I really enjoyed the beginning episodes of Romance on the Farm. It was overall a good, generally lighthearted show. I enjoyed many of the characters and the great performances. The scenes on the farm where the actors are working in the fields were very well done and that could have made for a lovely, healing show. Many of us are starved of such open endless rich natural surroundings, so watching this drama on farming was truly heartwarming. The vegetables, the greens- they were fresh and the lush green fields were beautiful. There was a family, which at least for the female lead that had entered this game world, here was a chance at being loved and belonging. Everything seemed just right.

Yet, the show is a spectacular example of not being self-aware. Is it a romance? Is it about family? Is it about rural politics? Is it about all of these?

This could have been a great show. There was potential and in the beginning there was the momentum. The ordinary life of farmers, the loving and not-so-loving family members. The bride burning and the selling of family members. Miscarriages. Irresponsible brothers, fathers, mothers, cousins, nieces that are incapable of understanding the suffering they inflict upon another member of their family. It’s only when they are faced with external suffering that they spring back to more acceptable versions of themselves. Family is family- no matter how horrible (and toxic) they have been and how much injustice has been inflicted.

That being said, the scenes of this highly strange and interesting family were in many ways realistic. This show was perhaps trying to describe too many things and ended up not being able to stick to anything. I would have liked the show to either get rid of the gaming concept or explore the complexities of virtual reality/gaming and the desire for belongingness, which evidently is crucial to the female lead’s story and yet goes unexplored. There are so many possible philosophical explorations of this situation but the show never ventures there.

The last five or six episodes were quite tedious to watch. There was far too much unnecessary political drama. The worst part was when events are reversed rendering them meaningless. Case in point: the family being forced to leave their land and the grandfather’s bowing to the land was a touching moment ruined by the swift return as though nothing happened. The worst of these is when death itself is reversed. Yes we see that on xianxias where the logic is different, but what purpose did the weeping and desperation of the characters serve when everything was reversed anyway*

So for me, these are glaringly annoying negatives: no clear overarching plot; the gaming part was undeveloped, and a weak last arc. Transmigration themes are getting outdated.

Should you watch it? Yes, it is still an enjoyable show with very good performances. I enjoyed Tian Xiwei’s character and her performance- she played a strong female character that gets things done and that was highly enjoyable. Zeng Shunxi was very good too and their chemistry really worked. The supporting characters were very good too, making us love some of them and hate the others. 8.25/10 for me.