理想之城 - The Ideal City

理想之城 (The Ideal City) is an 2021 drama out of Zhong Guo. The series leads are Betty Sun and Mark Chao. The supporting cast include Chen Ming Hao, Yu He Wei, Gao Ye, and Yang Chao Yue. The series is 40 episodes long and I am currently watching it through my IQIYI subscription. At the moment, I am up to episode 39.



Betty Sun plays Su Xiao and Mark Chao plays Xia Ming. Su Xiao is a cost engineer with a construction company, ZJ. Xia Ming is 2nd in charge at Tian Ke (TK), a construction company subcontracted by ZJ. When things go wrong, Su Xiao is the scapegoat and fired just as she is getting her license. With the license, she is able to get job interview. Without it, she's starting back at square one. With that struggle in place, Su Xiao takes on the corporate world that is not just and not very friendly to females. Will Su Xiao make in Shanghai or go back home to her village.



I am up to episode 39 at the moment and started a little late when it was released. I eventually caught up at episode 19 and have been waiting patiently everyday for new episodes to come out. Even though I am not a huge Betty Sun fan, I think she does a very good job in this drama. The story is so good that I am not stuck on who is playing a character, but how the characters will develop. I will say that Mark Chao is magically cast for this role. Mark was also very good in The Ordinary Glory, but the story there was not as strong as The Ideal City. Together, they do a really good job of moving the story from one arc to the next. I wake up itching to watch but have to wait until after I eat dinner.

Given that I have not seen the last episode, I expect all plot points to be resolved and to be a little let down. It is hard to end a series strong sometimes. And as good as the previous 39 episodes have been, can the 40th episode wrap it up to satisfy everyone?

UPDATE after watching Episode 40: INCLUDES SPOILERS. As I mentioned above, it is hard to end series well. The set up, the character development, the industry were excellent in presentation. How can you just end it in one episode? Well, they did, but it was really abrupt. In the end, I was left unsatisfied, but I expected that. Su Xiao and Xia Ming win at the end, was there any doubt? But the way it got there and the "message" was quite disappointing. Hongmei's story was also left unfinished or you can make a bunch of assumptions. However, as a whole, the disappointing ending does not make this drama disappointing. This is one of the better made dramas and you should watch The Ideal City.