JulesL

Thank you! I try to be as objective as possible. Even if I had read the novel, I believe that the drama should be judged in its own right. I also try not to lean towards any one actor unless it is Dilireba :D I really like her for some reason - haha!

Give it a try. You might dislike him like some viewers or like me, I was not bothered by the amount of screen time he got. More his acting.

The show was dragged down by it but the other positive points made up for it. The acting of the leads was great.

Thank you for taking the time to read my review. If only they did a better job with SRQ, then some viewers may actually have SLS until the end :D

The scene of the person filming Tan Song and that scumbag husband - is HT going to get into trouble and long with him, Xing Chen?

Spoiler question about what happens after ep 24

Ah ok, looking forward to that then! :D

Xiao Meng is too cute. She's impressed just because HT is willing to take the trash down for them :D

Thanks! I hope in this show it is no more than 2 episodes :D

Haiz, there is a break up? Will it last long?

Can we please give a shout out to Lili for being a truly good friend who gives good advice?!! Too often, the best friend in the show would give the worst advice and behave stupidly. Not Lili - she's matured and sophisticated. Hopefully her own love life will go well and whatever XYX is hiding from her can be overcome.

Same here. At the beginning of the show, so many were talking about the novel, I thought I missed so many scenes when they never even happened in the show! 😂

There's a good mix of reviews and hopefully most people will at least try the show first to judge for themselves!
Also, those of us experienced with MDL know better than to judge based on the ratings :D

Finally binged the express package and since I started with a clean slate without having read the novel, I enjoyed this show very much. The acting was excellent, although I thought SRQ needed a more veteran actor who can handle such character.
A few commented that SRQ was more of the ML than PWX and PWX was only a supporting character but I did not get that impression. In fact, in the beginning, SRQ was not even on my radar except for a plot device to drive the leads closer, and later when he turned out as the main villain (with some poor justifications on his part), I expected him to be featured more like many other shows, the villains tended to have more screen time to drive up the angst factor.
I believe the show wanted to show a more complex villain, one who really did all the things he did to protect the woman he loved, and that this villain was not just evil, wanting power or protect his family's name and prestige. I also think that the show wanted to add more to just a flat sweet romance for the leads.
Some shows do it well where the viewers actually get SLS, and feel bad for the SML/Villain until the very end. However, not in this case, I never felt bad for SRQ. Prhaps it's the acting or the writing but despite all his profession of love for the FL, and all the flashbacks never stirred any emotions within me.
Regardless of whether SRQ really got more screen time than PWX, it didn't matter to me since LR and PWX were wonderful together. I liked how PWX was determined not to repeat his mistakes and wore his heart on his sleeves the second time round. I like that his persistence led to LR's character development and how she was able to trust him completely in the end. I am not sure why some thought that he was just an accessory when he clearly was brilliant and did a lot to help LR as a skilled strategist, with and at times without her knowledge.
The palace shenanigans, with all the scheming and plotting were also entertaining. The twists and turns kept things interesting and added to the angst factor.
This is certainly not a "feel good" show where the good ones win all the time but it certainly provided the satisfaction I wanted. I was half expecting some open ended dream sequence but the ending was a proper and complete one.

You're right, no point for JX to spite herself by acting hostile towards SYC. He is still beneficial to her professinally. She should however start blocking that snake, she does not need to be all besties with her for sure!

I just found that out. I dont know the differences before this since I watched these dramas on different streaming platforms.

Ah that's too bad. I want the show to go the non-standard plot and for once, have us enjoy a feel good movie where the ML and FL continue to strive and thrive despite all the backstabbing and betrayal. It's too typical to have the ML experience his own downfall and having to be forced out of the company.

Absolutely, I am not holding SYC blameless on the whole matter. I ranted about him very early on, around ep 9.

I was focused on WQZ this time because I was talking about the girlfriend code which she already broke from the get go by acting all dodgy.

Now that they are together and still acting sneaky, I wish the show didn't make the FL a saint - she should at least expressed her discomfort like she revealed to Lili, instead of telling WQZ that it was all good.

Of course, like you said, we are all glad that everyone moved on quickly but I want JX to express her negative feelings too instead of being portrayed as someone always bubbly and strong, smiling all the time.

No wonder people are asking for BTS clips :D Luckily people are kind enough to share.

Oh I didn't realize that, I usually watched all the dramas on official streaming platforms so I didn't know the difference. Thanks!