lovecoutureflyy
United States
I came into this drama with little to no expectations because it's a Taiwanese drama. And there is nothing wrong with Taiwanese dramas, I’ve just noticed that after watching a handful of them that they have a habit of starting off really strong but ending with a whimper with their last few episodes. And surprisingly enough, Before We Get Married doesn't do that. Instead of becoming bad at the end, it starts to go downhill halfway through instead. Before We Get Married has all it needs to be an entertaining forbidden romance with a nice premise, leads with chemistry, and a good supporting cast, but unfortunately, all of that goes to waste.
The story is fairly simple and somewhat typical. The female lead, Wei Wei works at the same company with her boyfriend, Hao Yi, who she has been in a relationship with for three years. Their relationship is going well and they love each other, but all of that changes when she meets Ke Huan, a guy who makes her reevaluate her relationship with her boyfriend. They meet, they fall for each other, but of course, they can’t be together. Cue the sparks, the hot scenes, and the love affair. Right?
I’m going to be honest. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this drama isn’t it. There are some *hot* scenes, but don’t expect much from them. At times, it seemed like the writers were afraid of making the leads go there. A part of me thinks they were afraid of Wei Wei being seen in a bad light, despite the fact that she crosses the line many times in the drama anyway. Because of their refusal to have Wei Wei do anything, the story stops around episode 5. And let me set this straight. I don’t think this drama necessarily needed an affair. I’ve seen many dramas handle affairs in great ways without the leads ever having sex with each other. But unfortunately, Before We Get Married isn’t one of them. For starters, BWGM’s plot is pretty weak to begin with because it only hinges on an affair alone. The characters barely have goals outside their relationships, so the show focuses on nothing else. This becomes obvious halfway through because when Wei Wei starts to go into denial, the story stops as well. And when I say it stops, I mean it feels like we hit a wall. Nothing changes; the characters talk and argue about the same thing, the conflict is the same and the dialogue is too. At one point, I thought to myself that they needed more episodes, but then I realized it wasn’t that they need more episodes, but the writers should have done a better job exploring the story with the time they had. But they don’t, and so the drama drags. This drama would have been better off with 9 to 10 episodes.
That leads me to the characters. Majority of them are very one-note and bland. And that’s including our leads too. Luckily, these characters are depicted with good actors like Jasper and Puff, who really deliver amazing chemistry with each other. They alone sell this drama, along with the character of Wei Wei’s best friend, Ke Fei. She was refreshing and when the drama started to drag, her scenes gave life to some of the boring episodes. As for Zi Yuan, Ke Huan’s fiancé, and Hao Yi, they were extremely one-dimensional characters and there wasn’t much to work with there. Zi Yuan was a pyscho, to put it plainly. And it actually annoyed me that the writers didn’t try to give her any depth whatsoever. It felt like I was watching a lakorn, but Zi Yuan lacks all the crazy fun qualities a Nang Rai has. Hao Yi is made out to be a much worse boyfriend than he actually is. And in the last episode, his character makes a complete 180 that just annoyed me. I thought this would have been more interesting if they would have made Hao Yi and Zi Yuan more complex, but they aren't.
This drama isn’t bad, it's just disappointing. The writing doesn’t push the characters anywhere and doesn’t do anything with the good cast it has. And I think what makes it worse is that the first few episodes were really good, but then suddenly it just becomes dull and very skippable. Literally, it became Wei Wei denying her feelings, Ke Huan chasing after Wei Wei, Hao Yi being oblivious, and Zi Yuan being a pyscho every episode. It was boring and frustrating.
If you're a fan of Puff and Jasper, I recommend watching it. The first 3 or 4 episodes are fun, and the drama isn't terrible. It just somehow manages to take a plot that is entertaining and halfway through making it not entertaining and very predictable.
The story is fairly simple and somewhat typical. The female lead, Wei Wei works at the same company with her boyfriend, Hao Yi, who she has been in a relationship with for three years. Their relationship is going well and they love each other, but all of that changes when she meets Ke Huan, a guy who makes her reevaluate her relationship with her boyfriend. They meet, they fall for each other, but of course, they can’t be together. Cue the sparks, the hot scenes, and the love affair. Right?
I’m going to be honest. If that’s what you’re looking for, then this drama isn’t it. There are some *hot* scenes, but don’t expect much from them. At times, it seemed like the writers were afraid of making the leads go there. A part of me thinks they were afraid of Wei Wei being seen in a bad light, despite the fact that she crosses the line many times in the drama anyway. Because of their refusal to have Wei Wei do anything, the story stops around episode 5. And let me set this straight. I don’t think this drama necessarily needed an affair. I’ve seen many dramas handle affairs in great ways without the leads ever having sex with each other. But unfortunately, Before We Get Married isn’t one of them. For starters, BWGM’s plot is pretty weak to begin with because it only hinges on an affair alone. The characters barely have goals outside their relationships, so the show focuses on nothing else. This becomes obvious halfway through because when Wei Wei starts to go into denial, the story stops as well. And when I say it stops, I mean it feels like we hit a wall. Nothing changes; the characters talk and argue about the same thing, the conflict is the same and the dialogue is too. At one point, I thought to myself that they needed more episodes, but then I realized it wasn’t that they need more episodes, but the writers should have done a better job exploring the story with the time they had. But they don’t, and so the drama drags. This drama would have been better off with 9 to 10 episodes.
That leads me to the characters. Majority of them are very one-note and bland. And that’s including our leads too. Luckily, these characters are depicted with good actors like Jasper and Puff, who really deliver amazing chemistry with each other. They alone sell this drama, along with the character of Wei Wei’s best friend, Ke Fei. She was refreshing and when the drama started to drag, her scenes gave life to some of the boring episodes. As for Zi Yuan, Ke Huan’s fiancé, and Hao Yi, they were extremely one-dimensional characters and there wasn’t much to work with there. Zi Yuan was a pyscho, to put it plainly. And it actually annoyed me that the writers didn’t try to give her any depth whatsoever. It felt like I was watching a lakorn, but Zi Yuan lacks all the crazy fun qualities a Nang Rai has. Hao Yi is made out to be a much worse boyfriend than he actually is. And in the last episode, his character makes a complete 180 that just annoyed me. I thought this would have been more interesting if they would have made Hao Yi and Zi Yuan more complex, but they aren't.
This drama isn’t bad, it's just disappointing. The writing doesn’t push the characters anywhere and doesn’t do anything with the good cast it has. And I think what makes it worse is that the first few episodes were really good, but then suddenly it just becomes dull and very skippable. Literally, it became Wei Wei denying her feelings, Ke Huan chasing after Wei Wei, Hao Yi being oblivious, and Zi Yuan being a pyscho every episode. It was boring and frustrating.
If you're a fan of Puff and Jasper, I recommend watching it. The first 3 or 4 episodes are fun, and the drama isn't terrible. It just somehow manages to take a plot that is entertaining and halfway through making it not entertaining and very predictable.
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