2
SKYLINE
Somewhere in this world
This review may contain spoilers
Hypocritical & Lazy scriptwriting with dull chemistry
PLOT & GENRE DISTRIBUTION - This drama never had a rise arc but fell straight after introduction simply due to lazy writing. Rom-Com + Any other genre .. never works for me, because they most of the time completely overshadow the other genre. Something similar happened here, Law as a genre was slaughtered here passionately instead it was suppose to bond our leads.
THEME - Feminism was the main idea behind this production but fell flat. Writers of this drama had a wishful thinking that they were doing female population a great favour by voicing their opinions through this drama. All throughout the show I never witnessed female characters stating their rights and P.O.Vs where needed. Just saying that character is strong doesn't make them one, actions speak louder than words. Here, you'll see neither actions nor words.
ACTING - Cheng Xi, Bao Rui, Tan Ying and Liang Yi Ran may be Yu Fei also, were the only well acted characters for me. No hate for actors I haven't seen their others works yet, so I refrain from strong opinion but FL had only overstretched grin and sad pout as reactions which made it difficult to read her emotions and ML was there for thirsty viewers like me ? but I couldn't feel his emotions. ML and FL had no chemistry at all, it felt that they fell in love just because it was the story arc, that's it.
CHARACTERS & DEVELOPMENT - I saw no character development.
> Qian Heng - From the beginning to end he was arrogant, self-righteous, domineering, (it's not bad if done right way), rude, possessive, hypocritical and clueless I must say. As, a lawyer he was professional lawyer indeed but he needed to cut some slack on controlling behaviour. I understand it was his first relationship, yet, you shouldn't go out of the way to disrespect other's opinions. At some point he told FL to not date until 2 years and focus on career, they fell in love that's not the problem, but don't interfere in her work unnecessarily, that's rude. Clearly, he was at peak of his career so everything felt easy for him, but she was starting from the scratch yet, obviously if your partner take pride in their work they will not like your influence on it even though his intention was to help but sadly it backfired. As I said he was self-righteous, he thought actively helping her through his connections was right thing to do and clearly she minded it all. This character was hypocritical than the writing itself, his words were all support for FL, but actions weren't. Since they lacked chemistry, 180 turn on his personality after dating felt unreal. He was cute until he was not. He needed to groom his inner child better.
> Cheng Yao - Faltering, stubborn, ignorant, impulsive and extremely naive. Another clueless character who needs to them spoon-fed every info. As, a lawyer she was lacking, well definitely she was rookie but not layman?. She waited for ML to react on her behalf. well woman up girl you are a lawyer yourself. (Atleast you have read law books ?). At the end of the drama she becomes successful, oh well?, I mean they clearly implied that when she moved firms she became a success in no less than six months ... ok .. so maybe that firm was the problem or maybe her 24hrs involvement with ML she clearly needed to breathe some alone air. She didn't handled Liang Yi Ran episode well, it was a great opportunity to show her professional side thay missed it great time. Even if she shifted firms but she should have handled that matter herself, it was about her integrity as lawyer which she kept yelling about from day 1 but no our pampered ML will come and solve issue for us .. dah dude??? In their relationship she was the lacking one, I never felt any affection towards ML from this character, it seemed as if dating wasn't her pursuit and yes it was not? it clearly states she wanted to be a top lawyer in synopsis and her mind was fixated on that, all this dating stuff felt forced. She wasn't serious about being professional unless LYR called her out. I think this character was better fit with Gu Bei Qing than ML.
> Wu Jun - Persistent, carefree, cheery, supportive and little bit Selfish?. As a lawyer we didn't get to how he was, there wasn't much shown, but he has kind heart and has better personality than ML. In short, all he did was follow his love and support her unconditionally and clean up after ML's mess?. But chemistry between 2nd couple was good and reason I continued so let's cut him some slack. This character was true to it's origin till end.
> Cheng Xi - Wu jun's love interest, Deng Ming's ex, Cheng Yao's sister that's what she describe her not cheng xi, still the actress portrayed her role well. This character at least I expected to turn out strong if not FL, but no she was again overshadowed. I loved the scenes she was in, but I wished a lot for this character to develop but to no avail
> Bao Rui - He was funny until he was not, initially I enjoyed his scenes where he portrayed self-obsessed, boss stalker (in good way), conceited and I am centre of world personality, but in later episodes it became annoying. I had few laughs because of the office trio.
> Tan Ying & Yu Fei - Sweet and endearing, their love story was far more interesting than main couple.
> Liang Yi Ran - Yes, we needed THAT one girl, so here she is, actress played well. It was indeed a filler, but ignited something in FL to become more serious about her profession.
STORY - Two words - Paper thin. Full of fillers and was parody of well known troupes and cliches. So many false claims on feminism, which were never brought to action. Cases weren't dealt properly.. maybe execution problem. Many story arcs were cut short or weren't dealt with carefully, everything was stuffed in last episode. I don't think intimacy is deemed necessary for romance but please give us some tension or believable couple. After living under the same roof, FL doesn't changed a bit.? She acted the same as his assistant and as his girlfriend. ? They literally made the mess out of law, if you can't balance then don't mention it at all, just let it be a rom-com .. just don't add another genre. She aspired to be top lawyer, but her passion is nowhere to be seen. She literally shirked away her responsibility and ran off when scolded by her boss, I know she is sulking since it's a rom-com but girl she is not your BF yet. Just for the sake of humour they did 360 with parents, indeed it was a filler.
PACE - Slow-paced but should come with warning that you could get frustrated. I have no problem with slow-pace, have watched some awesome shows with slow pace. But there has to be some development to keep us engaging, pacing was not true rom-com genre. It was painstakingly annoying.
EXECUTION - They gave an already weak story another shock with execution. It made story even more pathetic.
DIRECTION/CINEMATOGRAPHY - There were some random unneeded shots and there weren't much aesthetics to point out otherwise it was good.
Music/SFX - I won't be listening on repeat that's for sure, but went well with moods they tried hard to present. ? Opening OST and one I don't remember ep no. , but the one when she was sad over the celebrity case, I liked them.
One last thing, they needed a better stylist, only Tan Ying and Cheng Xi stood out it terms of fashion.
THEME - Feminism was the main idea behind this production but fell flat. Writers of this drama had a wishful thinking that they were doing female population a great favour by voicing their opinions through this drama. All throughout the show I never witnessed female characters stating their rights and P.O.Vs where needed. Just saying that character is strong doesn't make them one, actions speak louder than words. Here, you'll see neither actions nor words.
ACTING - Cheng Xi, Bao Rui, Tan Ying and Liang Yi Ran may be Yu Fei also, were the only well acted characters for me. No hate for actors I haven't seen their others works yet, so I refrain from strong opinion but FL had only overstretched grin and sad pout as reactions which made it difficult to read her emotions and ML was there for thirsty viewers like me ? but I couldn't feel his emotions. ML and FL had no chemistry at all, it felt that they fell in love just because it was the story arc, that's it.
CHARACTERS & DEVELOPMENT - I saw no character development.
> Qian Heng - From the beginning to end he was arrogant, self-righteous, domineering, (it's not bad if done right way), rude, possessive, hypocritical and clueless I must say. As, a lawyer he was professional lawyer indeed but he needed to cut some slack on controlling behaviour. I understand it was his first relationship, yet, you shouldn't go out of the way to disrespect other's opinions. At some point he told FL to not date until 2 years and focus on career, they fell in love that's not the problem, but don't interfere in her work unnecessarily, that's rude. Clearly, he was at peak of his career so everything felt easy for him, but she was starting from the scratch yet, obviously if your partner take pride in their work they will not like your influence on it even though his intention was to help but sadly it backfired. As I said he was self-righteous, he thought actively helping her through his connections was right thing to do and clearly she minded it all. This character was hypocritical than the writing itself, his words were all support for FL, but actions weren't. Since they lacked chemistry, 180 turn on his personality after dating felt unreal. He was cute until he was not. He needed to groom his inner child better.
> Cheng Yao - Faltering, stubborn, ignorant, impulsive and extremely naive. Another clueless character who needs to them spoon-fed every info. As, a lawyer she was lacking, well definitely she was rookie but not layman?. She waited for ML to react on her behalf. well woman up girl you are a lawyer yourself. (Atleast you have read law books ?). At the end of the drama she becomes successful, oh well?, I mean they clearly implied that when she moved firms she became a success in no less than six months ... ok .. so maybe that firm was the problem or maybe her 24hrs involvement with ML she clearly needed to breathe some alone air. She didn't handled Liang Yi Ran episode well, it was a great opportunity to show her professional side thay missed it great time. Even if she shifted firms but she should have handled that matter herself, it was about her integrity as lawyer which she kept yelling about from day 1 but no our pampered ML will come and solve issue for us .. dah dude??? In their relationship she was the lacking one, I never felt any affection towards ML from this character, it seemed as if dating wasn't her pursuit and yes it was not? it clearly states she wanted to be a top lawyer in synopsis and her mind was fixated on that, all this dating stuff felt forced. She wasn't serious about being professional unless LYR called her out. I think this character was better fit with Gu Bei Qing than ML.
> Wu Jun - Persistent, carefree, cheery, supportive and little bit Selfish?. As a lawyer we didn't get to how he was, there wasn't much shown, but he has kind heart and has better personality than ML. In short, all he did was follow his love and support her unconditionally and clean up after ML's mess?. But chemistry between 2nd couple was good and reason I continued so let's cut him some slack. This character was true to it's origin till end.
> Cheng Xi - Wu jun's love interest, Deng Ming's ex, Cheng Yao's sister that's what she describe her not cheng xi, still the actress portrayed her role well. This character at least I expected to turn out strong if not FL, but no she was again overshadowed. I loved the scenes she was in, but I wished a lot for this character to develop but to no avail
> Bao Rui - He was funny until he was not, initially I enjoyed his scenes where he portrayed self-obsessed, boss stalker (in good way), conceited and I am centre of world personality, but in later episodes it became annoying. I had few laughs because of the office trio.
> Tan Ying & Yu Fei - Sweet and endearing, their love story was far more interesting than main couple.
> Liang Yi Ran - Yes, we needed THAT one girl, so here she is, actress played well. It was indeed a filler, but ignited something in FL to become more serious about her profession.
STORY - Two words - Paper thin. Full of fillers and was parody of well known troupes and cliches. So many false claims on feminism, which were never brought to action. Cases weren't dealt properly.. maybe execution problem. Many story arcs were cut short or weren't dealt with carefully, everything was stuffed in last episode. I don't think intimacy is deemed necessary for romance but please give us some tension or believable couple. After living under the same roof, FL doesn't changed a bit.? She acted the same as his assistant and as his girlfriend. ? They literally made the mess out of law, if you can't balance then don't mention it at all, just let it be a rom-com .. just don't add another genre. She aspired to be top lawyer, but her passion is nowhere to be seen. She literally shirked away her responsibility and ran off when scolded by her boss, I know she is sulking since it's a rom-com but girl she is not your BF yet. Just for the sake of humour they did 360 with parents, indeed it was a filler.
PACE - Slow-paced but should come with warning that you could get frustrated. I have no problem with slow-pace, have watched some awesome shows with slow pace. But there has to be some development to keep us engaging, pacing was not true rom-com genre. It was painstakingly annoying.
EXECUTION - They gave an already weak story another shock with execution. It made story even more pathetic.
DIRECTION/CINEMATOGRAPHY - There were some random unneeded shots and there weren't much aesthetics to point out otherwise it was good.
Music/SFX - I won't be listening on repeat that's for sure, but went well with moods they tried hard to present. ? Opening OST and one I don't remember ep no. , but the one when she was sad over the celebrity case, I liked them.
One last thing, they needed a better stylist, only Tan Ying and Cheng Xi stood out it terms of fashion.
Was this review helpful to you?
