Showing off is a common flaw in many men, but there are limits.
Even if you can't be as effortlessly handsome as the young Louis Koo, who captivated forever with just one look, you should at least exercise some restraint.
Zhou Zhengyang, however, lacked this self-awareness. During his performance, he kept making small gestures, like flipping his hair and flashing a "charmingly evil" smile. It was incredibly cringeworthy, a spitting image of Huang Xiaoming before his de-oiling phase.
The female lead, Ye Xianxian, had an even bigger problem. The character was written as a descendant of a village gravekeeper, a girl who was pure, kind, headstrong, yet endearingly cute.
But Ye Xianxian took "headstrong" to mean "prone to tantrums." Upon seeing the male lead after his fall and subsequent amnesia, she resorted to hitting and scolding him, with utmost mockery. Even after developing feelings for him, she would constantly throw tantrums, appearing overly sentimental and dramatic.
Her portrayal turned the character's headstrong nature into outright obnoxious behavior, completely erasing any hint of cuteness. She was a drama queen even more detestable than Guo Fu.
Guo Fu, in "The Return of the Condor Heroes," was indeed headstrong, but at least she defended Xiangyang with her parents. While her personal conduct had flaws, she was commendable on matters of national importance, possessing both strengths and weaknesses.
The female lead played by Ye Xianxian, however, displayed no redeeming qualities. She was nothing but pretentious and overly dramatic.
What truly unsettled Jiang Ling even more were Ye Xianxian's lines. Her enunciation was poor, words slurred together as if she had a mouth full of phlegm and was trying to be overly cute. It gave Jiang Ling goosebumps all over.
If Jiang Ling were to give this drama a rating, it would be "rotten."
Abysmally rotten, breakdown-inducingly rotten.
Watching the lead actors perform was like enduring torture, even more unbearable to watch than anything the original Jiang Ling had acted in before.
How could such a terribly rotten drama garner so much positive feedback? Was her understanding flawed, or were the audience's eyes all blind?
Jiang Ling pondered for a moment, then called Ge Ying, asking her to investigate.
As a fierce rival of Huahua Media, Ge Ying had been monitoring the data for "Forget You, Remember Me." Seeing the overwhelming positive reviews online, with no neutral or negative comments in sight, she too had sensed something was amiss.
She had immediately dispatched people to investigate. By the time Jiang Ling called, she had already uncovered the results.
Ge Ying said indignantly, "Huahua Media and Feixing Media have colluded to control the narrative. Negative reviews are simply being suppressed."
Upon hearing this, Jiang Ling let out a cold laugh. "They're so overbearing that they won't even allow criticism for being bad. I think they're playing with fire."
"They truly are playing with fire. The more they try to control the narrative, the stronger the audience's backlash will be. Once the dam breaks, it will be an onslaught of criticism and abuse. They wanted to piggyback on the popularity of 'The Prince Who Turns into a Frog' to create a sensation and make a quick buck, but they ended up biting off more than they could chew," Ge Ying sneered.
"Then let's just wait. The audience will teach them a lesson."
In reality, it wasn't just Jiang Ling. Many viewers who were more discerning about idol dramas, after watching the first episode that night, already had a premonition that this was a bad drama.
Not just ordinarily bad, but exceptionally bad.
They weren't professional actors, nor could they pinpoint the flaws in the leads' performances as precisely as Jiang Ling.
However, having read enough of the classics, they might not be able to write poetry, but they could certainly recite it. Having watched many idol dramas, they could naturally distinguish between good and bad.
Especially after just having finished "The Prince Who Turns into a Frog," the contrast made the deficiencies even more apparent.
At this point, Jiang Ling's performance as Ye Tianyu was beginning to show its true power.