Reviews

Xu Kai’s Shen Run Deserved a Better Story

Spring of the Blade is a 30-episode, female-centric revenge story following Xie Qingyuan as she schemes her way back home to clear her mother’s name. Along the way, she reunites with her childhood playmate, Shen Run.

Shen Run is probably one of my favorite characters Xu Kai has portrayed. He’s such a stark contrast to Xu Kai himself—the guy who grabs cart noodles when he’s home and is known for his infectious laughter.

For a while, it felt like Xu Kai was stuck playing either the cold, emotionless male lead, the aloof and silly jealous guy, or being diminished to almost eye candy in female-centric stories. Then he surprised me with his portrayal of Chen Huai in Eight Hundred. And now, with Shen Run, he continues to show me that he has always been capable of portraying complex, nuanced characters—you just have to give him the chance.

Suddenly, all those silly, arrogant expressions from Gu Yanzhen feel darker and scarier. The cold stare of Bai Jue feels more deadly. And the longing expressions of Mei Zhuyu now feel more heartbreaking.

Despite this amazing display of Xu Kai’s acting range, Shen Run is unfortunately stuck in a story that seems determined to wallow in its own “woe is me, I’m a low-budget drama” mentality.

And anyone can argue with me that the budget is the problem, but I think that’s an easy cop-out. I’ve seen lower-budget dramas do much more with stronger writing and more thoughtful filmmaking.

The technical presentation of Spring of the Blade itself leaves much to be desired. What is actually holding this production back from using its locations to their fullest? There is beautiful architecture all around them. Where is the creative use of natural lighting? The intentional framing? The camera movement? A limited budget may restrict what you can build, but it doesn’t prevent you from being creative with what you already have.

And that is especially frustrating because Spring of the Blade gave us so many promises in its character-establishment episodes: two revenge stories, two parallel character arcs, and the promise that their paths would eventually collide in a way that would leave us breathless and filled with longing.

Instead, somewhere along the way, we’ve found ourselves wondering what is even the point of watching this.

The twists aren’t twisting, and the thriller isn’t thrilling.

I feel like what happened to Shen Run has, by now, become something of a norm in C-dramas trying to cater to an overwhelmingly female audience. And, to me, it’s also a representation of what can happen when numbers and analytics begin dictating storytelling—when audience demographics, investor interests, and celebrity followings carry more weight than the story itself.

Female-centric storytelling isn’t the problem. The problem is when creating a “female-centric” story is interpreted as requiring everyone and everything around the female lead to be diminished rather than allowing multiple characters to be fully realized.

Because a great female character doesn’t need the characters around her to become smaller for her to become bigger. If anything, putting her opposite equally complicated, compelling characters gives her more to fight against, more to love, more to lose—and ultimately, more room to become unforgettable herself.

And that may be my biggest disappointment with Spring of the Blade.

What I’ve ended up looking forward to most is Xu Kai’s portrayal of Shen Run—a man I desperately wish had been placed in a better story about love, revenge, and loss.

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A good love story with a great additional cast and many memorable moments

I remember the first episode of this series really annoyed me. Rival sons, rival dads, school AND tennis (yawn), I thought OMG too much cliche. Personally I find tennis THE most boring sports to watch there is. So it hit me with VERY adverse conditions.
That said, now in hindsight, I felt like this was one of the great series of the season, and Teshow and Ping are both great new discoveries especially with Teshow having his first MC role and I think first BL, I forsee a great career for him. I hate to say it, but he clearly shone out the most in the series. There is a bit that comedic element when you have seen the dads being so many dads and uncles by now, but then for them I am glad they have their steady income. It's still weird when you have seen them as evil dads, uncles and whatnot so often now. XD

Despite being not the first rival to lovers series and a sports added I am not interested in, the development of the characters, their love and the surrounding characters was all well made and fit good into a greater story. The plus side of the "nasty dads" was, they never were against their sons being gay, which was a happy change for one, so it was easy for me to see not a 100% turnaround but some sort of progress to coexistence and supporting their sons. We got good visuals, the sidecouple BoatKong could have had a bit more development (teacher Kong looks so handsome ^^), but then there is always the question what to spent time on, MC or SC, and in this case I guess it was best to push fully on the MC, especially given they are still both more or less new. Given what is so oddly called the "facecard" I wasn't surprised the followers of Teshow, now to the industy, really blew up rising during the show. He just has this natural charisma which is difficult to "learn".

Anyhow, I felt in the end the series did all things right, bringing a fresh air into a well know plot type and still feeling well and not boring at any moment, playing out a wide arrangement of emotions and situations. Espeically, unlike a number of BL series, Bay and Sun were "normal" and believable characters, one you could imagine to be real "like you and me", and not weird over the top caricatures. While not one of the totally sensational all time remember hits, I am confidentaly rating it a

9/10
Great career start, we hope to see more!

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The best bl I've watched in years

This show would be a solid 10 stars for me... If only it weren't for the second couple Haoyu and Han Lu.

To be fair I do think their plots added relevant commentary on the Chinese Showbiz industry, but their story was so disconnected from main plot and their characters just don't seem to work together. I rewatched this series and completely skipped every single one of their scenes and NOTHING was missing from the story. You can not see that they're in love with each other by watching them interact (as opposed to the other couples, who managed to portray their connection wordlessly throughout the show). I've seen some fans speculate that it may be an artistic choice; that they were trying to portray two young people who foolishly beleive that they're in love. If that really was the intention then they've succeeded, but it's still hindered the watching experience.

Other minor weak points of the show for me was Qinlang's acceptance speech, which compared to the extremely well thought out dialogue throughout the show, felt quite jarring and fake. I also was a bit put out by how Qinlang's grief was portrayed. I understand that his philosophical outlooks on life allowed him to "get over it" quicker, but I think that more remembrance, if not sadness, could have been shown. The switch in mood from one episode to the next felt unnatural.

Now, don't let my critiques discourage you from watching this show because it truly is a masterpiece!

The other pairings were amazing. The main couple had this uncanny romantic tension from the get go, yet they didn't rush their story either. The characters feel so grounded and the story is amazingly written. Not to mention the cinematography and the music!

I feel like the positive part of my review is too short to give the show justice, but I do have places to be so I'll leave it here.

Just give this a go, I'd recommend it to everyone if I could!

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The Beauty Inside

The Beauty Inside is a charming and emotionally engaging romantic drama that manages to turn an unusual fantasy premise into a surprisingly heartfelt story about love, identity, and acceptance.

The central concept is what makes the drama immediately intriguing: Han Se-gye mysteriously changes appearance for a period of time, while Seo Do-jae, despite his own unusual condition, becomes the person who sees beyond appearances and falls in love with who she truly is. The romance develops with plenty of warmth, humor and touching moments, while the drama also explores the pressure of living under other people's expectations.

Seo Hyun-jin and Lee Min-ki have excellent chemistry, and their performances give the relationship genuine emotional weight. The supporting cast also adds a lot of charm, particularly Lee Da-hee, who brings a lively energy to the story.

The drama is not without flaws. The premise occasionally becomes repetitive, and some of the later episodes lose a little of the freshness and momentum of the beginning. Nevertheless, the emotional payoff is satisfying, and the overall tone remains warm and enjoyable.

Beautifully produced, funny when it needs to be and genuinely touching at its best, The Beauty Inside is a romantic K-drama with a memorable premise and a lot of heart.

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This is genuinely a family-friendly series

It’s a nice opening scene, and I don’t think I’ve seen a series about a group of boys entering a school that’s becoming co-ed for the first time. So, it’s a first time for the school and a first time for the boys, too.

The actors are genuinely funny. They’re still young, so their acting isn’t quite there yet, but I think that’s understandable for a campus-type series. There’s something charming about watching them figure things out as they go.

I hope this really captures what a high school campus feels like nowadays. It’s almost like a window for fans who didn’t get to experience what the new generation’s high school life is like. I just hope other productions don’t start copying this concept right away—give it at least 4–5 years, hahaa. 😭

This is genuinely a family-friendly series, and I found it really comforting to watch.

Hopefully, this will be the last campus series I watch this year. 😂

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I LOVED EVERY SECOND OF THIS DRAMA! ❤️ One of My Favorite Historical K-Dramas!

I honestly LOVED EVERYTHING ABOUT The Scandal! ❤️ From the very beginning to the final episode, I was completely hooked. The storyline, the emotions, the characters, the relationships, the twists, and the overall atmosphere all came together so beautifully. I didn't expect to become this attached to the drama, but by the end, I was genuinely sad that the journey was over. This is only my **third historical K-drama**, and somehow it managed to leave a really special impression on me. ❤️

Ji Chang-wook was PERFECT as usual! There is something about watching him in a drama that makes it so easy to get invested in his character. He completely delivered here, and I absolutely loved watching him throughout the story. And then we have Son Ye-jin, who was a completely new experience for me because this was my first drama with her. She honestly did NOT disappoint me at all! I loved her acting so much, and she made such a strong impression on me. She was absolutely wonderful to watch. ❤️

And Nana was fantastic too! This was only my second drama with her after Justice, and once again, I really enjoyed her performance. I loved seeing all these characters develop and interact with each other, and the cast made the entire story so much more enjoyable. The acting, chemistry, emotional moments, and tension kept me invested all the way through. There were so many moments where I just wanted to keep watching because I needed to know what would happen next!

And that ENDING!!! ❤️❤️❤️ Honestly, one of the best-fitting endings I have seen that proved one fact.

# DESIRE HAS A PRICE , A VERY EXPENSIVE ONE

I loved how everything came together, and it felt so satisfying after everything the story had taken us through. As someone who isn't usually a huge historical K-drama watcher, I am genuinely surprised by how much I loved The Scandal. Only my third historical drama, and it has already made this much of an impression on me. ❤️ I loved the cast, I loved the storyline, I loved the emotions, and I loved the ending. I LOVED IT ALL.

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The winners take it all

Smart and consistent writing, nice pacing, relatable setting, good casting and generally strong performances – not to mention a buttload of TeshowPing chemistry – are the most important ingredients responsible for "Match Point" being a very solid BL, possibly the best GMMTV released so far in 2026. Compared with other shows, this one is about something, has real heart and made me emotional, even teary, several times – which surprised me at first.

The story is almost entirely focused on the main couple – Bay (Teshow) and Sun (Ping) – and deceptively simple, based on the well-known trope of "enemies to lovers". However, this is not a retelling, remake nor rehash of "Bad Buddy" nor "Head 2 Head" – the show's take on that trope is its own. And it is a good take – for several reasons. The backstory is grounded and feels genuine – a conflict between two neighbors (who used to be friends), which engulfs their families, splits one of them and threatens to split the other. The execution is almost perfect, relying on mutual resentment between Bay and Sun mixed with a barely hidden longing for ending the feud and becoming friends again. This is neatly combined with both main characters being the right age to realize what they feel and want as well as being able to act upon those feelings and desires.

The show's good pacing stems from how evenly the content was spread over all 10 episodes. We get the setup and most of the cast introduced in episode 1, by episode 2 we know Bay and Sun do not really hate each other and that Bay is attracted to Sun, in episode 4 they end their rivalry, Bay confesses in episode 5, Sun is won over in episode 6 and they become a couple in conclusion of episode 7. This leaves 3 episodes to convince Bay's and Sun's fathers to end their conflict and solve other problems. There is something to do, to solve, to deal with in every episode – Sun's and Bay's story progresses nicely, fueled by their dynamic or external events, and the show never runs out of steam.

Let us also appreciate the value of having two main characters who feel relatable and behave like actual humans – something many currently running BLs seem to have a problem with. "Match Point" accomplishes this by the virtue of its writing as well as the very good work of Ping and Teshow. Sun is more mature than Bay, more hesitant, shy and thoughtful, careful, calm and collected. Ping infused his character with fragility and vulnerability it required, while being strong and driven – like every athlete should be. Bay is a different animal altogether, but also undergoes the biggest change: from cocky and antagonistic through confused and curious to loving and dedicated. It all comes across surprisingly believable. Teshow does a great job here using his physicality, in particular his eyes: they tease and provoke, they are hungry and eager, they greedily devour Ping – but they can also be loving, gentle, tender and sad. Both Sun and Bay are emotional, horny teens, but when they have to – they act in a rational, proper adult way, supporting each other, being there for each other. And they can actually talk with each other about what they want (and what they do not want), what they fear etc. – there is hardly any miscommunication between Bay and Sun. From episode 5 onwards they play on the same team – and that team keeps winning.

There are many comments regarding "Match Point" expressing regret that Boat (Sing) and Kong (Chimon) were not given more screen time and their relationship is underdeveloped. I do not see that as a flaw nor a problem. This series is not about any of the supporting characters – not about Bee's and Chun's enmity, not about Chun's family problems, not about the people from the tennis club and not about Boat and Kong. I do, however, think that both of them fulfill a very important role in the story – they provide contrast for the main couple and act as a mirror for Bay and Sun and their relationship. Supporting characters usually do not do that, but it is a very good way of utilizing them without giving them too much screen time. While Bay and Sun have a troubled, but intense past of a childhood friendship and later rivalry, which turned into mutual attraction, Boat and Kong appear to have always been on friendly terms and their attraction seems to have always been there. Bay and Sun gravitated towards each other, collided and became one – for Boat and Kong the mutual pull was not strong enough and they drifted apart for years. Bay and Sun are both passionate – about what they do, what they like and about each other; by comparison Boat and Kong seem settled, even a bit resigned, cautious and muted. Since this is a love story, there are no actual opponents; instead there are obstacles to overcome – and those are very different for the main couple and the supports. Once Bay and Sun end their rivalry, the only real obstacles for their relationship are external – mainly the conflict between their fathers. For Boat and Kong all obstacles are internal: it is not the lack of mutual attraction or feelings, but years spent on not acting on those feelings, growing apart and ending up in a limbo of awkwardness, with both of them hesitant or even afraid to say or do anything to change it, even when the opportunity is there. This is where the mirror works best: Sun and Bay fight and win everything they wanted – Boat and Kong give up and lose years they could have spent together. Good to see a reminder like that in a BL.

The show's OST consists of two songs, both performed by Ping and Teshow: the fast paced "Love Match", which was used in opening credits and has a thematically matching MV, and "ได้เวลารัก (Love Time)", a soft romantic song for a fresh couple/ship; there's a dreamy quality to both the song and its MV. Both songs do not get overused in the show, appearing when they need to. The same can be said about music – background music – in "Match Point" in general: it is not intrusive, overbearing nor too loud (like in so many shows). Take the episode 8 rooftop confrontation: minimal background ambient can be heard when Bay proclaims his love for Sun and is pleading with Chun – and the music does not turn into loud cacophony once Chun gives in. More Thai shows could follow that example.

I left the best for last: TeshowPing. I mentioned already that each of them is doing great in this series, but – like with all BLs – its heart is its ship. This was the biggest surprise of the show for me: Ping and Teshow work brilliantly as a couple. Both are visibly comfortable with each other, which makes their interactions – the rivalry, the banter, the intimacy – feel natural and genuine. Amazing job for their first project together. They and their chemistry are the show's biggest assets and the reason why I impatiently waited for every episode. Crazy kids got my heart beating faster – that is something very few BL ships can do. Their appearance in "Match Point" was enough for TeshowPing to earn a place in a small group of my all-time favorite ships, next to YinWar, BounPrem, MarkOhm and SeaKeen.

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They Conveyed literally everything through their Eyes. It's all selfless love till the ending.

Believe I'm damn frustrated, that I needa write, honestly it's frustrating but I still love it so much I don't know what's wrong with me yet, I don't hate it at all, and I love it so much, but a lot of things frustrates me I don't what I'm saying.

• The ending was so meaningful, I did a bit of research, I didn't expect it to have such a deep meaning ;

The song the choir was singing when Pi o walked in was a traditional Chorus played when the bride enters during a Catholic wearing ceremony, and they literally chose to play it as Pi o entered the Church, in Czech Republic, a country generally considered as the most LGBTQ-friendly in the whole Europe.


The writers tried way too hard to make it straight by tossing in mad unnecessary kissing scenes. 💀 It just felt forced as hell. Like the one in which even after knowing pi o's emotional state, she kissed him. The one with pi o's mother and the teacher, these two were too unwanted.

A recent Netflix interview truly highlighted the profound significance of Four Hands, Two Sonatas for its leading actors.
For Song Kang, the series represents a major milestone—his first project following his military discharge, driven by a visible determination to convey deep, complex emotions.
For Lee Jun Young, the project carries an entirely different weight as his final piece of work before his mandatory service begins. Witnessing their mutual dedication and emotional investment only amplifies my desire to support their incredible hard work.

So, as from the very beginning, jae in has been flirting with Kang pi o, talks about getting married and all, and since childhood pi o has been ignoring her, and was never interested in her, giving her instant dry replies, well I'm not saying she cannot like him, but the main thing is she should know how to love herself, he has been humiliating her in every way, but why is she tolerating, that's the main thing about her that frustrates me.

Pi o smiled for the very first time after meeting Choi jeong yo, he looked extremely serious and pitiful, I loved it when he finally got someone with he can be genuinely close with. Seeing Lee jung young playing such a cute and playful role, that's totally different, but was pretty nice.. Choi jeong yo making those cute faces aww, and his English, I'm addicted to itt. “Bery hard, difficult” Ohh my..

They actually became eachother's safe place, even I felt so safe seeing them, they warm bonding they shared can't ever be recreated.
Pi o got jeong yo out of his trauma, and believe me it's not easy to get out of a trauma until and unless the other person understands you well.
Pi o throughout the whole series looked the happiest everytime it was about choi jeong yo, just imagine how strong their relationship could be, I already know.
Even though they were away all they cared about is seeing eachother, those eyes made me feel the pain they were going through. At the end they became eachother's light, when they were stuck in despair.

How comfortable they became, became eachother's strength, sheild, hardest onee.
When Pi o's grandfather started overlooking pi o's talent, saying the four hands concert's win was all because of jeong yo, pi o was definitely in piece but jeong yo tried his best to make his grandfather see his worth, they way they won all because of pi o.

The relationship never had any kind jealousy in it, not even a little bit, no attachment to fame, that's the most beautiful thing, so pure. They went all way for eachother, trying the best to keep the other going.

"Do you trust me ? I trust you" the line felt so warm.
They way got so emotionally attached to eachother, but honestly life is variable it changes anytime, life turned so hard on them.
I never expected that part to happen, that the story had to take a jump of 10 years.
The way Pi o got impulsive, only Jeong yo could stop him, already explained their relationship. Jeong yo literally gave pi o his piece, pi o decided to give up but jeong yo never let me do that, he always made pi o move forward, every time he lost himself somewhere.

The story took the biggest turn in the morning of international piano competition in the Czech Republic, the finals. Last night he helped pi o overcome everything he was going through, he lost his piece and so jeong yo gave his one to pi o, no sense of jealousy or arrogance right.

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Netflix should stop interfering w/ kdrama world

I'll be just re-writing same ideas mentioned by many other comments that I agree with.
Hopefully this will be heard / read by the productions for future projects !

I am disappointed, I don't like those new kdrama produced by netflix, they are more like a Western melodrama with Korean actors than an actual K-drama. They lost all their winning ingredients that makes a kdrama loved.  I absolutely love K-dramas, mainly because of their atmosphere, tension, chemistry between the characters, and that amazing feeling of anticipation when you simply need to know what’s going to happen next. Now they completely are missing that famous “just one more episode” feeling.

We didn't need those nude bodies and provocative scenes. Actually not just as the kdrama fans, but the whole story didn't need those details.
Next time I d prefere if they do mention like those productions to be in p.rn category, at least we could have avoided it and they could have targeted their right audience.

They should stop giving netflix the power over their arts ! I know they give a big budget, but don't let money win over creativity and authenticity.

Other than that, a good cast, amazing sceneries and decoration & beautiful music.

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Very Interesting and Quirky

This was great and interesting series. They did a great job setting up the main storyline and introducing all of the characters. I love it when a script successfully connects multiple story aspects and characters together. It also did a great job integrating the various side storylines with the main characters’ storylines. Although a little too fast paced for me, the first episode was successful in grabbing my interested. Many of the conflict scenarios were very interesting. I like how most of them did not have predictable outcomes. Especially the last one in episode 9. The whole cast was incredible throughout this. They did a great job making their characters interesting and unique. The cinematography was nicely done.

Random Note:

My only major complaint is the dubbing used throughout the series. It was really annoyed at times and did lower the enjoyment factor for me.

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Comedic and cute story with it's flaws

I truly think that everyone had a blast filming this show. It was a joy to watch and made me laugh out loud many times. 🫶🏻😄

Yes, the start was a bit muddy, but I TRULY enjoyed this new format, that I don't usually see in K - dramas.
This one starts with them breaking up and then, looking backwards, reflecting on their relationship. All the good and all th bad. Yes, the ML did chase after her at the start, but it also wasn't as bad as some of the reviews were saying. He made sure that she knew that he wants her and is sure of their relationship, but also gave her space and didn't force her to be with him. He was just consistently by her side. Girl, I wish people put at least half of the effort into relationships these days.
I loved all the side character stories, especially the second couple. It was refreshing to see such opens and honest communication between a couple.
I also loved how you could tell that this show didn't try to take itself too seriously. There was that one scene where the FL best friend acknowledges that she's always helping the FL with her problems and the friend seemingly doesn't have any of her own, poking fun about the trope of FL best friend who's there to only be free therapist for the FL. 😄 Also the other guy acknowledging that he's not a love interest but a fairy godmother, always knowing when to say the right thing and help the main couple. 😄

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Predictable and Missing Major Conflicts

I love a rivals to lovers trope, don't get me wrong - but I feel like Match Point missed the mark on having the major conflicts that I expected of a show like this. It seemed like everything worked out way too easily, leaving the show feeling a bit bland. While I thought the actors did a good job, it just felt like it was missing the moments that would've packed a much bigger punch.

Sun (Ping) and Bay (Teshow) have grown up next door to each other with their families running competing restaurants. The families hate each other, and this is also apparent in Sun and Bay's rivalry at school. Determined to annoy Sun, Bay enters the tennis tryouts even though he hasn't played in years and, due to Sun's injury, manages to beat him. When they decide on a rematch, their fathers also decide to put their businesses on the line: whoever's son wins gets to keep their business open. However, when Bay and Sun start playing doubles instead of competing, the two become much closer and start to realize just how petty their family feud is as their true feelings come to light.

This show felt like every other rivals to lovers show that GMM has done, except it didn't even give me the angsty scenes that I wanted! I'm all for using tropes that are well-liked; frankly, I only watched this show because I love rivals to lovers! But I felt like all of the internal and external conflicts were solves very easily. It's expected that we get the internal struggle of "I've always hated this person, what are these new feelings" along with the external struggle of parents finding out and not being supportive etc., but it felt like all of these were extremely minor conflicts in terms of the show. I wanted some good old fashioned angst, complete with a good cry and a cliffhanger at the end of some episodes. Instead, it seemed like each conflict was resolved within-episode, even when these major conflicts definitely should've taken some time to play out. If you want a happy, easy to watch show with relatively minor conflicts, you'd probably like this one! However, if you're looking for a bit more Bad Buddy style sneaking around, lying to parents, and emotional coming out scenes, this one might not be it.

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Okayish watch

Go Eun-sae, a sharp prosecutor, wakes up amnesiac and gets told by a stranger (Jang Tae-ha) that he's her boyfriend. What could've been a frustrating "will she fall for the lie" plot instead goes somewhere smarter — Eun-sae isn't written as naive or gullible. She questions things, she's not just swept along by a stranger's word, and that alone makes the romance easier to root for instead of wanting to shake her through the screen.

The pacing of the love story also works in its favor. It doesn't rush into obsessive butterflies-from-episode-one territory — it builds gradually, which feels more earned even if it means the chemistry never fully ignites. It's warm rather than electric. Not a bad thing, just not a "can't look away" kind of pairing.

One casting gripe, though — Jung Hae-in playing someone with actual gang-boss energy just doesn't land. He's got that soft, boy-next-door face that works great for the boxing-coach-with-a-heart parts, but the "dangerous past" side of his character never feels convincing.

Overall, it's a sweet, competently made show — but something about the total package feels like it's missing an extra gear. Hard to pin down exactly what: maybe the stakes never feel quite dangerous enough, maybe the emotional peaks don't hit as hard as the setup promises. It's the kind of drama you enjoy while watching but don't think about much after.

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This is NOT Love

I'm currently watching The Early Spring and am a little surprised it is topping the charts...for me, the romance is a bit cringe. I did stop watching at ep13 because I was no longer interested in their romance whatsoever - while perhaps Luke's actions are not to the level of Red flag, I'd certainly put them at a glaring Yellow.

Their personal relationship starts off with them sleeping together after Luke 'saves' her at a bar where she had become pass out drunk because she and her tutoring partner had inadvertently ordered 20 martinis while badly practicing English...and naturally she felt like she had to finish her 10. Even though she was so drunk that she did not remember her address causing Luke to take her home, she somehow 'sobered up' after a couple hours of sleep. To his credit, Luke did ask if she was sober before taking her to bed. Aside from there being no way she was sober enough to actually give consent at that time, there is the issue that she would have been so hung over that the only thing she'd want to be intimate with is the toilet bowl … with it being 50/50 if Luke would even hold her hair.

Afterward, she calls it an accident, yet when they are alone together, Luke repeatedly will move in close, invading her personal space even though she is visibly uncomfortable with it (then they have her do something such as touch his arm to show that she is actually OK and this isn't 'really' a RED flag moment.

After they decide to start dating but to keep it a secret since it is against policy, Luke repeatedly does small gestures of intimacy toward her even though she tries to have him stop – knowing that she would take the brunt of the punishment if they are caught.

Of course there is the glaring flag that he is much older than her AND is her boss, which admittedly, seems to be a common trope for office romances.

And there is the jealousy. When she is going to go help her best friend with her job assignment of running a speed dating event, he prevents her from going because of jealousy. This is just one of several jealousy incidents.

Finally, there is their complete inability to actually communicate with each other. Both have the issue that they will be upset by something the other has done and rather than talk, they go passive aggressive.

Their 'romance' is why couple's counselors, divorce attorneys and battered women shelters exist. Little about it was leading me to believe they should be together nor that their relationship would be anything but a disaster.

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