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Zogitt

Australia

Zogitt

Australia
Professional Single chinese drama review
Completed
Professional Single
2 people found this review helpful
by Zogitt
Dec 11, 2020
24 of 24 episodes seen
Completed
Overall 7.0
Story 6.5
Acting/Cast 7.5
Music 7.5
Rewatch Value 6.0
This review may contain spoilers

Cookie cutter college rom-com that set a low bar

I think your mileage with this drama will depend a great deal on how high a bar you set. I can understand that a college romance drama is unlikely to push many boundaries but sometimes you need more than just having the OTP being good looking to get a pass mark.
If there is a god for this genre then she must be smiling upon them as this show was so heavy with tropes and clichés that it will be a chore to keep score. Yes, both ML and FL were right for their roles and they looked good but they were not asked to do much. The cold, aloof ML persona was on full display from start to near finish. There was a bit of softening up by the end but there was not a lot of character development (except for some negative aspect which I shall discuss later). The cutesy, clumsy FL was also straight out of the genre's playbook. It was honestly a bit overused as time and time again, the FL managed to trip, slip, fall, etc onto the ML's chest, his arms or just ended up in the classic dip pose. If all that egregious set up didn't scream OTP I don't know what will. The odd thing for me was that if I look beyond the tells and manipulations, I'm not 100% sure why the ML fell for the FL. There was chemistry and sweet moments but was it as simple as the knight and the damsel?
This bring on the topic of the 2FL and 2ML. I have to say that I really feel bad for them, not that they did a bad job but their roles were just so meh. The 2FL was literally being rejected on a daily basis by the ML (not sure why he disliked her so much) yet she just kept coming back for more. The 2ML didn't stand much of a chance with the FL but at least the FL was a bit ambiguous about their relationship for a while (they even played the fate card) but in the end, they were just pitiful. It is nice to play good and even good to be bad but the no-man's land in the middle is death for an actor.
The rest of the story was cliché filled with little dramatic development. There were hints of family dramas but barely explored. Just a couple of phone calls and vague comments about disapprovals or "family troubles". The ML's grandmother would have been a lovely diversion but she only popped up once or twice and had little to do. What was left were typical petty college shenanigans built upon the venerable tropes of rivalries, bullying and jealousy but they had little dramatic impact. Wrongs were righted before the episode was over and the angst meter barely moved. I suppose it is better than having the ill feelings and misunderstanding fester for multiple episodes as per the standard trope. The problem here was that you just don't feel invested. A lot were caused by lies told constantly by OTP to cover their budding/secret relationship. It just got a bit old.
The support cast was standard fare. The FL's roommates was the classic set, one tough girl, one shy one and the chubby BFF. The ML's roommates were straight out of central casting and forgettable. The more mature cast members had very little to do. Their professor was meant to be their guiding light and he was a nice man but I can't sense the burning passion when his role demanded it.
Now for the things that really bothered me. For the first half of the show, the ML was nice and sweet while chasing the FL. Sure, the cold exterior melted over time and when he smiles, the sun did shine brighter. However, once they became a couple, he became possessive and was a green-eyed monster. That type of behaviour is not new to dramaland but it felt jarring with his earlier persona. Coupled this with his manhandling of the FL, made me felt uncomfortable with their relationship. Hence, the real elephant in the room, the FL (Ireine Song) is a popular actor and she knows her craft but I fear that she is being type casted whenever she pops up in this type of drama. I'm sure she could have sleep walked through this drama. Often it is just a variation of the archetype. Dial up the cuteness, tone down the street smart or be more clumsy. She is almost always paired with a tall ML. In this case, she is barely up to his shoulder (and half his width). Some finds this pairing attractive but when it was played out more like a dominant (D/S) relationship then I feel the positive note is muted. I sincerely hope that she will find projects in the future that will allow her to break out of these roles.
Ultimately, is this a bad show, not quite. It was a mostly harmless (once only) binge but that was a low bar to pass.
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