Dearest — Chemistry So Good I Forgave the Clichés 😂
Dearest is exactly the type of drama that reminds me why I am perfectly capable of forgiving a cliché plot when the romance is good enough.
Was the story doing things I have seen before?
Absolutely.
Did I care?
Apparently not, because the chemistry was CRAZY. 😂
This drama knew exactly what kind of relationship it wanted to give us: passionate, devoted, emotionally secure, intense, sexy, and deeply loving.
And it WORKED.
The Chemistry Was CRAZY 🔥
There are dramas where people tell me the leads have chemistry and I am sitting there staring at the screen trying to locate it.
That was not a problem here.
The chemistry was obvious.
The kissing was good.
The physical affection was good.
The tension was good.
And yes, I am absolutely mentioning the shower kissing scene because HELLO. 😂
Then there was the under-the-table scene while she was working.
SIR.
She is trying to work. 😂
Those are exactly the kinds of scenes that make the relationship feel like an actual adult romance rather than two people standing three feet apart and occasionally telling us they love each other.
There is actual couple behavior here.
Kissing.
Touching.
Affection.
Comfort.
Trust.
Attraction.
THANK YOU.
They Actually Work as a Team ❤️
One of my favorite things about this couple is that they are not constantly fighting each other for the sake of creating drama.
They actually function like partners.
They work together.
They trust each other.
They protect each other.
Even when the plot gets ridiculous around them, the relationship itself feels emotionally secure.
That matters to me because I do not want a romance where every new piece of information causes somebody to storm away for five episodes.
Give me two people dealing with the insanity together.
Dearest did that.
NO, I Am Not Counting That as a Breakup
There is a major separation.
But this is NOT an emotional romantic breakup.
She believes he has been blown up and killed.
That is slightly different from:
“I am angry with you, so we are breaking up.” 😂
She still believes that he loved her.
Her feelings for him do not disappear.
There is no stupid cycle of:
love → misunderstanding → breakup → reconciliation → another misunderstanding → another breakup.
They are physically separated because she believes he is DEAD.
The relationship itself remains emotionally intact.
💚 NO ACTUAL ROMANTIC BREAKUP
💙 FORCED SEPARATION / PRESUMED DEATH
That distinction needs to remain clear everywhere on the site.
WAIT… THAT’S HER SISTER?! 😂
And then we have one of the crazier family twists.
The woman she believed was her mother turns out to actually be her sister.
WHAT.
They had not exactly had the warmest relationship before that reveal either.
But I actually liked what happened afterward.
Once the truth came out, their dynamic improved and they were able to work together.
Instead of dragging the reveal into another endless source of hostility, the drama let the relationship change.
I appreciated that.
The Plot Is Cliché… But It Is Still Good
I am not going to pretend Dearest reinvented television.
It did not. 😂
There are familiar twists.
Familiar dangers.
Familiar dramatic reveals.
Familiar romance-drama situations.
But cliché is not automatically bad.
A familiar story can still be extremely entertaining when:
- the pacing works
- the actors sell it
- the couple has chemistry
- the romance actually delivers
And this romance DELIVERED.
That is the difference.
The Ending
The main couple receives a clear satisfying outcome.
No ambiguous nonsense.
No “maybe they reunite in another lifetime.”
No staring at the sky while I am left to interpret symbolism.
They survive the chaos and the romance pays off.
😊 CLEAR HAPPY ENDING
Exactly what I wanted.
RELATIONSHIP MILESTONES
From Partners in Revenge to "I Thought You Were Dead": Relationship Timeline
Major spoilers ahead.
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Episode 3
She Makes the First Move
The female lead proactively kisses Jiang Yu.
The attraction is established early instead of making Reese wait until the final few episodes.
-
Episodes 5–6
Rescue + Partnership
Jiang Yu protects her, and the two begin working together much more openly.
Their bond becomes about more than attraction: they become a team.
That partnership is one of Reese's favorite parts of the relationship.
-
Episode 10
Bathroom Kiss
The infamous passionate bathroom/shower-area kiss makes it extremely clear that this drama is not rationing the chemistry. 😂
-
Episodes 11–16
Danger Forces Them Apart
The escalating revenge plot puts Jiang Yu in serious danger.
He is injured and the couple becomes separated by circumstances.
At one point, she believes he has been killed in an explosion.
This is NOT a romantic breakup.
She continues believing that he loved her deeply, and the emotional relationship remains intact even while she believes he is dead.
-
Episode 16
Reunion
The couple reunites.
Because there was no betrayal or emotional rejection between them, the separation never turns into the kind of frustrating breakup Reese hates.
-
Episode 18
Proposal
Jiang Yu proposes.
Their relationship has now moved from passionate partners to an explicitly committed future together.
-
Episodes 19–20
Established-Couple Affection
The drama continues giving them affectionate and intimate scenes rather than treating the proposal as the end of the romance.
This includes the memorable under-the-table/office intimacy that Reese loved. 😂
-
Finale
Happy Ending
The couple survives the revenge plot and ends together.
Breakup / Separation Status
- Actual romantic breakup: No
- Forced separation: Yes
- Presumed death: Yes
- Did she stop believing he loved her?: No
- Proposal: Yes
- Ending: Clear happy ending together
Final Thoughts
I loved this.
The plot may be cliché, but the romance was good enough that I genuinely did not care.
The leads had crazy chemistry.
The kissing actually existed.
The affection actually existed.
They behaved like a real couple.
They worked as a team.
There was no unnecessary romantic breakup.
Even the major separation came from circumstances and presumed death rather than the couple suddenly forgetting how much they loved each other.
That is how you give me drama WITHOUT making me hate the romance.
Watch it. Immediately. 😂