I think this show had potential. Family dramas have the tendency to be a little bit one-dimensional and boring, but I think this could've gone a lot of different places. From insights on filial piety to motherly affection to individualism in today's society, there were so many things that could've been explored in this drama. None of these things were touched, which was disappointing. Even more so...

The part about this drama I can't stand (probably influenced by my implicit biases, but anyway) is the story. The mom by herself didn't bother me like the other viewers were bothered. The mom was an over-attentive, un-empathetic, but ultimately caring person... you know Mrs. Bennett from Pride and Prejudice? Kind of like that. That type of character, while definitely unlikable, doesn't bother me if either A) they end up developing in order to represent/symbolize some sort of message or B) they just don't appear all the much.

This drama does not check off EITHER of those boxes. The mom is the only main lead, as other reviewers have noted, in this drama. She gets more screen time I daresay than Xu Kai, and possibly even more than Yang Zi. Even worse, the drama ends on the note of 'we should all quit our jobs to help our well-intentioned mother (which is fair) because she's ultimately the best for us (untrue as evidenced throughout this drama).' I think filial piety is a common theme among mainland dramas, and one that was expressed both as a prison for the female lead and also... the happy ending? There was no growth or insight that led up to this result either. The mom stayed the mom. The daughter adapted for the mom, no matter how much she was tortured and trapped by the mom's antics. This drama doesn't teach how to be a good son/daughter more than how to get stuck in an unhealthy parent/child relationship. It bothered me... and still does to this day. The saving grace in terms of insight for this drama could be the grandma, but then you'd have to stop watching after the first few episodes.

Beyond that, there's basically no plot or direction to this drama. Many good dramas can be summarized in one overarching statement. Nirvana in Fire describes an exiled general's revenge strategy to reclaim honor for his army. Reset describes two people stranded in a time loop on an inevitably exploding bus. This? It feels like a WebToon. The plot seemed improvised as each episode went on, and ultimately, it didn't really go anywhere. I couldn't summarize it unless I told you everything that happened. And that would be unhelpful.

Finally, although this doesn't really affect my personal rating, do note that if you're a huge celeb-chaser or your idol is in this show you'd probably not see them a lot. Xu Kai doesn't really get screen time until episode 8(?) and Yang Zi gets it but portrays the same scenes over and over again. Not a whole lot of development going on here...

Oh! If you're here for the romance, go find romance dramas. This has about as much of an inkling of romance as Nirvana in Fire does. I guess there's a kiss, but anyway.

Peace out ._.