[Taiwanese Drama 2017] Love, Timeless 鐘樓愛人

[jayells]

4 hours ago, Ana Paula Cionci said:

I may not commented as many as this drama deserved, but I think this drama was really good and I have been stuck at him like I was with "Marry me or Not". Yeah, it is true that the drama was not perfect (I think they needed more episodes). Some character (as Jun Ren) needed more development as individuals, I missed a final scene with the entire group (I think if the drama ends up with this scene it would be better, athough I liked the final scene). The actors were great (and I think Nick, Summer and Huang Wei Ting were fantastic). I am addict to all the ost (to the point where I translated the opening song). But I wanted more scenes with the main couple, because I think some things between them were a little bit rushed. Well, and I think the last phrase where they said "Our destinies are determined by a series of timeless moments", can definied the drama pretty well. I think this drama were the first (thanks good, because I wanted some good drama with this plot) drama that did a good job with time-travelling!

   

 

Yeah, some of the scenes with Kai Jia and Zhao Yu seemed rushed in favor of wrapping up the storyline for Ruby and Jun Ren. But then again, Ruby and her arc deserve the screentime since she is the main reason they go back. But then again, I think Kai Jia and Zhao Yu had some great moments together in Episode 14. 

Thanks for the translation to the opening song by the way, it's one of my favorites on the ost which I like a lot as well.

[Transition]

@jayells I agree with you that the ending was good as it is but including a scene with the 6 of them at the clocktower would have been even better. Thank you for the information too regarding the scriptwriter. I didn't know it was the same as In A Good Way. I didn't think that drama was especially good either but it was a hit back then when it aired. You are welcome! Kissasian has Orange and probably other streaming sites too. 

@Ana Paula Cionci The OST is indeed very good. I think one of the main reasons is that most of them are written for the drama and the characters, 不放 (the opening theme) is Zhao Yu's song, 還能擁抱 is Ruby's and 還我愛你 is Jun Ren's. That has been explained by the original singers themselves. My favourite song in the drama is 還能擁抱. 

[Ana Paula Cionci]

On 01/08/2017 at 1:36 AM, jayells said:

 

Yeah, some of the scenes with Kai Jia and Zhao Yu seemed rushed in favor of wrapping up the storyline for Ruby and Jun Ren. But then again, Ruby and her arc deserve the screentime since she is the main reason they go back. But then again, I think Kai Jia and Zhao Yu had some great moments together in Episode 14. 

Thanks for the translation to the opening song by the way, it's one of my favorites on the ost which I like a lot as well.

Yeah, I agree about that. Ruby did deserve more screentime, that is why I think we needed more episodes :/

 

On 01/08/2017 at 6:06 AM, Transition said:

 

@Ana Paula Cionci The OST is indeed very good. I think one of the main reasons is that most of them are written for the drama and the characters, 不放 (the opening theme) is Zhao Yu's song, 還能擁抱 is Ruby's and 還我愛你 is Jun Ren's. That has been explained by the original singers themselves. My favourite song in the drama is 還能擁抱. 

I did not know about that, and now I can understand why I loved so much hahaha. There is some ost for Kai Jia? She is, after all, the lead girl hmm

I am going to translate all the ost to decide what is my favourite (although I really liked the opening theme and the end theme hmm, but still I liked Jun Ren's song hmm

[susielollieantibashers]

This is the second time travel drama i watched next to back to 1989.and i also watched orange last year.i am glad that it was a happy ending.i was rooting for jun ren and ruby .When i watched the last episodes damn jun ren is making me crazy.he wanted to play with ruby's feelings again after knowing that 194 U note was for ZY.i decided to watch the series because of that 194U note. when JR travelled the third time he was sincere about saving Ruby,he fell in love with her first just as ZY said.i haven't even heard Ruby and Jun ren saying the words "I love you" to one another.(directly)" so i was really confused if they were in love. but i was happy when ruby wrote in her letter to JR that the it was the first time she never regretted marrying him.that was just an affirmation of her love for him.i think the third time they are married they are learning to love each other and accepting their flaws.not to mention the shower kiss was hawt. i think sometimes love can't exist between two people no matter what happens.I can feel Jun Ren's guilt but he was actually blinded by his ambitions and selfish wants so he wasn't able to love Ruby.No matter what i think they are made for each other,they know each other's true nature behind the mask.

I know ZY and KJ are meant to be together,it took so long for him to realize his feelings.in this parallel world they have found love in each other's arms.i loved the line "live to spite people who doesn't like you."

[KiwiNeko]

I'm going to start with the stuff I liked about this drama because I have a real problem with the Ruby/Jun Ren pairing, which will probably morph into an angry rant so I'll stick that at the end for people who like the Ruby/JR ship to skip over.

First of all, the drama does a good job capturing that feeling of wanting to fix regrets and and wondering about the what-ifs of the past. The nostalgic soundtrack for the drama fits this theme beautifully. The side characters Zhi Ni & Master Meng are charming and add the right amount of humor, especially when the four leads get all depressing and dramatic with their love square. The idea of a time-traveling plant that works on emotions was really silly. I would have preferred it if the Lady Professor didn't explain how the time-traveling worked, but her mini-backstory-- also about love and regret-- wasn't bad. As for the main four-- Zhao Yu, Kai Jia, Jun Ren, and Ruby-- they got really frustrating over time.

Nick Chou & Summer portrayed Zhao Yu and Kai Jia as old childhood friends really well. Their natural interaction as people who grew up together was really believable. As an OTP, they work. Watching Zhao Yu who is super dense when it comes to understanding emotions-- his own and Kai Jia's-- was really amusing. He put in the work, learned his lesson and his winning Kai Jia back was deserved (mostly). Kai Jia was much more frustrating. It's not clear why she decided to forgive and date Zhao Yu in the end or how she felt about her long-term friendship with Jun Ren. Based on what she told Ruby, she and Jun Ren hung out A LOT over the second 10 years. It's clear they were really close. I almost think it would've been more interesting if she did have an affair with Jun Ren and in the end, realized that she still loved Zhao Yu. Why not? They've essentially relived the same 10 years three times. If they were all 30 when the time traveling started, then the second time through, she would be reliving her 20s with the mindset of a woman in her 30s. I'm surprised she didn't try dating other men with Zhao Yu out of the picture. Though Kai Jia's motives are vague, it still makes sense that she ends up with Zhao Yu in the end. It's the pull of their long positive history together. (It's too bad that the last episode was so Ruby-centric that we didn't get a chance to see them dating like a normal couple. I would've especially liked to see Zhao Yu's parents' reactions.)

Jun Ren ending up with Ruby? That's just ughhh... **Time to leave, Ruby/Jun Ren shippers.**

In the final episode, the writers really pushed Ruby and Jun Ren together in such an unnatural way. Ruby spent most of the drama pining over Zhao Yu. The pathetic part is that she and Zhao Yu never even dated so she's holding on to an imaginary relationship she and and Zhao Yu could have had. The first 10 years, Ruby wished Zhao Yu had won the basketball game so she could know him better-- as if that's the only reason she didn't make a move on him when he was clueless about his feelings for Kai Jia. The second 10 years, she didn't get a chance to confess. Then, she just gives up on Zhao Yu after one rejection and decides she loves Jun Ren because of a moment with a dog? I don't know. Her obsession with Zhao Yu goes pretty deep and she really hated Jun Ren the first time she married him. The second time, despite how hard Jun Ren tried to love her-- and the show made a bunch of new flashbacks of how happy they were the second time to show us all as Ruby wrote letters to Jun Ren in prison (keep in mind, she doesn't remember any of it but I'm guessing Kai Jia told her about them, which also shows how close Jun Ren and Kai Jia must have been)-- Ruby STILL could not forget Zhao Yu and STILL committed suicide. No wonder Jun Ren was so angry. He made a real effort that second time and it didn't work. She didn't love him enough not to kill herself... or forget about a 10 year old college crush. That should be more than enough for Jun Ren to give up on trying to make his marriage with Ruby work.

I was hoping that Ruby would learn to be strong without being dependent on some man, whether it be her one-sided love for Zhao Yu or her supposed new love for Jun Ren. She was always so mentally fragile, it became annoying. If online comments could affect her so much, her tendency to suicide is probably more complicated than a simple "she needs more love from her friends". Toward the end, it was clear Ruby needed to see a therapist or psychiatrist about the mean voices in her head. That should have been the key to saving her from killing herself instead of Kai Jia babysitting her 24/7. I also didn't see why she had to give up music because she couldn't sing. It would have been better if she overcame her own doubts and insecurities and became a successful music composer or producer.

And I hated how Jun Ren had to go to prison to learn how to be free from the pressures of his family. Couldn't he think of some other way to make a pile of money and leave? He's from the future! He lived the last 10 years twice. That makes him mentally a 40 year old in a 20 year old body. He must have learned something in all those years working with finances in a corporation while failing at marriage twice. One lesson: insecure, suicidal rich girls aren't something he can handle.

It didn't help that the actors who play Jun Ren and Ruby had zero chemistry in their scenes together. Why the writers chose to push their love line through is a mystery to me. Maybe they're trying to say that love can happen after 3 failed marriages to the same person? Yeah... most people don't have 3 do-overs for that. Marriage isn't a video game with love as a final level. The drama would have been better if they ended them apart, happy with their lives. They already have two couples with happy endings. They don't all have to pair up! I always thought the two caged birds that Jun Ren owned symbolized himself and Ruby. It would have been nice if in the end, they flew away and were free-- from the cage and from each other.

[jayells]

Usually when it comes to explaining how time-travelling works within a fictional piece of work, I am able to accept just about anything as long as it seems some thought went into it and it is sold with some conviction. I too would prefer it if they didn't try to explain it but i'm assuming they felt they needed to in order to explain why it was only the main three that time traveled. 

As for Kai Jia's decision to forgive and date Zhao Yu, I think her decision to separate from him and the subsequent talk she had with that professor as to why she felt she needed to separate from him kind of shows that her feelings for Zhao Yu never wavered. I guess absence makes the heart grow fonder..? Also, it could be that she picked up on the fact that Zhao Yu was making a sincere effort to prove himself worthy of dating her, coupled that with their long history together (as you mentioned), it seemed inevitable that they would end up with each other. Additionally, I felt like her and Jun Ren was just close friends but nothing beyond that. I recall that weekend getaway they had together and how she rejected his advances there. I too would have liked to see Kai Jia pursue potential partners outside of their group of friends but I guess she took that time to focus solely on herself. 

In regards to Ruby's obsession for Zhao Yu, I felt it was more like wishful thinking with a lot of regret attached to it. As you said, they never really dated so she was more in love with the "idea/image" of Zhao Yu and viewed him as sort of a "savior" or a viable solution to her perceived problems. The fact that Zhao Yu came to her rescue on a number of occasions in the second timeline probably contributed to this. In a sense, her relationship with Jun Ren is similar to Zhao Yu/Kai Jia's because of their past history together. I think it was mentioned that they did have feelings for one another before but because they were forced into a "business marriage" they grew to resent each other.

I do agree that they should have showed Ruby seeking some professional help but this is a drama after all. With that said, I think they wanted to show her gaining confidence to stand on her own while also receiving emotional support from a lover/friends and how that would be enough to give her life some purpose and to live on. I too thought they were hinting at the idea that Ruby could have pursued being a songwriter or producer/composer. But I think they wanted to show that Ruby had the courage to chase after her dreams and even though she "failed", that it wasn't the end of the world and that she would be able to pursue other interests outside of music with some success. Even if she was ultimately responsible for the family business, it would be up to her own efforts as to whether or not she could ensure that the business would be successful with her in charge.

Lol in a way I felt like fate was extending a middle finger to Jun Ren and all of his schemes to get rich. It was only after going to prison, that he discovered a good clean honest way to make a living. 

Similarly, I could see the argument for having Jun Ren and Ruby move on and living their own separate lives and still finding happiness to tie into the theme of them being caged birds. The drama wanted to show that love is a long journey filled with both joy and sorrow but it was definitely an easier sell for the Kai Jia and Zhao Yu couple. But barring that emotional outburst after finding out that note was meant for Zhao Yu, I felt Jun Ren did make a sincere effort this time around to understand and love Ruby and Ruby seem to appreciate and reciprocate his feelings. For Ruby's part, I felt like she genuinely loved him in the other timelines but was let down by his actions/inaction the first two times.

[Latte_Anyday]

I'm a lil iffy on shows tackling time travel 'cause there's always a mess waiting to happen LoL. And I guess it is too much of a headache considering all the mechanics behind it (time travel) it's intriguing yes, I mean I still have a lot of what if moments in my life but if a show doesn't do the subject justice it's tricky.

I don't feel any chemistry between Zhao Yu-Kai Jia as a couple,  rather they fit better as BFFs. Nick Zhou had more chemistry with Ivelyn in "I Love You So Much", although I'm not so pleased with his performance here so far... he seems like confused LoL? I guess that happens when you time travel 10 years back! I too would like to see Zhao Yu be with Ruo Bi. They just seem more compatible. 

The only time travel show I enjoyed aside from this was Back to 1989 and Life Plan A and B. The latter focuses more on a paralell universe but both explore on choices we make etc. I have only watched 5 ep. of Love, Timeless and it hasn't won me over yet. I'm watching it mostly for Nick Zhou, he looks like Wilber Pan's twin or something LoL.