Revenged Love Series Review: Snakes, Scheming, & RomCom Hilarity
Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)
Nothing mends a broken heart like vengeance or new love, and in ‘Revenged Love’, the protagonist gets two birds in one shot. When somebody is brutally dumped in a romantic comedy, the traditional way of revenge is to fake date someone hotter to make the ex-partner jealous, but in Chinese series ‘Revenged Love’ (逆爱), the protagonist Wu Suo Wei (played by Zi Yu) decides to steal his girlfriend’s new boyfriend Chi Cheng (Tian Xu Ning). Things get comedic when they fall for each other for real.
Directed by Gong Yu Shi, ‘Revenged Love‘ spans 24 episodes and is based on the novel ‘Counter Attack‘ by Chai Ji Dan, the same author behind the 2016 hit series Addicted, which was banned by the Chinese government for refusing to dilute its gay romance into a tame bromance. Fans will be relieved to find that ‘Revenged Love‘ isn’t wishy-washy when it comes to the sexuality of its primary characters. The plot follows Wu Suo Wei and his hilarious plan to seduce the wealthy Chi Cheng (Tian Xu Ning), who is dating Suo Wei’s gold-digging ex, Yue Yue (Sun Qian Yu), but is known to prefer men. In fact, Chi Cheng’s order of preferences seems to be: pet snakes > men > women.
Suo Wei turns to his newly found gay doctor friend Jiang Xiao Shuai (Liu Xuan Cheng) to teach him the art of attracting men and the two come with a whole bunch of funny ideas to win over Chi Cheng. In a twist, Xiao Shuai is aggressively pursued by wealthy playboy Guo Cheng Yu (Zhan Xuan), a close friend of Chi Cheng. Yeah, the plot is a familiar combination of co-incidences, trickery, silliness and delivers some exaggerated yet entertaining drama, generously laden with comedic moments.
From staging constant “accidental” meetings, fake-reading complicated literature, and playing basketball, to smoking cigarettes, pretending to love classical music, and even learning to breed snakes, Wu Suo Wei tries every trick in the book to catch Chi Cheng’s attention. The first few episodes of ‘Revenged Love’ are all about the ‘chasing’ game, where Sun Qian Yu’s Yue Yue (Suo Wei’s ex-girlfriend) is reduced to caricatured ‘gold digger’. While Suo Wei romance hurtles at a good speed, the secondary storyline following Cheng Yu’s efforts to win over Doctor Xiao Shuai is a lot slow-burn in nature. The snakes in the show serve as strong supporting character, although they progressively appear less and less.
While Zi Yu is comically cute as ‘Revenged Love’ protagonist Suo Wei, Tian Xu Ning is pitch-perfect as the fiendishly good-looking Chi Cheng and reminded me of Japanese actor Ito Asahi from ‘Futtara Doshaburi’. Their onscreen chemistry is fun to watch, especially in the first few episodes of the show, where Suo Wei often experiences ‘gay panic’ around Chi Cheng, while the latter often looks like he would devour Suo Wei in one bite. Tian Xu Ning suavely portrays Cheng’s dual personality, cool as a cucumber on the outside, but a maniac on the inside. He has ‘crazy in love’ eyes and often unsettles Suo Wei by blatantly flirting with him, which includes sending sleazy texts and memes.
Just like drag queens have fairy godmothers, Liu Xuan Cheng, who plays Doctor Xiao Shuai, is like Suo Wei’s gay godmother in ‘Revenged Love’, inducting him into the world of queer love and sex. Xiao Shuai has a flirty and feisty personality, although later episodes reveal he has a lot of emotional baggage due to an abusive boyfriend. Guo Cheng Yu’s character is probably the most under-developed in the series, although actor Zhan Xuan potrays him with a Don Juan-like flair: he is sexy, seductive, and has great onscreen presence. In-fact, there’s a lot of sexual tension between Zhan Xuan’s Cheng Yu and Xu Ning’s Chi Cheng, which works well for the series, because Xiao Shuai suspects the two might be more than friends.
If there’s one glaring problem with “Revenged Love“, it’s the weird dubbing. It’s evident that several actors in the cast have not done their own voiceovers. While this is fairly standard in the Chinese industry, it can be quite distracting for foreign viewers. This problem persists for many episodes in the show, but at least the background score is engaging, featuring a few catchy English tracks that elevate scenes. Although, some sections could’ve benefited from more music.
The first 13–14 episodes of “Revenged Love” are briskly paced and engaging, but the direction in the second half shifts noticeably, becoming choppier. Plot-wise, fresh complications arise that test Suo Wei and Chi Cheng’s romance, even though they’re already committed boyfriends by mid-series, complete with Chi Cheng affectionately calling him “Wei Wei.”
Actor Liu Jun plays Chi Cheng’s legendary ex-boyfriend Wang Shuo, who enters the show in the second-half, stirring up jealousy and trouble between the lead pair. And despite his late entry, Liu Jun holds his own as the unpredictable, emotionally unstable, scheming ex-boyfriend. In the few scenes he shares with Tian Xu Ning’s Chi Cheng, the tension between them is palpable. There’s a love-hate gaze they exchange that makes their shared history as lovers believable and Wei Wei’s insecurities understandable.
In the latter half of ‘Revenged Love‘, the drama piles on, not just with the clichéd “ex-boyfriend” trope, but also a “sick parent” twist. Wei Wei’s mother, Li Ya (Qin Yue), faces a health crisis, and in a surprising turn, it’s Chi Cheng who rushes her to the hospital. She makes him promise to keep her illness from Wei Wei, sparking a chain of miscommunication and misunderstandings between the boyfriends. Even so, the show maintains an amusing balance between seriousness and comedy.
ian Xu Ning and Zi Yu are the stand-out stars of the show, with both their characters undergoing significant growth. They each start out as immature, hot-headed individuals. Tian Xu Ning’s Chi Cheng sees the most transformation, starting out as a blazing “red flag”: promiscuous, unreliable, moody, overly impulsive, self-centered, and obsessed with snakes. However, by the end of the show, his love for boyfriend Wei Wei outweighs everything, even his inflated ego.
Overall, ‘Revenged Love’ is fun, chaotic, and a pretty entertaining adaptation for BL fans who are tired of censored Chinese adaptations. The last few episodes suffer from sloppy editing and a rushed pace, but it’s still worth a watch.
Watch ‘Revenged Love’ on Viki or YouTube.
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