The Interpreters is a gem of a drama in the myriad of dramas currently on screen to begin with. Addictive, like Swiss chocolate it has been captivating audiences and critics alike since debut. The story’s focal point is red string of fate that connects Cheng Jia Yang and Qiao Fei within the interpreting environment, and the medley of characters circulating in and around them. The first half of the drama is interesting and university students/recent graduates/young female professionals might agree that is fairly accurate and relatable. The hard work, the expectations, the dreams, the senior nasty supervisor/colleague that seems to exist with the sole purpose of making life a living hell professionally. The second half is a pastiche of attitudes, nastiness and backstabbing, which while indispensable in some dramas, in the Interpreters was unnecessary. Cheng Jia Yang is a successful Chinese/French interpreter with high work standards, a strong code of conduct and sense of decorum. Outwardly he appears inflexible and strict, a man not to be trifled with but inside is warm and caring. He falls madly in love with Qiao Fei becoming her knight in shining armour with a black car in place of the white horse.Qiao Fei is an honest, hardworking, independent cinderella esque woman that wants to become a Chinese/French interpreter. She falls in love with Cheng Jia Yang. Both Huang Xuan and Yang Mi perform their roles beautifully. They have great chemistry on screen and bring so much energy and so much life to the characters, to the point where one nearly forgets that the Interpreters is a drama and not a slice of real life minus the hyperbolic idiosyncrasies. The supporting characters are an attention-grabbing mix. The ‘the golden couple’ shippers, their best friends: Wong Xu Dong and Wu Jia Yi against the destroyers, Cheng Jia Yang’s evil mother, Qiao Fei ‘s jealous former colleague and Wen Xiao Hua meet neutral Gao Jia Ming, Cheng Jia Yang’s brother, father and co-workers. The shippers are two fun, young and joyful characters overall with Wong Xu Dong being mature and responsible and Wu Jia Yi being literally the opposite. Together the contrasting personalities are cute on screen. The destroyers always have a bone to pick with; the evil mother with Qiao Fei, the former colleague with Cheng Jia Yang’s. Their characters are so utterly demented they ought to be institutionalized in the countryside or in a fishing village to develop their humanity. Gao Jia Ming starts the story as a lunatic man/doctor but evolves into a brilliant caring surgeon. Like his mother, he’s one of the Interpreters biggest catalysts. Song wise, Mon Chéri, The Interpreters’ main ballad exquisitely reflects largely storyline catharsis in all its different edges. Overall the Interpreters is a fantastic story, that despite being told beautifully in the first half and train wrecked in the second remained addictive to watch every day and highlighted great performances from Huang Xuan and Gao Vengo, without whom Cheng Jia Yang and Gao Jia Ming’s characters might have been just another script writer’s creation instead of men with interesting lives to watch developing on screen across 42 episodes. Should the Interpreters have had a lesser number of episodes and refrained from the common, clichéd shenanigans the drama would have been top notched with an overall rating of 10 out of 10.