tuhr

i really liked this at the start. the leads had great chemistry . however somewhere along the way it lost the plot. the time skip at the end completely killed any momentum. it feels like they couldve fit an entire season in what was skipped. like whats the point of an epilogue when the main story is still unresolved? the entirety of episode 7 rang hollow and it didnt help that their interactions suddenly felt insincere (and not even because of the lack of intimacy). disappointed because this felt really special at the start but fizzled out just like flat soda

the effort is admirable but this was way too short for the story they were trying to tell. it took several episodes for me to make even a bit of sense of what was going on and by the end i still felt befuddled. even the bl parts just felt randomly sprinkled in when i didnt understand the stakes or really cared about the characters at all. still there was at least some interesting cinematography and an intriguing plot

youre not alone i guess i should make the next easier haha. and thank you for playing!!

also at this point the son aka mr song seems so suspicious it feels like a red herring. he definitely had something to do with the koryoin man's body being disposed of, but im not sure hes a murderer just yet, especially since he couldnt have possibly murdered the husband and the obgyn. im interested to see where things go because hes expressed resentment for both his parents. so i wonder if it turns out he has information on the real killer(s)

eps 7&8 were really good! i like how we're getting more of the investigation and all the different threads. and of course i cant get enough of their dynamic like the two-way devotion of it all

thank you so much for playing!!

these are fun! though i have to make a lot of educated guesses haha

very short but very sweet. i really love snapshots of stories like these that show sometimes less is more. characters felt very believable and good performances from the actors

i think this is decently compelling as far as found family goes but not so much as a romance... i think theres just not enough chemistry/buildup to them becoming lovers and the romance always felt very one-sided. still i liked the characters especially wei qian (and felt bad the way his siblings were stressing him out the entire time lmao). overall the show is well-put together i just expected more from their relationship

this was pretty cute overall but the plot suffers from some weird pacing and editing. scenes often feel randomly strung together like something will happen at the end of one scene and the characters act like nothing happened in the next. i also dont know what was up with that tacky fade effect used 80% of the time. i think the ending wouldve landed better with a couple more episodes because it felt like certain conflicts were resolved way too easily

i wish id trusted my gut and skipped this one. i was somewhat interested at the start but the whole "director who buys me dinner" part is literally for like 2 episodes before the plot goes off the rails and is downright incomprehensible. character motivations make zero sense. it feels like they went with the first draft, first take etc. for everything... the only saving grace is actors that are pretty to look at and some good bits here and there.

im conflicted about this. while i liked the premise and setup there were a lot of strange pacing and editing choices especially in the first half. it feels like we speedran through what shouldve been crucial development of the leads relationship by fast forwarding through the shooting days. like we went from pei jia not caring about xiao su at all to suddenly having a crush on him in the span of a single episode. then once the main antagonist is revealed this started to feel more like a drama about abuse in the entertainment industry than a bl. still though it deals with some very heavy topics i think they were handled with grace, and what love story is there is deeply moving and impactful. overall id say i liked it but it takes a couple episodes to really find its footing

great analysis as usual!! youve even inspired me to start (over)analyzing the episodes hahaha. i really like your reading of the private and public narrative and how perception is everything. that reminds me of the scene where the girlfriend sees them holding hands and later dismisses it as just fanservice for the film (even though they were alone at a hotel lol). it almost feels like they re already setting up how zhang zhun and zhen xin's relationship is going to be explained away and/or buried by the press. theres a cruel irony in the fact that in the same episode where they start being more openly affectionate with each other, confess, agree to break up with their girlfriends - all the signs of them becoming official - we get the bombshell right at the end. im equal parts anxious and excited for the upcoming eps!

- the opening scene: i find it interesting the way we transition out of movie mode before the scene is actually over and the director yells "cut!" fang chi is on the phone hearing gao zhun's vo, and yet we focus on zhang zhun's face. why? (this goes into my next point)

- the next "Cut!": i see now the intention in having so many episodes focusing on the film back to back; it trained us the viewers to get used to seeing the very clear transition + aspect ratio change whenever we switch to the movie story. but the next scene they start filming, there is no transition. as the scene went on, i realized this was the first time i genuinely couldnt tell whether it was gao zhun and fang chi or zhang zhun and zhen xin in control. lo and behold, when the director yells "cut!" he immediately slips up and says zhang zhun's name when he meant to say gao zhun. if even the director is losing the plot... i just love how this moment shows how the line between the film and reality is now eroded beyond repair.

- the distinction between wives and girlfriends + their autonomy (or lack thereof): zhang zhun's conversation with his senior sets up a great bait and switch at the end of episode. up til now the elephant in the room that was both leads' girlfriends felt like chekhov's gun ready to go off. but this convo tells us that unlike wives, girlfriends are an easy to problem to solve in bl land. they just need to break up. so when our favorite cheaters finally confess their feelings we expect the girls to fade away offscreen again. which seems to be exactly what happens as zhang zhun's girlfriend accepts that her drink was too strong and shes better off with another one... but zhen xin's girlfriend instead literally flips the script on its head; now she *is* the main character as far as the public is concerned. im usually not a fan of the clingy scheming girlfriend trope, but the execution of that last minute twist was just too good.

- more parallels between gz/fc and zz/zx: as always i enjoy the parallels between the two couples and how their progression is inextricably linked. eps 6&7 sees both of them reaching the point of no return and crossing over into (ab)normal relationships. its not nearly as simple as patient-therapist and costars anymore.

- post credits scene: zhang zhun's question about intimate dreams is another tell that zhen xin wasnt the only one too deep in. shoutout to @oddsare for pointing out how the red dream from ep 5 was as much representative of zhang zhun's feelings as it was gao zhun's.

im glad ep 7 finally focused on the actors again. this show really just gets better and better because this is the first time i find myself revisiting scenes over and over to catch details i missed the first time. and theres so much to chew on thematically!!

a list of things that stuck out to me in ep 7:

while i see why xiaofang acts the way he does oof ep4 was a tough watch. im only holding out for when he finally grows a backbone and/or luqing stops treating him like garbage

you make a very good case. my only real gripe with the film dominating the screentime is that the scenes theyre filming now are the most physically and psychologically demanding yet but we're not getting to really sit with the actors and see how it affects them. i know we got a glimpse after the "cut" showing them struggling to snap out of it immediately. i just want more of that. like theres no way zhang zhun is feeling normal about acting out several violent rape scenes. im hoping episode 7 onward shows us more of that headspace you know?

i mean now that all the pieces are coming together the story isnt super complex it just didnt help that the first couple episodes switched to the side couples pov before we really understood their role in the story leaving a lot of people understandably confused

this was cute but left me a bit unsatisfied. it feels like so many plot points arent properly resolved/go nowhere. like jay spends the first 2 episodes crossdressing for his exboyfriend then its literally acknowledged again. guang's parents abuse him the entire time then have a sudden change of heart in the final episode. youd think the student council presidency would be more important but its relevant for all of 5 minutes in the first and last episode. i wanted to be invested in these boys lives but everything felt so surface level. still the music parts were done well at least

i thought he looked so familiar in about youth and just realized its because he looks similar to off jumpol