DramaAjumma

Of course we know that Lou Ben was entirely responsible for his actions but the Uncle is still a scumbag.

No problems dear.

This is the first time in the entire drama that I've felt so upset about the perpetrator being caught. I got a bit choked up and so angry with the Uncle.
Why is it that everyone around the Crown Prince ends up being so awful? It speaks to his leadership and judgment.

I'll be here for a while. There's no way I can binge watch the whole lot this weekend. Some of us have to work and look after families. :P

It really is a pleasure. Thanks for the lovely comment.

Are we saying goodbye already?

You're welcome. :d

More thoughts on Episodes 43-44
https://40somethingahjumma.substack.com/p/love-like-the-galaxy-2022-episodes-b03
Thanks for reading.

It's the mirror that he made for his wife that helped Niaoniao to pin the crime on him. She remembered it from when she visited the first time and were engaged.

Not to me. I often watch things that are much darker.

I don't think the coming of age story only started in the last few episodes. I can't see how that's true when the romance and her naivete about the neural-typical world was set up right from the start. The cases and the legal aspects were meant to highlight social issues and the lessons that she would gain from interacting with the so-called real world via these cases. If you're arguing that the romance could have been better developed -- I may concede the point after what transpired more recently. But from a writing perspective the romance between Young-woo and Jun-ho was always foundational to the storytelling.

An episodic drama relies heavily on having strong core characters who can provide the cohesion that's not there with the cases. I think the weakness of this show is that it often allowed the individual cases and guest characters to command the stage to the detriment of the core characters. This is why people can't relate to Min-woo or buy into his growth arc because he's not in it enough.

The writer here has nowhere near the experience or finesse of the writers of Hospital Playlist or Racket Boys.

I think so. And honestly all that makjang about the mother was really not necessary. It just added another layer of complexity that wasn't needed.

I guess they're just answering a question that's put to them and the viewers interpret things accordingly. Maybe they're just preparing viewers for the angst that is to come. :D I don't imagine that the intention is to create doubts. But to me it's a one-sided perspective that doesn't really explain the complexities of the character fully.

The thing is I have a completely different perspective on Ling Buyi because to me he's a deeply sympathetic character. There have been people in the entirety of human history who have dual identities because they do things so that the rest of us can live peaceful boring lives. He is the guy that takes out the trash and he pays a price for it every time. He needs a bit of love in his life so that the darkness doesn't completely overwhelm him.

He is the best choice considering the context of the storytelling and the who the woman involved.

As I've said, I can understand that they don't want to over romanticize their relationship but it oversimplifies things somewhat.

I'm not sure if you're new around the forum but this is a conversation that we've had on other occasions here and in Part 1. I've addressed this point even on my blog.

To be honest, I'm not sure what the actors are trying to achieve with those sorts of comments. Maybe they're just trying not to romanticize the relationship between the leads too much or downplay Ling Buyi's heroic qualities. Or anti-hero qualities. But it's loud and clear from the actual storyline that the two of them are destined to meet. There's no two ways about it. Regardless of whether we think it is wise for Ling Buyi to propose marriage to Shaoshang, he met her, he fell for her and he did whatever he could to protect her even when he thought she was going to marry some other guy. When the actors or other viewers say that it would have been better that they hadn't met -- my question is: Better than what? What are we comparing her relationship with Ling Buyi to? Knowing what Shaoshang is like, do we really believe that if she was somehow shipped off to a village somewhere that trouble will stop following her.

Would she be happier with some other guy? Maybe. But that's moot because we simply don't know. We only have hypothetical situations to consider.

I'm agreeable about not idealizing her situation with Ling Buyi, the Dark Knight but the assumption that she would be better off with A'Yao is predicated on the fact that nothing tragic or perilous would happen to her in the future when there's no Ling Buyi around to save her. Shaoshang is prone to getting herself into all kinds of scrapes. Who's to say that she will suddenly become passive and keep her thoughts to herself?

Besides, this is a work of fiction which features two larger than life characters as romantic leads. Cheng Shaoshang is not some ordinary girl like Yangyang who will sit still and do what she's told. It's obvious from the whole show. Ling Buyi knows this too and that's why he fell in love with her in the first place.

He's always several steps behind.
The more I think about it, the more I wonder why he's even in the story.

Far be it for me to be putting a damper on things but life in a rural village isn't always all that it's cracked up to be either. Living off the land is very hard work -- it's very much dependent on the elements. Not to mention natural disasters -- flooding occurred routinely and infant mortality. Medical care wouldn't be anywhere near as good as what's on offer in the bigger cities. War comes to villages too especially if they're on the fringes where bandits and raiders can pillage for food supply and women.

There's no guarantee that Shaoshang would live past her 25th birthday.

It's a trade-off. I wouldn't idealize life in rural China anymore than life with Ling Buyi.

Well, what can I say? The man's in love.

We were long overdue for another superhero Ling Buyi moment and thankfully we got one!

This show is just so much fun. I didn't think it was possible to get that much mileage out of the duck or chicken feathers gag but the show's done it!

I'm really pleased at how the various points of intersections are coming together. It's certainly picked up after a slow start. The team dynamics are better (still getting a laugh or two out of me) than ever while the show continues to explore what constitutes a "model" detective through the partnership of Do-chang and Ji-hyeok as they're ably but idiosyncratically supported by the rest of Team 2.

At this point TJ Group feels like a house of cards with the chairman in detention and his offspring are both mentally unstable to say the least. The man who is holding it altogether for now has the thankless task of mediating between the antagonistic siblings (or half siblings). Clearly the cupboard can only contain so many skeletons before it bursts wide open.

Cheon Na-na reading The Brothers Karamazov is really interesting too.