Serious vibes, superficial writing

OVERALL
Watch this drama if you 1) are looking for mature, serious vibes, 2) you dig family drama, 3) you want to have a look at Chinese daily life in the 70s-90s. If you 1) are looking for well-developed love stories, 2) have low tolerance for lousy characters, 3) are craving fun scenes, then definitely skip.

THE STORY
The beginning of The Bond totally gripped me. Not in a "wow so innovative!" way, but in a "gosh I really want to see these poor kids happy" way. The problem is, I went over more than half of the drama, and you never quite see them happy. Not even close. It's just one depressing moment after another. After 20 episodes, it got old. One particular issue I have is the fact that there isn't any character growth, from any character, and the kids fail to change the way they deal with some situations (the biggest one being their lousy dad). Another major issue I have is with the fact that the drama keeps omitting major stuff. I don't care if a show doesn't have lots of skinship, but romance needs to flow naturally. Love stories can't go from "we're friends" to "she's pregnant" without any on-screen development. Also, if someone has a trauma, you can't go from "oh I can't do any of this" to "I'm over it" in the blink of an eye.

It's sad, the beginning of the drama was really promising, but all of these problems got the best of it. I lost my interest and ended up dropping the series.

THE ACTING
Quite good, from what I could tell. I was especially impressed by the child actors. They were so amazing! It's a zero in the chemistry department, though.

THE MUSIC
Quite good! I just love that it's not the typical pop stuff we hear in dramas, but it was to be expected given how the drama is set in the late 20th century.

REWATCH VALUE
Very low.

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I just can't with Male Lead

OVERALL
Give it a try if you are really tolerant of crappy Male Leads and desperate for a good mystery. If you're not any of the two, skip.

THE STORY
I have to say, the premise of this drama is pretty interesting (and not to mention, very realistic). Female Lead's husband dies and suddenly a whole bunch of problems arise in her life, making her realize that he kept many secrets from her. Although the drama does not make you fall in love with Female Lead, you do feel a bit bad for all that she has to go through. I also got hooked right away trying to figure out what exactly happened in her husband's life and whether he was a good or bad guy. I still want to know, but I had to give this drama up because it's yet another C-drama with a simply insufferable Male Lead. He's mean, rude, disrespectful. I just can't.

Oh, I'm sure they'll find a way to excuse his behavior. My guess is a crappy childhood and trying to get revenge or something. I don't care. I'm sick of Male characters being a-holes and Female leads taking it in (or worse, swooning over it). It's particularly painful to watch here because Female Lead LITERALLY just lost her husband and he's constantly going off on her. So I'm out. If you're like me, save yourself the trouble and skip. If you're not, then go ahead and watch. The suspense is actually pretty good.

THE ACTING
Ok.

THE MUSIC
Ok.

REWATCH VALUE
Null.

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