Not a Drama Addict
This review may contain spoilers
Family is who you’d make sacrifices for, not necessarily defined by blood ties
Go Ahead is really a Family + Coming of Age drama about Selflessness versus Selfishness. Love how the drama brought out contrasting examples of what it means to be loving others selflessly and selfishly loving oneself over others, even if one is or not biologically related to the other.
Super Heart-warming Relationships between the 4 Lead Characters
-The way Li Ba (Li Hai Chao) takes pity and takes on Ziqiu without hesitation, raising him as if he is one of his own sons and not as a "lesser" offspring compared to his own blood daughter, Li Jian Jian. The humble working class father could have turned a blind eye (given his modest circumstances as a single parent) so as to not take on another financial and emotional burden to look after an abandoned kid. But he didn't, he took Ziqiu under his wing and cared for him all the way from childhood to adulthood without any expectations from Ziqiu to reciprocate.
- The way Jian Jian treats Ling Xiao and Ziqiu who aren't biologically related to her, as her blood brothers. I mean, this girl could have reacted in an insecure and selfish way if she thought of these brothers as an extra burden and competition for resources from her father who isn't that well off? She treated them like real brothers instead of step-brothers- their kinship is the second most heart warming element of this drama.
- The way Ling Xiao sacrificed his desires to study in China to be with the Li Family and fly over to Singapore just so that he can look after the very mother who abandoned him when he was young. He could have just cut his mom off and leave her to fend for herself since she walked out on him when he was such a young kid, but he didn't.
- The way Ziqiu sacrificed his desire to study and work in China and fly over to UK in order to please his real father Zhao Haoguang so that the Li family would not be harmed (or so he thought). He refused to take money from his father even though he was given an opportunity to and worked the odd jobs quietly to pay his uni fees without relying or expecting a single cent on Li Ba, his adopted father. Respect!
Realistic Toxic Relationships depicted by Secondary Necessary Evil Characters
- Chen Ting, Ling Xiao's mother portrays a believable narcissistic villain in this show. She is the "bad Guy" who blames everyone (except herself) for her misfortune as a way of justifying her self-serving behaviour. Everything in her life, from her daughter's death (which was an indirect result of her negligence as a mother when she locked the kids up so she could sneak out for fun), her failed marriage (the divorce was a decision she initiated because she gave up on her marriage to a workaholic husband) and her loneliness (because 2nd husband died from a car-crash and she realised she had no one to look after her financial needs).
When life cripples over, Chen Ting conveniently crawls back to the son she abandoned and demands Ling Xiao to take care of her, if not, no surprises for guessing, she threatens suicide. The actress who played this extremely unlikeable character is brilliant!
- Qin Meiying, Chen Ting's other daughter, portrays a second Villain character convincingly as the overly possessive step-sister to Ling Xiao. Like Mother Like Daughter? Lol. Maybe that's what the Script-writers wanted to hint at. ChengZi (her nickname) is seen to view Li Jian Jian or anyone who captures her step-brother's attention as a threat. Her backstory was sufficiently well explained - her mean bossy personality comes from the fact that she feels insecure despite growing up in a wealthy household. When a fatal car crash accident causes her father's death and her mother, Chen Ting, to be widowed, she becomes even more insecure and nastier towards other people. There is a small glimmer of redemption for Chengzi when we see her being humbled by our hardy and resilient Ziqiu who doesn't carry her airs just because she is wealthier than him, but treats her like an equal - you want my respect? work and earn it just like the others. Chengzi realises how she has been unfairly mean towards people who had done nothing but be welcoming and nice to her. She eventually becomes a less toxic version of her narcissistic mother, the big Bad Villain of the show. As the second little villain in this drama, this turnaround makes her less unlikable.
Unnecessary Side-Shows
The things that downplayed this drama for me was the numerous Love triangles between the supporting female and male characters. I felt that some of these love triangles that were stuffed into the script to for the sake of creating more story arcs to hold the audience's attention and these created more diversion instead of cohesiveness for the main storyline. If the scriptwriters could trim this down, the drama would have fewer episodes, but the storyline would also be more succinct.
Go Ahead storyline isn't particularly complex, so this drama is really simple and enjoyable to watch when your brain is feeling tired or dead and just wants a chicken-soup-for-the-soul pick me up.
This drama is a great show for the young and old to watch because the positive role models exemplify what it means to be selflessly loving to others, even if one is not biologically or legally related, while the bad villains give a realistic demonstration of what toxic, self-serving behaviours look like.
Super Heart-warming Relationships between the 4 Lead Characters
-The way Li Ba (Li Hai Chao) takes pity and takes on Ziqiu without hesitation, raising him as if he is one of his own sons and not as a "lesser" offspring compared to his own blood daughter, Li Jian Jian. The humble working class father could have turned a blind eye (given his modest circumstances as a single parent) so as to not take on another financial and emotional burden to look after an abandoned kid. But he didn't, he took Ziqiu under his wing and cared for him all the way from childhood to adulthood without any expectations from Ziqiu to reciprocate.
- The way Jian Jian treats Ling Xiao and Ziqiu who aren't biologically related to her, as her blood brothers. I mean, this girl could have reacted in an insecure and selfish way if she thought of these brothers as an extra burden and competition for resources from her father who isn't that well off? She treated them like real brothers instead of step-brothers- their kinship is the second most heart warming element of this drama.
- The way Ling Xiao sacrificed his desires to study in China to be with the Li Family and fly over to Singapore just so that he can look after the very mother who abandoned him when he was young. He could have just cut his mom off and leave her to fend for herself since she walked out on him when he was such a young kid, but he didn't.
- The way Ziqiu sacrificed his desire to study and work in China and fly over to UK in order to please his real father Zhao Haoguang so that the Li family would not be harmed (or so he thought). He refused to take money from his father even though he was given an opportunity to and worked the odd jobs quietly to pay his uni fees without relying or expecting a single cent on Li Ba, his adopted father. Respect!
Realistic Toxic Relationships depicted by Secondary Necessary Evil Characters
- Chen Ting, Ling Xiao's mother portrays a believable narcissistic villain in this show. She is the "bad Guy" who blames everyone (except herself) for her misfortune as a way of justifying her self-serving behaviour. Everything in her life, from her daughter's death (which was an indirect result of her negligence as a mother when she locked the kids up so she could sneak out for fun), her failed marriage (the divorce was a decision she initiated because she gave up on her marriage to a workaholic husband) and her loneliness (because 2nd husband died from a car-crash and she realised she had no one to look after her financial needs).
When life cripples over, Chen Ting conveniently crawls back to the son she abandoned and demands Ling Xiao to take care of her, if not, no surprises for guessing, she threatens suicide. The actress who played this extremely unlikeable character is brilliant!
- Qin Meiying, Chen Ting's other daughter, portrays a second Villain character convincingly as the overly possessive step-sister to Ling Xiao. Like Mother Like Daughter? Lol. Maybe that's what the Script-writers wanted to hint at. ChengZi (her nickname) is seen to view Li Jian Jian or anyone who captures her step-brother's attention as a threat. Her backstory was sufficiently well explained - her mean bossy personality comes from the fact that she feels insecure despite growing up in a wealthy household. When a fatal car crash accident causes her father's death and her mother, Chen Ting, to be widowed, she becomes even more insecure and nastier towards other people. There is a small glimmer of redemption for Chengzi when we see her being humbled by our hardy and resilient Ziqiu who doesn't carry her airs just because she is wealthier than him, but treats her like an equal - you want my respect? work and earn it just like the others. Chengzi realises how she has been unfairly mean towards people who had done nothing but be welcoming and nice to her. She eventually becomes a less toxic version of her narcissistic mother, the big Bad Villain of the show. As the second little villain in this drama, this turnaround makes her less unlikable.
Unnecessary Side-Shows
The things that downplayed this drama for me was the numerous Love triangles between the supporting female and male characters. I felt that some of these love triangles that were stuffed into the script to for the sake of creating more story arcs to hold the audience's attention and these created more diversion instead of cohesiveness for the main storyline. If the scriptwriters could trim this down, the drama would have fewer episodes, but the storyline would also be more succinct.
Go Ahead storyline isn't particularly complex, so this drama is really simple and enjoyable to watch when your brain is feeling tired or dead and just wants a chicken-soup-for-the-soul pick me up.
This drama is a great show for the young and old to watch because the positive role models exemplify what it means to be selflessly loving to others, even if one is not biologically or legally related, while the bad villains give a realistic demonstration of what toxic, self-serving behaviours look like.
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