Unexpected Falling (2022)

From Threads of Lies Comes an Entangled Web of Love

Unexpected Falling definitely lives up to its namesake; I unexpectedly fell hard for its gorgeous cinematography, delicious angst and pacing, and the frustrating yet heady chemistry between Peng Guanying and Cai Wenjing in their second work together after The Confidence (2020). This is a super slow-burn romance, which is mostly about the mystery behind the FL's deceased husband. It's not an intense thriller with bloody crimes; instead the story mostly revolves around large business dealings (i.e. stock trading and manipulation), and the gradual romance between two people who start off as enemies, become reluctant friends, and end as passionate lovers.

I'd highly recommend having a watch for these reasons:

♡ A Chemistry and Romance that Simmers: For those of you who love pining, angst, and seeing our characters slowly fall for each other even knowing they shouldn’t, this drama is chock-full of all of these tropes. Unexpected Falling does an amazing job at showing the gradual change in two people who initially suspect each other, but then slowly begin inviting each other into their lives. This is not a fluffy, sweet, and rosy-tinged romance; instead it is one about two older characters who have undergone trauma, hardships, and have their own regrets and limitations. After the exhausting and tiring experiences in their life, they come together finding solace and comfort in each other. I loved how the drama slowly peels away the layers of our characters; while at first you think Zhenzhen has a very negative personality, and Guo Jun is extremely arrogant and domineering, you slowly realize these are only the surface impressions of our leads who are very flawed characters.

♡ Beautiful Cinematography and Poetic Lines: This drama uses a lot of darker colours and tones, and has a very melancholy atmosphere and feeling across the entirety of the story. I loved the attention to details made through its filmography; for example, certain camera angles are used in order to make you suspect the identities of characters, and also create narrative tension throughout the series. There are also other hints, including character habits (e.g. the drinking of water, the wearing of glasses, certain repeated dialogues, etc.) that are consistent with certain plot reveals throughout the drama. Most of all, I loved how the drama uses a lot of domestic scenes (e.g. taking your lover’s coat, cooking a meal, tying one’s hair) between our main leads that show how much they want to be close to each other yet at the same time must restrain themselves. This is a drama that doesn’t tell things through dialogue; instead it’s one where the visual language — from gazes, expressions, and lots of staring — are used to communicate to the viewer instead.

♡ Refreshing, Adult Characters: Similar to the calm atmosphere and the moody colour palette of the drama, our main characters are very mature and complex personalities. Ruan Zhenzhen is one of my favourite female leads of all time, because of how few Chinese drama FLs are extremely reserved and introverted. She is not a happy or upbeat character, but instead is someone who has few friends, ruminates a lot and experiences depressive episodes, and often keeps to herself. She is hard to get close to and distrusts people easily, but only because of the excessive lengths she goes to when protecting and caring for the people who she loves most. On the other hand, Peng Guanying does an amazing job showing the expressions, struggle, and guilt that he faces as Guo Jun. Not only does he have incredible charisma and presence, but you start off suspecting him and even disliking him, before falling in love for how swoony and protective he is towards Zhenzhen. Both of them play very realistic characters and personalities, and it's quite a nice breather from the recent wave of youth and campus romances.

♡ Interesting Background Plot and Relationships: One thing this drama also demonstrates is relationships, especially with families, friends, and the people who are in your life. There are a lot of characters who become hateful and despicable after Zhenzhen’s husband’s death, for reasons including money, jealousy, and bitterness. There are also others who go above and beyond to show their loyalty and support for Zhenzhen through her pain. Moreover, there is also a central mystery revolving around the financial world; although I didn’t find this as interesting, I appreciated how the drama used all of its characters to show the complicated and tangled relationships surrounding their crimes.

However, there are also some things you might not like about the drama:

♥ The Road to Happiness is Bumpy with Plot Holes: Honestly, much of the angst between characters would have broken down if Zhenzhen simply did a Baidu search about some people’s identities in the beginning. I was much more forgiving of this because I was really here to watch the chemistry between the main characters, but a lot of things are pretty inconsistent. For example, inevitably given the way Gao Jun was trailing after Zhenzhen the whole drama it’s a miracle that nothing serious happened to the both of them within the first ten episodes. I think you definitely need some suspension of disbelief, because honestly the investigations and proceedings of legal cases in this show (while not unrealistic) seem to be a bit sloppy given how smart the criminals are supposed to be.

♥ This is a Relationship and Family Drama, Not Really a Crime One: I don’t think this drama does thriller or tension in plot really well because it tends to lean in towards the slow-burn approach, and there were a lot of things they could have done to make the drama more intense (i.e. giving the sense that lives were really at risk, that someone may have the possibility of being hurt, etc.) At the same time, I realize that this wasn’t the goal of the drama. This isn’t really a drama that is about hunting down financial crimes, but it is really about Zhenzhen’s growth and her navigation of the mystery itself. That being said, those who don’t like slower-paced dramas, or who prefer intense shows with lots of action (there’s honestly not much of that in here) should probably stay away from this one.

♥ A Long and Winded Slow-Burn: This is not a fast-paced drama, despite the fact that there are mysteries that need to be unraveled and crimes that are uncovered. We don’t even get to an actual relationship and more discoveries about the main underlying conflict until episodes in the 30's. You will absolutely need to be patient when watching this show; and I think if you aren’t invested in the relationship between the main characters you may end up feeling bored. There is definitely suspense and tension, but it is drawn out and comes to a slow-burning fire in the culmination of the drama. At its best, this is really a drama that focuses on the process and journey rather than the outcome; at its worst, others may consider there to be lots of filler moments (about relationships) that take away from the crime (the financial and business aspects).

♥ Some Acting Issues: Cai Wenjing is quite bubbly in real life, while Peng Guanying is very good-natured and quite extroverted in interviews. I think both of them did a good job acting as characters that were very complicated and multi-faceted, but sometimes it was clear that some of the supporting cast had more acting depth. In particular, for scenes where the FL is attacked by others or becomes surprised, Cai Wenjing's expressions were sometimes a little out of place or slightly awkward. On the other hand, Peng Guanying sometimes came off as being a little stiff in scenes with anger or frustration. However, these are relatively minor aspects to pick on, as overall I cannot really think of a better casting choice for these characters, and I really enjoyed watching them together once again.

I'd highly recommend this drama for those who want a more mature, adult watch about older lead characters, those who like darker romances (i.e. a "villain" ML even though he is actually kind inside), and a very devoted ML who initially distrusts the FL and then grows to fall in love with her loyalty and kindness to the people around her. It’s not for everyone, given the fact that it seems to market itself as a series about criminal cases and a shady death, but is actually about the relationships that Ruan Zhenzhen builds through her experience with this situation. If you go in with lowered expectations and are a fan of romances between two people marred by the passing of life experiences, then you’ll find this a suspenseful watch with a main couple that leaves you breathless at how beautiful and encompassing their love for each other is.

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A slow burn thriller filled with beautiful cinematography

After a few months of dropping dramas midway, this was the first one I completed. While the story has it's plot holes, it is extremely gripping and addictive. After every episode I was compelled to find time to watch another one. I actually liked that the airing schedule only had two episodes per week. The time in between helped to make me more invested in the drama rather than lose interest. This is a slow burn that you need to take slow.

A wife is faced with her husband's death and left with a debt of 40 million yuan. Her signature was forged in the documents making her the underwriter (I have serious doubts about the legalities of this but let's not get into it). There are boat loads of people invested in finding out where the money is at. And there we have our thriller.

Is the husband dead? Does the widow have the money? Who is the lawyer that suddenly popped up from nowhere? What is the husband's assistant looking for? What's the best friend keeping from the widow?.......are only a few of the mysteries that surround us. And thankfully they all get answered over the course of 38 episodes.

There is a natural progression of mysteries as the show unfolds and the acting was at par with the intensity of the thrill. Both ML and FL are new actors for me and did a great job bringing their characters to life. I really liked the FL's character, though she is the main protagonist we never get to really understand what she is actually thinking inside. She is a very strong character and doesn't let the circumstances she has been dealt with get to her. While we see her breaking down multiple times as is natural but we also see her getting back up without depending on someone else to help her. She has a reason to doubt everyone around her as no one is telling the truth and everyone is interested in the money she supposedly has hidden. And also, I found her drop dead gorgeous. Her stills were just too beautiful.

The ML starts off as yet another despicable fellow who is trying to take advantage of the widow but gets better down the road. His motives remain shady for a while and we don't get to know him until quite later but whatever his personality, he did a great job bringing his questionable character to life.

The supporting characters are also fleshed out well and we get to know more about them as the story progresses. I appreciated that there were all kinds of characters in this drama. The good ones, the selfish ones, the silly ones and the bad ones. Many characters were grey and not fully evil which brought a very realistic element to the people side of things in this show. While there are two protagonists, the rest of the characters also got their time in the limelight so this felt more like a mature drama thriller with an added element of family relations.

The cinematography is just beautiful. I loved everything from the colour palette that was used to the artistic stills and soft touch ups. This show was a mood I wanted to immerse myself in and the melancholic music softly crept into my heart sprouting delicate leaves of naive expectation. I hoped for a satisfactory ending that would answer all the mysteries that kept piling up as the episodes went into double digits.

This is a slow burn that I unexpectedly enjoyed just like the grammatically incorrect but apt title. A 8.5/10, if only because it kept me engaged and stopped my dropping spree.

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In the foot steps of The Confidence, with a twist!

Having watched The Confidence in June 2022, I was happy that Unexpected Falling came out recently. The cast consisted of almost the same actors as The Confidence. Cai's performance was remarkable as she used alot of her facial muscles and eyes to speak her thoughts. Peng grew into his role to put up a good performance. He initially reminded me of Feng in The Confidence. I enjoyed watching their interactions as both of them had alot of lines with each other. I liked that they spoke their own lines while a few others had their voices dubbed. Peng and Cai have good voices. I also like the music and songs particularly the ending song sung by Cai and Peng. I found out that Cai did train as a singer in her early days. The older actors were all veterans and their performance did not disappoint. Sadly one of them had passed away during the production.

Both The Confidence and Unexpected Falling have male leads that are imposters. But in Unexpected Falling, the male lead was hired to investigate the financial scam and eventually he unmasked his fake role as he loved the female lead who was kind and righteous. The male lead became himself to win the love of the female lead.

Although Unexpected Falling was not as thrilling as The Confidence, the drama also kept me thinking initially if the female lead was her dead husband's accomplice, if her best friend was sincere and if the make lead was a two timer. The story unfolded gradually without unanswered gaps. I liked that there were no long, repeated flash backs. In fact, the female lead's dead husband did not even have a face although his name was repeatedly brought up in the story. He was a lead character that had died. The director deliberately kept viewers in the dark about how he looked like. I think this is a first!

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Slow burn but good

I am sucker for slow burn dramas. The execution was flawless. Story was good with good number of twist and turns. I am surprised a the low rating. Yes the ML's i have seen them for the first time. FL didn't do well with her acting as her range is not so good.
ML range was okish too. the characters around the ML's were good and all of them had a good screen time.
Just give a watch, its definitely watchable!
I was looking for a good drama and didn't find any so gave this i thought to give this one a try. This year has been bleak in terms of good drama and specially at year end.

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Interesting drama with suspenseful aspect. I wish it could be shorter to 30 episodes instead of 38.

The production quality of Unexpected Falling is not bad; at least it doesn't feel like everyone is so white like Tencent dramas always do. It is unnatural.

The storyline is not bad as it unfolds, and I am curious about who the real Gao Jun is and his real motive with Ruan Zhen Zhen.

It is also good to see that Ruan Zhen Zhen is getting smarter and trying to figure out things as she goes along and keeps the information to herself. However, sometimes, I find her demeanor and the character that she plays annoying. I hoped she would speak up and be more forceful when fishing for information.

I have watched 29 episodes already, and I wonder what will happen to her bestie, Su Wen. I don't like her in-laws, who are mean and only care about money, and the cousin, You Gang, is a useless man and not a value added to the story.

The drama would have a much better flow if it were shortened to 30 episodes instead of 38. It is getting draggy with many uninterested filler scenes. I wanted to wrap it up soon, but I have to wait for 9 more episodes to see the ending.

There is no romance at all in this drama. I am giving it a 6.5 rating out of 10.

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Title does not live up to its excellence!

I do not know why Chinese dramas always have the absolute worst titles in existence. like wtf??? unexpected falling? Could it not be ANY MORE VAGUE LMFAO

I literally do not know where to start with this show. I was absolutely enamored by it. This show is amazing by Cdrama standards and regular standards. It gives me Flower of Evil (kdrama) vibes sometimes. I ate up Flower of Evil, but I think I liked this show more :D

It is a bit long, and I usually have trouble finishing longer shows, but I literally got so addicted to this I watched the last 14 episodes in one sitting during my finals week. Probably not a responsible decision but oh my god this show is so amazing. ok ok let me try to get my thoughts out

1. Overall production:
Yall the director ate it up in this drama. like there is so much detail and precision and everything is chosen on purpose. The color palette reflects the mood (which is super gloomy), the cinematography is pretty impressive, the music just adds to everything. Pretty top tier quality.

2. Acting + characters:
I literally felt so impressed with the actor of Ruan ZhenZhen. She really played her part so well and I felt the emotions Ruan ZhenZhen was portrayed to be feeling. Actually I think everyone's acting was pretty good. Each character had little mannerisms that were carried throughout the show. Loved it and gave the characters way more dimension. There were a lot of characters though. But most of them fulfilled a purpose so it wasnt too much of a problem for me. Theres just a lot of names to remember. The ML is amazing. I can't say too much without spoiling major spoilers so I'll leave it as is. Every main character goes through a LOT of character development. Everyone grows through their hardships. You'll start off HATING certain characters, and by the end loving them.

3. Plot:
Suspense wise, it was amazing. You can be convinced about something for several episodes and then be proven wrong, so so so wrong. Some ppl say its predictable but i guess i wasnt smart enough to predict 99% of it LOL. Like u think something is gonna happen but then it doesnt happen but then it does but in a different way- a lot of it makes u flip flop between suspecting certain characters and trusting them again. I think it gets a bit draggy in the beginning, and picks up super fast towards the last third of the show. I liked the slow pace, don't get me wrong. Personally it was a breath of fresh air from all the other rapid shows I've been watching. But I kind of wish the content in the last third had a bit more time to develop bc it felt like a lot of information was being thrown at you all at once. at least for me it was a bit hard to keep track of. But not a single point in this drama did I feel bored! I don't usually rewatch shows but I might rewatch this one or at least parts of it b/c I feel like I didn't properly process a lot of the information. Maybe thats b/c i binged 14 episodes in one sitting though haha

4. Romance (mild spoilers?):
What I really like about this show is that the ML faces consequences for his actions. If he treats the FL like crap, she gets upset and tells him what he did wrong. She isn't easily won over. This is definitely a case of the ML falling for the FL way earlier and way harder. Sometimes he irritated me and got way too clingy to the FL but she does show signs of annoyance and stands up for herself especially in the latter part of the show. This is different to most Chinese romances where typically the ML is a rude domineering man who gets away with every ounce of disrespect to the FL because he has a "troubled past." This show certainly does not follow that trope! It is SUPER slow burn. Their relationship is super ambiguous throughout the whole show. The main point of the show I'd say is not the romance, the romance is like 20% of it. But it does wrap up satisfyingly.

5. Ending:
Pretty solid ending. I usually do not watch ongoing shows b/c I am the kind of person that loves happily ever afters, but the trailer for this looked so interesting i just HAD to start it. This show has a happily ever after and it really doesn't feel forced at all. It's a very nice and pleasant ending that ties up all the loose ends.

6. Overall:
Is this the best drama I've ever watched? In terms of Cdramas, maybe. It's definitely up there. I personally loved it and I hope you will give it a chance too!

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Unexpected Gem

Kind of funny to me how reviews on here are built on the popularity of the actors. Obviously, the actors in this drama are not pop idols, otherwise the rating would be way higher. This drama was made by the same writing/directing team as "The Confidence", and likewise has two of the same main leads. Actually, the production team was so set on being recognized as being the same team, that they blatantly declared this fact at every available opportunity. The team makes the ML go to a random store and he plays around with his necklace from "The Confidence", then, if all that wasn't enough, they make a secondary character actually watch "The Confidence" in one scene. Still not enough "The Confidence" reference for you? They make the FL go to the same store and look at the same knight armour as the ML had next to his desk in "The Confidence". We get it. This is "The Confidence" team, you've made that clear to us.

The acting in this drama is fantastic. Both the script and storyline are excellent too, which are the most important elements. All the characters were interesting and necessary for the plot. There wasn't a single character that annoyed the heck out of me. All the characters made sense. The bereaved FL had her entire world collapse on her in the first episode, which is why she was so distrustful, cold, distant, and traumatised. Why do so many people expect a traumatized FL to be anything but emotionally numb is beyond me. If you choose to watch a drama where the FL goes through serious trauma within the first episode, does it really make sense to expect her to have a colourful palate of facial expressions?! Just a personal pet peeve of mine on here.

The FL is able to move on in life firstly through the help of her savvy friend Su Wen, and secondly, because she finds out that the man she was grieving as her husband never really existed in the first place. She knew him for over a decade, and it turned out she hardly knew him at all. That sure helps in moving on during bereavement. It gave her a reason to move on with her life, and a logical reason for the ML to make a move towards her, even though he didn't need to forcefully kiss her in this drama, like he did in "The Confidence". The truth is, the writers wanted to keep you guessing if the ML's character was good or bad, so they let you see him in both lights and had side characters build doubt in our minds, well into the later episodes. I need to mention the acting of the SFL Su Wen here as well. She was an excellent contrasting support character to our FL, and the actress that played her was superb.

Peng Guan Ying is a wonderful character actor inside the body of a ML. He has wonderful range and can turn into any character he wants, and he was, as always, wonderful in this drama. Just like in "The Confidence", the plot here was held together by an unrealistic..... idea, if you will. In "The Confidence" this idea was that a human can have their entire face copy\pasted onto another human's completely different bone structure and come out of it looking like Peng Guan Ying. In "The Unexpected Falling", this outlandish idea is that a person cannot look up a famous lawyer's face and see a picture of them. I get that Chinese internet is censored, but not a single picture of a famous lawyer on the internet? Doesn't seem likely. The FL never goes to the ML's law firm? She just expects him to follow her around? This was explained away by giving the FL a naive character, and it worked up to a point, but she is understandably mistrustful at the same time, so.... I just feel like this was a lot to expect of the audience to look past.

When it comes to a drama with a lot of side plots and characters, I usually lose interest in at least some, if not most of the side stories, but not so in this one! Even the side stories held my interest, which didn't happen in "The Confidence", so I think this drama overshadows "The Confidence" by far. I agree with the review that talked about the director needing to learn more about editing, absolutely, too many unnecessary shots, but I also understand the political constraints of the Chinese media, wherein writers and directors are literally forced to write a certain number of episodes and to fill those episodes with content means something has to suffer the cost of that. As a result, I never watch a Chinese drama expecting some form of perfection, because it isn't possible under dictatorship. Art under dictatorship will never be perfect simply because it can't be. For that reason, I do lower my expectations in my judgement, but the writing and acting here was really great regardless. This is a great ensemble mystery thriller series that doesn't disappoint.

9 beige raincoats out of 10.

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Weak show with too many episodes

I was really interested in watching this because of the mystery of what happened to the husband but I eventually realized that it was the typical "boy in love with girl but is hiding something". I was looking for action and mystery, not some story about a loser that's still in love with someone from HS. I've watched shows with 100 episodes, but I feel like this could have been wrapped up in 16. The story is dragging on and it's repetitive with the same issues for the FL. Also, I hate weak characters and the FL just seem so pathetic, that I get irritated watching her.

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Someone please send the director to film editing class…

Using my personal rating system of "loved," "liked," "meh," & "nah," this is a “meh”.

First major dislike: That with some decent editing, this could have been a really good mystery drama. It had everything it needed already: naïve housewife relies on husband for everything only to find out he’s been embezzling money and she’s now millions of won in debt; hints that someone else died in his place and that he’s really still alive; a mystery to be solved; a tall, handsome, and mysterious man who offers to help; most episodes ending on a cliffhanger. The problem is that it was soooooo slow! Completely unnecessary amounts of detail. For example, there was one scene where someone rings the doorbell. The camera shows the FL pouring herself a glass of water, then walking to the door, then opening the door—all in real time. All of that could have been cut out—all you need is the sound of the doorbell, jump cut to her opening it, 10 – 20 seconds saved. And that happened all. the. time. Maybe some kind netizen will re-cut this. That’s really all it needs to be a decent mystery.

Second major dislike: I get that it was a romance…but…someone who was deeply in love with her husband for 10+ years then has to go through discovering a ton of things he hid from her is sooooo not ready to be in a relationship with someone else right away. She needs to take, like, 2 – 3 years to herself to get her $%&# together. This is probably the one drama where the a lead taking off for a couple of years in the last episode then to come back and be ready to be with the other lead (while they lovingly waited for them) would actually have worked.

This is one of my few reviews that mentions the soundtrack: I actually liked it! In fact the credits song for the first 10 or so episodes is quite good and they used it well throughout the drama. Usually I find soundtracks tiresome after awhile, but this one I enjoyed.

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No way

I don't even know where to start or how to describe my feeling. why waste people's time for something that can be 15 episodes to 38? Seriously no damm action? a widow that can't speak for herself the hold time? try to get an attitude when everything is clear? the description was good but the story itself waste of time. that 5/10 is only of everyone's effort and time to produce, act, compile and upload. it is a big deception. If you love no action and shy character from day one until the end this is for you. even if the title doesn't fit is obvious they were going to end up together so it was better to have "My treason Husband " or "betrayal hurts" or something like that because most part and the scene is about treason, cheating less love.

I have to put this type of rating but I couldn't keep it quiet because of my time I was pushing myself like don't drop it give this a chance to have this? only this? it could have been good for the widow to change her character with everyone, be strong and curious, making her research her husband after she saw that everything was deleted that is a red flag what else are you expecting? sister-in-law, she got nothing else to do instead of blaming her brother's wife? what about the parents? 😪

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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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