Nothing is perfect, nor are we
At a first glance this drama looks simple : a love triangle trope meant to examine the choices of the leads- what people chose to do? why? which are their lingering regrets & to what their insecurities leads to.What is different is that this drama was not afraid to explore very realistic and complicated women. Nothing is shallow in it and sometimes only a complicated woman can truly understand another one.
The dialogue is one of most thought provoking I' ve ever seen ,even if sometimes funny it just hits home and it hits hard.
" Sometimes we think what we are chasing is happiness, but perhaps what we truly love is pain."
On top of the great writing , acting & music were splendid! Everything was perfectly connected from title, to OSTs lyrics and placement in the episodes.
10/1O ❤️
Ps: I do recommend this one to a mature audience because it hits the right spots if you are able to understand through experience the career or family relations of the leads.
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Heavy, but thought provoking and brilliant acting
I was really excited about seeing Ariel Lin on Taiwanese drama again after so many years and this did not disappoint. As always, Ariel Lin never fails to delivery, this time as a lonely and repressed housewife. But the other casts were also brilliant like Ann Hsu, who I felt so much pity for her character that she is portraying. Mike He and Kai Ko were brilliant too.The next part is a spoiler:
I know there are some people who hate the ending, saying why the writer/director has to kill Ann Hsu’s character with cancer when she is already so pitiful as she lose her bf to a third party and being lonely for much of her age until she seemingly found a guy that loves her but lost again due to her illness. I feel like this cruelty is in line with the tone of the drama which is for audience to reflect on their life. I have read so many young adults, at their prime, and career-headed but in the end neglected health or hit by cancer suddenly. I think Rebecca’s death is a good reminder for us to reflect our relationship with work.
Next, there are people who hate Ariel Lin’s character because she is so annoying and she is finding trouble for herself by always being jealous to Rebecca. But to be fair, her character is really not likable but there are also people who are like her as she has really bad imposter syndrome. I have some myself and I find myself so annoying when the syndrome hits. But I think it’s refreshing that a writer is daring enough to write such a not likable character as the FL.
The music is amazing in this show. The soundtrack is fully created by award winning songwriter Tanya Chua and the way she wrote the soundtrack was so different. She had four different songs in the soundtrack that she wrote for the four leads and she described them as writing from the perspective of God where the songs serves as a form of good wishes for the characters like Love you for you is a song that hopes Rebecca can love herself more while Equatorial is a song for Jian Qingfen that wishes she can find that inner equilibrium. And the background music are all offshoot from the six songs with lyrics, making this soundtrack very interesting and refreshing for a drama.
I think the only problem I have with the show is while the script is really good, I think the writer has struggles making certain directorial choices. While the drama is mostly realist in nature, it tries to incorporate surrealist moments like the reconciliation between the two FL in the end felt more like a surrealist dream where both find ways to cure their inner demons. But realistically, it’s hard to imagine two enemies able to spend so much vulnerable time like this. The surrealist tone felt very off from the realism it tries to go for as a whole. And also, the first time the FLs meet after so long felt like a theatrical speech rather than drama. It’s so unnatural and again not consistent with the overall realism.
Overall, there’s so many thought provoking and reflective moments. But it can be preachy for some and it’s better to watch this when you are not busy because I would imagine a stressful person would want something lighter to watch. But I think it’s a really good show as a whole!
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One's Insecurity & Lack of Self-Esteem Leads to One's Downfall
I decided to watch this because (i) there are only 8 episodes which means it's quite easy to finish this drama and (ii) the cast is top-notch.What I Found Good:
- The acting is top-notch (I reiterate). I think Mike He's transformation to tired working class husband is very convincing. I think he acted the best in this drama.
- The plot deals with very real issues like relationships problems between daughter-in-law and mother-in-law, dementia, care-giving and its burdens, the duality of life - Jian Qing Fen wanted her MIL dead as caring for her was so hard but when she finally died, she missed her presence, the challenges of being a working parent, the frustration with the mundaneness of day to day life, the dissatisfaction of simply just living day to day without anything much that's exciting... ...
- Thought-provoking dialogue.
- The child actor who acted as Jian Qing Fen's son was quite endearing. He seemed sweet and was not a troublesome kind of kid.
What I Did Not Find So Great:
- The segue from present to past, past to present was at times, very confusing for me. I tried to make sense and tried to join the parts together. At times, I found the segue to be frustrating.
- The young Rebecca had kind of weird make-up and behaviours. She acted very oddly like a diffident teenager with autism. It was strange to watch. The present day Rebecca was very much more normal.
On the whole, this drama is on the heavy side so if you are looking for a light-hearted and humorous drama, this isn't your cup of tea. However, if you are looking for a drama with good acting, good cast and is quite short, you may want to consider this drama. :o)
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Realidade Avassaladora Muito Bem Contata
Uau! Que drama bem-feito!Imperfect Us é um drama extremamente realista, nada de historinha fantasiosa sobre a vida. Aqui você terá uma alta dose de realidade em todos os episódios.
O enredo é bastante atraente, muito envolvente, nada cansativo e excepcionalmente único. A forma como o ponto de vista das protagonistas é mostrado ao longo da trama não é nada além de brilhante!
A transição de tempo entre presente e passado é clara e objetiva, já ganha vários pontos só por esse detalhe. Muitos dramas têm problemas com essas transições de tempo, vários deles são confusos e rebuscados demais para acompanhar.
A história começa depois do casamento de uma das protagonistas o que poucos dramas se aventuram em apresentar, a maioria termina no tão sonhado casamento e presumimos que tudo em diante será felicidade eterna... Na vida real, o casamento é construído dia-a-dia e a convivência não é fácil e exige muito dos dois lados.
Outro ponto incrivelmente bem apresentado nesse drama são os pensamentos dos personagens, como cada um acredita ser a vida do outro, maravilhosa execução! Não posso deixar de destacar as ótimas atuações e a bela fotografia.
Altamente recomendável se você é uma dessas pessoas que assim como eu gostam de dramas realistas.
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