Road Home

Soft romance goodness

Between the other dramas from this author, Amidst a Snowstorm of Love and Love Me, Love My Voice, this one was definitely my favorite. I loved how quiet and comforting this drama was, and the acting from both leads was phenomenal.

The flashbacks weaved in and out of the present day timeline perfectly and really added to the angst of their second-chance romance. Even after the leads got together, I never felt bored; the chemistry was just that great. I wish the second half of the drama let us mellow in their little moments more and did less of the time jumps. The only other bump in the road for me was the ending, which ended in a flashback. Don't get me wrong — I like the flashback itself and we definitely get full closure, but the last episode just didn't quite pack the punch I craved where we were looking to the future.

I also have mixed feelings on some of the family-related arcs. While I like that nothing was over-dramatic or blown out of proportion, I also felt sometimes that arcs ended abruptly and emptily. People became "good" or changed their tune suddenly, in a way that was not satisfying or realistic.

I also want to mention that we don't get to know too much of either of the lead's jobs, even though it's always in the background. For a drama where the character's occupations are more in the forefront, I'd look to something like You Are My Hero (which I also loved). However, I actually liked that this drama focused on the romance more. It also highlighted the friendships, both of which were really heart-warming. The second lead romance was minor, but quite well done also.

With all this being said, this is a romance drama. The romance IS the best part and it was done really well. I'd definitely recommend this one.

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romance all the way

super excited to watch this show since the poster came out. love the casting of tan song yun and jing boran as the main leads. i really love romance show that shows a healthy relationship, no crazy drama and mature.. so to me this show really did well. the chemistry is a 10/10, with the cinematic all it's really a very sweet romance.

actually this show is not hard to understand at all. but all the flashbacks makes it very confusing sometimes, because they show the present time and flash back sometimes. there are a lot of flashbacks but nothing very impt to take note as to what really happened between them. development of the story is ok, but sometimes the timeline seems to jump abit for me and idk how long time have past or anything. for example, when did they have kids??? when was she pregnant??? when was her kid like 5 years old alr??? or like everytime luchen went off for work it felt like very long. this would be a really good show if it is shorter imo. still, love both leads!!! and jing boran looks super hot soooo why not

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second half of drama is more watchable

__*Road Home 2023*__ - 8/10 cdrama

first few eps can be described just by one word :Awkward:. I know it was intentional awkwardness, but it made whole story boring to watch and that dreary vibe didnt helped too...
had urge to end stop watching or at least give it 7,5 score, but later half of drama saved it little and upped it to average drama ratings.

Shortly if you get through hard start you may get to like this drama by end or at least wont hate it as much.

__*plot*__ - FL and ML are exes which didnt see each other for long time and never truly managed completely break their relationship. Now they meet again and may as well get together, but whole thing got problems... family problems, long distance relationship cause of work etc.

__*genre*__ - romance, melodrama

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Matured and intense romance but dull after awhile

I like that this drama’s main focus is the relationship between Gu Xiao and Lu Chen (the two main leads) He is a Bomb expert who works in the SWAT team- so his character is cold, silent and not much of a conversationalist. She is a financial investor- while she is more warm and charming, her conversational skills were not that great either (with him) in this first half ish. I like his character- no nonsense kind of man, albeit a little stoic and stiff but that’s how it is. As for Seven Tan- she comes across too “puppy like” at times.. just following him around and watching him fix cars lol. Would have preferred the FL to be more … assured?

The chemistry is very intense though. They had broken up for 10 years, and they meet each other again. Lots of quiet and intense gazes, which is fine because the ppl around them are noisy enough haha. The romance is for the matured audience, so don’t expect any cliches of accidental falls/kisses , well dressed looks… but rather an underlying connection and assured confidence in their relationship. The bros of Captain Lu are TOO CUTE! ;);)

I also like that the drama shows aspects of his work (more than hers) but doesn’t focus too much on the details. A little bit of the training, a little bit of the danger to keep the suspense going.

Definitely one of the better Cdramas currently. It’s 30 episodes, so I can expect something dangerous and bad happening to him in the later episodes, maybe he gets injured?? Have to watch to find out! :)

Update: After 20 episodes, just found the pace too slow, and the storyline no longer engaging. Rather boring after awhile ;) Have decided to drop this.

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I love both leads and waited for all the episodes to come out so I could watch to my hearts content! But by episode 20… I realized why so many said this was one episode too many. The leads had chemistry… but at least for me… not enough. It fizzled out and I actually found myself getting annoyed by FL’s cutesy-ness. ML was the typical stoic man of few words… only sometimes he was too stoic when she was trying to be too cute. FL didn’t seem to change much in 10 years and she was almost too understanding and too perfect with ML’s absence and profession I love her character so much more in Go Ahead.

The flashbacks would have been so much better early on instead of at the end. I would have loved more of the second CP and watched their story to the end. I’ve seen other dramas where they do a ML perspective but it’s short and sweet and totally works. This one… I sadly FF through even though it was the last episode.

Overall I think if you love the leads.. like A LOT, then you’re good to go!! If you just mid-like them then drama is just too long.

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Road to Nowhere

Do I really need to see Jing Boran change a light bulb? That’s just one of many niggly questions that comes to mind as I plod my way through Road Home with a gnawing itch to drop it. It’s a lovely angle of him to be sure (as any would be) and perhaps the audience has missed the point that Tan Songyun’s character Gui Xiao is absolutely enamoured with Lu Chen when she fixes her adoring eyes on his strapping figure as he does what most men worth their salt can do at the drop of a hat. When Li Xian changes light bulbs at the boarding house in Meet Yourself, there are multiple reasons for it. It tells us something about the ubiquity of his character. It shows that he’s a handy fellow. It was yet another bit of confirmation that he was the heart and soul of his village — a one man economic engine. But when Lu Chen is swapping out light fittings, it feels like the director and/or script writer don’t really have any idea of how to integrate all of the elements around the romance. Which is the general feeling I get as the “story” progresses. It’s like watching a reality travelogue that I didn’t sign up for. The thing is, the light bulb scene is meaningless here because it doesn’t tell us anything we don’t already know about Lu Chen. The guy is a bomb disposal expert. What’s a light bulb when there’s an explosive device with a complex web of wiring about to go kaboom? Road Home is a show that should be watched at 1.5 x or 2 x speed or not at all. Which leaves me with a conundrum: Jing Boran’s alluring sonorous vocals gets lost in translation.

On paper, Road Home should have the potential to be equally effective but the mistake is putting an obvious conflict-free romance at the centre of the story. Except for the godson, none of the other characters have interesting arcs of their own. Worse still they feel disconnected. Their sole purpose is to dance around the leads and support their journey as they inevitably pair up. I’m about 15 episodes in and I still don’t find Gui Xiao a compelling character in her own right. Lu Chen gets to do all the exciting cop stuff while she panics around in the dark wondering if he’s going to live to see another day. It’s by the numbers. There’s no curiosity about any of the characters and how they get to the point that they do. 30 episodes is just too long for a show where there’s so little build up or suspense. By the time the leads tell us that they’re tying the knot, most of the key reveals have come and gone.

It’s a mistake to think that slice-of-life dramas have no plots. (Or meander aimlessly without one) They do. And the really good ones do such a good job of juggling multiple threads that those who watch that the balancing act is actually easy. Part of the problem too with Road Home is that Lu Chen’s SWAT activities are far more interesting than anything else in the show. Consequently I inevitably come to this conclusion about these types of police procedurals — they are veiled recruitment propaganda. Ad campaigns for law enforcement because no one in the their right mind would sign up for SWAT and EOD without overt prodding and/or flag waving. It’s one thing to insert propaganda in a crime show, it’s another in a romance. It’s deadly.

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I dozed off many times

Makers of the show solely depended upon the lead cast of the show. The cast was a great choice, though. However, they forgot that there are several other factors that make a drama successful. The story was very regular and somewhat cliched and predictable. The music was so damn average.

The Good:
1. The star cast of the show, especially the leads
2. No unnecessary drama or viciousness in any of the characters.

The Bad(I would rather call it boring):
1. There was too much of going in and out of the past. The leads were a teen couple 11-12 years ago, before they parted their ways, and after meeting again several years later, both realize that they are still in love and rekindle their relationship. It was necessary to show the background in order to feel connected with their present day story, however in half of the show, the leads were just reminiscing their past only.
2. Lack of character development: As the story develops so do the characters. However, the supporting cast, doesn't grow at all.
3. Unrealistic sub-plots: The child of the 2nd male lead is sent to Beijing with the female lead so that she can get him admitted in a school. But this boy is sent to various other homes and people too. For example, the friend and colleague of the female lead just takes the child in, in her care as the female has to go with male lead for a 2 week long trip. The child's father is all cool with his son's living situation.
4. There was no development for 2nd leads. It's shown that the 2nd male lead(who happens to be the colleague and friend of the main lead) proposes the above mentioned friend and colleague of the female lead, but even after the leap of 2.5 years, they were still unmarried.
5. The SWAT team members act so juvenile and childish. It's like they have no work when ML and FL are around.
6. In one of the scenes, after giving birth, FL is trying to feed her baby while the ML(father of the baby) looks on. FL asks her to look away and feels very shy. I was like oh C''mon, girl, he's your baby daddy'.
7. As for the romantic moments, there were way too many staring lovingly in the eyes moments. The leads have chemistry, but bad screenplay is to be blamed for not using the romantic element correctly.

This is just a short list. There were so many annoying and boring moments. I actually slept through the scenes, and many of them I had to fast forward as they were taking toll on my nerves. All in all, it was dragging, boring and somewhat dull.

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MUNDANE DIALOG

Don't get to watch Jing BoRan much, in 'The League of Noblemen' he's kind of a flamboyant character - not liking his character so much. But I always adore Seven Tan, in her many drama I love her more.

The story went back to Junior High, Seven Tan was always great as a young student while to BoRan looked too muscle up and older compare with other students around. They've fallen in love and promised each other not to breaking up, as they grew older with their choice of education, they grew apart and broke up permanently. One was to becoming a financial-investor who live in Beijing while the other as a Captain in SWAT Elite Team in Qining City. They met again and rekindle the relationship. There're hurdle about debts, family dynamic for both, long friendship, fostering a child, and work.

Jing BoRan is hot but a lousy man (in love), pretty serious character and little (or boring) conversationalist. They both still love each other but with nothing much to talk about, I wonder how this relationship going. He's though pretty straight forward 'do you like me' and 'do you still love me' and 'I'll save money to marry you', besides all that was mundane dialog. Thus, Seven Tan character wasn't any better!! Didn't say much. I don't know about the novel, I think the screen writer needs more practice to make dialog more witty and lively, lots of time they both were just staring each other without much exchange. Still ep 15, done trying to watch this drama. Cute puppy though..

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Slow-moving but lovely

This is wonderfully well written, no unnecessary side-stories or plot-drivers, simply a very detailed overview of a relationship that only developed over many years. It's so slow-moving that it's almost the same speed as living your own life, and it has that quality of real thoughts and emotions slowly developing, too. Over time we get to know why things were so difficult to get going and cheer on the main couple as they choose to make it work anyway. Highlights of the series so far: adult children choosing their own partners even if the parents don't approve (!!!) Also the funniest marriage proposal ever (ep 27 I think, not the main couple.) Lesser actors than Jing Boran and Seven Tan could not have carried this story but these two manage to make it riveting. If you like a lively plot or action, this is not your show. But if you can get into a deeply felt relationship between two people, this is all cake.

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