Lesson In Love (2023)

ProfileTitle: 第9節課
English title: Lesson in Love
Genre: Romance, youth
Episodes: 12
Broadcast network: iQiyi, EBC
Broadcast period:
2022-Dec-11 to 2023-Jan-08 (iQiyi)
2022-Dec-11 to 2023-Jan-15 (EBC)
Air time: 12:30 (iQiyi), 20:00 (EBC)Country: Taiwan Language: Mandarin

Plot: A forbidden love between a high school student and his teacher results in secrets being revealed about the past, and a stalker that threatens the relationship and their lives.

Main Cast
Tiffany Hsu – Chen Meng Yun
Edward Chen – Zheng Yi Xiang
Simon Hsueh – Li Da Wei
Ivy Yin – Xie Shu Fen

Review
Thought i’m open minded when it comes to relationships but this one really tested me!

The drama was addicting because the topic is taboo and there were a lot of twists along the way. The first 6 eps weren’t easy to watch and I wasn’t sure why I was still watching. Not because it was bad, but because I was uneasy seeing a high school guy bullying his teacher and also harassing her to like him, while the teacher wasn’t doing anything to stop his advances and seems like she liked it too! Ep 7-9 made me feel uncomfortable coz I thought although it’s not a crime to fall in love, it felt too inappropriate for the teacher to fall in love with a high school student. Couldn’t they have waited until he graduated before they started anything? Ep 10-12 added a stalker storyline to already stressful events, which I thought wasn’t really needed.

To be honest, it’s tough to like the couple, Mengyun and Yixiang given the circumstances. But I admire them for fighting for what they want. If I were Mengyun’s friend, I would have told her to stop or wait, instead of her nurse friend who was even egging her to snag the hot young blood. Are they really teachers??? I also didn’t feel any passion in all their steamy scenes because I look at the guy and all I see is him wearing his high school uniform in every scene, reminding us that he is still a boy. And an adult should not be messing around with a kid!!! But later on, his father telling his son that he was ok with the relationship also made me think. He’s right, the more they try to stop them, the more the kid will rebel. And it’s better to accept them so they won’t further hide what they were doing and they can monitor their relationship.

However, I didn’t like the way Mengyun was written. From the start her decisions and actions have been terrible. We don’t always know what she is thinking or feeling because she has one expression. What did she like about Yixiang? He was bullying her, humiliating her in front of the class, almost sexually harassing her, and she kept telling the other teachers that it wasn’t like that, he wasn’t harassing her etc. Maybe it’s really true what they say. If you don’t like the person, he/she is a stalker, but if you like the person, it was sweet and romantic! And then just because he had a puppy love, he starting cleaning up his act, walking her home, going on cute dates, she easily fell in love. If she didn’t find out that they could be potentially siblings, she probably wouldn’t even stop to think what am I doing with a kid when all my friends are getting married and having kids? I really can’t imagine, but hey she seems happy so be it. But she should have resigned even before it became public because it was really unethical. Another thing is I get that she is angry and wants revenge from Yixiang’s mom, but if you look at it reasonably, the mom was an adult when she started the affair with the dad (not that it excuses her actions), but you don’t get revenge by doing the same thing to a kid. She knew the trauma she kept all these years, and if it turned out badly, Yixing could also be scarred and traumatized by her too!

I really hated the mom at the start but in the end, I actually liked her even more than the FL. She had the most growth in the drama. Still doesn’t excuse all the bad things she did and I understood she tried to protect her son from an adult trying to get her revenge and hurt her son. if I had a child and he was having an affair with the teacher, I probably would also try to stop it from happening too. But not the lying and trying to get the teacher fired through power abuse. Or on second thought, maybe I would be the cool mom and say, okay you can date after you graduate from high school. But do not get her pregnant now. Oh and also if the teacher is younger than me!! i can’t have a daughter/son in law older than me! lol!

The whole stalker thing was unnecessary and obvious but can’t believe they didn’t figure it out! Probably because they were too busy with themselves. When Dawei showed up in her hometown just as she was taking her vacation, it was too creepy and Mengyun should have seen all the red flags!!! Also, I didn’t like that the ending was written in a way that they’re forced to forgive or sweep everything under the rug after the stalker. Like thank you, my son almost died but you saved him and for that I will accept you as my son’s girlfriend. I think without the accident, the mom would still be fighting with her son and be totally against Mengyun, which I think is more realistic than showing all is well after 6 years. Also, I’m sad that it seemed like Mengyun ended up being a stay at home wife/girlfriend (not that it’s bad) but I wished they showed her still being confident and successful despite the initial scandal. She literally took what Yixiang said that he will protect her and support her if she waits for him.

Rating: 7.5/10

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