Fragrance of The First Flower Season 2 Thoughts

16 May, 2025

Fragrance of The First Flower's 1st season was a decent watch for me. I've always had an attraction to queer media, particularly those with female main characters. Living in a country where being it is technically (very much so) illegal, it's always nice to see representation as nuanced as the second season of FOTFF!

If you haven't watched the latest season, please make sure that you do that first before reading this, because this is going to be spoiler-filled. However, if you don't care, that's fine too. Perhaps this could push you to take a peek at it :)

Source: Lifestyle Asia

In the second season, Ting Ting and Yi-Ming reconnect after Yi-Ming's divorce. Ting Ting has a job as a cafe waitress, while she freelances at the side playing bass for an indie band that she and her friends started. This rekindling of their romance, of course, starts off well, until it doesn't. Challenges one after another come up as Yi-Ming has to face the realities of being a parent to her child who has autism, whilst trying to maintain a cordial relationship with her ex-husband. On top of that, Yi-Ming has rejoined the workforce after numerous years of being a housewife, something that isn't totally rare in Asian communities, even now, honestly.

If I could boil the main themes of this season, it would be:

• Struggles of:
  • Maintaining your passion vs being a stable/reliable partner
    • This was an interesting one - We see Ting Ting pressured to get a job outside of her comfort zone or interest to feel 'even' with Yi Ming, who joined the corporate workforce. I think I haven't seen this theme mentioned in dramas like these.
  • Accepting one's sexuality, especially in a community where, although it isn't illegal per se (it is legal to be homosexual in Taiwan), is still a tabooed subject
    • This applies to both Ting Ting and Yi Ming. Yi Ming has expressed multiple times that she is not as comfortable as Ting Ting with her queerness, and the show brought this theme to interesting places. They introduced her boss, who is a lesbian woman who was actively trying for in vitro procedures with her partner. This slowly, but surely, helped Yi-Ming gain some confidence and acceptance of her relationship with Ting Ting.
    • At the end, Ting Ting's mother is introduced. Now I would say this was slightly rushed and could've had a more in-depth conversation to it (though I guess you could say it's commentary on how many Chinese families tend to avoid confrontation), but it was still something I liked to see! Ting Ting's mother initially had a negative reaction to her coming out, but, after seeing her interactions with Yi-Ming at home, there was some slow acceptance, and the way she expressed that was by offering some raw vegetables to be taken home and cooked by both of them together. Talk about Asians and communicating love through food!
  • Balancing parenthood and a brand new relationship
    • A big point of contention is Yi-Ming's reluctance to bring Ting Ting into the picture with her son. Her fear of her ex-husband's judgment (as an affair was what led to the divorce in the first place) and her tendency to avoid any confrontation (frankly very relatable!) felt so painfully annoying as a viewer, but also at the same time, I do know that this is just something that would happen in real life, and isn't anyone's fault in particular.

Apart from these themes interspersed throughout the show, there were some usual drama things, like the introduction of another character: Xiao Ning. Xiao Ning is a charismatic indie singer who became friends with Ting Ting, and ends up having a crush on her. Throughout the show, you see her trying to convince Ting Ting gently that Yi-Ming isn't treating her the best and that she can do better. As a viewer, I did feel that it was a very cliché thing to introduce this character, but by the end of it, I think it was a great plot device.

Xiao Ning's persistence and presence helped Yi-Ming realize that if she doesn't get her shit together, her partner might leave her. I particularly liked the way they handled their 'love triangle' as there never really was a 'making another partner jealous scene by overtly flirting with another person, and it actually did feel like Ting Ting really valued Xiao Ning as a friend, and handled their friendship well, even after the confession happened. In another sense, you could say its a low-stakes love triangle as Ting Ting very specifically tells Xiao Ning that she is not interested - but eventually, you find yourself semi-rooting for this person who seems to be so persistent and objectively a better partner than Yi-Ming (especially in the parts where Yi-Ming is struggling with her own issues the most).

One thing that I really liked about the show, which has nothing to do with the plot, is the pacing and general vibe. This is completely spoiler territory, but this scene encapsulates what I mean, I hope, at least. It's a quiet show with a lot of pauses in between sentences, and it makes for a low-stress watch (for the most part lol). Both actresses have a very calm way of speaking, and combined with the minimal drama, it makes for a great show to watch as you unwind for bed.

I'm very much looking forward to seeing more Taiwanese queer dramas like this! As far as I know, this is the only one with this level of production.

I had a great time watching this over the few weeks I spent catching up with the release, and it is definitely the best queer media I've watched so far in 2025. There are some other Thai GLs that I've binged, but nothing with quite as much staying power as this one.

Let me know if you have any recommendations! Always looking for more :)

[45/100] for #100DaysToOffload

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