DramaAjumma

I know that every show feels that it needs villains of some description but Gao Xi is becoming rather insufferable. Jealousy is one thing but invasion of privacy and indulging in tattle taling is rather too much especially considering her age.

It gets a lot better. The first 2 to 3 episodes don't really do the rest of the show justice.

Sigh. This show is just crack. The one-episode per day thing on the weekend is pure torture.

Episode 7 and 8 are just joy because it has my favourite romance trope ever -- the male lead falling for the female lead first and doing all kinds of delightful, out-of-character things while sauntering around her going "look at me, look at me."

I feel the Pride and Prejudice resonances every time Xiao Xiao banters with anyone but especially Gu Wei.

I've turned into a hopeless cause.

It ran through the entire gamut of emotions -- from fear and anger to utter relief. A lot of the father-daughter baggage were brought to the fore and they were forced to deal with their own insecurities as individuals in this crisis moment. Dad seemed unusually vulnerable.

Not surprising. Episode 6 was pretty good too.

Well, you know. It's always the one who is loved who is the last one to realise it. ;) Besides, she doesn't know him as well as the others.

I have to give the writer a lot of credit for that cake eating scene in Episode 7. It's really well-written with all the underlying currents between Gao Xi, Gu Wei and Zhixiao. The interpersonal dynamics in how they were played out was actually pretty good. It's a great exemplar of show over tell. A superb way of intimating a love triangle in its formative period. I like the way it was staged and really demonstrated Gu Wei's incremental shift in attitude towards the one woman over the other. As well as his preference for one.

I'm hooked. Hope to see more good stuff like this in future episodes.

Specialists don't know everything. Believe me. They often don't know much outside their own area of expertise. You'd be surprised how narrowly focused doctors are.

Loved Episode 7 -- The show goes from strength to strength. I really like the pacing so far.
Qiuqiu is such a perceptive kid and doing his bit to play Cupid but yeah, it's becoming obvious that a certain surgeon is developing more than a professional interest in a certain cellist. Even Gao Xi senses it.

After watching 6 episodes of this show what I really like about it is the way that the leads communicate with each other even before they have arrived at the dating stage of their relationship. There is that initial rocky, awkward start but it thankfully evolves into something quite delightful and meaningful. Even if they just remain friends, let's just say for argument's sake, their relationship is still healthy -- one that's based on a solid foundation of honesty, sincerity and a desire to understand the other's perspective. It's nice to see two people who aren't afraid of being vulnerable with each other even before they've made any kind of confessions.

When I look at how relaxed Gu Wei is with Lin Zhixiao as opposed to how he is with Gao Xi who is supposed to be the one everyone thinks he should be with... yeah, it's night and day.

A straightforward, no nonsense sequel to the original series with a new addition to the ensemble. It's an old fashioned police procedural where cases wrap up in a nice neat bow in a matter of 2 or 3 episodes. None of the cases are a huge stretch for the seasoned imagination. There's also a hint of a potential romance between team leader Shang Jie and medical examiner Xia Ying all throughout. Other than that there are no complicated interpersonal relationships among the team -- just a lot of friendly ribbing and banter.

My only beef with the ending and final case is how hastily it all comes together.

I do think the set-up is awkward. I think they were trying a little too hard to force a bad first impression trope onto something that really didn't call for it. It is a really serious, life changing scenario for the family and the humour can feel misplaced and jarring.

But I'm going to keep watching because with C dramas one has to give it a bit more time.

The drama is actually quite good for about 27 episodes and there are crime elements to it so it doesn't feel that the romance takes long to build because everyone's busy. I have to say that the leads have some of the best bickering scenes I've seen in a C drama. It's a pity about the last 2 episodes really.

Yes it is.

Talk about another Pride and Prejudice reference right from the start.
"Look at all the beautiful women." "What beautiful women?" Another grumpy male lead in the Darcy mould to root for.
The first 15 minutes were a blast and dad had to come in and... it was okay... it was kind of funny.

Four and half episodes in... so far so good. I personally have never seen a drama focused entirely on the juvenile delinquents and the legal system before and so I'm learning a lot. I appreciate the insights and the complexity involved in the entire juvenile court system. Great performances all round.

True. But she doesn't know it yet.

There's nothing weird about that scenario. It's very plausible.

I am torn about the current state of the push and pull between the leads. While I understand where it's coming from, it's still frustrating because it still exemplifies a problem stemming from a lack of communication.

The key to understanding Zijin is something that Hu Shan Wei said about her. Zijin is liked by everyone because she treats everyone equally well. It is a rare thing and for the most part an asset. Zijin is someone who on some level believes in equal opportunity as seen in her time in the imperia kitchen. That's why she can get on with Ziping for instance who tends to be uncouth and cares about Yuehua's hands to plead on her behalf. She fundamentally believes that everyone should have the opportunity to show what they are capable of. Zijin is an equal opportunist much to the chagrin of someone like Yuehua who holds to the fact that those who are superior have the right to lord it over the lesser beings. It's an elitist way of thinking and much more in line with convention.

The reason why she is being aloof and playing "hard to get" in the romance is because she feels great sympathy for the women in the palace harem. We saw that with Consort Zhuang and I think we certainly see that with the current empress Hu Shanxiang. There are all these women who are at the beck and call of the emperor who probably have never spent a night with him or may never and may never conceive a child for him. So what happens to them if they don't? They end up buried with him when he dies before they do. In her mind, it's a terrible state of affairs. She may even see it as an injustice. She's also seen first hand how easily she was cast aside because the previous emperor changed his mind about who should be his grandson's consort.

I have no doubt that Zijin feels rather sorry for Hu Shanxiang who is the primary consort and empress but is unloved and not really respected by her husband for all kinds of reasons that we already have been privy to. She probably thinks that Hu Shanxiang since she got there first, should at the very least have first dibs on the emperor and have the chance to bear him his successor. She knows that Zhanji favours her above all the others but feels that he shouldn't show her any kind of preference where the bedroom is concerned.

Zijin, I believe, is trying to go against the usual practice where the women have to fight against each other for the emperor's favour. To her mind, it shouldn't be a competition as to who he likes the most but that they're all trying their best to for the royal family and the country. She's not trying to assert monogamy because that's really not a thing in that context but harmony. She wants the women in the harem to live together without undue conflict and catfighting. That's been the problem under various regimes when different consorts are pitted against each other or feel the need to pit themselves against each other to survive. I think she wants a level playing field for all these women, equal access to the emperor so she's been trying to maintain a certain amount of distance from Zhanji.

Of course all of this is much to Zhu Zhanji's frustration because this is the first and only woman in his harem that he actually wants to make babies with. She's been trying hard not to encourage overtures from him since the day he found out her real identity but he's not just the ruler, he's also a man. I feel for him because she is really his soul mate but she has the sensibility that he should do his duty as father of the nation, so to speak.

I want to add to some of the commentary that's been made about the female executive that Tae-moo met in New York and the fact that she doesn't have a native-like pronunciation. I don't think we should assume for one minute that everybody who lives in New York was born there. It's one of the most multicultural commercial cities in the world and all kinds of people find jobs there or are posted there by their companies from elsewhere.

There are things one can criticize about the show but I don't think this is one of them.