honey
Canada
This review may contain spoilers
Coming into this off the back of "crossing the line" and not season one, I had no reason to think it would be a flop of a production, and I was very excited to see the efforts shown in CTL carry over.
While the series does have it's short comings, it is over-all very entertaining, and has just enough drama to raise the stakes and get you invested, without being over dramatic. Considering how short it is, it does well to keep everything compact, without making things seem overly glossed-over.
Story (spoilers?)
Personally, age gaps are one of my favorite plot devices, and I think they handle this very tastefully. It ever feels like its a student being taken advantage of by a teacher. Though, i find their back story (the meeting in front of the bar) to be slightly convoluted and unneeded. There were better ways they could strengthen the main couple's connection.
The daughter is another great plot device (that's basically what she'd used for honestly, she drives most of the plot without retaining much real character, though its mainly due to her age.) Honestly though, You You, however bad her acting was at times was extremely cute and her part in the final ending scene nearly brought tears out.
There is the tired and old story arch of the "evil ex" used in this, I personally would have liked the time spent on her to have been dedicated to more domestic scenes, but I can see the story needed a "risk" arch added. It did its part well.
Acting
AMAZING. I would actually place it above CTL in being realistic. The connection between the two mains is at first a little ham-fisted, but it grows into a natural mutual attraction (though it comes on rather abruptly for Shiyijie, it's hinted at from the start so it's actually not too bad in the end. Their... /physical/ scenes are also done very well, and even thought this verges on an R rating at one point, it does so very tastefully and realistically. (while the lead up was so cheesy I almost punch Shiyijie in the face through my screen)
Re-watch?
Yes, probably when I'm in need for this kind of plot again in a few months.
While the series does have it's short comings, it is over-all very entertaining, and has just enough drama to raise the stakes and get you invested, without being over dramatic. Considering how short it is, it does well to keep everything compact, without making things seem overly glossed-over.
Story (spoilers?)
Personally, age gaps are one of my favorite plot devices, and I think they handle this very tastefully. It ever feels like its a student being taken advantage of by a teacher. Though, i find their back story (the meeting in front of the bar) to be slightly convoluted and unneeded. There were better ways they could strengthen the main couple's connection.
The daughter is another great plot device (that's basically what she'd used for honestly, she drives most of the plot without retaining much real character, though its mainly due to her age.) Honestly though, You You, however bad her acting was at times was extremely cute and her part in the final ending scene nearly brought tears out.
There is the tired and old story arch of the "evil ex" used in this, I personally would have liked the time spent on her to have been dedicated to more domestic scenes, but I can see the story needed a "risk" arch added. It did its part well.
Acting
AMAZING. I would actually place it above CTL in being realistic. The connection between the two mains is at first a little ham-fisted, but it grows into a natural mutual attraction (though it comes on rather abruptly for Shiyijie, it's hinted at from the start so it's actually not too bad in the end. Their... /physical/ scenes are also done very well, and even thought this verges on an R rating at one point, it does so very tastefully and realistically. (while the lead up was so cheesy I almost punch Shiyijie in the face through my screen)
Re-watch?
Yes, probably when I'm in need for this kind of plot again in a few months.
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