3
Zogitt
Australia
This review may contain spoilers
Illogical, tropey, toxic relationship. Say no more.
It is no secret that the rom-com genre is trope heavy but some shows make it work. This show did the opposite and it is hard to enjoy because of its many issues.
Let's start at the beginning. It was a slog to get through the first 5 episodes. The whole meet-cute was stretched to breaking point with the FL disguised as a man to get her dream job. They tried to milk the setup for laughs with all the cliché twists like going to the wrong toilet, picking a fight with a caveman, having her period while in the middle of the office, etc, etc. They are so obvious that it is just a cringe fest. Then we have to deal with the biggest plot issue. I'm sure an edict of not hiring any female programmer is straight up discrimination. I don't know about Chinese laws but I'm sure it can't be legal if it is a stated condition of employment. That whole set up just does not hold water but the writer pushed through with it and logic be damned. This led to many plot holes that are just painted over or ignored.
It did get a bit better once she came out as a girl in ep.6 and thank god for that because she was totally unconvincing as a guy. If you want to be generous, she might pass as a tomboy but most of the time she just looks like a girl with a short haircut and speaking of the short haircut, they tried to say that a short hair wig can hide a full head of shoulder length hair. Not likely. Once she is a girl again, a hit parade of tropes were dumped on us such as contract marriage, co-habitation, hiding their relationship from the world, etc.
As I mentioned in other reviews, it is important for us to want to ship the CP in a rom-com but the further the show progressed, the harder I find any motivation to ship them. A lot has to do with the portrayal of the main characters. The ML is a man-child who has low EQ but he is also selfish, rude and manipulative. The main CP's relationship is abusive if not downright toxic. He goes through cycles of being angry/jealous -> taking it out on the FL -> feeling guilty afterwards -> ham-fisted attempt to atone -> a) succeeds and we get a few moments of CP bliss or b) fails (which is often) he gets angry and take it out on the FL again. This is a destructive spiral and it wears mighty thin when it went on and on. BTW, the 2ML is a constant source of his jealousy but the 2ML is so beige that there is little chance of second lead syndrome.
The FL, on the other hand, is a top university graduate but has this crush on the ML for years and she will do anything to be with him and worshipped the ground he walked on. She ended up being his wife/slave/victim. Any crumbs of attention or affection from the ML will have her doing a delusional happy dance but she suffered so much more. This is an odd portrayal in this day and age. She also refused to let him see her face in the beginning of the show until she started dressing as a man. Why? Who knows.
Speaking of manipulative people, the show is full of them. The ML's mom is a classic schemer, the ML's father is a one trick pony which always gets his way with the ML by threatening to cut off his funds. His sister is a woman-child who manipulates everyone. Of course, no tropey rom-com is complete without the scheming ex-GF. We are in for a rough ride once she entered the scene on ep.11. This is why we need the CP to become a team so that they can push back against the antagonists and we can get behind them. What we have instead is ML being childish and annoying, their relationship precarious and unhealthy. I want to say to the FL, "give up, girlfriend."
And gave up, I did. The returns are few and far between. The dodgy paint by numbers script didn't help. It is not terrible but it didn't hook me. In a sea of tropey rom-coms, I needed something more to make me commit my time. I watched 12 episodes for free on WeTV. Maybe when all episodes are free-to-watch I'll speed run through to the end. I have no doubt that they will engineer a happy ending but it would be a looong march to get there.
Let's start at the beginning. It was a slog to get through the first 5 episodes. The whole meet-cute was stretched to breaking point with the FL disguised as a man to get her dream job. They tried to milk the setup for laughs with all the cliché twists like going to the wrong toilet, picking a fight with a caveman, having her period while in the middle of the office, etc, etc. They are so obvious that it is just a cringe fest. Then we have to deal with the biggest plot issue. I'm sure an edict of not hiring any female programmer is straight up discrimination. I don't know about Chinese laws but I'm sure it can't be legal if it is a stated condition of employment. That whole set up just does not hold water but the writer pushed through with it and logic be damned. This led to many plot holes that are just painted over or ignored.
It did get a bit better once she came out as a girl in ep.6 and thank god for that because she was totally unconvincing as a guy. If you want to be generous, she might pass as a tomboy but most of the time she just looks like a girl with a short haircut and speaking of the short haircut, they tried to say that a short hair wig can hide a full head of shoulder length hair. Not likely. Once she is a girl again, a hit parade of tropes were dumped on us such as contract marriage, co-habitation, hiding their relationship from the world, etc.
As I mentioned in other reviews, it is important for us to want to ship the CP in a rom-com but the further the show progressed, the harder I find any motivation to ship them. A lot has to do with the portrayal of the main characters. The ML is a man-child who has low EQ but he is also selfish, rude and manipulative. The main CP's relationship is abusive if not downright toxic. He goes through cycles of being angry/jealous -> taking it out on the FL -> feeling guilty afterwards -> ham-fisted attempt to atone -> a) succeeds and we get a few moments of CP bliss or b) fails (which is often) he gets angry and take it out on the FL again. This is a destructive spiral and it wears mighty thin when it went on and on. BTW, the 2ML is a constant source of his jealousy but the 2ML is so beige that there is little chance of second lead syndrome.
The FL, on the other hand, is a top university graduate but has this crush on the ML for years and she will do anything to be with him and worshipped the ground he walked on. She ended up being his wife/slave/victim. Any crumbs of attention or affection from the ML will have her doing a delusional happy dance but she suffered so much more. This is an odd portrayal in this day and age. She also refused to let him see her face in the beginning of the show until she started dressing as a man. Why? Who knows.
Speaking of manipulative people, the show is full of them. The ML's mom is a classic schemer, the ML's father is a one trick pony which always gets his way with the ML by threatening to cut off his funds. His sister is a woman-child who manipulates everyone. Of course, no tropey rom-com is complete without the scheming ex-GF. We are in for a rough ride once she entered the scene on ep.11. This is why we need the CP to become a team so that they can push back against the antagonists and we can get behind them. What we have instead is ML being childish and annoying, their relationship precarious and unhealthy. I want to say to the FL, "give up, girlfriend."
And gave up, I did. The returns are few and far between. The dodgy paint by numbers script didn't help. It is not terrible but it didn't hook me. In a sea of tropey rom-coms, I needed something more to make me commit my time. I watched 12 episodes for free on WeTV. Maybe when all episodes are free-to-watch I'll speed run through to the end. I have no doubt that they will engineer a happy ending but it would be a looong march to get there.
Was this review helpful to you?
