Between (2018)

This started off okay. It was your typical Taiwanese office romcom. However, you start to realize that there is very little plot. The office related drama was incredibly boring to watch and the second half dragged so badly that it was a struggle not to drop this series. Not to mention, the ending was highly disappointing. This was a waste of Marcus Chang's talent. I couldn't stand the female lead. Let's just say the only reason I continued to watch is because I shipped the second male lead with the first! Yes, it did have some 'cute' and funny moments, but it was only good enough to keep me interested in the beginning. Overall, this was a waste of time by the time you get to the end.

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I didn't wanna be the first to write a review for this just bc I'm really bad at writing these but bc I actually really liked this drama (for the most part), I might as well. Bear with this long-ass lame review.

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Short review:
The first 2-3 eps will be annoying but the story will definitely pick up from there on! If you're looking for a light office romance that actually has a balance of love & life with interesting side story/ies, this is definitely recommended! I even said at one point that this had the potential to be one of the best office romances out there. The story drags towards the end tho so it's up to you if you'll want to continue by then but this is definitely worth checking out, even at least for Marcus Chang! Try the first 6 eps and see for yourself! Also the CEO isn't an ass so that is a big plus.

Long review aka ramblings (no spoilers..except for the ending at the end):
First of all, I watched this bc I adore Marcus Chang & this drama definitely sealed the deal! How I wish he could've gone to the drama world sooner so I could watch more dramas from him but better late than never!! I definitely recommend his past dramas. I didn't wanna watch this bc I wasn't over Behind Your Smile yet but I saw this was an office romance and I love those so I gave it a go.

Episode 1 was absolutely UNBEARABLE to watch. Everything was so annoying esp the female lead. I continued hate watching until ep 3 but the story really picked up from there on and I found myself finally enjoying the drama. Now THIS is an office romance done RIGHT. It's not always fluff as they also tackle office problems, the work aspect didn't stop even after they got together.

I liked the way they wrote the ML's character as he's always professional and I LOVE how he isn't the typical jackass CEO who hates everyone. He's honestly so adorable! I also realized this towards the end but they always let us in to his thoughts and feelings. We don't just see him brood with a whiskey on his hand and we assume that that's him feeling sad. He's vocal about what he feels and always wants to talk it out.

Now the FL; yep, a little annoying. She's the main reason why I wanted to quit watching after ep 1 lol. I didn't really like her character but the ML made up for it that's why I still cheered for them. Her character became even more annoying by the last leg of the drama. She's not unbearable tho so don't let this stop you from watching!!

As for the love triangle, the story didn't really revolve around it so the synopsis didn't suit the overall story. It wasn't well-developed as it's always wishy-washy; you thought he's going to make a move but he doesn't then, you thought he's going to give her up but he doesn't (this continues until the last eps which was also why it dragged). I hated that aspect of the story also bc the second lead's story wasn't explored properly.

The second main couple were cute too! They had a very interesting story and the character development was great!! 10/10!

As for cute moments, there were tons!! Great kisses too (expect that from Marcus lol)! Overall, this was a decent drama that I would recommend to watch if you're really bored and want some light office romance! I didn't intend to watch this til the very end but I did! If u don't know who Marcus Chang is yet, check out his other dramas: Behind Your Smile (good one but more on the angsty side) and Back to 1989 (haven't seen yet but heard great reviews). I really love him, you see lmao.

>>>>>>spoiler>>>>>>>>
(Will talk about the ENDING from here on so just skip this paragraph if u don't wanna be spoiled)
That ending was so unsatisfying I actually screamed. Is it so hard to at least let us see them reunite & hug or make out or sth? Damn. How I wish I didn't watch the last 5 eps lol I'm laughing but I'm actually so frustrated rn. I feel so cheated.
>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>>

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Drama start with a cool story ,that pit hole story is little boring , I mean to say the way they meet first time but conversation between them ok because from there the story start that why he want her to be his assistance .Then afterword her reason is also good if he came to sale the company then why he encourage all the employees,why he make them to do hard work ,why he rose their enthusiasm towards the work .
I like lead actor's friend love story too ,they look so cute tgether and their son ,i wish they show him at the last part of the episode too but last two episode of the drama brought lots of disappointment first i really don't understand her reason to break up with him , if I were in his place whatever i do to make her convince she would not understand it ,i really don't understand in which world she had been leaving that she thought that if she had been with him she won't be fly ,she wont be achieve anything but instead with him she can achieve more than previous because everyone need a companion to support and walk with them till their last journey ,if they were together then they became the strength of eachother weakness and they get beautiful meaning to their journey... And the last episode totally disappointed ,Incomplete ending .
They totally messed the beautiful story...

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Great Potential, Poor Overall Execution

I have very mixed feelings about this drama. There are some things it did really well and I respect the extent to which it stuck with the themes it was exploring, even when they resulted in outcomes that weren’t necessarily what the audience would have wanted. At the same time, it had several flaws and an inconsistent storyline that severely impacted the overall delivery.

First, the good things. I think I might be in the minority when I say, after sitting on it, I actually like that ending. Well… maybe “like” is too strong a word, but I respect it for what it is, and how it represents the message the drama was trying to impart. And what is that message exactly? Like the title says, it’s about being “sandwiched.” This is a drama that explores the effect our jobs can have on our lives, to what extent we should devote ourselves to our work, what limits we should set for ourselves regarding work vs. personal life — what value does work play in our overall happiness, and how much of ourselves we should tie up up work. The drama does a good job of exploring these questions through a variety of characters.

For example, to the female lead, Su Hsiao Ching, work is everything. She is unable to draw a line between her work and her self-worth, and thus any bad thing that happens at work is a direct reflection of her life’s value. This is something that she needs to fix and does so throughout the drama in a good show of character growth. On the other hand, to the male lead, Luo Cheng Kai, work is a means to an end. His sole focus is to be successful so he can help out his family, and in doing so, he throws himself and his personal needs away and becomes the embodiment of the Establishment, a “bad guy” whose job is only to make companies successful regardless of how it reflects on him as a person. He also needs to fix this and does so to a lesser extent than the female lead, but still had a pretty good character arc.

The side characters also all represent different degrees of workplace enthusiasm, from the people who put their careers above their families and then have to find a compromise somewhere in between, to the manager who always dumps all his work onto his subordinates and finding out the reason why he does so and which skills are necessary for surviving in a higher-level position for any prolonged amount of time. The friendships and workplace relationships were also a joy to watch. An ideal workplace for sure!

What I liked most about this drama, which took me a while to get used to and appreciate, is the level of reality they used to solve problems. There are no “magic solutions” here, no “hard work conquers all.” Sometimes, even though the main characters tried their best and did all the right things, their problems just didn’t get solved and they had to let go of things they wanted. I really appreciated that once I realized that was the approach the writing was taking. Just like in real life, things don’t always pan out and you have to start over or reassess the direction you’re going in regards to your work or personal life.

I also appreciated the progression of the love story, though I would warn going into this to not expect a typical love plot. The leads get together pretty early on, but they are inundated by a myriad of problems that have no obvious solutions. The drama also addresses these problems with a dose of reality and there are no quick solutions. As a result, their relationship’s evolution is quite natural, if not the way most people would expect/want. The female lead’s reason for some of her actions towards the male lead is something that I understood but didn’t necessarily agree with, but I think that’s also part of the overall message of the drama. The leads were portrayed as flawed individuals throughout, and being together isn’t some magic elixir that can solve all of those flaws in the span of eighteen episodes. Flaws take time to wrinkle out, and sometimes the result you want is not the one that is most realistic or attainable. Growing ourselves is a life-long process, after all; no one's personality stays stagnant.

As for the actors, I loved Marcus Chang in this. He portrayed both vulnerability and ruthlessness pretty flawlessly, easily bouncing between the two extremes as his character demanded. I also have a high fondness for Sean Lee and Tannie Huang, so it was great to see all of these three incredible actors and actresses come together for one drama, even if it wasn’t the best scripted or directed. Kelly Liao has also caught my attention as someone to look out for.

Now, onto the flaws. I think the biggest flaw this drama has is its inconsistent writing. There were way too many loose threads interspersed throughout the runtime of the drama, and while most of them got a conclusion eventually, it wasn’t as cohesive as it should have or could have been. Also, the directing of some scenes was a bit off-putting. There were several times where what they were showing should have been touching or really strong, climactic scenes, but instead, the flatness of the shots and the character’s output of emotions just didn’t hit right. It could have either been a combination of the writing and the directing or one or the other, but either way, it made the show hard to watch at times. It’s painful to watch scenes that you know could be super impactful and thought-provoking, only for them to fall flat.

The second flaw was the portrayal of the female lead and the second male lead. The female lead is a complicated one because while there were some things done very well with her character, and she did have a complete arc in the end, I didn’t really end the show feeling I knew her as well as I should have. It was hard to discern where her motivations and reasons for doing things came from until they were explicitly spelled out in the form of arguments, whereas it would have been better if they had built it up through her actions, and then the arguments were the cumulation of her thoughts and actions that we already understood. She definitely could have been written more strongly.

Furthermore, the “love triangle” / implementation of the second male lead was poorly done. He barely gets any screen time, and his overall story is just super weak. About a third way through the drama, he gets a much-needed background story and motivations for his actions, but it’s a bit too late to mean anything to the overall love story. He’s already out before he’s had a chance to begin, basically.

Overall, I have mixed feelings about this drama because while I enjoyed the directions it went once I understood its intentions, there are some parts I wish could have been done much better to deliver a more well-rounded and overall satisfactory conclusion. This drama had so much potential, but such poor overall execution. Many scenes stuck with me and were done wonderfully, but an equal amount had me low-key cringing.

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Is this drama a masterpiece? No
Have I seen better dramas? Yes
Have I seen worse dramas? You all can't even imagine
Is this drama worth of 23 hours and 40 minutes of my life?
In my opinion, yes.

I started this drama for Sam Lin, that I loved in We Best Love, but i stayed for Marcus Changan and for the funny moments.
The plot is not complicated or full of twists, it's quite linear at times banal but the dynamics between the characters, the duality of Luo Cheng Kai, the dorkness of Qu Zi Jun, Li Li An and Wang Zi Ren and the funny moments made me continue this series without too many regrets.

*My opinion on the ending is in the comments to avoid spoilers*

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I DID like this drama. Thanks God, I ignored all of the negative comments.

Unpopular opinion here it goes…

First of all I had my doubts with this because of all the negatives comments, but when I started the first episode I couldn’t stop watching.
2.-Plot: this is a typical rom-comedy, so, if you like this kind of dramas with comedy and cheesy romance you will love it. For the synopsis, poster, name and trailer you realize that this is a love triangle drama, sometimes I hate love triangles because the second lead always suffers, BUT, in this drama a really love how the love triangle was written.
This drama beyond being a story of office romance, it deals with topics such as self-improvement and female independence. Which is everything that the female protagonist is discovering throughout the series until she achieves her dreams.
I really liked that there were stories apart from the main story, and that each character had a great change and growth throughout the drama compared to how they were in chapter 1.
THE ROMANCE is truly beautiful, the kisses are great, the chemistry wow.
3.-Comedy: Although there are scenes that border on the ridiculous, there are situations that are really funny and light, it also has very curious special effects such as thoughts of the characters, drawings, and an extra scene at the end of each chapter that shows you how the male protagonist is was falling in love with the female protagonist.
4.-The last chapter: ok…here it goes a big spoiler and the reason and the reason why many people hate this drama
SPOILER
They didn’t end up together, the female lead did not choose the male lead nor the second lead.
Ok it's frustrating because they both have their reasons and they love each other and all that. But, it's something that happens in real life, and at the moment I feel like it was the best decision.
The female protagonist was hurt by the decisions of the ML, after the company for which she worked and struggled for many years collapsed, she decided to follow her dreams, grow, and then she would be with the male protagonist. It's something I can live with.
5.-Why you should watch it?
Despite the frustrating ending, it has very beautiful romantic scenes, the chemistry between Esther and Marcus is incredible, it has kisses that wow in no Taiwanese drama I have seen.
You will enjoy every scene and funny moment with the mini Esther. The romance, and of course the scenes at the end of the credits.
The OST is precious really loved it!

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I hate this like hell...... The first episode is very slow and kind of boring..... Bt then this story goes up...... Bt the end is awful..... I didn't understand why su yuanqing think that she can't achieve her dream if she is with liu chengkao..... It's totally failure..... I really hate it.... After finishing this drama i am thinking why did I waste my time to finish 14 eps...... To get a awful ending like this.... Oh i am so much exhausted.... It's really heartbreaking if you watch a drama with a hope that you will get a good ending and by keeping up with it when you finally realize that the ending is gonna break you heart apart you will have a feeling to hit the storywriter.....

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Overall simple with a few unnecessary decisions that lead nowhere

A very common story of a CEO and secretary, though she wasnt technically a secretary. Fair warning to people if you dont like female leads acting super cutesy/pouty at times, the female lead does it a lot.

This definitelly felt like it could have been a few episodes shorter and tightened up. The story is very simple padded with a few side plots that get solved almost right away and feel very throwaway, and with a bigger plot twist, that honestly felt like it was stitched on to add runtime.
The side characters are all ok, though mostly underdeveloped. Everyone's acting feels fine, havent watched too many taiwanese dramas so cant compare too much, but they felt less exagerated than some other dramas i have seen.

Not much else to say without writing out plots of the episodes.

!!!!Spoiler for the ending!!!!

The main couple breaks up a few episodes before the end. It felt refreshing to not having a scene where they end up together and they are happy at the end, but then they slightly ruined it for me when they imply she is going to fly to another country for him.

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It is not a typical love story

"Between" by Director Eri Hao, starring Marcus Chang, Esther Yeh, Sam Lin, Sean Lee, and Kelly Liao, is a different proposal of a typical storyline. I believe the Director's intentions were to focuses on very important life lessons across all 18 episodes. He shows us how decisions can affect people surrounding you one way or another. And that is always better to have a complete or panoramic view before you regret your decision taken.
Casts did an excellent job in each of their roles.
"Between" is not a typical love triangle story; this story is a lot more than that.
You have to work hard to conquer your dreams, but sometimes even when you plan your life in detail, things don't work as you planned, so you have to adapt to be a better version of yourself.

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