19 Comments On “Shine on Me: Open Thread Eps 33 to 36”
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@IB, @Kate, @angelwingssf
Now this is what I call a good, thorough and satisfying wrap up to a rather delightful show!!
We are given the trajectory of our characters and I don’t think anyone of consequence was missed out. In fact a passing character reappeared in a role that showed all was well with the Shengs too. I’m smiling from ear to ear and chuffed to bits!
angelwingssf
@GB, @Kate, @Ibisfeather
– you are right that the drama covered all the four corners without missing anything. It was really nice to see Lusen and Xiguang making it work with each other , living together, heading to work where they want to work and acheiving what ever was possible.
– they also covered Ye Rong coming to the realization of her having animosity with Xiguang and how she quit her job and moved away to clean up her toxicity.
— I liked that Xiguang had it out with her dad and spat out everything and even about the accident and how it affected Lusen and what he must have gone through to change careers after working for it for so long. It knocked some sense into what xiguang must have gone through during her initial work at her workplace. Good riddance of those two and glad he did not meet them again. They are a toxic duo who uses any manipulation to get what they want.
–Even though the wedding was wonderful both beautiful in their Liu Guang forest – (Is that the place they got married ?) I would have loved seeing the family together.
– I wanted to see what the cousin was upto and how they were spoiling Xiguang’s daughter. It would have been nice seeing a little bit of that.
– Seeing that she achieved what she spoke when she was just starting her career – just taking hints and expanding on information given by her bosses – Xiguang seems to have inherited her mother’s brain or being with her – it must have rubbed off.
— also liked the closure they gave to Zhang Xu and did like that they did not put a rug over the issue and am glad that Xiguang did not accept ZhangXu. looks like he learnt a good lesson – that taking risks in life and love are worth it instead of indecision and being quiet about it. I think if Xiguang had been with ZhangZu, he would have pulled her down – similar to Xiguang’s father. Lusen on the other hand was stable, comfortable in his own shoes and likely taught Xiguang a bit on how to handle the business and homely matters and who does not love having a spouse who can hand home and kids like Lusen.
Want to hear thoughts / critique from our Queen. Hope she finishes and writes about it. Love to read other’s thoughts too.
On to the next one…….
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@angelwingssf,
Yes, the location of the wedding was the Liu Guang Forest. I believe this name meant “Forest of Light that Remains.” XG wanted to keep Lin Yu Sen’s presence in that phase 2 PV Garden, because she would miss him too much when he left the company. His best response to that was to propose marriage to her on the spot!!! Loved it.
I thought the Show took an interesting shortcut for the OTP Wedding. After we’ve seen two weddings already, Show decided to just cut to the bride’s walk and the conferring of the ring, without a single other person in sight!!! I’m guessing that since a proper wedding has to have witnesses, their friends were below the ramp or, they had 2 separate ceremonies… but we saw only their personal, intimate ceremony on the ramp overlooking the garden they had made.
The people I’d expect to see at the Wedding were YS’s mum. It would have been nice if his wedding had brought his mum and grandfather back into the same room and had them working towards a reconciliation.
Yes, Jiang Rui would have been cute to have around. Instead of seeing him, we meet the younger Sheng girl-cousin who seems to be learning the ropes from XG. She was recommended by YS to his grandfather as the steady one to take over the Shengyuan Group.
I like how this Writer plans her writing well so that things mentioned earlier in the series get their resolution at the end. A case in point is the conversation about having solar farms in the Middle East.
Zhuang Xu had become mature enough to let go properly so that being in the same airplane with XG didn’t affect his sound sleep. It was the same with XG, because if she was just in front of his group, she would have seen him, but she was able to sleep on the long flight back.
YS had been ‘showcased’ as ‘the total package’ boyfriend somewhere in the beginning, and he really was. Of course he’s written to be the IDEAL, and worthy of praise.
He might not make it to our BOD Boyfriend Hall of Fame, but he comes close. Once he made it past his resentment, he was the best of boyfriends, especially in terms of being observant and perceptive, being respectful and not intrusive, and knowing when to be attentive in the right way, when to step up and protect/defend or let XG manage on her own. He was the opposite of Nie Cheng Yuan who was too proud, too insecure, even competing against his own wife. Instead YS was able to let XG take flight without controlling her or feeling left behind.
Of course he was a great person first, full of integrity and good sense. At work he was able to achieve what he strove for and be fulfilled. He was flexible, shifting from the role of boss to subordinate as needed. He was humble, able to let others take the limelight. Most noteworthy of all was that he worked through adversity with ups and downs, persevered and came up on top.
He was the best husband and father who supported his family as well as his wife’s. He was a reliable house-husband when needed. From the way he had points added or deducted by XG, he was absolutely right when he predicted that she would be the future boss.
Although he was the forest, he shone just as much, or maybe even more than XG who was the morning light.
angelwingssf
Well said @GB. Lusen shone just as much / or more than XG. An awesome lad indeed.
ibisfeather
Eps33-34
(Still plodding along here, guys, in your wake)
I really like this section, with the design contest giving hope and excitement, plus the family confrontations and resolutions around Dad Nie’s sickbed.
I have no idea why I dont get tired of YuSen being so tactful and supportive. Somehow he still remains a believable character. That short introduction at the very beginning of the show, when his mentor remarks out of nowhere that YuSen possesses unusual compassion combined with unusual surgical talent — I think that laid a foundation for his very ‘courtly’ character (hi @Kate!).
I really enjoyed having XG’s aunt take center stage a little. It hearkens back to XG’s first family dinner where Aunt lost it a bit over ancient history (Dad Nie and Qian Fang).
Here’s a question, why 2 ‘hearing’ problems? Grandpa has some funky ‘crystal’ problem (that must be a mistranslation for fluid blockage?) which YuSen solves. Then Dad Nie suddenly in the middle of everything faints and turns out to also have a hearing problem? A more interesting one, with a benign tumor.
But XG finally gets through to him. He hears her, and remembers how much they loved each other in her childhood.
XG has had a hard time expressing her needs and her anger in these socially fraught situations. A big milestone for her; Her Mom and YuSen carefully support her through it.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@IB, I just rewatched EP 33’s father-daughter confrontation again.
At the end of her justifiable tirade, she points out that her father, knowing that Nian Yuan had used her ‘name’ as ‘Cheng Yuan’s daughter, had done nothing to investigate, to apologise to Yu Sen, to ensure that XG had not been implicated, to punish NY, to comfort XG … it reminded me so much of Zhuang Xu.
It’s mentioned that we (girls) tend to fall for the men who are like our dads. I don’t think those were the qualities that should keep any girl liking the guy for long. XG fell for ZX based only on his looks, and would not have known this side of him at first. In a sense it was fortuitous that she had to go through that horrible experience of being falsely accused so that she could see how bad a life’s partner ZX would make.
Although I’d prefer no divorce … I feel that at least she did not have to make the mistake her mum did in marrying Nie Cheng Yuan.
ibisfeather
Ep35
Ep35
I really like the way the central college conflict of the show is repositioned, during the conversation of Ye Rong and SiLiang just before Rong leaves Shanghai for good. Rong admits that she had used ZX in order to ‘fight’ Xiguang, out of fear of/ jealousy over Xiguang’s strengths.
Without forgiving Rong’s actions or ZX’s lack of perception, this makes better sense of the way in which the entire dorm was brought into the conflict without ZX’s involvement.
It is also a less amorphous way of looking at ‘reputational struggles’ than putting it all down to malicious gossip and bullying. Someone starts these things for reasons of their own whatever they may be.
Xiguang was too young to realize that she stood out as a leader and thus attracted Rong’s ire. When YuSen fell in love with her across that crowded room that is what he saw.
When he later finally found her, but found her wounded, his healing instincts were directed to restoring that bravery and confidence he had seen in her then.
Thus, YuSen’s ‘boss-in-training’ routines for her were embedded into even his initial harassment; he forced her to learn the financial facts of the company, then gave her a project to practice her skills on. At every point Xiguang instinctively knew how to handle others, e.g. to trim the bid for the garden from the company’s normal contractors. She was genius at it.
Although Dad Nie may have wanted her to come work with him, XG didnt seem to take him or herself very seriously. Remember “did he call me a ditz?”?
But when YuSen made the plan to marry her, he already knew that she would be either the nominal or the real boss of Shuangyuan. And so he made sure that she would be ready when the time came.
An enlightened guy. And a pragmatic one.
ibisfeather
Ep35 — I forgot to praise YS’ enlightened views —
1. he voluntarily gave up his voting majority in GuangYu in order to sponsor employee development, and he gave it over to Xiguang’s mom whose 49% would now be the majority vote.
2. he recommended one of his more respo over nsible female younger cousins to his grandfather as the new heir to Shengyuang. And pragmatic Grandpa took him seriously.
Grandpa had a clear moment of regret over the loss of Yusen’s Dad, earlier.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@IB
Thanks for your accurate analyses of what was happening with Ye Rong and the dorm conflict.
I rewatched the conversation between Si Liang and Ye Rong.
Ye Rong tells Si Liang that she and Zhuang Xu had said their goodbyes a long time ago (on that snowy day on the bridge). When she had accused XG of not informing her of he interview phone call, she had really believed it to be true. She had been both angry and thrilled, because she had finally caught XG slipping, and couldn’t wait to tell everyone. ZX had been right to point out that Ye Rong never really cared about him, but had just used him to feel superior to XG.
I like your take that YS had been intuitive enough to see that XG had lost her confidence and had set out to help her rebuild it by the work he gave her.
I agree that XG had inborn leadership traits. I just rewatched the part where she was able to deal with and deflect the attack on her friend A Ru, when the crowd with Nian Yuan caused Ar Ru to drop the decorations during the gala preparation and had the gall to blame her instead of taking responsibility. XG knew how to stand up for her friend, invoked their right to check for evidence, and then knew when to back down. She was even astute enough to not be taken in by the false, smooth-talking Mr Zhao who tried to give her his card.
I really loved that YS not only knew that he had a calling back with medicine, but that he also took care of the succession planning at both Shuangyuan and Guang Yu before leaving.
His character was written to be near perfect. It’s hard to top this!
ibisfeather
Ep36
One thing I have noticed about the episode patterning is that there is often something neat which ties together previous scenes in the first quarter of an episode. I often lose it in the rush of feeling, so this is my quarter-note (on the last episode, better late than never
Two-Way Love.
And a proposal as an if=then proposition?
I think we are looking at two lovers who think the language of business and contracts is s*xy and fun.
ibisfeather
Ep36
Every moment of everyday.
And the show made you feel their love throughout its many everyday moments, but without dragging out the minutiae.
During the whole of the show, often plans would be made and then only one part of that evening or weekend would be highlighted. It was a consistent move and it was only possible because of the low-angst-level in the action. One learned to trust the script and it was very pleasant.
And so the wedding, only symbolically alluded to, but with all the important details — a monumental architectural setting, a great veil, boom-boom jewelry and a kiss. May thousands of Nanjing area couples use the whole tasteful concept to stage their own Shine On Me.
A lot more praise was fitted in for the current Chinese economy — well-done enough mostly not to be boring. Since it was also the triumph of our couple I found my silly self quite thrilled at a few points. They did finally mentioned battery storage technology but only in passing, an important future development, I guess.
We always say we want to see family life with weddings and children and so we did, altho it was tediously exemplary (imagine constantly teaching your daughter math while cooking breakfast!) I laughed quite a bit at that. Their little daughter was cute, and the watermelon hair barrettes were genius.
Very, very thrilling romantic life as a couple. Not the least because SWL seemed more at ease, with a great smile in their more casual moments, but also with real seriously romantic intensity. Looking forward to his next.
ZJM is destined to be such a star, if all goes well with her next few roles. Wish her the best.
Kate
@GB, @angeliwngssf, and @Ibisfeather,
I really enjoyed these final episodes. I don’t have much to add to your comments, which I read through and appreciated on the other side of the closing credits.
@GB, I really like Song Weilong — can’t we have his character in the BoD hall of fame? 😄 I was also glad that our ML found his way back to his true vocation in life and was able to use his intellectual brilliance again. He was also farsighted and unselfish in the way he promoted others and supported his wife to be. Top boyfriend to husband material.
It was good to see ZX more at peace with himself, though what a journey it took to get there. I would have liked it if he had sent the ‘I’m sorry’ text. Chris having her own boyfriend by this point also felt right — probably wise not to hang on in vain for ZX.
And it was good to see the families happier by the end, with various toxic boils lanced — by which I mean those parasitic and unpleasant characters finally getting an appropriate comeuppance.
I think over all I enjoyed Episodes 1 to 24 the most. That was when, for me, the story was at its most engrossing. But I also enjoyed all the various resolutions and victories too. A very satisfying watch.
GrowingBeautifully (GB)
@Kate, we can definitely nominate Dr Lin Yu Sen for the BOD boyfriend hall of fame. Maybe with more of us in favour, he might get a spot!!
I’m seeing that the other ML in Love Between Lines has the same styling and ‘look’ as Lin Yu Sen. It must be the in thing for dashing MLs. Very handsome, so no quarrel from me.
It was certainly a very satisfactory watch. A show I might recommend. 🙂
monmor
Some random thoughts about the ending episodes.
I think the second male lead is written mostly as a plot device to illustrate the female lead’s development. I think this is done successfully , but I am not sure about how successful this drama is in depicting his Internal emotional journey. As a plot device he is remote handsome very smart crush material that serves as a blank screen for her to project her need for validation and as a contrast with the ML as someone with whom she can have a mutually reciprocal relationship.
How convenient for two of her family members to be having neurological disorders And they both have ear related problems- one of his skill areas. My mother had the ear disease the grandather has and the head manipulations really work. It is not just feeling dizzy it is severe vertigo. Plot point taken though.
I laughed when the female lead’s grandmother just hissed at her son(the female lead’s father) as they all exited his hospital room after the blow up.
When the ML is talking about his feelings about his grandfather(in part to comfort her about her father) he says everything about emotions might just be a dead end with no clear answer. You Might just have to wait for time to provide the answer. One of the messages of this drama is about tolerating ambiguity which the male lead does well and the SML does not. The ML helps her find some peace in this ambiguity by telling her to write something brief in response to her father’s apology even if she is not ready to accept his apology.
As I write this, it helps me think about the scene in the final episode when the SML sees her and her family at the airport. Even though he never apologized to her he did come to an internal realization that it was over and that intruding on her now was not wise. His struggles with himself, as illustrated by his fantasy relationship with her, are better resolved and not by a magical relationship with Chris.
I particularly enjoyed these scenes outside the hospital after she blew up at her father. Again they are in an open space. They pledge themselves to each other. Such a warm romantic scene(like the scene in front of the stove at her grandparents). They are each in the other’s spotlight. Did others notice the spotlights moving around on the screen? This happened in a few other scenes as well. Then there is a beautiful sunrise!
The SML has no one to shine on him and he desperately wanted/needed that and could not handle losing the FL’s attention(even though one might think of it as his own doing). He becomes obsessive and tormented.
Kate
@Monmor,
I did not see the spotlights!
The thought of the 2ML without that light shining on him is so sad and the lesson about life’s ambiguities too – in his temperament and outlook, he is rigid and moves in this abrupt way from one rigid -all or nothing – stance to another. A black and white thinker? He is very bright but he jumps to conclusions any time anyone gives him any (mis)information about the FL!
I like the way you have spotlit (!) the contrasts between the main and the second male lead.
I agree that the drama leaves us with the sense of 2 ML’s emotional constipation rather than a clear trajectory. In fact, I don’t think 2 ML works as a character – even as a didactic device. We need more access to him in a broader way to have any sense of empathy. I hope that the actor doesn’t get limited by this performance. A very tricky role to pull off well.
monmor
@kate I think there were efforts to give us more access to him in maybe 2 different scenes where we see him alone and sad. The lyrics to the accompanying music were pertinent to his state of mind but I did not pay them enough attention.
The scene that illustrates his emotional isolation the best was at the ski resort when he is standing under the black umbrella in a empty vastness of snow exactly where our couple had just celebrated their growing closeness with fireworks.(the opposite of being in the spotlight)
Kate
@Monmor,
That was a poignant scene.
monmor
When I saw him in the music video, I was more appreciative of his acting in this drama. It was very well done. Like you, I hope he is not limited by this role which was difficult to pull off well.
monmor
There were round white obs three of them floating around in the scene in front of the hospital. I am not sure which other scenes I saw them in but I am pretty sure they were couple scenes..
@IB, @Kate, @angelwingssf
Now this is what I call a good, thorough and satisfying wrap up to a rather delightful show!!
We are given the trajectory of our characters and I don’t think anyone of consequence was missed out. In fact a passing character reappeared in a role that showed all was well with the Shengs too. I’m smiling from ear to ear and chuffed to bits!
@GB, @Kate, @Ibisfeather
– you are right that the drama covered all the four corners without missing anything. It was really nice to see Lusen and Xiguang making it work with each other , living together, heading to work where they want to work and acheiving what ever was possible.
– they also covered Ye Rong coming to the realization of her having animosity with Xiguang and how she quit her job and moved away to clean up her toxicity.
— I liked that Xiguang had it out with her dad and spat out everything and even about the accident and how it affected Lusen and what he must have gone through to change careers after working for it for so long. It knocked some sense into what xiguang must have gone through during her initial work at her workplace. Good riddance of those two and glad he did not meet them again. They are a toxic duo who uses any manipulation to get what they want.
–Even though the wedding was wonderful both beautiful in their Liu Guang forest – (Is that the place they got married ?) I would have loved seeing the family together.
– I wanted to see what the cousin was upto and how they were spoiling Xiguang’s daughter. It would have been nice seeing a little bit of that.
– Seeing that she achieved what she spoke when she was just starting her career – just taking hints and expanding on information given by her bosses – Xiguang seems to have inherited her mother’s brain or being with her – it must have rubbed off.
— also liked the closure they gave to Zhang Xu and did like that they did not put a rug over the issue and am glad that Xiguang did not accept ZhangXu. looks like he learnt a good lesson – that taking risks in life and love are worth it instead of indecision and being quiet about it. I think if Xiguang had been with ZhangZu, he would have pulled her down – similar to Xiguang’s father. Lusen on the other hand was stable, comfortable in his own shoes and likely taught Xiguang a bit on how to handle the business and homely matters and who does not love having a spouse who can hand home and kids like Lusen.
Want to hear thoughts / critique from our Queen. Hope she finishes and writes about it. Love to read other’s thoughts too.
On to the next one…….
@angelwingssf,
Yes, the location of the wedding was the Liu Guang Forest. I believe this name meant “Forest of Light that Remains.” XG wanted to keep Lin Yu Sen’s presence in that phase 2 PV Garden, because she would miss him too much when he left the company. His best response to that was to propose marriage to her on the spot!!! Loved it.
I thought the Show took an interesting shortcut for the OTP Wedding. After we’ve seen two weddings already, Show decided to just cut to the bride’s walk and the conferring of the ring, without a single other person in sight!!! I’m guessing that since a proper wedding has to have witnesses, their friends were below the ramp or, they had 2 separate ceremonies… but we saw only their personal, intimate ceremony on the ramp overlooking the garden they had made.
The people I’d expect to see at the Wedding were YS’s mum. It would have been nice if his wedding had brought his mum and grandfather back into the same room and had them working towards a reconciliation.
Yes, Jiang Rui would have been cute to have around. Instead of seeing him, we meet the younger Sheng girl-cousin who seems to be learning the ropes from XG. She was recommended by YS to his grandfather as the steady one to take over the Shengyuan Group.
I like how this Writer plans her writing well so that things mentioned earlier in the series get their resolution at the end. A case in point is the conversation about having solar farms in the Middle East.
Zhuang Xu had become mature enough to let go properly so that being in the same airplane with XG didn’t affect his sound sleep. It was the same with XG, because if she was just in front of his group, she would have seen him, but she was able to sleep on the long flight back.
YS had been ‘showcased’ as ‘the total package’ boyfriend somewhere in the beginning, and he really was. Of course he’s written to be the IDEAL, and worthy of praise.
He might not make it to our BOD Boyfriend Hall of Fame, but he comes close. Once he made it past his resentment, he was the best of boyfriends, especially in terms of being observant and perceptive, being respectful and not intrusive, and knowing when to be attentive in the right way, when to step up and protect/defend or let XG manage on her own. He was the opposite of Nie Cheng Yuan who was too proud, too insecure, even competing against his own wife. Instead YS was able to let XG take flight without controlling her or feeling left behind.
Of course he was a great person first, full of integrity and good sense. At work he was able to achieve what he strove for and be fulfilled. He was flexible, shifting from the role of boss to subordinate as needed. He was humble, able to let others take the limelight. Most noteworthy of all was that he worked through adversity with ups and downs, persevered and came up on top.
He was the best husband and father who supported his family as well as his wife’s. He was a reliable house-husband when needed. From the way he had points added or deducted by XG, he was absolutely right when he predicted that she would be the future boss.
Although he was the forest, he shone just as much, or maybe even more than XG who was the morning light.
Well said @GB. Lusen shone just as much / or more than XG. An awesome lad indeed.
Eps33-34
(Still plodding along here, guys, in your wake)
I really like this section, with the design contest giving hope and excitement, plus the family confrontations and resolutions around Dad Nie’s sickbed.
I have no idea why I dont get tired of YuSen being so tactful and supportive. Somehow he still remains a believable character. That short introduction at the very beginning of the show, when his mentor remarks out of nowhere that YuSen possesses unusual compassion combined with unusual surgical talent — I think that laid a foundation for his very ‘courtly’ character (hi @Kate!).
I really enjoyed having XG’s aunt take center stage a little. It hearkens back to XG’s first family dinner where Aunt lost it a bit over ancient history (Dad Nie and Qian Fang).
Here’s a question, why 2 ‘hearing’ problems? Grandpa has some funky ‘crystal’ problem (that must be a mistranslation for fluid blockage?) which YuSen solves. Then Dad Nie suddenly in the middle of everything faints and turns out to also have a hearing problem? A more interesting one, with a benign tumor.
But XG finally gets through to him. He hears her, and remembers how much they loved each other in her childhood.
XG has had a hard time expressing her needs and her anger in these socially fraught situations. A big milestone for her; Her Mom and YuSen carefully support her through it.
@IB, I just rewatched EP 33’s father-daughter confrontation again.
At the end of her justifiable tirade, she points out that her father, knowing that Nian Yuan had used her ‘name’ as ‘Cheng Yuan’s daughter, had done nothing to investigate, to apologise to Yu Sen, to ensure that XG had not been implicated, to punish NY, to comfort XG … it reminded me so much of Zhuang Xu.
It’s mentioned that we (girls) tend to fall for the men who are like our dads. I don’t think those were the qualities that should keep any girl liking the guy for long. XG fell for ZX based only on his looks, and would not have known this side of him at first. In a sense it was fortuitous that she had to go through that horrible experience of being falsely accused so that she could see how bad a life’s partner ZX would make.
Although I’d prefer no divorce … I feel that at least she did not have to make the mistake her mum did in marrying Nie Cheng Yuan.
Ep35
Ep35
I really like the way the central college conflict of the show is repositioned, during the conversation of Ye Rong and SiLiang just before Rong leaves Shanghai for good. Rong admits that she had used ZX in order to ‘fight’ Xiguang, out of fear of/ jealousy over Xiguang’s strengths.
Without forgiving Rong’s actions or ZX’s lack of perception, this makes better sense of the way in which the entire dorm was brought into the conflict without ZX’s involvement.
It is also a less amorphous way of looking at ‘reputational struggles’ than putting it all down to malicious gossip and bullying. Someone starts these things for reasons of their own whatever they may be.
Xiguang was too young to realize that she stood out as a leader and thus attracted Rong’s ire. When YuSen fell in love with her across that crowded room that is what he saw.
When he later finally found her, but found her wounded, his healing instincts were directed to restoring that bravery and confidence he had seen in her then.
Thus, YuSen’s ‘boss-in-training’ routines for her were embedded into even his initial harassment; he forced her to learn the financial facts of the company, then gave her a project to practice her skills on. At every point Xiguang instinctively knew how to handle others, e.g. to trim the bid for the garden from the company’s normal contractors. She was genius at it.
Although Dad Nie may have wanted her to come work with him, XG didnt seem to take him or herself very seriously. Remember “did he call me a ditz?”?
But when YuSen made the plan to marry her, he already knew that she would be either the nominal or the real boss of Shuangyuan. And so he made sure that she would be ready when the time came.
An enlightened guy. And a pragmatic one.
Ep35 — I forgot to praise YS’ enlightened views —
1. he voluntarily gave up his voting majority in GuangYu in order to sponsor employee development, and he gave it over to Xiguang’s mom whose 49% would now be the majority vote.
2. he recommended one of his more respo over nsible female younger cousins to his grandfather as the new heir to Shengyuang. And pragmatic Grandpa took him seriously.
Grandpa had a clear moment of regret over the loss of Yusen’s Dad, earlier.
@IB
Thanks for your accurate analyses of what was happening with Ye Rong and the dorm conflict.
I rewatched the conversation between Si Liang and Ye Rong.
Ye Rong tells Si Liang that she and Zhuang Xu had said their goodbyes a long time ago (on that snowy day on the bridge). When she had accused XG of not informing her of he interview phone call, she had really believed it to be true. She had been both angry and thrilled, because she had finally caught XG slipping, and couldn’t wait to tell everyone. ZX had been right to point out that Ye Rong never really cared about him, but had just used him to feel superior to XG.
I like your take that YS had been intuitive enough to see that XG had lost her confidence and had set out to help her rebuild it by the work he gave her.
I agree that XG had inborn leadership traits. I just rewatched the part where she was able to deal with and deflect the attack on her friend A Ru, when the crowd with Nian Yuan caused Ar Ru to drop the decorations during the gala preparation and had the gall to blame her instead of taking responsibility. XG knew how to stand up for her friend, invoked their right to check for evidence, and then knew when to back down. She was even astute enough to not be taken in by the false, smooth-talking Mr Zhao who tried to give her his card.
I really loved that YS not only knew that he had a calling back with medicine, but that he also took care of the succession planning at both Shuangyuan and Guang Yu before leaving.
His character was written to be near perfect. It’s hard to top this!
Ep36
One thing I have noticed about the episode patterning is that there is often something neat which ties together previous scenes in the first quarter of an episode. I often lose it in the rush of feeling, so this is my quarter-note (on the last episode, better late than never
Two-Way Love.
And a proposal as an if=then proposition?
I think we are looking at two lovers who think the language of business and contracts is s*xy and fun.
Ep36
Every moment of everyday.
And the show made you feel their love throughout its many everyday moments, but without dragging out the minutiae.
During the whole of the show, often plans would be made and then only one part of that evening or weekend would be highlighted. It was a consistent move and it was only possible because of the low-angst-level in the action. One learned to trust the script and it was very pleasant.
And so the wedding, only symbolically alluded to, but with all the important details — a monumental architectural setting, a great veil, boom-boom jewelry and a kiss. May thousands of Nanjing area couples use the whole tasteful concept to stage their own Shine On Me.
A lot more praise was fitted in for the current Chinese economy — well-done enough mostly not to be boring. Since it was also the triumph of our couple I found my silly self quite thrilled at a few points. They did finally mentioned battery storage technology but only in passing, an important future development, I guess.
We always say we want to see family life with weddings and children and so we did, altho it was tediously exemplary (imagine constantly teaching your daughter math while cooking breakfast!) I laughed quite a bit at that. Their little daughter was cute, and the watermelon hair barrettes were genius.
Very, very thrilling romantic life as a couple. Not the least because SWL seemed more at ease, with a great smile in their more casual moments, but also with real seriously romantic intensity. Looking forward to his next.
ZJM is destined to be such a star, if all goes well with her next few roles. Wish her the best.
@GB, @angeliwngssf, and @Ibisfeather,
I really enjoyed these final episodes. I don’t have much to add to your comments, which I read through and appreciated on the other side of the closing credits.
@GB, I really like Song Weilong — can’t we have his character in the BoD hall of fame? 😄 I was also glad that our ML found his way back to his true vocation in life and was able to use his intellectual brilliance again. He was also farsighted and unselfish in the way he promoted others and supported his wife to be. Top boyfriend to husband material.
It was good to see ZX more at peace with himself, though what a journey it took to get there. I would have liked it if he had sent the ‘I’m sorry’ text. Chris having her own boyfriend by this point also felt right — probably wise not to hang on in vain for ZX.
And it was good to see the families happier by the end, with various toxic boils lanced — by which I mean those parasitic and unpleasant characters finally getting an appropriate comeuppance.
I think over all I enjoyed Episodes 1 to 24 the most. That was when, for me, the story was at its most engrossing. But I also enjoyed all the various resolutions and victories too. A very satisfying watch.
@Kate, we can definitely nominate Dr Lin Yu Sen for the BOD boyfriend hall of fame. Maybe with more of us in favour, he might get a spot!!
I’m seeing that the other ML in Love Between Lines has the same styling and ‘look’ as Lin Yu Sen. It must be the in thing for dashing MLs. Very handsome, so no quarrel from me.
It was certainly a very satisfactory watch. A show I might recommend. 🙂
Some random thoughts about the ending episodes.
I think the second male lead is written mostly as a plot device to illustrate the female lead’s development. I think this is done successfully , but I am not sure about how successful this drama is in depicting his Internal emotional journey. As a plot device he is remote handsome very smart crush material that serves as a blank screen for her to project her need for validation and as a contrast with the ML as someone with whom she can have a mutually reciprocal relationship.
How convenient for two of her family members to be having neurological disorders And they both have ear related problems- one of his skill areas. My mother had the ear disease the grandather has and the head manipulations really work. It is not just feeling dizzy it is severe vertigo. Plot point taken though.
I laughed when the female lead’s grandmother just hissed at her son(the female lead’s father) as they all exited his hospital room after the blow up.
When the ML is talking about his feelings about his grandfather(in part to comfort her about her father) he says everything about emotions might just be a dead end with no clear answer. You Might just have to wait for time to provide the answer. One of the messages of this drama is about tolerating ambiguity which the male lead does well and the SML does not. The ML helps her find some peace in this ambiguity by telling her to write something brief in response to her father’s apology even if she is not ready to accept his apology.
As I write this, it helps me think about the scene in the final episode when the SML sees her and her family at the airport. Even though he never apologized to her he did come to an internal realization that it was over and that intruding on her now was not wise. His struggles with himself, as illustrated by his fantasy relationship with her, are better resolved and not by a magical relationship with Chris.
I particularly enjoyed these scenes outside the hospital after she blew up at her father. Again they are in an open space. They pledge themselves to each other. Such a warm romantic scene(like the scene in front of the stove at her grandparents). They are each in the other’s spotlight. Did others notice the spotlights moving around on the screen? This happened in a few other scenes as well. Then there is a beautiful sunrise!
The SML has no one to shine on him and he desperately wanted/needed that and could not handle losing the FL’s attention(even though one might think of it as his own doing). He becomes obsessive and tormented.
@Monmor,
I did not see the spotlights!
The thought of the 2ML without that light shining on him is so sad and the lesson about life’s ambiguities too – in his temperament and outlook, he is rigid and moves in this abrupt way from one rigid -all or nothing – stance to another. A black and white thinker? He is very bright but he jumps to conclusions any time anyone gives him any (mis)information about the FL!
I like the way you have spotlit (!) the contrasts between the main and the second male lead.
I agree that the drama leaves us with the sense of 2 ML’s emotional constipation rather than a clear trajectory. In fact, I don’t think 2 ML works as a character – even as a didactic device. We need more access to him in a broader way to have any sense of empathy. I hope that the actor doesn’t get limited by this performance. A very tricky role to pull off well.
@kate I think there were efforts to give us more access to him in maybe 2 different scenes where we see him alone and sad. The lyrics to the accompanying music were pertinent to his state of mind but I did not pay them enough attention.
The scene that illustrates his emotional isolation the best was at the ski resort when he is standing under the black umbrella in a empty vastness of snow exactly where our couple had just celebrated their growing closeness with fireworks.(the opposite of being in the spotlight)
@Monmor,
That was a poignant scene.
When I saw him in the music video, I was more appreciative of his acting in this drama. It was very well done. Like you, I hope he is not limited by this role which was difficult to pull off well.
There were round white obs three of them floating around in the scene in front of the hospital. I am not sure which other scenes I saw them in but I am pretty sure they were couple scenes..