This Drama will be hard to beat for 2020

This lovely and emotional rollercoaster drama follows the journey of 3 women over a 3-4 month period who are quickly approaching their 30th birthday and the life altering experiences they each faced and ultimately rebounded from.  Some not without long term bruises. Two were already best friends (Giu Jia and Xiao Qin) from their college days and the third (Man Ni) seamlessly joined the group. As a trio, we the viewers were shown what a ride and die friendship should look like which made me nostalgic and longing for the friendships of my youth. I thought at first why the emphasis on the number 30. Was it random? Surely the events that played out could easily have happened at 28, 35 or 40.  Then I thought back to my 20s and how carefree, daring and at times immature I was. Even though my gang and I all had jobs, and some of us, long term relationships, there were no kids or mortgages to trip us up. So it makes sense that 30 was the benchmark for us to hit the pause button. For these 3 women it did
not seem so far fetched that life went downhill from there and perhaps it is too simplistic to think this only happens in the asian culture. There were moments when some scenes were painful to watch and for this the actors brilliantly executed their roles.

I think had the story revolved mainly around Mani Ni, it would not have been successful as of the three, her development took the longest and her life lessons were more self inflicted than accidental. Giu Jia on the other hand is the friend and mother we would all want to have or be. Loyal, intelligent, calm but determined, poised, steely but gracious and not afraid to bare knuckle fight when her family is threatened. Where she found the time to run her household, step in to hose down fires as a Crisis Manager (no pun intended) with her husband's workplace (they own a fireworks company), tend to her father, start a few new businesses AND make time for her friends, but be home in time for dinner, I just don't know.

When we are first introduced to Xiao Qin, her character to me was a complete contradiction. At work she was affable, mild mannered, and meek to the point of being exploited by her workers. The go along to get along type, but at home with her husband she became this other person (not necessarily unprovoked). She was prickly, combative and just plain cantankerous. But as time went on, I actually rooted for her even in the midst of having to make a decision between the two men in her life. Arrested development she was not. And then we have Man Ni.   A career woman who knows exactly what she wants. Ambitious without the nastiness and malevolence that we often see in the workplace. Unfortunately, this bravery did not crossover into her personal life and we get to see through her how as humans we oftentimes complicate matters when it comes to the heart and throw out the window all we know about what is moral and just.

I must not forget to mention the leading men who were either attached or accompanied these women on their journey. Each character brought something to the table whether you loved them, cheered them on, dismissed or hated them. They too were dynamic in their roles. Not once in this 43 episode drama did I feel that the pace was too slow or that the writing needed to be adjusted or illogical. Quite the opposite actually. I looked forward to the next episode and the next and the next. Kudos to the brilliance of the screenplay, to the actors for their execution of the characters and to some of the great quotes which are: "One doesn't ask and one doesn't speak." "Love is not reliable, the person matters." "You don't eat the fish that you caught before and threw back." "Children are a debt we owe from a previous life." Those are some of the more memorable ones.

A special shout out to Giu Jia's dad (Mr. Gu Jing), solid and a beacon of strength when she needed him to be; Mrs. Chen who quietly did her job as the housekeeper/caretaker, the adorable and perfectly cast son of Giu Jia and Xu Huan (no way he is 4 years old); and last but not least Xiao Qin's mom (Wu Mian) who cracked me up with her scenes. Always put together to the nines.

I tried to write this review without giving away any spoilers but let me just say that as a woman I cried with Giu Jia at the betrayal she encounters from her husband because for so many other women, this too is their story. She earned her stripes in those scenes as she courageously decided to do what was best for her and not sacrifice her emotional well being for her family.

This story begins with three women who enter their 30s unaware of the pitfalls and hard knocks life sometimes throws at you but indelibly they learned that to forge through and endure life's dilemmas and curve balls one has to accept and ultimately believe that to live, there are no mistakes; and you will never know how resilient and full of mettle you are until you emerge from a trauma to your spirit bruised and wounded but otherwise intact and that pain no matter how unexpected, is fleeting. Should there be a season 2, I will patiently wait and hope that the masterful writing is continued. Nothing but thirty was a 15 out of 10 for me.

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