Have a drink... or two

After first couple episodes (which were very slow) I thought this is going to be drama revolving around struggles (over)sensitive people have living in such loud world. And, since it was male lead who was sensitive, not typically FL, I was more interested to see how drama will explore his world and how he will "adapt" once he falls for FL. Unfortunately, they shifted focus on FL, her struggles and it became just one more drama with "ML is there for FL" and "wow, he is such a sweet guy".
Do I regret watching it? No, I don't. Would I watch it if I knew half way writers will forget about his sensitivity and turn it into simple plot device? No, I wouldn't.
It is sweet drama about family and friendship and people should try it, with or without FF button.

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Mothers in c-dramas have an extraordinary superpower - they always get away with "murder"

The only good thing about this drama is acting. Main couple has some really sweet moments together and if you are a fan of these actors you can enjoy their scenes.
Moral of this drama: do no evil, be kindhearted and you will get hurt, and if you survive, be happy with that. Do evil, be cruel and everything will be forgiven!

So:
- IF you love ML's mother to be evil, cruel, scheming, stepping over death bodies, mommy knows the best character - you will love this drama.
- IF you like when ML's mother is toxic and hates FL for no reason - this drama is for you.
- IF you like when ML is mommy's boy and has no problem when his mommy hurts FL, just because FL is with her son - you will enjoy this drama.
- IF you like when evil ML's mother isn't punished for her wrongdoings at all - this is drama for you.
- IF you like non of the evil characters to be punished - this is drama for you.
- IF you like when evil people who hurt others and do some really nasty staff get away with it and get happy ending - you will love love love this drama.
- IF you like to watch husband using and treating his wife like door mat and she stays with him - there you go, this is drama for you, you have second couple to enjoy this toxic trope.
- IF you are ok with death of nice characters - you will like this drama.
- IF you like when FL loses everything that she worked for her entire life and does not get really happy ending - you have this drama to put last episode on replay and enjoy her misery in settling with second best.
- IF you like a story that dragged out way more than it was needed - watch this drama.
- IF you like annoying loud music hurting your ears that gets so loud and takes over romantic or heartbreaking scenes - this drama is for you.
IF...

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If you like fluff and you can survive annoying baby voice - this drama is for you

POSITIVE:
- If you want to watch warm and nice people loving and taking care of each other expecting nothing in return - this is right drama for you. Characters love each other, and I am not talking only about romantic love, I am talking about love itself: love between siblings, parents, friends, co-workers. So, love and care 11/10!
- No toxic triangles and relationships.
- No stupid misunderstandings and breakups.
- Child actress who plays young FL is wonderful actress, beside being so adorable.

NEGATIVE:
- The way first encounter between FL and ML was directed is ... yuck. When they meet for the first time she is 14 (actress is 10 or 11 at that point and it is so obvious that she is not 14) and ML is 19-20. It was made as you would make romantic encounter with two adults. It was cringeworthy, tbh. I don't understand why they didn't go with some cartoonish version, him as knight on white horse, or something like that. Something funny to tone the cringe down. Because, little girls do fall for older boys, but it is so different from adults.

- The way director decided to portray FL
So, young FL at the age of 14 is very smart, charming, playful and cute. Actress Zhao Lusi is smart, charming, playful, cute. Director could let her "just be herself", but, ah, no! They decided to make her "cute" by giving her the most annoying baby-voice ever and they dumbed down her behavior. We have 17 years old girl that sounds like 3yo, then 19, 22 years old young woman, university student, who sounds and acts as she is in kindergarten. And she stays like that till the very end. Even when she is doing or saying something smart, you don't believe her due to her baby voice and baby manners.

Acting(Cast): 5/10 (10 for acting and cast, ZERO for baby voice)

Dumb baby-voice + baby-pouting isn't "cute"! It's ANNOYING! And disturbing because you keep wondering: "Hey, is this FL mentally challenged, or what?"

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Damsel in distress number 856374552391297467325523615646

I came here after watching "Imperial coroner", my personal favorite c-drama so far. It was suggest in these reviews and comments all around MDL and you tube how this drama has strong, smart and capable female lead. And that 4 people are working as a team, just as in "Imperial coroner". So, my conclusion was that FL is the center of this drama and she is the one pulling strings.

But NO!
FL is far from strong and far from capable. ML (who is kind and best bf/husband material in the world) is the one who always solve cases and he is the strong one. FL is only capable for 2 things: 1) to get angry on ML for no reason and 2) to constantly get saved, over and over, by ML. She just can't do anything right an she can't save herself when she is in trouble. She is a paradigm for what we call "damsel in distress". There is minimum one saving per episode! Annoying and boring because we have seen it so many times. Hated this with all my heart.

To top it all, actress can't really act. She has like 2 expression for the whole drama: 1) blank and 2) I stepped on something smelly. And her cross dressing is soooo unbelievable.
ZLH did decent job considering this was his first acting job. Hope he will take acting lessons and improve, because (I have to admit), I like him a lot.

Cases they solve are "OK", but not up to Holmes name.

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If you like poetic justice this drama is not for you

For me, this is one of the worst dramas I’ve seen so far. It triggered me in so many ways. The amount of unnecessary cruelty, stupidity and injustice in this drama is overwhelming.

FL’s whole family was killed for no reason but for dramatic effect. For the story itself it was enough to kill off parents. At least one brother should live. But, no, writers decided to kill them all.

ML is lying and manipulating FL, hiding things from her from start till the end, and she is OK with it, no problem. That is “love”. SML (with ML’s support) makes her cripple in the name of “saving her life”, and she is OK with it, too. Nodding and smiling like “yeah, he saved my life”. Would you be? What if she didn’t meet miraculous doctor? If she stayed that way, would she be ok with it then, too?

Princes is in huge amount of power over FL and SML, and she uses this power to break their engagement, to bully FL, to humiliate FL, but everyone is ok with it, no problem, keep going. She is toxic, yet, she was never questioned or self-reflected, or punished for her wronging. That suggests to the audience that people in power have right to do whatever they want without any sort of responsibility and punishment for wrongdoings. Nice message, authors. You should punish her for being ***, instead she got loving husband, happy life, child and nice people around her to treat her nicely. And she got death at the end, so she didn’t have to deal with loneliness and despise due to a fact that her, also disgusting grandfather, was a ruthless traitor.
And to add insult to the wound, FL now has to live with princess’ son, telling him stories how good person was his dear mommy, while she was one of 3 most disgusting characters in the whole drama. Nice going authors! Your sense for justice is … blah.

This is entertainment. Not real life. I expect to, at least here, have some sort of HE and poetic justice, since we can not have it in real life. We do get HE, but not poetic justice.

So. What I’ve learnt from this: 1) read spoilers so you don’t have to waste your time with stupid stuff like this; 2) check authors of the drama before watching so you don’t have to waste your time on their nonsense again; 3) drop it the moment it starts to annoy you with morals that don’t correspond to yours.

Thank you for reading. All the best to you.

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