The Flaming Heart (2021)

I paid to watch THIS?

I want to be charitable because I showed up to support Gong Jun, but...I cannot. (For much more enjoyable uses of your time that also include his face, I’d recommend Word of Honor, Begin Again, or The Love Equations). This was just a gigantic mess. At first, I was having fun with the zany editing and lackluster plot/characters, but by episode nine, it wasn’t campy in a good way anymore. I watched subsequent episodes on 1.5 speed and fast-forwarded through most of them anyways.

I’m not sure where to begin, except that in so many ways, this was a sub-par version of You Are My Hero, like the comments say. The male lead in one of the civil protection agencies, the female lead a doctor, even the same plot near the beginning of the male lead’s team having to teach the female lead’s team something to do with emergency procedures.

The pacing was terrible, I’m not sure if it was that the episode count was cut to fit into July’s patriotic drama theme or what; the comments here on MydramaList can certainly attest to the absolutely bizarre editing. There are flashbacks to scenes that actually didn’t occur into the final cut; it’s that bad.

Yan Lan is unbearable, alternating between boring, bratty, and useless. She has a remarkable amount of spare time for a doctor, sitting around her office for most of her hospital scenes. The actress was more charismatic as Chuchu in Legend of Fei, and that is saying something for the writing here.

The “villain” was a shallow creation whose actual villainry was kind of pulled out of a hat near the end.

My biggest letdown was the lack of … feeling for anything. In YAMH, they leaned better into hurt/comfort tropes, and invested time in developing the main couple. They were adorable. In Flaming Heart, everything feels brisk, businesslike, ushered along without any chemistry or feeling, and I never felt a thing for the main couple, nor even the other two hetero couples we’re introduced to. The tropes that do make it in – They Knew Each Other As Kids, His Dad Died Saving Her In A Fire, Oh Look At That We Met At The Same Natural Disaster Rescue Site – are either not given enough time for us to feel something, or we just don’t care either way.

My favorite part was whenever Wang Yizhou’s Li Yan Liang appeared, and the “very good friendship” his character had with Doctor Ji Yuan. I shipped them way more than any of the many couples shoved in our face in this drama.

I was not sad to reach the final episode, it was more a sigh of relief that I was free. I recommend people spend their time watching You Are My Hero or the above recommended Gong Jun dramas instead!

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Great Firefighter mission scenes but everything else is sloppy, rushed, & full of nonsense

Geez, with a C-drama that doesn't have the annoying drama clichés, usually I would find okay, but this one, can't say I ended up liking it to the fullest. I was disappointed of how the product of this drama turned out.

What I liked about this drama:
- The firefighter rescue missions: Watching the scenes gives just a glimpse of the everyday lives firefighters go through, sometimes the missions are simple while other times it can be a dangerous challenge to save lives.
- The characters - Even if the plot wasn't that great, I was too invested into the characters already so I couldn't just easily drop this. I love the closeness of their friendship, like they just know they could rely on each other.

What went wrong for this drama:
- The story plot: They had such good content and topics in the beginning. It should've been expanded to several episodes as I saw these events as important. The events impacted the livelihood of the main characters and yet it was rushed to like a 15 min portion of an episode. Adding a villain to this drama proved useless to me. Why include episodes about corruption when you could've solely focus on the rescue missions from the firefighters and medic, heck even show more romance between our 4 couples. Anything is better than adding drug corruption.
- Speaking of romance, it's lacking in details as every scene just feature like the couples liked each other from the start when that really wasn't the case for some couples. Though I like the chemistry between the leads, I needed more of a progression of a relationship for our couples, not just "hey I like you now, let's be together"
- Bad Transition and Editing: Because of the director & writers trying to put every idea of a scene by squeezing them together in an episode, the flow from scene to scene did not flow well. It was bad for the most part, however I will say that the flow was good at times when the setting of a location remained the same. Editing was terrible in some scenes. Sometimes you had a character talking but the camera wasn't focus on them so you didn't know who was talking and there were some audio issues as well. It's like they didn't bother watching the episode before releasing it.

Had they been police officers, I would understand the need of a villain but come on, this is a group of firefighters and a medic team. Why would they need to stop an evil illegal drug overlord? This just doesn't make sense and makes the last 7 episodes of this drama pointless. Happy ending regardless though.

But hey, that's just my opinion. If you read this and still wanna give it a try, go for it. I only stuck around because of the cast. It's not terribly bad but just a drama with better potential had this been given at least 30 episodes.

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Personaly not recommend if you want the storyline

i'm personaly not recommend this drama if you want to have a good and amazing storyline couse this drama is not like what i expected, i even buy youku vip and end with a dissapointed.
when first watch this drama, i love how the actor bring the character, it was a good but i arrive at ep 15, i start become not interested with the drama couse they make some movement and scene are not make sense and kind a different from the reality, i expect this drama have some medical knowledge or some medical name that people don't know couse they make a doctor as main lead actor, but what i'm watching is just a story of firefigter have a love with a doctor but do not explore the character of the doctor, so that make me dissapointed.
and some scene that not make sense is when hou yan fall from high place and not have any blood come from his head except from the las injured before he find yan lan. and when yan lan do cpr to retrieve hou yan, they even do it in the OR room nor ER room, it's so weird, from what i know if you just came from ambulance, they place you in ER room than you can go to OR room if you need operation but this is not. they direct go to OR room not ER room. that not make sense to me. maybe i'm in not a doctor but i know the proces couse i have been there.
so for you who want to just watch gong jun act the you can watch this drama but if you not maybe don't waste you time and money

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seems like firefighting and saving lives is not the main focus!

Usually I rave about 24 episode dramas! But not this one! This drama had way too much talking and dialogue.... Like not enough action pack / time to save.

Other reviews have already said it. The leads got together incredibly fast and tried to break up in the same or next episode. There is no further development and some how they really like each other. ( dont feel the chemistry) Female lead's face is too babish/cute. I think ancient day drama might suit her?

They also develop like 2 other couple in this drama, which is stealing the limelight from the leads!

Female lead is pretty naive! often takes action on her own!

Too much unnecessary talking which i skipped... kinda sad how this turned out.

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Not As Bad As I Thought

I found the story line a little cheesy but I really liked all the characters. I liked both leads in this drama and even the 2nd and 3 lead. There are so many characters that I could not find one not to liked. The main female lead was great strong minded and independent and did not let anyone put her down or make her step back. The main male lead is funny, cute and supportive and was very loving. The second lead male was very much the character I thought would be obsessive but realized that he would be happy if the girl he love was happy even with someone else. There was some medical error that the writer did not research to make it correct. The twist about the evil guy with the drugs was to mafia for me. That part of the story could have been better especially that he only wanted to hurt one person. I also liked that there were no parents against the couples, since these are adults and no love triangle. I believe that the actors did a great job in their performance. There were some thrills and some disappointment in the filming of some action scenes but overall I liked it

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Disconnected scenes and shaky cam

It's a great start, in terms of actor choices and story line. Story concept is good, and I was really looking forward to it after You Are My Hero.

Where does it fail?

* The FL (a senior medical resident) is a whiny little girl who makes remarkably stupid decisions. In ep 1 she wants something she doesn't deserve, and squats/sulks. There are multiple cases where she makes a decision that is both dangerous to herself and her team, such as not telling her team what she's doing and going off to search for victims on her own. This characteristic doesn't improve over the episodes.

* The 2FL, a firefighter, squabbles with her team. She doesn't listen to orders and she acts like a spoiled brat. She is also extremely clutzy, tripping and falling regularly. There is no way the team would tolerate her on the squad, and I can't believe she passed any of the tests. (FYI: I'm ignoring the pretty overt sexism, in that she is the only female firefighter, and the rest of the team supports her giving her the easy tasks etc.)

* Shaky cam. All of the dangerous scenes (fighting a fire, cleaning up after an earthquake, etc) are shaky cam. Episode 2 actually made me nauseous. But it's not just the dangerous scenes. It's everywhere. We even see it in restaurants, when people are sitting and chatting.

* There are multiple occasions when things are just bizarrely unprofessional or unrealistic. For example, leaving a doctor to tour the firefighting facility on her own, with no guidance about what's dangerous or where she can't go (and surprise surprise, she gets in trouble). Or having the firefighter fix the engine of a modern car out in the field (they never tell us what's broken).

* Scenes are cut really strangely. It jumps. Sometimes I've wondered if I accidentally skipped an episode. For example, there's one scene where FL says something to ML, and that's the end of the episode. You expect start of next episode to continue the conversation... but it jumps to a following day. It's almost impossible to tell how much time has passed between scenes. There's a woman who gives birth to a baby... in about 2 minutes of screen time... and in the background *nothing* else has happened in the course of the rescue operations (no victims extracted, etc).

Why should you watch? Simon Gong.

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Just Entertaining, that’s all. Don’t take it too seriously

I always appreciate all the production team, crew and cast members of TV series – they worked hard trying to bring good show to the audience. Sometimes they are successful, sometimes not so. But, they’ve worked hard.

Yes, I enjoy watching this drama from the entertainment side. Simple story, short only 24 episodes, good actor Simon Gong which I saw him on Word of Honor and Flavor It’s Yours. Cute Zhang Hui Wen which I saw her in Love a Live Time, Nirvana in Fire 2 and Legend of Fei.

As mentioned earlier, the story is straight forward, that is the life of Firefighter Rescue Unit and the life of their counterpart, that is the doctors and nurses at the emergency hospital. Definitely both sides would intersect and cooperate in the rescue attempt and there will be some interaction amongst them.

This drama involves some rescuing action, whether it is multiple car accident, suicide attempt, raging fire, collapsed building, earthquake disaster, you name it and they got it all. They tried their best to create all the scene as real as possible. Some are good some are not. The scenes involving fire are quite good. While scenes of collapsing building, rumbles, are seen clearly as staged.

Some rescue attempt may seem unrealistic like immediately moving patient without neck support. So those rescue detail may be missing which you may not see in western medical/emergency series.
I praise the performance of Simon Gong who played as Huo Yan. He can bring the character to life with good acting. He can be as firm as a rock, he can be very calm and assessing the situation and make good decision, he can also be quick and decisive when the opportunity occurs, he can also be humorous and childish, he can also looked so worried and vulnerable. So, thumbs up for Simon Gong for his act.

Zhang Hui Wen plays as Yan Lan, a resident doctor. She is cute, fun and beautiful, full of love from parents and being well pampered. She has a huge dream but kind of insecure. Sometimes she can be tough especially in rescuing people and she is too fragile when it comes to saving herself. Therefore when she met Huo Yan character, immediately she felt comfort even when they met she only heard his calming voice.

The chemistry between both actors are good where it can show the sparks in their eyes when they interact.

In terms of the flow of the story, I must admit that some part seems to be skipped. How the relationship between Huo Yan and Yan Lan builds up in the early stages are not clearly depicted. This is either the flaw on script writing or the flaw on editing so some scene maybe missing.

I am amused by this type of story where it show courage, dedication and love to the motherland. Looks like a propaganda for the motherland but who cares, they build into the story very well.

So despite of some flaw here and there, if you are looking for just an entertaining show, this series is sufficient. But if you are a detailed person who are troubled seeing some jumps here and there, looking for a more logic story flow, then you may find it irritating.

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I readily admit that this drama had its issues with pacing. The editing was chaotic - especially in the beginning - and some of the jumps in logic were mind-boggling, as if certain parts were simply cut so you were left rather confuzzled. But!

But the characters made up for it. I loved all the firefighters at Huo Yan's (Gong Jun's) station and his relationship with Yan Lan was just precious. The actors obviously had a lot of fun with their parts which helped immensely. Another thing that I simply adored? The parents. All of them. Every single set was kind and loving and they all simply wanted their kids to be happy and safe. Not a bad parent in sight, what a marvel!

The best part for me, though, was the friendship that developed between Huo Yan and Luo Jie. They started as rivals, both in their profession and for Yan Lan's heart , but they got past that rather quickly and then? Then they became besties! Gosh, that was so awesome. And it made me so happy!

Also, this drama is, first and foremost, an ode to the fire rescue of China. You have to accept that to enjoy it. It's Independence Day... just about Chinese firefighters instead of American soldiers. If you get easily annoyed by eloquent proclamations and hero worship, then this drama is definitely not for you.

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Underrated informative drama

The Flaming Hearts
It’s an informative drama ,
That explain the struggle ,hardship,pain, relationship, emotion, lost feelings…etc of a life of Firefighters and also the problem faced by people in dangerous situations.
And the way they convey more messages through end by giving precautional method to make us safe from danger.Hatsoff to the team this great work
Here they fully focused in the concept of the story .they bring the lead roles( couple roles ) to show how they are managing their live life and profession life.And also the friends of every persons life ,the orphans….etc
They have simpler summaries the drama according to science in climax that was absolutely true .
🔴Spoiler -There is a concept in physics called cool temperature it referrers to required temperature for absolute black body to radiate the light of certain color.the closer to blue the higher the temperature. the blue flame is is not just a color of any fame ,it’s the every firefighter determination in the heart to protect the people and the temperature of their heart can’t be measured in any ways.
Above is a short summary in my point of view
★彡even they are not going deep in ML& FL but the concept of the drama is so cool and heart touching (sometime it goes through my heart and I didn't even realize that I cried because more imagination。✌︎('ω')✌︎)

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Great drama

I was surprised at some of the reviews I've seen here. It is such a great drama that I wondered if we even saw the same show. As usual, Gong Jun is fantastic as the wickedly smart firefighter with a heart of gold and a sensitive side. At first I wondered how the main female lead would pull off being a super smart and talented doctor because she seemed so silly in the first scenes where she appears to be a giggling boy crazy girl but it changed as I continued to watch and was able to see her true self come out. I really looked forward to every episode. Loved it and will watch it again.

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This is a nice drama to watch while waiting for a great one to come. The emergency stories are nicely done and the plot was nice but it could have been better by leaving the psychopath story out of the drama, it is completely unnecessary! Although the male lead did a really good job, the female lead lacks emotional expression on her eyes, making the romantic scenes a little awkward. She was good on showing grief for her mentor, though. The relationship among the firefighters and the medical personnel was really enjoyable and, if one doesn’t focus on the romance, the drama is entertaining.

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Not bad but not good.

I 100% only watched this drama because of gong Jun’s acting, but I’ll try to be objective about my subjective opinions. (Does that even make sense?)

This drama is about a firefighter and a medical student/doctor (I think).

The story:

- The story is centered around the main couple’s love story whilst it was advertised as a profession centered story. At the start, you see the productions efforts to make the character’s professions the centre of the story but this fades away as the story progresses.

The way the main couple get together at the start barely makes sense as there was no realistic reason for them to be attracted to each other but they do get together relatively fast and the relationship is healthy and sweet. however I’d say the chemistry veered closer to a close friends dynamic sometimes. Due to this there was no unneeded conflict or drama in their relationship. (Which is good and bad).

The writing of this drama relied a lot on coincidences to tie the characters together. So much so that it became too predictable or just ridiculous. Additionally, it was very cheesy, with long dramatic speeches about a characters passion and duty for their job. It was unrealistic and hard to take seriously.


Acting:

- I think it’s pretty obvious that The male lead (Gong Jun) is the strongest actor, despite how biased I am. He also plays the role of an ideal man: he’s nice, respectful, moral etc.

- Although as a whole the acting wasn’t massively impressive. Amongst the cast there was a mix of weak and ‘good enough’ acting.

Music:

- the intro song was good, and the music as a whole wasn’t that memorable, so it wasn’t significantly bad or good.


Rewatch value:

- there aren’t enough scenes I enjoyed to rewatch the entire show, but I could definitely just rewatch the couple I did enjoy.


Warning:

- A lot of the supposedly cute romantic moments can feel quite forced and artificial.

- The representation of how a hospital functions is flawed and kind of annoying. A lot of the time, the doctors and nurses are just sat doing nothing in an office (also what nurse has an office).

- Yan Lan’s (the fl) specific job description was unclear. I had no idea where her she was a surgeon or student, but of course she knew more than everyone above her (because she’s the fl).

- I do not like the sets. To be specific the interior of the fire station. It is literally just completely plain white corridors, not a single detail. I hope they don’t actually look like that because it looked blinding.

As a whole this drama for me sits in a very neutral zone. I don’t hate it, nor do I love it.

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