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The Butterfly
Tornado Alley
This review may contain spoilers
I just finished this emotional T-drama about two young people shaped by tragedy and whether it was possible for them to overcome their tragic pasts.
Story:
In this story two kids faced whatever life threw at them and most of the time it was boulders-mental illness, sexual assault, physical assault, PTSD, suicide, parental neglect, and evil outside forces. Somehow these two broken people found in each other the love and support they needed.
Both the ML and FL had to face their own individual traumas by peeling back the layers of lies and pain to heal and grow. And they had to do this while dealing with ongoing stressors and danger.
They fought for the right to walk hand-in-hand through the healing to the fulfillment of their dreams and no one was going to make it easy on them. Danger and disaster waited around every corner. Internal and external conflicts filled nearly the entire 21 episodes with little breathing room. It was a hard drama to let go of for something like sleep. It wasn’t a perfect story but it was compelling.
If you are triggered by any of the traumas listed above I would recommend not watching MARS. I don’t know that I would label this a dark drama but it does deal with very dark issues.
Acting:
I almost didn’t watch MARS because of Vic Chou. I’d only seen him in The Flame’s Daughter and was completely underwhelmed. I liked him in this drama. Maybe it was because he was rocking the David Cassidy/Uncle Jessie hairdo, but more likely it was the relaxed, natural performance he gave.
Barbie Hsu had the more difficult job of portraying a young woman in so much pain she walked and sat in self-protective postures. As the character grew and healed she portrayed believable fear and outrage. She did an amazing job.
OST:
I enjoyed it, didn’t love it.
On a somewhat related note-the production values were surprisingly high. Too often T-dramas look and sound like someone filmed them on a cell phone. I was pleasantly surprised, especially for an older drama.
Rewatch value:
I will likely go back to MARS for another visit.
Story:
In this story two kids faced whatever life threw at them and most of the time it was boulders-mental illness, sexual assault, physical assault, PTSD, suicide, parental neglect, and evil outside forces. Somehow these two broken people found in each other the love and support they needed.
Both the ML and FL had to face their own individual traumas by peeling back the layers of lies and pain to heal and grow. And they had to do this while dealing with ongoing stressors and danger.
They fought for the right to walk hand-in-hand through the healing to the fulfillment of their dreams and no one was going to make it easy on them. Danger and disaster waited around every corner. Internal and external conflicts filled nearly the entire 21 episodes with little breathing room. It was a hard drama to let go of for something like sleep. It wasn’t a perfect story but it was compelling.
If you are triggered by any of the traumas listed above I would recommend not watching MARS. I don’t know that I would label this a dark drama but it does deal with very dark issues.
Acting:
I almost didn’t watch MARS because of Vic Chou. I’d only seen him in The Flame’s Daughter and was completely underwhelmed. I liked him in this drama. Maybe it was because he was rocking the David Cassidy/Uncle Jessie hairdo, but more likely it was the relaxed, natural performance he gave.
Barbie Hsu had the more difficult job of portraying a young woman in so much pain she walked and sat in self-protective postures. As the character grew and healed she portrayed believable fear and outrage. She did an amazing job.
OST:
I enjoyed it, didn’t love it.
On a somewhat related note-the production values were surprisingly high. Too often T-dramas look and sound like someone filmed them on a cell phone. I was pleasantly surprised, especially for an older drama.
Rewatch value:
I will likely go back to MARS for another visit.
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