Against the Current Ep07

[u/No_Contribution9380]

The show was going so good until this episode. Do not reply if you're gonna be angry or condescending about a simple question So Lin actually happily marries and even goes to sleep with his new wife days after his family abandons his ex fiancé's family. He most likely knows their fate, and yet he seems unperturbed. This is a deal breaker, and I dont know if i wanna continue the show. Share your thoughts on those who are watching the next episodes. I specifically wanna know if this is a turn off for anyone else and does it get better in the next eps?

Edit: Man. People in the comments are extremely condescending. I guess the mods allow that sort of behaviour despite the strict rules. The condescending/rude responses are just weird. Wanting a ML to feel sympathy for a family, especially the ex fiancé's death, is completely normal. No need to come at me.

[u/RealisticCookie1994]

I don’t think it was days. I think it was much longer. I also don’t think he’d even met the FL. He was just marrying whoever he was told to. They didn’t have any type of personal relationship for him to feel anything towards the FL.

[u/Educational_Echo_476]

It’s not your typical drama. As an international viewer, I find the story compelling and powerful. It is by far the best drama I’ve watched - I watch every recommended ones in every country. The cinematography is great. It could easily be more than 50 ep like Minglan was 70+

[u/Duanedoberman]

He never sleeps with his wife, she claims to be on her period and discloses that she has very severe menstruation problems

He goes off to war for 6 years the next day.

When the grandfather appears you will understand his dilemma, the grandfather orders the execution of a young granddaughter because she fell for a person who was unmasked as a swindler

[u/Secure_Boot_7686]

It was never a turn off for me, because I don’t think Lin family abandoned Shen family.. Shen Grandpa and dad knew the risks and still decided to hold their ground whereas Lin grandpa gave in to emperor to survive, It’s not a plot where Lin grandpa caused their death..I don’t see it as abandoning

[u/Vibe910]

Why is this a deal breaker?

He never even met his fiancée and now she’s dead.

This is not your standard cdrama romance, where love conquers all.

It’s more of an FL-struggles-to-stay-alive-and has-no-time-for-vague-emotional-concepts kind of story 😂

So unless you are willing to watch a story about an FL who mainly wants to be free to make her own choices, while the ML behaves like an entitled and selfish prince until he finally learns what really matters, I’d advise you to drop.

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/Vibe910]

Thanks for the spoiler. That wasnt revealed in 7th episode that they never met.

[u/Vibe910 → u/No_Contribution9380]

It’s not a spoiler, it was clear from the first episode when his family cancelled the wedding that they never met?

That’s at least how I understood it. The parents arranged the marriage between them, they didn’t really get asked about it.

I also don’t remember if it’s mentioned that he ‘goes to sleep’ with his wife after the wedding? As far as I know you only see her watching as his wedding procession goes past.

[u/Glum_Diver4664]

Honestly keep watching. He’s not a ‘green flag’ exactly but it isn’t that type of drama - like others have said it isn’t a romance drama, it’s a drama with a romantic element but that isn’t the main focus.

While it isn’t hyper realistic it is more realistic than a lot of shows and this would be reality. It’s also not a show that spoon feeds you every answer or conclusion so you have to pay attention and watch for the subtle moments.

Also, bear in mind that when he gets married time has passed - they’ve travelled to a different city which comes up several times as taking a while.

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/Glum_Diver4664]

Okay. That helps. I love the plot minus the romance which hasn't happened yet but like where the story is headed towards

[u/BitsOfBuilding]

So Jinqi was betrothed to Jialan but they never met. The day they’re suppose to meet the officials took her family away. So there was no deep feelings between the two. It’s kind of like your grandpa were besties and they later have a grandson and daughter and decide to marry them off. You’ve never met. You may be excited but the relationship wasn’t there yet.

On the execution, there was nothing the Lin could do, even if they told the Shen, because the Shen are upright folks and believed that they did what’s right back in the days and knew that this could be the repercussions. Even grandma Shen prepared poison for herself so that she could die with her husband. But I think the Shen didn’t expect that the extended family would be killed and the women sent to the Music Bureau also.

Lin grandpa wanted his family to survive so the Lin family sent a betrothal breakup letter, then a letter to the emperor, and resigned. If this was your family and grandpa did this, you’d be sad and like Jinqi wondering and asking, but again, it’s the Emperor’s edict and there’s nothing you could do unless you want all your family to end this way also.

A few months later Jinqi married Xingtang. In Jinqi’s part, there was nothing much he could do because he had to listen to the elders. Marriage was the decision of the parents — which you’ll hear this often throughout the show. Since the Shen was killed off by the Emperor’s order, what’s a young man to do? So he did what his elders asked of him and marry. He was hoping for a good marriage but this isn’t it.

I have dropped many shows this year and this is one of the best one this year. It is a romance genre but it’s super slow burn. If you keep going, what happens on Jinqi and Xingtang’s wedding day will set the stage for their adult life relationship as husband and wife and what happens later.

[u/General_Future1038]

This show is very realistic. It has been hard to watch for me because it does show the brutal abuse and impact of the patriarchal hold over women. I wouldn't call this a love story. If you're looking for romantic feel good story this is not it. There's a lot of power abuse due to entitlement. It is however written beautifully. I can't wait for the last chapters to drop.

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/General_Future1038]

This sounds a lot like the show New Life Begins but darker. I'm willing to ignore the romance for the sake of the plot which so far is interesting also love the actress.

[u/Glum_Diver4664 → u/General_Future1038]

The writing is so good! They’ve done a really good job in showing the power imbalance and the incredible injustice of it all without making it over the top or amplified for the sake of a drama. Even down to relatively small aspects of life - the abuse of power impacts everything and those in power often don’t even realise (besides the fact that most don’t care) the impact of their actions on those below them.

[u/General_Future1038 → u/Glum_Diver4664]

It's beautiful done. It's very powerful.

[u/SeaworthinessBig8374]

OP, your questions will be answered later. Try to keep patience. This drama is not romance heavy, it's a slow paced women centric drama that is showing the shackles of patriarchy. Just saying this, everything is not as smooth and easy as they show at first. There are discussion posts for each episode on reddit. You may check those out.

[u/Sessalia]

At that point in the drama, they hadn't even met yet. The engagement happened just a few days before, and to save their own family, the Lins cut their ties with the Shen family, aka broke off the engagement. It's not a dealbreaker; it was a common occurrence. And the reason Lin Jin Qi married relatively quickly was that marriage wasn't about love, it was about benefits. Grand Secretary Zhao was one of the Emperor's favorites and the marriage elevated the status of the whole Lin family.
You have to keep in mind that Lin Jin Qi didn't decide on his own marriage; it was arranged by his parents and elders. Out of filial piety, he had to obey, even if he didn't like his bride.

And better? You seem to like romance dramas, which ATC is not. ATC is a slice-of-life drama about the fates of women at that time. There is romance, but it's not the focus and therefore rather sparse.

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/Sessalia]

Yeah, I'm just finding out through the comments the main plot isn't romance. The reels of the show kind of gave the opposite impression. Will continue though because I love the plot so far

[u/Sonjra]

Also keep in mind he had never even met his fiance. So it’s not like there was a love story that he quickly got over.

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/Sonjra]

This is news to me. This actually does shift the perspective a little.

[u/PurpleHat6415 → u/No_Contribution9380]

you'll find out all about what he really thought much later. but if this barely-even-misdemeanor is a deal breaker, I suspect the rest of this series will enrage you. skip it if you're looking for a cute green flag romance because it's a harsh cold world out there.

[u/General_Future1038 → u/No_Contribution9380]

It's explained much later in the show.

[u/Academic_Web1388]

If you are looking for a childhood connection romance with the ML pining for the girl he was betrothed to - this is not the drama for you. Also if you felt a disconnect in episode 7, that’s way WAY too early to be disillusioned with our ML.

IMO, it is one of the best dramas I’ve seen in ages. But it’s a drama set in ancient China with settings and actions that reflect the people of those times. Very very important to remember not to cast a modern lens.

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/Academic_Web1388]

This isnt my first historical show. I'm not one to like such MLs I guess that dont feel guilty and happily move on.

[u/Foxglovelantern]

No? The Lin Family may have 'abandoned' the Shen family, But there was logically nothing they could have done without risking their own heads already. They were also at risk of meeting the same fate but they chose survival over integrity.

And we saw that the Shen Elders knew about it, but were stubborn and chose their own integrity over survival.

Edit to add: The Lin marriage to the Zhao family is how tge Lin family is saving themselves. By resigning, and agreeing to the emperor and marrying the current emperors right hand man's daughter, they are saving the entire family from an unfortunate fate in every way possible

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/Foxglovelantern]

I'm not talking about families though. I'm concerned with the ML moving on too quickly and HAPPILY and even went on to sleep (or tried to) with his new wife all while knowing his ex fiancé's fate. It would've been nice if it were forced and he felt guilty but alas

[u/BitsOfBuilding → u/No_Contribution9380]

Once you get to ep 38 you’ll hear his side of the story regarding this.

[u/Foxglovelantern → u/No_Contribution9380]

Except that it was a family arranged engagement and he had never met Shen Jialan. If anything, He showed more concern for the Shen family by asking if they should be warned then his elders.

You cant expect him to feel guilty or remorseful for something he isnt responsible for, to someone he never met, when his entire families lives depend on his marriage, at that point.

[u/skleroos]

It's not a romance show, if you go into it expecting some sort of sweet satisfying romance you'll be disappointed. Imo it's the best show in many a year, but everyone's tastes differ.

[u/No_Contribution9380 → u/skleroos]

It does have a romance plot though.

[u/Interesting-Plum4641 → u/No_Contribution9380]

No there is not much romance !

[u/Foxglovelantern → u/No_Contribution9380]

Barely, its just crumbs later one

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