Sneha Jaiswal (Twitter | Instagram)

Adapted from the novel “A Round Trip to Love” (双程) by Lan Lin, the 12-episode series ‘Double Helix’ stars Ayden Sng as Lu Feng, the heir to a business empire, madly in love with his high-school friend Xiao Chen (Lu Si Tong). Despite unsure at first, Xiao Chen eventually reciprocates Lu Feng’s affection and the two start dating, quite happily for a while, until an unfortunate turn of events tears them apart.

Lu Feng is packed off to the U.S by his irate, homophobic dad, while Xiao Chen also faces backlash from his family over the relationship. After a few years, the lovers reunite, only to be faced with more challenges and suffering. Some of which is simply because they refuse to communicate like the working adults they are. Although Xiao Chen’s younger brother Cheng Yi Chen (He Jia Shu) also causes some misunderstandings between the lovers and never owns up to it.

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The first episodes of ‘Double Helix’ are highly entertaining, thanks to the chemistry between lead stars Ayden Sng and Lu Si Tong, as well as the sweet, light-hearted romance that blossoms between their characters, at first. Flashbacks reveal Lu Feng’s instant attraction to Xiao Chen during their school days, prompting him to befriend his crush and spend as much time with him as possible, gradually weaving himself into Xiao Chen’s free time, thoughts, and eventually, his body.

As ‘Double Helix’ follows Lu Feng and Xiao Chen’s relationship across more than a decade, Ayden Sng proves riveting in every phase of his character’s journey, ranging from a sweet, tender boyfriend, to an obsessive, scary ex. Even though he’s far from believable as a teenager in the flashbacks, he makes it work by tapping into the awkward sweetness and youthful innocence of someone hopelessly smitten for the first time. As an older, more calculating Lu Feng, however, Sng is downright terrifying, bringing an intimidating edge to the character and playing the obsessive lover to perfection.

Unfortunately, the same can’t be said for the couple’s overall relationship arc. As the series progresses, their story becomes increasingly convoluted, not because of the characters themselves, but because the writers keep introducing frustrating twists and contrivances to keep an obviously-in-love couple apart.

For instance, I suspended my disbelief when Lu Feng and Xiao Chen lost touch after Lu Feng moved to another country, despite having access to phones, email, and the internet. After all, romances often require a little narrative convenience. But it’s just comical that Lu Feng chooses to write letters to his boyfriend for years, instead of finding a mutual friend to pass along a message or using any of the countless ways people communicate across borders.

And despite making several tweaks to the original source material, the writers of ‘Double Helix’ never convincingly explain why little brother Yi Chen is so opposed to Lu Feng, even after getting a boyfriend himself. Since the brothers are shown to be incredibly close, you’d expect them to eventually sit down and clear up their misunderstandings. But nope, ‘Double Helix’ follows its own melodramatic logic instead.

Lu Si Tong is saddled with a very “damsel in distress” type of character in Xiao Chen. He is adorable during the lighter moments of ‘Double Helix’, and after his first breakup with Lu Feng, he convincingly portrays a young man who is utterly devastated by heartbreak and unable to move on. All of that is perfectly fine, but Xiao Chen rarely stands up for himself and spends much of the series letting the people around him push him around, whether it’s Lu Feng, his brother, or his mother.

While I did finish watching the show to see how things end, ‘Double Helix’ was a total train wreck after episode six. And a smaller sub-plot following the romance between Xiao Chen’s brother and his boss Fa Xuan Ge (Qin Lang) is very half-baked. Qin Lang makes for an attractive lead, even has great chemistry with He Jia Shu, but the character has no personality, besides being the eye-candy boyfriend.

By the final stretch of ‘Double Helix’, Lu Feng has fully embraced his obsessive side, a man deeply scarred by years of abuse at the hands of his father and the repeated setbacks he experiences in love. Furious that Xiao Chen has chosen his family over him and walked away for a second time, he becomes consumed by the need for revenge, holding Xiao Chen captive and manipulating him both emotionally and physically.

The tragedy is that Xiao Chen never truly stops loving him, which is why he tolerates far more than he should. Thankfully, Ayden Sng is phenomenal throughout these darker chapters, portraying Lu Feng as both a terrifying villain and a wounded lover whose feelings for Xiao Chen never completely disappear.

By the final stretch of ‘Double Helix’, Lu Feng fully embraces his obsessive side. Furious that Xiao Chen has chosen his family over him and walked away for a second time, he becomes consumed by the need for revenge, holding Xiao Chen captive and manipulating him both emotionally and physically. The tragedy is that Xiao Chen never truly stops loving him, which is why he tolerates far more than he should. Thankfully, Ayden Sng is phenomenal throughout these darker chapters, portraying Lu Feng as both a terrifying villain and a wounded lover whose feelings for Xiao Chen never completely disappear.

Which brings me back to the question I posed at the beginning of this review: does Lu Feng earn redemption? Not really. The series attempts to soften his actions by revealing that he suffers from a severe mental illness, one serious enough to require hospitalization. But instead of allowing the character to genuinely confront the damage he has caused, the writers continue piling on increasingly absurd melodrama, with Xiao Chen threatening to leave him (and even asking Lu Feng to kill him) as a way of convincing him to seek treatment. By this point, both men are already in their thirties, yet they still seem incapable of having an honest conversation.

While the original novel reportedly ends on a far more ambiguous note, one that doesn’t necessarily suggest a happily-ever-after, ‘Double Helix’ opts for a sweeter and far more decisive conclusion. It’s a hopeful ending, certainly, but not an earned one.

Double Helix is available on GagaOolala and Viki.

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