The only two characters and stars to emerge unscathed from the hot mess that is Lost You Forever Part 2 has to be Yang Zi and Tan Jian Ci and their characters of Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu. The entire Part 2 run was ruinous for me in terms of adapting the second half of the LYF novel but at least Xiao Yao and Xiang Liu’s arc stayed relatively intact and the two leads acting was good enough to overcome the missing parts. But for the other leads Zhang Wan Yi, Deng Wei, and Wang Hong Yi, their characters suffered greatly from vast swatch changes to scenes, motivations, and entire arcs missing, all of which tanked the story and is even more perplexing and frustrating since Part 1 was nearly perfect in adherence to the novel story. I think the only viewers for this drama are novel fans and fans of Part 1 who have to finish to despite the drama getting progressively off the rails in plot as it went along in Part 2.

I could write an entire PhD dissertation on what went wrong and why it’s so unforgivable to the coherence and complexity of the story conclusion. It lessens Cang Xuan/Zhuan Xu’s angst and dilemma, turns Jing into a consolation prize damsel, turns Feng Long into a plot device only, makes Xing Yue jealous without depth, and probably only Ah Nian had a decent outing as a supporting character in this half and it’s because she was given new scenes from cut characters. I’m so sad to not see Xiao Yao’s murder attempt in the ocean and saving by Xiang Liu, return of Left Ear and his cute romance with maid Miao Pu, Xiao Yao’s assassination attempt at the lantern release and her survival, Xiao Yao’s attempt to become the next Royal Mother, and the proper send off for Xiang Liu. All in all, I will remember Part 1 fondly and erase Part 2 from my mind.