Reviews

Stellar acting compensates for plot gaps

Generally, plot holes of the size and frequency of the ones in this series have me dropping a show like it's a hot rock, but the depth of the characters and the outstanding cast kept me binging Red Swan. There are a lot of gaps in the story and deux ex machina has to be called in when reality and the space/time continuum threaten to get in the way of script absurdities, but I still enjoyed the series.

The entire cast is great, without exception, and they make the show addictively watchable despite its boatload of flaws. I ended up sympathetic to characters I thought I'd hate and hating characters for whom I started out sympathetic.

Kim Ha Neul plays O Wan Su, a self-made rags-to-riches success story. She's a woman determined that other children be spared the fear, uncertainty, and deprivation of her own childhood. Putting herself in a position to realize that goal cost the lives of her loved ones, and puts her own life at risk.

Rain is Seo Do Yun, a former police officer on a mission to solve the murder of his brother cop. His investigation entangles him with O Wan Su when it appears the same killer is gunning for her. Don't ask how we know that, just roll with it.

The two leads hooked me from the get-go. A near foxhole type lust moment between O Wan Su and Seo Do Yun after the sniper incident was smoking, and I loved their restrained intensity and moments of tenderness throughout the series.

Despite how well Rain and Kim Ha-Neul worked as the lead couple, comments on the ML/FL dynamic follow the standard MDL pattern: ML is a perfect swoon worthy hunk whom the inferior-in-every-way FL doesn't deserve or measure up to. That comment pattern is so predictable it ought to be baked into the MDL plot synopses just to save time.

My advice: ignore that drivel.

Some commenters are bothered that Kim Ha-Neul's characterization of O Wan Su wasn't more demonstrative. She's presented with the vulnerable stoicism of a woman who has faced unbearable loss and has no choice but to persevere.

Perhaps Kim Ha-Neul could have played O Wan Su as a weeping damsel, swooning with the vapors, back of her hand pressed melodramatically against her forehead, but O Wan Su has to be strong and relentless to survive, and a strong, relentless woman doesn't have the luxury to wail, flutter, fall apart, or swoon.

One more place I'll diverge from the pack: I thought the ending was perfect.

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Nancy Wu and Wayne Lai are great together in this drama 巾幗梟雄之懸崖 , 巾幗4

For those that do not know, the chinese name for this series 巾幗梟雄 is about strong heroines. Regardless of the story background, or which actor portrayed (or should portray) which character, the series overall is about strong heroines. In No Return, the 4th installment, Nancy Wu portrays the anti-heroine Seventh Master, a successful business woman. She is portrayed as strong outside, but very vulnerable on the inside. Wayne Lai is the person that helps turn Nancy from anti-heroine to heroine. The villain in the story is portrayed by Edwin Siu.

No Return is a rare drama for Nancy Wu in that she is the main focus, and given majority screen time unlike in many other dramas where she is not often given a lot of screen time despite the importance of her character. Her acting in this drama is excellent. If you watch the drama, you have to watch carefully and not just casually to see Nancy portray the nuances of Seventh Master. Her use of subtle facial expressions and eyes is important, not many actors can do it without looking unnatural. On the pier with being rejected in love, Nancy deftly portrays the feeling of a emotionally vulnerable, rejected and embarrased woman boss; one who tries to be stoic, and doesn't let her emotions show in public. We see her face subtly go from doubt and confusion to anger and disgust. She clenches her teeth [you have to look at her face to see her clench her teeth] before deciding to leave, but instead falls into the lake [she also refused a stunt double to do the scene she felt was very important] and feeling twice embarassed and refusing all help. The scene where she crys in Big Red Sister lap is heartfelt. and the four times in the drama where she drinks the 'horse piss' bitter medicine the first time she winches in disgust, later she gets used to the bitter taste and her facial expression taking the medicine changes. The way Nancy acts confident in some scenes where she is the boss, and vulnerable and weak, you can tell she puts much thought into every scene. Those that are dismissive of Nancy Wu are just biased or can't distinguish between good acting and those just reading a script.

Wayne's Lai acting in this drama is also very good, mixing a lot of dramatic acting, with a bit of comedy to portray Chai 17 the sometimes humble and obedient, sometimes self-righteous and take charge special assistant to Seventh Master. The chemistry between Wayne Lai and Nancy Wu is very heartfelt and believable; this drama also happened to be the pair's 8th collaboration together on a drama.

There were also the comedic elements of the drama between Nancy and Wayne which were acted very well by both. The one where nancy pulls out the wayne's love letter to hera chan, the timing and execution of the scene was nicely done by the two veteran actors.

For Hera Chan, she was given a great opportunity to learn from so many veteran actors, and improve for the next drama she will be cast in. Edwin Siu was good, wasn't that fond of his singular facial expression throughout the drama, but nonetheless acted competently.

Besides Wayne Lai and Nancy Wu, the best part of the drama is the costumes, scenery, and sets. Nancy Wu's character had around 30 costumes, with sets staged inside two large historic buildings, one for the bank scenes, and one for gwai faa lau restaurant, part of it being chai 17's family medicinal clinic. While there were historical inaccuracies like the Cantonese birthday song, and the singing of the Cantonese classic Red Candle Tears 紅燭淚 [written by 唐滌生 in 1951], and the occasional use of some english words, it's defensible as it adds to the stylized nature of this fiction. the english words can be thought of as a 1920s way of being hip, the cantonese birthday song can be thought of best way of showing the banding together of hing dai, and what better song than red candle tears to represent the feelings of Seventh Master for Chai 17?

Despite the good, the not so good part of this drama is the writing in some parts of it, especially at the end when the plot was rushed toward a conclusion. There were also a lot of guns being pointed directly at Nancy's head all the time including the few times she pointed one at her own head; I felt that was a bit disconcerting, but plotwise was a visual representation showing how vulnerable the Seventh Master was.

In various interviews given by Nancy Wu and Wayne Lai, this drama was mentally stressful for Nancy not just that she had to think about how to develop her character, but the almost 400 scenes and huge amount of dialogue to absorb within a truncated filming schedule of 75 days; Nancy had mentioned she lost weight filming. The screenwriter Zhang Huabiao 張華標 was also the screenwriter for 巾幗1 and 巾幗2.

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blindly watching a show...

y'all know those shows/movies where not knowing what is happening are better to watch? well, i actually felt like this with this drama

i decided to watch it because of uhm taegoo and boyoung, sue me. and even while watching the first/two episodes i was wondering what was actually happening. i read the disney's synopsis obviously but it didnt change much lmaao

i at least knew this was gonna be like a thriller/horror but it was a lot of more creepier than i thought (not like super horror ??), i got kind of paranoid but maybe its just me and the ending got me extra confused than i already was😭😭😭

i'll be waiting for the next part to come out, hopefully it's soon or i'll ☠

ps. im not sure if it was something i thought or what but almost at the end i was like making myself an idea of what was happening

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God, I am absolutely loving this series. It's light-hearted and feel good series, yes, but the way it takes you on an emotional ride from happiness, to sadness, from confusion to understanding, it properly depicts how the real world is. I love how in such a subtle and tender way they are breaking the social norms. You can't ever get offended by it, that's how it's been portrayed. I've never cooed so much in my life like the way I'm doing for the soft scenes of this series, I think I can't even recognise myself at times XD.

When it comes to acting, I think it can be improved more by the FL. Don't get me wrong, i absolutely love her and she has been my favourite for a long time, but I feel like, in few of the scenes her acting feels forced. It's unlike her to not deliver a script well, as I've seen her in so many series and have absolutely loved it. But nonetheless, overall, it's not that bad, she's gonna make your heart flutter in certain scenes for sure. And regarding the ML, I have only one thing to say, Perfection! His subtle expressions, his soft gaze that portrays his empath character perfectly, his mannerisms, it's perfect.

You must give this series a go, it's worth your time, trust me! It's surely gonna make your heart flutter!

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Zhao Lusi Shines as the Pearl Girl!!!

Zhao Lu Si is my favorite actress and have to say she did not disappoint in this role. Really enjoyed watching her all the way through this drama. Also really loved her scenes with Liu Yu Ning as well even though this drama was not heavy focused on the romance side of it. I still didn't think that made this show lacking in anyway. This drama is focused on Duan Wu about her being a pearl diver, breaking free, and becoming a successful business woman and all the hardships she goes through to get there. Zhao Lu Si really delivered on these scenes I have also thought that she does very well with emotional parts. She always makes me want to cry with her. Granted I can see where this wouldn't be an exciting watch to some if your not a big Zhao Lu Si fan.

Also have to mention these two characters that really caught my attention and they were Kang Ju and Zheng Zhi Heng. They both were just amazing to watch. I felt for both of them Kang Ju for how desperate he was to get a cure for Yan Zi Jing and for Zheng Zhi Heng in how in love he was with Cui Shi Jiu and she hardly ever showed she cared for him in that way until it was to late. Her character actually annoyed me a bit and I wanted better for Zheng Zhi Heng.

I have only one nitpick for this drama and that is the ending. For me I wouldn't call it a sad ending or an open ending it was just blank. They skipped out on giving you really anything. You don't actually get to see Yan Zi Jing die which I think just takes away from the whole sad ending part and can't call it an open ending cause you do know he is dying without a cure in sight. So you don' t really have any hope of them having a happy ending. I have never minded sad ending in fact kind of expect them anymore but just to not give us anything after watching everything these two went through together was a bit upsetting wish they would of done more.

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BEST 2024 costume drama!

So Satisfying all the way through!!!!

Li Yun Rui & Meng Zi Yi Underrated for YEARS finally gets their big break!

Li Yun Rui - Always the supporting role. He was ML3 in Love like Galaxy. Supporting characters in many.
Meng Zi Yi - I always thought she looks goddess like and can act well enough for idol dramas, yet she never gets roles like Dilraba.
The pairing imo is fantastic. Both tall and beautiful, chemistry brewing.

The plot is NOTHING special as it's about 2nd chance in life trying to change fate. But unlike the ###s drams before, this is done right with a powerful 1st episode. On a cold snowy night, enters ML w/ silver hair saving the FL from a crashing carriage. Their eyes meet and the scene gives off that that same "A Familiar Stranger" vibe. (Same Director). Ep ends with them falling through the shattered glass into the abyss. Then time freezes as she slowly floats back up passing ML signals the reverse in timeline. The visuals are incredible, the best 1st episode ever! Can other directors just learn from this one?

The next 5 episodes ML/FL hardly have any interactions as they are building up the storyline. Ep 8 on the chemistry is on fire! Of course, if you are impatient and just want the leads face smooching then stick with your short dramas. This is a beautifully paced slow burn romance properly done (IMO) and I am loving every episode w/o skipping any scenes.

The not so perfect:
1. Blossom .... Y Y Y Y Blossom? Why can't they translate the title closer to the Chinese title?
2. ML, bad (General's) hair. umm his face is long, and you just up dewed another 3" of extra dry fake hair
3. Typical one-dimensional bad stepmother, bad uncle, bad dad, supporting actors
4. Insta fall from ep 1. ML/FL needed a bit more scenes ep 2-6.

29 ep in, def best drama of the year.
All Top notch:
1. Director
2. Story telling
3. Visuals, creativity
4. CPs!
5. Casting
6. Characters. There are several characters switch between good and evil & the actors pulled it off!

LOVE LOVE LOVE I shall rewatch whenever there's a C-drama dry spell. (This year was a long dry spell)

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Slow and Steady Story

I must say with pride that I am always blaze through 30-40+ episode in a week, but this story is not meant to be like that. There's a lot of things that going on, a lot of nuances that would be lost if we went straight to the end. I feel like I need to take a break after watching 1-2 episode to break down what's really happening in the story. I want to applaud the storywriter to be able to make the story a bit more complicated and not straightforward.

for now, I'll give this rating 7.5 as I'm only a third from the end. Nonetheless I'll just enjoy the story bit by bit

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Toxic ML but damn, the visuals & chemistry ?

I saw a short clip of this series on Youtube which peaked my interest. I used to read Eastern European mob boss love stories 10 years ago. Anyway I have iQiyi but surprisingly couldn't find this series. Anyway 'Captive love from the mob boss is my first vertically shot drama. Oh boy, this drama is insane.

What I liked:
1) The chemistry - Whenever both Zhang Chu Xuan & Ma Xiao Yu had electrifying chemistry. I could sense the sexual tension between them that could combust at any time. I never say this but I would love for them to date each other in real life. Their consensual kiss and the morning after were 🔥 ! Wish there were more kissing & affectionate scenes.
2) Acting - I was surprised by the quality of acting by both leads. Zhang Chu Xuan & Ma Xiao Yu were able to portray different facade of their characters. I am looking to watch their other work.
3) Visuals - Both leads are extremely gorgeous. Ma Xiao Yu is freaking tall and has nice build (his shoulders just wow). The styling also helped. I love Wan Ni's outfits especially when she wore white. Her wedding gowns were beautiful - I love the second one (strapless) the most. I like whenever Song Cha wore all black outfit.

What I disliked:
1) Song Cha characterisation - Damn, this dude is toxic! He gave me stress! So aggressive with his wooing & proposal. I cannot stand the manhandling.
2) The plot - I wish the writer would make tighter connection between Song Cha, Wan Ni's brother and Wan Ni's former fiancé so that Song Cha could be more redeemable. It's weird that Song Cha at the start of series claimed to be businessman with no ties to the mob but his actions later proved otherwise.
3) The first meet - The way Song Cha's injury was tended to in first episode was funny. He also managed to raise his injured arm immediately.

Favourite scene
The mutual kiss that led to their lovemaking

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good enough?

so much potential that unfortunately never came to life because of an underwritten female lead, too much focus on comedic aspects as opposed to a more serious tone, boring and insufferable 2nd ML plot that when it didn't put me to sleep, made me want to gouge my eyes out; also other fluff which could have been cut down

ultimately the show excels in its use of symbolism and exploration of philosophical concepts regarding death and life, woo do hwan's character was exceptionally flawed and some of the side characters were very enjoyable to watch as well; while the cinematography and directing were great, the production definitely started slacking as the episodes went on as it failed to capture the charm of the first few episodes. the nostalgic and evocative atmosphere that initially hooked me in just wasn't there

it was great to hear California Dreamin though

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Just because we can do it, should we?

I placed potential spoilers at the end of this review.

This series asks the biggest ethical question (not just in Thailand, but worldwide) about the drastic advancements involving science and technology. The great part about this series is it more like a compilation of sci-fi movies. You can skip one section with no worries because none of them are linked together. Overall, some sections were better than others.

Story Section Breakdown (Don’t worry, no spoilers):

Black Sheep
This was very interesting section. This one had serious tone to it. I did not see the story twist coming, but realized they did give subtle hint throughout the script. There is a small reference about a vaccine in one scene which may be foreshadowing the last section (Octopus Girl). The script did have a few weak elements, but was still good. The cast was incredible. It also had great cinematography, special effects, and make-up. I would rewatch this section.

Paradistopia
This was a bizarre, but interesting section. This started off with a comical tone that drastically turned very dark. I apricate the different visual approach of the future in this section. They used what sci-fi movies of the 60’s/70’s depicted what the future would look like in the sense of technology, décor, and fashion. The cast was incredible, but the cinematography style was a little off at times. I think they were trying for a mock documentary, but did not do it successfully. The one problem is it switched to the mock documentary style at very random times. However, the special effects and make-up was awesome. I don’t see myself rewatch this section.

Buddha Data
This was also a very interesting section. This one had a more serious tone. The script was well written. As with the other sections, the cast was incredible. It also had great cinematography, special effects, and make-up. I would rewatch this section.

Octopus Girl
This section was, well something. I guess they wanted to end this series with a comical note. This could have work, but the script did not have the right mixture of comedy and drama elements. At least the cast was incredible. It also had great cinematography, special effects, and make-up. I don’t see myself rewatch this section.


******Spoiler Alert******

Just my thoughts about the endings:
Black Sheep – The ending was very bittersweet, but kind of happy.
Paradistopia – Like the rest of this section, the ending was very bizarre.
Buddha Data – The ending was too ambiguous for me.
Octopus Girl – This section made a complete 180 in its tone. Most of it had a comic undertone, but the ending went very dark out of nowhere.

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