the aggravated ayi
Vancouver, Canada
very bingeable leads
Watching Tears in Heaven right after Princess Agents is like seeing YanXun & Chun'Er meet again in a later life & start their relationship anew. I have to admit this pair is the only thing that kept me watching.
Tears in Heaven follows Du XiaoSu (Li Qin), a spunky interior design graduate who could only find work as a gossip writer until she meets Shao ShenRong, a doctor treating an elusive celebrity she's chasing for an interview. They fall in love, to the consternation of ShenRong's mother, and an untimely tragedy leads XiaoSu into a direct clash with ShenRong's best friend, Lei YuZheng (Shawn Dou).
It's a captivating story, but one filled with stereotypical characters who lie to, & misunderstand, each other from one situation to the next. Deep dark secrets abound both at home & in the office, which never seem separate in Chinese dramas. So, against the conventional backdrop of corporate power struggle lies the stories of 6 people trying to find love & a stable connection amid workplace chaos, personal trauma, & an unsupportive economy.
XiaoSu is seemingly gutsy & determined, but irrationally timid & mute at the same time. When threatened with losing her job she can literally risk her life stepping out on a building ledge, but when threatened with losing a relationship she just accepts it without a word. Luckily, she learns to fight the 2nd time around, but really, the show could've ended by the 7th episode if she had just made a phone call to clear up an issue involving her father. And why doesn't she regularly contact her parents who live far away? They don't show up until more than half way through the drama, and unexpectedly at that.
I also had an issue with the portrayal of XiaoSu's career as an independent designer. Another show, The Furthest Distance, also features an independent architectural designer with a small staff but it did a much better job using that scenario to showcase a large part of that character's personality & strength. In Tears, XiaoSu doesn't interact with much of her staff, nor do we see how she even hired anyone. She & her staff don't act as a team. She isn't shown holding meetings, assigning work, or resolving workplace issues. It's as if her career was just another outfit she wears, & we're left to judge her character based only on her pursuit of a man. I ended up agreeing with her questioning what exactly does YuZheng see in her.
Although XiaoSu is seemingly the central characer, the show is very much male centric. YuZheng heads an all male board of shareholders. Even the executive assistants are male. All of XiaoSu's clients are male. The only powerful females are entertainment celebrities. XiaoSu regards herself as a nobody & is only someone for YuZheng to take care of. Apart from just sticking by his side, she didn't actually do much for him other than take care of his father while letting her own business falter.
The 2nd & 3rd couples I won't go into but they featured females who make irrational decisions & have unrealistic expectations of their relationships. It was hard to find sympathy for either of them.
The final quarter of the show centers on YuZheng as the story focuses on his corporate power struggles while the romance, along with XiaoSu, gets put on the backburner. Seeing the relationship stall really made me hope the show wouldn't end with them suddenly getting back together only in the very last scene. I was pleasantly surprised that the last 2 eps were actually quite enjoyable, with a lovely double wedding scene featuring brides in modern gowns but in traditional red. In the end, all the relationship conflicts resolve simply & cleanly in a pool of forgiveness & redemption.
Numerous writing/editing gaps in the story left so many loose ends. For example, the introduction & subsequent disappearance of YuZheng's lawyer happens just when you'd think a lawyer would be front & centre. Or how did YuZheng pretend to be ShenRong, and then suddenly everyone knew he wasn't & was ok with it? XiaoSu & YuZheng apparently met in an earlier incident years prior but the circumstances are never explained. And how does one maintain perfect hair after 8 months in jail?
Annoying & sloppy details aside, the real attraction to this show would be the leads, Li & Dou, who put in decent performances & worked well with each other. Who knew YanXun & Chun'Er were made for each other after all. With these two to look at, one can almost ignore the irregularities in the writing. It's still a very bingeable show.
Tears in Heaven follows Du XiaoSu (Li Qin), a spunky interior design graduate who could only find work as a gossip writer until she meets Shao ShenRong, a doctor treating an elusive celebrity she's chasing for an interview. They fall in love, to the consternation of ShenRong's mother, and an untimely tragedy leads XiaoSu into a direct clash with ShenRong's best friend, Lei YuZheng (Shawn Dou).
It's a captivating story, but one filled with stereotypical characters who lie to, & misunderstand, each other from one situation to the next. Deep dark secrets abound both at home & in the office, which never seem separate in Chinese dramas. So, against the conventional backdrop of corporate power struggle lies the stories of 6 people trying to find love & a stable connection amid workplace chaos, personal trauma, & an unsupportive economy.
XiaoSu is seemingly gutsy & determined, but irrationally timid & mute at the same time. When threatened with losing her job she can literally risk her life stepping out on a building ledge, but when threatened with losing a relationship she just accepts it without a word. Luckily, she learns to fight the 2nd time around, but really, the show could've ended by the 7th episode if she had just made a phone call to clear up an issue involving her father. And why doesn't she regularly contact her parents who live far away? They don't show up until more than half way through the drama, and unexpectedly at that.
I also had an issue with the portrayal of XiaoSu's career as an independent designer. Another show, The Furthest Distance, also features an independent architectural designer with a small staff but it did a much better job using that scenario to showcase a large part of that character's personality & strength. In Tears, XiaoSu doesn't interact with much of her staff, nor do we see how she even hired anyone. She & her staff don't act as a team. She isn't shown holding meetings, assigning work, or resolving workplace issues. It's as if her career was just another outfit she wears, & we're left to judge her character based only on her pursuit of a man. I ended up agreeing with her questioning what exactly does YuZheng see in her.
Although XiaoSu is seemingly the central characer, the show is very much male centric. YuZheng heads an all male board of shareholders. Even the executive assistants are male. All of XiaoSu's clients are male. The only powerful females are entertainment celebrities. XiaoSu regards herself as a nobody & is only someone for YuZheng to take care of. Apart from just sticking by his side, she didn't actually do much for him other than take care of his father while letting her own business falter.
The 2nd & 3rd couples I won't go into but they featured females who make irrational decisions & have unrealistic expectations of their relationships. It was hard to find sympathy for either of them.
The final quarter of the show centers on YuZheng as the story focuses on his corporate power struggles while the romance, along with XiaoSu, gets put on the backburner. Seeing the relationship stall really made me hope the show wouldn't end with them suddenly getting back together only in the very last scene. I was pleasantly surprised that the last 2 eps were actually quite enjoyable, with a lovely double wedding scene featuring brides in modern gowns but in traditional red. In the end, all the relationship conflicts resolve simply & cleanly in a pool of forgiveness & redemption.
Numerous writing/editing gaps in the story left so many loose ends. For example, the introduction & subsequent disappearance of YuZheng's lawyer happens just when you'd think a lawyer would be front & centre. Or how did YuZheng pretend to be ShenRong, and then suddenly everyone knew he wasn't & was ok with it? XiaoSu & YuZheng apparently met in an earlier incident years prior but the circumstances are never explained. And how does one maintain perfect hair after 8 months in jail?
Annoying & sloppy details aside, the real attraction to this show would be the leads, Li & Dou, who put in decent performances & worked well with each other. Who knew YanXun & Chun'Er were made for each other after all. With these two to look at, one can almost ignore the irregularities in the writing. It's still a very bingeable show.
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