When We Meet (2022)

Rare Occasion When SML & FL Deserved Each Other More

This drama has been a proverbial elf on a shelf for 2 years. It's low budget with a fairly unknown cast. Personally watched only for XYL, who played Ma Zi Xuan and not only did he deliver but plowed over pretty much every male character and some of the women. This to me was a very rare occasion when the SML and FL deserved each other more and fit way better; though thankfully wasn't a love triangle. I've never seen a doppelgänger drama before so the plot fascinated me as well.

Pros: Very proud of XYL as MZX, as he was able to show a very broad range of emotions from best friend and protector to vulnerable, wearing his heart on his sleeve while crying his eyes out where your heart just ached for him. And then of course as the mafia boss type just wailing on people and getting justice for the woman he loved as well as the man he would always consider his best friend. Though he didn't get the woman he loved, he still was able to be in the lives of the two people he helped protect and their son as the cool uncle. I hope this series allows for XYL to get better and more versatile roles because he can definitely handle them.

The doppelgänger storyline was cool but a bit cringey when they swapped lives in the beginning and made decisions that would snowball the other's life in some direction. My other favorite characters were doppelgänger junior and his group of friends because though they start out as annoyingly voiced children, he especially grows into someone who is resolute in his decisions, knows right from wrong, and has a solid determination of who he wants to protect. Most of the comedy was appropriate.

For a 24 episode series, this had way too many antagonists, but the one that stood out the most and made your blood boil was Jiang Xia. Her thought process and actions were that of an obsessive lunatic only caring about that she got LM, forget what means she used. Her dirty, underhanded tricks and getting that petty Lo Man to help her was rotten to the core. However, that's what made her a great villain that one didn't really suspect until the later episodes.

Cons: The plot could have had way better structure and needed to tie up a lot more loose ends like; how did Lo Man get into cahoots with Wang Tong or Jiang Xia in the first place? What happened to her afterwards? Did LM also get better from the mental disorder? Because that entire portion was completely forgotten. Where was HYY and how did LM find her? She had essentially fallen off the face of the earth that even MZX with all of his resources couldn't locate her but a year later, she and LM were back together, she'd successfully published a book, and they were raising their son with the help of MZX. The timeline didn't make any sense.

LM was a ridiculously weak ML character. In the beginning it was understandable because he didn't have to face much other then letting his girlfriend down by not getting married with dumbass excuses but once the villains deployed their scheme all he could do was sit, get drunk, stare blankly at a wall and let others like his junior and MZX essentially fight his battles and find out what really happened. He was what I would call a wuss. In episode 21, when MZX ran to beat the stuffing out of him after the "alleged affair", the difference between the two men's reactions were staggering. Both love the same woman, but one is willing to go to the ends of the earth for her and to get justice while the other one is just a blubbering sack of self-pity. It really just brought home how much even though MZX could be extreme in his handling of things, his love and protection were pure, guaranteed, and never faltered, so out of the two, he was the best choice if there was one.

Putting a huge mess, breakup, investigation, secrets, and villains revealed into the literal last 4 episodes was very dumb. It should have been in the middle or not at all. Already had the doppelgänger story to work with. Furthermore, OSTs and other characters were very forgettable or annoying like Wu Sai's stuttering brother who took years off your life before he could get a sentence out. Editing could have been way better there.

Would I recommend it? Only for XYL and the doppelgänger's storyline. Otherwise, it's relatively a boring and confusing one. Though auto-translated originally on IQIY where I watched it, it is available for free on a YouTube channel now with proper subs thank the lord; so favorite parts are easier to rewatch.

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Nice storyline set up, decent execution

Wow, am I giving a web-drama a rating higher than 8? Yes.
Don't expect this to blow your socks off, but I really did enjoy the storyline and the characters of this story. It's got a good balance of comedy (actual LOL moments), romance, and near-tearjerks (just the way I like it...not ripping out my heart but sad enough to feel something).
I was a really big fan of the character composition. Two main CPs: a more mature CP with deep love and loyalty for eachother, and a young CP with lots of funny and embarrassing moments. I'm a big fan of having those two CPs side-by-side (honestly, now that I'm thinking of it, it's really big brain bc dramas usually end up using a stoopid second CP to keep the mood up that everyone gets annoyed about. But with the age gap, it's all natural.)
Zhao DongZe plays the two MLs pretty well...the characters are quite different from each other despite their similar passions in art. Also, I really have no complaints about the execution of the Lu Ming-YouYou-Ma ZiXuan love triangle (I'm not calling this a spoiler...you can tell from like ep 1); which is quite shocking because it really could've been half-as*ed.
There weren't a whole lot of cliches, which is surprising for a web drama (the only one I can think of is a scheming SFL trying to win the ML. I'm not counting the love triangles bc the execution wasn't cliche).

Overall, enjoyable watch! I binged, but I can imagine pacing...I think a lot of the episode endings were minor cliffhangers so should be enough to keep you interested. Lots of things going on: kid getting into college for art, dealing with a new *situation*, and having a youthful romance; older guy battling sabbatoge at work and in his love life; all while they do this body switch thing (only a few times...not that much) trying to go unnoticed.

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