Guys with Kids, a checklist of annoying tropes, frustrating characters
Have you ever watched a show so terrible you were compelled to actually write about it? This was that show for me. Guys with Kids (奶爸当家) was relentlessly, unmittigatingly, thoroughly frustrating from the get-go. The urge to share how dreadful it was, was so strong that I actually created a MyDramaList account just to pen this review.
I’ve never encountered a drama with such an astonishingly frustrating cast of characters who also embodied a checklist of bad tropes. It adopted all of the worst and most annoying plot devices and developments found in the Asian drama library and cranked them up to 10:
Crazy=Evil
Evil Stepmother
Noble Idiocy
Love Quandragles
Redemption Arcs
Unrequited Obsessive “Love”
(Not an annoying trope, but yes, there are multiple Hospital Stays too!)
No wonder it was shelved for six years before being finally released, presumably on the heels of Luo Yunxi’s success with Love is Sweet. His character here was among the very few I did not want to constantly shake some sense into or curse with a string of expletives.
You may wonder at this point, what is wrong with me that I would waste 42 episodes of my (genuinely precious) time on something I thought was this ghastly. Good question! I wondered myself! All I can say is that —
a) this show definitely became a bit of an entertaining “background” hate-watch.
b) it got less annoying for a while about halfway through — before it got annoying again and then unintentionally ridiculous and silly in the home stretch.
c) I was compelled to keep watching in part to find out how every thing played out — and I was secretly hoping for a modestly satisfying payoff at the end at least.
d) it seemed like the best way to alleviate my frustrations was to see every unnecessary secret revealed, every misunderstanding resolved, every secret noble gesture unveiled, every stupidity exposed, and every terrible personality get their just desserts. I knew the last one would be a pretty tall order because of the C-drama penchant (or should I say, regulatory authority’s “preference”?) to write redemption arcs for some of the worst characters, no matter how implausible or illogical.
e) I will try to never to do this again.
So here’s my take, broken down by character. Fair warning: this might get a bit spoilery.
ALL CHARACTERS
Allow me to list some of the most ridiculous elements of the drama (with only the slightest hyperbole):
Everyone was in non-stop crisis mode
Nearly everyone kept WILLFULLY MISUNDERSTANDING AND READING THE WORST INTO EVERY SITUATION. So much bad faith.
Nearly everyone stupidly believed the lies told by people they barely knew about those closest to them. Where is the trust?
Nearly everyone had zero financial sense. The amount of money being borrowed and stolen and lost and loaned felt pretty ridiculous.
Everyone parroted or echoed each other whenever they were agitated as a group. I think maybe it was meant to imitate slapstick humour, but it was … vicariously embarrassing?
Male Lead (Gao Han): PUSHOVER ALERT. I’ve never seen a lead so obsequious, self-effacing, and apologetic about everything to everyone. A “bà dào” (霸道) executive he was most definitely not! (Not that I’m a fan of that trope either :P) He is extremely kind, too generous, too patient — definitely to a fault. There were so many instances where he really needed to stand up for himself, especially to his ex-wife and … he didn’t. The frustration level is high. I have also never watched a drama with a main character more bedeviled by terrible timing and worse luck: the way he lost custody of his daughter, missed out on a huge career opportunity, simultaneously lost both jobs, sacrificed amazing job offers, and took on other people’s debt only for a con artist to take the credit, are just a few examples.
The ML character alone could be enough to quit the show.
But wait. Just like a bad TV infomercial — there’s more!
Female Lead (Shan Shan): The female lead was equally frustrating in her legal and business dealings. She had little basic common sense and zero skills for reading people (both good and bad). She was duped into signing away her family company without reading a single word, trusted several con artists, got scammed a quarter million yuan, borrowed an exorbitant sum from a lender. And this was just the tip of the iceberg! Frustratingly, she also lacked faith in the ML’s character, believing the worst of him despite everything he did for her (buying back her priceless necklace, lending her money, saving her life, and taking on her debt, even though she didn’t clue in for the longest time).
Second Female Lead (Ma Xiaohong): At first, she seemed like the classic stalker who wanted someone who didn’t love her back, but she really ended up being one of the least frustrating characters — smart, sensible, kind, generous, and pretty kick-ass.
Second Male Lead (Yu Bo): Along with the 2FL, Luo Yunxi’s character and the girl who liked him (Kang Qian) were by far the most sensible people in the entire drama. But even they had their stupid moments, especially when it came to not communicating with those closest to them. Yu Bo was also among the idiots manipulated into believing the worst of the ML despite everything the ML did for him, including buying his motorcycle back, lending money and even saving his life! Thankfully, at least he ended up with the right girl.
Third Male Lead (Wang Dongyang): I believe he was supposed to be the goofball, “slapstick” comedic foil in Guys with Kids. Instead, most of the time he simply came across as an incredibly selfish and self-centered jerk who absolutely did not deserve the amazing girl from his hometown who loved him. He saved the gang once, but the rest of the time, his actions just ended up causing a chain reaction of negative consequences for those around him. Stealing a credit card for the ex-wife basically resulted in the ML and 2ML almost getting killed, for example. Ma Xiaohong was just far, far too good for him. His selfishness knew no bounds and got extremely tiresome especially when he only thought of himself whenever something bad happened to the group. Did I mention, he did not deserve Ma Xiaohong? (I may have written some variation of that almost a half a dozen times in my show notes.)
The Baby: Poor kid. He often looked like he was on the verge of tears or outright crying. He was great at pushing people’s faces away and occasionally offered up an appropriately-timed smirk, which were perfect for a lot of the scenes. Also, contrary to the English title, there is only one kid. (For those who wondered, his multiracial appearance is explained or alluded to in a throwaway line near the end of the drama.)
The Obsessed Classmate: She embodied three of my least favourite tropes — an evil character who a) was portrayed as a little “crazy”, b) was determined to have the person they “loved” no matter what the other person wanted, and c) got a redemption arc through a dramatic and sudden 180 change of heart that belied her decades of effort to finally ensnare the ML. The way they filmed some of her scenes were hilariously over-the-top melodramatic and super corny. You could almost hear the “duh duh dun” in the background. I’m sure viewers were not meant to laugh, but the “dog’s blood” factor was pretty high.
The Ex-Wife: I could not staaaaaaaaannnnd her. She was awful in every way: greedy and grasping (even at the expense of someone else’s life-saving medical treatment), incredibly manipulative, and completely illogical. She also used her daughter against her ex-husband, who loved his daughter but was too critical of himself to think he deserved to even fight for her. Of course, this drama would not be complete without giving the ex-wife her own Redemption Arc too! Because, why not. She turned into a completely different person around episode 35. Like the other Redemption Arc involving the Obsessed Classmate, the sudden change and the Grand Gesture she made were completely inconsistent with the character’s personality.
(I should note here that I am not a fan of the way the drama portrayed nearly every older female character as grasping, conniving and manipulative.)
OVERALL
Guys with Kids came across like it was meant to be a slapstick romantic comedy, especially with the third “pairing”, but like so many Chinese dramas that start off as light comedies, it veered into melodrama territory by the final third of the show.
I don’t know if I simply started rolling with it by episode 18 or 19 (everyone still did stupid things and were terrible communicators) or if things actually settled down, but there were fewer annoying moments it seemed — for at least about 10 episodes before my eyes started rolling and my teeth started clenching again. 😂😅
For all its terribleness, I did end up grinning and snort-laughing a fair bit at the ridiculous scenarios, bad dialogue, and the makjang/dog’s blood plot twists. So there you go! Unless all this sounds like your cup of tea, you’ve been adequately warned.
(For those wondering, as of this writing, there are no English subs available yet that I’m aware of.)