Yes, it’s all because of this drama that I have become a wreck again!
As an avid drama-watcher and blogger for five years, I was just in complete denial that I was experiencing this so-called “drama slump” for months. Then came “Before We Get Married” and to say that I have become alive again in drama land is just an understatement.
I wrote this article for it to be a venue for my thoughts on the drama but most especially, for everyone watching it to share their sentiments here! I have been reading many people who wanted to talk about the drama but have not really found people to have that kind of discussion with.
So I hope this post can help!
Coming into the drama, I did not know what I was expecting. Heck, I was even bored at the first scenes when they were just closely monitoring the stock market. I also thought that it was such a cliche that the leads were going to meet because of some kind of coincidence. The female lead running after her NT150 receipt from the cab that the male lead was going to ride on, like really?!
It also did not help that I was not really the biggest fan of Puff Guo (loathed “Just You”) while it was my first time to watch Jasper Liu as the male lead. So what was the ice-breaker for me?
The development of both the story and the characters was enough to make me want to watch more. Chu Kehuan (Jasper Liu) looked like he was just your usual arrogant playboy who only wanted to have some fun. As the story reveals his true colors, you will realize that he was more than what meets the eye. He found everything that has been missing in his life in Zhou Wei Wei (Puff Guo).
Stalker mode!
Wei Wei has already had her whole life planned up until her retirement age (or at least that’s what she is making herself believe!). She would scrimp and save just to make ends meet which left Kehuan puzzled and even more interested in how she was living her life. It was something that he has never thought of or even encountered in life.
Another aspect in the drama’s way of story-telling that made me fall in love was its unpredictability. I mean, sure they can continue cheating on their respective partners given that this was the shallow plot that the drama was presenting. However, you can see how the characters were trying to control themselves to the point that Wei Wei could not bear to face herself anymore.
A perfect analogy for this is having a “cheat day” when you’re on a diet. As you munch everything that you have been depriving yourself from, you would still realize that you were still on a diet so you had to suddenly stop eating. Other dramas with the same theme of cheating would have gone all the way to pursuing the affair but this drama showed that our main characters have been strongly battling with themselves more than anything else.
Take me to one of these mini karaoke bars, please!
Going to the technical aspects of the drama, the cinematography was breath-taking especially for their scenes at night in the karaoke bars. The tracks that they would play inside the bars were also absolutely perfect to match the mood that the drama was set in. With “Darling” by Mavis Fan and “I Miss You More Than I Did Before” by Bii are just music to my ears as they are also perfectly describing the characters’ feelings.
Nine episodes after, the drama has remained to consume me ever since the first episode. I just cannot wait to see how everything will unfold as we are down to our last three episodes!
I made this review brief and less on the details as I have also promised on Twitter that I will be writing a full-length drama review as well. For the meantime, I would love to hear your thoughts on this drama! Please feel free to release all of your love, hate, or whatever feelings you have for the drama in the comments section below.
SkimmedMilkDRAMA 
ok hi i dont really know who else to talk about this with since chinese dramas dont have their own subreddit and my friends dont watch chinese dramas. anyway, for me, this drama was so sos so sosososo incredibly flawed. i have never ever seen a drama that displayed so much rapey vibes. the guy literally keeps crossing the line when he literally has a girlfriend of his own. the handcuff scene, the balconey scene, the camping scene, they all were extremely inappropriate. if i was the girl i would file a restraining order cos im getting stalker vibes. i am currently on episode 4, and im just so confused as to why the guy keeps sending her mixed signals. sure her relationship wasn’t the best and her current bf isn’t the most adventurous guy, but how dare he say he would leave her alone and then kiss her the day her bf was gonna propose to her???? and the girl isnt all innocent either. this whole time shes been emotionally cheating and denying that her relationship isn’t working. omg this drama is just so dysfunctional, its honestly a problem. i know this drama is all about sexual tension, and wanting things you can’t have, but the writers of this drama must be insane to write this kind of stuff in 2019. i just think they could have written it differently and still have the sexual tension in there.
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Hello! It’s great that you found our site as we always love talking to people about dramas. Thank you very much for sharing your opinions. I understand where you’re coming from and it’s nice to see how different our opinions are.
We can agree to disagree here since I think that the drama was more than the sexual tension and wanting things you can’t have. Those elements were just on the surface level for me. As I have always seen this drama to be more about being true to one’s self and recognizing that there’s a huge problem to be sorted out comes along with that.
I don’t know if it’s going to help but this was actually adapted from a novel so I’m not sure if the drama’s writers had the power to write the story differently. Again, thank you so much for sharing your thoughts! Really appreciate it.
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I’m enjoying this show very much. My only “wish” is that the characters were a little older–they seem too young to be so jaded and world-weary in general, and so complacent in their current relationships. As much as I want to dislike WeiWei and Kehuan’s current partners (and I’m on episode 5) I can’t. Maybe it’s because I’m 52 and I’ve been both the scorned lover and the partner pursuing a new love interest in my past. From experience, I can tell you that nothing is cut and dried in either position. The writing in this show is mature enough to give viewers a glimpse of all four leads’ pain, and the reasons behind the choices they’re making. As much as I want to root for WeiWei and Kehuan, it’s a nice change of pace to be able to maintain some empathy for the lovers they are leaving behind.
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That’s a very interesting point of view! I’ve always thought that their ages were perfectly fit for the role, being past the quarter-life crisis already.
I have to say, I love both of them too much that I could not let them go to their respective partners. Like what you said, it would be interesting if they won’t go into that direction!
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Loved the acting and cast . A realistic and entertaining treat
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Same here! Thanks for dropping by 🙂
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