Solid entertainment with a few good laughs

I went into this drama with very few expectations as it pairs Jeremy Tsui with yet another, much younger actress with very little acting experience. The slapstick-type initial trailer didn’t help at all because in the meantime I had started reading the novel and I really hate it when scriptwriters change the whole tone of the source material.
I was therefore very pleasantly surprised by the first few episodes that were mostly serious and showed an FL whose acting wasn’t on par with everyone else, but at least tolerable. The heart-clutching and fainting spells were hilarious and just at the point when I thought that they were getting a bit too much, they stopped.

The pace was really good right from the start, getting the viewers into the mystery around the collapse of the West Canal and whatever wider conspiracy was brewing. The secondary couple looked charming and perfect for each other and for once, both Lu Yan’s attendant, Yang Zong and Shen Zhen’s maid were allowed to be clever servants. Although, poor Yang Zong had an unfortunate talent to show up at the wrong moment and disturb “couple time”. I was really impressed by the actor’s comedic talent!
Another support actor absolutely worth mentioning was the one playing Shen Zhen’s father who had impressive screen presence and made the most of his few short scenes.

The initial villain of the story, Li Di played by Liu Hai Kuan had the delightful intensity of a character that we all love to hate. Sadly, his plot line was just dropped in the middle of nowhere as the story moved towards the mastermind behind it all. All the villains had a proper motivation for what they were doing, other than just being evil because the script said so.

Compared to the novel, the conspiracy was one of the weakest points of the drama. It could have been so much more complex and intriguing if they had used some more material from the novel instead of giving wasting time on this totally nonsensical amnesia plot in the last episode. Although this plot gave us the opportunity to see a sterner version of Lu Yan which Jeremy Tsui portrayed in a very nuanced manner, it felt rather superfluous.

Another weak point were the dreams which never really served any purpose. While in the novel the ML uses these dreams to gain intel on what his enemies were plotting and to develop counter strategies, this role of the dreams probably fell victim to censorship rules. Therefore, if these dreams as memories of a past life had been replaced by some nightmares that showed the ML’s fear of losing the FL it would have caused far less confusion among the viewers.

I was pondering a long time how to rate this drama. It had solid acting overall with the FL being the weakest link by a mile (although she wasn’t terrible) and the story avoided many of the usual lame tropes, it made me laugh and kept me entertained. The many fight scenes were well choreographed and executed and the ending was decent as well. Normally, this would have been an 8.5 in my books. However, in light of recent events that offer us a glimpse into just how much Jeremy Tsui must have suffered, both emotionally and intellectually, at having to film yet another idol drama with a trainee actress (who got first billing just to add insult to injury) and to counterbalance the hate-rating of a few obvious non-viewers, I am going to rate this a solid 10.

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The dog has eaten my novel

I had high hopes for this drama as it is based on a good story, filled with high-profile actors and the original author was said to be in charge of the script. However, after undergoing the usual “idol”-standardisation of C-dramaland, nothing much of what I previously loved is left.
So if you are a fan of the novel or love dramas with political powerplay, you may want to steer clear of this one.

The plot
Sadly, the plot bears barely any resemblance with the original novel due to sweeping changes to both characters and setting that go far beyond of what would have been required to navigate the limitations imposed by censorship rules. It is clear that in order to make it work on screen the original story would have required some plot re-organisation (in the novel the ML barely appears in the first 30 or so chapters) and some tightening of the story, but what the scriptwriter(s) have come up with is an entirely new story, filled to the brim with the usual boring tropes and shallow romance in which some characters with the same names as in the novel also appear. It is no exaggeration to say that 95% of the plot has been made up by a bunch of rather inept scriptwriters.

I really cannot understand what could have driven the original author to so thoroughly massacre her own work and some of her best characters, but then money is said to corrupt the mind and those who wish to suck up to investors cannot afford a spine.

The result is a boring and highly annoying story in which none of the characters behaves in a consistent way. Whereas the novel had conflicting political ideas about how a government should be run and how the drive for independence of a mountain tribe should be dealt with as the driving force behind the two male leads schemes, the scriptwriters seemed to feel that this would be too much of a challenge to the viewer’s intelligence and reduced their motivation to a simple struggle between personal revenge and protecting one’s family.

Of the three main leads, the FL is without a doubt the most annoying character. Someone who fluctuates between the childish naivety of “let’s feed all the starving people” (how many are there? How much rice does she have”) to outsmarting everyone on numerous occasions (when the two male leads are supposed to be the most intelligent and scheming people around). The way she leads Pei Yan along, seemingly oblivious of his feelings for her, is worthy of any teasing slapper. Her behaviour towards Wei Zhao is just as inconsistent. How can a highly self-righteous goody-two-shoes like her accept being stabbbed, poisoned and tortured by a guy and then forgive it all because of a pretty sword dance? Seriously? Such writing is a slap in the face of any woman who has ever endured violence by a man. There is not much left of the taciturn and carefree young girl that mesmerised Pei Yan in the novel. Given how biased and obnoxious she has become (lying is ok, but only if she does it…) it is hard to understand how anyone would fall in love with her in the first place.

Wei Zhao is probably the character who has been allowed to keep the most of his original flavour.
His sadistic cruelty towards the FL stands in stark contrast to his sentimentality over his sister and friends which feels inconsistent for someone who is supposed to have become cold and unfeeling because of what he went through. Actual trauma victims tend to block out any feelings to protect themselves. This was very cleverly portrayed in the novel, but somehow, the screenwriters thought they knew better and turned the ML into a sobby whimp who instead of only caring about the mission that he devoted his life to, becomes a problem-solving servant to the FL.

The character of the SML, Pei Yan, has been completely distorted, diminished and vilified. Whereas in the novel he was equally matched with the ML both in terms of scheming capacity, political power and vision, he has been turned into a tattering fool who is hoodwinked by the FL and lead by the nose by the ML. He has been robbed of all the political vision and high ideals that he had in the novel. Whereas in the novel his quest for power was motivated by ideals of national unity and peace to put an end to the Emperor’s system of pitting the various factions against each other (with the common people suffering in the endless strife), in the drama he has been saddled with a corrupt family and a murderous mother to make “protecting the family” and personal ambition his highest goals. His best lines, that would reveal some of his tortured and loveless upbringing and go a long way to explain why he became so obsessed with the first female who showed him some kindness, have been deleted from the script to turn him into nothing more than an obnoxious creep for a good part of the story. It very much looks like the scriptwriters couldn’t bear the idea of a strong (and likable) SML for fear that it may throw shadow on their ML. It says a lot about their confidence in their own writing skills and/or the actor’s acting skills when they deem the ML so weak that he needs this kind of help to stand out…

The plot in the early episodes of the drama has become a collection of tit-for-tat between the ML and the SML over trivial things in which the supposedly clever and scheming SML usually runs around like a headless chicken, misses clues, cannot add two and two together and even lands himself in jail. Most of the remaining episodes are filled with similarly pointless squabbles, either between Wei Zhao and his tribe or Pei Yan and his family or between the two male leads. The greater political vision that guided every move of the two male leads in the novel is completely gone. The warfare that made up a large portion of the novel has been reduced to a couple of episodes and is completely devoid of military strategy or the tactical importance of each move.
Even An Cheng’s death, which in the novel is a crucial moment of tactical error and self sacrifice for the protection of a whole city, has been reduced to an idiotic scene of once again bailing out a hapless FL.

In the drama, Wei Zhao is present from the beginning and like a bad penny he seems to turn up in every frame, (lest the audience forget who is supposed to be the one and only hero in the story) turning every scene between Jiang Ci and Pei Yan into some strange threesome.
All the balance, that existed in the novel between two evenly matched adversaries, who the FL first meets separately and who later get together to collaborate, has gone.

Cui Liang seems to have become a totally pointless character who just tags along wherever Pei Yan goes to occasionally give him a meaningful look or remind him to set Jiang Ci free. The importance of this character and his inner conflicts in the unfolding of Pei Yan’s schemes and in the subsequent battles has been completely lost. At that rate, this character could just as well have been deleted (like so many other important characters).

The acting
Ren Jialun delivers a performance that is in line with his usual standards. Watchable and engaging in the parts where he can play the cold avenger, cringy and stiff as soon as complex emotions are required. His scenes with the FL are lukewarm at best and his screen presence clearly suffers as soon as he is in the same frame with one of the veteran actors (the Emperor or Madam Pei).

Li Landi has attracted a lot of criticism (especially for her looks) but I cannot say that I found it justified. She is believable as the innocent and cute girl and cannot be blamed for the inconsistent and annoying writing of her role. Her acting is standard fare for the cutsie romance dramas that she is generally cast in. If she was unable to give some depth to her FL, a big part of the blame must be put on the screenwriters.

Xu Zhengxi shows some very subtle and engaging acting in his emotional scenes and the scenes with his mother in some of the later episodes are a joy to watch. Overall it feels, however, like we’ve only seen a small portion of what he would have been capable of in a better written role. Rumour has it that he only read the script for the first few episodes before accepting the role, and given how much this role has been diminished compared to the novel, this sadly sounds quite believable. At no point in the story is he allowed to fully become the “powerful and scheming minister” that many fans had been hoping for (based on the Pei Yan character in the novel) and too many of his scenes are wasted on fawning over the FL. His fighting scenes are exceptional, though. Unlike many other actors, he doesn’t seem to hold back at all and it is no wonder he got injured on set.

The most impressive performance of the whole drama is without any doubt Wen ZhenRong who plays Madam Pei. Her every scene is an absolute delight to watch and her magnetic aura overshadows many of her co-stars in their scenes together. I would gladly watch 40 episodes with her as a scheming FL…

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Very perilous for the ML...

This love is indeed very perilous... but only for the ML. This guy gets stabbed and poisoned so many times that I gave up counting. The way this character is written is a collection of the worst clichés surrounding male leads in historical and xianxia dramas. He is indestructible, will do everything for the FL, except maybe talking to her honestly or confessing his love.
The FL on the other hand is a mixed package. Sometimes she comes across as this gutsy lady who wants to avenge her family, sometimes she is the clever doctor and sometimes she is a meek as a flower and as dumb as a brick.
All the antagonists had at least some decent motivation which sadly isn't a given in C-drama.
The plot of this drama could have been interesting, but the writing was just so-so which on many occasions made the story seem repetitive and indecisive. The acting was pretty good though, which is the reason why I watched it to the end.
In terms of romance this drama offers more than most of the recent high profile dramas as it has quite a few kisses and scenes of intimacy. The chemistry between the couple is really good and at least on the romance side the writers spared us a lot of the usual cliches.
Overall, it is a pleasant short drama to watch as a filler or doing some chores.

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Interesting story, mediocre execution.

This is a light-hearted xianxa with lots of funny moments, limited angst and overall good acting. The story idea was interesting and different from a lot of other dramas, but the execution was rather conventional and uninspired. The quality of the script changes (drops) throughout the thirty episodes:
The first half is quite entertaining with an interesting story. The next ten episodes feel like several scriptwriters each wanted to pull the drama in different directions and the logic and coherence between what is said one moment and 2hat happens the next goes completely out of the window.
For instance, in one scene we are told the ML/FL needed to hurry back to their sect using their flying skills, only to see them frolicking through the woods without a care in the world and obviously in no hurry at all.
In another scene the ML is supposed to have lost all his magic skills, yet he can still fly…
The last five episodes were dreadfully boring and brim-ful of fillers.
The ending was kind of ok, I’ve seen a lot worse in other xianxia, but I didn’t find it emotionally engaging. Maybe after being so bored by the previous episodes I’ve lost all empathy for the main couple.
The acting by the main cast was quite good and the only reason why I managed to finish this. This type of role seems to suit Alen Feng much more that the stiff characters he usually plays.

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Snack-size drama, but solid entertainment

Even though the episodes are only 11 min long, the overall quality of this drama makes it appear more like a full-length drama (but without the draggy bits).

While the plot is classic false-identity/revenge fare, this drama has many strong points that I would wish to see in normal length dramas:

Despite some twists, the plot remains coherent until the end.
There is a strong female lead and all the female roles manage to avoid the usual, dreadful stereotypes of damsel in distress, moronic maid, obsessive delusional cousin/sister/love rival, etc.
It isn’t a big production, so the cast is quite limited, but it doesn’t feel like more people were needed. The acting by the main cast is pretty decent and the martial arts sequences look well choreographed.
There are plenty of romantic scenes between the main couple, but thankfully without any of the usual cheesy tropes like viewing lanterns/fireflies, falling blossoms or slow-motion/repeat scenes. Their chemistry is sufficient to not need any of this to show their feelings.
The drama did not lose its momentum in the second half and the ending felt sufficiently fleshed-out.

If I had to point out one thing that I disliked about this drama it would be the ending OST which I found quite unbearable. Every time that squeaky voice hit the high notes is felt like fingernails scratching on glass.

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Something to laugh (a lot!) and cry with great acting

This is quite a unique and very funny comedy which manages to combine a modern setting with historical sequences without resorting to any of the overused time-travel or transmigration tropes.

In this drama a method actor who gets a bit too immersed in his roles has amnesia due to an accident just after completing his latest historical drama. His only memories are those of his role as The Grand Tutor and the elaborate backstory that he has created for himself and the other characters of the filmed drama (all written down in his little notebook).

Watching the first few episodes I was wondering how much of the lead actor’s behaviour is actually a parody of himself. It felt very tongue-in-cheek.

Sequences in the historical setting continue throughout the drama, either as flashback memories of the ML or as dream sequences of either the FL or the ML.

The FL manages to perfectly bring across the cute and innocent side of a rookie actress without being the cliched silly and overly bubbly female that haunts so many c-dramas. She has to learn a lot about the movie business but at the same time she is very clear about what she wants and what she doesn’t want. Over the course of the drama we see her mature quite a lot.

The amnesia of the ML provides some good comedy as he discovers the “strange new world”. The scene with the rolling chair had me in stitches. Jeremy Tsui comic timing is absolutely perfect. Whenever he acts as The Grand Tutor in the modern world it feels like a parody of his film-persona. I’ve seen in some comments people saying that he is overacting, but I think it is done intentionally.

As they say, “comedy is repetition and repetition is comedy”. In the later episodes whenever the ML assumes that stiff facial expression of his historical character and says “your highness” I was already laughing!

There were a few very sad episodes, despite this being a comedy. The heartbreak of both leads was palpable even if they expressed it very differently.

Inevitably for a C-drama, there is some added adversity for the main couple in the form of love rivals (none of them too serious or annoying) and family pressure.

Also noteworthy is the critical view of the drama on Chinese fandom culture where everyone is permanently glued to their news-feeds, fans are like harpies (that hunt in packs) and the smallest event in their private life can destroy an actor’s career. In an era where everyone talks so much about respect this lack of respect for the private life of celebrities is quite a contradiction. It was nice to see this issue of toxic fan-culture addressed in a drama.

The ending was decent (and happy) but felt a little bit rushed. The idea to put all the snippets from the first historical drama that brought them together in sequence to gift us a mini-version of this drama in the last two episodes was a very nice bonus.

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A piece of art disguised as a detective drama

Don’t be fooled by the moderate rating of this drama. It truly is a piece of art - just not what some people were expecting…

The marketing decision to promote this drama as a “bromance” certainly didn’t do it any favours, as the source material really did not offer much opportunity for any bromance and thus left viewers who specifically watched under this premise, sorely disappointed.

Watching this drama without any preconceptions or expectations is probably the best way to enjoy it. I initially just started watching it on a whim in order to see Zheng Ye Cheng in a modern setting (and with a dorky haircut) but for me it turned out to be a highly addictive show.

This drama isn’t the usual fast-paced detective/suspense drama - it has long sequences without any dialogue, artful use of modern architecture for highly atmospheric shots with the background music and OST perfectly complementing the visuals. The showdown in episode 18 is an absolute feast for the eyes which reminded me very much of French nouvel vague films.

The plot of the drama is a patchwork of elements from the three volumes of The Evil Hypnotist novels by Zhou Hao Hui. The fact that the protagonist in the novels is Luo Fei who works with a different hypnotist in each volume while the protagonist of the drama version is Lu FengPing (who only appeared in the last volume of the novel series), may explain some of the inconsistencies and strange behaviours of the lead characters.

The detective-hypnotist duo come across a number of strange cases that are somehow connected and despite solving these cases some mystery remains as it becomes clear that there is a dark mastermind pulling the threats. Both lead characters have their own issues tied to some events of the past, which prevent them from being honest with each other until nearly the end (episode 18) of the series. This gives the two lead actors ample opportunity to show their acting skills.

Zheng YeCheng delivers a very nuanced portrait of a traumatised person who can be cocky one moment and highly vulnerable the next. His face and his eyes literally speak volumes which made him the perfect choice for a production where dialogue was always less important than the visuals. So far I had only seen ZYC in historical roles where I admired his martial arts skills (and his looks, of course), but he really impressed me with his acting in this one.

Xin Yun Lai as the detective who analysis everything but rarely speaks had a tough role to master because there is a fine line between portraying a cold character and coming across like a piece of cardboard. There were some moments, when I saw him on the wrong side of that line, but overall his acting was pretty decent.

The main antagonist, played by James Yang, was one of these villains that I love to hate. Every time he was on screen I intensely disliked his character all the while admiring the actor playing this role. For me he was really the surprise discovery of this drama.

Even though the chief villain was impressive and (wonderfully deranged, in a way) the motivation and background stories of the villains was probably the weakest point of this drama. As it is a patchwork of elements from the three novels in the Evil Hypnotist series, a lot of changes had to be made to tie everything together somehow. Many of the flashbacks seemed to somewhat exonerate the main villain by giving us a glimpse of his tragic life before he turned bad which is quite a substantial deviation from the overall tone of the novel.

The theme of personal guilt over causing tragic events that runs through the first volume of the novels has been replaced by random events that turn people into victims which in my view deprives the drama of the psychological depth that it could have had otherwise.

This is a drama that I will certainly re-watch again and again, simply because of the artful production that makes it such a pleasure to watch.

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Nothing special, but charming

This is a classic story of the cold ML in a high position (this time the leader of the supreme court) who falls for a quirky girl while uncovering a sinister plot.
In this case, the execution is quite charming with many funny and romantic moments and the main couple have reasonable chemistry. Overall the acting is ok.
Most of the characters are quite one-dimensional as there isn’t much room for character development in a short-length drama. The character of the FL is annoyingly inconsistent. In the first episode she is made to look like a top-notch assassin, only to turn into a damsel in distress for most of the following episodes. We are shown that she has martial arts training, yet she never uses any of it, but instead clings to the ML like a helpless girlie.

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Impressive!

This was the first C-drama that I've ever watched just because I stumbled over it on Netflix. I didn't know that it had such a bad (in literally every sense) ending until I was punched in the gut after 70 episodes, but until then I thoroughly enjoyed it. Knowing how it ends (in the series, not the book) will not keep me from re-watching this and savouring every episode, but it makes me want to read the book as well...

The acting is phenomenal and the main characters are well developed. The romantic leads make a nice coupe and have great chemistry. The setting and costumes are a feast for the eyes. The music is pleasant and inobtrusive.

The gender-switching bit in the middle had me a bit confused. As this was my first C-drama I was not yet familiar with the premise that as soon as a woman dresses up as a man she becomes unrecognisable and everybody takes her for a man. I loved the way humour appears throughout the drama in the dialogues.

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Not a masterpiece but very entertaining

This is a lighthearted comedy that never takes itself too seriously. There are some very silly moments (the inept adversaries, the main characters accidentially knocking each other out, etc.) but the drama manages to steer clear of some of the most dreadful xianxia-tropes, like the endless misunderstandings, the forced breakup, the damsel-in-distress FL, etc. The romance between the FL/ML is sweet without becoming too syrupy.

The couple has a period of separation due to the FL’s amnesia, but this only lasts for a few episodes. The start may feel a bit slow, but otherwise the pacing is good and there are no drawn out boring bits.

The FL is quite a refreshing character, gutsy and straightforward, a natural opposite of the more restraint ML.

The ML’s brother provides a lot of comedy throughout the drama. His bromance in the second part of the drama was unexpected and a nice touch.

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Started off well, then got lost in its own twist and turns

This fantasy drama in a modern setting has an interesting plot where immortal aliens from the planet Penglai are stranded on earth and become the natural antagonists of the spirits created by the accidental release of an alien substance. The ML is one who defies the set pattern in that he is a spirit himself, but one dedicated to releasing other spirits from the obsessions that brought them into this state. Bai Yu’s acting is solid, but somewhat lacklustre. His best moments were certainly those as his own evil alter-ego.
The FL is one of the original Penglai aliens, but one who has died and was re-born without the memory of her past existence. Jade Cheng is believable as her modern quirky self, her scenes as a Penglai warrior were a bit of a stretch, though.
The couple meet by chance and their paths cross a few times before a bond develops between them.
They solve a couple of “cases” together and the initial antiques of denial, courtship and jealousy are quite fun to watch. The secondary couple provide some additional humour and at times are more interesting to watch than the main couple.
The sparkling appearance of Jeremy Tsui in a support role (ep. 12-15) is an unexpected highlight for a few brief episodes and after that there is a noticeable void.
In the second half, the writers seem to have run out of decent ideas and the plot is falling apart. There are reasons that would prevent the main couple from having a relationship and both come up with ploys to break up in one form or another. There are so many twists and turns that in the end I couldn’t care less whether they end up together or not. The repetitive filler sequences of them either gazing into each other’s eyes while the OST is playing or of them reminiscing about their time together, again while the OST is playing, becomes a nuisance in itself to the point of making me nauseated just hearing the OST.
The end was sort of anti-climactic and felt rather flat.
This is definitely a drama that would have benefited from being shorter (since the writers only had a limited amount of good ideas) and having the plot straightened out a bit so that it doesn’t feel like running in circles.

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An emotional rollercoaster

Nobody in this drama is what he or she appears to be. Although it is rather lengthy (some bits feel a bit drawn out) the mystery kept me going.
The romance part starts of nicely, but then falls into the usual cliches of misunderstandings, keeping things from the other "for their protection", etc. The chemistry between the main leads was a bit lukewarm, some of their actions seemed incoherent. The end could have done with a bit more explanation: if they love each other that much, why waste precious time staying apart?
I intensely disliked the 2nd ML (Fu Chou) with his stalker-type "you-must-love-me-because-I'm-so-good" stance, only to feel sorry for him in the end. That was quite a surprise!
The feeling was similar for Rong Qi - his actions appeared contradictory and confusing at times, but in the end it all made sense. I really didn't know what to make of this character until his tragic story was revealed towards the end. Again, Luo Yunxi quite impressive in a heart-wrenching role!
I liked the fact that the drame has some strong female roles. The action scenes were overall done quite nicely and costumes were good as well.
The music was very emotional and suited the drama perfectly. I must say that I preferred Aarif Rahman's singing to his acting...

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A car crash in wuxia-land

I really wanted to like this drama, but I couldn’t. Even with Luo Yunxi as the ML it was a chore to make it through to the end.

The underlying story wasn’t bad and had quite a few classic elements (underdog female sect leader, tense father-son relationship, treacherous prince, etc.) that could have fuelled a good drama with good acting. Sadly, the scriptwriter seemed to think that this audience is made up of idiots and logic or common sense are just superfluous concepts that hinder creativity.

The result were jewels like a man burying a horse (on his own, without a shovel), a little girly carelessly parading around a priceless artefact, then entrusting it to someone she doesn’t know (oh, it gets stolen - surprise!) and to top off the insanity a man pretending to be someone else without even changing his hairstyle or clothes (and still using the same fan!). The behaviour of the FL made me more than once agree with her sect elders that she’s not leader material. I will root for the underdog, but not for incompetence!

The fake horse riding was so bad (the actors’ movements didn’t even match the gait of the horse) that it made me cringe. I understand that not every actor may be able to gallop freely on a horse, but at least learn how to fake it properly.

To upset the viewers even more there were the usual boring tropes of love triangles (two of them, because they are fun!) and stupid misunderstandings between the two leads that could have been cleared up in two sentences. There was zero chemistry between the leads, so in the end I couldn’t even care whether they got together or not.

Overall the drama had very few redeeming features. The father-son scenes were among some of the best this drama had to offer. The OST wasn’t too bad and there was LYX elegantly floating from the sky.

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Abuse-fest with bad subtitles

I rarely write reviews for dramas that I drop after a few episodes. This one, however brings the notion of “disturbing” to quite a new level.
We are expected to believe that the obsessive ML who tortures and abuses the FL actually loves her and that the FL after being thoroughly abused finally sees the light and falls for him.
SERIOUSLY????
How sick must a person be to come up with such nonsense! No amount of pretty costumes and beautiful people in this drama can cover up the ugly truth that this drama is an insult to anyone who has ever suffered s from abuse and promotes a disturbing view of women.
Who would ever want to watch this for entertainment?

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