First Episode 80: 婆婆来了

[renzhe]

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

A hard-working country boy meets the Beijing princess

Difficulty Rating: Lower Intermediate

Info (baidu): http://baike.baidu.com/view/2478917.htm

Stream (all): http://so.tudou.com/isearch/婆婆来了/

Stream (China): http://www.qiyi.com/dianshiju/20101229/f04c8a276c222daf.html

One of the most popular shows in the Mainland now, based on a book, starring 沙溢 (who played 老白 in 武林外传) and 朱杰 (who played a very good role in 潜伏).

--- PLOT SUMMARY ---

The campus beauty 何琳 falls for a quiet, intelligent country boy, 王传志。 She even takes the public bus just so she can run into him. While she's wimming in money, he works part-time jobs to support his studies and eats the free food provided by the mess hall. This is something she can barely comprehend. 王传志 comes from a very small village in the north. He is the only person in the village who went to Beijing to study, and they are all proud of him. We meet his mother, and his sister (a 打工妹 who used to work in Shenzhen).

We meet 何琳's friend 小雅, whose boyfriend worked in Japan, and she's already planning to get married and have kids. 何琳 is going to visit 王传志's parents, but doesn tell her parents, telling them she's going to Tianjin with 小雅. They have their suspicions, but she manages to get approval. While she's buying excessive presents, the folks back in the village are preparing for her arrival. What she doesn't know is that meeting the family essentially means that they must get married.

After an exhausting train and tractor journey, they arrive and meet the whole village.

--- PLOT SUMMARY ---

There are many shows about the urban/rural contrast nowadays, and there are many interesting angles to explore. After two episodes, I didn't get the feeling that this one brought anything new or interesting to the table. The contrast between the countryside and the city is illustrated in the most mundane and unimaginative ways: 茅房, beetles, intrusive toasting, proud rags-to-riches parents, etc. Quite disappointing, and I didn't feel much chemistry between the two main characters -- probably because the first episode was way too rushed, and they fell in love in about 3 minutes flat.

It started as a light-hearted romantic comedy, but it quickly turned into the battle of the mother-in-laws, and I'm afraid that it will go down the way of 双面胶. Still, this is one of the most popular shows currently running, so there must be something about it.

Has anyone watched any of it?

[heifeng]

Has anyone watched any of it?

I started watching it. The first episode sucked me into the series a bit. The mother-in-laws fighting it out plot sounds like it may get worn out soon though (shocker! I can name at least 5 tv series with the exact same conflict!) Also my partner in tv watching marathons was already irritated by the series and exclaimed after only the first few episodes ( and I quote) " 太tmd丢我们农村人的脸！$%&*(*(#$”...so needless to say, this series may not get much more airtime in the heifeng lair....

[imron]

I can name at least 5 tv series with the exact same conflict

Only 5?

[heifeng]

I kid you not Imron, I was going to put something like 'i can name 20...etc", but then I figured someone may call my bluff, so I put the safe number of 5, which I really could name off the top of my head

[yonglin]

The story is sort of similar to that old English play... what's its name again? Romeo and... something?

[imron]

I was going to put something like 'i can name 20...etc", but then I figured someone may call my bluff

More likely some smartass would have come along and said "Only 20?"