Cuo Liao (2023)

Cute dumpster fire that I couldn't summarize even if you asked me to

One-dimensional characters, unresolved love triangles, miscommunication break-ups, foolish FL, typical CEO ML, cliche plot done badly, know-it-all BFF who knows nothing, dragging, dragging, dragging plot...

If you like this, I don't know what to tell you. If you don't, you probably shouldn't watch this drama unless you're trying to support some of the actors (who honestly did fine, the script was just... unbearable).

I did like Qin Shiyue though, and I liked how Shen Yujie portrayed her. Will keep looking out for this rising actress because she's adorable : )

These dramas make me wish that good actors and actresses could genuinely get good, thought-provoking plots sometimes. You know?

Citeste mai mult

What a shame

I tortured myself till episode 12 because I didn't want to believe that this drama could get worse and worse. I love Bai Lu, she's a superb actress and she even tried to give some facial expressions to this disappointing role. It's embarrassing to watch her in such a self-depreciating story. What a shame. An actress of her caliber should be able to choose her roles. The main lead Wang Hedi carried the same expression - his Godfather-like mafia boss nothing can touch me face - throughout all episodes trying to sprinkle in a slight movement of half of his lips probably symbolizing a smile, usually when his character had trapped the FL in one of his misogynist plots. In general I can see a slide in the new modern popular C-dramas towards more powerful men, just being rich and vengeful and more and more FL roles giving the impression of being very youn, inexperienced, cuuute, dependent and dumb. Once again what a pity !!!

Citeste mai mult

It couldve been better....

First off, this was ok. I liked the potential of the plot and the acting was amazing. However, I dont think it needed to be 36 episodes long... especially if you take into account that most of it was filler... And I hated the filter they put on it that made them look even paler.

The plot had a good base, but it was executed poorly. It had potential, but it was lost. I mean, Zheng Shuyi got with Shi Yan to get back at her ex and the homewrecker. The ex out of nowhere wants her back, and the homewrecker has some weird hate for her. They couldve spent more time on that rather than the side characters getting into relationships out of nowhere. Miss Homewrecker couldve tried to ruin her career when she realized the ex still liked her. She couldve found out sooner and tried to ruin her relationship with Shi Yan. Or the ex couldve. There were so many options... but what we got was... eh...

I find it crazy that out of every adult in this show, the only one with SOME sense is Shiyue. Like girl knew how to communicate, express her love, and she didnt hold back. Its so odd that a 22-23 year old can do that but not a 25, 27, and 30 year old. AND OLD PARENTS.

Even Yi Yang was better at doing that, and he just saw everything as a competition with Shi Yan!

What I also found odd was the strange plotline of Mr. Guan (Shi Yans friends dad) and Ms. Tang (Shuyis boss)... like why are they a thing? Why is it important enough to be a plot? Because I dont see it.

Another thing I hated was the fact that Shuyi was an idiot. Youre telling me that youre listening to your single friend, who only has flings for relationship advice? WHEN EVERY PIECE OF ADVICE SHE GAVE YOU ENDED UP MAKING THINGS WORSE!!!

And now when its all gone to shit, shes like... "maybe you shouldve confessed sooner..." WHEN SHES THE ONE THAT SAID IT WAS A BAD IDEA. Like oh my god. No hate for the friends relationship history, but cmon now... shes never had a boyfriend... But even if she never did, she wouldnt have been that bad if she gave SOME solid advice.

The only good thing about this show was the cute scenes, the beginning bc at least it was interesting, when Shi Yan and Shuyu found out thr homewrecker was a liar and Shiyue. Overall, the actual plot got lost.

And they patched things up out of nowhere... I was confused... But Ive spent my time watching 32 episodes... so Im going to watch the rest.

Dylan and Bai Lu nailed their characters though, and carried out the show amazingly despite the questionable script.

Citeste mai mult

They could have done better

I cannot understand that I’m already on the 15th ep and the FL and ML are still flirting - that’s at least 40mins per ep “spent” watching the leads flirting and flirting and flirting. Character development is non existent. Story development is extremely poor. The personality of the FL is confusing if not incomprehensible. I understand not all chinese drama could be at par with Hidden Love, Put Your Head on My Shoulder, The Love You Give Me - and these dramas I mentioned have areas for improvement still - but I hope they make ones that are at least not too cliche and engaging for the viewers. They spend money to produce these dramas anyway so why not take an extra step or two or even five to make them good.

You are not missing anything if you decide not to watch it. You may feel like you missed (reads: waste) time that you could have spend on other things if you decide to watch - lest finish - these drama.

Citeste mai mult

selling artificial sugar

the writing of this drama is so so bad.... Obviously it's only relying on selling romantic slow motion scenes between main couple. Story wise, it's just a mess, unnecessarily drag the storyline just to make the drama longer, characters written so inconsistent. Financial journalist, acting so clueless and made very stupid choices all through the episodes. FL and her friends were all like high schoolers with googly eyes trying too hard to act as an adult. Why can't writers just write a normal independent modern woman that knows what they want and mature enough to make their own choices. Not gonna continue to waste my time on this...

Citeste mai mult

Lacking

Unfortunately there was no chemistry between the leads which is literally the single most important thing in a romcom (obviously there are others as well but this is extremely important).

Also the directing and screenwriting felt somehow off, even though the plot seemed interesting.

It saddens me, as I am a fan of both of them, but despite the main leads usually being magnificent actors, this time it felt like they failed to properly portray and embody their characters. I personally believe that what really matters in a series/film is for it to be enjoyable or memorable or generally to evoke something inside the audience (be it happiness, saddennes, or whatever the director, writer and cast is trying to portray). Whats the use of having a great and very popular cast, if firstly there is simply 0 chemistry between them and secondly the directing and screenwriting is awful.? With better directing and screenwriting it would have definitely been better. But to be completely honest and fair, the main leads' extreme lack of chemistry is a huge problem. Seriously, they should've done something about this. I am saying this as a fan of both Bai Lu and Dylan Wang. Since it's not working out there's no need to force it. There is literally a plethora of other actors who could've filled either of the spots, most of which might not be as popular, but possess equally good acting skills . I much rather watch a good series with actors whom I don't know, rather than a mediocre one with my favorites in it. It literally does more harm than good to the cast's, writer's and director's reputation.

All I have to say is that I am disappointed. It's not like the drama is uwatchable. It's just that the expectations were way too high and they were not met. I'm on ep 21 and the drama might get better, but it still does not change the fact that up until now, it has been kind of a let down. What saddens me even more is that I've read the book and even though I found it kind of tiring at times (as I'm quite particular with slice of life plots, I either like them very much or I find them very boring, depending on how they are played out) I enjoyed it and was excited when I learned that this was its adaption. I like the base plot but its development and pace here were draggy and tiring. The 2nd couple (the fl's bff with the ML's friend) had way more chemistry even though they had a messy love story.

It's also worth to be mentioned that Bai Lu is simply gorgeous (the entire cast was filled with visuals), but I personally believe the stylist- makeup artist didn't fully showcase her beauty. I get that the FL's style was supposed to be on the simpler side, but they could've at least used some more eyeshadow or eyeliner idk just something especially when she was supposed to be going on a date. Also half the time (if not all the time) she was wearing oversized blazzers. Which again is not bad, I actually find it quite stylish and pretty, but she could've had a change and wore something slightly different at times.

IDK hopefully this gets better ? I'll come back to update my review when I finish it.

Citeste mai mult

Disrespectful to all working women

The FL's overtures to the ML in the begining are to get an interview ; she is advised to and keeps the conversation simmering at flirty inappropriate advances to ensure she gets ahead. Ifthat is not perverse, I dont know what is.. Her late night inappropriate messages if dotn by any man would have made us run screaming SA to high heavans. I am sorry if this is how things are done in China, maybe there is a cultural subtext I am missing, but to me it just sounds plain wrong that a woman needs to do all this just to get an.....interview. There are literally millions of hard working women winning milestones and getting ahead without adopting any of the coy tactic adppted by the FL..... and they are the real heroes who deserve to be lauded.

Citeste mai mult

Nearly Perfect Series about a Very Un-Perfect Couple

This will take a while. There’s a lot to unpack here.

I admit that this is a very polarizing series. And it’s really a shame, as this series has so much going for it: A fantastic cast, great OST & Background music, clever photography and a strong novel to base the screenplay on. But I guess it’s understandable, given how unusual this series is and that it requires the viewer to appreciate it from a different perspective. I find this kind of ironic, as the one constant here on MDL is how members are quick to criticize rom-com’s for being ‘tropey’ or meme-like or, the ultimate insult: a cliché. So along comes this series, closely adapted from the novel, which is anything but a cliché. Sometimes you can’t win though, and sure enough a lot of the negative comments here revolve around how ‘weird’ the leads are and all the familiar plot elements the viewers are expecting…. don’t happen. This series is the typical “Damned if you do, damned if you don’t” situation.

I’ll take a step back here, now that I’ve mentioned the novel. If you get a chance, and you want to understand this series better, read it – it’s readily available on-line. The series borrows HEAVILY from the book and entire scenes are completely lifted from it. The book omits all the corporate stuff and much of the Three Musketeers angle. It focuses on our leads and especially her. FWIW, I feel that Bai Lu did an excellent job of putting a human face to ShuYi: in the book, she is not that likeable of a character. And the same can be said for Dylan, who actually makes him an even worse character because we can see how bad a person he sometimes is. So, essentially she made her better, and he made him worse: both because they both humanized the book’s characters.

Anyways, back to the series. Instead of the idealized and beat-to-death “Cinderella Rescued by the Rich Guy” story, with at least one nearly-perfect “green-flag” character, we get Zheng ShuYi and ShiYan, both of whom are very realistically flawed people.

On one hand, we have the young, intelligent, beautiful and award-winning journalist, a ‘career-girl’ who is totally focused on her professional life, to the point of only having one friend outside of work. At 25, she resists efforts by her parents to socialize with other men, as she feels she’s not ready for a committed relationship. Recently dumped by her boyfriend (I doubt there was that much going on there, given her dedication to her craft) she’s not ready for dealing with ANY man in the near future. And she has a deep character flaw: her inability to tell the truth in settings either mundane or important, no matter who she’s talking to: her parents, co-workers, boyfriend, etc. Despite being self-confident in her professional life, she is extremely insecure, so she keeps much of her personal life secret from everyone she knows. I’ve known women like ShuYi, they ARE real and no one bases rom-coms on them. And yes, they are VERY difficult to have a relationship with.

On the other hand, we have the equally intelligent young CEO, who broke away from his father’s company to make his own mark on the world. He is as insecure as she is; but with him, it comes in the manner of being self-centered and very introverted. This behavior, especially manifested in his lack of communicative skills, has hindered him in both his personal and professional growth. His reputation suffers because of it, as common wisdom says he deserted his father’s firm when it was going thru hard times, when in fact, he made sure his brother-in-law was competent enough to run that company before he left. He too is self-confident in his professional life; too much so, as this comes back to bite him as his lack of communication skills can’t back up his actions, which alienates the public, his investors, and the elders on his board who are gradually losing confidence in him. He too is coming off a relationship (with an actress) that fizzled out because he was unable to keep up with her needs on a personal level – his personality simply can’t handle such things. And he has a dark side: We will see how intensely jealous he is and he also has a cruel streak. He even acknowledges this near the end of the series to the main female antagonist when he warns her in Ep 32 that he is “not a very good person”. Shi Yan is anything but the typical ‘green-flag’ young, rich CEO boyfriend. He is a force to be reckoned with and must be treated with extreme caution.

So, we have a romantic comedy bringing together two very different, flawed, realistic people. Who have neither time nor interest for romance in their lives. Both of whom are consumed with furthering their careers and have little to no life outside of work. This has brought them success in that aspect of their lives and emptiness otherwise.

And because they are realistic people, they make mistakes in dealing with each other; LOTS of mistakes, the worst of which are committed by her. In fact, their relationship begins for the wrong reason: her desire for revenge on her ex-boyfriend by dating and marrying the man she thought was the uncle of his new girlfriend (all this based on a confused premise on her part). While the TV series soft-plays this aspect leading up to the breakup, it is more dominant in the novel. The fact that she is continually dishonest as to why she was attracted to him creates doubt in his mind and mounting guilt for her. This eventually dooms their relationship, much as she feared.

Another common criticism of this series is that it’s a ‘slow-burn’ but I argue that it needs to be – it’s about 2 people who accidentally fell in love despite their differences and inability to be open with each other as True Love requires. (In fact, “Accidental Love” was supposed to be the series title [as the book was named] and not the more generic “Only for Love”). Although he falls for her first, he correctly mistrusts her because of her inability to be honest, and she is so full of doubts about everything that she can’t open herself to him, even though she knows she should.

So we see two people who probably shouldn’t have anything to do with each other, becoming attracted to each other and trying to form a relationship with a lot of bumps along the way, thanks to their insecurity, mistrust, and inability to effectively communicate with each other. They make mistakes, stupid decisions, and listen to bad advice. Their love affair sometimes resembles ‘blind-man’s-bluff’ as they feel out each other and their mutual feelings. And this is why this series is so special and different. Because this is how life is and how people in the real world behave and try to find a mate to love and live with. It’s devoid of all the fantasy-people that populate most rom-coms who gloss thru life and go from meeting to marriage in 16 episodes. Our leads need time to tell their story.

Whether or not they should have been together is up to the viewer – there’s no right answer here. More to the point is the question of if they deserve a “happy ending” to their story. And I’ll be honest, I do love a ‘happy ever after’ ending in my rom-coms. But those stories and characters are not like this one. We’re constantly told that communication is the key to the leads in any love story, and that is certainly NOT the case here. Frankly, I don’t think they deserve a Happy Ending. They’ve done nothing to deserve it and both are too immature or just-plain screwed up to make a functional relationship that would last. Given how much richer the series is vs. the book, I would have written the series differently and made their breakup in Episode 27 long-term. They would have parted ways and lived their own lives, although he would still carry a torch for her and keep tabs on her career, despite knowing he shouldn’t. I would time skip and move 15 years into the future, on the eve of her 40th birthday. We see them now, somewhat older and presumably wiser too. While in the intervening years she would go on to marry and eventually divorce Jackson Yi, she would be left with nothing to show for their marriage. While her career would continue to flourish and she advances up the ladder at Financial Weekly, her personal life would wind up as empty as it was after she broke up with ShiYan 15 years prior. He would concentrate on growing Yuanchang, until his Brother-in-Law retires and he then merges Yuanchang back into his Dad’s company and becomes the CEO of Mingu Bank. His personal life would be non-existent, much to the distress of his family.

That evening, at a Shi Family dinner, his niece, who still works at FW and maintains contact with ShuYi (and suspects her Uncle’s continued feelings for her former mentor) mentions that ShuYi’s birthday is the following day. She tells him they are having a big party at the office and wouldn’t it be nice if he sent flowers and a card wishing her the best? “Hmmph” he replies and we see the wheels turning in his head as his niece looks on. And that’s where Part 2 of the series would take off. Would they be able to reconcile after all these years? Can she overcome her insecurity and be able to open her heart to him and love him fearlessly? Can he forgive and forget and try to reset everything while becoming a more patient and less-jealous boyfriend? That’s where the story should go, I think. Can they really learn from their mistakes, or are they doomed to repeat them again?

Well, given the reaction so far to this series, that would probably be down-voted too. As I said at the beginning of this review, “sometimes you just can’t win”.

And FWIW, I’m not saying this series is perfect. The editing leaves a lot to be desired and a lot of material was left on the cutting-room floor. Obvious scenes are missing, and they had to create a 15 minute special epilog to cover the wedding. Instead, they should have recovered the lost footage, and just gone for a 37-episode series with their wedding at the end. It’s the only negative thing I have to say about this show.

Thanks for reading.

Citeste mai mult

It was good to me.

Really good. I liked all the characters and especially shipped the main couple. I really didn't like the professor and the intern getting together. Their relationship was sorta cringy. Not because of the age gap but because she was so invested that she came off as a stalker at times. I feel like he just gave in because she wore him down. Another thing was I didn't think they should have done that to the ex-boyfriend. I understand he cheated because he thought the other girl would be able to help him more but he saw before long that he wasn't happy with the other girl. They could have just left him to wallow in his grief.
I was also liking that the main couple wasn't falling into tropey plots until the break up and I thought that one was a real force at that time. Especially when he blocked her but got mad when she deleted his contact.

Citeste mai mult

Dylan Wang definitely fits the Overbearing CEO characters!

This story is quite nice to watch. It is even better watching Dylan Wang play, again, an overbearing CEO. I think that he really fits this type of character role. Overall, I find this story / series not bad. An overbearing CEO and a witty, funny and intelligent reporter. Technically, the story revolves around 4 couples, but the series mainly highlights on the main couple, Dylan Wang and Bai Lu. From the first accidental meeting to how they fell in love, have their misunderstandings and eventually the happy ending (which you need to watch the special episode for). Amazingly, they did this for the main 3 couples of this series. Would have been awesome if they included more about the 4th elderly couple. However, both the male and female lead did a remarkable job in bringing their characters to life. Bai Lu, with her wittiness and humor is indeed very refreshing and fun to watch, while Dylan Wang with the expressionless Overbearing CEO attitude is also a very interesting character. I would say that the entire casts for this series really did a good job in breathing life into their characters and bringing this series to life.

The soundtrack for this series is awesome. It is one of those rare series that has so many songs, 11 in total, that is so nice and amazing to listen to. A great job in pairing the songs to this series.

Re-watch value, well, I would say depend on how you like the series after watching it for the first time. I did watch it the 2nd time, to catch glances on scenes that I might have missed out while binging for the first time.

Citeste mai mult

The story is very good and the ML & FL have done amazingly well with their role. You can finish the entire series in a row without feeling bored or getting distracted. The FL starts the relationship with, due to confusion, the reveal of which puts a slight strain on their relationship. The misunderstandings were resolved by talks and the relationship stood strong for the entire series.

At the end of the 36th episode, the segment suggests an ending for all three couples in the drama and not completely ending the drama. I suggest watching the special episode to see the true ending.

Citeste mai mult