Martina

There are dramas that take a few episodes to win you over, and then there are dramas like The Early Spring that grab you by the collar from the very beginning and make you think: “Oh, this is going to be GOOD.”
Unfortunately, this is also one of those dramas that makes you wonder halfway through: “Wait… where did all that momentum go?”

Let's start with the good stuff, because there is a lot of it.
The opening episodes are fantastic. The story immediately creates an interesting dynamic between Shang Zhitao and Luan Nian, and instead of spending forever waiting for something to happen, the drama gives us tension, attraction, awkwardness and conflict almost immediately.
And then there are Jing Boran and Sun Qian.
These two have chemistry. Not the kind of chemistry where the script tells you, “Look! They like each other!” and you are supposed to believe it. I'm talking about the kind where they can simply stand in the same room and you can feel that something is happening.
A look.
A pause.
A change in tone.
The distance between them.
Sometimes they don't even need dialogue.

Jing Boran is particularly good at playing Luan Nian's complicated personality. He can be arrogant, difficult, controlling and occasionally incredibly frustrating, but he never makes the character boring. There is always something underneath the surface, and Jing Boran knows exactly how much to show and how much to leave unsaid.
Sun Qian is equally important to this chemistry.
I've seen quite a few discussions where most of the praise goes to Jing Boran, and I actually think that's unfair to Sun Qian. She is an essential part of why this pairing works. Shang Zhitao may sometimes come across as passive or uncertain, but Sun Qian gives her enough warmth and sincerity to make the attraction believable.

Another thing I appreciated is that The Early Spring doesn't feel like a typical fluffy office romance.
These are adults with careers, ambitions, insecurities and responsibilities.
Shang Zhitao isn't simply introduced as “the girl who will eventually get the handsome boss.” She has her own professional journey, and watching her find her place in a competitive environment is an important part of the story.
I also liked the contrast between her and Luan Nian.
She is more straightforward and tends to take things literally, while he is much more complicated and often communicates through implications, half-truths and carefully controlled emotions.
The workplace setting also works surprisingly well. The office isn't simply there so the leads can bump into each other every five minutes. Their careers and professional choices actually influence their relationship, which gives the romance a more mature atmosphere.

Unfortunately, somewhere before the halfway point, I started feeling the drama losing itself.
Not all at once.
That's what makes it worse. Instead, you start noticing that the story isn't really moving anymore.
The romance becomes repetitive.
At first, the push-and-pull between Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao is exciting. You want to know whether they're going to take that next step.
Then they get closer.
Something happens.
They pull away.
You think: Okay, NOW they're finally going to talk about it.
Nope.
They go backwards again.
Then the story gives you another moment that makes you think they're finally going somewhere.
And once again… back to square one.
At some point I started feeling like I was watching the same emotional conversation in different outfits.
And this is where the drama lost me a little.
Meanwhile, the final episodes suddenly have to carry all the emotional development that the middle section could have been building gradually. Things that deserved time to breathe are suddenly happening one after another.

I also think the drama could have done more with its characters.
Luan Nian is fascinating because he is flawed. I actually prefer complicated male leads to perfectly polished green flags, so his personality didn't bother me as much as it might bother other viewers. What bothered me more was seeing how often the same emotional patterns repeated.
He has his issues.
She has her insecurities.
They clearly care about each other.
They clearly understand that something is happening between them.
And yet they keep making things unnecessarily complicated.
Sometimes it works because that's who they are.
Sometimes it just feels like the plot needs them to misunderstand each other for another episode.
I don't dislike Shang Zhitao, and I actually like that she has her own professional aspirations. But I wish the drama had given her more consistent development instead of allowing so much of her emotional journey to revolve around Luan Nian.

I wish the writers had trusted the relationship enough to let it develop naturally instead of repeatedly resetting it. I wish some of the middle episodes had been used to actually deepen the characters rather than prolonging the same conflict. And most of all, I wish the final developments hadn't been squeezed into the last couple of episodes.
Still, I can't deny the appeal.
Because whenever Luan Nian and Shang Zhitao are actually together, talking, looking at each other, fighting, teasing each other or simply existing in the same space… the drama comes alive again. And that chemistry is impossible to ignore.
So my final feeling is basically: Amazing beginning. Incredible chemistry. Beautiful atmosphere. Frustrating middle. Rushed ending. The Early Spring gave me a taste of how good it could be, and unfortunately, it never quite managed to live up to that first impression.