Stand or Fall (2023)

Slow Start, Good Finish

I always loved QL's shows and she doesn't disappoint yet again! (Her little reactions/expressions are so on point)

Not gon deny this show started off really slow, and a little boring but it eventually gets to you. Three good friends with totally different lifestyles but yet being tight as a group absolutely resonates. ML and FL (Wang Yang + Qinlan)'s arc started off primarily in office (although they did have a history as teens) but once they realised their affection for each other was always there, they got so direct with their love, it became really comfortable to watch. They supported each other in their own ways and bantered as adults (unlike other shows with push-and-pull between leads lol). Super clear and clean.

SML and SFL (Liu Yun's arc) was the most difficult to watch until she saw through her cheating husband's disgusting behaviour and never looked back. The story showed how she could be submissive for her husband because of how much she loved him, only for him to treat her reliance as weakness. She could be a total hopeless romantic but once she saw his true colours, she cut all ties almost immediately and that was really strong.

The other SML and SFL (Alina Zhang's arc) was really, really healthy. Both husband and wife loves each other deeply and never got affected by their surrounding and environment, regardless of who tried to step in. They did have a small conflict in between but it was quickly resolved.

Overall all three arcs showed the different kinds of romance there are - hopeless, healthy, growing, while not neglecting the office politics side of things. I'd say it balanced out really well, and it really gets you following as the story progresses. Now all you'd need is just to sit through the first two eps, and... you may eventually like it as well.

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Stand or Fall

True to its title, you’ll either take a stand or a tumbling fall, you choose. I’ll just try to give my impressions and hopefully
it’ll give you some perspective if you’re on the fence.

Cons: subtitles where I watched was so bad that to really follow the gist of the business side of it, tends to keep you engaged. I mean you can definitely infer a lot (if you’ve seen one business drama you quickly pick up that two sides are working to advance, except there’s the other doing everything to sabotage that effort, right}. It was hard to follow along the business aspect of it, and it wasn’t anything so mind blowing to keep you teetering. In fact, it was a bit frustrating.

Pros: the cast! I always give grace to the hard working cast, no matter how the final product turns out. These are veteran casts and I automatically warm up to this type of series. They did a good job with what given. Whether by choice of what they agreed in contract, I always feel that there’s a hold back in level of chemistry. I’m so glad that one marriage portrayed did not add a cheat tag, but that the workaholic husband became mindful of his wife and supported her. I’m tired of cheating theme dramas so one married couple who worked through theirs was refreshing. The other married couple thought, at least, justice was served. As for main couple, they could have had more ‘them’ screen time but they were cute.

Overall, it’s not a bad production. I mean there’s lots they probably could have done better but still, it was fine. I liked it and if you have time, it’s worth seeing.

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Average but Enjoyable

This series is nothing to write home about but this is a light, fun, quick romance watch. Even with more than 30 eps it's a quick watch. I mostly watched b/c I really like actress Qin Lan and she is good here even if she is type cast. I have only seen her in the Rational Life and I really enjoyed her character there as well and they are definitely similiar.

I liked the friendship of the 3 FLs and I liked that there was growth in the 2FL's story arc and that her husband was supportive and they worked thru their issues. I really did like the mature cast even though some of the plot is a bit childish. I liked the ML and his bestfriend too.

If you watch be prepared for terrible subs if you're an English sub watcher. Even on Prime the subs are atrocious.

5/8/24

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Business Focus with amazing chemistry between Qin Lan and Wang Yang

Subjective Gut Rating: 8.25

“Stand or Fall” is very similar to other female-centric dramas about women in their 30s. However, this one has a very strong business focus and a majority of the time we follow Guan Wen/Qin Lan (FL) and Ding Ning/Wang Yan (ML) through their ups and downs at work. The main attraction of this drama for me is the strong chemistry between Qin Lan and Wang Yang. They are two of my favorite veteran actors and they did not disappoint.

Recommendations:
1. Fans of Qin Lan and Wang Yan
2. Fans of Business dramas
3. Fans of sisterhood of women in their 30s

Qin Lan has a similar role in “The Rational Life” where she plays a very successful businesswoman. What differs in “Stand or Fall” is her character’s strong, assertive personality and no BS approach to work and life. She was a lot mellower and calmer in “The Rational Life”. I quite like seeing Qin Lan in a more feisty role. On the other hand, it took me a quick second to see Wang Yang not in a villany, gray role. I’ve been so attracted to him/ his characters in “The Rebel” and “Lost in Kunlun Mountain” that it’s quite fun seeing him in love and jealous. He is still as charismatic and attractive as always, playing the successful counterpart to Qin Lan’s character. The two of them have so much chemistry and their bickering and outsmarting each other are the highs of the drama for me.

The other two female leads have a decent amount of screen time. They are both fun characters and the trio’s sisterhood is fun to watch. However, the supporting romances lack chemistry and their careers' storylines are not as interesting. ML’s BFF appears here and there to provide work gossip and support. But he is quite a one-dimensional character.

As I mentioned earlier, there’s a lot of business talk in this drama. If you are not interested, you might be bored. The dialogs are fast with business lingo yet Qin Lan and Wang Yang are experienced enough to make it seem natural. The drama is not dubbed (thank god coz I love their real voices) and you can hear the live recording with some post-production corrections here and there. I also love all the business attire at work. Qin Lan has quite a nice collection of business suits, shorts, dresses, and skirts. She looks so beautiful and I love her new short hair cut. Of course, Wang Yang doesn’t look too bad himself in formal suits and casual attires.

“Stand of Fall” might not be a solid 8.5 but I have a great time watching it. It met my expectations of Qin Lan and Wang Yang and how amazing they are together.

Other Random Observations:
1. Glad to see Qin Lan not afraid of getting dirty or having lipstick drawn on her beautiful face. But she's way too skinny though.
2. Why would a mother goes into a sleeping child's room and turn on the bright light?
3. For once a mother spoils a daughter and not a son.
4. When people in their 30s fall over each other, it's not a slow mo romantic scene but of them hurting their backs. LOL
5. Love the unique relationship FL has with her brother.



Completed: 8/19/2023 - Review #341

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More business than romance

Likes and Dislikes:
I learned that business management culture is really cutthroat - this a reality.
Strong female character. Cold male character in the beginning. Great kisser at the end but lacking swoon worthy moments.
I can't rewatch this drama because it was too much of business story lines.
What I liked the most was the SML and SFL (Xuan Xuan and Lin Hao) after 7 yrs. together the true colors came out. I liked how the besties help her in getting back on the cheating husband with baseball bats. I was cheering for them. So happy for Xuan Xuan that she had her business partner Yi Fei gave her moral support. All is fair in love, no matter what age gap is. What's important is that they're honest and faithful to each other.
For the third couple - hooray for them too. It's not easy to lose your Mojo. Glad they worked it out and expecting a second child.
Would I watch this drama again? No.

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A very great Story with Good Ending

I think the current score (7.7 as I wrote this) is not doing fair for this drama.
However I believe this is caused by a very bad subtitles

The story is very good, I always love mature romance, with no Silly break up over some trivial matter

The ML & FML are really mature in showing how they care about each other. The business story is also quite relevant ( I spent more than 20 years working in beauty, luxury & retail industries in Indonesia)

If you guys love this drama, you should also watch "The Centimeter of Love" as well, and please kindly suggest me the same kind of drama

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Workplace drama with mature romance

I became a lot more invested in this than I expected. I liked the mix of female friendship, workplace challenges and mature relationships. Part of the reason why I got hooked might be I am in fact mature myself, lol.

The cast was good: I liked the fact that they "looked their age"; mature people in their 30s.
The main leads portrayed their roles well. ML had charm without being overly dashing; his small expressions were very well timed and added realism. FL was also very strong and convincing.

The stories revolving around the three friends shows different kind of life choices, relationships and obstacles. The three different storylines were well executed. They paced well, had good archs and character developments.
The overarching keywords (themes) that can be said the three storylines have in common are: family, career, obligations, sacrifices, and "self respect/worth". But how these themes are being explored for the three female characters are very different angles.

Although I kind of could foresee the outcomes, it was still nice to follow along on the journeys.

The workplace dramas were not on the extreme side, and I found the shopping mall setting interesting.

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Another typical career-focused 30s single woman drama, watched too many to engage into another one.

I am dropping "Stand or Fall" with Qin Lan and Wang Yang after 8 episodes. They are seasoned actors, and I like them both in other dramas. I plan to finish it, but I could not get into the story because Qin Lan has been typed cast into the same type of role. A career focus woman who is still single in her 30s and hangs out with friends of the same age who are either singles or have relationship problems where she comes to the rescue.

She played a similar character in Dr. Tang, Hello My Love, The Magical Women, The Rational Life, etc. I did not want to watch another drama with a similar vibe.

I give it a 5.0 for bad script and typed casting for Qin Lan. She is a good actress but should branch out to more emotionally charged drama.

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Abysmal

It's inconceivable that Qin Lan who was my favorite actress from Story of Yanxi Palace is playing a falling-down-drunk corporate executive who doesn't seem to have a clue on how the business world works. Her voice grates, the pacing is off, and the OST is headache-inducing. I'm embarrassed at how bad this is.

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