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Drama Tea
An idol drama that punches above its weight
First, this is an excerpt from my long-ass post about Wonderland of Love, which includes and episode watch log: https://dramatea88.wordpress.com/2023/12/02/wonderland-of-love-review/
To read my FULL thoughts on it, head to the blog. Here's my short review:
What I liked
- Great chemistry between Jing Tian and Xu Kai and I really enjoyed how evenly matched they were in terms of power dynamics, especially in the first few episodes.
- The brotherhood story took a while to build up, but when it did, the impact of the angsty episodes really hit hard!
- I like that every episode moved the story forward. There were hardly any filters.
- Episode 30 and 31 really elevated the drama to fascinating heights. On the one hand, it was a very typical idol historical romance drama, and those episodes had Ripe Town vibes.
- It has a wonderfully long happy ending. I'm a softie for those and we have precious few dramas that end so happily these days.
What I didn't like
- While Ah-Ying is written as a kickass female heroine, and she was in the first few episodes, she needed to be rescued way too much, which undermines her kickass status.
- The pathetic villains with poor motivation. Young Master and Lady Gu are not that much of an antagonistic challenge to our leads and are mere annoyances. I found Sun Jing a more effective bad guy but when he left the stage, our new antogonists could not pick up the slack. It didn't help that the acting was not fantastic either. I found our two Li princes a little better in the villain department but they were also not very bright villains and never felt like a real threat either.
- Episodes 30 and 31 showed that the writers and production could elevate the drama to become something so much more, so it's a pity they never went there completely or reached those heights again.
- The political intrigue/palace drama bits were not, er, sophisticated. It was silly and simplistic at times and probably would not fly in the real world.
- I really wished they had made Xu Kai and Jing Tian less pretty in the drama. For goodness sakes, at least tan Xu Kai a bit so that I could believe that he spent a decade in a deserted border outpost. In a sea of scruffy and dusty soldiers, Shiqi and Ah-Ying's unreal beauty and polished looks stood out like a sore thumb. For the first few episodes, I couldn't stop wondering if someone had slapped crazy filters on Xu Kai because he looked an anime character.
- The drama had a "too clean" look. The sets were too polished and so obviously shot at Hengdian it took me out of the show sometimes. The streets were too clean, the soldiers' uniform was looked too new, bright and shiny ... I felt that this drama needed a liberal layer of dirt so that I could buy that it is real.
Seeing how long the "What I didn't like" list is, you are probably wondering, oh noes, she doesn't like this drama! Bu no, I really enjoyed the heck out of it. It's the rare drama that I will rewatch on a moody day when I need cheering up. There are precious few of them.
I mean, it is certainly no Ripe Town or even Dream of Splendor, so lower your expectations. It is a typical idol drama with many spinning, hair-and-cloak-flying shots of our couple looking gorgeous as they stare into each other's eyes.
However, it was very entertaining, fluffy, feel-good and romantic. And yet, it had surprising moments of depth that took me by surprise. It is just a pity that it wasn't sustained throughout its 40-episode run, but I enjoyed Show for what it was: Pure entertainment.
The pathetic villains, plot holes, convenient solutions definitely diminished what could've been a really, really good show. But I laughed, teared up with this couple and it cheered me up immensely at a time when I needed it. ? When I watched the show, I just had my first bout of COVID after avoiding it the entire pandemic, my sense of taste and smell was gone and I was miserable. On top of that I was dealing with adulting issues. I desperately wanted something happy to watch and Wonderland was what I needed.
Whether you will enjoy Wonderland of Love depends on how far you can ignore its flaws and go along with the story. It is also best for people who like the drama's tropes: brotherhood and star-crossed lovers.
If you can't do both you will probably not enjoy it at all ? I am a sucker for bromance and will watch any drama with that trope.
All in all, Wonderland helped me turn off my brain and have a good time. ? And I love it for that.
To read my FULL thoughts on it, head to the blog. Here's my short review:
What I liked
- Great chemistry between Jing Tian and Xu Kai and I really enjoyed how evenly matched they were in terms of power dynamics, especially in the first few episodes.
- The brotherhood story took a while to build up, but when it did, the impact of the angsty episodes really hit hard!
- I like that every episode moved the story forward. There were hardly any filters.
- Episode 30 and 31 really elevated the drama to fascinating heights. On the one hand, it was a very typical idol historical romance drama, and those episodes had Ripe Town vibes.
- It has a wonderfully long happy ending. I'm a softie for those and we have precious few dramas that end so happily these days.
What I didn't like
- While Ah-Ying is written as a kickass female heroine, and she was in the first few episodes, she needed to be rescued way too much, which undermines her kickass status.
- The pathetic villains with poor motivation. Young Master and Lady Gu are not that much of an antagonistic challenge to our leads and are mere annoyances. I found Sun Jing a more effective bad guy but when he left the stage, our new antogonists could not pick up the slack. It didn't help that the acting was not fantastic either. I found our two Li princes a little better in the villain department but they were also not very bright villains and never felt like a real threat either.
- Episodes 30 and 31 showed that the writers and production could elevate the drama to become something so much more, so it's a pity they never went there completely or reached those heights again.
- The political intrigue/palace drama bits were not, er, sophisticated. It was silly and simplistic at times and probably would not fly in the real world.
- I really wished they had made Xu Kai and Jing Tian less pretty in the drama. For goodness sakes, at least tan Xu Kai a bit so that I could believe that he spent a decade in a deserted border outpost. In a sea of scruffy and dusty soldiers, Shiqi and Ah-Ying's unreal beauty and polished looks stood out like a sore thumb. For the first few episodes, I couldn't stop wondering if someone had slapped crazy filters on Xu Kai because he looked an anime character.
- The drama had a "too clean" look. The sets were too polished and so obviously shot at Hengdian it took me out of the show sometimes. The streets were too clean, the soldiers' uniform was looked too new, bright and shiny ... I felt that this drama needed a liberal layer of dirt so that I could buy that it is real.
Seeing how long the "What I didn't like" list is, you are probably wondering, oh noes, she doesn't like this drama! Bu no, I really enjoyed the heck out of it. It's the rare drama that I will rewatch on a moody day when I need cheering up. There are precious few of them.
I mean, it is certainly no Ripe Town or even Dream of Splendor, so lower your expectations. It is a typical idol drama with many spinning, hair-and-cloak-flying shots of our couple looking gorgeous as they stare into each other's eyes.
However, it was very entertaining, fluffy, feel-good and romantic. And yet, it had surprising moments of depth that took me by surprise. It is just a pity that it wasn't sustained throughout its 40-episode run, but I enjoyed Show for what it was: Pure entertainment.
The pathetic villains, plot holes, convenient solutions definitely diminished what could've been a really, really good show. But I laughed, teared up with this couple and it cheered me up immensely at a time when I needed it. ? When I watched the show, I just had my first bout of COVID after avoiding it the entire pandemic, my sense of taste and smell was gone and I was miserable. On top of that I was dealing with adulting issues. I desperately wanted something happy to watch and Wonderland was what I needed.
Whether you will enjoy Wonderland of Love depends on how far you can ignore its flaws and go along with the story. It is also best for people who like the drama's tropes: brotherhood and star-crossed lovers.
If you can't do both you will probably not enjoy it at all ? I am a sucker for bromance and will watch any drama with that trope.
All in all, Wonderland helped me turn off my brain and have a good time. ? And I love it for that.
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