Skip to main content

Snacky

I've heard web dramas described as snacks for longer drama lovers, in that new actors are given the chance to get experience and show their chops before they can star in the latter. I don't know if that's true, but these short episode/limited series productions are becoming very popular on Viki, with fierce debates on whether or not they're worth the watch. I've watched two now and I think they're charming in a slightly goofy, wholly gratuitous, completely implausible way.

Since I fell hard for Ryan Ren in Moonlight last year, I decided to watch two of his web dramas, the first being Love in the Edge of Divorce. Aside from the prepositional poor choice, this is a very melodramatic series about two people forced to marry to each other for a business merger but never meet, and then when they do they fall in love. The female lead then does literally everything she can do to keep the male lead from discovering she's his wife. Yes, it's that silly.

Ryan Ren is a powerful, mesmerizing actor who commands every scene he's in, and basically owns the production. He's wildly romantic and menacing, and so focused on his wife that he totally convinces you he's in love with her. Even his smallest actions are brilliant.

Problems: with the story, unfortunately, a lot. I think the writers threw everything that causes romantic misunderstandings into the production, from secret babies to hateful scheming relatives to jealous rivals. Everyone but the leads seem to be nasty (they're not, but they're presented that way.) The plot twists are sometimes multiples, and after a few episodes it gets to be a bit like whiplash. You'd have to be a Brooklyn Bridge buyer to believe any of it. There are also some forced clinches, seductions and an (thankfully failed) abduction when the male lead's mother tries to have the female lead's baby aborted against her will, all of which westerners aren't going to find at all PC.

That said, just the chance to see Ryan Ren act again was amazing. Can't wait to watch the next one he's in. Available on Viki.com.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

T-minus Day

This was our little Thanksgiving dinner last year, when it was just the three of us. Time keeps whittling down my favorite holiday; this year it will be just me and my guy, and we likely won't even have a turkey.* That will be a first in 35 years. I feel about Thanksgiving the way other people do about Christmas, and while it's a lot of work it's my favorite holiday. Of all the Thanksgivings I've had in the past sixty years, only three were truly terrible: one when I was a kid that I don't talk about (#1 most miserable); the time I roasted two turkeys together and hosted fifteen people whom I cooked for and served with zero help (the largest and #2 most miserable); and the one I spent in basic training (the #3 most miserable.) I have no pictures of any of those, thank heavens. In addition to doing all the cooking I'm the one who takes all the pictures, washes all the dishes and puts away all the leftovers. I suppose no one else cares because to them it...
5 comments
Read more

Holiday Prep

For Thanksgiving this year we've invited some guests from Oliver's mom's side of the family, so I have to start prepping now to get the house in shape for the big day. The first major thing is having the carpets cleaned, which we've scheduled for next week. This weekend I'll be cleaning out four rooms to get them ready for that. I started with my front dining room, which I use as my sewing room. It was kind of a mess already, so it felt good to get everything cleared out. We'll be having ten people at dinner plus two babies, so this will give me a chance to figure out how to arrange two tables in this space. I think this will be my last time hosting a big Thanksgiving gathering. Mike has started his family with a lovely girl who has a huge, close-knit family of her own, while Katherine will likely be off at grad school out of state for the next several years. I'm also not getting any younger. My guy and I will always celebrate Thanksgiving, but ...
6 comments
Read more

Fell Off the Wagon

I did cut up that plastic dollar tote to make into something stronger, but got caught up with work and set it aside. Then last night some hand-dyed silk and pretty threads called my name, and, well . . . Felt SO good to do some handwork, except my neck began hurting about an hour into it. I tried changing the way I sit and work, but it's pretty obvious that the doc is right.
7 comments
Read more