Road Home Review

Road Home (归路) is another much anticipated drama for 2023 given the cast. It is adapted from a novel and the creator is Ma Bao Fei Bao who is also the screenwriter for a few hugely popular dramas in the past such as Go Go Squid! and Forever And Ever. Hence, the anticipation for another great production is expected. Through the clips and posters, it gives the feeling that this would be a touching love story. So, does it live up to the hype and fans’ expectations? My Road Home review below doles out the pros and cons of this romance drama and you can then decide for yourself if this is for you.

My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 30
Type: Romance
Aired: March 2023
Images Credit: iQIYI Taiwan Facebook

The Cast Of Road Home

• Jing Bo Ran as Lu Yan Chen / Lu Chen
• Seven Tan Song Yun as Gui Xiao
• Baby Zhang Bo Jia as Meng Xiao Shan
• Li Min Cheng as Qin Ming Yu
• Zhang En Shuo as Qin Xiao Nan
• Zhang Qiao Er as Duan Rou
• Wang Hao as Hai Dong
• Guo Xiao Tian as Hai Jian Feng
• Liang Tian as Lu Zheng
• Sha Bao Liang as Gui Yan Shan
• Xu Rong Zhen as Shen Jin
• Li Mo Zhi as Zhao Min Shan

Main Characters

Lu Yan Chen / Lu Chen

Lu Chen is a SWAT team leader specializing in bomb disposal in a remote mountainous town of Qining. He is good at his job and respected by both his superiors and subordinates. Lu Chen appears as cool and reserved to outsiders but hides a warm heart. He has a complicated family background and poor relationship with his father. Lu Chen also has an elder sister who is married to a school principal.

Gui Xiao

Gui Xiao is a financial investment executive for a boutique capital investment firm. She is an independent woman with a cheerful smile. Gui Xiao is kind and charitable. Her parents are separated and her father is a wealthy entrepreneur.

Supporting Characters

Meng Xiao Shan

Xiao Shan is Gui Xiao’s best friend from their schooldays. She comes from a rich family and runs an upperclass restaurant. Xiao Shan used to date Hai Dong before ending up with her current husband, Qin Feng.

Qin Ming Yu

Qin Ming Yu is Lu Chen’s good friend and deputy in the SWAT team in Qining. He is divorced with a son. Qin Ming Yu is a good man but can be blurry when it comes to women.

Qin Xiao Nan

Xiao Nan is Qin Ming Yu’s son. He is a primary school kid who gets shuffled around due to his father’s nature of work. Xiao Nan is a smart and sensible boy.

Duan Rou

Duan Rou is Gui Xiao’s colleague. She is also a financial investment executive. Duan Rou loves kids and has natural sympathy for those from broken homes due to her own childhood experience.

Hai Dong

Hai Dong is Lu Chen’s best friend from their schooldays. He is also Xiao Shan’s ex. They broke up due to his affair with Zhao Min Shan.

Hai Jian Feng

Jian Feng is Hai Dong’ younger brother and Gui Xiao’s classmate. He has a crush on Gui Xiao and has been carrying a torch for her.

Lu Zheng

Lu Zheng is Lu Chen’s father. He is a short-tempered man who has been abusive towards his children and wife whenever he gets drunk. He holds a grudge that his wife left with the kids to be with a police officer at one time. When the police officer died due to an illness, she was forced to return to Lu Zheng for financial reasons. Lu Zheng runs a car repair business.

Gui Yan Shan & Shen Jin

Gui Yan Shan is Gui Xiao’s father and CEO of a public listed company. He is a serious man who doesn’t really know how to communicate with his daughter. Shen Jin is his wife who has left him to reside abroad.

Zhao Min Shan

Zhao Min Shan is a divorcee and comes from a rich family. She is also Gui Xiao’s and Lu Chen’s ex-schoolmate. She is a scheming woman who would exploit a situation to get what she wants.

Synopsis

Gui Xiao and Lu Chen used to be lovers when they were students. However, they broke up when he went away to join the police academy while she went to university. 10 years later, Gui Xiao decides to join a friend for a trip to Qining where Lu Chen is based. She still can’t forget him and wants to satisfy her curiosity and longing for him. When they meet again, they are like strangers with an awkwardness between them. But Gui Xiao and Lu Chen still have deep feelings for each other which they find hard to express due to the years apart.

Furthermore, there are also unspoken issues between them which are hindering a reconciliation including Lu Chen’s complicated family background. Will their love be strong enough to resolve all the issues between them including the reason why they broke up in the first place?

Road Home Ending And Recap (Spoilers Alert!)

Road Home has a happy ending. Gui Xiao gave birth to a baby girl in Episode 27 at about the same time Lu Chen was seriously injured in his job away from home. She rushed there to see him and delivered her baby at the same hospital where Lu Chen was being treated. Lu Chen awakened from his coma not long after to reunite with Gui Xiao.

Gui Xiao and Lu Chen had their wedding ceremony 1 to 2 years later in Episode 29. He wanted to wait until he had cleared all his debts with the Zhao family with some savings leftover to give Gui Xiao a proper wedding. After their wedding ceremony, the couple went back to their old school and the places they used to frequent to reminisce about the past.

Episode 30 is basically a flashback of the time they first met as schoolmates and how Lu Chen was smitten by Gui Xiao. The flashback is mainly told from his perspective. The drama ends with Lu Chen deciding it was time to go home back in 2020 when Gui Xiao turned up at Qining. He was about to be transferred out of Qining back to a city near Beijing but was reluctant to leave. However, Gui Xiao’s re-appearance in his life made him feel that it was time to go back to Beijing because to him, home is where Gui Xiao is.

When Did Gui Xiao And Lu Chen Get Back Together?

Gui Xiao and Lu Chen more or less got back together in Episode 8 after he finalized an agreement with Zhao Min Shan regarding his family’s debt. Lu Chen’s father had borrowed money from the Zhao family and agreed to their request for Lu Chen to marry their daughter as loan settlement. This was done without Lu Chen’s knowledge. Lu Chen wasn’t agreeable to their deal and ended up signing a contract with Zhao Min Shan to repay the loan on his father’s behalf.

In Episode 11, Lu Chen tells Gui Xiao that he will marry her once he fully repays all the loans within 2 years. But Gui Xiao didn’t want to wait any longer after experiencing the fear of losing Lu Chen when he went on a dangerous mission in Episode 13. He agreed with her idea and also felt strongly that he wanted to marry her soonest possible in Episode 15.

Gui Xiao found out she was pregnant in Episode 19 and the couple registered their marriage in Episode 20.

Is There Any Breakup Or Love Triangle?

No, there is no breakup after Gui Xiao and Lu Chen reconciled. Although Lu Chen’s job often required him to be away, Gui Xiao understood and accepted the situation. They have also become more matured over the years to know how to handle the time apart.

There is also no love triangle as both of them only have eyes for each other. Although Gui Xiao’s boss was interested in her, she didn’t give him any chance to pursue her at all. In fact, Gui Xiao and Lu Chen had remained single all those years after their breakup as they still can’t forget each other.

Why Did They Breakup 10 Years Ago?

Their break up is partly revealed in Episode 14 with a more complete picture given in Episode 16. Gui Xiao and Lu Chen started dating in 2009 just after their high school final exams. But they had to separate a short while later as he went to join the police academy while she entered university. They embarked on a long distance relationship but it didn’t work out. Lu Chen didn’t have time for her and was often uncontactable due to the nature of his work. When he returned to see her, the time was extremely short compared to the months of separation. Being young and immature, she also didn’t understand his work.

Besides having less and less things to talk about, the straw that broke the camel’s back was when Gui Xiao needed Lu Chen to be there for her when her parents’ marriage disintegrated due to her father’s affair. Her relationship with her father became strained as a result. As Lu Chen was always missing from her life, Gui Xiao felt that it didn’t make a difference whether she has a boyfriend or otherwise. Thus, she got tired and suggested a breakup over the phone which he agreed to.

In Episode 17, Lu Chen told his colleague that he agreed to the breakup out of anger. He also didn’t know why Gui Xiao was overly emotional at that time only to find out later that her parents were divorcing. But both of them were not willing to give in due to pride and the breakup became a finality.

Second Couple

The second couple is Qin Ming Yu and Duan Rou. As Xiao Nan was under Gui Xiao’s care in Beijing, Duan Rou would help to look after the boy at times. Hence, she ended up having to communicate with Qin Ming Yu about his son. Over time, they became friends. In Episode 21, Gui Xiao wanted to visit Lu Chen who was on a mission in Qining. She encouraged Duan Rou to come along with her to meet Qin Ming Yu.

Qin Ming Yu was interested in Duan Rou but didn’t think that he deserves her. Hence, he didn’t have the courage to express his feelings until he was playfully forced by his teammates and Lu Chen to do so during a call with Duan Rou in Episode 28. But instead of merely expressing his love for her, he proposed marriage straight away. Duan Rou was shocked by the sudden proposal but still said yes to his surprise.

Road Home Review – Second Chance Romance

Basically, Road Home is a story about second chance romance. It is a very simple love story of a young pair of lovers who broke up a decade earlier but still has strong feelings for each other. The reason for the breakup is slowly fleshed out through flashbacks. Viewers are told very early on the status of their relationship and the drama begins with visible tension between them when they meet again 10 years later. Hence, this immediately draws you into the story as you will be wondering what happened in the past and why they broke up.

This actually reminds me of Here To Heart but without the melodrama and schemings. Road Home is much more positive and straightforward in comparison. It has tons of lovey-dovey moments after the reconciliation. Therefore, this is a perfect drama for those looking for pure romance without much angst and silly quarrels. The relationship is the mature kind with supportive and understanding partners after the experience of a painful breakup. The 2 leads are highly likable characters and it is easy to root for them and lap up all their loving moments.

Perfect Couple

The male protagonist, Lu Chen, is the embodiment of a perfect boyfriend or husband. He does all the house chores and is a great cook. He pampers his woman and treats her like a princess whenever he is with her from carrying groceries to washing her feet. Apart from that, he also has a hot body with abs given his profession as a special units police officer. I guess such a man can only exist in dramaland but it does provide female viewers with something to dream about and the drama becomes incredibly warm and romantic with such a male character!

The female protagonist, Gui Xiao, is independent with her own career. She is tough when needs to be but cheerful and positive-minded. But she is reduced to a lovestruck teenager whenever she is with Lu Chen. She enjoys his attention and presence and contentedly plays the role of a pampered lover to the only man she has ever loved.

Hence, you can say that this couple is perfect, or almost perfect, for a romance drama. They are deeply in love with each other and there are many scenes to depict their day-to-day life as a couple. That is, if you don’t mind the extremely thin plot.

Nothing Much To The Story

For me, Road Home is a very heartwarming romance… up to a point. There is nothing much going on in terms of plot unlike She And Her Perfect Husband and Lighter And Princess. It is more of a slice-of-life kind of romance drama with much of the time spent on the couple’s daily interactions especially for the last 10 episodes. Basically, you will just be watching them acting lovey-dovey with the guy coming home and then leaving for his duties in a repetitive cycle. There is no drama on the girl’s part that he has to be away most of the time. Not a single complaint, zilch. Is it sweet? Definitely! Is it overdone? I think so!

Therefore, what can be reduced to a 24-episode drama is lengthened to 30. It is practically littered with filler scenes that don’t add anything to the plot in the last third. It is not awful to watch and I’m sure many will find it really warm and sweet. But it does give me the feeling that it is being lengthened unnecessarily unlike Meet Yourself which is also kind of a slow-paced drama.

The ending for Road Home is also just another flashback and that takes up one whole episode. The second couple’s story development is stunted and I’m not sure why they even introduce it in the first place when they have no intention to give it a proper closure. Overall, this is simply not a plot-driven drama. Instead, it has a laser focus on the main couple’s interactions and the chemistry as well as acting is what makes it watchable.

Acting And Chemistry

Jing Bo Ran’s portrayal of Lu Chen is commendable to me. He caught my attention in A League Of Nobleman but I think he is more relatable in Road Home. He gives Lu Chen a very manly feel which fits the nature of the character. Lu Chen is a man of few words. Hence, all his emotions have to be conveyed through the actor’s eyes and facial expressions. Jing Bo Ran did this well and you can sense his hurt and yearning for his beloved in the drama.

Seven Tan’s acting is up to standard as usual. I have watched enough of her dramas to know that she has always been able to bring the characters she plays to life. In Road Home, she could pull it off both as a student and a matured working woman.

As for playing a loving pair onscreen, the leads did a great job to turn on that CP vibe. The whole drama hinges on their chemistry as all the focus is on them and they are convincing as lovers. In fact, Seven Tan has always had good chemistry with her co-stars, even with the much older Wallace Chung in The Sword And The Brocade.

On the flip side, I also kind of felt that the kisses should have a little bit more passion in Road Home despite the great chemistry. If they had been able to raise the temperature a little more, that would be perfect. On that score, Seven Tan did better with Wang Kai in Flight To You although there is only one such kiss in that whole drama. But that one kiss is a memorable one compared to Road Home which is peppered with intimate scenes but none feels truly breathtaking. Sweet, yes, but passionate, not so much.

My Verdict – Great For Romance Drama Junkie

Road Home is strictly a romance drama despite having a SWAT officer as the main character. It has little to no action in all the 30 episodes with the focus being on the characters just like in Light Chaser Rescue. So, don’t go into this expecting some sort of thrilling police operations. The romance itself is heartwarming and the couple’s interactions sweet, but again, the plot is extremely thin. The start is interesting and you can really feel the couple’s longing. So, you would expect ups and downs in the relationship as the drama progresses but nope, it has a different feel to it compared to the usual fare.

The whole drama is like a showcase of a happy and perfect relationship once 2 people fall in love and decide that they should get together. Basically, that’s what you are watching for the most part. I guess many will find it romantic. But at the same time, there will be those that will find it slow and boring because there is nothing much going on.

For me, it is a case of being in between. I enjoy the romantic moments and the sweet whisperings. But I also feel that they are overdone in length. So, for this Road Home review, I would rate it 7.5/10. If you are a romance drama junkie who don’t like too much theatrics in your love story, this is for you. But if you prefer more happenings and angst, this might end up being a big bore. There are plenty of kisses to get your sugar level up but nothing as steamy as The Forbidden Flower. In short, it is sweet and warms the heart but totally lacks excitement and drama.