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A Nearly Perfect Descent Into Imperfect Love
I absolutely loved this! Far more than I expected to if I’m being honest. I went in with some apprehension after being somewhat underwhelmed by the scripts of the past few CBLs, but this one pleasantly surprised me. The writing was tight, and both the acting and the chemistry were impressive. Scenes that could have easily fallen flat or failed to land emotionally instead carried real weight, largely because of how well the actors sold the gravitas of those moments. I think these are my favorite parts.
That said, I do have two main complaints.
First, I would have loved more of the “I hate you, but I hate myself even more because I still love you” energy during the divorce era arc. You Shulang felt emotionally defeated for most of this arc, when I desperately wanted him to be angrier, uglier, and more volatile (yes, the bat swinging was immaculate but I needed more of that damn it!). I wanted him to stay with Fan Xiao while actively resenting him—lashing out, saying things he couldn’t take back, hurting him precisely because the love was still there and that made everything worse. Give me the mess. Give me the toxicity. Let him struggle, fail, and spiral instead of quietly enduring and turning into an empty shell. Don’t get me wrong I understand the pain You Shulang felt like a shock to his system and left him drained and I feel there is a place for showing that side of his emotional state but initially I wanted to see more venom from him.
My second complaint is that the drama really could have used one or two additional episodes to fully explore the final arc. You Shulang “learns” about everything Fan Xiao did for him almost entirely through other characters. I would have strongly preferred more showing than telling here. I wanted to see You Shulang experience Fan Xiao in a new light—grappling with his feelings, wrestling with the past and the present, trying, and failing, to let go—before being told outright how deeply Fan Xiao loved him despite everything.
I love toxic, morally gray (even red and black), deeply flawed characters, so this drama was very much to my taste. While it didn’t go as far as I might have liked in certain areas, it still delivered a lot of what I enjoy, and I’m genuinely glad I watched.
That said, I do have two main complaints.
First, I would have loved more of the “I hate you, but I hate myself even more because I still love you” energy during the divorce era arc. You Shulang felt emotionally defeated for most of this arc, when I desperately wanted him to be angrier, uglier, and more volatile (yes, the bat swinging was immaculate but I needed more of that damn it!). I wanted him to stay with Fan Xiao while actively resenting him—lashing out, saying things he couldn’t take back, hurting him precisely because the love was still there and that made everything worse. Give me the mess. Give me the toxicity. Let him struggle, fail, and spiral instead of quietly enduring and turning into an empty shell. Don’t get me wrong I understand the pain You Shulang felt like a shock to his system and left him drained and I feel there is a place for showing that side of his emotional state but initially I wanted to see more venom from him.
My second complaint is that the drama really could have used one or two additional episodes to fully explore the final arc. You Shulang “learns” about everything Fan Xiao did for him almost entirely through other characters. I would have strongly preferred more showing than telling here. I wanted to see You Shulang experience Fan Xiao in a new light—grappling with his feelings, wrestling with the past and the present, trying, and failing, to let go—before being told outright how deeply Fan Xiao loved him despite everything.
I love toxic, morally gray (even red and black), deeply flawed characters, so this drama was very much to my taste. While it didn’t go as far as I might have liked in certain areas, it still delivered a lot of what I enjoy, and I’m genuinely glad I watched.
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