Double Helix

horrific writing and no understanding of characters

beyond the extremely bad writing,

i hope no one leaves this series thinking this is love, even calling it toxic love is too generous. i see people saying things like “you cant be that in love youd do all this”… this is depicting mostly obsession not love.

love is best defined by acting in another’s best interest, that is love at its core, famillial, romantic, platonic it doesnt matter if its not functional under that core idea its not love.

people can feel love and it can become something ugly… but id say that was a weak love that lacked integrity to begin with.

if this show convinced us from lu feng’s pov yichen royally fucked him over utterly, then maybe. but even through lu feng’s pov the issue is sinply that he never tried to understand why yi chen would make the choices he did in the fallout of everything, all he could think of was his own suffering.

that said all characters behave like morons in this so im not at all defending yi chen here.

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I was torn about giving this a low rating...but

I was really torn about giving this a low rating because the acting is great and the chemistry between both couples is genuinely strong. The overall execution and production aren't bad either...


[spoiler]

...BUT the story itself is just so extremely toxic. Even though the final episode tries to excuse the EXTREME abusive behavior by blaming it on Lu Fengs psychological state, it is just too much. Xiao Chen is written with no self-esteem or self-love and actually possessing no real personality traits other than being "weak" and maybe "too nice". Meanwhile Lu Feng is self-absorbed, egoistic, and extremely abusive. From the very beginning Lu Feng pressures Xiao Chen into everything, including his first time, without showing a bit of compassion. I honestly see no reason why Xiao Chen would stay in love with him after everything he did. Lu Feng abuses Xiao Chen in every way possible, including SA, physical violence, stalking, and severe mental abuse that eventually drives Xiao Chen to attempt self exsit. He even pushes Xiao Chen’s younger brother down the stairs, nearly paralyzing him. The brother (and his partner) is actually the only healthy person here, while he made a mistake early on out of inexperience, it came from a place of protective love. He has a healthy relationship and understands self-love, and in the end, he was entirely right about Lu Feng. I cannot overlook this horrific behavior just because the last episode reveals Lu Feng is mentally unstable, trying to excuse all of this in the final episode as a "mental health issue" to force a happy ending is insulting.. Suddenly shifting to a "love-dovey" conclusion makes no sense. There was nothing genuinely good about Lu Feng, his actions weren't "extreme love", they were just dangerous obsession. In the end the amount of toxicity and abuse completely ruined it for me.

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The REAL obsession? Adam Driver

I went into this series fully expecting angst, obsession, heart-rendering drama… Everything you’d expect from a Chinese BL novel. I haven’t read the book, but I expect it follows through in all of these things. And from the reviews, I was thinking the series would be much the same. It was, for the most part, but for some reason my heart didn’t feel touched by these characters.

The casting choice was - meh. The actor that played Xiao Chen was uninspiring of any kind of obsession: In looks, acting ability, chemistry. All I could think of was, why in the world is Lu Feng obsessed with this little kid. They just didn’t match up age-appropriate or looks-wise. The actor that played Lu Feng, on the other hand, was very talented. He played bi-polar believably. But honestly, I kept getting distracted by thinking he looked familiar. It finally hit me that he looked like an Asian Adam Driver. And once that took hold, that’s literally all I could see for the whole series. Which would’ve been fine… If his supporting cast had the talent he had as far as acting. But because they were uninspiring, all I had to look at was him. And all I could see was Kylo Ren.

The visual production was well done. I didn’t really have any complaints with that. The OST was kind of obnoxious to me. I didn’t really like the song choices, which I typically will in Chinese dramas. But the intro song just kind of annoyed me for some reason. Also, the editing took some major parts out of the story. I don’t know if it was censorship, or a time factor. But they left some things up to your imagination that I could’ve used to help me understand the story and motivations better. Like the many implied bedroom scenes… Was it consensual? Was it not? Without reading the book I don’t have enough of the backstory and the editing really chopped it up for me.

I think that in the end, a Chinese BL novel is never gonna be portrayed exactly how any of us wanted it to be on TV. I think that “Revenge Love” was pretty close, but even that lost its way halfway through. If they ever do “Addicted Heroin” I do not think I can watch it because the disappointment would be too great. It’s my favorite BL novel and I just don’t know that they could do it justice. So watch this BL with caution and low expectations. But reading the book is probably a better use of your time.

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Abuser X Victim: Traumatic God Awful Show!

I don't know where to start with this. I'm so tired right now. I'll try to be succinct, doubt that's gonna happen though. Double Helix is supposed to be symbolic of their relationship. Of our (ugh not mine) two main characters: Yi Chen and Lu Feng who crossed paths in high-school, found each other in college again and reconnected promising a forever love and a future together, but on contrary the Double Helix is one a zig-zag line another a squiggly line, the latter getting attacked by the former because love made it blind and also gave it a mental illness.

Lu Feng, A rich spoiled kid- brat, entitled, and inhuman selfish piece of shit. Yi Chen, our poor victim, warm-hearted dumb dumb, timid and dumb. God! I don't have adjectives for this guy other than those.

See now how I didn't have much to talk about Yi Chen, since other than being a victim and his whole life revolving around the other protagonist. We don't get much on him. Like his dreams, ambitions and a set of things he wanted for himself in his life. He lacks much of his personality(not talking about behavior). We see him hustling around, being told he is a great at this that, and we never see him being assertive, his cafe business also barely running. I hate that we are never given anything convincing to show he had a life of his own, he also turn into his assistant WTF BRO? YOU WORKED IN DESIGN OR SMTG. On the other hand, we have his brother but, we can easily see how he is different from him. He has dreams, he loves his family, and he is childish but guarded, his love life: healthy and supporting comparatively.

Lu Feng, from a strict rich family. But, he too is pathetically written like Yi Chen so there ain't much going on here and I don't care about him anyways. He has a company to inherit that's on stake because no gay, estranged relations, abusive father. He isn't passionate about anything else, other than Yi Chen. He doesn't care about anyone, not even Yi Chen.

Now let's talk about *drumroll* The Problematic Plot: It begins in high school, ML likes the other ML,Yi Chen because he has a nice smile? I don't remember much (thanks brain) Lu Feng, pretending to get hurt using this thin guy everytime, doing stupid things to get his attention. (Also they fucking ran in their school uniform not gym clothes bruh) College days and it continues more, Lu Feng is soooo pushy, all over Yi Chen, so much sexual harrasment gets excused here it was so hard to witness. From here on Yi Chen is done for, for life!

He doesn't care about the feelings of his partner, and whether he is ready or not for physical intimacy. He forces him to have sex[RAPE], also always when he needs to get Yi Chen to abide him he manipulated this guy in the name of love and their stupid vows. It was honestly so hard to watch those scenes where I expected clumsiness, gentle patience and understanding.

From here it spirals from one conflict to another, seperation after seperation from ep 2 onwards. So, the rest of 10 eps spanned over several years just doing this stupid continuous fall outs and second chances. Where we see more concerning debilitating, call the cops situations presented by: Lu Feng. Yi Chen gets conditioned to give in to everything because Lu Feng's abusive behavior and his rampant insecurity in their relationship controls as Yi Chen tries to refuse and so, he submits. I don't know if this guy is into it but at some point of time it is hard to distinguish whether he doing this because he is a masochist or because he is completely stuck in the bottomless pit of a hellhole that he believes as love and life.

Series of events unravel just to drag on plot and reach new heights in enabling the more of shit Lu Feng does as he never understands or is made to feel the weight of his actions. He selfishly paints Yi Chen as a villain for caring for his family who have been there for him his whole life. He doesn't acknowledge that he brought doom to both of his family members. Bipolar disorder doesn't justify his skewed morality. We never see him having episodes in the first place, if they were building towards this, they should show apparent and believable symptoms of the illness. Even if we were to say he was having an episode during that time when he did that. We never see the aftermath of his remorse or regret for causing harm. He just sucks as a human being, maybe with another mental illness or bunch.

Then Lu Feng drugs him, locks him up and constantly verbally, sexually abused him to the point that Yi Chen attempts suicide. After this utter depravity, rooting for them to end up together, wanting someone like him, and considering what Lu Feng did as righteous and out of love and out of yearning is fucking messed up. And arguing it is not real and it is acceptable because it's fiction is seriously vile. I don't care how everyone perceives it, if you enjoy it fine but calling it acceptable because it's fiction still negates the feelings a fictional character, for whom fiction it be, is real, the abuse happens there and he suffers A LOT.

I don't want to see homosexuals represented like this, nor would I accept a straight drama such. But, how it's disgustingly incessant and appreciated is concerning as it's being romanticized. Media such desensitizes the intensity of abuse and demoralizes the autonomy and feelings of the victim in whole. We see the exact same thing happen to Yi Chen and the drama brushed past the rape and trauma inflicted from it as if it was a phase in their relationship. He is an abuser, criminal, a rapist. He should be condemned and jailed lifetime. Yet, he is fawned over and excused because man he has mental illness.

Yi Chen goes back again for fucks sakes, I hated this drama so much for this. I don't care if Lu Feng cries that little shit uses his tears to shackle this guy and man does Yi Chen loves chains. He needs to be freed, he needs therapy, he should've been involuntarily taken to get medical help, we could've saved him but no, we need to give them a fucked up ending.

Yet Lu Feng, a criminal is free, And with a mental illness for the last episode. Stupid foreboding from ep 11, but wasn't expecting a sorry excuse of a mental disorder, wrongly diagnosed that too. And the whole episode is written even badly lol. None of it makes sense, from showing all patient records to not a guardian, disguised as a lover to check on your patient's obsession and not knowing that your patient is fucking vermin with an abuse history!! who needs to be kept away from the victim because he is a walking hazard with fragility of glass. Just because he has a mental illness doesn't means he can just get away with all of the fucking crimes he committed. Utterly bullshit. Well, dumb drama. I hate that Lu Feng gets that much understanding at his vulnerability of his mental illness(??) when the same is not offered when Yi Chen actually goes through worse and life threatening.

Seeing Yi Chen happy family made me hope that his parents would be supportive towards his sexual orientation, but writer made them die bitterly and making their children extremely sad and resentful(if not them, i am) too. The second couple was decent, only sane thing in the show. I just appreciated that it was a healthy relationship.

Complaining about the brother is dumb, he is fictional ffs bleh and right where he is coming from expect when he says that they(lu and xi) should get together that, a no! The siblings actually has a good relationship which was nice. The only thing that I liked about the mcs was the recorded video of their relationship montage in their college days played in ep 2 I think, that was cute and should've been the whole plot. 1 star considering all that. I can't rate it nothing or negative either so yeah.

A lot of the characters never appear again, the second couple barely gets any screentime. The acting is just okay, I didn't feel any chemistry between the characters, they kiss because their faces are close not because there is some tension. I didn't pay much attention to the OST since the show spends most of it's screentime ragebaiting me.

This was my first Toxic BL or whatever we call this stupid genre I don't know why such themes exist in the first place when they are gonna end up together and it is a happily ever after, given the horrifying things that are inflicted on one by their so called love interest and endgame. It doesn't offer any meaningful perspective cause I definitely don't want to understand or empathize with an abuser who, in question is never made to suffer the consequences of their actions. Not like a redemption arc would save his wretchedness, definitely ending that stupid relationship would've saved it some face and I would've tried to accept that the conflicts and abuse he endured finally over and he would get therapy and healing, finding purpose in his life.

So what's the point of Double Helix? Nothing. It is a twisted horror story where abuser and victim end up together. Not recommended. Very triggering and agitating. Don't watch this garbage.

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A story of obsessive psycho and his Stockholm syndrome lover he can't let go

The boundary between love and obsession is very thin. Nothing is good is if it's too much. Since the beginning Lu feng's obsession runs too deep and Yi chen is just a hopeless mouse who will never be able to get out of his paws. Two boys met, fell in love what could go wrong right? But here everything went wrong. As much as I hate lu feng's action I also realize that it was the society that driven him to take such drastic steps. Then again, you can't control what happens to you but what you do is your responsibility. Both parent family gave them no choice, either abandon the world or leave your love cause they knew even love cannot survive alone

Lu feng and Yi chen were wronged by their parents, the society. Lu feng's anger management issue made him took some drastic steps that is irreversible. And Yi chen's cowardice only made it worse. Both of them are at fault. They can't be together yet can't stay without each other either. Such a paradoxical fate

Let me praise Ayden. This actor did a tremendous job. Lu feng before their separation, after meeting and at last two episode were totally three different people. His expression is perfected to the micro level. I enjoyed each of his scene. The more I hated Lu feng the more I loved the actor. He did that hell of a job
Yichen was cute, sunshine. perfect cast for what the role needed at the beginning. That's why their chemistry shined so much. But later his acting paled compared to Ayden
The worst part of this series is probably screenwriting. There is literally no coherent storyline going on. We are jumping from one scene to another. Everyone beside main two characters are show piece and barely has any value to the plotline. The second couple.... severed nothing though their story had so much potential. There is no logic behind what's going on. This show is only watchable if you are focusing on the main character's chemistry otherwise there's nothing really noteworthy

So my question is can a trash plotline actually be saved by a couple with sizzling chemistry?

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The typical toxic chinese BL with a twist...

How to rate this? On one hand I despise the story, on the other hand it was done so perfectly. Of course I'm a bit sick of all the toxic chinese BLs because, do we really need that much toxicity? Is the world not toxic enough? As far as I can tell, the toxicity level was reduced compared to the first installment and the novels, on the other hand the scenes where Lu Feng is holding Yi Chen captive and abuses him are very painful to watch.

And then Yi Chen is also sick - with Stockholm syndrom - and deciding to stay with Lu Feng in the end. But of course he decided against him first because he is the knight in shining armor to protect the love of his brother who also happens to be gay. Of course his family did not help. At least his shitty father had the decency to die in a rage outbreak, but his mother still insisted that he would marry. And because Yi Chen is Yi Chen he does what his mother wants, even when she also dies soon after. Why the woman who loved him, did marry him, knowing he is gay, is beyond me. So it seems she is also sacrifing herself. But at least they get a divorce and because they changed the script, they don't have a child, so there was no intimicy whatsoever.

It's a bit sad, that we have always such characters especially in BLs. Yi Chen sacrifices himself - for what? Lu Feng was driven mad and due his medical condition, it escalated. At least in the finale we get the medical reason why Lu Feng did all the shitty things he did, which is neither in the book nor in most other toxic BLs. His bipolar disorder - also formely known as manic depression - at least explains a lot. He was a maniac for sure. Xi Chen did the only reasonable thing and forced him to get the treatment he needed for more than ten years.

Production quality was of course top notch and the OST was excellent. Acting was also very good for me. So, as usual, everyone who has mental issues should definitively not watch this series. At least with Yi Chen brother and his lover we got the typical fluffy BL stuff many wish for but only in limited quantity. Watch at your own peril!

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Prepare your Therapy

Double Helix is already exceeding my expectations. As a remake of A Round Trip to Love, it feels incredibly polished. Each scene is well-edited with beautiful transitions of the story that lets you bond and reason with the characters and story, the cinematography is superb. You can tell the production value is high even the OST and dubbing are decently good to me.

​The story structure is very smart; it starts with their present day reunion and then moves into a flashback of their university days. The pacing is perfect by the end of episode two, the backstory is clear and easy to follow without feeling choppy.
​What I love most is how natural it feels, you get to understand their story and bond with them in every detail you live each side's point of view which makes me feel more emotionally tied and invested that when something happens you feel like it's you who got punched. The acting from the leads is very good chemistry over the top, and even the side characters are played well which adds depth to the world.

​When it comes to the characters development you can really feel it especially the innocence of their early relationship, and watching Lu Feng’s shift into a "protector" role development feels earned rather than sudden. While the original story is known for being quite dark and tragic, this version is starting off with a lot of heart and builds up darker and darker you'll get tangled up in an emotional rollercoaster and to those who were watching it while it was airing the fear and wait we felt were unbearable lol it’s a must-watch!

TW (spoiler): this series contains a lot of triggers so check out the tags under the synopsis if you need.

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A beautiful mess with an unfinished feeling

I stayed invested mainly because of the leads and their chemistry, which carried a lot of the emotional weight of the drama. I enjoyed the themes of first love, separation, and finding each other again after years apart, and there were several moments that genuinely worked for me. My biggest issue was the final stretch of the story. One of the leads suddenly spirals, and for a while it feels like his behavior comes completely out of nowhere, only for the drama to reveal in the last episode that he has bipolar disorder. That is such a significant piece of information, yet it arrives so late that it doesn’t have the emotional impact or development it deserved. The last two episodes felt incredibly rushed, as if the drama expected viewers to simply accept everything without taking the time to properly explore the consequences or emotions behind it. I also really appreciated the younger brother and his partner, who brought a lot of warmth and support whenever the story became too heavy. That said, for a Chinese BL, I was genuinely surprised by how much they managed to show and imply. Considering the limitations and likely censorship involved, there were several moments I honestly never expected to see on screen, and for that alone the series deserves some credit. Despite its flaws, the chemistry between the leads kept me invested until the very end.

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Double The Stress!!

No matter what universe the answer will still be no.

No to Yi Chen's mother. Should have died sooner. Yes, I said it.
No to his brother. In fact, add a slap to that. Blocked his brother's happiness and then went on to have his happy life and felt he was in a position to criticize. One leg didn't seem appropriate.
No to the blame Lu Feng had to endure for his honesty and insinuating that he corrupted Yi Chen, when the brother was getting his rocks off on the down low. But let's all blame Lu Feng.
No to Lu Feng's sister and family. Another set of happy campers forcibly imposing their rules and exacerbating his mental illness while having a beautiful successful life. Again, another set of parents that lived too long.
No to shooting Yi Chen and blaming everything on Lu Feng. Yes she came to help but bring authorities not a gun. It is okay to kill Lu Feng but not the jellyfish.
No to Yi Chen taking so long to grow a spine that I thought he was a jelly fish. His escapism was just as ill as Lu Feng's bipolar behavior, just quieter. Had the audacity to show up for an interview and took of his glasses to get back in. Diabloical. He knew the power he held.
No to Yi Chen trying to protect his mother at the same time discarding Lu Feng.
No to Yi Chen not appreciating what Lu Feng did by severing his relationship with his family for him.
No to the pain and suffering Lu Feng put Yi Chen through, especially with the psychiatrist, when he knew he had a problem.
No to Lu Feng taking Yi Chen forcefully.
No to Lu Feng not accommodating Yi Chen's desire to top him. He had to assume the bottom role by default. Would once every 10 years be so bad? No. Relationship still not intune.

For 12 ep I was stressed out of my mind with these two.

Yes to the writers, production team and actors.
I would have preferred not seeing the brother in the last ep but hey, they didn’t ask me. The only good thing on seeing him is when Lang basically told him he could've sent him crazy too with his attitude. Yet he was so judgemental of Lu Feng. I hated Yi Chen's expression in the later eps. His mouth looked like a guppy when he was clueless. I loved the commitment they felt for each other. I loved when Yi Chen said "We'll go crazy together."

Overall, decent.

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Trigger Warning/ Triggering

Y'all, Lu Feng needs to get popped in his mouth. Holy hell. I can not STAND him. 😭 He's a little psychotic demon. Atrocious. Why is he so damn aggressive??

Oh and Cheng Yi Chen? He is SOOO aggressively spineless and is too comfortable being a doormat. Really wish he'd find his brain and get some standards.
The more Cheng Yi Chen 'tolerated' from Lu Feng, the angrier I got. Show had me so livid. How is he going to look like absolute crap and take a bully for the person responsible for the terrible state he's in.
"Why do you always want to leave me?" My guy, do somw self-reflecting. My word

Lu Feng treated his mom and brother like shit. What does Yi Chen do? He betrays them for said that man. Just to keep being treated like trash! Like hello, are you good?
They all need to learn how to stand tf up and walk away from toxic relationships.

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Mid Acting, Toxic Tropes, and Highly Ironic Karma for Homophobic Parents

I started watching this drama out of pure curiosity. The beginning was actually quite nice...just a cute college couple navigating life together. However, things took a sharp, bizarre turn after the breakup arc and the screwed up kidnapping plot line. From that point on, the bottom was abused in every possible way and nothing made sense ( I don't even get why he got married to that girl to begin with). Honestly, the only ending that would have made any sense was for them to separate. Instead, the top's toxic, unstable behavior was romanticized, which completely put me off.

Don't even get me started on the second leads...they were entirely unnecessary and deeply infuriating. While the second top wasn't quite as bad, the second bottom was easily one of the worst characters I've ever seen in a BL. Together, they lacked chemistry, and their scenes were just weird and cringey. The only saving grace was the accidental comedy of seeing highly homophobic parents end up with the most aggressively bottom children in history.

This show missed a great opportunity. It could have been a wholesome story about a gay couple finding their way despite a homophobic society and unsupportive parents. Instead, it devolved into a messy "dark romance" that wasn't even compelling. It was just uncomfortable to watch. Combined with highly mediocre acting, I genuinely don't understand the point of writing plots like this.

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