Tong Hua Gu Shi Xia Ji

I watched this purely for Jasper Liu - he has a very charming persona. In this he plays a husband Zeng, who, along with his wife, I-Ling, lives with his mother. The relationship between I-ling and her mother in law is fraught - and I-ling is frequently thinking of divorce. Many scenes of discontent are repeated in slightly different forms with different characters. Conflict is created when I-Ling meets a pharmacist who becomes interested in her and Zeng is the object of a crush by a new work intern. The feminist trait of putting men into menstruation is well represented as is compulsory these days. It adds nothing to the plot and is completely irrelevant to anyone except the writer and the manufacturers that pay for them to be included. When I-Ling meets an anonymous online "soulmate" and we see fictional meetings between them where the male's head is excluded from the shot it is pretty much of a rather silly giveaway. Many scenes are dreams which confuse and distract the viewer. There is no plot to speak of. I ff'd through much of it because although most episodes were around twenty seven minutes many of them were filled with irrelevant people and situations. The only person worth watching was Jasper Liu - the stars are all for him.

Nyssa Li has created an observant and almost accurate depiction of modern marriage from a woman's point of view. No matter what culture one is from, you'll be able to relate with the ups and downs, and the madness, of attempting to keep that marital bliss tracking along. All this through standard Taiwanese campy melodrama comedy, and sometimes it goes up a notch, almost to an absurdist surreal style with some laugh-out-loud moments that works a treat in this mini-series. And then there are those touching moments where you are not sure if you should be laughing, but instead just get sucked into the romance of it all. The cast is a bonus, and really play it with a farcical conviction, all thanks to Nyssa's witty and enjoyable screenplay...

I admit, I watched this when it appeared on my suggestion list and I noticed Jasper Lui was in it. Not familiar with Thai Drama as am a K-Drama fan and became aware of him in a travel series with a K-Drama star and noticed what a fun lovable authentic guy he was. Been watching a few of his dramas since. I thought he was perfectly cast in this role and was both comical and cute. He was also loyal to his wife and tried hard for her. He was also a mamma's boy which was the catalyst of many of their marriage problems to begin with. He just played it all perfect. Am not sure the FL was the best match for him though. Regardless, the stereotyping of the housewife's clothing (dowdy looking apparel) seems to be the norm for these dramas.

There was just enough tension in the drama to keep each episode interesting without getting stressed out over it. So making it a fun, relaxed, and comical show with romance and everyday doldrums in the real world to make emotions go up and down. I took a few stars off mainly because the twist ending was quite predictable from the beginning.

My stars are for Jasper and his comical scenes.

Wow, I didn't expect the show would be so good! I'm not sure if the creator is a woman, but it definitely gives a female view on a relationship. It's really funny and cute, I liked that it's not all fairytales, there's a real view on the marriage limitations such as annoying partners habits like snoring or not closing the door when going to toilet. At times the show was extremely humorous, for example, the way they depicted husbands as plants in pots. I can imagine those silent submissive husbands who cannot stand up against their active energetic Chinese wives.

Male actors are pretty attractive which is another bonus to the show. I wish Netflix had more series like that: smart and hard-working.