REVIEW: Be Loved In House: I Do

Be Loved In House: I Do, aired 5/20/21 - 7/29/21 on Thursdays, 12 episodes + 1 special episode aired 8/5/21; SETTV Taiwan, also on Viki, and Netflix Taiwan. Producing company: Sanlih E-Television. Directed by Chiang Ping-Chen. IG: @belovedinhouse 

CAST: (main cast)

Hank Wang as Shi Lei (IG @ballhank )

Aaron Lai as Jin Yu Zhen (IG @aaron_lai_224 )

Liao Wei Po as Yan Zhou Gang (IG @weipo_liao )

Yu Jie En as Wu Si Qi (IG @jnsocool )

Yao Mi as Bai Xiao Qian (IG @yaomi_fairy )

Cheng Xi Teng as Wang Jing (IG @twn_stanc )

Deyn Li as Yi Zi Tong (IG @deny_li )

SPOILER WARNING! This review contains  spoilers, DO NOT READ if you do not want spoilers.

Summary: (from http: My Drama List . com )

"Founded about 10 years ago, Seisei Studio is in danger of going bankrupt before Jin Yu Zhen, a person who excels in management, appears and he becomes the new director. On the first day of his directorship, the atmosphere of the studio changed completely when he enforces a single rule which prohibits romantic relationships and marriages between employees, and the violation of the rule resulted in a dismissal. To abolish the rule, the employees of Seisei Studio collude with a secret plan.

Shi Lei, an employee, approaches Yu Zhen to snoop for information about the love life of this domineering director. As a result of various encounters, he finds out that the tyrant director is still hurt from a past relationship and is suffering from loneliness. Knowing that he still possesses a heart, Shi Lei becomes curious about Yu Zhen."

MY REVIEW:

I binge watched Be Loved In House: I Do in one day. It is a light-hearted romance with some surprise twists, but nothing terribly deep or overly emotional. It is a feel-good show, whose main plot conflict is the main couple (Shi Lei and Jin Yu Zhen) admitting they have romantic feelings for each other. There is also a coming out element, as Shi Lei (played by Hank Wang) does come out to his mother during the story, although it is unclear if Jin Yu Zhen (played by Aaron Lai) is the first man he has been attracted to. It is made clear through conversations with the other characters that Lei has "always failed" with girls because he can't ever confess his feelings to them, but that also appears to be the main problem when he likes a man, too, so who knows? It is largely unimportant to the story. 

The entirety of the story between the two main characters seems to hinge on them getting romantically involved very early on, then dragging out the actual admission of feelings for 12 episodes due to a slowly unfolding drama where we find out that Jin Yu Zhen had his heart broken in a very traumatic way, which has resulted in him being cold, withdrawn and emotionally isolated. At the same time, Shi Lei first comes into the picture as an adversary. It is not your typical enemies-to-lovers story, but certainly uses that dynamic, mostly to generate a sexual undercurrent between the two main characters, which it does. 

The two end up getting together after Jin Yu Zhen's ex-lover Yi Zi Tong (played by Deyn Li) shows up and plays both sides against the middle. He first appears to have returned to rekindle the old affair with Jin Yu Zhen, and then makes a full pivot to seemingly romancing Shi Lei. This is the final straw for Jin Yu Zhen who chases them down and confesses his love to Shi Lei in a very public way, and we discover that it was all a plot by Yi Zi Tong to repair the damage he did all those years ago. He came back intending to get back with Jin Yu Zhen but upon discovering that real love already existed between him and Shi Lei, he shifts focus to making Jin Yu Zhen so jealous that he can't help but confess. 

Both of the main characters are under continual pressure from the supporting cast to admit their feelings to each other. Shi Lei's mother Lan Juan (played by Lotus Wang) immediately sees the attraction and provides several episodes worth of standard-fare comic relief pushing them at each other. And, much of the rest of the supporting cast know the two have feelings for someone, if not exactly who, and are egging them on non-stop to just do it, stop being so afraid and take a chance. 

In contrast, the secondary couple have no problem getting together. Also uncommon for a BL, the second couple developed first, in fact well before the main couple. Gang (played by Lia Wei Po) and Si Qi (played by Yu Jie En) appear to have some kind of existing flirtation from the start of the show and their relationship starts up in earnest by the 2nd or 3rd episode. Also, the only  actual "I do," said in the story is by Gang, when Si Qi proposes to him in Ep. 12. 

Unlike several BLs I have watched lately that have me mopping up tears by the gallon, 'Be Loved In House' only made me cry twice: the first time when Shi Lei comes out to his mother, because of the emotional scene between them, and the second time when Si Qi proposes to Gang. 

Another thing unlike the bulk of BLs is that 'Be Loved In House' does not take place at a university. Amazing, I know. Some of the characters are friends since college, but you never see them on campus (even the ones who are still in school) or in a university uniform or at a football match or campus booster. It's quite refreshing. Also missing are the campy, overdone gay background characters (caricatures...) fawning over the main couple and the clueless girls throwing themselves at the main couple, and acting heartbroken when the guy they liked for 5 minutes turns out to be gay. I don't miss either of those fairly offensive tropes, and you won't, either. 

There is little to be critical of from this series. A few minor plot holes that don't affect the story very much and some hard-to-believe (if it were real life) dilemmas that are used to push the narrative about the main couple being in denial about their feelings are the only things worth mentioning, but they are not annoying enough to warrant any detailed complaining. As I say in the beginning, this is a lighthearted, feel-good TV series, so don't be expecting any deep social commentaries, or dark problems or any major revelations by the characters. It's a cute love story with a creative twist. Even the premise ends up being more believable than it seems at first. And, the frosting on top of the whole cake of course is the stunningly gorgeous cast. Everyone in this series is hot (seems to be a theme particularly in Taiwanese BLs.) 

Overall, 4.5 of 5 stars.