An interesting premise with a strong start and very melodramatic ending

This review contains mild spoilers. Please do not read if you do not want to spoil yourself. I decided to add some since some of these will make or break the viewing experience.

First off, reading the summary, I was very intrigued. It seemed not like many cdramas that I have watched, which have primarily been fluffly rom-com dramas. And the first episode made me very excited. We see Jianing in a lab enduring (very direct**) racist remarks from her boss and in the next scene, we see Xiaoshan punching someone, which made me think this would turn out to be a great corporate espionage plot. I was envisioning a cat-mouse chase for her research with a lot of nameless villains and action-packed scenes. Unfortunately, that is not what we got.

Although it is not necessarily bad, I want to point out that in the latter half it gets very melodramatic. This is not explicitly in the tags, so I was not expecting it. The thing that was bad was the pacing and character arcs. While the first half focuses on Xiaoshan trying to get closer to Jianing and her enduring office politics which seems new and fresh, the second half does the same exact thing except drags it out in a manner that seems repetitive and makes you want to skip a lot of scenes since you have already seen it in a much more exciting manner in the first half. If you are not fond of what I just described like me, it's best that you just stop the drama before episode 30 at most.

I kept going because the first half was really quality writing and it left a lot of questions that I wanted answered. We hear a lot about Xiaoshan's ex. Originally, she's mentioned off-handedly, so while I was intrigued, I understood they might not explain. However, it turns out to be a big plot point in the second half, that I wished the setup was better for that because it felt really random that a major character related to her popped up without explanation.

While I applaud LYX and SQ acting, they really did nail it with what they had, the character development leaves me a little iffy. LYX gave 110% to Xiaoshan and you can really see that through his scenes. I really liked how SQ portrayed Jianing with a low EQ. It made me frustrated at times with the decisions she made, but it makes sense considering her low EQ. The second lead couple did a great job in my opinion. If you don't like sad endings (a melodramatic ending usually involves one of the main characters dying), then the second lead couple really brighten up the screen and you can just watch for them.

Mo Li, on the other hand. Damn, they did my girl dirty. I actually did like her as a character. Yes, she was impulsive, but we see growth from her in the first half. I really thought she was going to have a lot more scenes with the guy from the gym cause I really thought they were funny. However, she just disappears in the second half until the end where you realize all that character development from the first half is just gone, which was just disappointing. I did understand that she might have some reversal, but I didn't realize they would remove everything.

I did like Uncle Zha as villain even if he was a little cartoonish, but I felt the secondary villain Wenzhao was unnecessary. He really doesn't do much and it's just really a sad boi. Honestly, I know cdramas tend to add one last villain to defeat towards the end, but nothing could have prepared me for the last 5 episodes.

The OST was really great tho. I don't usually pay attention to them, but this one was too good to avoid. Although I will probably never rewatch this, I don't really rewatch any dramas again, I will definitely listen to the music.

**Now to refer to two things that really offed people.
First: how racism is portrayed. To give this perspective, I am an non-East Asian woman who grew up and lives in a Western country. I have worked in a lab. The racism portrayed is way too blatant and direct. This would most likely land Dr. Harry in hot water irl. A lot of the racism we endure is subtle aka passing over a promotion or making small digs (oh so that's how you do it?). Also, I agree with a lot of people that it was weird that Dr. Harry spoke in English while Jianing replied in Chinese. It was only a couple of lines and they had Chinese subtitles for Harry anyway and it could have showed another way Jianing was othered.
Second: the patriotism. Look, this is a Chinese drama. Regardless of whatever country you are from, they probably make patriotic movies/tv shows. I think it's personally normal that this had Chinese nationalism. This drama intended to show how research in non-Western countries aren't regarded with the same prestige which is true. It is geared toward Chinese viewers. You could take this and apply it to another country and it would work. Did I enjoy seeing the national scenes like the flag raising as a non-Chinese person? Nope, felt very awkward for me. I didn't know where to look. I bet a lot of people felt the same. But I did agree with the statement that scientists regardless of nationality should have a chance.

So while people have many reasons not to watch things, it doesn't mean it is necessarily bad. I read the summary of the drama and liked it, so I watched it. Was it what I expected? No, I did have my expectations high. Did I enjoy all of it? No. Do I feel like it was waste of time? No. I didn't really like it overall, but I wouldn't say that I wasted all my time.

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