PNR

I think this ends up being mostly a matter of preference. For me personally, watching two people fail to communicate, misunderstand one another, and agonize over those misunderstandings is pretty much torture. So when we finally get a show where a bunch of couples with age-appropriate maturity quickly fall for each other and actually seem like they're building real relationships, I'm basically much over the moon. For me, this season is one of the most entertaining by far.

But again, it's just a matter of preference. Some people like angst and melodrama. Some people like warm slice-of-life.

Same here! Needless drama annoys me. Healthy affection rejuvenates me. That's why I'm really loving this season - so many healthy, affectionate relationships!

Can anyone think of another dating show or another season of HS that had as many participants who were as well liked as this one? Usually there are one or two standout individuals, but with this season is seems like the majority of the viewers are super supportive of the majority of the participants.

I completely agree with this! Nothing I've seen so far has given me any reason to think that he's being devious or deceitful. He just seems to lack a certain degree of self-knowledge and control over his emotions . . . which is exactly what we should expect to find in someone so young.

And speaking of self-knowledge, this brings me back to my original disclaimer about Yue'er: if she were an average-looking guy rather than a stunningly beautiful young lady, I'm pretty sure my immediate emotional reaction to some of her behavior would be less forgiving. The flip side is that if Xilun were a stunningly beautiful young lady instead of a dude for whom I have zero attraction, I'm pretty sure my immediate emotional reaction to some of his behavior would be more forgiving.

Now, I do actually think it's appropriate for men (I'm a man) to be harder on and more demanding of other men, and so in that very narrow sense I think it's okay for me to be harder on Xilun than Yue'er. But I also think it's important to honestly acknowledge the fact that part of the reason why I react one way to Yue'er and another way to Xilun is about me rather than them: they're both young, they both exhibit age-appropriate immaturities, and I'm simply inclined to be more forgiving of one than of the other (because of something that has nothing to do with the behavior in question).

Since I loved reading both @youngstermadman's & @wHeReiSsUa's takes on everyone's current status, I figured I would post mine, too. This is just my take on everyone RIGHT NOW, as of the end of ep. 4, so it could easily change (also, it's in no particular order, as in it's not ranked or anything):

Cui Kaiyi and Cao Yiheng: I love their love for each other. It's such a breath of fresh air to see two positive people who nevertheless have very different personalities be so into one another. Yiheng obviously has eyes for no one else. Kaiyi obviously has eyes for no one else. And I am 100% here for it. It's also a huge plus for me that they both actively support others in the house rather than being in their own little world.

Liang Renfang & Yu Yang: I love their love for each other, too, but a little less than the other couples. At least the way it's been filmed so far, they give me a bit more of an in-their-own-little-world vibe, which makes it a bit harder to get a sense of their personalities outside of their relationship to each other. Still, I totally dig their genuine care for one another and their clear commitment to the relationship they're building.

Wu Siying & Cui Yihang: In the earlier episodes, I was ready to DIE for Sisi and I was emotionally preparing myself to have to die from her ending up alone. So needless to say I am THRILLED at the way that Yihang has seen her beauty and her value, and especially at how he made a clear choice for her when he wished Xiaoyu well. Seeing two shy people find each other like this is a joy.

Wu Xingying & Sun Bohan: I started off not very impressed by Bohan, but I've warmed up to him a ton. I really respected his choice to remove himself from the competition over Yue'er (during the "stars and moon" conversation) and it seems like his personality has opened up completely since then - in no small part because of Xingxing. When Xingxing arrived I was honestly worried that Sisi would get overshadowed and choose to leave like with the S6 twins. But I still couldn't dislike her: she's so genuine and caring that I can't help but cheer for her, both individually and with Bohan.

Chen Hewen: I really like Hewen, not because he's perfect but because he has a mix of strengths and weaknesses that I find easy to respect. He clearly has insecurities that he's carrying around (e.g., body image over past struggles with his weight) and struggles to be decisive in the moment - especially in public (e.g., where to sit when invited by both Yue'er and Xiaoyu, how to respond when Yue'er asked him why he "dodged", etc.), but he's also clearly aware of those weaknesses and is working on overcoming them. His willingness to "step up" and be courageous whenever he has time to reflect is a sign of that. Right now I ship him with Yue'er, despite their communication issues, for one very simple reason: he obviously likes her a lot. So my hope is that we get to see him grow a little, overcome some of his insecurities, and follow his heart.

Sha Yue'er: First, a disclaimer. I think Sha Yue'er is one of the prettiest girls I've ever seen, so that makes me *want* to like her more than any of the other female contestants. And I do think she has a lot of strengths aside from her beauty. She is clearly a good friend to Kaiyi and supportive of all the other girls in the house (one of my favorite Yue'er moments was watching her reactions to Xiaoyu at the dinner when Xiaoyu first arrived). Her weaknesses, I think, all center around the very forgivable fact that she is SO YOUNG. She constantly second-guesses both herself and others. She wants Hewen to decisively and unambiguously choose her while at the same time being too afraid to decisively and unambiguously choose him. When something bothers her she isn't proactive about clearing it up or handling it (e.g., every misunderstanding between her and Hewen has been cleared up bc Hewen took action) but instead lets it linger and grow. Right now I ship her with Hewen, despite her immaturities and their communication issues, for one very simple reason: she obviously likes him a lot. As for Xilun, no matter how hard I try I can't convince myself that she sees him as anything more than a friend.

Zhao Xilun: So far Xilun is the person I enjoy watching the least. That's not to say that he doesn't have strengths. I admire his decisiveness and commitment when it comes to Yue'er as well as his honesty with Mengmeng and his care about her feelings. But his fixation on Yue'er seems excessive not just in the sense that he objectively seems to give her too little space but also in the sense that he subjectively seems to not have a mature handle on his emotions (his responses whenever Hewen interacts with her just strike me as too much and uncontrolled). More importantly, however, he seems not to have very much self-awareness in this regard. Taken together, the result is that he seems myopic or one-dimensional. Aside from the fact that he *really likes* Yue'er I just don't feel like I know much/anything about him. Even the "deep" conversations he's had with her just come off (to me at least) as ways to build his relationship with her, rather than as genuine moments of sharing (compare, e.g., Hewen's conversations with Xiaoyu, which strike me as more authentic and less strategic).

Sun Qimeng: What a gem. Qimeng is just as decisive and committed when it comes to Xilun as Xilun is with Yue'er, but with one huge difference - Qimeng respects Xilun's space and is much more focused on what he needs than on what she wants. She has a ton of courage, a ton of care, and a ton of self-awareness. It's also beautiful watching her interact with her roommates and the other people in the house in ways that aren't focused solely on Xilun. My desperate hope is that a late-season male game-changer will get added to the mix and the two of them will fall desperately, hopelessly in love. She deserves someone who's not just her ideal "type", but also mature and committed to her.

Liang Xiaoyu: What a gem X2. Xiaoyu is so confident, caring, mature, & supportive, and she's got such a rich personality even outside of any love lines. It's a tragedy of Mengmeng-level proportions that none of the men in the house are as obsessed with her as she deserves. The only reason my dream late-season game-changer doesn't end up with her is because I think her sense of self and self-worth is a little more solid than Mengmeng. She doesn't want and need to be validated by someone else the same way that Mengmeng seems to. If she ends up with Hewen, I just hope it's because he genuinely falls for her.

I'm really impressed with this season so far. Not only do I like a LOT of the pairings that have developed at this point, but I also like most of the participants as individuals. There are only 1 or 2 of them that I haven't really warmed up to yet - which is actually pretty amazing.

While I *think* I'm leaning slightly more towards shipping Hewen and Yue'er at this point, if he ends up with XiaoYu that would totally give me S7 Zhuocheng/Ruqing vibes, which I can 100% support.

Can we talk about what a hero XiaoYu is for giving that shoutout to Mengmeng? She noticed Mengmeng was sad just a few moments earlier and didn't hesitate to turn an opportunity to make a grand romantic gesture into a way to encourage her friend. Seriously, XiaoYu is an absolute gem.

It seems to me like by the end of ep. 3 this basically isn't true anymore: it looks like two of the four guys who were interested in the same girl have turned / are turning their attentions elsewhere.

The only drama that gives me similar vibes is Blossom - which is unsurprising b/c its the only other full length drama from Zeng Qing Jie. If this stays consistently good like Blossom did, ZQJ will immediate go in my S tier directors list.

So far this show has actually been a lot better than I was expecting. The plot is moving along at a decent pace and the leads are decently written. Also, in contrast to an earlier comment, I don't find the FL's voice unpleasant at all. I can think of a couple dramas I've dropped b/c the FL's voice was too cloying, but this definitely isn't one of them.

I'm just here to say that no matter how amazing everyone else in this drama is (and they are all amazing), DouDou will never not be the queen of my heart.

We'll see what happens, but I'm actually holding out hope (and with some confidence!) that there won't actually be a breakup. We know from the kiss calendar that there are kisses in ep. 23 and 25. So the angst will likely just be in ep 24 with a bit of spill over in either direction. Could that be a short breakup? Sure. But it could also be - and I think it would make more sense for it to be - the FL (and her dad) learning the truth about the ML's dad, dealing with her dad's negative reaction, and deciding to support the ML through it all. It's possible that's wishful thinking, but it seems like there's also been a bit of foreshadowing: (a) she was initially hurt by someone walking away from her, (b) when the male lead confessed she made him promise he wouldn't run away and would deal with their problems together, (c) when they were at the overlook, she promised that she would always be beside him and would hold him tight.

@KitKatdramalover It's one of the biggest surprises for me in a while. Usually I'm pretty good at anticipating how much I'll like a drama. But I went into this one with mid-level expectations and it's exceeded them in every way: Strong characterization, solid acting, and main leads who are individually competent & mutually enriching. It's really been excellent so far.

No love triangle so far. FL's fiancé breaks things off with her at the beginning of episode 1 and her relationship with ML has been growing steadily.

So far the ML carries the relationship (such as it is) in a big way. FL is (perhaps understandably, given how her character has been written) outwardly much more cold/distant.

Thanks! I think this point is probably at the heart of the disagreements between ppl like @AleksandraSucur @Night and @purplenight. The drama has a ton of different elements (household drama, regional/national politics, romance, etc.). Some people (like @AleksandraSucur) seem to be here mainly for the non-romance aspects. Others are here mainly for the romance aspect. Of those who are here mainly for the romance aspect, some of us (like me) don't enjoy unbalanced romances. Others do. Since these are matters of taste, we shouldn't expect everyone to agree.

Don't get me wrong. I'm not trying to sound morally relativistic or anything. Our tastes/preferences can be well grounded or poorly grounded. If I complained about this drama because I like army battles and I think it doesn't have enough army battles, that would be a poorly grounded complaint. Why? Because while the drama does have action, nothing about the drama gives the impression that it is heading in the direction of multiple large scale battles. By contrast (I think), there were a lot of aspects of the drama in the first 10-15 episodes that made it seem like it was headed towards being a strongly balanced romance between two equally competent partners. So the complaints of people who are disappointed that it's turning out not to be that are perfectly justified.

I think you're right that, based on the way her character has been written, she needs more proof and, based on the way his character has been written, he's willing to give her the proof she needs. But I also think that makes my/Ash's point: right now the romance side of things is very unbalanced.

You're also right that we have 1/3 of the drama left, along with the capital arc and the mentor's daughter arc. So sure, it's possible that the romance could become more balanced. And I would love it if that happens. My worry is that - with all that ground to cover and only so many episodes left - it's likely to be too little, too late.

Here's another way to put my worry (and again, it's just a worry, not a criticism): we've had 22 episodes of watching ML be selflessly and openly devoted to FL, which are also 22 episodes of watching FL be charmed-but-cautiously-restrained towards ML. That means that as long as the ML doesn't turn into a complete jerk in the last 14 episodes (which would be terrible), the FL will have to show us A LOT of unambiguous devotion to ML to give us a sense of romantic balance between the two. Could that happen? Yeah. Would I love for that to happen? Yeah. Do I think that's likely to happen? That's where I'm not so sure. And that's the worry.

While I think everything @AleksandraSucur and @Jinnie77 have said in response is true, I also think @Ash's main point stands, and I agree with it. It's true that RSB is (a) hemmed in by external circumstances and (b) conditioned by her past to suppress her emotions, all of which make her choices understandable. It's also true that, working within those constraints, RSB has does some things that show she cares for LJL. But the fact that her choices are understandable given her character and circumstances doesn't change the fact that - at least up to this point - the romance is significantly unbalanced.

And that's where matters of taste enter the picture. Some people enjoy watching romances that lean in the direction of being one-sided. Tons of K-dramas and C-dramas are like that. But I've personally had my fill of those. I really do want to love this show. It's rare to find a drama where the leads are so well matched when it comes to intellect, foresight, expertise, etc. But until there's a better balance when it comes to the romance side of things, I think the most I'll be able to say is that I *like* the show. And seeing as we're already more that 2/3 of the way through the drama, I'm starting to worry that we might not get there.

This show is hilarious. It's chaotic in all the right ways, but it never goes overboard.

So . . . I just finished episode 4 and I really don't get all the praise for Madam Li. She's basically been horrible so far. I'm open to a redemption arc of some kind, but it will need to be pretty drastic. As of now her character has been defined as (a) thoughtlessly violent, (b) wildly emotional, (c) constantly dependent on her daughters to placate her, and (d) a genuinely terrible "mother" to Qiong Nu.

I get that she's had a hard life and had to take care for the girls on her own, but that doesn't excuse any of the above.