Linayeol

If the story follows the novel, there won’t be any revenge. The whole story revolves around Shen Jialan’s resilience and quiet strength, and the fact that she never responds to evil with evil, but instead lets karma take care of it. It’s very rare for her to do anything wrong to anyone, whether they’re her enemies or not.

Exactly!! The more developed the characters’ stories are, the fewer inconsistencies there will be, and the more we can fully enjoy the story. It’s refreshing to watch a drama, after such a long time, that takes the time to establish solid foundations before diving into the romance. And honestly, this drama has so much more to offer than just the chemistry between the protagonists and their romance. The story is truly poignant and deeply moving.

This drama has a vibe that reminds me so much of the older dramas I really love, even though the genre is completely different: The Story of Ming Lan, The Sword and the Brocade, Someday or One Day, Marvelous Women, The Rebel Princess and others.

I can’t really explain it, but I have this feeling that I’m watching a drama that’s truly going to stay in my memory one of those dramas I could rewatch over and over again without ever getting tired of

Yet, that’s the reality. There’s nothing misogynistic about acknowledging it. Women themselves can sometimes show no empathy toward the plight of other women and treat them like livestock or simply as stepping stones to achieve their own goals.

That’s true! But even beyond jealousy, they can use other women as examples, or even take young women and make them available to their sons as if they were nothing more than toys. They can also kill or sacrifice other women out of frustration. It seems like any reason is enough for noblewomen to hurt other women. As for the servants, they are willing to betray or accuse others to gain favor and achieve their goals. This reality is truly sad.

Women in this era are often more cruel toward other women.

I don’t know if they’re going to keep this part of the story, but marrying off their daughter, who has lost her virtue, to an almost fallen family would clearly ensure that they would be desperate enough to keep the information secret, especially since she continues to have relations with other men.

Not to mention the risks of pregnancy and sexually transmitted diseases, women in brothels rarely lived to see their thirties. Given their time period and circumstances, it’s understandable that they would fear more than simply losing their chastity or honor. They risked living a life where they were treated as objects, treated worse than animals, and ultimately dying in even more miserable conditions. Especially because of their former status as noblewomen, they would be relentlessly persecuted.

I think they consummated their marriage, because in the BTS, I saw the scene where he discovers, on their wedding night, that she wasn’t a virgin, just like in the novel. But I don’t know if they’ll ultimately keep that scene, since it’s one of the reasons why he hates his wife.

Tan Song Yun is truly an excellent actress. In the scene where she watches the moon, she doesn’t say a single word, but she still managed to make me shed a tear. 😭 She’s incredibly expressive.

I’m already suffering and it’s only the beginning… The rest is going to be intense and painful. 😭😂

Yes, he has several women, and when they become pregnant or when he takes a liking to them, they are promoted to the rank of concubines. He also has an official wife, but she cheats on him by having sexual relations with other men

Good decision. I really hope his character has been toned down and that his harem is less dramatic.

Sexual assaults, physical violence, verbal abuse… He threatens her and forces her to do countless things, sexually or otherwise. He plays around with women, and there is so much more…

I’m excited because I absolutely love both leads, but at the same time, I’m nervous because almost all the characters in the novel are absolute trash, and the ML is simply the biggest piece of garbage of them all. 😭

I really hope his character will be softened as much as possible and that his extremely violent and misogynistic behavior will be removed or heavily toned down, as is the case with many other adaptations. I also hope the romance between the leads will feel much more natural than it did in the novel.

Given the budget and the quality of the cast, I really hope this drama achieves the success it deserves, especially for Liu Xueyi, who unfortunately hasn’t had a major hit in quite some time.

Tan Song is an excellent actress; she always delivers in her roles. ❤️ I’m really looking forward to seeing what this adaptation will be like. 🥹

Honestly, they didn’t resolve anything at all. They did what they always do: they got back together without actually addressing the problems surrounding their separation or clearing things up about the way they communicate.

They simply swept everything under the rug. Their relationship is a ticking time bomb: everything they refuse to confront eventually explodes between them because they never work on the real issues at the heart of their relationship.

Despite the happy ending, this drama leaves me with a very bitter, unfinished feeling. Their chemistry and visuals were what saved this drama. The beginning was so promising, but unfortunately, the rest didn’t live up to its potential.

For me, the best ending would have been a definitive separation, because they are incapable of growing and maturing together in a healthy and positive way.

Congratulations on having the courage to leave that relationship for your own well-being. ❤️‍🩹 You showed so much strength. I sincerely hope you’ve been able to heal from that relationship and that you’re now enjoying your life to the fullest. 🥹❤️

It was really obvious that he loved her, but yeah, it does kind of ruin their friendship. I was already prepared for that. I didn’t know there were originally 32 episodes. It must be because of censorship I guess. 😭

I’m part of this club! Their chemistry is what keeps me watching until the very end. I really like Sun Qian and Jing Bo Ran, and I’ve watched quite a few of their projects. But honestly, without them, the story has way too many gaps, and you can really feel that certain things are missing. The first ten episodes were excellent, but then the story started going in all sorts of directions. Even so, I still really like the drama.

The Early Spring is very close to reality, perhaps even a little too close. Normalizing certain behaviors and constantly debating in order to justify one character or the other is so exhausting in a modern romance. In real life, we all dream of a healthy relationship, with plenty of communication and good emotional regulation, so that we don’t end up with a partner who struggles to manage their frustration and anger.

But the reality is also that many people stay with partners who have these flaws, whether because physical or financial considerations play a role, or simply because being used to having someone in your life can make you fear loneliness more than the absence of peace.

This drama genuinely exhausted me because it reflects so many real-life relationships. Peace in a relationship that has problems is often short-lived, and arguments are sometimes caused by insignificant and ridiculous things that could be resolved without getting angry or losing your temper.

In reality, relationships rarely get a second chance after a long separation. We often try not to fall back into our old patterns, and some relationships are so toxic that they end up making us toxic as well.

SZT and LN will have a happy ending, but their relationship remains, in my opinion, an example of what should neither be followed, normalized, nor idealized. After being together for so many years, they still haven’t managed to find compromises or evolve in a healthy direction. Their personalities have changed, but SZT is still deeply affected by insecurity, very low self-esteem, and a lack of confidence in herself. And unfortunately, in real life, it can be difficult to truly change after living in the same patterns for so long.

Being with a partner who makes us feel secure, with whom communication is healthy, can change everything. Even if our ambitions, careers, and interests are different, there is always room for compromise when both people are willing to make an effort.

Thank you to this drama for reminding me why I should watch more modern romances with healthy relationships, just to raise my standards again. 😭 Because honestly, The Early Spring pushed my patience to its absolute limit! It exhausted me so much that it made me realize I would probably never survive a relationship like this… and yet, there are definitely worse ones. 😭

K-dramas have something that C-dramas sometimes lack: they take realism much further. They romanticize toxic relationships less and often show us the frightening reality of certain dynamics without trying to sugarcoat the problems.

You understand that if this kind of couple stays together, it isn’t necessarily because one person has changed so much or finally learned their lesson. The real “lesson” is that they know their problems, they know they might fall back into their old patterns, and yet they still choose to take the risk of staying together. And honestly, that is the hardest reality to accept.

I love C-dramas because they also have this lighter quality that can make certain relationships feel less heavy and exhausting than real life. They allow us to escape. And sometimes, after watching The Early Spring, that is exactly what I need. 😭