UnaSpenser

is this an adaptation of Addicted? By episode 3, the story line felt very familiar. ;-)

Thank you. Do we know why it is the boot?

oh, I guess maybe 5 families? When we include the almost-retired police officer and the Cultural Center/English recitation teacher.

So many different dynamics interwoven into a story where we watch a girl who is first mistreated by family, then nearly killed by a bully, then survives via attachment to an outlier, then becomes central to solving another, more horrifying crime, then goes on to get the acknowledgement she needed and to pursue her dreams.

It is notable that had she not been attacked and left for dead, she probably would never have been able to live the life she wanted. But hitting literal rock bottom and climbing back out transformed both her and her possibilities.

I definitely saw it as a suspense drama.

What I like about the stories of the different characters was that it showed why and how people did or did not get involved in the crimes themselves or the solving of them.

The story clearly depicted how the police aren't super heroes and can only do so much to solve a crime without community involvement. The way the two crimes became entangled was so well done. And the way that the case of realizing that the girl was missing and then figuring out whether she was alive and then how to find her was such an interesting weave of the threads of different people's lives.

It really wasn't a story about her family. It was story about a community. The various dynamics going on - political power played out with police involvement and school staff involvement; bullying dynamic in school; the three different family dynamics, with differing types of abusive fathers and the three different ways the wives interacted with that. and the three different impacts on the children.

It was an "it takes a village to solve these crimes" story. I found it very effective.

Ok. I am confused. Have only finished one episode. Hoping someone can explain to me why the boot has an entity in and why he seems to have access to advanced technology. Or is that supposed to just be magic?

I disagree about focusing on her family. What more were we going to see of them? Maybe the mom continuing to feel tormented and the dad almost feeling guilty. But, they made their choice and their story became mundane after that, with nothing at all to contribute to the plot or any character development.

Absolutely captivating story. Hard to watch at times, but compelling to finish. And so uniquely Chinese, as the protagonist's story could not have played out the same way, for the same reasons, anywhere else.

and, omfg, right up to the end he is going to patronizingly leave her unaware of the danger she's in? she's an adult. this weird thing that these dramas do where a "caring" person takes away someone else's agency by not informing them such that they can make wise decisions for themselves is insulting. Who does that? And, especially after everything they've already been through.

I absolutely hate these writers. They need to find another profession.

Seriously?

That has to be the lamest motivation for crimes that I've ever seen? And two people willing to collude to commit violent crimes and corruption, while jeopardizing medicine for that same motivation?

What a waste of a watch. Sound and fury signifying nothing.

At ep14, now. I have a sneaking suspicion that I know who the villain is. Did those pretty fingers give it away?

I agree that it's better that it's not about romance. I wasn't making my commentary about a romantic dynamic. It was about any dynamic. Everything feels unnatural, between the sets and the dubbing, things and characters don't feel connected.

I am interested in her character's story and she's a great actress, so I'l l probably just enjoy seeing what her character goes through. It's simply not as engrossing as other times I've seen her, because everything around her feels off.

I actually prefer it to be not romance. I enjoy her character for her own journey. It wasn't romantic dynamic I was missing. Somehow, everything feels disconnected. Between odd sets and the dubbing, things don't feel at all natural.

What I meant by my age comment is that I really adore this actress, yet, somehow, with the styling, they made her look older than she is in real life. That is confusing, since her character is supposed to younger than his.

Totally agree there. She's a fabulous actress. She's why I'm watching. This wasn't meant to dismiss her. What I was saying is that, whatever they did with her styling makes her appear much older than him and that's confusing, since, in the story, she's supposed to be younger. I don't care about their actual ages (as long as they're both adults.)

I didn't mean actual ages. I meant how they looked. I don't know what they did with her makeup here, but she looks older than she really is.

how misogynist of you. A "yin principle". Right. Just say you think that women should be your patriarchal definition of "feminine."

I'm in ep 4 and something just feels off with the production. I feel as if I'm watching a stage play rather than drama/film. The sets simply don't seem real and everything feels contrived, even the dialogue. It all feels a bit wooden with no real dynamic connections between anyone other than maybe the FL and her friend. Is it all just moving too fast? Why am I struggling to be pulled in by it?

Also, is the FL supposed to be younger than the ML? She looks much older, as if she could be his aunt. This is confusing me.

the whole hating anyone who was adjacent to something bad that happened to you is not working for me, either. There is just a whole lot of hate swarming around. Is there something in the water?

Everyone is either hating him or patronizing him. He's a doctor and then a successful war pilot. But, they all treat him as though they know what's better for him and give him zero agency in his own life. He needs to hop on a boat a more laid back place, like, maybe Tahiti.

As for her "hating" him because of what happened to her parents. (Am I getting that right? I stopped watching, but this is what I'm gather from what I'm seeing here.) He was a child. He didn't cause anything. And she knows his history, via his family, and how he is already being blamed and hated on for things that happened when he was a child. AND she knows that he went to prison and was permanently disabled over a murder that she committed. She has no right to have any judgement of him, at all. She's a user.

A big part of what makes everyone unlikeable is that some a-hole adults murdered your loved ones and you're going to hate on a child? You're not worth knowing. (Don't even get me started with the mother. Why the hell would anyone ever give her any respect? They can see the unjust and irrational ways she treats people. She needs to be locked up.)

I find it all to be horrible storytelling. The first time she abandoned him and turned a cold shoulder should have been the end of any feelings he had for her. What is there to be attached to? She doesn't do attachment. How would you ever trust her again? What is love without trust? So, what's the point of any of it? What exactly is he supposed to like about her? Once she doesn't have revenge plans, what exactly is she going to be doing with herself? What would you even talk to her about?

I was hanging in there to see if there were going to be interesting character developments.

Stopped watching when she chose revenge a second time. One could argue that the first time, she felt compelled to save the women who were still captive.

This second time, though, there is no real need. It is not going to change anything. It is purely that she is more driven by rage than love.

I don't want them to be together. There are almost no likable characters.

What's the Chinese word for "makjang"? This feels like one. You watch it for the inanity of it all.

that makes sense. thank you.

Why the horrific caricaturish depiction of N Korean spy training? Was this really necessary? An attempt to undermine any movement towards peace? wth?