Brandon Flynn showing off his acting chops as Justin again. My gosh, that kid has a natural talent. The emotional nuances in his acting are always so utterly on point in the character he built and the story he's in. Amazing.
Not sure if I want a second season. The story is really cute, and the acting is pretty decent, but goddamn, the main female lead and her love interest have absolutely zero chemistry. There's not much going for the romantic interest (Jules) except for his dimples. His acting is flat and one-dimensional, but I also think the writing around his character also had something to do with it. He really didn't have much to work with in the first couple of episodes when Elsa's getting to know him. He's far too quiet, and his facial expressions aren't nuanced enough to portray the internal conflict he has while he falls in love with her.
This is a really cute show to binge watch, especially if you're a sucker for rom-com's like I am, but I wouldn't rewatch this again.
Don't feel the chemistry just yet; there's some pacing issues; and there's some backstory missing between some characters, but it's a good start. Hope to see more of Eloise! She's so charming.
Some thoughts:
I admit, I'm kinda annoyed that the return of Tom and Sybbie ended up overshadowing the marriage of Mr. Carson and Mrs. Hughes.
Personally, I think Nao and Issei are a better match together. Nao and Uehara are on two different extremes.
Marton Csokas' acting is driving me nuts. His weird accent is so gimmicky. His accent, more than anything, makes me dislike his character. Also, can't wait for more scenes from Sarah Bolger. She's one of the better actors on the show.
This was OK. It's a pretty fun watch if you're looking for an easy romantic-comedy-ish TV show to watch (or movie, depending which version you're watching). My problems with it was that it was too modern at times. I felt it was absurd that the Bennet family took in Amanda Price so easily even though she first greeted them in a black leather jacket and jean pants, they didn't blink an eye or react to the fact that she looked completely different from the average girl in 19th-century England. In fact, all through the series, the other characters didn't question her at all! Even though she used words normally not used in that era. But even aside from the cultural inconsistency in the series, I also had problems with the last episode of the show. It didn't explain how or why Amanda Price was suddenly able to magically pop back into 21st-century London through a random door, when she wasn't able to open up the other door at Longbourn despite her dozen tries attempting to open it.
Other than the script problems I didn't like, I found Amanda Price (her character or her actress) really annoying. The way she complained all the time even after days in the new world. If she so loved the Pride and Prejudice Jane Austen world, then she should go with it, instead of whining all the time.
The finale bothered me as well. It felt too much of a happy-ending to be realistic. If the writers were able to write Jane and Mr. Bingley back together at the end, then I don't understand why they would dump Elizabeth Bennet to modern independency to stay consistent to the original story. I think Amanda Price ending up with Mr. Darcy at the end contradicted itself by not staying consistent with that theme.
Overall, I think the show is good for a fun easy romcom watch, especially for a modern fantasy take on Jane Austen's Pride and Prejudice, but it could have used a more consistent script. I understand the events of the book were important to portray for the series, but still, some things needed to be explained to make it more realistic.
The kiss between Mary Ann and Logan is adorable.
The ending doesn't seem believable to me. Zhi He doesn't deserve Da Shu, and the story between Fen Ni and Qin Hao feels way more fleshed out than the main couple.
I really wanted to like this drama. It has two of my favourite Taiwanese drama people: Winnie Chu (director) and Ray Chang (actor). However, no matter how much I enjoy watching the works of these people, this show falls a bit flat.
The script tries to stuff a lot of plot points into a 20-episode TV drama. Considering it tries to cover two main couples and a couple of other side couples, there just isn't enough space for all of these characters and their respective side plots to fully develop for the audience to enjoy. Instead, story arcs that should run naturally two episodes or more are stuffed into one episode only. For example, did we really need the entire arc of Zhi He's parents and their relationship with her and Da Shu? Not really. Her father didn't need to die either. And even if he did, they should've at least extended this show to a couple more episodes so other characters have breathing room for their own stories. Instead, they crammed his death into two episodes. It made his death insignificant, especially considering how much time they put into fleshing out the parents' relationship with Zhi He and Da Shu.
Acting from all the actors are fine, but Sonia Sui knocks it out of the park in several episodes. Her acting is incredibly nuanced. It doesn't require much for her to display her character's internal emotions. The music and cinematography in this show also help lift this show a lot too; they help distract you from the alcohol product placement that happens in some scenes. Another standout feature is some of the outfits these characters wear. There were so many times where I was distracted by what Sonia Sui or Gillian Chung were wearing. (Those earrings! That top! That hair!)
All in all, this show garners a solid 70% rating for me. It's the plot-heavy script that drags this down.
Sonia Sui is easily out-acting everyone on this show right now.
I feel like Zhihe's decision to announce a divorce was a bit impulsive. I mean, sure, we heard from her perspective a lot, but she also didn't do a great job at communicating either. Idk, at the beginning of this show, she was such a charming character, but she's become so dislikable in the past few episodes, it's hard to be on her side.
On the technical aspect, I really don't understand why the mainland Chinese broadcasters felt the need to completely replace Gillian Chung's vocals – including the breathing noises she does when they're leaving the government office. That's a bit overdone imho.
Zhihe's mother is a atypical manipulative mother, what the fuck. I can't believe she poked holes into their condoms, and the show presented it as a "comedic scene". If it wasn't for the fact that they had the divorce countdown graphic up the following scene, I would be way angrier about this and I would have instantly stopped watching. That sort of move is utterly despicable.
Damn, Dashu must really suck in bed if Zhihe is taking sleeping pills after sex because she can't sleep afterwards.
You can notice some of the actors trying hard not to break character in some scenes, but good lord, Ray Chang is just so goddamn good-looking, I don't mind looking past that minor detail. (But his suit pants are a bit short for him, eh.)
I feel like they tried to work far too many plot points into this last episode. It goes from Yo breaking up her engagement with Ryusei to Yo and Ren moving out together -- all within 45 minutes. There's also a few awkward fade-to-black frames inserted in that felt really unnecessary. The two leads have great chemistry together, so I think they could have extended this one more episode. I mean, we spent eight or so episodes in "conflict mode" (with Ryusei as the perpetrator), so having just one episode as the "conflict resolution" makes the series finale feel really unsatisfying.
Maki making an appearance in Shanghai was really unnecessary. Her flying all the way to China added nothing to the overall story line.
Maki's New York City cousin is hilarious omfg. The way he went out of his way to pronounce all the English terms in this clear American accent. "I SUE YOU!" What a joke, bwahahahah.
I'm going to take a guess here and say that his best friend Fu Ziyu is actually the Flower Cannibal imposter.
Slightly better than the first episode because they've finally finished setting up the characters - yes, it took them 1.5 episodes to introduce the characters and their relationships - and they're finally moving forward with solving mysteries and saving their community. Let's see how the rest of the show turns out.
I really didn't expect Masaki Okada to show up in this. I don't think I've ever seen him in a crazy villainous role like this show's Ito. He's very convincing though.
I think this mini-series would have been miles better if another actress was cast as Elizabeth Bennett. There's just no charm to Anna Maxwell Martin's portrayal.
Matthew Goode is the best part of this Christmas special episode. Also, I'm getting real tired of the Spratt/Denker conflict. Does anyone actually care about those two? The Carson and Mrs. Hughes romance is kinda boring too.
The Cantonese accents of these Mandarin-speaking actors are sooo bad! Also, an eight-pack abs contest held in the middle of a supermarket? That's yet another unrealistic thing about Taiwanese dramas.
I don't like Sansa - of course she would betray her brother's (ok, cousin's) trust and blab his secret to everyone - but now I don't like Daenerys either. Damn, would she sit down and wait for her army to heal and recuperate? She's gotten increasingly ruthless in the past couple of seasons. It would indeed be a decent strategy if Jon and Daenerys would marry and just rule together, but I don't think that's going to happen now. They killed off Rhaegal, so that's gotta foreshadow something - that there will only be one Targaryen left standing at the end of the series.
Also, poor Ghost. Leaving him to the North definitely signalled Jon's gradual departure from the Stark family and gradual acceptance of his Targaryen heritage. So sad to see him react to Jon like that.
The first season is still the best season. Now, everything is far too complicated, with way too many characters to keep track of. I hope they don't add more clones, and just continue to kill people off instead.
This episode was way too rushed. They should have made the previous episode, 2x21, the season finale instead. I hope the showrunners does a better job at planning the next season.
I can finally see why some fans rate Cole Sprouse's acting so poorly. He definitely needs to be more subtle with his angsty sequences.
The actors in this show really need to work on their line delivery. Neither Aramis Knight (M.K.) or Eve Connolly (Ava) make their scenes believable, which makes the entire 'hidden gift' Abbotts temple seem super tacky.
