Le Chemin du retour (2023)

Jing Boran is the Hottest Officer in Uniform

He is a man who cooks, does house chores, and protects the country. What more do we want of a man? The writer gives the viewers a perfect man who loves quietly, hurts quietly, never complains, never seeks glory, is courageous and always wants to help and protect. This is a lovely series which can be boring for some for its slow, everyday life story, but lovely for many for its quiet romance, a romance many can relate to - no fanfare, just love and devotion (if such elements still exist). It is the romance story of a special force police officer.

“Road Home”’s Chinese title, “Gui Lu” (means return road), is coined from both the main characters’ names. This is a story with beautiful scenes of the canyons and touching moments, spanning from high school in 2008 to the present time 2020.

Lu Chen aka Lu Yanchen (Jing Boran) is a special force police officer working under the explosive unit. He fell in love with Gui Xiao (Tan Songyun) in high school but they separated when they both sought different career paths. Years later they meet and fall in love again, this time for real. Knowing how dangerous Lu Chen’s work is, Gui Xiao embraces him wholeheartedly because she loves him. For once in Chinese drama, Lu Chen is not the type that says, “I leave you for your own good because I love you so much.” Lu Chen is delighted that Gui Xiao wants to marry him, knowing that there may not be a tomorrow.

Lu Chen is a very serious person. He is strict, doesn’t crack jokes, doesn’t laugh, and has few words. Most of the sentences he speaks are one-word sentences. For him, actions speak louder than words. He also has a complicated family story that torments him since childhood. Jing Boran has perfected his role. With a face that is not pretty but handsome beyond words, and a physique perfect for a tough law enforcement officer, Jing Boran tells the story through his facial expressions that say a thousand words which cannot be spoken. In reality, Jing Boran has a rather similar family story like the one in the drama. Perhaps he can feel the pains of the character better than the others can.

I love to watch how Lu Chen uses his coat to wrap around Gui Xiao from behind and gently holds her. These types of hugs are the most soothing, sensual and romantic; the warmth emanates through the screen, making the viewers soaked in peace, love and security. This is Jing Boran's amazing power and charisma; immersing in his embrace is so reassuring and warm.

Gui Xiao comes from a wealthy but broken family just like Lu Chen’s family. She is independent but when in front of Lu Chen, she becomes a little girl, totally dependent on him. With a face that passes easily as a teenager, Tan Songyun’s juvenile Gui Xiao is very believable and as an adult, her character becomes mature and continues to grow to be even more understanding and loving.

Official Sound Tracks
Two OSTs impress me the most - Youth is Well (青春无恙) and The Dust Maiden (灰姑娘). The former is touching with beautiful lyrics and tune that stays in one's mind. The latter is an old folk song that Lu Chen sings for Gui Xiao. The lyrics are appropriately expressing his feelings for her, and the tune is lively and cute.

My Verdict
This is a down-to-earth type of everyday life romance story. It portrays the life of a police officer on the front line, his love life, family and his sacrifices. There are quite a few episodes spent on just the natural and beautiful scenery of the north-west desert at the border. The pace is rather slow - there’s a lot of looking and waiting, but every second is precious to watch because the story is being told on the characters’ faces. There are no flowery speeches; the dialogs are rather common like things people would say everyday going about their life. All the characters are lovable, and there are no antagonists, though Lu Chen's father was initially thought to be one.

The story reminds the viewers of the sacrifices a country’s protective forces have to make, putting their personal safety on the line to ensure the safety of others. Their valor is admirable. Though the main character is a law enforcement officer, there are limited action scenes as the focus is on the romance development. Throughout, there are a lot of flashbacks, giving viewers the backstory of their romance.

The writer works hard to show the viewers how much the couple is in love with each other. There are a lot of kissing and intimacy scenes. One of the scenes even shows Gui Xiao staring at Lu Chen's naked body when he comes out from the shower. I wish she had gone up to hug him, or better still, gone into the shower with him. But this is a Chinese drama, and it has to pass censorship. Just some wishful thinking. The allusion that she is staring at his nakedness is rare in Chinese dramas.

This is a great drama for viewers who prefer a slow pace story with nothing much happening, for romance buffs who love a mature and quiet romance, or for anyone who just wants to look at Jing Boran.

Don’t miss it. Great Watch!

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Road to Patriotic Boredom

If you look at the stars you may wonder why the low overall score when pretty much everything is rated highly so here is the deal. The story itself is a decent and pretty interesting story, the cast is amazing and the cinematography is gorgeous there are no annoying over the top characters and the start of the drama was so good I even cried in the 5th episode. The chemistry, kisses, dynamics in this are also all good. There are adorable animals in almost every single episode too and not to mention amazing found family and friendships.

So basically this should have ticked every single one of my of my boxed and gotten a 10 star rating...

However I was bored out of my mind at times as the pacing of this drama is extremely inconsistent, the flashbacks to the past come seemingly out of nowhere and once we are back in the present something big happened but we never got to see the good stuff as it unfolds.

A lot of time is dedicated to teaching us some type of morals about monogamy, staying faithful to ones partner as well as to mother nation. As I am pretty sure this drama was made to satisfy and recruit wives to soldiers, SWAT team members police etc.... Teaching viewers that saving the nation comes first and a good wife waits patiently for her lover to come home without asking be it a week, a month or 10 years she shall be faithful and supportive and loving...

Unless the guy is unfaithful or beats her then it is ok to get a divorce, seek happiness etc. etc. I am not sure if that counts for men serving the country or if it just for those who have civilian jobs. But it does seem to be clear that the drama is pro divorce, which is a good thing in my book but it was done so wrong I felt like my intelligence was being questioned.

I also found myself thinking:

Will someone please think of the children?
Yes there was one character who seemingly did but one of the kids was tossed around so much the kid must have wonderd where the h*** he was when he woke up. If this is the reality of kids to SWAT people I find myself thinking maybe SWAT captain is not the ultimate job for a single father... But Hey I am sure the guy had his reasons... But I did wonder how hard can it be t to get a job as a regular police officer near ones kid... but then again I do not know s*** about this but did feel bad for the kid, with
or without found family.

However the main reason for dragging down the score was the endless preaching dialog... the repetitiveness of I have to go I can not tell you... I may die..." meets "Ok, I understand" that would have made a killer drinking game, but without one present I was just board out of my mind.

So to sum it up yes this has a lot of potential and good stuff to it but it was not worth it and I should have dropped it somewhere in the middle... But again the first bunch of episodes touched me so I do not regret starting it, but I do regret finishing it.

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