At just 14 episodes of only 30 minutes each, a premise that sounded tropey-but-cute, and a good-looking pair of leads, I thought this little show would be a shoo-in as a great little drama nightcap for me.
In the end, I enjoyed this less than I’d hoped, but that doesn’t necessarily mean that you wouldn’t like this one.
Here’s the quick review to lay it all out, so that you’ll hopefully be able to figure out if this one could be for you.
One of the drama lessons I’ve been learning lately, is that second chances can be very rewarding, and that is absolutely the case, with this show.
I’d checked out this show’s first 4 episodes, while auditioning dramas to cover on Patreon, and had picked The Judge From Hell instead, because that show just struck me as being much more watchable and engaging.
Normally, when this kind of thing happens, I often don’t end up watching the show that I didn’t pick, despite my best intentions, and it honestly looked like this one was in danger of being left by the wayside for me too.
But then, I recently decided to go back to this one on a whim, while casting about for a new drama nightcap after finishing Perfect and Casual (review here!), and I ended up enjoying this one very well, you guys.
See what I mean about second chances potentially being rewarding? 🥲
There are several reasons that I picked up this show, and really, really wanted to like it.
For one thing, I was quite smitten by Miles Wei’s sweet, gentle and thoughtful outing in You Are My Secret (review here!), and was keen to have him on my screen again.
For another, lots of people seem to really, really like this little show. Not only that, based on the comments that I saw about this show, it sounded like Miles Wei’s character in this, would be sweet and thoughtful too.
Ooh. To have Miles Wei on my screen again, and in a character that promised to be at least a little reminiscent of his character Ji Yuheng in You Are My Secret?
I couldn’t sign up fast enough.
The only problem was, I couldn’t seem to love this one the way everyone else seems to love this one, no matter how hard I tried. 😅
If you loved Perfect and Casual, &/or if you recommended it to me, I’m sorry I didn’t manage to love it. Just know that it wasn’t from lack of trying. 🙈
You might have noticed that I’ve been doing more of these quick reviews of light, cute and easy-breezy c-dramas lately.
That’s because I’ve really taken to them as a very enjoyable form of drama nightcap (they’re so relaxing and easy to watch!), and this show falls into that category very well too.
I will say that this one worked especially well for me as a drama nightcap, so much so that I was honestly very wistful when I got to the end. 🥲
Show gets off to a strong start, with an interesting premise and a promising OTP, I was soon fully sucked in and very much on board for this OTP reunion.
However, in my opinion, some of Show’s narrative choices in its middle-to-late stretch don’t do it any favors. I found this stretch a lot less interesting than our first half.
I found this to be several steps down from our strong start, but Show does deliver on the happy ending promised, so there’s that? 😅
On the upside, Liu Yi Fei makes for a very charismatic and compelling protagonist; I was very much absorbed by this story, and willing to be a fly on her wall.
On the not-so-upside, our story moves fast and has many arcs to it, so much so that it can actually feel like a bit much, sometimes, being a fly on said wall. 😅
Show also makes some narrative decisions that I personally didn’t prefer, which did add a bit, to my sense of fatigue.
All that said, I thought this one was very solid and worthwhile, and would recommend it.
My friends. I picked up this one as a drama nightcap – y’know, to unwind to, before bed – and I’m very, very pleasantly surprised by how much this one grew on me, and then crept under my skin.
I started out thinking, “Oh ok, this isn’t half bad, I think I could roll with this,” to feeling very wistful at the thought of finishing this one, and therefore having to say goodbye to these characters and this story world. 🥲
Long story short, I’m really glad I picked this one up, and I wouldn’t discount the possibility of revisiting this one sometime in the future, just because I really do enjoy the vibes in this one.
If you like underdog stories, sports-themed stories, noona romances &/or wholesome story worlds, this one could be for you, the way it was for me. 🥰
I’m feeling very grateful to my Netflix algorithm as I type this, because without it, I may have never discovered this movie.
And (spoiler alert), I really, really liked this movie. 🥹
Show had me laughing, crying, and basically serving up my heart to it on a plate, which is already very impressive on a normal day.
This was even more impressive than average, however, because I was feeling out of sorts, while looking for something to watch – and yet, once I started, I found myself quickly feeling completely invested, y’all.
Yes, I think this movie is quite special. 🥲
Come see why you might like to check out this movie too?
Remember when I said that I binge-watched (and loved!) Go Ahead (review here!) when I was sick recently?
Well, what I didn’t mention, is that because I was sick for a good while, I actually binge-watched a number of shows.
It turns out that when you’re not actually writing episode notes or reviews, you can watch a lot more drama; I mean, who knew? 👀
After I finished Go Ahead, I picked this show to watch, because not only did it come quite enthusiastically recommended by some of you, it’s also by the same writer who wrote Go Ahead (who also wrote Meet Yourself and Find Yourself, both of which I also enjoyed very well).
So of course that just bumped it right to the top of my binge queue, right?
Show is, for a good stretch, dark, stylish drama crack that I inhaled with glee.
I found the story and the story world fascinating, I felt invested in our main characters, and it felt like Show had a solid, smart grip on the story that it wanted to tell. I genuinely loved all the twists and turns that Show served up in each rollercoaster of an episode.
However, I do think that Show’s weaknesses become more apparent, when you get into the later episodes. Sometimes plot logic took a beating; sometimes details didn’t add up completely. Also, I feel like Show’s handling of the finale is likely to be divisive.
All that said, I found this to be a solid ride, overall, and don’t regret investing my drama hours – and my feelings! And my brain cells! – in this one.