Platinum Fox

Yes, and that bothers me as well. Something that important is completely forgotten within the next episodes. Sad.

Yes, I felt the same way. For him saving the flowers that gift of the hairpin should have been delivered in person instead of through a "servant". It was just a silly way to "break up" their relationship.

I have to agree. I feel like I am watching an entirely different drama. The wonderful themes they set up in Flourished Peony just disappeared. For me, it has turned into one great big cliche. I am waiting for Liu Chang's redemption arc, but sadly he has been turned into another 2nd male lead villain for the sake of having a villain.

Yes, and that is just one illogical scene. However, I think the wearing of the bracelet was to show JCY that MD really does care about him. Ha, ha!

I don't know where you are watching this, but it depends on the translations as to what the mother is actually saying. On Youtube mom says that she didn't have the chance to mold NN into what she should be, but instead has to discipline her to make her a productive member of society as Niao Niao is of marriageable age. We may not like how mom treats her daughter, but it is very historically accurate and even quite progressive.

Niao Niao (NN) turns in her great uncle (he is the grandmother's brother), so he is a direct family member. NN's grandmother asks her oldest son to save him because he is family. However, the uncle helped steal military weapons and then replaced them with faulty ones. The faulty military weapons were used to attempt to protect the Lone City residents from the rebels.

Blood relatives are always given first priority. However, the oldest son and his wife, being generals themselves, understand that the great uncle must pay for his crime.

Also, there are many viewers who have said that the mother is very cold towards her daughter. The mom left her in the care of Aunt Ge and the grandmother for 15 years. The two of them vowed to not discipline her or show her any love. When the mom returns, she realizes that Niao Niao is unruly, illiterate, and a schemer, just like her Aunt Ge. The best way she can show her love is to discipline her. Many people have not been happy with how she does that, but in historical times showing love to your kid was making sure they grew up to be productive members of society. In these dramas, I do not see parents hugging or kissing their grown children. They might young children, but not older ones. So this makes her appear to be cold and heartless, but in reality she is doing what is best for Niao Niao during this time period. Remember mom and NN have never met until the parents come back from the war. The mom doesn't know NN and NN doesn't know her mother very well either. They are trying to figure each other out.

Despite it's heaviness, it is such a wonderful drama. Loved every actor in it. Sis eight was the cutest.

Despite it's choppiness, I loved this drama. Full of action, romance, comedy, and life lessons.

Yes, a redemptive arc would have been nice. He did feel remorse and would have taken responsibility for his actions. However, like all the parents and teachers in this drama the only solution was transferring students.

Moving him overseas was intentional because if the father would have allowed BS to take responsibility for his actions, then it would have come out that the dad was physically abusing him. And his dad, being a congressman, couldn't have this tainting his political career. The dad does pay for Suho's medical expenses as compensation. But the larger question remains, how do you stop this type of bullying? Change the mindset of the people by having students take responsibility for their actions. jmo

Glad you enjoyed this drama and thank you for your thoughts. I understand where you are coming from and agree mom definitely felt guilty about leaving Niao Niao at home. For me, the weakest part of the drama was mom knew that grandmother and Aunt Ge favored boys. That's why Yang Yang was taken away from her and raised by her aunt. Why would she leave her daughter at home instead of the son. Also, I do wonder if mom blamed the dad for not standing up to his mother back then as well. This drama puts the blame on her, but where was the dad in all this?

Also, did you get the feeling that it was the mom who encouraged (pushed) the dad to go into the army? I caught that the last time I watched it (two weeks ago). Which for me is also very interesting.

Thank you for the discussion. Happy drama watching.

I agree. Hormones are hormones, and it makes me chuckle. However, right before watching the first two episodes, I watched a Korean movie called Homme Fatale about a male who becomes basically a male courtesan to the noble women and girls in the town. However, he never takes advantage of them, nor them him. They keep the strict moral code of the time.

Here both the male and female are going against the moral code of the time. For her it is understandable as she is from the future and one-night stands are acceptable. He, on the other hand, after he goes against the moral code, he comes back to his senses and the moral code and wants to marry her to make up for his mistake. He basically treats her like a courtesan.

If he had been drunk, I would have understood the one-night stand. The fact that he was totally sober and she was sloshed out of her mind forces this one-night stand into a modern moral code. Boys take advantage of girls all the time. For girls, sex for pleasure is fine.

The manwa is set in Europe where the moral code about sex is totally different. That is why the one-night stand right now appears to be just a hook to get the audience's attention. It worked, now what?

There are two aspects of sex, sex for pleasure and sex for propagation. During that time period women of noble stature, sex was for propagation, not pleasure.

Thanks for the discussion and insight.

You are not the only one. I enjoyed the first two episodes and then realized this is just a modern love story set in the Joseon period. I found it very hard to believe that the male lead would take advantage of a drunk noble girl when he is sober. The only thing I can think that would tie this together is that the main character is bringing out that females should have the same rights as men when it comes to romantic trysts. jmo

My guess would be her identity. I am assuming that she was not the father's daughter, but the mother's lover's daughter. In the novel in the end she is revealed to be a princess. jmo

If you would like a long explanation read Regina de Sal's explanation in the discussion post. For a short explanation, it depends on how you interpret the events. Since you don't feel he died before the Lunar New Year, then it does seem confusing. However, he is on the appropriate side. Eventually he will die of the poison fed to him by the FL's father. Just not immediately.

For me he is on that side for several reasons. First, he will eventually die from the poison when is up to the antidote's effectiveness. Second, director choice to balance the shot. Notice there are six and a child on one side and six on the other. He is the logical choice as he was also suppose to die by the father's hand and eventually will. A third reason is how the line is displayed. It is like a u. the curve is the immediate family and servants of the female lead's mother. The next in line is the concubine's family. Then, the in-laws. Who is missing is the oldest daughter and the grandparents. XYL represents the deceased oldest daughter. She would have been between her brother and XYL as his first wife.

Why isn't the oldest daughter there? I will leave that for you to interpret. For me, there are several reasons.

Hope this helps. Happy drama watching.

You are not the only one to see that she is not his enemy. For me, the whole premise of the Qiao family being the cause of the deaths of the three Wei generations is ludicrous. I can over look this if everything else makes sense.

The Qiao grandfather was a smart man. The canal that was built by the two cities was destroyed in the fighting. This cut off any water supply to Zinder. Now, how the city of Zinder stayed afloat without a water supply is beyond me.

I dropped this after episode 27 and watching the last episode. There were too many illogical things happening in the drama. An even better example is the burning of the sulfur and grain. When she lights the sulfur on fire, it would have given off SO2 and everyone would have become extremely ill. Also, the grain would have ignited as well causing an explosion. Yet, we have everybody running around like they are playing tag at a picnic.

There were parts that I enjoyed, but found most of it pretty illogical starting with her not being the enemy. jmo

The End of Eternity is a sci fi novel written by Isaac Asimov. It is shown at least five times within the first two episodes. Here is a conversation I had with a poster about Hidden Love explaining the basic outline of the novel and how it pertains to Hidden Love.

https://mydramalist.com/profile/bokminthe/review/301991

There are many more easter eggs in Hidden Love to name a few: the stuffed animals, his license plate, his job, the age gap, the fox picture, etc.

Since I have not watched When I Fly towards You, I can't compare the two dramas. What I can do is talk about Hidden Love. Most viewers take it as a simple, fluffy love story. I imagine this is how you perceive it. That's okay. That's your take on it.

For me, however, I had many questions at the end of it. I found my answers through discussions on this forum, in the novel The End of Eternity (the novel shown multiple times during the first two episodes, and reading the source material. Not every viewer will do this as most people watch for entertainment, and that's okay.

If you enjoyed When I Fly towards You better than Hidden Love, it is okay. If you are really interested in what makes this drama special, read The End of Eternity and even just the first eight chapters of the source material.

Thanks for the discussion. Happy drama watching.

Yes, the mother character has been one of the most controversial characters in this drama. Many dissertations have been written on her on this very forum, one being not too far below here. I am curious about your take on the mother and Consort Yue when you get there.

If you are interested, the mother/daughter duo (the actresses) are together again in a modern drama called Hidden Love. A very different dynamic is portrayed.

What is special about this drama depends on the viewer. Just read the comments and reviews. As someone who would have rated it a one when it first aired, it has taken me two years to understand this fantastic social commentary on the age of consent law in China and the wonderful modern retelling of Little Red Riding Hood. Now, for me, it is a 10.

Happy drama watching.

You may not like it. However, the hair and makeup are so accurate that someone filed a plagiarizing law suite on them. What became of it, I don't know.