MadelineMaureen

She has been for a while. She's just really shy about PDA, and taking the next step in her first relationship. also Chinese censorship apparently played a larger part in it than i originally thought.

No, because Viki has a preexisting contract it's on a set release schedule.

Only her half sister is pushing it really

I hope episode 16 is all epilogue and all the villain arches get wrapped up in 15. I've continued to enjoy this drama throughout it's run so I want to see them living in peace for a little bit more before saying good-bye.

Yes. If you like the actors and are okay with some soapy elements then yes. If you can't find humor in OTT plot points then this isn't for you. As it seems a lot of people feel like it's lost the plot. But in my mind it just shows that Ji Hyuk was dealing with someone equally as bothersome as Ji Won was with Min Hwan.

I feel like Ji Hyuk put ppl in place so that they would survive. As he wouldn't let the man who is helping him get thrown into prison for murder.

OMG yes! This, I'm like come on people...if I don't hit least bingo on my "melo trope card" I don't know what I'll do with myself. I find the OTT melos funny sometimes because they remind me of the older ksoaps that would get parodied by everyone. I don't know why everyone is complaining when the acting is still elevated and the production value didn't faulter either. I can kind of understand why some of the people who are fans of the IP would be upset if they are diverging from the story as much as they say they are. But again this is a different media so changing things up can sometimes be a good thing.
I don't know about anyone else, but I've honestly been quite impressed with BoA's acting in this. She's held her weight and helped to even out what was becoming "rich people good; poor people bad" kind of dynamic.

It was his eye flex after she said "going to sleep would be a waste" that got me cackling. And then flashback ended and I was like...wait what? Elaborate please writers/editors. I always feel like I need to practice my subtext skills when watching Chinese shows because of how involved their censorship board is.

Mom is in episode 21. She is professional and understanding. It shows that she isn't as bad as we think she is. Mr. He butters her up a bit too. it's cute.

2nd couple(Yu You & Qin Shi Yue) had the better growth/storyline/writing in my opinion. Their chemistry was the best over the course of their arch. Miles did a good job of showing interest, but not over interest at the right moments. Aka the character wasn't being weird when he thought she was just his student, he set good boundaries and was responsible.
ML and FL's story had some great moments, but there were lots of uninteresting parts for me that just...gave me a bit of the mehhs. The "I can't put my finger on it" kind of disinterest. But that could simply be that I'm not a huge fan of business, and because they keep it relatively vague it didn't feel insightful for me. Again, most likely a me problem.
The 3rd couple on the other hand I could put my finger on why my eyes started to get heavy blinks during their scenes. It was the same 2 arguments repeated over the course of 35 episodes...it was miscommunication after miscommunication when they both wanted the same thing at the end of the day. Realistic, sure. Entertaining...not so much.

Someone correct me if I'm wrong, but it was not only implied that something happened at the apartment, but that something more happened on his birthday...@twinty where you at? thoughts?

Also found out the dodging could be a censor/money thing. Someone mentioned it in a comment below. I have noticed that a lot of the bts footage shows much more kissing than is shown in the actual show. So she might just be the sacrificial lamb to the censorship/runtime gods. Which, lets all be honest, is dumb.

I honestly love the friendship of the three of them JY, LYY and MXD. It always makes me laugh with the juniors see them together for the first time, like they are about to witness a brawl or something.

wait wait wait...what...I'm just now hearing about this...they get paid per kiss? I don't know why i'm both 😲 🤯and oh no that makes sense. I can't stop laughing though, 😘=💴

She is most comfortable showing PDA around their friends his in Finland. She's not as shy now in public outside of China. When she is around other people with similar backgrounds or tied to her profession she gets more shy as she can sometimes feel like they would maybe judge her. It's not always logical, but that's normal.
I like being affectionate around close friends, but when around people I work with I'd rather just stick to handholding. It's a separation of work and private life. In areas she knows they will be recognized as professional billiards players she is more cautious.

I feel like the theme song of Ep22 should be 'Me, You and Steve' 😂😂🤣🤣🤭An'an....poor baby.

I think a lot of it can be boiled down to personal experiences/what other shows they've watched. Depending on how much media you consume this could be 1 of 100 similar stories that you've seen so you are better at spotting potential flaws. But if you've only seen a few shows that are similar it might seem fine in comparison.
Looking at the stats this is very much targeting a younger audience than I am used to. I'm 33 for reference. I'm not sure what the venn diagram is looking like for age and who is and isn't enjoy it, but it's honestly something I would be interested in.

(an aside, putting this under spoiler because I didn't realize I wrote an essay in response until I posted the comment😳 )
Well said.
When critiquing something sometimes people are bringing a whole bunch of stuff from their personal perspective and trying to say that they are being objective, when they are actually being subjective. Knowing the difference is important. In an almost anonymous comment section, unless the writer states their personal bias/reasons there is no way to know if what they are saying is a universal truth or just a personal one.

I must admit, as a 33 year old woman, who has watched an ungodly amount of media(from many countries), there are parts of this show I am personally struggling with. The actors are doing their jobs(and well), but there are certain aspects of the writing in the last few episodes(ep9 & 10) that are extremely triggering for me. Because of *my* past with SA, I was very thrown during one scene and haven't been able to shake it. When I'm prepared for it, it's normally not a big deal, like I watch Law&Order:SVU and am good to go most episodes. With the late king I was prepared for potentially triggering imagery/conversations.
Some of the writing is leaning too heavily on very common troupes, but if you are okay with that you might enjoy their take on those themes. Just because *I* have issues with it doesn't mean *you* will.

Also, I've been guilty of being emotional in a comment section or two after seeing something and needed to vent about it. But always take an angry/frustrated rant with a grain of salt. And don't be afraid to ask a user to elaborate on WHY they dislike something. The majority of us can articulate our feelings once we've given ourselves a second to look back on why we reacted like we did. (excluding trolls which for some reason this comment section in particular was having issues with a few weeks back)

ANYWAY....I'm glad you're still enjoying it. And I might reach out to ask you some questions about the show as I have personally taken a timeout after episode 10.

She is a 22ish year old in her FIRST relationship...of course she's selfish? Like...? Everyone is a bit selfish no matter what age. But...was he really thinking about her feelings when he kissed her in that moment, no. He was jealous and trying to lay clam on her publicly, when he knows damn well that his girlfriend is shy about PDA in the first place, much less in a place her family could see.
She hasn't seen her boyfriend of two years in months. She runs into him and is so happy to see him. Then he talks to her mother and wants to comfort him and discuss it with him but he is acting cold and aggressive(the kiss) with her.
Instead of opening his mouth like the grown ass adult he is, he keeps her in the dark about what he's feeling and turns his back on her(for a good reason, cherries, but she doesn't know that, because again SHE needs words). From her perspective he was being a jerk and treating her like an object and NOT his gf who he can talk to. His jealousy, that she hasn't really seen much of, in that moment made him want to assert a physically clam on her. Boy practically pissed a circle around her.

If you are someone who needs words to understand and you feel anger in your SO's embrace it can be confusing and make you question what the hell is going on. It can feel like your SO is taking their anger out on you instead of working through the problem together. Again, she didn't realize that he was dealing with jealousy over another man in that moment.
It's a common misunderstanding in communication styles. They are human and make mistakes and jump to conclusions when they are feeling insecure. It doesn't solely rest on her 22 year old shoulders.
The anger this comment section has for the emotions of 22 year old woman is giving major internalized misogyny.
Flaws are normal and having a flaw doesn't make you less worthy of someone who also has flaws. They would be boring as all get out if they didn't have some flaws as characters.

When she spoke to him instead of communicating with words he went physical(kiss/embrace). She's an extremely shy person and not only was it in public, but her family members could have turned the corner at any second. When she tried again to ask him if he was okay and specifically what he was thinking after that interaction with her family he turned his back on her without explaining that he was looking for food that he had gotten her. She thought he was ignoring her and being cold. Because they were in a time crunch they couldn't resolve it in the moment, and afterward it felt like a larger misunderstanding than it was so neither one reached out. He wanted a second to process and then speak in person. She needed to know that he still was in it with her, and that he wouldn't ignore her after the way her mother treated him. Because he never texted her that night she was mad and contacted her team to pick her up instead of waiting for him to contact her.
Pretty much feelings were hurt. LYY couldn't process his jealousy and frustration at still feeling as though he is lacking in front of her family, while a man who likes her and is liked by her family sits next to her feeding her(putting dishes on her plate). YG read the situation wrong. She relies on words more than he does a lot of the time. So normal growing pains for a new couple. (yes, they've been together for 2 years at this point, but that was mainly long distance with very short periods of in person contact. They need to relearn how to communicate with one another.)