wu Lei from Netflix movie Upcoming Summer, with its international audiences levels of LGBTQ+ content, the transition to Amidst a Snowstorm of Love might have caused culture shock. Wu Lei has his own studio, and his fans aren’t given marching orders through a fan association like in larger studios. His projects can’t possibly please all the fans, all the time. So fans who decided to watch solely for Wu Lei may be one group of disappointed voices.

Second, Amidst a Snowstorm of Love is not a typical cdrama romance. It’s got some big themes. That’s a particular flavor of romance. And I think romance fans may have gotten their wires crossed about what to expect.

The themes are centered on male lead Lin Yiyang. Female lead Yin Guo has an arc, too — she comes into her own in multiple ways. But Yin Guo as a character is not super packed with meaning. In contrast, Lin Yiyang carries a lot of symbolic weight. For the nation, he’s a returning top level talent — a symbol of reversing “brain drain.” As a snooker player, he’s that badass who comes out of retirement, to the dismay of those who expect to beat him. As an individual, he’s an orphan and a loner. And he’s in exile, holding up a makeshift community, and facing trials to reach home. As the brothers who come for him show, his absence is a wound in their community. Clearly, these layers of identity aren’t just tacked onto his character to give him a reason to brood. They’re way more substantial than the typical CEO’s childhood trauma.

That’s already a good amount of depth. In addition, the drama creators may be drawing on neurodiversity to construct Lin Yiyang’s character. In youth flashbacks, he’s impulsive and emotionally dysregulated. He says, "I used to talk mean” and that he misread others’ reactions. It may work to say adult Lin Yiyang is following these masking rules: (1) Don’t do anything without thinking it through first; (2) Don’t talk, but if you have to talk, keep it short; (3) Build relationships with acts of service. (For example, he seems to have tutored everyone's kid, helped in everyone's restaurant, and coached entire billiards rooms full of appreciative Finns.)

Further, like some neurodiverse people, Lin Yiyang isn’t always in control of how he comes across. When he meets Yin Guo for the first time, he's uncomfortably seductive. It’s not an understatement to say he exudes a sexual aura. But on the other hand, he seems to be trying to avoid being overwhelming to Yin Guo. It’s her brother who reads the room and forcibly connects them on WeChat. And apart from Lin Yiyang’s awkward approach in the bar to show her his ID cards, he makes efforts to give Yin Guo physical space. In early episodes, he takes the front seat in the taxi, sits across the aisle in the subway, and leaves the restaurant chair next to her empty. So the way I make sense of Lin Yiyang’s fixed stare is this: He's been thrown off balance by his attraction to her.

So here’s this disability-inflected character and these layers of symbolism. And then there’s the drama’s reputation as best-romance-ever. But romance fans like different things. I’m a romance fan, and I adore big themes and a multi-layered male lead. I like romance for the sake of romance, sure, but for me it doesn’t compare with a drama like Amidst a Snowstorm of Love. However, for other romance fans, big themes interfere with the romance. And they like their green flag to smile and be bashful. They really don't want him to lock his deadly serious gaze onto the eyes of his object of desire to the point of discomfort. So Amidst a Snowstorm of Love is not their idea of best-romance-ever. I say again, some wires may have gotten crossed.

Third, some viewers may prefer shows that explain clearly what happens in intimate relationships. With this drama, those viewers are naturally going to be disappointed. Chinese TV censorship works in multiple ways, including self censorship to meet official requirements and to avoid viewer complaints. There’s no way any drama can adapt a web novel that's open about a sexual relationship without substituting implication and innuendo.

I do enjoy reading between the lines. Partly, I like being given artful raw material to head canon about the characters. And another part is I get a kick from the double talk, because it’s like being in on a secret. That innocent pizza? That Titanic reference (Titanic was notoriously censored in China)? Hey drama creators, I see what you did there!

So I had fun with the scenes of Yin Guo gradually opening up to Public Displays of Affection. I've come across a few arguments between English speaking viewers about whether or not Yin Guo is too hesitant. But I interpret the PDA scenes as code for the couple going further with physical intimacy. It's a practical choice for the drama to substitute PDA negotiations for all the mutual acts between the web novel characters that would not fly with some members of Chinese audiences and censors. I did read the web novel, and there’s not one bit of PDA anywhere in sight. The web novel couple, naturally enough, prefer to make out in private, on beds. In addition, the push and pull of the drama’s PDA persuasion scenes is absent from the novel — the web novel couple take their time, and they make a mutual decision.

That unrushed intimacy from the web novel — I think the drama captures it in the many small moments in which Lin Yiyang consciously chooses to follow Yin Guo’s lead. There is scene after scene where he's hyper-focused on her reactions and makes decisions to please her. Despite the drama including that PDA push and pull, overall it catches the respect, vigilance, and attention Lin Yiyang centers on Yin Guo.

Overall, I think the drama does a wonderful job of conveying the spirit of the web novel in a medium with very different rules. I admire the drama’s creativity in getting around the constraints. Even though I’d like to see the deleted scenes, the drama as it exists gives me everything I need to construct a satisfying narrative. (It was after finishing the drama that I read the web novel, and I found out I did get ahead of the characters, but not by a lot.) However, not all viewers want to decipher cues and references to construct their own narrative. Probably, there are more fans who feel this way on English language forums.

While the reactions of English-speaking fans have been mixed, extremely high Chinese viewership and multiple awards prove this drama was a success with its intended audience. And the reasons for its popularity are undeniable: In addition to being superbly written and directed, and featuring amazing acting by everyone involved, it takes chances to push the idol drama envelope. My experience of this drama is undiluted joy and appreciation. It's beautiful, romantic, and deserves all the praise it's received, and more.