It could have been a beautiful touching story capturing the life's hardships, the struggles to adapt and learn, to overcome one's flaws. Instead, I think it only captures people unable or unwilling to learn from their mistakes, and an assumption that all romantic relationships are doomed to be unhealthy.

*

I think I see what they were trying to do, but imho, it did not work out. But first, here are some aspects I enjoyed:

• From all of their storylines, FL's brother's one was the most interesting to watch to me, as he went through several stages of character development. It was genuinely engaging! We first met him when his life was quite good, but then he faced truly hard moments, he reached very very low points. Through outside help, his determination, and a bit of luck, things turned around. Then he faced new obstacles but kept on learning from it. I did not really like him as a person, but I enjoyed following his journey.

• I was also initially invested in FL's boss, but then they changed her course in a deus-ex-machina way instead of allowing her to learn from her mistakes. It honestly felt like she was being punished by fate for wanting a relationship and being unable to love herself. I was looking forward to one of her breakdowns leading to a realization, but she was not allowed that. In the very end, her character had some interesting growth too.

• My favorite episode is when ML leaves the country and pursues his dreams. The episode had a different vibe, he got into a loving relationship and worked on his career; he was making progress. Of course, though, they couldn't let him have it. I still don't fully understand why the writers were so determined to destroy his relationship with the second FL, their breakup looked unnatural and forced. People can fall out of love, but this felt... wrong, like they both suddenly stopped caring for each other. It usually happens for a reason, and it could have been interesting to explore, but that didn't happen. We only got a few awkward moments of tense silence and teary-eyed calls, out of nowhere.

Now for the parts that did not sit right with me:

• FL started out as a manic pixie girl. I don't think I need to elaborate on that.

• Even during the fun "spring" part, ML and FL had an uncomfortable dynamic: FL left him guessing, withdrawing her attention ("I might arrive, I might not. You'll see!") and forced him into activities he wasn't comfortable with (but it was played off as comedic), and then left him, completely wasted, alone on a night bus. He was drunk and asleep and she just left him there. But the writers did not address any of this, and she never realized she treated him poorly; no, there's just a cut scene and he's, SOMEHOW, safely home. Okay. Clearly, they did not want to address it, it did not need any character development despite being glaring flaws.

• There is just not enough growth on either of their sides for the relationship to work in the future. FL is busy dealing with trauma, but she's STILL emotionally distant and detached. Perhaps understandably so, but it does not say anything good about their future if – through her whole life – she did not make much progress.

• ML still copes with difficult situations by lying through his teeth and not being able to draw his boundaries (though he made some small progress in that, the tragedy of FL's life makes him unable to stand his ground anyways). On that note, I honestly suspect ML is a pathological liar. It's definitely a pattern in his romantic relationships and he never learns from that, either.

• When the second FL asked ML why he loves her, he said, among other things, that he is comfortable around her. Some people in comments thought that's the proof he doesn't love her. But to be honest? That's exactly how a long-term, loving relationship feels like: you are a comfort for each other, the familiarity is grounding. It's not the initial passion or the attraction to the forbidden (like one-sided love or painful crushes), but it's good, it feels good. I feel like this sends the wrong message.

• As for ML's sister, I guess it was a fun concept for them: a reversed trope! Emotionally distant wife, clingy stay-at-home husband! But their relationship was just painful to watch, it did not feel fun, it did not feel like a creative reversal, it felt like she was treating him like trash, making him work hard for a hint of affection as if it were a gift, giving him just enough to make him want more (that's controlling and abusive btw). And they knew from the beginning that they weren't compatible at all. What even IS the message of their relationship? I know that people like this exist, but ML's sister's partner was called out on his mistakes. Her mistakes go on, unchallenged.

In general, I think they could have handled many things better, I never saw the "OTP" as romantic or compatible (in fact, they seemed really bad for each other), and if they wanted realism, there should have been their friends, telling them it's a really bad idea to re-enter a dysfunctional relationship, or shaking ML by his shoulders to make him realize that being concerned for a person he loved for a long time before is NOT a reason to start lying to his fiancée or to break up. Caring for more people is not wrong. Lying about it and hiding that they dated in past and then, when he was called out on it, leaving instead of apologizing? That's just messed up and so, so emotionally immature, that I don't know why we were supposed to get invested in his "growth" at all. :/

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