7
3
This review may contain spoilers
50 Shades of Luke?
I know I have used this phase before, “it pains me to write this . .” This time I really mean it.
Let's start from the top. The A-plot concerns a rich tsundere boss who stole the heart of a beautiful new employee. Their entanglement is built upon a web of love, lust and control. The power dynamics is obviously one-sided. Only when the FL walks away after 6 years does he realises he cannot live without her.
If you are thinking, that's just the typical office romance trope, this show dials everything up to the max. Both the OTP's interactions and their skinship (by Chinese standard) are intense. In fact, a lot of the publicity is centred around the series employing an intimacy coordinator, a first for any Chinese production.
I am sure there are a lot of discussions about their love story by now. I don't want to turn this into some kind of relationship manifesto, so I’ll keep things succinct. What I'm about to say is not going to go down well in some quarters. ;)
To put it bluntly, the ML is a rich, arrogant piece of work. He is a narcissist and woe to any female who falls in love with him. He is a condescending green eye monster and prone to gaslight his victims, I mean girlfriend. Yes, he has his softer side, but it is locked away deep in his psyche and is only let loose once in awhile.
On the flip side is the sweet and naïve FL. She is a new grad just entering the workforce. She is eager to please and craves any praise from the ML.
She is often belittled by him and withers on the vine depending on his mood. Hot or cold, she suffers through them all. It is difficult to watch unless you switch off your empathy circuit.
This is a fundamental problem with this series. How I wish it was a cheap and nasty production then I can laugh it off. Unfortunately, this is a top-notch drama by all matrix. This makes the narrative even more poignant. We can see how a charismatic and domineering person can control such a lopsided relationship. There are many triggers, so many.
If the toxic liaison is not problematic enough, there are other narrative issues which compounds over time. For instance, the death of the SML was a key trigger for their eventual break-up.
This is confusing for me. While the show kept telling us the SML is her best friend, it doesn't compute. The FL studiously kept their relationship platonic. Good friends, absolutely. Besties? I’m not sure. We know the SML has a crush on her, but the FL has never shown any romantic interest in him.
Ditto, the implausibility of keeping an office affair secret for 6 years. Even the HR director told the ML how obvious it was after the fact. They were literally leaving breadcrumbs everywhere. The show is so reliant on the trope that it ignores the used-by date.
However, it is the show’s treatment of FL’s once she is back in Harbin that got my goat. I read those chapters in the original novel. I really liked them. It is an acknowledgment of the FL’s real abilities and her growing independence. The fact they condensed them down to almost triviality is disappointing. To rub salt into the wound, the ML is back in her life before that episode is over.
I get that with 2 eps left to go; they must turn the ship around. Their reconciliation is swoon-y and sweet, but once again, it is largely focused on the ML. Most of FL's challenges are brushed aside with little consequences.
I chalk this down to the series being trimmed from 32 to 24 eps. I think most of the cut came from the final act. I noticed a marked deviation from the book at that point. Many key events have been excised.
The end result is a solid start, a draggy middle (no surprise if it was a 32 EP drama) and then a rushed and perfunctory ending. It delivers what we wanted, but it left a discordant note.
In the end, the show is making waves both in China and overseas as it is streaming on Netflix. It is clocking up some serious viewership numbers. I do wonder how much is due to hype and curiosity. My own opinion has certainly changed over time.
This is unfortunate. The drama is well made, the source material is there, and the actors are up for the challenge. It started well, but it became an ouroboros by mid run. I’m sure the HEA ending will assuage many fans. I appreciate that and I’m happy to see they manage to start over on a more equal footing. Overall, I enjoyed this series, but with caveats. Peace.
Let's start from the top. The A-plot concerns a rich tsundere boss who stole the heart of a beautiful new employee. Their entanglement is built upon a web of love, lust and control. The power dynamics is obviously one-sided. Only when the FL walks away after 6 years does he realises he cannot live without her.
If you are thinking, that's just the typical office romance trope, this show dials everything up to the max. Both the OTP's interactions and their skinship (by Chinese standard) are intense. In fact, a lot of the publicity is centred around the series employing an intimacy coordinator, a first for any Chinese production.
I am sure there are a lot of discussions about their love story by now. I don't want to turn this into some kind of relationship manifesto, so I’ll keep things succinct. What I'm about to say is not going to go down well in some quarters. ;)
To put it bluntly, the ML is a rich, arrogant piece of work. He is a narcissist and woe to any female who falls in love with him. He is a condescending green eye monster and prone to gaslight his victims, I mean girlfriend. Yes, he has his softer side, but it is locked away deep in his psyche and is only let loose once in awhile.
On the flip side is the sweet and naïve FL. She is a new grad just entering the workforce. She is eager to please and craves any praise from the ML.
She is often belittled by him and withers on the vine depending on his mood. Hot or cold, she suffers through them all. It is difficult to watch unless you switch off your empathy circuit.
This is a fundamental problem with this series. How I wish it was a cheap and nasty production then I can laugh it off. Unfortunately, this is a top-notch drama by all matrix. This makes the narrative even more poignant. We can see how a charismatic and domineering person can control such a lopsided relationship. There are many triggers, so many.
If the toxic liaison is not problematic enough, there are other narrative issues which compounds over time. For instance, the death of the SML was a key trigger for their eventual break-up.
This is confusing for me. While the show kept telling us the SML is her best friend, it doesn't compute. The FL studiously kept their relationship platonic. Good friends, absolutely. Besties? I’m not sure. We know the SML has a crush on her, but the FL has never shown any romantic interest in him.
Ditto, the implausibility of keeping an office affair secret for 6 years. Even the HR director told the ML how obvious it was after the fact. They were literally leaving breadcrumbs everywhere. The show is so reliant on the trope that it ignores the used-by date.
However, it is the show’s treatment of FL’s once she is back in Harbin that got my goat. I read those chapters in the original novel. I really liked them. It is an acknowledgment of the FL’s real abilities and her growing independence. The fact they condensed them down to almost triviality is disappointing. To rub salt into the wound, the ML is back in her life before that episode is over.
I get that with 2 eps left to go; they must turn the ship around. Their reconciliation is swoon-y and sweet, but once again, it is largely focused on the ML. Most of FL's challenges are brushed aside with little consequences.
I chalk this down to the series being trimmed from 32 to 24 eps. I think most of the cut came from the final act. I noticed a marked deviation from the book at that point. Many key events have been excised.
The end result is a solid start, a draggy middle (no surprise if it was a 32 EP drama) and then a rushed and perfunctory ending. It delivers what we wanted, but it left a discordant note.
In the end, the show is making waves both in China and overseas as it is streaming on Netflix. It is clocking up some serious viewership numbers. I do wonder how much is due to hype and curiosity. My own opinion has certainly changed over time.
This is unfortunate. The drama is well made, the source material is there, and the actors are up for the challenge. It started well, but it became an ouroboros by mid run. I’m sure the HEA ending will assuage many fans. I appreciate that and I’m happy to see they manage to start over on a more equal footing. Overall, I enjoyed this series, but with caveats. Peace.
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