If There is Still Time Left (2024)

How to live in the face of death

It's been a while since I last saw Lin Yi (Put Your Head On My Shoulder) but he seems to have been quietly building an interesting portfolio of dramas with real stories. Angels Fall Sometimes looked like another interesting show. Lin Yi plays Lin Tuo, a talented young person with a promising career as a designer, suddenly facing an early death sentence with a diagnosis of ALS.

The last show with a similar theme that I watched was Love is Panacea (2023). Angels achieves what Panacea does not: it addresses the question of how to live in the face of death. In these types of dramas involving terminal illness, I tend to look for messages of hope or possibilities on an individual level. Panacea failed on several levels & for a while I thought Angels would fall short as well. Angels explored so many negative reactions, the what-not-to-do, surrounding the main characters for most of its duration. Its tone didn't change until the final episodes when all the questions that built up were finally addressed.

It's a cultural thing to cover up serious illnesses, but trying to maintain an alternate reality by lying is toxic & unsustainable. The level of denial & inability to cope is far worse than trying to face the truth in the first place. It was rather rediculous to watch, but sure enough, the friends who try to support Tuo break under the strain & his secret isn't kept for very long.

Toxic parents add to the mess, because why not? They suddenly become concerned & compassionate at the flip of a switch. If the workaholic father was essentially estranged from his sons for most of their lives, to the point of being oblivious to the younger son's near suicidal depression, why would he rush to Tuo's side at the drop of a hat & apologise for being a shit parent at first word of Tuo's illness? That didn't make much sense but at any rate they become an important part of Tuo's support network.

Keeping the illness secret from his grandfather by lying about why he's in a wheelchair is another level of incredible. Will the grandfather find out only when it's too late? The cruelest thing to the people around Tuo is to not allow for a proper good-bye.

Tuo retains intellectual capacity & the desire to work throughout his disease progression. His workplace supports his being there and eventually installs a wheelchair ramp at the front entrance. But instead of assigning an assistant to help him draw, his employment is initially maintained by making him use his wheelchair as a delivery cart to bring coffee & supplies to his office mates. From being a highly marketable designer, he becomes someone simply to be taken care of & every ounce of autonomy is taken away from the get go. Does he really accept this patronizing loss of dignity?

The acting overall was not bad. From the beginning the leads were so relaxed & easy with each other, it seemed natural & was nice to watch. But the 2nd FL character was annoyingly antagonistic & shouted most of her lines at the top of her lungs. Honestly, what is the purpose of such a character? Lin Yi did fairly well in portraying the very difficult role of Tuo, but Landy Li showed the strongest performance of all the cast as An ZhiQue, the steadfast girlfriend who takes matters into her own hands to pull Tuo through his ordeal. The actor playing Tuo's neurologist was so natural in fact, I wondered if he was an actual doctor. The show thankfully doesn't delve into romance tropes as the story is not a fairytale romance but a tale of endurance, purpose, & meaning.

I knew this drama was described as a "tear-jerker" going in, but what I was looking for was a message of hope and a show of possibilities. I'm a doer, not a cryer. Up to 20 episodes are spent highlighting the emotional impact on the people around Tuo, who behave quite badly. There's a lot of hysterical crying, shouting, & getting smashed drunk without realistic solutions to enhancing Tuo's quality of life. The despair & helplessness is somewhat unsympathetically portrayed. Then come moments of clarity, like ZhiQue's father telling Tuo to put as much effort into himself as his friends were putting into helping him (although an actual psychologist might've been more beneficial). However, by the final 5 episodes we then get Tuo finally not only facing his reality but also finding a new purpose to his remaining life. He revives his role as a designer and continues to work as I felt the character should've been supported to do so from the start of his illness. The show further explores the stories of other ALS sufferers & the various effects on them & their families, & ends with the decisions Tuo is able to make for his life as a result of the full support of all those around him. So the hope, possibilities, freedom of choice, & having a meaningul life are there & I'm glad this show was able to reach this conclusion.

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I liked it but it had some serious flaws

I will start with what I liked about this drama and then talk about my problems with it. Lin Tuo, as a character, was deeply relatable to me. I myself have severe physical disabilities and his mental struggles were very understandable to me. I really enjoyed his relationship with Xiao Que, especially at the start. Their first meeting, at the interview, was so cute and I loved how natural they felt together. I really liked the side couple, they were actually my favorite. The acting in this drama was really good, they all did phenomenal. The friendships in this drama were really great and I really liked how supportive they were of each other.
Now to the things I didn’t like. The relationship conflict was too drawn out. They made it last longer than it should have and Xiao Tuo was getting somewhat annoying towards the end of the arc. Like I get it but at the same time, it was too much. When I said I understood and related to him, that had its limits. That limit being ruining his relationship and lying to all his loved ones… but my biggest problems were with the subtle ableism and the way they depicted caregiving. I know it sounds weird, a show about a disabled person being ableist shouldn’t be a thing. And I genuinely don’t think that the creators were trying to be ableist or anything but when you write a character who has internalized ableism and don’t do anything to fix his view point, it only projects the idea that the view point is right. That view point being that disabled people are useless and burdensome. Which is obviously not true but this show did not do anything to try and disprove the point. Lin Tuo said that he was useless many times and the entire break up arc was because he didn’t want to be a burden to her. I am fine with a character having insecurities but this show needed to make it clear that this was only that. An insecurity, rather than the universal truth they made it out to be. This ties in with the way they handled caregiving. They made it seem like it was the worst thing ever, that it was better to be out of the relationship than have to take care of your disabled partner. I literally got so pissed when they tried to make the guy who left his fiancé pitiable. Like caregiving is hard but he LEFT her! He did not try to get assistance or do anything to try and make things easier for himself, he just left. It annoyed me so much that they kept trying to make it seem like that wasn’t a bad thing. Caregiving is hard and nobody is perfect but leaving your partner without first trying to get help just makes you shitty. Maybe I’m too biased but I hated it.

Overall, I did enjoy the show and I think it’s really great that we are getting more disability representation in cdramas but there were some serious issues I had with this one so it’s getting an 8.5/10

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From Hope to Heartbreak: Reflecting on Angels Fall Sometimes

Angels Fall Sometimes is honestly unlike any other c-drama that I've watched before, despite it being really emotional it unfortunately failed to make me cry. This drama shows how unexpected life can be, and how sometimes everything won't be alright and that everything is not always smooth-sailing. I really like how their relationship took off almost immediately, like we have no time to waste, and almost everything went downhill once LinTuo got diagnosed with ASL. A highlight for this drama was definitely the main leads, LinYi and Li LanDi, they portrayed their roles so well that I have absolutely no complaints at all. Especially LinYi, who definitely has a very promising career with his skills and ability to adapt to characters so well! The side characters weren't anything that remarkable, at times the second leads were unbearable and the amount of second hand embarrassment they caused. However, their reactions to some things were justifiable. This drama really portrays reality so well, and seeing the frustration of Lin Tuo and how his body was slowly failing him really made me feel emotional. Overall, this drama is another not to miss drama of 2024, with only 24 episodes it is definitely worth your time.

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I don't usually like to watch the dramas that i already know are going to be tearjerker as you can tell from the synopsis that it is a DISEASE based storyline. yes, you will cry a lot and maybe this is a spoiler that this drama will make you cry rivers.
but the storyline is a
kind of beautiful in a way that there were a lot of people supporting the male lead throughout his journey and didn't get tired of him . this is the story of love in all forms , love of the grandpa , love of parents , love of brother , love of friends and colleagues
this is my first time writing a review and i don't know how to write it .

and at the end i am not going to rewatch it because i don't want to cry again .
storyline is beautiful, friendship is beautiful
Acting is on point
and the female lead looks bubbly and cute that it was painful to see her cry
The point to ponder was that he was the lucky one with many supportive people in his life and not everyone is that lucky although it was quite unfortunate that such a young handsome tall , well settled in life (in regard of a promised career and a beautiful and caring love of his life , maybe bride to be) , talented person suffering from incurable disease . But people like him
exists and we should be grateful that we are blessed with health
HAPPY WATCHING AND HAVE SOME TISSUES IF YOU ARE SOFT HEARTED

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Prepare yourself for the water tap and make sure you have tissues!

A story about life. This is not your ordinary drama, but touches more about Life and situations people will face. It is a very beautiful but sad drama with some cute adorable moments along with some humor. It is a beautiful story of watching two people getting to know each other, fall in love and work things out throughout life's challenges. Until the biggest challenge hits, a terminal illness. In this series, there are many life lessons and moments you can learn from. Many of the advises and scenarios are very valuable to learn. The series is also a rather tragic show, alot of waterworks - so make sure you prepare alot of tissues before watching.

Both the male lead and female lead are quite adorable together and I feel like they really did an extremely good job portraying their characters. The entire casts also did an extremely good job bringing this series to life. The songs paired to this series are also quite nice and I love them.

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“until there’s no time left”

Angels Fall Sometimes is a slice of life story that unfolds to a tragic and more dramatic yet grounded story. One that I find to be really interesting and enlightening so far, without offending or overdramatizing the wrong elements. It shows a more mature side to ALS and doesn’t use it as a card to play in terms of feeling bad for someone. It’s just the inevitable for our ML.

I can tell it’s mature because of the visualizations it shows of how ALS feels, to be held back and restricted even though you were once fully capable of moving. To be imprisoned within a wheelchair and feel like you’re suffocated. Lin Yi brilliantly plays these scenes in the dark so well, and it’s moving and heartbreaking to watch him realize that he can’t move even though he knows how to.

The male lead in Li Tao, played by Lin Yi. Who is tall and very handsome, who has supportive and overbearing parents. And who feels like a failure to them because he didn’t pursue this path they have paved for him. Instead he pursues his own goals and leaves his brother in the dust to follow his parents.

The scenarios involving work are actually interesting. Both the leads are very relatable as they navigate their way from college to building their careers and own self sufficient lives. It’s refreshing to see a main lead earn something rather than it being given. Specifically Lin Tuo, is very hard working. As opposed to other mailed leads I’ve seen in dramas, nothing is given to him, and he genuinely works hard to get a stable job and it isn’t just a luck of the draw either. He is motivated and hard-working, and both of the leads are. They both aren’t without their flaws either.

Zhi Que is played by Landy Li, who I find so adorable and full of charm. Lin Yi plays Lin Tao and is the lead where the story revolves around him. I find it really endearing how his girlfriend Zhi Que is who is one of the most important people to him that he invited into his life by choice. As he comes from a family that doesn’t give him much freedom or choice. He even gets cut off and get humbled, but was never a brat that leached off his parents and was good for nothing. His only wrong to them is not pursuing the path they layed out for him. I genuinely admire this ML, and I find his relationship with the FL to be a breath of fresh air for him. A relief and choice he made for himself. To be with someone as carefree as her that doesn’t have her life planned, is opposite of him in a way with her living situation. Theyey both make eachother a better person, and it shows what comes from two good people being together.

There are no toxic or jealous feelings between the two, they don’t question their love and it goes easily. There isn’t a villain or a bad person here either. Everyone is fully developed and isn’t a caricature to fit into. That’s because the main hardship of this drama is watching Li Tao slowly lose control and develop ALS. It’s extremely heartbreaking even more when I think of how strong he is with his goals and aspirations, and he is one of those people that doesn’t need an adversity like this, he’s already a great person that doesn’t need a challenge to shape him.

The only over the top character is the FL best friend.. who is very embarrasing and needs to tone it down. I look past that because of the leads drive and Li Tao isn’t perfect either, yet he’s not a push over. He gets frustrated too and has bad days.

It’s interesting to see the Zhi Que’s father’s perspective on being paralyzed and is definitely foreshadowing. It’s what a lot of people think and unfortunately Li Tao is going to be one of those cases. It will be interesting to see them tie all these preconceptions together and the feeling changes. Feelings of frustration, guilt onto holding someone back, and acceptance. I’m interested to see how this story develops and am anticipating a melodramatic future for our couple.

Sadly, what turns me away from this to put it on the back burner is the lack of chemistry between the leads. Landy and Yi are wonderful actors, but together there is a spark lacking here. I’m interested in there other dramas… maybe it is just how they are.. or the material here. Queen of Tears had a plot with a lead facing death and the chemistry was heartwarming and so good. Here the FL doubts her boyfriend and her friend is too pushy for the pair. It just doesn’t click unfortunately . If this drama were about 10 episodes shorter it would be better, or perhaps if it were a movie. It would be easier for me to finish that way, since the material is just so heavy.

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