Twilight (2023)

Script Full of Details with Unique & Creative Storytelling (Ending Explained)

''Seeing you is like seeing another me. My heart has been crushed, never healed. You are a protagonist and so am I. Souls with the same color. Finally, a light shines upon me. In the dark corners, accompany me in breaking free from the shackles.''

This is a question that I always struggle with myself on whether I want to watch my favorite actors/actresses with a hit drama that is popular or a drama with quality script. And everytime, my answer will always be the latter and this drama is a perfect example of this. I truly love this drama to pieces. I love how it is full of depth and details, have substance and full of complicated and layered characters. And the greatest thing about this drama is the script. I have never come across this kind of creative scriptwriting before. The drama from the surface just look like a normal slice of life or romance drama but the elements and depth that the script possessed makes it unique that managed to stand in a class of its own.

Due to this, I will only explore the substance that the script possessed in my review:

FORESHADOWING ELEMENTS IN SHAN SHAN'S SCRIPTS
It is actually clues to us, the audiences on who is the villains and who is the real nice people in his life. We should know the plot twist in the Shan Shan’s police script ‘Pursuit’ since the same character has started to show his fangs in his life as early as Episode 2. There will be unknown faces that makes cameos in his script and this is all clues on their motives when they finally appear in his life. My favorite is the big guy; Brother Kuan from basketball and when he finally appears in Shan Shan’s life, I knew instantly that he will be on his side. I never seen this kind of creative writing from any dramas before. I thought it is very refreshing -- how the foreshadowing for future events are told from his stories.

SUBSTANTIVE PLOTS WITH DEPTH
I like the fact that in the first glance, we thought the leads are just normal people since they hide it so well with all the smiles and their out-going personalities -- then the story start shedding their tragic past one by one and you can see how these two characters are broken people and are connected since they are 'Souls with the same color' just like the OST lyrics indicated. In fact, the whole theme song is a reflection of their relationship in a nutshell.

COMPLEX CHARACTERS WITH LAYERS & SUBTLE DETAILS
The scene where Shan Shan watched a movie and Liu Xia said it is okay to raise the sound even more but he told her that he already did when you can barely hear the sound. Only a person who has been hurt will act as guarded like that. Or the scenes where Grandma gave him the chicken soup and she offered him a drumstick as an add on but he just said ‘No need’ as he is too happy just receiving the soup only. Now all these scenes make more sense. Or the fact, all Brother Kuan did is feed him and offer him a small kindness but he went all up and beyond to write him a script for free with no credit. This guy just wants to be loved and appreciated. Taking all the small kindness he received at heart and gives more in return. The abandonment issues that Shan Shan’s suffers truly made him as ‘People Pleaser’ and as guarded to everyone despite the bright out-going personality that he has on the outside. All these cracks in his personality are excellent, subtle and were revealed slowly as the drama progressed. Same can be seen with Liu Xia on how she always smile yet, she never truly happy. Her BFF always like 'Why I'm always happier than you when something great happen to you?' as she always ready to receive all these bad things that keeps happening to her, like she was expecting all of it, deserving everything, like she used to never catch a break in her life. All these little hints from the characters are like puzzle that made perfect sense in the end on why they behave as they did in the drama.

HEALING SCRIPT
I love how the leads’ tragic past didn’t make them feel bitter about the world or make them treat other people badly -- but they are really good people, with very beautiful souls. I love all the conversations they have with each other, they have the same views and values on what's important, and they also view the world with the same kindness -- it is a realistic portrayal of how two people falls in love -- the similarity, the calmness and the tranquility that they found with each other. They had this tacit understanding like 'soulmate' kind of relationship which is really beautiful to watch. Like all shits are happening outside for them, then they come home, see each other and feel happy with each other's company; 'Us Against Them' mentality. I love how Ren Jialun has amazing amazing chemistry with Angelababy. They were captivating to watch on screen and their scenes emits the peaceful aura and vibe that is so healing to the soul.

BALANCE WRITING
This drama mastered the arts of balance writing which I personally think should be the case for any dramas out there. In many episodes, you will find yourself shed tears for the characters and feel bad for them -- the dark past they are hiding in their heart, the bad things that keep happening to them but in the same episode, there will be healing scenes that makes you feel heal and happy. The balance that this drama achieved is one of the reasons why this drama is really fantastic in my book. Good deeds’ rewards are shown in many forms. We are used to see characters suffers in dramas but here, it is shown even though evil people are making the leads’ life miserable, there are many good people out there that will look out for them and ‘punish’ this bad guys FOR THEM (karma). I rarely seen this in dramas but it is so satisfying to watch. It shows all your actions has consequences and the universe will reward you for your good hearts and deeds.

SCRIPT WITH RESEARCH
The whole psychology matters in the script was handled delicately. I love how since early in the episode, the drama made clear the different between psychologist and psychiatrist -- so patients that required doctor’s diagnosis and medication, Lui Xia told them she cant help them since it’s beyond her expertise. Then the breathing technique is one of the most important thing in this profession and we can see how it is being used constantly in the drama. And how depression is not a taboo illness but something that we can seek treatment. Then we have Shan Shan as the scriptwriter – the different between writer VS scriptwriter, his dilemma of writing original script VS following what the client wants, focusing on plot VS romance plot, to writing tighter script VS writing script filled with filler scenes and overall the toxic environment on set and the exhaustion he faced in trying to meet the deadline.

REALISTIC SCRIPT
Many details that other dramas always overlook was taken into great consideration here. Like after finding out that they were online friends, instead of romanticize the encounter, Liu Xia was weary on whether their whole meeting was planned like other normal person would. Or to transfer large amount of money, need a token and can’t be done online on the spot. Then how Shan Shan has asthma and it can be seen how he fainted after he carried Liu Xia on his back. Then the hospital scene, despite after waking up, all Liu Xia wants is to sleep again since that is normal due to medication in her body. This kind of small details always being taken for granted but this drama didn’t which make me appreciate it very much.

THOUGHT-PROVOKING WRITING
This drama has so so many memorable phrases! I love how it makes you think and change your outlook and perspective on life. Like the one that Liu Xia told Shan Shan; ‘Memories don’t make people sad. It’s sad because people always perceive things from only one perspective. But if you change your perspective, it might not be that sad.’ Or one of my favorites; ‘I told you to step on the brakes to wake up and get back on track. Not to make you give-up entirely.’ Or the best one in the drama which is ‘Life is like a stage where the light/goodness shines on it. And it only took one step to cross over to the dark side.’ This one is the best yet as many people disregard on how easy it is to cross-over to the darkness and once you cross that, you can never go back to where things were. And I believe the most famous one from the drama would be; ‘When you unexpectedly encounter someone as radiant as a rainbow, everyone else is just a passing clouds’ which first comes out in the third episode of the drama yet you know this phrase is to foreshadow the leads’ relationship in the future.

NON-PRETENTIOUS OUTTAKES ON LIFE
There is no right or wrong in certain life’s situation and I’m glad for certain dilemma, the writer didn’t force to us on what he think is the right way. Like who should the Drama Producer listen to? The words of award-winning scriptwriter or an experienced director? Then you throw in the bits that when the last time this experienced director had a hit movies/dramas? There is no right answer to this question and I love how the drama didn’t force it to our face on the moral compass in this type of situation.

UNCONVENTIONAL BAD GUYS
This drama has different type of bad people. First, the one that is outright evil and show no attempt to hide it. Second, the worst kind of enemies which is the ones hiding in a blanket. And the last one spectator that watch the evil deeds being done and remains silent about it. The slow progression of toxic behaviors are explored to the fullest here. It started from small things such as not being honest about a simple car purchase, then the 'acting' mad in a manipulation attempt to get what they want then the gifting part to make the other party feels happy -- all of this can be passed as something small but this is actually seed of red flags of a toxic relationship. Then add the sprinkles of how people keep asking Shan Shan 'Is he always treat you like this?' 'Why are you taking this job?' 'Did he always do this to you?' to show to us how everyone can see how wrong it is but Shan Shan, just passed it as something normal since he is used to these small abuses. This kind of toxic relationship did not happen in just love relationship but as well between friends and someone close to you.

EVERYTHING COMING INTO A PERFECT CIRCLE IN THE END
Shan Shan’s police script ‘Pursuit’ is actually the exact depiction of every person in his life. You don’t realize this before but it all comes to a perfect circle when the story reached its climate ending -- from his Police character to Yuan Yuan's character in the story. Also, this drama ‘Twilight’ as a whole is actually the last script that Shan Shan wrote which tells the story about him and Liu Xia. All this coming seamlessly into a perfect circle at the end. This part is strongly foreshadowed during the scene when he asked Jia Zhen’s help with a script where Jia Zhen described Shan Shan’s script with depth and full of details on characterizations -– exactly like this drama itself -– a foreshadow that this drama that we watched, is a script written by him. Then the hot pot date scene happened where Shan Shan described to Liu Xia the reason behind why the chose ‘Twilight’ as the name of their story which further cemented this theory. And pay attention to the bedsheet -- all scripts that Shan Shan wrote has the same bedsheet as his bedsheet to show how this drama 'Twilight', is also his script. Its not a matter of production budget since we can see Liu Xia changed bedsheet a few times but not him. The attention to detail in this drama is just amazing!

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THOUGHT-PROVOKING ENDING

On the surface, the ending of this drama can be interpreted with these three possible endings:
1) All things happened just like in the drama.
or
2) It’s all fractions of imagination in Shan Shan’s mind.
or
3) This whole story is written by someone else.

All these 3 endings makes sense and is supported by various clues such as cars' plate number and etc.. However, when you look at the drama as a whole, it pointed more towards the first ending since if you look at the script in details, its more towards the fact that it indeed happened as this drama 'Twilight' that we watched is the last script that Shan Shan wrote, which is the story about him and Liu Xia. Since it is his script, that's why it becomes a comic strip at the end. But where his script inspiration comes to be? From his real life -- from his life experience with Liu Xia -- this is their story. Its a play within a play and within a play -- School love story (which has penpal element) IN Twilight (the drama that we watched) IN Shan Shan's real life story with Liu Xia. One might argue that the fashion has changed for Shan Shan in the last scene but remember the scene where Shan Shan went shopping for new clothes and Liu Xia said she will style him in the future? The clothes that Shan Shan wore in the last scene is totally what Liu Xia might style him -- the smart and clean look that she explained in the same scene.

Also, when they play the full second verse of the theme song before the ending credit, then you realized that the one sentence in the lyrics ‘YOU ARE THE ME who broke free from the shackles. Living the life of freedom, basking in the sunshine.’ is the actual message of this whole drama. The theme song is actually can be interpret into 2 meanings -– that the leads indeed healed each other’s hearts BUT when it comes to the outcome, it can only be achieved when the person itself wanted to change as well. The drama ended with Shan Shan telling Brother Kuan on the phone that he has 2 endings for the script that he wrote. At first, you can just pass it as something insignificant but then you realized how all this has been foreshowed since early in the drama. You have his school romance script with 2 endings. Then his crime script 'Pursuit' ended with a shot with no real hint who fire it which indicate that the good or bad guys could possibly win at the end. Then you have his last script ‘Twilight’ with 2 possible endings as well. This is to show that at the end, it all depends on your choice – on whether you want to choose light or darkness in your life.

And these 2 choices have been emphasis in many different scenes in the last 2 episodes of the drama as well:
1) How Mr. Cao told Coco that Shan Shan needs to settle his ‘brother’ matters on his own despite no matter how much they help him, he is the only one can make that decision for his life.
2) Liu Xia teacher saying that how Liu Xia going to overcome her PTSD is all depends on her on whether she wants to confront it or remains in the dark forever.
3) The slap Yuan Yuan gave to herself –- on how she is responsible for her own life and its finally the time for her to wake up from being a bystander and see Jia Zhen on who he truly is.
4) The inner thought of Jia Zhen when he read ‘Pursuit’ ending as in his version, he is the one who making the shot (bad guy won) and in the end, we can see which choice he chose to make in his life as well.

This kind of ending is indeed rare and very creative, so when you understood the reason behind it, then every little hints in the drama makes sense. The ending really elevated the whole story. Due to all this, 9.5 is the only appropriate rating that this drama deserved. I have no idea when I can come across with this type of script again but I’m so glad to find this gem among all the airing dramas right now.

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This is the sweetest refreshing and mature romance drama .Their chemistry is on fire

First I will say" you should watch this drama ,bcz its story is very unique and awesome . you should give a chance and than decide on your own weather is good or not bcz people have different taste, not every body is same .
There acting is on point .there chemistry is? they really look like a couple to me ,how he care for her ,how he always put her first ,respect her ,love her is really like a sweetest thing ,THATS WHY MY STANDARD ON MAN ARE SOO HIGH .I really love the way he treat her. And OST IS ?? VERY BEAUTIFUL SONGS AND MUSIC .. Thats make the scene more interesting . don't judge this drama too fast bcz you will regret not watching this ..
Now I will talk a little about story :
There concept of his 3 more characters which actually his imaginary script characters I like that but his role of police officer is VERY AWESOME man if they actually make a drama on that story that a POLICE OFFICER FALLS FOR BLIND GIRL ohhh it will be fire?? don't you think?
BTW the whole story of female lead and her past is very good the kidnap scene ,there relationship scenes every thing is so beautiful .and his brother (not blood related) I hate him so much how selfish he is?
And one more thing I really this mature type of romance ,there cheek kiss is also very butterflying?❤ I don't like that mostly c.dramas where there is no story at all only kiss ?? I mean at least put some story man . only that poor girl rich boy type story's or boss and employee , I mean some few dramas like that i will like and enjoy but they where making same story dramas all time .. Well I like this one I can see the love ,care ,chemistry in them thats all thats all I want in a drama I don't care about a kiss I only want a drama where they can show love for each other , you know what I'm saying .. Pure chemistry? I can see here thats all
I will say you should watch ..

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Don't waste your time with this dram - So Wrong on many levels and it cringed me.

Twilight is a drama that has gone wrong in so many ways, the plot is stupid, too many unnecessary fillers, and the acting was horrible by the main CP.

So Wrong on many levels:
- Allen Ren and Angelababy are pretty to look at on screen but cannot act. They are one-dimensional actors who can't show or express emotions during the most dramatic scenes. At least, I think Angelababy did a better job than Allen Ren.
- Their onscreen chemistry sucks, and no romantic or even kissing scenes between the two, and they are a couple.
I understand that Qi Lian Shan is a scriptwriter. Still, every episode has to fill in with what story he was writing when he got the inspiration to write the scripts.
- Some supporting roles were unnecessary to be added, like Yang You Li, Lian Jing Yun, and many others, like Professor Wan, were useless and not helping Liu Xia improve her PTSD problem.
- I fast-forwarded so many episodes, and I should have dropped it. Still, I stuck around because the character of Jia Zhen (played by Jia Jing Hui) made the story more interesting. He was a nostalgic selfish person who was incompetent on many levels but never saw it as he was at fault, like asshole Donald Trump.
- Qi Lian Shan is so stupid and clueless. He never questioned Jia Zhen, did not confront him about his conniving, and took advantage of Qi Lian Shan in many ways.
- Yuan Yuan (played by Li Yi Ru) is another stupid person who saw the evil in Jai Zhen but did not have the gut to stand up for herself and Qi Lian Shan until the last episode. Her character was another unnecessary one.
- This drama may be better in 20-24 episodes instead of 40. I give it a 2.5 rating, don't waste your time with it, like I did with mine.

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Healing Couple

Finally I finished watching Twilight…

Twilight actually is a rare genre, talks about psychology a lot. Both the leads are healing each other. It’s also like a slice of life drama, because mostly it’s talking about life, how to survive from struggle, how to be strong, how to stand up again, how to choose a choice, how to handle fear, and others. The things that I love from the drama is its quotes, it.s warm, it’s healing, it gives much motivation for me. The focus is not about romance, but about healing and warmth. The romance is really really ligght.

About the healing couple, love how the leads have their own pain background story, death, accident, betrayal, loneliness, fear, trauma, and others. For the male lead, because he ever betrayed and lived in loneliness, he doesn’t want other people that he loved feel his experience, so he will always treasure a relationship, has a principle “no deception - no abandonment”, instead of live in sorrow, he lives full of energy as bright as sunshine, gives ray of light to everyone around him, especially to the one he loves, Liu Xia, and always kind to every one. He also a genius writer who is very expressive, creative and narcissist. I appreciate Ren Jialun’s acting so much. He can express Shanshan as brigght, cute, nerdy, weird, talkative, funny and adorable boy. For the female leads, she lives in a deep trauma as she lost his mother and recuperate as a good psychology conseulor. She’s so kind and so calm in handling everything, and mostly gives many motivation to people around her. She thinks that she doesn’t deserve to be loved, yet Shanshan entering her life and becomes her light in her dark tunnel. Love how the couple always talk about their daily life through movie, food, or just sitting together (the romance in this drama is super light, like showing casual couple daily life). I do like their story so much, a childhood online friends, without knowing each other, suddenly live in one roof, bickering cutely, healing each other, feeling comfortable and become a couple, and finally they know that they’re chilhood online friends, it’s a fate (yeah frm the screenwriter :D). And I also love how Shanshan interprets people around her as characters in the story, and actually the characters in the story are connected with the real characterd in real life, jealous and villain Jia Zhen, villain Yang Youli, sad boy Bai Muchen and so on.. The 3 stories too are interesting, it will be great if these 3 become a real drama, especially Zhen Hai and Luo Cheng story. I also want to appreciate Angelababy bcause her acting is really improving in this drama, you worked hard. The villainns, ML has one also FL has one, and both are annoying, Jia Zhen and Yang Youli, until the end they will be villains, and actually their annoying character is a representation in a real life, for example Jia Zhen's case that in this life jealousy is exist, from brother/family to enemy, also from Yang Youli's case, an obsessive of loving someone, linked with his mental health, loving can be hating. The good thing is Shanshan will be kind till the end, even Jia Zhen did many dirty things to him, it shows about his principle in life to be good person, will always be good till the end and the way Shanshan will protect Liu Xia “I won’t give up on her” when her trauma disorder is back, it's really touching.

Cons from this drama are too many episode, too many side characters, and the side characters take too much screentime, it makes the leads barely show up on the screen, so somehow it feels litl bit boring. It will be really great if they give more focus to the leads. I also feel, it has some loopholes and missing some details. Also the ending, actually I don’t like the ending, we need a bright ending because the last episodes are so depressive, and feel like everything is not real.. Ren Jialun in his Twilight live mentioned, that it's viewer's choice to accept the ending, it can be Shanshan's script telling about their story but also can't (the real writer), because life is all about choice.

The ost also really good, I especially love the ost by Zhang Yuan, love the mellow melody and the sad n warm lyric. The cnematography of this drama also good, remind me of Ren Jialun’s another modern drama, Forever and Ever, just the color is brighter.

Conclusion, this drama is good, it gives a warm sensation, a healing, a support that everything in this life will be okay, it will be a special drama for me, bcs I love the warmth from the story. Also I never expect that the combination between Ren Jialun ang Yang Ying will be this great, it’s so nice and warm seeing them together in this drama.

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what the heck was that? seriously!

This 1.5 rating I gave is for MLs acting, nothing else worth mentioning, not a single thing.

lack of romance is the least concern here, even though 40 episodes without romance i still don't understand how they managed to do this, anyways what am saying is when I realized there isn't gonna be any romance then tried to give myself other reasons to keep watching it till last epi, lol.. but...

1) There is FL and ML but no chemistry between them.
2) They showed that screenwriting thing very seriously, each episode was about some different story that he writes but with the same characters in each story, and every story was hella BORING!
3) I just felt like slapping that so-called brother of ML, can you believe not a single soul told him what hez doing is wrong until the very last episode, and even after that he didn't realize anything, just vomited some water?
4) MLs brother keeps saying harsh things and keeps insulting his junior (who loved him), even uses all her savings to buy a car, and uses MLs salary to pay for his car loan, he drains the whole energy out of ML by overworking him for his own benefits but no one says anything. gosh that was soo frustrating to watch.
5) FL who has her own mental issues helps others to deal with their problems, this concept is kinda off for me, some call this a unique approach and stuff but I didn't like it, because she overcomes her issues in last 10 mins of the last episode so throughout the show she seems like a zombie, and all this mental torture thing turns out to be a misunderstanding at the end when her mother's death isn't her fault blah blah....so damn BORING!

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Amazing social psychology drama, with masterclass writing.

Review contain relation and character development minor spoiler, but not contents or events spoilers for the story. It's my first review on mydrama, hope you will find it helpful.

First, it's worth noting that this is almost not a romance. Polarizing reviews may result from expectations of a romance, but the story could just as well fit into the realm of friendship. The main couple only embraces in the most dramatic moments, never kisses, and doesn't share a bed. However, I recommend this drama for those interested in psychology and social psychology issues. This should be the main focus of our interest to fully appreciate this work.

Emotions

First, it's essential to emphasize that it avoids what many others drama do - 'dramatizing' based on uncertainty and unrest. There are few unusual 'villains' or admirers for the female lead (FL), but the drama manages to make it less anxious for the viewer, not due to a lack of emotions but because of the strong principles of the FL. She knows what she wants and what is good for others, with no gray area or hesitation. However, the downside is that she decides things for herself without consultations or communication, which is connected to her struggles.

Facing trauma, social and family expectations, fighting fear, anxiety, obsession, guilt, and finding meaning and happiness are just a few psychological topics explored around the characters.

It feels like across characters, their traits are always more than one-dimensional. For example, love confused with obsession or love confused with respect for mentorship. Good intentions escalate into bad things due to control cravings, anxiety, etc. Bad emotions dissolve and transform, and even bad intentions rationalize as good, only to result in more bad. The drama also features a sophisticated psychopathic antagonist, but I won't spoil his actions.
The series also has an interesting approach to presenting events beyond human influence, directed nowhere - like nature. All events are just things that happened, not inherently good or bad, depending on people's reactions to them. The consequences of choices are just consequences, not bad karma, fate, or anything else.

Characters

The main pair of characters is likable from the beginning. They are compassionate, genuinely helpful, altruistic, caring for people around them. However, sometimes, they are distant and lost in their inner world, adding an interesting dynamic to their relationship. One wants to be alone while the other needs externalization. Sometimes they are just beside each other, but over time, with daily courtesy and care for each other, they inevitably drift closer.
The 'calm drift' of everyday life is often interrupted dynamically by relationships with other characters, who are well written and memorable.

The screenwriter does an amazing job at separating external reality from characters internal thoughts, emotions, and reactions, allowing us to observe the whole internal process.

It can be said that the characters develop by building experiences. When one might expect a focus on reminiscing about the past and fixing wrongs, thats an positive surprise. It shows that sometimes, in a seemingly hopeless moment, the only option is to move forward without seeing a solution, but having hope that new experiences and new people will create a way out. This is a valuable element of life wisdom, often overlooked in psychoanalysis, which can be focused on analyzing cases separated from the patient's life when the process and time can bring answers.

Paceing/Structure

Apart from situations showing social relationships and psychological behaviors in relationships with others, there are also some flashbacks and cases of FL's clients. Still, the main element that changes the pace is ML's creative process. When he writes a script, we get snippets of mini-dramas with actors in new roles. These stories are genuinely interesting and could be developed into full-fledged dramas. Often, when many threads are heading towards difficult and heavy themes, the invented script contains something lighter, and vice versa. This also gives actors the opportunity for often different roles, showcasing their abilities. (By the way, allowing the audience to distance themselves from actors roles they might not like).
Working on scripts and characters seamlessly intertwines with the main plot and is revealed in ML's behavior. He becomes more open, bold, versatile, engaged, and responsible. Over time, the changes occurring in him due to FL find reflection in his scripts. It is a very accurate and interesting depiction of the creative process in the evolving life of the creator.

The only downside is their lack of involvement in deepening romantic relationships, overlooking not only the supposed romance but also the natural desire to get to know the loved one better. It seems challenging for FL to talk about certain things, making it look like she doesn't trust ML enough to confide in him. Even if the screenwriter wanted to show internal struggles, he could still show attempts at conversation that fail, then the audience would see not only hesitations but also the desire for closeness (it's shown basically in last 3eps). Living next to each other won't magically become living with each other if there's no effort in it. Even in the last episodes, FL preferred sleeping together and confiding in her bestfriend rather than in her supposed beloved. Why? Therefore, the ending, with an open ending, may be disappointing, but it is still interesting, especially if you don't expect anything more about the second season.
Oh, and I don't understand why there are so many music montages, especially with the same two songs throughout all 40 episodes.

In summary, this is one of the most complex, multi-threaded, and multi-layered scripts in TV shows that I have seen. Moreover, it ties up and specifies by circling with smaller and larger cycles of different threads.

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why it is a waste of time?

it's not for everyone just another time taking drama with no plot no romance and the story is not well defined I think a 7 rating is also high for this

if you are a romance or mystery lover then this is not for you because there is none.

I recommend you don't waste your time or just skip and fast-forward watch this. I fully completed this in 8-9 hours with full skipping only seeing main leads engaging yep there was a good time also.........

As I sat through the torturous hours of Twilight 2023, I couldn't help but wonder if time itself had come to a standstill. This Chinese drama promised "ups and downs," but all it delivered was a never-ending barrage of clichés, laughable plot twists, and characters so one-dimensional they could have been cut from cardboard.

First and foremost, the writing was abysmal. The dialogue felt contrived and uninspired, leaving the talented cast struggling to breathe life into their roles. Each scene seemed to drag on forever, filled with cringe-worthy moments of forced emotion and unnecessary melodrama. The "ups" in this drama were so few and far between that they were overshadowed by the excruciatingly long "downs."

Moreover, the plot was an incomprehensible mess. It attempted to juggle multiple storylines, each more convoluted than the last. From the star-crossed lovers with a "forbidden love" trope to the amnesia-stricken protagonist who conveniently regained her memory at precisely the right moment, every plot device screamed of lazy writing. The twists and turns lacked any sense of subtlety, leaving the audience feeling manipulated rather than entertained.

As for the characters, they were woefully underdeveloped. The male lead, a brooding and aloof CEO, was a cookie-cutter archetype we've seen countless times before. He lacked any depth or growth throughout the series, making it impossible to invest in his journey. The female lead, on the other hand, was portrayed as a damsel in distress, constantly relying on the male lead to save her from her own misfortunes. This regressive portrayal of women was infuriating and did a disservice to the talented actress portraying the character.

To add insult to injury, the production value of Twilight 2023 was lackluster at best. The set designs were unimaginative, with most scenes taking place in predictable locations like lavish penthouses and picturesque gardens. The costume choices were equally uninspired, doing little to enhance the characters' personalities or the overall atmosphere of the drama. Even the soundtrack failed to evoke any emotion, becoming a forgettable backdrop to an already forgettable experience.

Perhaps the most frustrating aspect of Twilight 2023 was its refusal to learn from its mistakes. As the episodes dragged on, it became evident that the creators were determined to stretch the storyline far beyond its limits. Unnecessary filler episodes plagued the drama, contributing nothing to the overall narrative and leaving viewers desperate for the inevitable conclusion.

In conclusion, Twilight 2023 was a trainwreck of a Chinese drama that failed to live up to its promise of "ups and downs." It stumbled through a poorly written plot, lackluster characters, and subpar production value, leaving audiences begging for mercy. If you value your time and sanity, I implore you to steer clear of this melodramatic mess. There are plenty of other quality dramas out there worth investing your emotions in – this is not one of them.

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The whole story

All the episodes are very good, the plot is not too fast and easy to understand. I really enjoyed episode 1 to 40 (end)
I really like the character Qi lianshan, he is gentle, caring, funny, humble, and easy to make people like him
Maybe most people who watch this drama will give a bad rating. Because they don't like the actors, even though the most important thing for me when watching a drama is the message it wants to convey. And I can understand a lesson from this drama, that everyone has a knot or secret in their own heart, but that doesn't mean that the knot keeps us away from everything.

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Amazing

This drama is so meaning full like his every script have a meaning and connected to his character life ,
Chemistry is amazing the way they he always there to protect her and he even left his most precious day . I like the fact that he always keep her first in his life . Like first priority is so sweet .
And I personally really like his police story so amazing.
This drama is not everyone cup of tea those who like romantic scenes and unnecessary ultimate scenes will always find problems in this but if you let the thought out of your brain and focused on the story so you will definitely like this drama . This the mature romance and I love this ,

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The plot is very interested but I felt it was rushed at the ending!!

First off, I found this drama interesting in the way they incorporated excerpts of Shan shan's writing into the plot. And it was clever to use his writing to foreshadow the ending. I also loved the actors, especially Ren Jia Lun. As for the plot itself, it was filled with different situations and interactions between characters. But I felt like there was too much occuring at once sometimes, especially the ending. I also felt that the ending was rushed a little due to the fact that challenge that Liu Xia had to face was introduced at the last two episodes. But I can kinda reason why it was placed in the plot at that point of time. Even though there are cons of the plot, there are also pros of the plot. Through the plot, it really showed the interaction between people/characters and the different emotions people are faced with. Overall, it was a pretty good drama!!

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HEALING DRAMA but not everyone’s cup of tea…..!

This story is more of a healing drama, it is about a psychology counsellor who has herself experienced childhood trauma while the ML is a skilled screenwriter. both of them heal each other over time.
It is a very slow paced drama with unnecessary fillers.

40 episodes is a bit too much. The story could have been better and could be presented in a better way.

I watched it mainly because of Ren Jia Lin, I believe he is an actor with great potential and his role did not do justice to him. The character sketch could have been better.

The background stories are also quite unnecessary as they take up too much screen time leading to no development in the story line.

According to me, the topic was a great choice as it is something that has become more important to discuss in 2023 but the story was poorly written and presented; they could do a better job.

I feel I quite learnt a few things from the story, as I survived through all 40 episodes. The drama is very slow paced so not for viewers who hate slow moving dramas. I like slow paced dramas but this one was a veryyy slow moving one. I wish this kind of topic about mental health is presented in a more constructive manner in the future with a better story line.


Not for everyone to watch it..! But you might as well decide after watching the first episode..!

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40 episodes is really a lot, when more than half of the series is filler

the main story is kinda good, but 40 episodes is a lot.
I was very disappointed with the last few episodes (I wanted to see ML's friend receive a good dose of karma)
Beside that, I'm not a big fan of a series within a series, so I found these moments completely unnecessary (sometimes 2 scenes during a single episode) where I'm watching a series derived from ML's script.
But the story was good enough, more realistic than some, but the execution was a bit all over the place.
A phrase I found myself saying to a friend several times during basically all of the episodes is how a lot happens, but at the same time, nothing really happens most of the time.
And finally, the entire budget went to all of the “series” within the series and that is why there are moments with poor audio and questionable image quality, especially in the first episodes. But other people might not notice, since I'm kind of strict when it comes to production quality. For me, this series has the recording quality of a 2015 series.

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