LayarHijau – The latest Chinese romantic drama, Never-Ending Summer (炽夏), starring Zhou Keyu and Bao Shang’en, has officially aired its final episode. Since the beginning of its broadcast, this drama has been a hot topic of discussion among viewers because its adaptation from the original novel was far from expectations. This is reflected in its score on the Douban review platform, which started at 5.1 in the first half of its run and gradually dropped to 4.8, making it one of the lowest-rated modern romance dramas of the year.
(Spoiler Alert: This article contains spoilers for the drama Never-Ending Summer up to the final episode. Please read with discretion.)
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Entering the final episode, the plot once again left viewers stunned. The character Zhou Wan (played by Bao Shang’en) is kidnapped inside an elevator. When the male lead, played by Zhou Keyu, checks the building’s CCTV footage, he sees that all the perpetrators are wearing masks, except for the mastermind, who is easily recognized by him. Instead of successfully rescuing the woman, Zhou Keyu, who came to negotiate, ends up getting kidnapped by the perpetrators as well.
The situation becomes even more illogical when Bao Shang’en manages to free herself. With her petite physique, she is able to take down a burly kidnapper just by pulling his neck. Not stopping there, she hits his waist and pulls his hair, knocking him down for the second time. Uniquely, every time the kidnapper is knocked down, the two main leads are busy clinging to each other and acting affectionately. When the kidnapper gets up for the third time, the second male lead, Zhao Yingbo, suddenly appears without any clear background explanation and knocks the kidnapper out cold. Many viewers on Weibo joked that the second male lead only serves as a ‘rescue tool’ to end the endless fight.
Not stopping there, the closing scene gets even more unique. Zhou Keyu is seen cleaning an abandoned swimming pool at their high school, filling it with water, and stacking tables and chairs to create a high stage for a wedding. In the middle of the room where snow suddenly starts falling for no clear reason, Zhou Keyu and Bao Shang’en suddenly break the ‘fourth wall’ by staring directly at the camera. They take turns shouting, “Never-Ending Summer (炽夏)! Don’t know how many episodes? Final episode! We’re getting married!” After that, they both jump down, which is strongly suspected to be a scene of jumping into the swimming pool. This confusing action was immediately flooded with comments from Chinese netizens who called it a highly irresponsible and disappointing ending.
Previously, this drama often displayed infamous moments that have been widely discussed since the early episodes. It started with the scene where Zhou Keyu kicks a water pipe, soaking the entire school, which ironically makes Bao Shang’en fall in love. There is also the scene where they recklessly jump into an abandoned, bacteria-filled swimming pool to catch goldfish, to Bao Shang’en charging into a crowd of thugs using a low-powered electric scooter.
Other illogical moments include when Zhou Keyu brings Bao Shang’en to the train station, and when asked about their destination, he replies, “Don’t know, let’s see the snow,” which is then followed by snow suddenly falling inside the station. Even when trying to prevent a supporting female character from committing suicide by jumping, they end up holding hands and romantically falling together. The plot, which is considered to ignore logic for the sake of visual aesthetics, has made many viewers in China increasingly disappointed.
Due to the adaptation being far from the original source and the plot being deemed bizarre, the popularity of Never-Ending Summer (炽夏) has continued to plummet, losing out to the drama in the same time slot, Love Has Fireworks (爱情有烟火), starring Wang Churan and Tan Jianci.
The screenwriters of Never-Ending Summer (炽夏), namely Gao Jiaqi, Tong Shuangshuang, and Cui Xiaotong, are now widely nominated for the “Worst Screenwriter of the Year” in discussions among Chinese netizens. They are listed alongside the screenwriters of other dramas such as Rebirth (冰湖重生), The Legend of Rosy Clouds (云秀行), and Veil of Shadows (月鳞绮纪). It turns out that a plot written without logic will only leave a bad impression and cynical laughter in the hearts of the viewers.
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