marshmellowparfait
It's important to know exactly what this drama is going to be about before diving into it so that you manage your expectations. Don't watch this drama if you're trying to use your brain cells to think about plot points or important things. Do watch this drama if you just want to watch a prince and a princess fall in love in a fairy tale and live out their happily ever after.
**There are no ogres, witches, evil stepmothers, curses, or other assorted evil characters in this fairy tale.
Story: This drama doesn't win prizes for plot. It's about two rich, beautiful people who fall in love with each other. But I think there are a couple things that this drama gets right:
- Our prince and princess fall in love relatively early on in the drama, so that means a lot of this drama plays out during their actual relationship. This is quite rare in drama land, and I love it!
- No love triangle. So refreshing. We don't have to suffer through episodes of the female lead torn between the male lead and the second male lead, while the audience cries buckets for the second male lead along the way.
- A female lead that actually knows who she likes and goes after it! Can I emphasize how rare this is? When was the last time you found a female lead in drama land who was like, "I want him, get all these other second male leads out of my way!" and literally chases down her guy? The last drama I watched with this concept was Novoland II.
- A female lead who is pretty and knows it. I can't stand drama land tropes that cast pretty actresses and then cover them up as Ugly Ducklings so that somehow the male lead discovers her "inner beauty" and falls in love. When does that ever happen in real life? This drama is super real in that sense - part of the reason why the male lead fell for her so fast was because she's very, very pretty.
- Supportive female friendships. The bond between the female lead and her agent was such a power couple. Her agent absolutely kills it as the female lead's staunchest supporter both in life and in work. Some viewers might roll their eyes at the female lead for the way she treated her sister-in-law as well as Gao Zitong, but I thought the female lead showed high EQ and maturity in the way she handled those relationships. She saw people for who they were, understood their motivations, and then made the choice to treat them with kindness. That's grace and maturity. That's also how relationships work in the actual, adult world, with your in-laws, and at your workplace.
Acting/Cast: Chemistry is 10/10. For anyone suffering from withdrawals after finishing this drama, go watch their behind the scenes clips. The actors' interactions when the cameras aren't rolling are even sweeter than the drama. Go watch that iconic clip where the male lead was playing with bubble guns with the female lead while hugging her waist and the director (I kid you not) had to yell at him to drop his hand and control himself. Given how flat the script was with respect to their characters, I applaud the two actors for making the characters so real and likeable.
Music: 10/10. I loved the songs!
Rewatch value: I think that's actually where this drama shines/is poisonous. I've been rewatching sweet interactions from this drama this whole past week, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching Dr. Zhou cooking breakfast for his Beibei, or Beibei pushing Dr. Zhou up against a wall. If you go on Mango TV's website or their Youtube channel, they've actually been posting condensed versions of the drama with just Dr. Zhou and Beibei's interactions. It's like a mini drama that you can rewatch over and over again without feeling the need to skip scenes.
Anyways, this drama has been like a drug during quarantine. It's escape fantasy at it's finest. Somewhere in another world somehow, Dr. Zhou and his Beibei are living out their fairy tale life happily ever after. Thank you to this drama for gifting me with an immense amount of second-hand embarrassment and many nights laughing and blushing. It will forever have a sweet spot in my heart.
**There are no ogres, witches, evil stepmothers, curses, or other assorted evil characters in this fairy tale.
Story: This drama doesn't win prizes for plot. It's about two rich, beautiful people who fall in love with each other. But I think there are a couple things that this drama gets right:
- Our prince and princess fall in love relatively early on in the drama, so that means a lot of this drama plays out during their actual relationship. This is quite rare in drama land, and I love it!
- No love triangle. So refreshing. We don't have to suffer through episodes of the female lead torn between the male lead and the second male lead, while the audience cries buckets for the second male lead along the way.
- A female lead that actually knows who she likes and goes after it! Can I emphasize how rare this is? When was the last time you found a female lead in drama land who was like, "I want him, get all these other second male leads out of my way!" and literally chases down her guy? The last drama I watched with this concept was Novoland II.
- A female lead who is pretty and knows it. I can't stand drama land tropes that cast pretty actresses and then cover them up as Ugly Ducklings so that somehow the male lead discovers her "inner beauty" and falls in love. When does that ever happen in real life? This drama is super real in that sense - part of the reason why the male lead fell for her so fast was because she's very, very pretty.
- Supportive female friendships. The bond between the female lead and her agent was such a power couple. Her agent absolutely kills it as the female lead's staunchest supporter both in life and in work. Some viewers might roll their eyes at the female lead for the way she treated her sister-in-law as well as Gao Zitong, but I thought the female lead showed high EQ and maturity in the way she handled those relationships. She saw people for who they were, understood their motivations, and then made the choice to treat them with kindness. That's grace and maturity. That's also how relationships work in the actual, adult world, with your in-laws, and at your workplace.
Acting/Cast: Chemistry is 10/10. For anyone suffering from withdrawals after finishing this drama, go watch their behind the scenes clips. The actors' interactions when the cameras aren't rolling are even sweeter than the drama. Go watch that iconic clip where the male lead was playing with bubble guns with the female lead while hugging her waist and the director (I kid you not) had to yell at him to drop his hand and control himself. Given how flat the script was with respect to their characters, I applaud the two actors for making the characters so real and likeable.
Music: 10/10. I loved the songs!
Rewatch value: I think that's actually where this drama shines/is poisonous. I've been rewatching sweet interactions from this drama this whole past week, and I don't think I'll ever get tired of watching Dr. Zhou cooking breakfast for his Beibei, or Beibei pushing Dr. Zhou up against a wall. If you go on Mango TV's website or their Youtube channel, they've actually been posting condensed versions of the drama with just Dr. Zhou and Beibei's interactions. It's like a mini drama that you can rewatch over and over again without feeling the need to skip scenes.
Anyways, this drama has been like a drug during quarantine. It's escape fantasy at it's finest. Somewhere in another world somehow, Dr. Zhou and his Beibei are living out their fairy tale life happily ever after. Thank you to this drama for gifting me with an immense amount of second-hand embarrassment and many nights laughing and blushing. It will forever have a sweet spot in my heart.
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