I was excited for this drama because I was highly anticipating Victoria and Leo's second collaboration since 2017's A Lifetime Love. They acted as siblings before so it was interesting to see them as a couple this time. Filmed in late 2018 to early 2019, it's finally out!!!

Pros:
1. Unique FL: The thing I was most surprised about in the beginning was how adorable a direct/honest/straight-talking, no-nonsense scientist can be! I'm in love with Qiu Jianing! Victoria Song is super adorable in this show and is so different from the usual FLs. She's savage with her responses but doesn't mean to be - this innocence is what makes the situation 10x funnier. Her low EQ and sense of righteousness + her loveable awkwardness is the reason why I'm surviving some of the slower episodes.

2. Science! It's rare to see a show with this degree of in-depth scientific material. I enjoyed it since I have a science background, but I understand that it may be off-putting to those who don't as it'll seem like a bunch of jargon.

3. Heartbreaking Romance: The ML and FL should be together, but at the same time, they really shouldn't be together. There are many reasons for each and it gets super complicated. I felt really bad for the FL because she's getting hurt unnecessarily by all the lies the ML is telling her. I understand why the ML is doing it, but I also hate him for it. Honestly things could've been so much better between them if he just came clean halfway through the drama when almost everything was exposed. The FL is already going to be in trouble. She's already in the cross-hairs because Zha Shu is clearly not letting her off the hook so she might as well know why she's gonna die if she's already a target. Also, this FL is very inquisitive and won't take no for an answer. She'll find out the truth sooner or later and so much heartache could've been avoided if the ML understood that. *Sigh* I guess that's just dramas for you. The ML is trying to protect her, but failing spectacularly most of the time which was hilarious. Although the final time he protected her was so cool and heartbreaking. *cries* Zhou Xiao Shan... :'(

4. Great acting: I'm not even going to start on Victoria's crying scenes because it'll-- I'll just summarize my feelings with this: *screams in fan girl*. I liked her balance between naivety/innocence and intellectuality/maturity. Lately, she never disappoints, is all I'll say. I've never seen Leo in any ML roles, but I liked him here. His character had kind of a "sophisticated-feminine" vibe when he walked/held things, but total badassery when he got into "spy mode".

Cons:
1. The English-Mandarin conversations: It wasn't just the FL, it was also the ML and a few of the side characters (e.g. Sun Qian). Am I just supposed to assume that Europeans can understand Mandarin and the Chinese can understand English? If so, why not speak entirely in English or entirely in Mandarin? Some people recommend dubbing which could work if the actors can't speak English (although dubbing sounds weird). From what I know, Victoria can speak English (albeit conversational English). From videos I found, her pronunciation is one of the better ones amongst the Chinese actors/actresses who didn't grow up abroad, as in the ones who don't speak native English.

2. Slow plot: I literally dropped the drama in the middle for a few weeks before picking it back up. It had a lot of potential (amazing trailer!), but they literally dragged this entire plot out for 42 episodes! I think it could've packed more of a punch if they'd halved the number of episodes. As is characteristic of draggy plots, there was a very quick resolution of all issues in the last 2 episodes.

3. Plot holes: Some things were brought up then abandoned somewhere along the way. Some things were deemed super important (as in life-and-death important), but somehow lost its importance as time went on? Just confusing. It honestly started as a cool spy thriller type thing that essentially became a love square. Actually on second thought, maybe a nonagon? Basically each female character had 2 guys chasing her.

4. The shady office dynamics: Nothing irked me more than those gossiping piranhas in the first half of the drama. For a research facility with such huge expectations of them, I have no idea where they got that glowing reputation from considering most of the scientists there just gossip and sabotage experiments. I mean, sure, why not drop expensive equipment just to anger a colleague; why not endanger lives, sabotage their already short timeline for drug development, and waste resources just to take revenge on someone who doesn't even consider you a rival? The stupidity of these idiots (can't even be considered scientists at this point) makes me question the integrity of this supposed high-class lab. Also, Sun Qian in the beginning telling Jianing not to act like a child and tattle on her colleagues - WHO ARE YOU TO DISCIPLINE HER WHEN YOU'RE LITERALLY ACTING LIKE A CHILD BY DOING WAY WORSE?! At that point, Sun Qian deserves to have disciplinary action and/or her degree stripped from her.

Special mentions:
1. Jianing's random model catwalk moment with that gorgeous hot-pink suit. WOW but also, why?
2. Leo's "little sister" - wanted more scenes of her, but not the pining over her "brother" part. Pitied her the most. So much potential.
3. The female glasses-wearing duo in the office: smart, kind, and loyal. The friends we all want in our posse.
4. Jianing guilt-tripping her sister into living. Something about "all [her sister's] efforts to be a better person will be in vain if she dies" lol - was crying during that scene but started to guffaw - I was a quite a sight haha.

Random thought: I wholeheartedly recommend everyone watch the BTS (behind-the-scenes, not the K-pop group) of this series as it's hilarious! The bond between Victoria and Leo really shines in it - you really see how close they are. It lightens the mood after this sad/intense drama.

Conclusion: great acting, could've done better with half the amount of episodes, a river of tears but a healthy dose of laughter!