this was pretty cute overall but the plot suffers from some weird pacing and editing. scenes often feel randomly strung together like something will happen at the end of one scene and the characters act like nothing happened in the next. i also dont know what was up with that tacky fade effect used 80% of the time. i think the ending wouldve landed better with a couple more episodes because it felt like certain conflicts were resolved way too easily
i wish id trusted my gut and skipped this one. i was somewhat interested at the start but the whole "director who buys me dinner" part is literally for like 2 episodes before the plot goes off the rails and is downright incomprehensible. character motivations make zero sense. it feels like they went with the first draft, first take etc. for everything... the only saving grace is actors that are pretty to look at and some good bits here and there.
im conflicted about this. while i liked the premise and setup there were a lot of strange pacing and editing choices especially in the first half. it feels like we speedran through what shouldve been crucial development of the leads relationship by fast forwarding through the shooting days. like we went from pei jia not caring about xiao su at all to suddenly having a crush on him in the span of a single episode. then once the main antagonist is revealed this started to feel more like a drama about abuse in the entertainment industry than a bl. still though it deals with some very heavy topics i think they were handled with grace, and what love story is there is deeply moving and impactful. overall id say i liked it but it takes a couple episodes to really find its footing
Episode 7 isn’t just hotpot and snow and tears. Under all of that, the show is playing with reality and scripts…
great analysis as usual!! youve even inspired me to start (over)analyzing the episodes hahaha. i really like your reading of the private and public narrative and how perception is everything. that reminds me of the scene where the girlfriend sees them holding hands and later dismisses it as just fanservice for the film (even though they were alone at a hotel lol). it almost feels like they re already setting up how zhang zhun and zhen xin's relationship is going to be explained away and/or buried by the press. theres a cruel irony in the fact that in the same episode where they start being more openly affectionate with each other, confess, agree to break up with their girlfriends - all the signs of them becoming official - we get the bombshell right at the end. im equal parts anxious and excited for the upcoming eps!
im glad ep 7 finally focused on the actors again. this show really just gets better and better because this is…
- the opening scene: i find it interesting the way we transition out of movie mode before the scene is actually over and the director yells "cut!" fang chi is on the phone hearing gao zhun's vo, and yet we focus on zhang zhun's face. why? (this goes into my next point)
- the next "Cut!": i see now the intention in having so many episodes focusing on the film back to back; it trained us the viewers to get used to seeing the very clear transition + aspect ratio change whenever we switch to the movie story. but the next scene they start filming, there is no transition. as the scene went on, i realized this was the first time i genuinely couldnt tell whether it was gao zhun and fang chi or zhang zhun and zhen xin in control. lo and behold, when the director yells "cut!" he immediately slips up and says zhang zhun's name when he meant to say gao zhun. if even the director is losing the plot... i just love how this moment shows how the line between the film and reality is now eroded beyond repair.
- the distinction between wives and girlfriends + their autonomy (or lack thereof): zhang zhun's conversation with his senior sets up a great bait and switch at the end of episode. up til now the elephant in the room that was both leads' girlfriends felt like chekhov's gun ready to go off. but this convo tells us that unlike wives, girlfriends are an easy to problem to solve in bl land. they just need to break up. so when our favorite cheaters finally confess their feelings we expect the girls to fade away offscreen again. which seems to be exactly what happens as zhang zhun's girlfriend accepts that her drink was too strong and shes better off with another one... but zhen xin's girlfriend instead literally flips the script on its head; now she *is* the main character as far as the public is concerned. im usually not a fan of the clingy scheming girlfriend trope, but the execution of that last minute twist was just too good.
- more parallels between gz/fc and zz/zx: as always i enjoy the parallels between the two couples and how their progression is inextricably linked. eps 6&7 sees both of them reaching the point of no return and crossing over into (ab)normal relationships. its not nearly as simple as patient-therapist and costars anymore.
- post credits scene: zhang zhun's question about intimate dreams is another tell that zhen xin wasnt the only one too deep in. shoutout to @oddsare for pointing out how the red dream from ep 5 was as much representative of zhang zhun's feelings as it was gao zhun's.
im glad ep 7 finally focused on the actors again. this show really just gets better and better because this is the first time i find myself revisiting scenes over and over to catch details i missed the first time. and theres so much to chew on thematically!!
while i see why xiaofang acts the way he does oof ep4 was a tough watch. im only holding out for when he finally grows a backbone and/or luqing stops treating him like garbage
1. You can’t show “getting stuck in a role” without letting the role get realIf Deep In is actually about…
you make a very good case. my only real gripe with the film dominating the screentime is that the scenes theyre filming now are the most physically and psychologically demanding yet but we're not getting to really sit with the actors and see how it affects them. i know we got a glimpse after the "cut" showing them struggling to snap out of it immediately. i just want more of that. like theres no way zhang zhun is feeling normal about acting out several violent rape scenes. im hoping episode 7 onward shows us more of that headspace you know?
Am I the only one who is enjoying this drama? I only read comments about how difficult it is to follow the story,…
i mean now that all the pieces are coming together the story isnt super complex it just didnt help that the first couple episodes switched to the side couples pov before we really understood their role in the story leaving a lot of people understandably confused
this was cute but left me a bit unsatisfied. it feels like so many plot points arent properly resolved/go nowhere. like jay spends the first 2 episodes crossdressing for his exboyfriend then its literally acknowledged again. guang's parents abuse him the entire time then have a sudden change of heart in the final episode. youd think the student council presidency would be more important but its relevant for all of 5 minutes in the first and last episode. i wanted to be invested in these boys lives but everything felt so surface level. still the music parts were done well at least
i only recommend watching this for the absurdity of it all. doha is a 27 year old boy that magically attracts every man in a 1-mile radius. i lost it the first time he was on a date with one of the guys only for the other two to randomly show up. he spends so much of the show frolicking around with his 3 boyfriends im surprised they didnt just work out a polycule situation. it hardly makes for a satisfying love quadrangle either because its immediately obvious who he'll end up with but the other options arent all that interesting anyways. honestly save yourself the trouble and just watch secret relationships instead
this started off great. i really liked the unique premise and setting and thought the character interactions felt really natural and real. i loved the progression of bai lang and jin xunan's relationship and the way they subverted bl tropes, especially in epsiodes 8&9. the last couple episodes however introduce and resolve certain conflicts way too quickly. im also not a fan of so many side couples especially when underdeveloped. overall though the ending felt a bit halfbaked i think this is still well worth a watch
This is an entertaining show, the cast is great. Taeseon is a mess lmao, he is all over the place with his feelings…
i mean to be fair chaeha become a police officer and investigator all while being related to a very well known and infamous murder case so i dont think its all that strange
im pretty sure i watched the episodes out of order so i genuinely have no idea what was going on plotwise but this wasnt bad though it ended abruptly. gao rens actor was good and the leads had chemistry. i just wish i knew what the hell was happening lol the editing was so confusing and disjointed
this was really different but in a good way. good comedic timing especially with the cutaway gags at the start. i actually enjoyed the office scenes because like dohoon it makes it so you cant wait to leave work and eat with yoonsoo. where it started to lose me was the later episodes where it seems like they tried to cram every possible relationship conflict in all at once. i was enjoying the slowburn pace up until them so it was weird when everyone suddenly got so dramatic. i think we couldve done without the ex like the love triangle was enough. regardless i liked this
- the next "Cut!": i see now the intention in having so many episodes focusing on the film back to back; it trained us the viewers to get used to seeing the very clear transition + aspect ratio change whenever we switch to the movie story. but the next scene they start filming, there is no transition. as the scene went on, i realized this was the first time i genuinely couldnt tell whether it was gao zhun and fang chi or zhang zhun and zhen xin in control. lo and behold, when the director yells "cut!" he immediately slips up and says zhang zhun's name when he meant to say gao zhun. if even the director is losing the plot... i just love how this moment shows how the line between the film and reality is now eroded beyond repair.
- the distinction between wives and girlfriends + their autonomy (or lack thereof): zhang zhun's conversation with his senior sets up a great bait and switch at the end of episode. up til now the elephant in the room that was both leads' girlfriends felt like chekhov's gun ready to go off. but this convo tells us that unlike wives, girlfriends are an easy to problem to solve in bl land. they just need to break up. so when our favorite cheaters finally confess their feelings we expect the girls to fade away offscreen again. which seems to be exactly what happens as zhang zhun's girlfriend accepts that her drink was too strong and shes better off with another one... but zhen xin's girlfriend instead literally flips the script on its head; now she *is* the main character as far as the public is concerned. im usually not a fan of the clingy scheming girlfriend trope, but the execution of that last minute twist was just too good.
- more parallels between gz/fc and zz/zx: as always i enjoy the parallels between the two couples and how their progression is inextricably linked. eps 6&7 sees both of them reaching the point of no return and crossing over into (ab)normal relationships. its not nearly as simple as patient-therapist and costars anymore.
- post credits scene: zhang zhun's question about intimate dreams is another tell that zhen xin wasnt the only one too deep in. shoutout to @oddsare for pointing out how the red dream from ep 5 was as much representative of zhang zhun's feelings as it was gao zhun's.
a list of things that stuck out to me in ep 7:
https://www.facebook.com/x8pq2v2awh/posts/the-summer-you-kissed-me-2026-english-sub-episode-1-episode-2-episode-3-episode-/122263161734173452/