ramblingromantic

7.9 rounded up

I had so much to say after watching this show, I can’t believe I still haven’t written down my review. First and foremost, this show was enjoyable overall. However, for possibly the first time in history, I found this couple *annoying*. Like the kind of toxic on and off relationship one of your friends has that you wish would actually just end because it’s not healthy for either party and as a witness it’s painful to watch one hurt the other over and over again. MDL doesn't have it as a "category" but I also rate the main lead's romance for romance shows and this one was a 7.5/10 which is what drops my rating of this show from an eight-ish to a high seven instead.

I am a romantic. I prefer a friends to lovers arc over enemies *in general* so take my opinion with a grain of salt, but please also be aware that I have enjoyed my fair share of dark romances as well. I think the issue with this couple was potentially that this show was not a “dark romance”, but it also wasn’t a happy go lucky romance. The only things dark about this romance is the poster cover and Luke’s insults. Otherwise this was just pure unneeded stress. The only up-side to this relationship was that their stupidity and stubbornness truly made them a pair of their own league. Let them be together to save everyone from either of them. The chemistry from the leads as actors carries much of the romance otherwise.

People complain about miscommunication and I’m surprised reviews (on my feed) didn’t rip the show to shreds for the ceaseless miscommunications. We have these two actively looking each other in the eyes and still not properly understanding the other. He called her a controllable idiot to her face instead of saying ‘hey girl, stay at the company please’. And there are multiple situations where viewers know he’s thinking “i love this woman and want the best for her” but we see him disrespect and insult her :D wow amazing. Then, because they are a “match made in heaven” we witness Flora be the most ridiculously timed doormat in history. I want to say I love that she wasn’t a “one-dimensional” character but at the same time she gave me as much of a headache as Luke. She has an insecurity complex — I got that, but how on earth does she let Luke insult her left and right but then the few times he’s in the right she “stands up for herself” and ignores him until he’s literally on his knees begging for her to come back?

None of the above complaints are “new” to romances of this dynamic. HOWEVER, what makes this show considerably weaker for me is the timeline. We have Luke giving Flora expensive gifts to woo her but it makes her uncomfortable — that was a solid misunderstanding and cute start to their relationship as he explores how to win her over. When they finally get together, he is harsh to her about work and she’s conflicted about if she’s happy or upset he’s not giving her special treatment — fair and an awkward situation to navigate with your boss boyfriend. But what loses me is very early on we see that he *hates* his dad for the *very behavior he displays*. This in of itself is solid character building — I think we all find ourselves acting like out parents without even realizing. The issue here is that its pointed out to him very early on and he has his “epiphany” that oops I’m acting like by dad by being an a** when I actually just want to show that I care. GREAT!! THIS IS AMAZING. It happened TOO EARLY!!! This should not have happened until closer to the end of the show or after the four year time jump. This man is basically frothing at the mouth for her and I’m supposed to believe once they started “dating” they were just a “weekend situationship” for FOUR YEARS? She allows him to continuously disrespect her instead of properly communicating his concerns for four years and he thinks its *acceptable* after having his epiphany four years earlier? But then at the climax his "excuse" was that he was "arrogant"?? He knew that the whole time though??

Flora was just as ridiculous as he was because what do you mean a) you set yourself up to get assaulted and don’t tell your boyfriend after he asks several times. [Even if I give her the “her body, her trauma grace” she knew he would find out once she sent that HR email so not telling him before just made no sense.] Then, even if we ignore that, she never tells her boyfriend of several years when her friend dies - by suicide no less! I get he was being a jealous prick about Sun Yuan Zhu, but you are with this guy as your partner??? How do you NOT tell him that? Especially when that is half the reason she has a melt down after not getting her deserved promotion but he has zero context or idea.

Last, but not least, the forbidden office romance of this show was stupid. Why? Because Flora is explicitly denied a promotion due to their office romance, but a time jump and some of Luke’s wooing later she can join the company and be his wife? It undercut everything about why she was denied the promotion and made the entire climax feel … fake? Like she *could have* got the promo all along but they denied it for the plot and just as equally they ignored all the relationship logic and rules at the end of the show for them to be together at the company for the plot. I wish they said that he worked on changing the policy for three months before looking for her or that because of xyz the policy was changed. Just something to give more *legitimacy* to all the drama we had before...especially when they imply that Lu Mi was trying a lil office romance of her own even if it did fizzle out.