Exploration Method Of Love Review

I was expecting Exploration Method Of Love (爱的勘探法) to be an average romance drama but with enough sparks and skinship to make viewers hooked. After all, the cast alone may not be too enticing at first glance. Nevertheless, I still decided to give this a go due to the short length. I wasn’t expecting much except for a bit of escapism after bingeing on Destined over 3 days. So, how did it go? You can find out through my Exploration Method Of Love review below.

My rating: 6.5/10
Episodes: 22
Type: Romance
Aired: June 2023
Images Credit: Douban Movie

The Cast Of Exploration Method Of Love

• Song Yan Fei as Su Ji Shi / Su Jin
• Kido Gao Han Yu as Mu Xiu Lun
• Ryan Cheng Lei as Gao Ling
• Lin Zi Lu as Mu Xiao Man
• Eman Zang as Fang Jie
• Shi Jie Ru as Xiao Xia
• Wang Meng Ze as Ah Shan
• Gao Yi as Mu Min Guang
• Zhang Yuan Yu as Zhou Shu Hua
• Jia Hong as Su Jian Guo
• Wang Ya Qi as Ning Xia
• Xu He Ni as Qin Qiu

Main Characters

Su Ji Shi

Ji Shi is a geology researcher who is pursuing her doctorate. She is the outdoorsy type of woman who is tough and direct. Unknown to many, Ji Shi has a twin sister but they seldom keep in touch.

Mu Xiu Lun

Xiu Lun is the President of Mu Group which has mining as its core business. He is a workaholic and finds love and dating to be a waste of time. He leads a rigid life and tends to look at things from a rational and business angle.

Supporting Characters

Su Jin

Su Jin is Ji Shi’s younger twin sister. She is a celebrity actress with lots of fans and endorsements. Su Jin is ladylike and demure.

Gao Ling

Gao Ling is Xiu Lun’s executive secretary. They are also buddies. Gao Ling is a nice and caring man.

Mu Xiao Man

Xiao Man is Xiu Lun’s younger sister. She is an intern at Mu Group. Xiao Man is a typical young lady who wants to date but is still naive and immature.

Fang Jie

Fang Jie is Su Jin’s agent. He is an effeminate man who tries his best to balance Su Jin’s interest and commercial considerations.

Xiao Xia & Ah Shan

Xiao Xia and Ah Shan are Su Jin’s personal assistant and makeup stylist respectively.

Mu Min Guang

Mu Min Guang is Xiu Lun and Xiao Man’s paternal uncle. He appears as a caring uncle but is devious and has his own agenda in the family company.

Zhou Shu Hua

Shu Hua is Xiao Man and Xiu Lun’s mother. She is a typical loving mother who can’t wait to see her son settle down.

Su Jian Guo

Jian Guo is Ji Shi’s father. Both father and daughter do not get along very well.

Ning Xia

Ning Xia is Gao Ling’s ex-girlfriend and a blogger.

Qin Qiu

Qin Qiu is a young actor and Su Jin’s fan. He has a crush on Su Jin as a teenager and still likes her a lot.

Synopsis

Ji Shi and Su Jin are identical twins but were brought up separately when their parents divorced a long time ago. Hence, they seldom see each other and not many people are aware that they have a twin sister. Ji Shi is a geology expert and researcher who has just returned from abroad for her work. At the same time, Su Jin who is a celebrity actress has gone AWOL due to work pressure. Su Jin wants some time alone to travel and get away from it all.

Hence, Ji Shi is forced to cover for her sister to maintain her standing in the entertainment industry and fulfill her commitments to various brands. One of the contracts that Su Jin has signed is with Xiu Lun. Her role is to play his fake girlfriend to please his mother who wants to see him get married and to ensure his position as President of Mu Group is more secure.

This means Ji Shi has to take over her Su Jin’s role to be Xiu Lun’s pretend girlfriend. While the sisters’ differing personalities leave Xiu Lun baffled, he begins to fall in love with Ji Shi and vice-versa. But will Ji Shi tell Xiu Lun about her real identity and how would he react when he finds out the truth?

Exploration Method Of Love Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)

Exploration Method Of Love has a happy ending. After their identity switch is exposed, Ji Shi and Su Jin give a press conference to announce that they are twins. They also make it clear that Xiu Lun are unaware of the switch to protect him and his company from trouble. Su Jin will leave the entertainment industry and engaged in public service. Ji Shi leaves the country to go back into her field of geology and complete her doctorate studies.

One year later, Ji Shi graduates with her doctorate. Xiu Lun has been sending her messages throughout. He still wants to be with her. He uses that one year to put his company on track so that it would not be affected by their relationship. Xiu Lun also goes to her university to set up exhibits for a geology museum in order to see her again. Ji Shi is hesitant initially because she is afraid that their relationship will just invite gossip that will cause him problem. But she can’t hide her concern for him when a minor earthquake makes her rush to him to ensure that he is safe.

The couple reconciles and half a year later, their wedding is announced publicly. It is the scene from the start of the drama before the flashback begins. Xiu Lun is no longer the President of Mu Group. The position is now occupied by Gao Ling who has married Xiao Man. To Ji Shi, it is time to end all that has happened and begin anew.

When Did The Leads Get Together?

The couple slept together in Episode 9 after Ji Shi gets drunk but she doesn’t recall it the next day. She also starts to develop feelings for Xiu Lun and is prepared to start a relationship with him until she reads Su Jin’s diary in Episode 10. She suspects that her sister may be in love with Xiu Lun too and tries to avoid him as a result. So, when Xiu Lun confesses his love to her in Episode 13, she rejects him. It hurts her to do so and she ends up sleeping with him again after getting drunk in the same episode. However, she then claims it means nothing to her the day after.

In Episode 14, Fang Jie finds clues that the man Su Jin is interested in is not Xiu Lun. Hence, it is Ji Shi’s turn now to coax Xiu Lun back. She arranges for a surprise confession and tells Xiu Lun her real identity in Episode 15. They become a real couple then. Xiu Lun proposes to Ji Shi in Episode 21 and she agrees.

Is There Any Breakup And Love Triangle?

The leads break up in Episode 22 when the identity switch is exposed. Ji Shi leaves Xiu Lun a letter before flying abroad to continue her research and studies. She feels a breakup is best for him after she declares that he has no knowledge of the switch. If they continue to be together, it will just cause more questions and harm to him and his company. They reconcile a year later after Xiu Lun goes to look for Ji Shi after she has completed her research project and he has strengthen his company’s operations.

There is no love triangle except for a brief time when Ji Shi suspects that her sister may also have feelings for Xiu Lun through her diary. This lasts from the end of Episode 10 to the beginning of Episode 14. During this period, Ji Shi tries to maintain a distance with Xiu Lun until she finds out that her sister actually likes somebody else.

When Did Xiu Lun Finds Out About Ji Shi’s Identity?

Xiu Lun learns from a drunk Ji Shi that she is not Su Jin in Episode 9. So, he orders an investigation into her background and learns the truth in Episode 10. He is not happy that she is deceiving him initially but decides later on that she must have her reasons for hiding her identity. Thus, he pretends not to know and would rather wait for her to trust him and tell him the truth. Ji Shi finally tells him who she is when she confesses her love to him in Episode 15. To her surprise, Xiu Lun admits that he already knew about her identity earlier.

The couple decides to tell his family the truth in Episode 20. By then, Xiu Lun’s mother already knew about Ji Shi’s identity through her father when the latter visited them in Episode 18. She has just been pretending otherwise although she accepts Ji Shi and is happy for her son. However, Xiao Man is a little angry for being left out of the secret and complains to Gao Ling. Her uncle overhears their conversation and uses that secret to threaten Xiu Lun to leave the company. Although his plan fails, the secret is leaked by the uncle’s lover who is Su Jin’s rival in the entertainment circle in Episode 21.

Xiu Lun makes peace with his uncle in Episode 22. He knows his uncle has never meant any harm to the company and chooses to ignore the shareholders’ demand for his uncle’s resignation after what happened. His uncle is touched by the gesture as a result.

Xiu Lun’s Childhood Trauma

Xiu Lun is actually an adopted child. His parents adopted him when they were visiting the orphanage and Xiao Man was naturally drawn to him and saw him as an elder brother. That is why his uncle is prejudiced towards Xiu Lun and has always wanted him out of the family company.

Xiu Lun used to be an unruly kid who hated to follow rules. Then Director Zhou came in to take charge of the orphanage and he had his own flexible way of educating the kids. He left a deep impression on Xiu Lun. One day, they were out picking stones and Director Zhou fell off the cliff and died. Xiu Lun felt responsible for it but couldn’t bring himself to apologize to Director Zhou’s wife who was pregnant at that time.

As a result, Xiu Lun is tormented by the experience. He became very rigid and disciplined in life. He reveals his story to Ji Shi in Episode 14 and 15. Ji Shi then persuades Director Zhou’s wife to meet up with Xiu Lun to allow him a chance to apologize. The meeting finally allows Xiu Lun to come to terms with his past and releases the burden that he has been carrying.

Second Couple

The second couple is Gao Ling and Xiao Man. Gao Ling has treated Xiao Man as a younger sister all along. But she starts seeing him as boyfriend material in Episode 8 after breaking up with a cheater. She confesses her feelings to him in Episode 9 but gets rejected. She does it again in Episode 12 and would feel unhappy whenever she thinks he is going on a date with another woman.

In Episode 14, Gao Ling tells Xiao Man that he would not consider dating until he makes enough money. This is because his ex left him when he was poor then. However, Xiao Man refuses to give up. She asks for advice from a blogger that she follows and finds out that the blogger is Gao Ling’s ex, Ning Xia, in Episode 16. Xiao Man meets up with her and learns that Ning Xia has lupus in Episode 17. When Ning Xia fell ill, she hid it from Gao Ling and used his poor background as an excuse to break up with him. This is because she felt that she will just drag Gao Ling down with her if she tells him about her illness.

By the time Gao Ling realizes that he likes Xiao Man and confesses to her in Episode 18, she thinks that he is only doing so because he has mistaken her to be sick. Xiao Man then informs Gao Ling that it is Ning Xia who is ill. After meeting up with his ex again, they are comfortable with just being friends. Ning Xia also advises Gao Ling to cherish someone like Xiao Man. Gao Ling then confesses his feelings to Xiao Man again and they become a couple. They got married in Episode 22 with Xiao Man already pregnant by then.

Exploration Method Of Love Review – Lacks Originality

Exploration Method Of Love is just another contractual relationship trope with a pair of twins swapping identities to give us yet another recycled plot. We have seen this theme before in Time To Fall In Love and Nothing But You. If you take away the twins and reduce it to just a fake couple story, there are also plenty of such titles in C-dramaland. So, if you have watched a fair bit of Chinese dramas, Exploration Method Of Love isn’t going to give you anything new.

In other words, you will only find this interesting if you know what to expect and love this kind of tropes. I guess producers know women are suckers for handsome and icy CEOs falling in love and having their hearts melted by beautiful female leads. Of course, it doesn’t mean they aren’t entertaining. They can be pretty good if done right and they offer a form of relaxation and escapism from the stresses of daily life.

For Exploration Method Of Love, there are some things that the producers got right but there are also others that fail to inspire. Therefore, it is hard for the drama to become a hit especially when the scriptwriting is subpar.

Substandard Script (Spoilers Alert!)

The plot for this kind of drama tends to be simple. Hence, keeping the simplicity and just focusing on the chemistry and sweetness might be a better deal to me. Many romance dramas are utterly simple such as Hidden Love and You Are My Glory but they are well-executed. In Exploration Method Of Love, the script adds in more drama towards the end and then rushes everything for an ending within the same episode.

The fight between the protagonist and his uncle for the company’s presidency becomes pointless. All the hard work done by the female lead to keep her sister’s position in the industry becomes a waste. Her sister’s rival and bully who exposed their secret of identity swap just disappears without a mention. I suppose they need to show that you can’t get away without some kind of loss when you engaged in deception. But then again, the protagonist’s sister was never a party to the deceit. She just got tired and left.

Thus, the ending isn’t particularly satisfying to me. Add in the subplots which are also dispensable further contributes to the seemingly poor script. I get the feeling that they are added simply to lengthen the drama such as the the female lead’s father’s brief appearance. It is like the scriptwriter is at a loss on how to fill up all the episodes and start including subplots that are not necessary to the overall story.

Uninspiring Second Couple

The second couple in the drama also gets a fair bit of screen time. While the second male lead is good-looking and you probably wouldn’t mind watching him, the second female lead’s character is a turn-off to me. She is young and hence, naive. But it comes a point where I got tired of watching her persistence and immaturity in the pursuit of her man.

The guy also treats her as a younger sister all along and the switch to lovers just isn’t convincing. I can’t get the couple’s feel in their interactions. So, I tend to fast forward their scenes. Sometimes, there is no necessity to have a second couple and to force it when the chemistry is just not there simply makes the drama worse off than it is.

Fortunately, the main leads are much better chemistry-wise and this is where the main strength of the drama lies.

Acting And Chemistry

I have watched a few of Gao Han Yu’s dramas including Dine With Love which has a much better script than this one. Although none of his works are high profile as he tends to be a supporting cast in bigger budget productions, his acting is actually quite good to me. This is not his first time playing a CEO. Therefore, Mu Xiu Lun is not going to be a role that will propel his career especially with the type of script that he has to work with. But Gao Han Yu still fulfills his part to portray that character in a way that gels well with his co-star, Song Yan Fei.

What makes the drama tick is the fiery chemistry of these 2 leads. Song Yan Fei’s Su Ji Shi is beautiful, tough, and smart. The characters are attracted to one another but before they are officially together, the built-up has to have enough sparks to get the excitement going. This is where the leads did well in their portrayal of their characters. The sexual tension is palpable between them and I suppose this is why the drama still sells despite the very average production quality.

My Verdict – Just For Fans Of This Genre

There is nothing about Exploration Method Of Love that justifies a watch except for the leads’ chemistry and sexual tension in the drama. Other than that, this is a typical contractual relationship story with a plot that you would have seen elsewhere if you are into Chinese romance dramas. The quality difference in terms of script, direction, and budget is obvious if you were to compare this to say, A Date With The Future or even Here We Meet Again. Thus, this is really for those who love this kind of storyline and don’t mind the tropes that come with it.

Personally, I watched this with some skipping in between. By the time I reached the halfway mark, I found myself struggling to finish it and was glad when I reached the end. This is largely due to the predictability of it all, the annoyance of some characters, and the lack of depth in the villain’s story. I managed to complete it because of the short length and the curiosity on how the identity swap will be handled in the end. While the chemistry and sexual tension help to make me hooked in the first half, that starts to fade away after the couple got together. Hence, the enjoyment only lasts until the built-up tapers off.

For this Exploration Method Of Love review, I would rate it 6.5/10. Overall, I think the leads’ chemistry is wasted on a poor script. I don’t know whether some of the kissing scenes have been cut as well because making it hotter kind of fits with the story. Unfortunately, the kisses are sufficient in number but not in intensity when scenes are blurred out. Whatever it is, you might enjoy this better than me if you are fan of contract couples which I’m not.