Deep Love Love Again (2024)

Unique story that could have been reworked into a great drama with more time and attention.

People are comparing this to 50 Shades, but they're not all that alike, at least in terms of plot. The reason why it reminds people of 50 Shades is because it's the same type of spice (overtones of S&M), similar color palate and styling (black/white/gray, expensive and spartan interiors, simple & classic styles for hair and wardrobe), and an extremely controlling ML.

But where 50 Shades' story focuses more on the relationship itself, and the growth of the characters, this story does not. Deep Love Love Again reminds me more of Secret or My Lethal Man, with pretty outrageous plotlines and characters. It seems like it might borrow some of it's inspiration from the classic story 'La Femme Nikita'.

It wasn't bad at all. The actors were exemplary and their chemistry was fire. But it just had too many shortcomings to rise above mediocre. For starters, the story was laid out in a disjointed way. It was meant to be mysterious and keep you guessing, but it missed the mark and turned out simply confusing. It was meant to reflect S&M tastes in spice, but the characters don't have enough depth and consistency to create a good S&M relationship. There are some loose ends that never get wrapped up. The dialogue is too sparse, vague, and devoid of emotional content.

These are technical issues that could have been remedied with enough time for the scriptwriters to go back over it and fix it, but all projects are on a budget and a schedule, and I'm sure they just ran out of time to polish the story. But the basic plotline is solid.... moreso than many dime-a-dozen short length dramas. And the aesthetic is different than what you usually see in a mini c-drama, which was refreshing. None of the problems with this drama had anything to do with the actors, who all gave excellent performances and were very well cast.

There was a decent level of spice, but even so, it should have been spicier. It was a decent one-time watch, and the plot deserves to be recycled into a longer drama by someone who can actually make it shine.

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Toxic mess that tries too hard to be artsy-noir-meets-50-Shades-lite

Deep Love Love Again tries way too hard to be aesthetically dark, moody, and atmospheric, with a hint of 50 Shades -- at the expense of storytelling and flow. It tries to be provocative and titillating, but ends up coming across uncomfortable and even abusive, despite the mention of safe words. Everyone speaks -- or rather, is dubbed -- in breathy whispers (this also makes the dialogue difficult to understand at times). The drama’s efforts would feel cheesy and amusing if not for the unsettling red flag moments between the main leads, which thankfully peters out in the later episodes (the flag is handed off to the villain instead).

Even the sets feel overdone, yet simultaneously cheap (which normally is not a big deal, especially for a mini drama) -- but I could not look away from the amateur Halloween decor “cobwebs” in the theatre/church. As for the acting, Garvey Jin/Zhang Jiawei could do with better cast mates. Tiffany Gao and the others, were…not great.

I thought I might not have minded this for what it was -- a trashy, soapy, short-length drama -- but in the end, I could not get past the extremely uncomfortable and very unsexy misogyny. I've seen enough toxic Republican Era love/hate/revenge mini dramas to acknowledge that even problematic stories and characters can still have great chemistry and romantic tension between the leads. I was not feeling any of that here.

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