Reviews

The river that ran straight and clear

Correct me if I'm wrong, but my geographical knowledge granted - most rivers run neither straight nor clear. This series promised a raging river and instead delivered a silent stream.

Instinctually, it's easy to recognise that The Murky Stream is a drama that is solemn, but unfortunately, that may be the only thing that is consistent about it. Because the narrative, the plot, were all scattered around aimlessly, barely managing to come together in the final moments for a lackluster ending.

I do believe this is a story that requires some knowledge on the era it is set in - unfortunately, I walked in knowing none of it, making me unsure if some facts were true and lost on some contexts. As such, I may not have been able to understand or enjoy this piece of work in it's intended or to the full extent - and for the same purpose, I won't focus on the actual details in the series in my review.

The first three episodes of this series had dreamlike writing - the story ebbed and flowed like the titular stream, nothing was quite clear, everyone seemed highly faceted. With the introduction of every main character, I thought I had it figured out! I could tell how the story was going to go, I could plot out all the major conflicts based on the information we were given, and this was going to be an epic struggle for all our characters - for their duty, dreams or dignity.
I, however, wanted to be proved wrong, because my version of events weren't nearly as twisted or mysterious as they needed to be. I was proved wrong, but I now wish I was right.

Because you see, my predictions were coherent and the primary problem here is with the pace of the story - focusing on the plot, all the nitty - gritty details is not a bad thing, but too much focus on that and you lose track of your narrative, you lose your flow. Multiple seasons (or no), you need a setup, you need your events and you need a payoff, especially when the plot is heavily geared towards political and social themes. The story moved forward without any real direction or turbulence, things were plain and simple, yet made no sense.

No episode after the first trio had much to say, every immediate scene introduced a new character or a new conflict or a new chronicle, but none with any substance. All the details presented needed to have been revealed much earlier or in a much more interesting way. I do recognise that the narrative took on a form that was much closer to real life than reel, which eventually ended up bogging down what could have been an interesting tale.

Thankfully, the final two episodes did have an interesting narrative - but I hated them. Majorly because none of those plotlines had a valid setup. The hurried sequences seemed to be connected to actual historical importance based on the emphasis placed on them - but it was too little too late. It came out of the blue and did nothing to complement the setup in the first three episodes, rather, it felt like a brand new story all of a sudden.

It seems like the story, the dialogues, the bonds between all the characters were written down before the characters were even finalized - and when you're stubborn that the story will go one way and one way only, it doesn't matter how much you work on your characters, they will do and say what the script says, even if it means it goes against the very fiber of the core characteristics you've written for them or even if it means they barely have characteristic of significance, something that makes you remember them. This series is afflicted with the second situation.

This is only enhanced by another massive error they made writing this script, ignoring their leads. Most of them at least. You need them all for the most part, but take any one of them out of the equation and the story would still move forward. I don't see that as a good thing, especially when you're marketing the complex ties between all them to be as murky as your river, it is kind of futile to not give any of them the required screentime or character depth. All of them are one - dimensional, can be summed up in a word, or they have no real personality that allows you to ponder upon the bonds they'll create or the actions they will take.

Siyul for example - he's described as hot headed, but you can see he's kind and fair from his screentime. But that's it? How does that play into Chun's honest idealism? What about Eun's prejudice, or Mudeok's cowardice?
And Siyul is the common link here because there's barely any interaction amongst the other leads. It felt like each of them was on their own personal journey, yet occasionally crossed paths with others, in happenchance.

I suppose my main gripe here is that everything was clear as day - none of it was remotely murky. The story and the character's personalities were both set in stone, neither of budged an inch through the course of the nine episodes.

I have no complaints about the acting or the cinematography, but in this context, they pale in comparison to the writing that stuck out like a sore thumb.

Watching it completely did indurate the fact that many events that happened in the series may be reflective of real life, but once again, I am not well versed in the history of the region and era. I will do some research into this, but whether it was historically accurate or not, ultimately, this was my kind of drama, but with bad execution. On a personal note - I hated how little screentime Seoham had, because to be completely honest, I started it for him. But even discounting my personal feelings on it, objectively speaking, they had so much going for them, but instead of running with it, they sat around toying with ideas that went nowhere and settled for an ending out of left field. Let's say they concluded it as well as they could, with an ambiguous ending, but even if there is a second season, I will not be revisiting it.

6.75/10

Leia Mais

SOMETIMES LESS IS MORE !

***DISCLAIMER: THIS IS JUST MY OPINION. YOU DON'T HAVE TO AGREE AND I'M NOT HERE TO ARGUE WITH ANYONE.***

LONG STORY SHORT:

IF THEY WRAPPED THIS DRAMA UP IN 10-12 EPISODES IT COULD'VE BEEN SO MUCH BETTER.
1ST HALF – GOOD / WATCHABLE, 2ND HALF – A HOT MESS.

OVERVIEW:

The drama opens with a married couple putting on a show for the cameras then the scenes pan to reality as the husband is actually miserable in the marriage and desperately wants a divorce. He convinces himself he hates his wife and can no longer live with her / remain by her side. That is until she is diagnosed with a rare condition called cloud cytoma which affects her brains cognitive functions. She loses track of time, hallucinates and begins to lose her memory. Eventually Haein tells Hyunwoo about her medical condition and he is overjoyed because now he can just wait until she dies instead of filing for divorce. Hyunwoo’s friend (Yang-Gi) convinces him that he may be able to inherit Queen’s group if Haein leaves it in her will. Consequently, he decides to be a ”perfect” dutiful husband until then so nobody will suspect him. From there we follow this couple and their family through the ups and down of their marriage on a backdrop of another family scheming for their very downfall.

COMMENTARY:

The drama gets a bit silly from episode 8 onward. It would have been so much better without the parasite plot. Don’t get me wrong at first it seemed interesting but the evil guy turning out to be the mothers son who she abandoned and put into foster care then he was adopted then she orchestrated his adopted parents death was just WILD. Too much was going on and not in a good way.

I have to say this drama quite literally pulls out every cliche from the book. I would've preferred if the writers focused more on the main couple's marital issues, the process of healing each others wounds and dealing with grief / loss of a loved one etc. It could’ve been so much more developed and I feel like even the actors could've utilized their skills more in showing how they confront those emotions by dealing with them as a whole.

QoT was just not executed as well as it could have been. It could’ve been amazing had they leaned into the "slice of life aspect" of it more. Yes the disease was fictitious but that doesn’t mean they couldn't have tried to make the plot more feasible. Even after her surgery… she had no hair loss, no chemotherapy, no check ups. After she came out of surgery she was just magically cured with the exception of her losing her memories? Once again, that was so unrealistic.

I didn't connect to the side characters at all and a lot of the storylines with them were so irrelevant. Honestly I didn't care for Soocheol and Dahye's story especially because he just accepted her back so easily, no questions asked. They did not communicate or have an honest conversation about her abusive ex, who was the reason why she kept on running away without a second thought. Which brings me to Haein and her mom’s relationship. They had an opportunity to show the complexity of it but Haein forgave her so easily just like that and there was no period of the talking things out and healing their own individual trauma and then finally coming together to work through everything? Some people would argue seeing that would be boring but no… with a drama like this it needed more depth and more layers.

The leads have visually stunning scenes but I didn't feel any sparks or fireworks between them. I'm not gonna lie, it felt forced and there was no natural chemistry. I could sense the actors were just pretending if that makes sense. They had me rooting for them in the beginning but lost me towards the middle especially when there was no real breaking point or indication of them working through their issues. I felt like they behaved more like teens falling in love for the first time than a married couple who had been through so much. There was also too much back and forth one minute they were ready to fix everything and reconcile the next they were pushing each other away and then back to square one, AGAIN.

Honestly this drama was sad and exhausting more than anything. The way everyone talks about this drama you’d think they had so many romantic scenes when in reality it was just heartbreak and grief because they anticipated Haein's death. But they didn't work through these emotions they just kind of accepted the inevitable.

LIKES:

First of all, the OST is amazing!

The epilogue scenes were really well done and I liked the fact that they gave us some insight into the couples past through Haein's memories. I really loved that scene where Hyunwoo got drunk and then told Haein he loved her.

I thought the cinematography was beautiful and everything looked picturesque especially in the flashback scenes.

I think both actors did a good job, particularly in the tear-jerking scenes. I believe Soo Hyun is mediocre and he's only ever good at crying scenes. Likewise, I wished we could've seen more expressions from Ji Won but I guess her character was more stony and cold so she represented that as best as she could. Again, the scenes where she broke down crying were notable.

Although I hated the villains they nailed their roles. I loved the acting from the aunt, I thought she brought some humor to the drama.

I also like all the fan edits of the lead couple as I feel those edits tend to capture their moments / emotions better while tuning out the background noise. Lol when I say edits are better than the drama itself, Queen of Tears would be the perfect example.


DISLIKES:

I have a problem with how no one is allowed to criticize this drama. I believe everyone is entitled to their opinion even the persons leaving bad reviews or who were let down after watching.

Initially I really was happy to see a drama dealing with marital issues but the problem is they didn’t really show them dealing with or working through their issues together.

In the earlier episodes, Hyunwoo wishing Haein's death was brutal and I would literally not wish cancer upon my worst enemy. Haein had her own flaws as she is a bit of a narcissist and a control freak. She also came off very condescending and cold towards others. I guess that’s her characterization but her realizing she only had 3 months to live made her drastically turn into a whole different person.

It truly felt like Haein and Hyunwoo didn’t even try in their marriage. After they lost the baby it’s like everything just fell apart, and they both allowed it. They didn’t even try couples therapy or delve deeper into their grief. I assume Haein poured herself into her work while Hyunwoo distanced himself from her, moved into the baby’s room and also got consumed by work. But I genuinely needed more than that.

The writers were unable to strike the perfect balance between showing and telling because they wanted to do flashbacks and also present day, but they didn't really delve into the loss of their child and why their marriage essentially fell apart.

I believe the writers wanted to create multidimensional characters but failed in their execution. It is clear the writers adored Eunseong and expected people to sympathize with him but they were sorely mistaken. Anyone who defends Eunseong is nuts. No matter how bad someone's life is or how terrible they feel about others, that doesn't give them the right to become a deranged vengeance-seeking murderer. Furthermore, the mother-son duo with their tumultuous relationship took up far too much screen time. It took so much out of me to not just skip over their scenes especially when a lot of it was just showing them scheming to take down Queens group.

The “happy ending” was bittersweet and left a sour taste in my mouth. We didn’t get a lot of happy moments between Haein and Hyunwoo for the majority of the drama, so I was hoping for at least some good moments between them in the finale. But no once again the writers had other plans. They wanted to end the story on a tragic / somber note, with Hyunwoo carrying flowers to Haein's grave. However, she did not die as early as expected. It was implied got to enjoy her life, they had a child etc. but Hyunwoo still had to mourn her before eventually following her to "heaven". The scene when they saw each other again did nothing for me, just made me have conflicting emotions to be honest.

OVERALL:

QoT had too many storylines. Most of the arcs were unnecessary rendering the storylines improbable. The side characters were poorly developed, annoying and didn’t add anything. It’s only watchable because of Kim Ji Won and Kim Soo Hyun. I felt like something was missing since the beginning because there was just so much to unpack that they never did.

The plot is very early 2010s formulaic and I believe this drama's weakness was its production in 2024, as well as the overdone cliches. Everything was completely anticipated and not shocking at all imo. The showrunners tried to hold people's attention by throwing in the most bizarre plot lines but this got tiresome / old quickly. It was as if whenever there was anything good, something awful had to happen to balance it out, which just didn't seem realistic or practical.

THE WRITERS NEEDED SOMEONE TO TELL THEM TO PUT THEIR PENS DOWN! They truly needed someone to slap some sense into them and tell them to stop the overdramatic makjang plots. Imo, most of the characters were just used as plot devices to further the storyline and create illogical chaos.

Would I rewatch this? No. I would only watch scenes I liked and an edit would suffice instead of the entire drama as a whole.

With all of that said, I rate it a 6/10 (my objective rating)

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Update: Honestly, this deserves a much lower score after the revelations about KSH being a repulsive predator. I’m done watching his dramas, and you should be too! Those who say it’s a great drama are fooling themselves; it’s nothing more than mediocre, and you’re not missing a thing. Just skip it altogether if you haven't already watched.

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At the end of the day if you don’t believe some of the reviews you just have to decide for yourself if you will watch the drama for or not.

Good Luck!

˚ʚ♡ɞ˚

Leia Mais

This is not a romance. This is a missed opportunity of romance.

This drama is not the love story of people who have feelings for each other, love each other and end up living happily ever after. This is a drama about what people can do to people who love them when they do not return their love feelings. So, the characters are most of the time cowardly, manipulative, pathetic, annoying and gesticulating in wrong situations. This happens in real life too as not all relationships are based on true and sincere love. This is what this drama is about. It has a realistic take on adults’ relationships. Adults who do not know their own feelings, ignore them, tone them down or pretend to have feelings… and make choices with their reason that their heart does not agree with.

1/ WHAT I LIKED:

- The story and the trajectory of the 5 main characters. None of them is perfect. They all have qualities and flaws that determine their choices. They are all relatable because they all look like human beings led into wrong choices by their human condition and trying to deal with their wrong choices and not the best way.
- The mature take on sex and love. It is not so common in romance kdramas. This drama is not shy about sex, and it tells that there is a difference between love and sex. Just like in real life.
- The cheating: 30% of women and 40% of men have cheated once in their life. No need to throw an anathema to them and pretend to be so much better. People have their own reasons for doing what they do. I did not want to judge them. I just agreed that in their situation, the cheating would happen, and it did happen like in real life. It was steamy and intense. People who can’t stomach cheating as a human emotional state and possible behavior should stay away from this drama.
- The rather realistic depiction of the workplace and colleagues. The friendly ones and the annoying ones who are always gossiping.
- The ending. There are two endings. One with ep15 with a sad unhappy ending but more consistent and logical with what happened during the whole drama. I have not read the novel but I felt like the ending with ep16 was especially cooked to give everyone a great situation like everything was bad that ends well. The two leads have an open ending with this ep but personally, I prefer the ending with ep15.

2/ WHAT I DID NOT LIKE:

- The early episodes were confusing and exhausting with the ML and FL acting unclear towards each other.
- Some draggy parts with too much gloomy faces and long contemplating moments
- The story between the ML and his mom could have been better. The mom looked a strong character, but she was quite underused for me.

3/ CHARACTERS/ACTORS:

- ML: The only one with real unconditional Love feelings. But he lacked courage and that drowned his chance. He grew into a more assured person and took responsibility of his feelings and his no-feelings in the end. Not very fond of the actor but he did a decent job looking gloomy and contrite and unable to bury his one-sided Love.
- FL: Self centered complicated person with sad circumstances and low self-esteem but she used them as an excuse to not face her own feelings and act upon them. This led her to make a wrong choice that she will try to assume despite obvious signs it is wrong. I liked Moon Ga young in this role. Different from what I used to see from her.
- SML: Student from a poor family who wanted to woo noona but when she chose him out of frustration for his kindness and for comfort, he suddenly had nothing more to offer her and became lousy and bland.
- SFL : Manipulative, possessive, scheming to always have gains from others. But I liked her bright, smart, and outgoing character. She was immature regarding Love and failed to be lovable and to love her partner. But she did not take it too badly. Of course, the ML was just a challenge and a trophy partner for her. Loved the actress who displayed lots of emotions.
- TML: Kyung Pil. This snake was a bad boyfriend, a bad friend and a bad person whispering bad ideas into the ears of the ML, SFL and FL based on his own sorry past that he chose himself. A dislikeable and pitiful person who slightly improved. The actor was great looking cunning, bitter, disillusioned and not proud of himself.

3/ OST:
Very good. I liked most of the songs and listened to them apart from the drama.

4/ REWATCHABLE VALUE:
It is slow paced and the story is realistic but sad, so I won’t rewatch it.

5/ OVERALL:

It’s a good drama if you can accept that humans are weak and make wrong choices and do wrong things that do not improve their situation on the contrary. Because they lack courage and confidence in themselves, their choice of reason is undermined by their heart’s choice, and it leads to messy situations. In the end, they still manage to put things in the right order and move on to a happier life after a time jump. Despite the contemplative and slow parts, I enjoyed watching these people I had pity and hopes for. Not so entertaining but a slice of life drama I enjoyed. 8/10.

Lesson of the drama: "If you have feelings for someone, take the courage to face your feelings honestly and act upon them. "

Leia Mais

Best things come in pairs… and season 3 proves the third time is definitely not the charm!

Season 3 landed, and honestly, it struggled to justify its return. The surface-level spectacle is undeniable...the visuals remain stylish, the action choreography is polished and the CGI is praiseworthy. But once the gloss wears off, what remains is a story that seems desperate to convince that it still has depth, when in reality it’s just circling the same drain with more expensive props.

Starting with the positives, I enjoyed most of the games. Following the legacy of the previous two seasons, they were imaginative, tense and shot well. The sets were grand, and the larger-than-life vibes were definitely there. The adrenaline rush was present, reminding me what made AIB unique.

But once that wears off, I found it a bit underwhelming. The main issue was the set up itself especially Usagi's return to the Borderland. The reason wasn't justified enough, plus the idea of dealing with trauma and getting closure was very questionable. She was always this resilient, voice of reason kind of person and grounding force for Arisu, but the writers kind of shoved her emotional arc into the background.

Arisu was still the guy trying to strategise his way out of impossible games and succeeding. He really tries to keep it together, but life keeps dealing him impossible hands and somehow, he still manages to play them like a pro.

In previous seasons, seeing them together gave a humane side to all the chaos and tension. Like an escape for us and them...but this season that bond felt eroded and side-lined. In theory, yes, we did see them together, but it barely translated on screen.

We were also introduced to new characters this season and sadly, most of them didn't leave an impact on me and felt like background noise. Some have tragic backstories, sure, but with barely any screen time, it’s hard to actually care. I still remember deaths from season 1 and not from season 3 that I watched yesterday and it is self-explanatory.
You know how we discard the Joker card while playing most games. I had hoped this season would give the Joker card some real weight, but instead, it turned out to be the weakest leader we had so far.
Ryuji caught my attention as a character but the story never fully allowed him to shine. Whether it was the six-episode format or the uneven pacing, many of his traits and potential arcs felt rushed or underexplored.

And then there’s the great “mystery” of Borderland. I was hoping this would flip the tables for me but why give clear answers when you can always drown us in psychological symbolism that looks fancy at first glance but ultimately is all smoke and mirrors.

By the end, instead of feeling like I had been on a gripping, mind-bending journey, I felt like someone had reheated leftovers from the first two seasons. It technically fed me, but there was no flavour.

Acting-wise, it was good. We have some big names in the cast, and they deliver. It's the writing that held them back. The visuals are really good and polished. Also, Netflix needs to stop milking every golden goose. First Squid Game and now this... *sigh*

So would I recommend it? Honestly, yes and no. If you have already come this far, I am sure it's hard not to give in. It's not unwatchable, but if next to its predecessors, it's pale and weak.
But if you are new and considering starting from season 1...I would recommend to stop at season 2.

Thank you for reading my review! <3

Leia Mais

I wasn't sure what I was getting into at first but with the first episode I knew I would like this.

The story is absolutely amazing and you will fall in love with the characters especially Song Sae Byuk's character Kang Pil Sung, who I absolutely adore, and Go Joon Hee's character Hong Seo Jung, who was like a living angel. The chemistry between those two characters will simply make your heart ache and break all at the same time. Song Sae Byuk really caught me of guard, he literally is probably one of my favorite male leads after this, I just can't tell you how much I loved his character. You really felt the love shared by these two characters.

The other characters were fantastic as well, you really became attached to them which made later episodes pretty painful. Even the evil bastard character Hwang Dae Doo was good in the fact that you really really really hate him.

I will give fair warning when watching this, the last four episodes are very painful to watch, I basically just wanted to cry most of the time. With that being said I don't think the ending was a bad one, in fact I really found some hope in it.

I would definitely recommend this drama. The story, characters, production, music, acting, just about everything was top notch! Still fresh off the last episode and really still feeling my heart breaking a bit and I'm sure the characters will be on my mind and in my heart for a while.

Leia Mais

TharnType comes back to annoy us all for a very special episode of ignoring all its real issues.

Our main couple declare their undying love for each other over and over again in what is nothing but embarrassing fan service while making sure to emphasise that Type is Definitely Not Gay (while everybody else around them is).

Type's big moments of coming out to his friends, family and Kom happen either offscreen, for laughs or in rushed broad strokes with all the emotions stripped from them. I should probably just be happy the writers dealt with those issues at all. They certainly didn't mention Type's trauma, apart from an impetus to his - apparently ongoing - hatred of Bad Gays.

Speaking of Bad Gays, Lhong wanders through to be forgiven by Tharn's brother in a truly disgusting scene that reminds us that Thorn is fine with San being in his brother's life too and therefore clearly doesn't actually care about him. He may as well hang a shingle on his door saying, "All Tharn's abusers are welcome here".

Essentially this "special" consists of random scenes with no real narrative thread or thematic underpinnings. It's basically "stuff fans might like to see" and I'm sure a lot of fans loved it. Even the weird cat/dog scene I'm scrubbing from my mind as we speak.

I guess if you sat through the first 12 episodes you may as well watch it. It changes nothing and adds nothing, except to my annoyance.

Leia Mais

My primary issue with this season was the writing and plot. My secondary issue was that the acting & editing were often weird or poorly done; this was most frustrating as it hugely undermined the chemistry between the couples.

Writing: the poor actors were forced to say so many unnatural lines that people just don't say in real life that even if they were extraordinary, they wouldn't be able to believably deliver them. Next, the transition of fixation/anger into attraction was hodge-podged together out of weird, pretty stupid plot contrivances, and no deep thought on the characters' parts was seen to be put into the changing feelings. It just wasn't believable. Separately, the plot wanted so badly to be unpredictable that it relied on the most annoying, forced twists delivered in clumsy revelations whose timing make next to zero sense. Finally, THAT'S NOT HOW POLICE WORK WTFFFFF every time something totally unbelievable happened with regards to the police work, I was wrenched entirely out of the story. This is why I say it was a failure of ambition: they wanted to do something other than school setting, which is laudable, but didn't take the time or effort to do it well.

Acting/Editing: I combine these because I wonder if all the peculiar pausing in place was due to editing failures and because I really want to believe the actors had better takes than the ones put into the final product. One particular oddity was that the kisses never developed out of the wooden "one person's eyes stay wide and body stiff in surprise" stage, even after the romance developed to a mutually acknowledged stage. Another instance of bad acting or maybe editing is that in a particularly heated scene I couldn't stop laughing because the main actor looked like he got "petulant child" mixed up with "murderous rage". I'm laughing again as I think of it. The rest of my issues I'm willing to put on the writers hurting the actors with just frankly dumb lines/scenarios.

It would have been cute as a manhua, but the choice to put it to real life actors requires more realism, less lazy writing, and fewer dumb gags.

Leia Mais

I just finished watching it. It'll be very hard for me to write a good review for this drama, because it has so many aspects. I will try to stick to those 5 aspects that mydramalist created.
First of all, Story. The plot is very complex and interesting. At the beginning it's a typical romance but it soon turns out to be more than that. Actually it's a drama about the older generation. The reason why I gave this drama a "2" and that is "dreadful" for the story is because it turns out to be a pretty sad drama. If you like positive, funny, romance stories, do not watch this drama. This series is full of awful characters that got on my nerves all the time.
Second thing is Acting. Most of the actors did a great job especially the older ones. I only gave "7" for acting because I think that one of the main couples, Joo Young and Woo Bin didn't act very well. For me their acting was unrealistic and they didn't show the right emotions.
Music, well, music was good, but it was often too much like in typical soup operas.
When it comes to rewatch value, I gave it a "1" because I would never watch it again. It's just that the plot went into the wrong direction and like I said before, it's a sad kind of drama. Overall I gave it a "5" because it has a lot of postive aspects but also a lot of negavite ones. I hope my review will be somehow helpful to all of you who haven't watched it yet.

Leia Mais

One of the best modern c-dramas in the recent years

Among the normal youth c-drama, there might be some dramas with unexpected depth and warmth. Lighter & Princess is one such drama. Great acting, amazing chemistry, good soundtracks, and wonderful cinematography - this drama has everything the audience needs to enjoy it.


Lighter & Princess is adapted from the novel The Lighter and the Princess’ Gown, written by Twentine. The name is taken directly from the story. 'Lighter' symbolizes the ML, Li Xun. He always carries a small lighter along with him, which he got from his father. 'Princess' depicts the FL, Zhu Yun. Li Xun always used to call her Princess and also gifted her a 'princess gown', when they were in college.


L&P proves that rather than an over-the-top plot and dumb comedy, a simple plot and depthy characters are enough to make a drama loved. Lighter & Princess is actually a hard-hitting drama with a slow and subtle plot build. It touches many real life problems as well. The pace of the story was perfect and catchy. The drama started in the present day and shows flashbacks to the past, when the leads were in college and, in Li Xun's case, when he was a high schooler as well. I won't talk much about the plot because of the risk of spoiling something, since the synopsis barely says what actually happens in the drama. The thing about the story that wowed me the most was how everything has a rich backstory. Everything is explained without loopholes. The reason why Li Xun always carries a lighter, why he dyed his hair blonde when he came to college ( yeah, we get to see Chen Fei Yu in blond hair, and believe me, he looks awesome in that! ), and why he always calls Zhu Yun "princess" or "your highness" etc. Everything connects with each other and makes the story beautiful and moving.


The romance in the story is another aspect I liked. Li Xun is an arrogant but brilliant student, who is very much ahead of his class in coding and programming. He was even more gifted and talented than his teacher. He's handsome as hell and attracts many girls, whom he drives away through humiliation. He's always been confident in himself and hasn't had even a bit of self-doubt. Many people admire him for his brilliantness and good looks, but they hate him for his arrogant attitude. He never trusted anyone but himself and always acts like he's the king. He doesn't abide by any rules and thus becomes completely opposite to Zhu Yun's character. Another aspect of the story that I enjoyed was the romance. Li Xun is a conceited but an intelligent student who is well ahead of his peers in coding and programming. One could say tha he I as gifted and talented even more than his teacher. He's  also handsome as hell and attracts a lot of girls, whom he drives away through humiliation. He's always been self-confident and has never had any doubts about himself. Many people admire him for his intelligence and good looks, but they also fear and despise him for his arrogant demeanour. He never trusted anyone but himself and always pretended to be a King. He does not follow any rules and so becomes the absolute opposite of Zhu Yun's character. Zhu Yun is the ideal daughter that any parent would desire. She's beautiful, innocent, and pure as well.


When Zhu Yun first meets Li Xun, despite despising him, she's attracted to him by his carefree personality and confidence as well. As far as she could remember, Zhu Yun had always walked along the path that her mother had paved for her. She hasn't made a single decision for herself before and came to study programming because of her mother as well, not because she likes it. Thus, when he, Li Xun, entered her life, Zhu Yun had an urge to step out and experience life by herself. Because of Li Xun, she even started to have a liking for programming as well. Slowly, she saw herself falling in love with him. Li Xun noticed himself caring for the 'princess', who suddenly barged into his life, giving off warmth in his cold life. The romance was kinda slow burn and we got to watch how they warmed up to each other and dealt with every difficulty together.


The side characters were as interesting as the main characters too. No one felt unnecessary, and everyone had their own individual stories even without much screen time. The side characters were absolutely necessary for the plot. My favorite side character is, of course, Ren Di. I love her personality and how she deals with problems and follows her heart. In a way, she's similar to Li Xun but more open and friendly.


Now let's talk about the acting. I have not watched any works of Zhang Jing Yi or Chen Fei Yu before, but I have heard people say that Fei Yu's acting was lacking in Ever Night, his first drama. I don't know about it, but in this one he was absolutely phenomenal. I like actors who portray emotions through their eyes, and Fei Yu is one like that. He has gotten on my list of favorite actors with just this drama. Just through his gaze, one could decipher what he's feeling. That pain and anger that had been inside him for solong, we could see it. Zhang Jing Yi's performance made it seem like she was born for this role or that the character was made just for her. Her innocent appearance is perfect for the character and makes it believable.


The cinematography in L&P was simply beautiful. Each and every scene was aesthetically pleasing and very pretty to watch. It's rare to see such top notch cinematography in a c-drama, unless it's historical or xianxia.


The songs and background music used in this drama were catchy and very much in sync with the actual drama. I especially liked the song "Fireworks" by Zhou Shen and the opening theme.


Finally, it has been a long time since I properly liked a modern c-drama. I was disappointed in almost all the modern c-dramas I have seen this year. But, thank God, this came to my rescue. I highly recommend this drama to everyone who has been disappointed in the quality of recent modern C-dramas because I'm sure this won't disappoint you!

Leia Mais

Impressive political drama with some romance

First of all this review is for the uncut version, where every episode has a runtime of about one hour. On youtube you see a very cut version which runs only about 45 minutes per episode. Also this series is not a BL. It's just a drama where the main protagonists happen to be gay, one open and the second one not so open. There is a romance part in it but not in the typical fluffy BL style. We see that Vee does admire Nong from the start and he warm ups to him very early. Nong is a grumpy type and very stubborn and it takes time to "warm up" to Vee.

The star of this show of course is the story and the superb acting. Every character has his flaws, some have more, some have less, but nobody is perfect. They depict the backstabbing and horse-trading in any politics, but they focused on actual events in Thailand which is a novum. While the series is more a slowburn, there are so many characters to keep track of that I'm happy we had the time to do so.

And the final episode was also atypical to any BL. This season ends on negative and positive notes but they clearly aimed to have a second season because the story is not finished with only eight episodes. So there is hope, we get another eight episodes to get a real happy end.

Because this is not GMMTV, we get a realistic story, with a great cast, good production design and overall an amazing series. If you are only in the fluffy stuff, this series is not for you. If you liked "Shine" you will like this series also.

Leia Mais

It felt like a bad fanfic come to life - disappointing but I still want a season 2

I literally made an MDL account just to write this review because I am tweaking after watching this special. Unfortunately, this was a chaotic, non-cohesive, and awkward mess. It felt like the writers lost the original vision of Jack & Joker, leaving us with flat characters, a convoluted plot, and abysmal pacing. Somehow, despite being two hours long, it managed to feel both too long and too short. Another reviewer said: “...Their friend group is still going strong, although it seems everyone is poor and basically surviving off air.” LMAO it is true and also applies to the energy of this special—barely holding itself together.

1. Disappointment Was Expected, but Not Like This:
Like most J&J fans, I saw the spoilers from the theatrical release and knew I wasn't going to walk away feeling amazing. I mentally prepared myself for disappointment, but even with lowered expectations, this special left me feeling incredibly off-put and cheated. I even PAID for an iQIYI subscription just for this, and the return on investment was painful.

Unfortunatley YinWar superiority was not popping off in this. Their acting in the first part was... rough... for example, When Jack proposed to Joke, neither of them cried or anything. Like this is a huge moment and they both just kinda looked at each other???? it was honestly an incredibly awkward scene to watch as both seemed to feel lukewarmly about the thought of getting married. The acting in the second part was better, they do well in emotionally charged scenes.

2. Who are these people???:
EVERYONE felt out of character. Jack and Joker’s relationship, which used to feel dynamic and natural, was suddenly overly affectionate to the point of feeling forced. The chemistry just wasn’t there the way it was in the series, and I genuinely don’t understand why T_T. They explored TattooAran and someone in the comments said one thing they really like about the movie was "Tattoo and Aran playing gay chicken. I wonder who would win." LMAO I agree it was fun bc like it was so unserious... but also... It felt more like an afterthought than meaningful development.

When they held the memorial for Joke, NO ONE CRIED LMAO LIKE NOT EVEN OUR GIRL TOITING... Joke's parents cried and so did Jack and Hoy, but no one else??? Really???? B for real guys...

3. What he heck did I just watch??:
The attempt to bring back the whole gang resulted in everyone being there, yet no one having enough screen time to feel substantial. Because of this, nothing felt properly developed and the pacing was super strange. Basically they have to break into a casino and steal a hard drive they go in with basically no plan and no forethought..Its like... did Joker lose his touch or did he stop giving ANY fucks?? Here are more things that made me do a double take:
---The tonal shifts were JARRING—the beginning was lighthearted, then it suddenly turned dark with no smooth transition.
---The fight scenes are now very stiff and fake looking.
---Bringing back Carbon as the villian was weird honestly I feel he is too stupid to make this plan himself so this whole set up felt OOC for him.

4. Now lets address the elephant in the room... The Wedding (we were pranked):
The biggest let down for sure since it was hyped in the trailer. It was one of the most uncomfortable moments of the film. Watching Jack break down was heartbreaking but it is offset by how stupid the 'wedding' was. The fact that they made a cardboard cutout-esque Joke to walk down the aisle at the fake wedding was both insane and tragic. Like.. it was sad but I couldnt focus on being sad and instead was like... logistically... wtf did the wedding guests see??? and why did everyone lowkey smile??? Erm.. did u guys like seeing Jack basically lose his mind in real time T_T?????????

5. The end (question mark?):
Then… that ending. I hate when shows pull this kind of cop-out. Joker is revealed to be alive, waking up in some unknown house with a shadowy figure looming over him. Based on his terrified expression, it has to be someone he knows—maybe Boss? Or someone he met in prison? While I’m glad they set up for Season 2, they could have done it so much better.

I don't wanna say everything was bad. The second part shined more than the first part for sure. Here are some special shoutouts:
---BONZ (Hoy) ACTED HIS ASS OFF LIKE BRO WAS HARD CARRYING THIS MOVIE HIS CRYING WAS IMPECCIBLE AND HIS ANGER WAS SO PALPABLE... Give that man an oscar RIGHT NOW
---JOKE'S 'final' goodbye to Jack on he pier was heartbreaking and I cried... War delivered it perfectly.
---Tattoo's tired and sassy eyes were back T_T they need to give bro a break fr his eyebags do be popping off and he looks done in every scene LOL

Leia Mais

My Mix-Up

**𝗨𝗽𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗥𝗲𝘃𝗶𝗲𝘄**

𝗌𝗈 𝗂 𝖽𝖾𝖼𝗂𝖽𝖾𝖽 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝗋𝗈𝗉 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌 - 𝗂 𝗌𝗍𝗎𝖼𝗄 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍 & 𝖿𝖾𝗅𝗅 𝗂𝗇 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌, 𝖠𝗍𝗈𝗆, 𝖪𝗈𝗇𝗀𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗉, 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝖿, & 𝖬𝗎𝖽𝗆𝖾𝖾. 𝖳𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒 𝗉𝗋𝗈𝗀𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖾𝖽 𝗀𝗋𝖺𝖽𝗎𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗒 & 𝗂𝗍 𝗆𝖺𝗒 𝗍𝖺𝗄𝖾 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗂𝗆𝖾 𝗍𝗈 𝖺𝖽𝗃𝗎𝗌𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗌𝗍𝗈𝗋𝗒/𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝖾 𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗋𝖾𝖺𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗆𝖺𝗇𝗀𝖺. 𝖨 𝖺𝗅𝗌𝗈 𝖾𝗇𝗃𝗈𝗒𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗈 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋. 𝖠𝗍𝗈𝗆/𝖬𝗎𝖽𝗆𝖾𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝗋𝖾 𝗌𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝖺 𝖼𝗎𝗍𝖾 𝖿𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉, 𝖺𝗌 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖠𝗍𝗈𝗆 & 𝖧𝖺𝗅𝖿. 𝖨 𝖼𝖺𝗇𝗇𝗈𝗍 𝗌𝗍𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗌 𝗁𝗈𝗐 𝗆𝗎𝖼𝗁 𝗂 𝗆𝗂𝗌𝗃𝗎𝖽𝗀𝖾𝖽 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌. 𝖭𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖺𝗍 𝗂𝗍 𝖾𝗇𝖽𝗌 𝗍𝗈𝖽𝖺𝗒, 𝖨'𝗆 𝖻𝖾𝗒𝗈𝗇𝖽 𝗌𝖺𝖽 𝗍𝗈 𝗌𝖾𝖾 𝗂𝗍 𝗀𝗈. 𝖨 𝗁𝗈𝗇𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗅𝗒 𝗐𝗂𝗌𝗁 𝖨 𝗁𝖺𝖽 𝗆𝖺𝗒𝖻𝖾 𝟦 𝗈𝗋 𝟧 𝗆𝗈𝗋𝖾 𝖾𝗉𝗂𝗌𝗈𝖽𝖾𝗌 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝟦 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌. 𝖮𝗁! 𝖺𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀, 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗂 𝗅𝗂𝗄𝖾𝖽 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝗂𝗇 𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 𝗋𝖾𝗅𝖺𝗍𝗂𝗈𝗇𝗌𝗁𝗂𝗉, 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝗈𝗇𝗅𝗒 𝗈𝖻𝗌𝗍𝖺𝖼𝗅𝖾 𝗐𝖺𝗌 𝖾𝖺𝖼𝗁 𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋. 𝗁𝖺𝗏𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗈 𝗅𝖾𝖺𝗋𝗇 & 𝗎𝗇𝖽𝖾𝗋𝗌𝗍𝖺𝗇𝖽 𝗈𝗇𝖾 𝖺𝗇𝗈𝗍𝗁𝖾𝗋. 𝖭𝗈𝗍 𝖺 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗍𝗋𝗂𝖺𝗇𝗀𝗅𝖾. 𝗌𝗈𝗆𝖾 𝗐𝖾𝗂𝗋𝖽 & 𝗎𝗇𝗇𝖾𝖼𝖾𝗌𝗌𝖺𝗋𝗒 𝗅𝗈𝗏𝖾 𝗂𝗇𝗍𝖾𝗋𝖾𝗌𝗍𝗌. 𝗂𝖿 𝗒𝗈𝗎'𝗋𝖾 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗄𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝖺𝖻𝗈𝗎𝗍 𝗐𝖺𝗍𝖼𝗁𝗂𝗇𝗀 𝗍𝗁𝗂𝗌 𝗌𝖾𝗋𝗂𝖾𝗌 - 𝗌𝗍𝗂𝖼𝗄 𝗐𝗂𝗍𝗁 𝗂𝗍 & 𝖺𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝗂𝗍 𝗍𝗈 𝖽𝖾𝗏𝖾𝗅𝗈𝗉. 𝖠𝗅𝗅𝗈𝗐 𝗍𝗁𝖾 𝖼𝗁𝖺𝗋𝖺𝖼𝗍𝖾𝗋𝗌 𝗍𝗈 𝗀𝗋𝗈𝗐 𝗈𝗇 𝗒𝗈𝗎!




this is where i leave the camp & go back home.
i was pretty much looking forward to this show after each of the first 4 ep's.
i have no idea what happened during ep. 5. the acting sucked. the story sucked.
fourth/atom cannot confess his feelings. something dumb keeps happening. annoying.
long stares at nothing. long stares at each other. long stares daydreaming. just long stares.
at this point it feels as though they are trying to stretch a 5 ep show into 12. & there are 7 more.
there literally nothing left to tell of the story. we've seen it all. what else is there other than more staring?

i'm so confused as to why directors are doing this relentlessly. just tell the story and move on. if there's more, create a 2nd season. don't stretch a story out! viewers will grow annoyed with the show, the directors & possibly tune out a future product. the only ppl being punished here, other than the viewers, are the actors. fourth is incredibly talented and attractive, so it's difficult to give up on his acting. i'd for sure watch him in something other than this. i remember when Cooking Crush was released and ppl were livid because OffGun deserved better roles...a better storyline and they had proven themselves able to carry a more serious drama and not that particular kiddy drama. i actually enjoyed Cooking Crush, but now i understand what critics meant. there was so much this story could deliver with GeminiFourth...it just sucks the direction it's going. the comedy is not landing with me - well it's hit or miss and more miss than hit, i assure you. i may pick it back up when it's over and binge it all the way through for a different result, but as it stands now, this is only the 2nd BL i've every dropped. i dare not say what the other one was. thinking about the suffering makes me cringe all over again.

Leia Mais

a really thilling and imaginative story

Well. having read previous reviews and had watched 3 episodes, I really had the dilemma whether I should continue watching Grid or not. Thank goodness I did! The storyline was very clear from the beginning and you could easily connect all the dots given by the writer, when the appropriate time came to it. Suspensful, full story, no holes in it at all. It kept my mind alert all the time and I had no difficulty whatsoever in following the story. I really do not understand why other viewers found it so difficult and non coherant. The idea of grid was all over the place, it did not fail the story not even once. Another thing that was interesting about it, is how the writer exploited the theory of probabilities and the philosophical question of what time is. She wisely kept a low tone tossing the question to the viewers for the time being. Excellent job, mrs. jakkanim!
I trully believe that it was one of the best Kdramas I've seen so far, and I 'm anticipating season 2. All the hints for season 2 were given from episode 7 and on.
Worth watching it? A profound Yes.
Acting was very good from all actors, many kudos to all of them.
Directing was also fantastic throughout all episodes, especially the two last ones. It was giving the hints of season 2 in a very laconic manner which I loved. Congrats to the director for that and also the writer who had the bouldness to keep it that way.
Finally, the music was auxiliar to the story and not over the top, but I'd rather like one more score than the one and only, just for variety.
Rewatch value, now. Yes, I'd watch it again.
I hope this review would attract more viewers, thank you for reading this.

Leia Mais

In summary, if you are looking for a satisfying romance (and by satisfying I do not necessarily mean it should have a happy ending), you should definitely go elsewhere. If you are looking for something dark and thought provoking, I think that might have been what they were going for, but it's been done better.


It started off interesting, if cliched (your typical Cinderella-esque story)

BUT, there were more characters and storylines than the writers or the cast really knew what to do with, and in trying to do justice to all they really did justice to none.

They dropped hints that they never picked up, and generally lead the viewer to believe there was more meaning than there ever ended up being. I think it was this promise of something that led so many people to the last episode, and the utter failure to deliver that has inspired so many negative reviews.

The ending was shocking, but in a better crafted drama it would have worked. It never pretended to be a rom-com, so a nice neat happy ending was unnecessary, but at the same time it only ever played at being the kind of dark drama it tried to become at the end. In this case it felt like a cop-out, like the writers simply couldn't find any other way out of the quagmire they'd created. Like they thought the shock value alone would make everyone forget all of the loose ends, and the fact that basically every character was stripped of any respect or redeeming character traits. Like the ending alone would somehow make it profound and thought provoking.

All it did, and not just the final minutes, but the absurd pacing of the entire final episode, was highlight the flaws up until that point. The drama was at the same time repetitive and inconsistent, unbearably long and at the same time rushed, a mess of contradictions that did not work in its favor.

In the end it tries to be too many things and succeeds at none.

Leia Mais