I think the replies to this are missing the obvious point. It's not a matter of if she's married or engaged, it's…
Thank you for this comment. At least some people are not buying this toxic bullying one-sided love story. I'm even I'm ashamed to call this love story.
Overdo is peak "Proud Simp" nonsense, and not the fun kind. The show wants you to believe it's a sweeping, tragic romance set in Republican-era Shanghai, but strip away the pretty costumes and dramatic music and what you're left with is one of the most one-sided, emotionally manipulative relationships in recent cdrama history. Murong Qingyi, played by Zhang Linghe, is the abused youngest son of a warlord family who falls hard for Ren Susu, played by Wang Churan, after a brief but intense connection. It's a classic melodrama setup. Tragedy strikes, he takes the fall for her, ends up in prison, and believes she died. Heartbreaking, right? Except she didn't die. She faked it, escaped, and let him rot in jail for three years. No letter, no explanation, no looking back. When she finally resurfaces, she's engaged to marry his brother. The woman he destroyed his life for is about to become his sister-in-law. You'd think this would be the moment he wakes up. Nope. Qingyi still pines for her. Still shows her affection. Still looks at her like she's the sun while she's standing there in his brother's arms. The drama frames this as "enduring love" and a "love-hate entanglement," but let's be real, it's pathetic. There's a difference between devotion and self-debasement, and Overdo doesn't know where that line is. The man went to prison for her, she let him, he got out, she married his brother, and he's still chasing after her? That's not romantic. That's a mental health crisis. And Ren Susu? Zero remorse. The show tries to handwave her actions with vague "secrets she cannot reveal" and "pain she cannot express," but three years of silence while your supposed soulmate suffers for your sake isn't tragic, it's cruel. When she finally faces him again, there's no genuine apology, no real reckoning, just more mysterious suffering and emotional manipulation disguised as complexity. We're supposed to feel for her because she's "troubled," but all I see is someone who got away clean while her fall guy took the punishment. The show asks us to root for their reunion, to believe that love conquers all including common sense, self-respect, and basic human decency. But what kind of romance demands that one party suffer endlessly while the other faces zero consequences? Where's the balance? Where's the mutual growth? Qingyi doesn't grow from this, he just suffers more. Susu doesn't grow, she just keeps being mysterious and sad. Nobody wins except the writers who think suffering equals depth. It's frustrating because the pieces are there. Zhang Linghe brings real wounded intensity to Qingyi, you genuinely feel his pain, which makes his inability to move on even more maddening. Wang Churan has the look and presence of a compelling tragic heroine, but the script gives her nothing to work with beyond "beautiful woman with secrets." The Republican-era Shanghai setting is gorgeous, the production values are solid, and the chemistry between the leads is undeniable. All of it wasted on a dynamic that asks us to romanticize emotional abuse. Overdo is a beautifully packaged drama with a rotten core. If you enjoy watching one character suffer endlessly while the other gets away with emotional negligence, congratulations, this is your show. For everyone else, it's a masterclass in how not to write a romance. Love shouldn't mean letting someone destroy you. It shouldn't mean forgiving betrayal without so much as an apology. And it definitely shouldn't mean simping for the person who let you rot in jail while they started a new life. Hard pass.
I started with high expectations but now I am struggling a bit. When I was a child, there used to be a series called The Bold and the Beautiful on TV, and it used to have all these super intense plot twists in every episode, all kinds of weird "fates" and twisted romances/ relationships. The "intensity" was so far-fetched and over-the-top that it became ridiculous nonsense and the plot was not believable.
I am having a bit of the similar response and feelings towards this as I used to towards that silly series. I keep thinking "oh come on, he would never do that, that would never happen", and I feel like the name Overdo fits the drama a bit too well, it feels like they're overdoing it. So I am still waiting for them to sell the plot to me, I am not yet buying it, and because of that, having a bit of trouble being emotionally invested.
Or, if I try my best to overlook how over-the-top it is, then I still struggle while watching it because I just feel that I don't like Ren Susu at all (not Wang Chu Ran, she is nice, I just don't like this role she is playing). I don't like manipulative women who use others and don't care who they hurt just to get what they want. Of course I don't know the whole story yet, but for now, it bothers me. Which then makes me feel that I don't understand how a guy could still be in love with someone who single-handedly destroyed his life (no more able to perform surgeries etc). Guess I've seen too many true crime stories, how easily so-called love can turn into a murder (husbands/boyfriends murdering their wife/girlfriend in a fit of rage), and thus find it difficult to believe he would just let her go or even run to her rescue and protect her. When he does that in the drama, I feel like he is being manipulated by her even more (she has him wrapped around her pinky finger), which then makes me dislike her even more.
The other issue I have is that Myolie Wu playing the Murong family mother looks in my eyes the same age as the lady playing the big sister, and I think they should've chosen someone else for the role of the big sister who would look more like Myolie Wu's daughter instead of her sister. I checked and she is quite a lot younger than Myolie Wu, but for some reason she looks much older here. I don't know what went wrong with the styling of the big sister but I keep staring at her and get distracted by her because something about her is just so weird or off, maybe it's her hair, or the shape of her face, I don't know. She doesn't seem like a big sister but like an auntie.
I don't think the acting in this drama is a problem, they're doing just fine with their acting. I think it's more of a plot/writing issue. I suppose some feel that "yes, this is good, no boring parts, it's fast paced, keeps the viewers interested", but for me it feels like taking all the possible plot twists you can imagine from several different dramas and throwing them all into a view episodes and giving it a good shake. It's a bit too much. Fast paced dramas are good, but there should be some restraint even in them so as to not exhaust the viewers with yet another hard-to-believe "twist of fate". And I've watched many slow-paced dramas that still manage to grip you and have a strong hold over the viewers even though it doesn't rush the storytelling.
I hope to see in the following episodes that they would be able to gather the story together into something coherent and reasonable. Right now it's all over the place with him being blamed for the death of his father, having being accidentally misplaced into a different family as a child and then returned, and being blamed for the death of his fiance's father even though he is innocent and being thrown to jail for 3 years.... (Really? 3 years for murder? Only 3? Oh, okay then)..... and being in love with a woman who is possibly the real murderer and who used him to get close to the Huo's and then faked her death by shooting herself and falling out of the train and then comes back to marry his big brother with a new identity because she's on a secret mission....
1. In the livestream it was revealed that Aimi participated in an audition to get the role. So it's her choice.…
I'm not weird like you. I can't enjoy romance between a kid and an adult. You all are giving pedophile vibes here in the comment section. Very disgusting to witness.
For some reason CDrama writers or whoever is in charge of casting keep getting it wrong. But honestly, not everyone is going to enjoy a romance between an 18-year-old and a 29-year-old. It's very weird, and that is the biggest turn-off for many people.
Secondly, there are many entanglements in the drama. Apparently, before the FL, the ML already had 2 wives and kid. I'm sure the whole entanglement will be explained later, but it's exhausting sitting and watching that through.
I noticed that first thing too. And not just ML, his entire brotherhood/family seems to have this in their DNA.…
Bro, spot on. Blossoms went sideways towards the end. I'm still recovering from Moli from episode 30 onwards total disappointment. I do read manga got any recommendations?
I think you would prefer 2005-2010 shows. Have you watched the likes of Hana Yori Dango or playful kiss, where…
I'm not asking for misogynistic drama where the FL is constantly belittled, chased, or reduced to a prize to be won, nor do I want a story where one party does all the emotional labor while the other remains passive or indifferent. What I'm looking for is a balanced love story where the ML and FL equally show interest, curiosity, and effort in getting to know each other where attraction feels mutual and earned, not one-sided and instantaneous. Alternatively, I'd enjoy a slow burner romance that takes its time building tension through meaningful interactions, shared experiences, and gradual emotional intimacy rather than rushing into devotion. In this drama, however, the ML is already full-on simping in episode 01 he's instantly obsessed, making heart eyes, going out of his way to please her without any real buildup or reason, and basically surrendering all agency from the very first scene. It feels very cringe because there's no tension, no question of 'will they or won't they,' and no sense that the FL has to meet him halfway. It undermines any potential for a compelling dynamic and makes the whole thing feel cheap and unearned.
1 
Murong Qingyi, played by Zhang Linghe, is the abused youngest son of a warlord family who falls hard for Ren Susu, played by Wang Churan, after a brief but intense connection. It's a classic melodrama setup. Tragedy strikes, he takes the fall for her, ends up in prison, and believes she died. Heartbreaking, right? Except she didn't die. She faked it, escaped, and let him rot in jail for three years. No letter, no explanation, no looking back. When she finally resurfaces, she's engaged to marry his brother. The woman he destroyed his life for is about to become his sister-in-law. You'd think this would be the moment he wakes up. Nope.
Qingyi still pines for her. Still shows her affection. Still looks at her like she's the sun while she's standing there in his brother's arms. The drama frames this as "enduring love" and a "love-hate entanglement," but let's be real, it's pathetic. There's a difference between devotion and self-debasement, and Overdo doesn't know where that line is. The man went to prison for her, she let him, he got out, she married his brother, and he's still chasing after her? That's not romantic. That's a mental health crisis.
And Ren Susu? Zero remorse. The show tries to handwave her actions with vague "secrets she cannot reveal" and "pain she cannot express," but three years of silence while your supposed soulmate suffers for your sake isn't tragic, it's cruel. When she finally faces him again, there's no genuine apology, no real reckoning, just more mysterious suffering and emotional manipulation disguised as complexity. We're supposed to feel for her because she's "troubled," but all I see is someone who got away clean while her fall guy took the punishment.
The show asks us to root for their reunion, to believe that love conquers all including common sense, self-respect, and basic human decency. But what kind of romance demands that one party suffer endlessly while the other faces zero consequences? Where's the balance? Where's the mutual growth? Qingyi doesn't grow from this, he just suffers more. Susu doesn't grow, she just keeps being mysterious and sad. Nobody wins except the writers who think suffering equals depth.
It's frustrating because the pieces are there. Zhang Linghe brings real wounded intensity to Qingyi, you genuinely feel his pain, which makes his inability to move on even more maddening. Wang Churan has the look and presence of a compelling tragic heroine, but the script gives her nothing to work with beyond "beautiful woman with secrets." The Republican-era Shanghai setting is gorgeous, the production values are solid, and the chemistry between the leads is undeniable. All of it wasted on a dynamic that asks us to romanticize emotional abuse.
Overdo is a beautifully packaged drama with a rotten core. If you enjoy watching one character suffer endlessly while the other gets away with emotional negligence, congratulations, this is your show. For everyone else, it's a masterclass in how not to write a romance. Love shouldn't mean letting someone destroy you. It shouldn't mean forgiving betrayal without so much as an apology. And it definitely shouldn't mean simping for the person who let you rot in jail while they started a new life. Hard pass.
I am having a bit of the similar response and feelings towards this as I used to towards that silly series. I keep thinking "oh come on, he would never do that, that would never happen", and I feel like the name Overdo fits the drama a bit too well, it feels like they're overdoing it. So I am still waiting for them to sell the plot to me, I am not yet buying it, and because of that, having a bit of trouble being emotionally invested.
Or, if I try my best to overlook how over-the-top it is, then I still struggle while watching it because I just feel that I don't like Ren Susu at all (not Wang Chu Ran, she is nice, I just don't like this role she is playing). I don't like manipulative women who use others and don't care who they hurt just to get what they want. Of course I don't know the whole story yet, but for now, it bothers me. Which then makes me feel that I don't understand how a guy could still be in love with someone who single-handedly destroyed his life (no more able to perform surgeries etc). Guess I've seen too many true crime stories, how easily so-called love can turn into a murder (husbands/boyfriends murdering their wife/girlfriend in a fit of rage), and thus find it difficult to believe he would just let her go or even run to her rescue and protect her. When he does that in the drama, I feel like he is being manipulated by her even more (she has him wrapped around her pinky finger), which then makes me dislike her even more.
The other issue I have is that Myolie Wu playing the Murong family mother looks in my eyes the same age as the lady playing the big sister, and I think they should've chosen someone else for the role of the big sister who would look more like Myolie Wu's daughter instead of her sister. I checked and she is quite a lot younger than Myolie Wu, but for some reason she looks much older here. I don't know what went wrong with the styling of the big sister but I keep staring at her and get distracted by her because something about her is just so weird or off, maybe it's her hair, or the shape of her face, I don't know. She doesn't seem like a big sister but like an auntie.
I don't think the acting in this drama is a problem, they're doing just fine with their acting. I think it's more of a plot/writing issue. I suppose some feel that "yes, this is good, no boring parts, it's fast paced, keeps the viewers interested", but for me it feels like taking all the possible plot twists you can imagine from several different dramas and throwing them all into a view episodes and giving it a good shake. It's a bit too much. Fast paced dramas are good, but there should be some restraint even in them so as to not exhaust the viewers with yet another hard-to-believe "twist of fate". And I've watched many slow-paced dramas that still manage to grip you and have a strong hold over the viewers even though it doesn't rush the storytelling.
I hope to see in the following episodes that they would be able to gather the story together into something coherent and reasonable. Right now it's all over the place with him being blamed for the death of his father, having being accidentally misplaced into a different family as a child and then returned, and being blamed for the death of his fiance's father even though he is innocent and being thrown to jail for 3 years.... (Really? 3 years for murder? Only 3? Oh, okay then)..... and being in love with a woman who is possibly the real murderer and who used him to get close to the Huo's and then faked her death by shooting herself and falling out of the train and then comes back to marry his big brother with a new identity because she's on a secret mission....
Secondly, there are many entanglements in the drama. Apparently, before the FL, the ML already had 2 wives and kid. I'm sure the whole entanglement will be explained later, but it's exhausting sitting and watching that through.