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Episodes 5 & 6 of the Chinese series “Revenged Love” (逆爱) are already making fans glad the show is 24 episodes long. That’s a length that usually scares me in any genre, even horror (my favorite), although I’ve never seen a horror series that long. Wait, does The Untamed count? Anyway… back to “Revenged Love”. So far, the show is proving to be a total ‘guilty pleasure’ for BL fans. It’s hilariously wacky, following protagonist Wu Suo Wei (Zi Yu) attempts to make hot playboy Chi Cheng (Tian Xu Ning) fall for him. While another sub-plot follows potential romance between Chi Cheng’s friend Guo Cheng Yu (Zhan Xuan) and Suo Wei’s agony-aunt Jiang Xiao Shuai (Liu Xuan Cheng).
Quick Recap of Revenged Love Episodes 1–4: Suo Wei decides to get back at his selfish, greedy ex-girlfriend Yu-Yue by seducing her wealthy new boyfriend, Chi Cheng, a snake freak, after discovering that he usually dates men. What Suo Wei doesn’t know is that Chi Cheng is only dating his ex to appease his parents and because his dad hides all his pet snakes to manipulate him into coming to work.
To pull off his wild plan, Suo Wei teams up with the cute gay doctor Xiao Shuai, to teach him the art of attracting men. The chaotic duo hatch one hare-brained scheme after another, like starting a snake business, to get closer to their target. Comedy ensues when Chi Cheng misreads every move as genuine affection and cranks up the flirting with saucy texts. Desperate not to blow his cover, Suo Wei pretends to have feelings he hasn’t actually developed, only to panic when Chi Cheng corners him for a confession and seals it with a kiss. Episode 4 ends with Suo Wei bolting home to regroup, having let the fake-love lie spiral way out of control, but he is still intent on making Chi Cheng break up with his girlfriend.
Episodes 5 ‘Revenged Love’ begins with Chi Cheng taking his girlfriend Yu-Yue to meet his parents; however, he shows zero interest in her, his mind on Suo Wei. As soon as he can get away, Chi Cheng tracks Suo Wei down and thus begins their hilarious romantic push-and-pull. And this time, Suo Wei is getting confused for real, and might be falling for the rich brat. The onscreen chemistry between lead actors Zi Yu and Tian Xu Ning is comically cute so far.
Tian Xu Ning is confidently seductive as Chi Cheng, even though seduction is supposed to be Suo Wei’s job in the story. Used to having people fawning over him and being subservient, Cheng clearly finds the chaotic Suo Wei’s clownish antics endearing and attractive. Zi Yu’s comic timing as Suo Wei is hilarious: from the way he gets easily rattled to how his actions increasingly make little sense for someone trying to steal his ex’s current boyfriend, it’s all too funny.
This time, “Revenged Love” highlights the stark differences between the personalities of the rich Chi Cheng and Yu-Yue. While Yu-Yue was grossed out by the locality Suo Wei lives in and didn’t even bother to enter his house, Chi Cheng shows no signs of snobbery during his visit and is completely at ease with everything. In Episode 6, viewers finally get to hear about Chi Cheng’s last serious ex-boyfriend from the horse’s mouth, as he surprisingly shares his past with Suo Wei, displaying a rarely seen vulnerable side, making things more serious between them. Who is falling for whom? It’s becoming more of a two-way street in “Revenged Love” now.
Meanwhile, a little twist reveals that Cheng Yu figures out the connection between Yu-Yue and Suo Wei. However, he decides to use this information to his advantage later. Cheng Yu, instead, is more interested in making Doctor Xiao Shuai date him. Liu Xuan Cheng is also comically charming as the gossip-loving gay doctor with a weakness for hot men. But there isn’t much progress in their romance yet, which is fine, because the primary focus remains on the lead couple of “Revenged Love”, who are entertaining as hell.
Episode six of ‘Revenged Love’ ends with Suo Wei and Xiao Shuai hatching yet another hair-brained plan to push Chi Cheng into dumping Yu-Yue, which involves the snakes and will have animal activists turning in their graves. That scheming duo is bringing on the laughs in the series, even if half the time their ideas make little sense. It will be fun to see how their new plot unfolds in the next episode.
You can watch ‘Revenged Love’ on YouTube.
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