The Lady in Butcher's House (2022)

Décevant !

J'ai regardé cette série, annoncée comme cute, sweet, funny, pour les commentaires hyper favorables.
Cependant, dès les 1ers épisodes, le personnage de la FL m'a tapé sur les nerfs. Certains diront qu'elle est remarquable pour son caractère indépendant, sa volonté d'égalité Homme-Femme, etc. mais c'est une pitié pour les féministes d'être incarnées par ce type de personnage ! Je ne mets pas en doute les compétences de l'actrice, mais le comportement de la FL (dans la 1ere moitié) est insupportable (bête, agressive, puérile). Cet harcèlement FL -> ML est censé être drôle ??

L'histoire n'est pas banale : mariage arrangé entre un érudit chétif mais intelligent et la fille d'un boucher, puis parcours du couple.
Mais cette série se traine en longueur .... 36 épisodes qui auraient pu faire une série de 16 ou 20 !! On se noie dans les magouilles (corruptions diverses, complots, trafics).

Pour moi, cette série est décevante et bien sûr, vu que je ne suis allée au bout qu'avec beaucoup de zapping, je ne la regarderai pas à nouveau.

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The meek shall inherit the earth.

This is a very funny, romantic romp through the antics of an unlikely couple in a marriage of convenience that turns into the real thing. Xu Qingjia is a talented young scholar who jilts a highborn lady to fulfil an old promise to marry Hu Jiao, a butcher's daughter. At surface, they could not be more different - he is book smart, humble, meek and measured in his actions while she is street smart, commercial, direct impulsive and a total gangster when provoked. As Qingjia hilariously navigates the challenges of his new assignment as a backwater county magistrate, they discover their differences are complementary and where it counts, their core values are the same.

The surrounding plot of this drama is yet another age old corruption case involving the previous generation with some decent twists. What's different about it is that it unravels slowly over the daily lives and trials of a group of humble merchants and working level government officials. The characters are colourful, often comical and avoid the most cringeworthy familial and love rival archetypes. The romances unfold at a realistic pace and have an honest, down to earth appeal about them. No one character is super smart, infallible or is the main driver of the plot. They all have strengths and weaknesses that make them at times succeed and other times fail. But together it is immensely satisfying to see their combined abilities enable them to prevail over the petty neighbourhood bullies, business rivals and corrupt politicians and win the day with their sincerity, persistence and hard work - the meek shall inherit the earth. Best of all, the ensemble cast is fun, witty and can be very, very funny without being slapstick.

I wouldn't say that the actors are among the best out there (its so great to see Tong Meng Shi/Uncle Wu Zhu from JOL as ML) but everyone delivers very solid performances and the cast somehow just "clicks". I really love how Tong Meng Shi manages to convey the henpecked husband with immense inner courage. Although not a huge Baby Zhang fan, I think she also managed to play the husband training shrew while retaining her femininity. I really enjoyed Gao Zheng and Yu Niang's story as well and I think the casting of Hu Jiao's bovine butcher brother is simply brilliant I laugh just looking at him!

This lively, riotously humorous watch that conveys some grains of wisdom about honour, friendship, love and marriage is a fantastic way to pass some time. I rate it a very enjoyable 7.5/10.

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