Heartwarming perhaps but lacks depth and consistency

I started watching this drama long before it shot up in ratings on mydramalist, so when I saw it on the top drama page I have to say I was quite surprised. I have always been in agreement with the dramas that make it to the page and have found so many gems as a result, but this time I was shocked. I felt that if I had gone to watch this drama after seeing it have such a high rating I would be quite disappointed, especially with the comparisons I’m seeing to Reply 1988, and reviews calling it the best Cdrama of the year. I watch a lot of Cdrama, and it my option this drama is far from that title.

I will say good Cdramas sometimes seem far and few between compared to Kdramas. So when a seemingly good one comes out, there’s often a lot of superlatives involved. So it’s not completely inconceivable why this drama is receiving such praise and hype. I just think it’s not quite deserved in this case, especially when dramas like 隐秘的角落 （The bad kids) and 摩天大楼 (horizon tower) have come out this year as well. And maybe crime dramas aren’t your cup of tea and that’s fine, I love a good family drama as well, but in my eyes this drama lacks so much depth in terms of it’s storytelling that it seems artificial and shallow at the end. This is a far cry from the Reply series and even other Chinese family dramas I've seen (such as 小欢喜 A little reunion).

So what exactly about this drama is disappointing?
There are three major things:
1. The ending plot
2. The one-sided characterizations
3. Sub-par acting that can’t live up to the character

I have to admit, I’m a sucker for family dramas with some good angst and heartwarming relationships. So I did enjoy the beginning of this drama. So what’s the problem? Simply speaking, this drama stops being about family. Without giving too much away, this drama goes from being about families of choice to a forced love story that was poorly executed and unbelievable. Needless to say, I did not like the main couple. But unlike other dramas, it’s not because I hope she ended up with someone else. In fact, I think it would be better if there was no love story at all. It was that uncomfortable. This is a pretty big issue because it encompasses at least half the drama.

So what about the characters? Well, I did enjoy some of them. I think Jian Jian was a good character. He Ziqiu was absolutely one of the best characters in the show. And the two dads were heartwarming and some great moments to the drama. He Ziqiu’s birthday episode was my favorite in the entire series (it’s also ep. 4 so I think that says something about how the drama progressed) because I think it showcases everything good about the drama. My problem is so many of the characters don’t seem real. For how much I loved Jian Jian’s father, he was too perfect. The two mothers offered some great angst, but had so little redeeming qualities. In fact with the exception of Jian Jian, the women in this drama are stereotyped and vilified to the extreme to the point where Chen Ting for example does not even seem real. Compare this to the Reply series. The characters of the parents were each unique in their personalities. They were all good heartwarming characters, but what was so amazing is they seemed real. They were good parents, but weren’t faultless. The parents all had different parenting styles and family dynamics, but none of them were worse than the other. This drama goes the opposite route: the bad parents are so bad, and the good parents are basically Mother Teresa type characters.

My last complaint is some of the acting was not good enough to meet the requirements of the character. You might be able to guess already who I’m referring to: Song Weilong. His acting wasn’t awful, but the character was pretty awful. And I think part of that is his acting and part of it is the writing. But I think with a better actor, the character would have been much more well-rounded and less creepy and stiff. I don’t think Song Weilong is a good actor, but I see why he was cast. The problem is, his character was pretty complex. He has some issues, and Song Weilong just couldn’t bring those to life in a compelling way. And the way he approaches his relationship in the drama? Ummm, in a word: creepy.

If you’d made it to the end of this rambling review, thank you. And if there’s one thing I would say to end this, it would be: this is not a terrible drama. In fact the beginning is quite lovely. But go in prepared to be disappointed as the drama progresses. And I would not go in expecting to find the same quality and depth as Reply 1988.

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