India, Aug. 30 -- There is a distinct kind of magnetism that happens when two fiercely ambitious people collide. Most dramas shy away from that friction, opting for softer, safer love stories. The Early Spring dives straight into the mess. Helmed by director Jiang Ji Zheng and adapted from Gu Niang Bie Ku's web novel Zao Chun Qing Lang, this 24-episode Chinese urban workplace drama on Netflix is a breath of fresh air precisely because it refuses to play it safe. Set against a backdrop of cutthroat office politics and heavy urban isolation, it tracks a high-stakes relationship weighed down by real-world power dynamics and no, it is by no means a boardroom equivalent of Fifty Shades of Grey.

Fresh out of college, Shang Zhitao (Sun Qian), w...