Zogitt

This series grabbed and held my attention right from the start. The small town setting is refreshing. The warm and quirky locals gave the drama a cosy feel. It is a hoot when the entitled FL lands with a thud in the middle of the backwaters town and start the whole fish-out-of-water trope. But wait! There is more. Toss in a handsome, no-nonsense ML and we get the central enemy-to-lover storyline. Those innocent villagers are in for a wild ride!

Everything is going swimmingly for a while. I don't think I'm spoiling anything by telling you our leads are falling in love by the day. Unfortunately, as they played students in preparation for the Gaokao, they have to play it straight. Lots of accidental closeness, cutesy gestures and meaningful gazes is our lot.

I'd happily eat all that up and ask for more if their loveline is strong. Even the odd second leads seem to read the room and fades away gracefully. What a pleasant surprise. Unfortunately, the distracting side plots just keep piling up.

Most of these subplots are of little significance and centred around small town dynamics and school yard antics. There are also some criminals running amok in the background. I don't understand why those repeated offenders are not hauled away. You'd think there would be a stronger anti-crime message. Yet, the same gang pops up repeatedly.

All these subplots only serve to hamstring our OTP's progress. While both our leads are close to 30yo in real life, they must look and act like teenagers for the bulk of the show. They did well for the most parts, but it is a double edged sword. They look the part which also mean their characters are either too restrained or too impulsive. Oh! To be young again.

Let's face it, by the 2/3 mark, they are together in every sense of the word other than going public and doing all the couple things. We end up in this vicious cycle of maximum yearning but minimal fan service. Just when you think they can breakout after the Gaokao, the FL's father happened.

As expected, our leads lost all their agency and must default to "your father knows best". This is an insurmountable roadblock as far as our leads are concerned. They came to this conclusion after 1 day. The writer then play the Noble Idiot card on us with minimum warning. To rub salt into the wound, this lasted FIVE miserable years!

Call me stupid, but what is the point of this "twist"? This is just gambling with your future. What happens if one of them got hit by a Big White Truck of Doom™? What if someone swept them off their feet and they meet again years later with spouse and bambini in tow? I'm sure this is a trope as well. 🤦🏻

As if to confirm the pointlessness of it all, once they reconnected, they went from "Hello" to "get a room" in one EP. They could have had 2.2 kids by now. Grrrr

This brings us to the last 3 eps. It is fan service overload. Everyone either gets a redemption or are living their best lives. Of course, our leads are 110% together by then and inseparable. Woe to anyone who stood in their way.

I'm not saying this is a bad show. It is an easy watch with nice characters and a cosy setting. I just wish they didn't fluff around (technical term) in the middle and double down on the Noble Idiot trope. It turned a promising romantic drama into just another idol drama. Peace.