Zhu Ma Tian Jiang Dou Shi Ni (2024)

Multi-Layered Characters

Originally this was added to the watchlist because I had heard that LYR was doing his first ML role and he'd done a good job playing supporting ones so was curious and I'd seen XRH once before though I wasn't very convinced back then; don't know why. Some of the supporting characters were familiar. But the story itself was interesting and all of the characters were multi-layered.

Pros: What set this show apart for me from others I've watched was the fact that this second chance romance brought in the past of the leads first to the episode, than present day including their and the other two couple's participation in the filming of the variety show, that way things were explained and you understood why certain things happened. It seemed to me that all three couples evolved both separately and together as the show wore on. At first you thought FL was a selfish brat because of her actions and in fact she did admit to most of the mistakes from the past as being hers but when you saw her layers of trauma, you understood that though this was a drama, she was still a human being. Favorite character was ML; I like how he was sure of himself, confident, independent and quite obvious that from the two of them he had grown and matured first.

The second couple was weird, toxic, and codependent and at the end she became pregnant and somehow you just prayed the child wouldn't become neurotic like his parents. They were my least favorite. The 3rd couple were called the healing couple in the comments and I agree; even though they were both ridiculously shy to the point of social anxiety; they were always a soothing balm to each other and their friends especially once they got together. I also liked that all 6 people even with all of their shortcomings, were such great friends and support systems to each other to the point that the show ended with the 6 traveling around together. Their friendship started in HS and progressed way into adulthood.

The 3.5 annoying people who played either rivals in love or just one completely unhinged chick all stayed as long as necessary and were then sent packing. Ironically even though YS seemed like the most annoying, when giving advice to the other two women during their "dates" set by production, gave the best advice. And really great way everyone took down the unhinged chick in the 2nd to last episode. Also how symbolic that it was SXR that proposed to LXY in the last episode as a close to the chapter; the marriage-phobe realized that's exactly what she wanted and that near death accident made her understand being next of kin is vital when you love someone.

Cons: Obviously this show was lower budget, but it didn't really hurt it. I do wish the SFL was less baby-voiced viper most of the series. Towards the end, I don't understand why the legal proceedings were published on screen. For starters this was fictional and secondly, the unhinged lawyer chick's crimes went beyond "intentional attempted vehicular homicide", yet she wasn't charged for those. Also none of the civil charges were made public. So either get all of the charges or none. Makes zero sense to do what they did. I think things could have been explained better about the show itself, as well as how SQ met her abusive ex husband. The show should have focused more proportionally on the third leads as we don't know much about TML's or TFL's backgrounds or their parents.

Would I recommend it? Yes. This was a different show that you had to watch to understand the multifaceted characters and how they got to where they were. It's a nice modern drama.

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DEF A ONE TIME WATCH!!

Lemma be honest..
WHAT BROUGHT THE DRAMA DOWN:
At the very beginning, the storyline seemed interesting to me cuz it seemed kinda new.. Its been so long since we've had a dating show kinda drama but, THEY COULD HAVE DONE IT BETTER.. The scriptwriting was BAD (not HORRIBLE but a little better than HORRIBLE). The cast was great which made me start this drama in the first place.. And the flow.. Ahh.. TOOOOOOOOOO PREDICTABLE and veryyyyyy DRAGGY at places where its not even necessary. TOO MANY MISUNDERSTANDINGS. Very little character development towards THE END which made the story quite boring. And annoying AF FL... I get that she's seen her mom suffer in marriage a lot but throughout the story it seemed as if she was using the ML just for fun. She always seemed so self-righteous and extremely stubborn in my pov.
Second couple (Chen and Xu):
Ok, the gurl was annoying, overreacting and showed some signs of red flag behavior which was not okay. And she especially has FRAGILE EGO!! She was a crybaby at some scenes which was at first okay but was not as the same continued in the others eps too..
The man.. He was literally the best.. One of the people I loved throughout the drama.. He was kind, patient and sincere at the right moments although he seemed childish and very goofy. The way he was ready to do anything for his wife was just.. and yeah I'd say he deserved better.
WHAT I LOVED THE MOST ABOUT THEM: Def the part where she apologizes to him after he wanted to divorce her putting aside her ego. And the parts where he was ready to become a better husband which he already was..
Third couple (Shi and He):
The cutest couple ever.. They dont have much scrrentime but they are just cute and shy.. I'm not usually into shy couples but you'll just love them.. But I just wished they just opened up before to clear the misunderstandings that they had.. I swear you'll love them.. The gurl is so good at acting lol. She just expressed every emotion perfectly and I just hope she gets more recognition.
FINALLY:
I loved how Gurls always stood up for each other. They were smart and just loved their friendship.. All of the characters did their best and just showed the emotion of their own roles nothing less or nothing more.. The reason why this drama went down the hill after climbing all the way up was because of the poor character development towards the end and the way the script did not feel right.

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