It's... okay.
This TV show is... okay. Not very good, not very bad. Just aggressively lukewarm.
Let me try to sort my thoughts out.
Story:
The first episode genuinely surprised me. The creators seemed determined to move away from generic BL stereotypes, opening with explosions, bloodshed, and a much grittier atmosphere than I expected. I also liked the premise. While there are already quite a few BL period dramas set in similar eras, the idea of two freedom fighters falling in love during the political unrest of the 1970s felt refreshing.
Unfortunately, my excitement didn't die a quick and merciful death but instead slowly withered away over the following five episodes.
This series could have been genuinely good. Instead, it's a wasteland of unrealized potential. The show wants to tell a serious, high-stakes story about young students risking everything to fight an unjust regime, and I was completely on board with that. Then, barely fifteen minutes after innocent people are brutally killed, we're hit with... a diarrhea joke.
That perfectly sums up my biggest issue with the series.
It feels like the writers never decided what kind of show they wanted to make. One moment they're asking us to take the story seriously, and the next they're undercutting the tension with juvenile comedy that has absolutely no business being there. The tonal whiplash is constant, and it completely kills the emotional impact.
Acting:
To be completely honest, the acting follows the exact same pattern as the rest of the show: it's not very good, it's not very bad, it's just... okay. At its best it's merely mediocre, and at its worst it's awkward, stiff, and unintentionally cringeworthy. I often got the impression that neither the actors nor the directors really knew who these characters were supposed to be.
Vin is clearly written as an innocent, mischievous young man with a deeply caring heart - I think? I understand that's what the show is trying to convey but I just don't feel any of it. His emotional scenes leave me completely unmoved.
Yue has the same problem. He's supposed to be the hardened soldier who's at first frustrated by Vin's naïveté and refusal to blindly follow orders but secretely finds it endearing. He is like Shrek with all the layers waiting to be peeled back, but the problem is that while I can see the peeling happening (if I squint), I don't feel any of the emotional growth that's supposedly taking place. Then, out of nowhere, Yue starts smiling like a bashful schoolgirl, and I'm left wondering if I accidentally skipped an episode because some of his reactions feel completely out of character.
Side Characters:
The supporting cast is equally inconsistent. Some of them are perfectly serviceable. Then there's that one guy whose name I don't remember but you will know who I am talking about. It's not that his character is particularly offensive rather that his acting is so ridiculously over-the-top. We get it, you're the arrogant, macho freedom fighter - you don't have to snarl like a rabid dog every five seconds to remind us.
Ironically, the only performance that made me feel anything was the young girl in Episode 5. I think it says quite a lot when the most convincing actor in the entire series is a teenager.
Chemistry:
Oof. The chemistry between the leads is like seeing a ghost: if you squint hard enough, you can almost make out its outline, but the longer you look, the more it disappears. These two don't feel like lovers to the point where I wonder if they actually like each other in real life. They are cleary not comfortable during the emotional scenes. Their kisses are completely closed-mouthed and utterly passionless, which feels bizarre considering they're supposed to be grown men risking their lives together in the middle of a revolution. In this setting, I would expect more urgency and less bashful glances and girly giggles. Am I really supposed to believe these are hardened freedom fighters when they kiss like two Barbie dolls whose faces have been pushed together by a five-year-old?
And the sex scene... Gods, I was bored. I actually caught myself scrolling through my phone halfway through it. There was no tension, no passion, no intimacy. Serously, it felt like I was watching two wooden planks awkwardly stacked on top of each other. At one point I genuinely started wondering whether either actor had ever experienced physical intimacy before.
Then the scene suddenly included these bizarre shots where each character stared directly into the camera as if the audience was supposed to imagine themselves in the scene right beneath the actor?! Why? Who thought that was a good idea? It wasn't sexy or romantic, it was just deeply unsettling.
Final Verdict:
This show constantly sits on the border between decent and cringe. It's never bad enough to become explicitly awful, but it's rarely good enough to become genuinely engaging either. Everything about it feels trapped in this strange middle ground where every good idea is immediately undermined by questionable writing, mediocre performances, or nonexistent chemistry.
It's disappointing because the potential was absolutely there. Instead, what we got was simply... okay. And honestly, "okay" might be the harshest criticism I can give a series that had all the ingredients to be something memorable.
Let me try to sort my thoughts out.
Story:
The first episode genuinely surprised me. The creators seemed determined to move away from generic BL stereotypes, opening with explosions, bloodshed, and a much grittier atmosphere than I expected. I also liked the premise. While there are already quite a few BL period dramas set in similar eras, the idea of two freedom fighters falling in love during the political unrest of the 1970s felt refreshing.
Unfortunately, my excitement didn't die a quick and merciful death but instead slowly withered away over the following five episodes.
This series could have been genuinely good. Instead, it's a wasteland of unrealized potential. The show wants to tell a serious, high-stakes story about young students risking everything to fight an unjust regime, and I was completely on board with that. Then, barely fifteen minutes after innocent people are brutally killed, we're hit with... a diarrhea joke.
That perfectly sums up my biggest issue with the series.
It feels like the writers never decided what kind of show they wanted to make. One moment they're asking us to take the story seriously, and the next they're undercutting the tension with juvenile comedy that has absolutely no business being there. The tonal whiplash is constant, and it completely kills the emotional impact.
Acting:
To be completely honest, the acting follows the exact same pattern as the rest of the show: it's not very good, it's not very bad, it's just... okay. At its best it's merely mediocre, and at its worst it's awkward, stiff, and unintentionally cringeworthy. I often got the impression that neither the actors nor the directors really knew who these characters were supposed to be.
Vin is clearly written as an innocent, mischievous young man with a deeply caring heart - I think? I understand that's what the show is trying to convey but I just don't feel any of it. His emotional scenes leave me completely unmoved.
Yue has the same problem. He's supposed to be the hardened soldier who's at first frustrated by Vin's naïveté and refusal to blindly follow orders but secretely finds it endearing. He is like Shrek with all the layers waiting to be peeled back, but the problem is that while I can see the peeling happening (if I squint), I don't feel any of the emotional growth that's supposedly taking place. Then, out of nowhere, Yue starts smiling like a bashful schoolgirl, and I'm left wondering if I accidentally skipped an episode because some of his reactions feel completely out of character.
Side Characters:
The supporting cast is equally inconsistent. Some of them are perfectly serviceable. Then there's that one guy whose name I don't remember but you will know who I am talking about. It's not that his character is particularly offensive rather that his acting is so ridiculously over-the-top. We get it, you're the arrogant, macho freedom fighter - you don't have to snarl like a rabid dog every five seconds to remind us.
Ironically, the only performance that made me feel anything was the young girl in Episode 5. I think it says quite a lot when the most convincing actor in the entire series is a teenager.
Chemistry:
Oof. The chemistry between the leads is like seeing a ghost: if you squint hard enough, you can almost make out its outline, but the longer you look, the more it disappears. These two don't feel like lovers to the point where I wonder if they actually like each other in real life. They are cleary not comfortable during the emotional scenes. Their kisses are completely closed-mouthed and utterly passionless, which feels bizarre considering they're supposed to be grown men risking their lives together in the middle of a revolution. In this setting, I would expect more urgency and less bashful glances and girly giggles. Am I really supposed to believe these are hardened freedom fighters when they kiss like two Barbie dolls whose faces have been pushed together by a five-year-old?
And the sex scene... Gods, I was bored. I actually caught myself scrolling through my phone halfway through it. There was no tension, no passion, no intimacy. Serously, it felt like I was watching two wooden planks awkwardly stacked on top of each other. At one point I genuinely started wondering whether either actor had ever experienced physical intimacy before.
Then the scene suddenly included these bizarre shots where each character stared directly into the camera as if the audience was supposed to imagine themselves in the scene right beneath the actor?! Why? Who thought that was a good idea? It wasn't sexy or romantic, it was just deeply unsettling.
Final Verdict:
This show constantly sits on the border between decent and cringe. It's never bad enough to become explicitly awful, but it's rarely good enough to become genuinely engaging either. Everything about it feels trapped in this strange middle ground where every good idea is immediately undermined by questionable writing, mediocre performances, or nonexistent chemistry.
It's disappointing because the potential was absolutely there. Instead, what we got was simply... okay. And honestly, "okay" might be the harshest criticism I can give a series that had all the ingredients to be something memorable.
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