Are You the One (2024) Episode 40

9 Comments to “Are You the One (2024) Episode 40”

1. I wasn’t sure why I started this show; it wasn’t recommended to me by YouTube or Instagram. I wasn’t a fan of the ML either, I didnt like him LYF and he didnt look good in this modern show I watched way back when…but ChuRan is so beautiful. BUT I just clicked on it, and it made sense from the beginning. Although the start was slow, and I found the male lead’s constant dishonesty frustrating—he missed several chances to come clean, even when the opportunities presented themselves naturally or were offered by the female lead—the show quickly drew me in with its intrigue and romance. I have to admit, the ML’s attempts to win the FL back were hilariously adorable. It was like watching a clumsy puppy trying to fetch a stick—totally charming but with a lot of comedic flops along the way! His best friend is just as delightfully goofy in his quest to win over HZ!

   The second-chance trope, which I seem to love in all its forms, was handled well here – utterly entertaining and completely endearing.The last few episodes were particularly packed with excitement, and the entire setup was thoroughly enjoyable. The OST was another highlight; it’s beautiful, but unfortunately not available on Spotify. Many C-drama OSTs are either uploaded late or not at all.

   One of the standout moments was the thrilling fight scene where Minting breaks XZ out of prison. The coordinated kung fu moves between them were incredibly captivating. The show also wrapped up beautifully, avoiding clichés like showing all the women pregnant or depicting a couple with twins in the finale. Despite the 40-episode length feeling a bit excessive, everything about this show felt well thought out and satisfying.
   Oh, another thing, What happened to XZ’s half-brother, Cui Xing Di? We haven’t seen him since that intense bandit attack on the Cui mansion. MDL lists him as a support role, but honestly, I’d call it more of a guest appearance!
   – Engaging storyline. ✅️
   – Good-looking main leads with strong acting. ✅️

   – Sufficiently cute skinship
   – Chemistry between leads: 10/10. ✅️
   – Great second male lead (SML) and female lead (FL).
   – Good mystery and plot twists. ✅️
   – Good OSTs. ✅️
   – My rating: 9/10.

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2. Damn the Emperor could’ve at least gave the Empress a hug. Would it of killed him to give her a Iittle acknowledgment for her efforts. I guess he gets a pass for finally giving her a sincere smile?

   I wished we could’ve seen more of the Dynamic Duo doing what they do best but we had to watch too much time spent on the delusional Aunt and Daughter with their crazy antics. I would’ve rather watched a few episodes of them planning on how they will take down the evil-doers. And they could’ve at least let Miantang torture that Sun lady for what she did to her. Multiple assasination attempts on her and Miantang only had the privilege of telling her she was fooled. How about the Lord’s sister we didn’t get to see her get some justice for enduring humiliation for many years.

   And what was up with Prince Sui crying to his mama. This evil corrupt man being a Mama’s Boy in front of all these officials? Literally crying like a child because he was caught doing something bad…smh…

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3. Honestly speaking, 40 episodes is too much for this drama! I’d give it 20 episodes max with this plot! The entire thing was so uninteresting, they focused on the wrong things each time and the script was boring 90% of the time, it was such a disappointment.
   1. we didn’t get to see the FL acting as the leader of the mountain.
   2. We were robbed of seeing her fight alone and with the ML, them fighting together side by side in jail should’ve happened more and not just once !! What a waste of her fighting skills not being included in the plot.
   3. The first 20-ish episodes could’ve all happened in probably 3 episodes 🤷‍♀️
   4. They fumbled the bag when she wasn”t the one to kill prince Sui!! She promised to take revenge yet she didn’t …
   5. I honestly think that out of all three love stories, the emperor and the empress’s was the best written one.

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4. I feel robbed. The storyline was interesting, the actors all played well. I now know that my favorite couple and love story was between the emperor and the empress. The drama started off really strong but the ending, even though good, the writing of the last episodes was not like the beginning. I feel robbed of my time invested because of the last few episodes starting when they gave us too many episodes of him trying to get her back. Other than that, it was enjoyable to watch.

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5. Drama could’ve ended at 36 tbh. Didn’t really enjoy the last 4 episodes being spent on palace scheming.

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6. How did Shi end being aligned with the Emperor and Huaiyang?

   This drama was, well, good enough to watch through, I suppose. But, it isn’t something I’d highly recommend or ever watch again.

   They took too much time with the whole reconciliation bit. I didn’t even want them to reconcile. (See my comments in previous episodes.) I’m glad that they had him be very repentant and, at least, seem to understand how what he did was wrong. But, how many episodes for all that?

   Meanwhile, they just leapt to “new emperor!” without any explanation of how that happened. Could have taken some of that reconciliation time and given it to at least a few scenes of what played out. It remains a mystery.

   After they reconciled, there wasn’t really much to care about, other than getting Sui/Shi/San off their backs, I suppose. The only reason I wanted the emperor to turn out to be a good person, was for the sake of the empress. She was the most endearing and admirable character in the story. So, at least that was satisfying.

   Pretty much forgot about Zhen and Huaiyang’s friend, until they showed up for mid-Autum festival. I guess that was to remind us that they existed, since the story just sort of left them behind; and then tossed us a closing scene that we didn’t need.

   Our two remaining antagonists – I still don’t understand how Shi moved from antagonist to protaganist ally – were thwarted in the most convoluted, overwrought play, with so many participants. Didn’t they say that the court was full of his supporters? How did they get all of them to play along then? And, in the end, we just see those two lose their minds. Odd.

   Are prisons full of people who are clinically insane after being caught for their crimes? Why is this such a theme in these dramas?

   I can roll with the notion that revenge is not justice. So, I didn’t need to see some deadly or gory ending for the antagonists. But, you know, seeing them convicted of their crimes would be good. Sui killed a lot of people, many of whom were his own extended family members.

   And why doesn’t his mother ever say anything? I’m a parent. If my child were behaving the way that dude did, I’d be offering some lessons, constantly, and pointing out why they were not seen as good leadership material. If she lovingly worked with him and made him feel that his mother cared about him, he might not have been quite so monstrous. He had questions, “why not me?” and she never answers them. Leaving him in torment. (Not that that justified what he did with that. I’m simply mystified at this presentation of a mother.)

   Anyway, very anti-climactic after the wedding and the Cui/Liu team winning over the family and dealing with the troublemakers.

   One thing I wish that writers would understand is that what drives a story are the personal relationships (unless its for explaining a historical event or some other teaching purpose.) Who cares about who is on a throne? What we’re interested in is how people work through personal dynamics, or being able to see a healthy relationship blossom. We’re all surrounded by toxic relations, in a toxic, materialistic world. Getting to see good friendships, good romances, good co-worker relations, etc soothes our souls. Seeing justice soothes our souls, in a weary world filled with injustice. So, the story needs to be packed with those things to be satisfying. Healthy resolve of conflict and justice (not revenge) served. Everything else is filler. Those last 4-6 episodes felt like filler.

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7. So while it was a happy ending, it felt bland. I feel like this should have just been a 24 episode drama with better pacing. It started off good as most historical drama does, and then fell off the moment Main Tang regained her memory. This was surprising to me because I thought the plot would pick up from there but nope! They spent about 10 episodes trying to get Xing Zhou and Main Tang back together smh.

   While the final episodes fell short of what I expected, I have to give major praise to Fang Zi Bin (Prince Sui) for his acting in the final hours of episode 40. That was pure theatre and a masterclass from a veteran.

   I enjoyed watching Zhang Wan Yi and Wang Chu Ran compliment each other’s acting skill, and thank god the chemistry was there because it was quite literally the only thing that kept this drama from falling completely apart. So kudos to them!

   Overall, a solid 7/10. The Double and The Princess Royal still holds the spot for best historical drama this year so far…

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8. Thankfully its a good ending 👏👏👏… but it’s a bit lackluster one for a climax because while Sui gets taken down, it didn’t feel like vengeance was ‘served’.

   Because of Sui, ZiYu’s entire household was murdered among a long list of other murders and crimes. Because of Sun, Maintang hands were sliced, tossed off a cliff and she was left for dead, plus the majority of her brothers were assassinated. We get a whole dramatic monologue of defeat from Sui, but no actual visual suffering/demise to counter that. Also we also get another dramatic prison escape with our lead duo cutting down random shadow guards left and right, yet somehow when confronting Sun, Maintang spends unnecessary time explaining the setup to her rather than carrying out payback. Um, did the plot forget about these things? I’m annoyed when cdramas let the villains carry out the most heinous acts but they are captured ‘by the book’ without a scratch at the end. The mood and motivations that fueled the victims at the beginning feels wasted, and its like watching a regular SWAT operation came to a close at the end, lol. That contradiction leaves a disappointing feeling to some degree. But I still appreciate the glimpses of happiness for everyone at the end, especially for Xueji, alive and doing very well.

   By the way, who was the shadow guy afterall… Qing’s son? I gotta go back and check that, guess I missed it 🤷‍♀️

   Zhang WanYi always nails roles like this, but I need to see Wang ChuRan in more historicals, she was amazing here! Even her fight scenes were fire, not to mention her natural chemistry with Zhang WanYi 🔥🔥🔥. The last drama I saw her in with Yang Yang, omg, I wanted to strangle her character, lol… these two pair very well together, and this kind of script suits her too. Kudos to the whole cast, really enjoyed it!! 💐💐💐

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9. Tbh, the drama can end at Ep 36. The sub plot from Ep 37-40 isn’t that engaging enough for me that I have to fast forward most of the time.

   I also felt cheated when Miantang didn’t personally execute Prince Sui to avenge the fallen escort agency members.

   Prince Sui being crazy mad for the throne for everyone to see or General Shi Yikuan suddenly becoming a “good guy” can’t even satisfy my craving for a better ending lol.

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