Capture Lover (Chinese Series) [Love Trap]

China hasn't done many BL series. We can count them on our fingers easily, so naturally when I heard of this show, Iw as keen to see it. Although, timely sense prevailed and I kept my expectations extremely low, just in case. The show was clearly shot during covid days likely because you don't see any single person in big buildings and offices and homes besides the actors acting. The show has 10 episodes of about 16-18 minutes and is an easy watch.

This drama tells the story of Ding Junjie, the deputy general manager of a cosmetics company, and Ying Jiaming, the son of the cynical chairman of the board. Ying is always sleeping and his boss Junjie is always at his case, without realizing who he is. Things turn when Ying becomes his boss but Ying continues his playfulness, almost annoying Junjie. One day, to get rid of her possessive ex-girlfriend Ying introduces junjie as his boyfriend and request him to play gay with him. Things take a turn from there. Clearly Ying is too much into him but Junjie is not very sure given he has a career and a girlfriend and a very protective mother. But Ying is relentless and eventually you see Junjie also start to have feelings. The ex girlfriend tries to take revenge on the lovers with a very badly executed kidnapping episode but in vain. After this episode th mother finds out about the boys and their relationship and she puts her foot down asking her son to not meet Ying again otherwise what will society say. But eventually th boys decide that its their life. They both quit their jobs and move to a small town to be together.

As you can imagine, BL series in China is still probably not allowed, so this series was released on an online platform outside the country. That aside, the production quality was quite low of the show. It almost felt like a glorified school project. The two lead actors are both easy on the eyes and acted quite decent, although the same cannot be said about this paper thin plot. The series have all kinds of cliches. The rich, somewhat rebellious hunk, the poor guy who succeeded through hard work. The mother who puts pressure. The nasty ex girlfriend really nasty. The best friend in love but ultimately too much but none of these really go anywhere. The series was below average, but you know what, I still didn't feel like I couldn't stand it. Thanks to the endearing chemistry of the leads, who made this show at least bearable. There were some wtf scenes like the whole kidnapping episodes or the mother's over melodrama in the end. Only seen I found funny was when the mother and Ying drink together. Oh and I almost forgot to mention, there is a scene with a dick shaped cake when Ying tries to prank on Junjie in the beginning. Anyway, it's almost just plan average series, nothing memorable, but am glad that despite all sorts of restrictions in the country, someone is trying to come up with stories in the genre. (4.5/10)