A cacophony of crows.

The Story of Minglan is a leisurely and meandering account of how with patience and cunning, Sheng Minglan, the low born daughter of a concubine triumphs over many challenges to achieve both personal and social success. Minglan's father is a middling court official who over indulges his favorite concubine and allows her to turn his household upside down. The petty tyranny of harem rivalry leads to tragedy and Minglan ends up being raised under her grandmother's wing. Minglan's great misfortune has a giant silver lining because this formidable old lady is a force to be reckoned with. She sees to it that Minglan is well schooled and helps her navigate the many pitfalls of harem politics. Minglan blossoms into a quietly underestimated young lady who catches the eye of the most eligible bachelors despite her low status.

This drama digs deep into what lurks beneath the genteel façade of Confucian propriety among the status conscious Song dynasty nobility. The deceptively sedate, mundane, humdrum of women living lives of quiet desperation, occasionally broken by shrill outbursts that crescendo horrifyingly in a cacophony of crows. My eardrums barely survived the assault of this panoply of nasty, caterwauling women. The early arcs on Minglan's childhood and coming of age are the best, most empowering ones. The drama climaxes at her vengeance arc, where I found her quiet scheming and utter ruthlessness chilling and impressive. After that the domestic bliss arcs drag on far too long with the couple dealing with repetitive villains with all too similar modus operandi. We really did not need to see version 2.0, 3.0 etc of essentially the same not very smart wicked women archetypes that are too handily dealt with by our power couple.

Zhao Liying delivers a credible portrayal of a docile, Song dynasty noblewoman with hidden depths. The way she digs into you with her eyes, the fleeting cunning smirk and brief flash of fury in her placid gaze foreshadows her evolution into a full-on temper tantrum throwing wife! That said, Zhao Liying is still best at fierce roles rather than as a docile still waters run deep kind of character. Zhao Liying and Feng Shaofeng paint the perfect picture of domestic bliss.Their chemistry is that of a long married couple in harmony and less of the sizzling kind that flared up between her and Lin Gengxin in Princess Agents. It is rare to see Zhu Yilong in a costume drama and I felt real sorry for his Qi Heng who unlike both Gu Tengye and Sheng Minglan, has no free will as he is unable to free himself from the social strictures of his time. The cast overall is very strong with many veteran actors that deliver comical parodies of the ridiculous pretensions of the Song aristocracy.

I am afraid I did not enjoy this very well made drama as much as many other people did. The 70+ episode narrative goes on for too long, conveying an unnecessarily realistic impression of how suffocating it was to be a Song dynasty woman. Considering Gu Tingye's incredibly modern attitudes with respect to polygamy and empowering his wife, I am convinced it was impossible to be a Sheng Minglan in those times. Some of the early arcs are worth 8.5 but the story climaxes too early and is bogged down by repetitive plots in the latter half. This weighs my overall rating down to 8.0. This is a drama that patient viewers with robust eardrums will enjoy more.

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An Oriental Odyssey.

Chu Sijing, a captain of theJinyiwei/锦衣卫 or Embroidered Guard is on a mission to investigate a strange epidemic that broke out on the remote Wumu Island in Liaodong province. The outbreak threatens the adjacent NInghai Fortress, a critical stronghold against the invading Jurchens. The powers that be have their own agendas and appear more interested in covering up the outbreak than anything else. Thus Sijing steals onto the island aided only by a Mongol Tartar official Bo Yan and a Fulangji/佛郎机 businesswoman Angelica. There he encounters mysterious, disease afflicted villagers who worship ancient Gods and is forced to deal with some monstrous truths. Can he weed out the root of the epidemic before it overwhelms them all?

This story is set in the 3rd year of Tianqi, when the Ming Dynasty was in rapid decline. It was a time of many natural disasters from meteorites to a mini ice age, drought and famine. Superstition reigned high as the peasants were starving and the emperor was widely said to have lost the Mandate of Heaven. The drama invests heavily in world building and weaves in many themes from the period and fantastical creatures from Chinese mythology 山海经/Classics of Mountains and Seas and 神异经 / Classics of Gods and Spirits. Even though the CGI is not the best, I appreciate the effort that went into how they blended history, fantasy and ancient lore together to make this an Oriental odyssey.

Unfortunately all the research and creativity that went into world building is wasted on the story's plot which hints heavily at a complexity that never materialises. For such a short drama, there are too many subplots touching on many themes that go nowhere. Even ignoring Sandrine Pinna's appalling Disney cartoon character acting, the entire Angelica/Pirates of the Caribbean arc adds nothing to the story. The time would be better spent fleshing out the motives of the Henggong cult and tying up the many loose ends to the story. I usually like Huang Xuan's acting and enjoyed his chemistry with Bo Yan but this is not his best role. Maybe it is the overuse of green screens but I caught him frequently out of the moment and staring blankly into space. Shen Rang is the only character that really moved me and I enjoyed this character design and portrayal the most.

The best things about this drama are that it does try to be different, it is short, some of the action scenes are pretty good and it is oddly enjoyable despite its lack of logical consistency. The ending is anti-climatic, doesn't hang together well, leaves loose ends and is disappointing overall. I am being generous in rating this as a 7.0/10.0.

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Sing a Song of Six Spies.

This is a lively, intriguing and exciting romp into the murky world of espionage during the Northern Song period. The various subplots of this drama delve into the counter-intelligence activities of six, young and budding Song spies as they work to undermine Song's arch enemies Liao and Xia. This under appreciated drama carries the hallmark witty dialogue, creativity and manifold twists that made Joy of Life such a huge hit, albeit with lower budget and a young cast.

Sing a Song of six spies
A pocket full of lies
Four and twenty black deeds
Faked by a Xia

Six young and promising individuals from vastly different backgrounds are recruited and undergo intensive training at a top secret spy academy. The morally ambivalent Yuan Zhongxin is cunning, cynical and diabolical; the perfect anti-hero in the high stakes world of double agents, conflicting loyalties and multiple betrayals. He is only bested by the fiery and badass Zhao Jian and together, they make a formidable pair. Although Zhao Jian comes off as arrogant and almost dislikable in the beginning, she is a rare strong female character whose desire to be relevant resonates from the get go. Along with the chivalrous Wang Kuan, who is pretty much 11th century google, Zhongxin, Zhao Jian and Wang Kuan are the brains of this outfit of six young spies. The well connected and commercial Wei Yanei alternately bullies or buys them out of trouble while the lethal Xue Ying more than pulls his weight in any skirmish. The disarmingly innocent Xiao Jing is the glue that binds this talented team together. Their goofy antics, youthful idealism, courage and sheer brilliance under pressure shines a bright light into the dark world of spooks and war hawks to whom the ends justify the means.

The rapport and camaraderie between this ensemble cast and how they grow to trust each other and learn from each other is the best thing about this drama. In each arc, one or two characters gets fleshed out and dimensioned - we get to see their home, family, who they care about. The character building is achieved via clever dialogue and suspenseful or action oriented moments that lapse unexpectedly into comedy before transitioning back seamlessly into the previous moment. The characters have unique shared experiences with each other, giving them individualized rapports and further deepening and dimensioning the team dynamics. I watched this right after Imperial Coroner and I cannot help but notice how uncannily similar Xiao Jing/Wang Kuan are to Chuchu/Prince An in terms of archetype. The big difference however is that in Young Blood, both characters grow and develop and they seem more real and fit in naturally with their team.

Most of the danger laden missions or arcs are creatively written and laced with the right mix of action, intrigue, comedy, romance, tragedy and of course betrayal. The superb subplots overflow with richly dimensioned characters - there are so many fantastic grey characters from villains, to rival spies and would be friends were it not for the different loyalties. There are few easy wins for our spy team as they are engaging with smart characters who are consummate liars that can (and do) beat them at their own game. In the last two arcs however, the writing did fall down somewhat. The writer seems unable to stop himself from overindulging in too many twists and surprise about faces. I did not appreciate how some of the smart characters got noticeably dumbed down in order to extend the plot or force additional twists. That said, the ending was good, tying up most loose ends but the end bit was a bit messy obviously to leave the door open for Season 2, which has since been announced. The strong performances, the richness in the characters and the team makes Season 2 a no brainer in terms of something I look forward to watching. Even if it doesn't materialize however, the ending can be considered satisfactory and conclusive. I give this super enjoyable watch a 9.0 although it should be between 8.5 and 9.0 or a 8.75.

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Lightning doesn't strike.

Season 2 picks up where Season 1 left off with Wuxie and Xiao Bai leaving Warehouse 11 and assembling a team to journey on to Thunder City. At this point Wuxie is desperately ill and it is not clear whether he will survive long enough to get closure on what happened to Wu Sansheng and unravel the secrets of the Thunder God. This season is better paced and more tightly written, avoids the digressions characteristic of Season 1 and comes to a satisfying conclusion. In this journey, Wuxie learns to live life in the present moment and appreciate the people around him rather than chasing mirages.

Unlike Season 1, this season is a lot less about the Iron Triangle. Although we see them and their rapport and witty banter remain the most memorable highlights of the drama, this would be more aptly titled Entrourage rather than Reunion. The issue is that too many members of the team that travels to Thunder City only have modestly well developed relationships with Wuxie and/or Xiaobai but are pretty much strangers to each other. So when they are thrown together in suspenseful or dangerous situations, there isn't that very enjoyable natural chemistry or seamless bond that emanates when the Iron Triangle is together. The only execptions are Xiao Bai and Liu Sang and possibly Hei Yanjing so things markedly improved towards the end when all the "extras" get left behind.

The other enjoyable aspect of this season are that we have two very good villains - Boss Jiao and the spy and one excellent grey character Jiang Zisuan. In fact I would say they somewhat stole the limelight in this season. I was particularly impressed by Wu Lipeng's portrayal of Wuxie disguised as Jiang Zisuan. He literally knocks off all of the little mannerisms and micro expressions of Zhu Yilong's Wuxie to a T. However, it goes on for way too long and to the point where it was no longer even logical from a plot point of view. So the season ends with this feeling that Zhu Yilong/Wuxie was missing in action toward the end. This is particularly disappointing because in the final arc, I expect to see the "real" Wuxie cunningly out maneuvre and confront the last villain. Instead, he pretty much just rocks up for the final two "real" episodes. Even though Zhu Yilong/Wuxie returns for that final showdown, it has a hollow and anti-climatic tone to it, as if he is not fully in character.

Although this season progresses at a much better pace without the marked ups and downs of Season 1, I actually still find both Sea King's Tomb arc and Warehouse 11 arc of Season 1 superior to both Thunder City arc and Imperial City arc of Season 2. That is not to say these arcs are not well done, they truly are but they just were not as dangerously thrilling or mythically suspenseful - I did not feel my heart in my throat the way I did in the first arc of Season 1. This is probably because the Iron Triangle is somewhat overshadowed in Season 2 and it is hard to care as much for the entourage cast. I was praying for the Iron Triangle's survival every moment of the Sea King's Tomb arc. That does not happen in any of the Season 2 arcs - in fact if anything it seems a bit too easy. So despite its overall better cadence of storytelling, Season 2 feels like the thunder rolls but lighting doesn't strike. Thus, I rate both seasons a very enjoyable 8.5 for very different reasons. I separately reviewed Season 1 in greater detail.

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Women should not rule the world.

The Legend of Zhuohua is another in a string of recent female empowerment themed historical romantic dramas. The production is upfront that this drama is a work of pure fiction. It is impossible for women to exercise the kind of influence and authority portrayed in this story in ancient Chinese patriachical society. The attitudes and values articulated are also incredibly modern and unsurprisingly, resonate with current audiences. It should be enjoyed at face value accepting that many aspects of it are sheer fantasy.

Titular character Ma Zhuohua flees an arranged marriage to the capital; where she must pass the imperial exams to fulfill her ambition to be a female official. Quick witted and resourceful, she saves Lord Ding, a decorated war hero, when he is wouded in the middle of a clandestine operation. Their fates intertwine as he is the strongest advocate of opening up scholarship and official positions to women. As they collaborate on official assignments and work toward their shared vision of the country, they fall in love. Can their relationship navigate a feudal system that requires women officials to choose between marriage and their career?

The most enjoyable arcs of this drama are the early courtship ones. This is the first time I have enjoyed Jing Tian's playing such a clever, demurely mischevious and independent character. Despite a ghastly white color filter and not the best dubbing, the strong chemistry between Jing Tian and Feng Shaofeng is unmistakable. It is so refreshing and very hot to see such a candid, lively and purely adult relationship dynanic laced with flirtatiously racey dialogue. The humor is very well written and so cheekily portrayed that I laughed uproariously many times, and especially at the dirty jokes. The political commentary and philosophical debates are surprisingly well written, with a sophistication beyond what I would expect of a light romantic comedy like this.

Outside the empowerment theme, the sub-plots are not special but this top notch veteran cast is very charismatic and executes so well it makes up for some of the lack of originality. Both Shi Yueling and Wang Likun in particular deliver formidable, almost terrifying performances as Empress Dowager Zhou and Princess Roujia. I also found Roujia's complicated relationship with Shen Jinghong very interesting. Unfortunately just after the mid-way point, the narrative rehashes tired plotlines including noble idiocy, murder most foul and high treason. In quite a similar vein to Destined, it nose dives into a poorly designed political melodrama and predictible twists. Even incredible acting cannot paper over that this is yet another delusional ends justifies the means antagonist with an unconvincing villain origin backstory.

This would have made a much better 20 episode drama that ended on the intended message that women should seize their dreams. The writers took it one step further into women can also seize the world. And then left us with an unambiguous message that women should not rule the world. The first few arcs of this are worth about an 8.0 but the latter arcs are just 6.0/6.5. I can only give this a 7.0. Its still a quality production with some good laughs to pass some time but it won't rock your world.

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When you order prime rib and get spare ribs instead.

I expected Youku's short "Revenge" series to be a xianxia in disguise featuring the many hot re-incarnations of "The Best-est of the Chest-ests" Dai Gaozheng in all his topless smoking hot glory. If that is also what you are here for, let me save you some time because Bride's Revenge is nothing but chest bait. In this incarnation as Mu Anhe, Dai Gaozheng is over-dressed and so camera shy he is in hiding for over a third of the drama. When he reappears, it is uncomfortably obvious there is no spark between the leads. While their chemistry is sweet and loving, it notably lacks the passion and intensity of the previous incarnation.

The plot is uncannily similar to Maid's Revenge where two related men Mu Ancheng and Mu Anhe duke it out over the family assets and a woman. Except this time a bunch of "green tea bitches" scheme, bitch slap and scratch each others' eyes out over a scrawny and unappetising scumbag. That entire arc of not very smart people trying to out dumb each other made ten minutes feel like an hour. Even a happy ending cannot save this drama. The dissatisfaction level is just like when you order prime rib and get spare ribs instead. Give this one a pass unless you are super bored and need a quick Dai Gaozheng fix. And in that case, just watch the last three episodes or better yet, rewatch Maid's Revenge.

I generously rate this 3.0/10.0 because Dai Gaozheng is still the chesty definition of hotness.

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But I have promises to keep, and miles to go before I sleep.

Patience is required for this drama that is unlikely to enjoy broad appeal. It is a Beijing Academy student production so don't expect high production values; indeed there is a distinctly amateurish and unpolished feel to the entire effort.

The shadowy and suspenseful plot is steeped in the supernatural and mythology and takes a long time to unfold. The synopsis, which already gives away much of the story adds to the impression that nothing is happening. Hidden forces conspire to release the demon Jiu Ying, that according to legend was sealed by five deities representing the five elements (metal, earth, water, fire and wood). This manifests itself in increasing hostilities between the You Kingdom and the Wolf Tribe that make war and chaos seem inevitable. These events bring the three siblings Hongxuan, Hongyi and Hongshou whose Baili family has long been the power behind the You throne; together with Ming Yefeng, the leader of the Wolf Tribe who also has a mysterious past with Hong Yi. They are linked by destiny and rediscover their powers so that together with other supernatural beings from a past lifetime, they can once again fulfill an ancient promise to keep the world safe. It is not a complicated or super original fantasy story that culminates in an epic clash between good and evil.

What is interesting about this drama is the characters and the acting. The actors are not given much to work with in terms of dialogue so they have to rely heavily on body language and subtle expressions to convey their characters. This makes the complex characters particularly difficult to get to know and nobody is as they originally appear. It is very difficult to tell who is friend and foe and what their motivations are. For most of the drama, Baili Hongxuan and Ming Yefeng were the most complex and interesting characters for me. While they are both quite grey, both turned out to be quite different from what I expected and almost opposite of each other. I really enjoy this kind of peeling of the onion approach in terms of how a layered character gradually becomes unveiled but many will find this kind of storytelling frustrating and boring.

I suspect many may be interested in this because of Wu Lei and Song Zuer. I admit I discovered this because of Wu Lei. While his character Baili Honsghou is quite one dimensional - the typical c-drama hero that goes through many common tropes; it is the best performance I have seen from Wu Lei since NIF. It is very nice to see how far he has come as an actor; that he is not just an incredibly athletic lean, mean, killing machine. As for Song Zuer, she is an actress that provokes strong reactions, especially when she plays the bratty young girl. I never minded her that much because I always noticed that she has screen presence that belies her small size and her performance in this also showed much progress and was actually quite nuanced towards the end. And it will be remiss of me to not mention how super hot Zheng Kai's Ming Yefeng is - I can't believe I have never seen this actor before!

The story advances much more quickly in the last 10-12 episodes although it appears a bit messy as many characters are introduced at once. But they are not interesting characters and all you need to really know is that they are either obstacles to be overcome or they are there to give some assistance along the way. All of the substantively relevant characters are introduced at the beginning. There are a few nice twists at the end with respect to the emperor as well as the mysterious man in the hood. The ultimate villain (to me was not Jiu Ying) was hiding in plain sight the whole time but their motive for unleashing evil on the world was pedestrian and lame. Most of the so-called heroes or deities in this show have feet of clay, do not have high morals and are not particularly enlightened beings. The story is very matter of factly callous in its treatment of spirits or demons. This is very typical of the genre so if you are familiar with Chinese mythology, you will not be surprised by any of this or how the story ends.

I enjoyed this drama but it is not for everyone. Watch at your own risk.

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Sons of a tyrant.

Wuershan's Creation of Gods trilogy is the culmination of an eight year labor of love that is the most ambitious and grand scale adaptation of Chinese classic Investiture of Gods ever. This Homeric, often chaotic tale of gods, demons and men that blends speculative history with myth and legend is probably the most widely adapted ancient Chinese vernacular novel. This grandiouse, exhilarating, action packed, and painstakingly crafted production is a visual triumph and an immersive adventure that is best experienced on an IMAX screen.

Kingdom of Storms is the first instalment that focuses on the origin story of the King Zhou of Shang and how he incurred the wrath of the heavens to the extent the gods intervened. In a departure from canon, this adaptation does not lay the moral decay of King Zhou solely at the door of the hedonistic, fox jezebel Su Daji. This version holds King Zhou accountable, clearly asserting that his ambition and moral flexibility already put him on the dark path from the get go. This is a more layered and manipulative King Zhou, who adopts all of his noble hostages including Ji Fa as foster "sons". He ruthlessly indoctrinates his own son Yin Jiao as well as his hostage sons into choosing to be sons of a tyrant over their own fathers. All of the sons are pushed to decide whose son they really are and what kind of man they wish to become. This recurring theme of conflict between father and son and right and wrong adroitly weaves most of the sub-plots together.

Kris Phillips with his magnificent build and his imposing, quietly menacing , almost mesmeric screen aura is impeccably cast as King Zhou. He so much looks and breathes the part that it is easy to ignore his at times bizarre Mandarin and the occasionally stiff acting. Although the stunningly gorgeous Naran is bewitching as Daji, the role lacks complexity. She doesn't get to do much more than alternate between a sensuous seductress and a cunning and feral animal spirit when cornered. This debouched couple lights up the screen with their dark chemistry but I could have done with a bit less of their wanton cavorting that comes off as too unsubtle Hollywood. Beyond their honed physiques and stunning atheleticism, both Yu Shi's Ji Fa and Chen Muchi's Yin Jiao won my heart with their brotherhood and their portrayal of initially bewildered and disillusioned sons who grow up to become fearless and resolved men. They stand out among the dazzling number of up and coming young actors who managed to make an impression in this whirlwind production as does Ci Sha's not so hot headed Yang Jian. The deities don't feature as prominently in this first chapter but I much enjoyed this first glimpse of the diabolically mischevious Nezha.

For those unfamiliar with the chaotic original works, the storytelling may seem cluttered with vignettes at the cost of plot advancement as this largely sets the stage for what culminates in the battle of all battles between good and evil. Beyond an almost gratuitous amount of wildly, intense action scenes, the narrative pays homage to key features of the original works from Ji Chang's meat pies to Bi Gan's seven chamber heart. It culminates in Ji Fa's hair rising escape from the Shang capital Zhaoge. Keep watching after the credits roll as the following epilogue sets up the next instalment where hopefully we see a lot more plot movement. This is a very difficult and messy novel to adapt but so far, I am very impressed with how cogently and fittingly everything ties together. This promises to be the best adaptation by a long mile of this well loved novel, the first part of which warrants a highly enthusiastic 8.5/10.0 from me.

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Agent Provocateur.

Jiang Ying, a bewitching songbird catches the eye of both Du Xunyu and his father, shipping magnate Du Jingchuan. The way she lures and provokes both men with her innocent wiles and wraps them around her finger is riveting. She is clearly up to no good but Du Xunyu has his own agenda and is willing to play along with her. This short drama starts strongly with a predictable but well executed revenge plot. Masterful and nuanced portrayals by the main actors and searing chemistry and palpable tension between the leads elevates the simple plot with well-drawn and resonating characterizations. Li Muchen (as Jiang Ying)in particular delivers a captivating performance as a seductive and manipulative agent provocateur that sows the seeds of discord in the Du household.

This short drama is compelling up to the final five episodes and then it manages to turn into a banal, draggy and somewhat sappy love story. The drama never delivers on the early promise of a very intense and passionate romance; lapsing into a very sweet one instead. The latter part of this drama is an example of how bad things happen when these short dramas end up with more budget and screen time. The ending was the worst - bafflingly attempting unnecessary melodrama when it should have and could have ended with a flourish after all the secrets are revealed. Although I still recommend this as a good short drama to pass time with, I can only rate this 7.5 because of the ending sag.

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Everybody lies.

This psychological suspense thriller featuring a female hardcore detective starts out well. Ran Dongdong investigates the death of Xia Bingqing, a young woman with secrets. To figure out what happened to her, Dongdong has to piece together who Bingqing was and why someone wanted her dead. As the list of suspects in this complicated murder case grows, it is clear that everybody lies whether they are doing it consciously or not. The way Dongdong nails down inconsistencies in the various testimonies by unreliable narrators and incisively teases out the truth is riveting.

Work and life collide for Dongdong when it is discovered that her husband Mu Dafu crossed paths with the victim and he had twice rented a hotel room at the likely scene of the crime. She explores the complexity of love, marriage, and fidelity in both the work and personal arena and the lines start to blur. She begins to interrogate him like a suspect. In fact, he gets the worst of it because there are no professional restraints at home. Not that he is a paragon of virtue, far from it!! He was always a bit of a narcissist humanities professor that openly indulges in deeply intimate, highly flirtatious but ostensibly intellectual discussions with professional peers and students. She was fine with it until inexplicably, she is not. Likely because they fell out of the idealistic love phase of their relationship or maybe because he stopped telling her about these women that fall for him.

I did not expect to see this suspense plot devolve so deeply into a dark exploration of marriage between a dislikable and messed-up toxic couple. Both Song Jia and Wang Yang deliver mesmeric performances as flawed, complex, egotistical, and ultimately selfish characters. I did not like either of them. In fact, there are no heroes in this story. Other than the poor kid, pretty much everyone is a terrible person. Even the victim is too much of an architect of their own fate and is not empathetic. Neither of the two parallel plotlines is satisfactorily resolved. The whodunit mystery ends up being a howdunit procedural with too many plotholes and a weak, trite, cop-out motive for the murderer. The way the relationship is resolved also leaves unanswered questions although there is closure in the sense that Ran Dongdong and Mu Dafu really deserve each other. May they live tortuously ever after.

I enjoyed this drama up until episode 10 after which it turns into something I had no interest in watching. I can see how it may hold some appeal to people who like difficult relationship stories. My rating of 6.5 is for the very mediocre suspense plot, which is what I came to watch.

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Tale as old as time.

The Legend of Shen Li is a highly entertaining xianxia with a terrific starting hook. Injured while fleeing an unwanted marriage, Shen Li crashes into the mortal realm in her innate phoenix form. Mistaken for a chicken, she is rescued and healed by Xing Yun, a sickly ginseng salesman. Never in my wildest dreams did I think I would be shipping an unseemly attachment between a haughty chicken and a weak but insolent mortal. Their hilarious interactions and witty repartee had me grinning like a fool. This has to be the first CP that I got invested in before the FL properly meets the ML.

While I find Legend of Shen Li quite enjoyable, it is a tale as old as time and I am not just making fun of Xingzhi's age. This kind of forbidden love story between a lonely, crusty old god and a much younger one is the staple of this genre. This one is written more as a character story so there is little plot movement until the second half of the drama. The plot itself leans heavily on well known xianxia tropes with a modern, role reversal approach. What makes it special is that it is well executed, the main CP has scorching chemistry, it is anchored by a stellar cast and tongue-in-cheek dialogue has deep and heart tugging undertones. This is an excellent entry-level xianxia that will thrill and delight newcomers to the genre the most. While die hard fans of the genre will certainly enjoy the fresh take on old themes, they may find the plot predictable after the early arcs.

For me, the mortal realm is always the most interesting xianxia arc and this is no exception. It is at the same time the most disappointing arc in terms of missed opportunities. It is too short and half the time Shen Li is an angry CGI bird. Shen Li's feelings for Xing Yun developed so quickly I felt shortchanged on the how and the why she fell in love. Worse, their story is overshadowed by the two utterly heart wrenching ill-fated love stories. To some extent, the narrative coasts on the residual heat from Princess Agents and assumes the audience is already invested in the main CP. The issue is viewers who did not watch that may not feel the chemistry between them. The arc ends so abruptly that it barely dawns upon me that Shen Li's affections could be one-sided. She very high-handedly falls for a helpless mortal and doesn't give him any say in the matter because she knew it to be transitory. This is quite sad and complex and it is a pity the narrative dealt with it too cursorily.

As someone hungering for closure from Princess Agents, I am stoked to report that the chemistry between Lin Gengxin and Zhao Liying burns as hot as ever. This drama is generous to a fault in fusing passionate love scenes with humor and moving romantic moments. I find myself chuckling at how hot and flustered Shen Li gets by Xingzhi's shameless flirting until the veiled pathos behind Xingzhi's careless words hits me and makes me tear up. Both characters are designed to recycle the strengths of their previous collaboration without taking much risks. Notably, there is no extra dimension or complexity to Zhao Liying's role or portrayal. She once again delivers in spades what she does best from the brilliant, combative glitter in her eyes to her signature awesomely bad-ass fight scenes. I would have liked to see more facets to King Bicang beyond the fierce warrior with a deadpan expression who is casually cruel to CGI animals. There is more scope for Lin Gengxin to shine as Xingzhi is a contradiction; the most powerful and yet the most powerless being in the three realms. I was impressed by Lin Gengxin's heart wrenching and nuanced portrayal of this so very alone ancient being who will crack a joke to stop your heart from breaking for him.

As a couple, Shen Li and Xingzhi are too perfect for each other - their world view is largely aligned and besides the one bombastic obstacle of an existential crisis for the realms, there is no real conflict in their relationship. While they experience some acutely angsty moments, they are all short lived. Most of the intense and lingering agony in this xianxia actually comes from the three devastating side love stories. Both characters are fully realised beings that don't grow much. That is left to the likes of Furong who is my favorite character in the first half of the narrative and the character that shows the most growth overall. His limelight in the second half is stolen by Lady Jin who is by far my favorite character and one who saves the draggy second half of the show for me. I find the villains quite boring and archetypal and those roles are also the least well acted. Even though Shen Li and Xingzhi come together in a moving and masterful ending climax, the finale is too much of something I have seen many times before. I did not enjoy the extended ending fight sequences and the heavy handed CGI.

Despite the unoriginal plot, this is an excellent character driven story. I was invested in many characters beyond the leads - Furong, Youlan, Qing Ye, Feng Lai, Mofang, Lady Jin and the indignant Cluck Cluck. The dialogue uses comedy brilliantly as a gateway to the profound in highlighting complex, deep and at times tragic existential themes. I enjoyed the conversation about how if we can work together against evil, we may no longer need gods to be our babysitters. I also felt a shiver of fear in this age of AI at the idea that as creators, one day we will become an existential threat to our creation. Overall a very enjoyable and highly recommended funny and intelligent xianxia that I am happy to rate 8.5/10.0.

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Fantastic appetizer but don't bother with the main course and desert.

This drama really wowed me at the beginning - heart stopping kungfu fight scenes, the two leads had good banter and chemistry, the set was gorgeous (obviously big budget) and the story had a good balance of intrigue, romance, action and good and evil characters. I was hooked and truly enjoyed the first 25-30 episodes of it. Then just when you are at the point of addiction, the show peaks, which is just plain cruel. And then in a truly impressive way the show crashes and burns, getting progressively worse as it advances. I kept watching in the desperate hope that it would turn itself around but sadly it did not. It was as if an entirely different production crew took over and set out to purposely destroy the show. The plot meandered down multiple mind numbingly boring and ultimately repetitive political plots to steal the thrones in 3 of the 5 kingdoms only to be foiled by Fuyao and her friends. There were lots of unnecessary side characters and multiple unanswered and non sequitor sub plots. Not to mention the many long winded and boring philosophical discussions that I strongly suggest fast forwarding through unless you have trouble falling asleep at night.

Ethan Ruan and Yang Mi were great together most of the time and especially at the beginning. However, there were long periods where Fuyao/Yang Mi was on her own and the story/actress could not really carry those moments alone, frequently coming across as reckless and annoying. I did not love the supporting cast either and I felt that Vengo Gao's role/storyline was almost as if they were trying out two potential male leads with parallel (repetitive) plots to see which was better. Obviously Yang Mi and Vengo have zero chemistry and that sub plot that went on forever should have been eliminated altogether. I guess the entire crew was being paid by the episode judging from how it ended up being all pasted together to create one big mess of a storyline. Its a shame because this could have been a terrific and memorable (much shorter) drama with some ruthless editing and tighter script/plot writing.

The only thing epic about this drama is the effort I had to put in to see it through the end. Starts with a bang and then death by a thousand cuts of boring inanity. This is one of those shows that definitely would have benefited greatly from the latest Chinese government ban on excessive budgets that lead to too many unnecessary episodes in Chinese costume dramas. To be fair, I would say the first say 30 episodes are actually worth watching. If you can endure some suffering you can even watch a few more episodes until Fuyao discovers Wu Ji's real identity. After that, do yourself a huge favor and drop it. You will just feel angry and cheated if like me, you persist until the bitter end because it then becomes just so, so much more bad than good.

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Wild goose chase.

Ancient conspiracy thrillers are right up my alley so I looked forward to Luoyang with bated breath. This is set in Shendu (now Luoyang), capital of Wu Zetian's Wu Zhou Dynasty (690-705). As the only female emperor in over 5000 years of Chinese history, Wu Zetian remains a controversial figure - an ambitious, usurper whose exceptional intelligence and leadership is only matched by her ruthlessness against anyone in her way, including or especially her own children. She cultivated informers and multiple secret police and spy rings that gathered evidence against her detractors. and maintained a careful balance of power between the important political structures of her administration. This is reflected in the drama in the clear delineation of responsibilities between the Judiciary, Inner Guard and Secret Police (Lianfang). During this time, the Wu clan and Li clan were embroiled in a power struggle which persisted until Wu Zetian intervened and clarified her succession plans. Nonetheless it ended in messy plotting, betrayals and twists that are drama worthy in and of themselves. This is rich fodder for conspiracy plots such as this one.

The drama starts thrillingly with a bold daylight assassination of an informer and his daughter and the ensuing dizzying high speed chase through the streets of Shendu. All three main protagonists mortician Gao Bingzhu, foodie Baili Hongyi and inner guard Wu Shiyue are at the scene and invisible threads from their past pull them together to uncover a much deeper conspiracy that could rock the very foundations of Wu Zetian's empire. Clues emerge that connect seemingly unrelated cases and force the three protagonists to work together, at first reluctantly and with selfish agendas and then with growing mutual respect and trust that blossoms into deep friendships. I most enjoyed the tripartite friendship in the drama and would have liked to see it better explored rather than unnecessary romantic arcs. Huang Xuan nailed it with his cynical yet paradoxically idealistic Gao Bingzhu; whose shrewdness and insight into dark hearts of man does not extend to those he cares for. I also did not see much chemistry between him and Song Qian who impresses with her fight scenes but falters somewhat in her line delivery. Wang Yibo's performance is strong in some aspects but uneven overall with too many scenes where he is clearly unsure what facial expression to wear. This role does not elevate him for me from an actor that I don't mind watching but wouldn't seek out. That said the trio has enough combined chemistry that I am happy to watch them together again. As for Song Yi, she has gotten enough flack and her character was so poorly written that all I will say is this is a role such a wonderful actress should have just passed on.

I did not enjoy the first two episodes of the drama - too much was happening at the same time and the cameraman swung the camera so wildly I thought he was possessed. The action scenes are exciting and well choreographed enough they did not need to artificially augmented by cheap camera tricks. After the psycho camera settles down, the plot unfolds at an intense and exciting pace against a gorgeous backdrop of dazzling sets and with a deluge of colorfully garbed denizens - they must have hijacked and costumed practically every Hengdian tourist as extras on set I have never seen so many people crammed into each scene. My personal favorite set is the Unwelcome Well which looks almost too inviting to be a ghetto. While the costumes and certain props are anachronistic, everything comes together is such a vibrant and captivating panorama that it scarcely matters. This is complemented by well designed side characters that are based on well known historical figures. Hints of their personalities, scandalous affairs and alliances are quite faithful to history and add a nice ambiance to the setting. It set up for intriguing Dumas like plot twists that didn't materialize.

This drama builds to a top-notch, shocking and heartbreaking climax prematurely at episode 20 where both actors delivered standing ovation worthy performances. It achieves that perfect sequence of shock followed immediately by stunned comprehension and acceptance as all the clues rushed to the fore to blindside the viewer to the next unfolding twist. In the second half, the plot visibly loses momentum and digresses into romantic arcs that don't belong in this genre and filler maudlin flashbacks. The writing of the mini-threads in the second half is insipid with excessive gratuitous character implants, many of whom delivered cringe worthy performances.

In hindsight it would have been difficult to top the fantastic mid-drama climax but it is still extremely disappointing for the final reveal to be so bland. The hollow villain that everyone was on to as a bad guy early on but dismissed as too obvious turns out indeed to be the final villain, one that is not worthy of being called a mastermind. Both their motive and end game plot is not well articulated or convincing. Multiple clues and more interesting suspicious characters that don't play out leave me feeling like I went on a wild goose chase. I don't know if they ran out of money or wasted it on too many bodies but there is no sense of peril or excitement in the final showdown. Forget explosions or collapsing buildings, we don't even get one good last fight scene. The final insult is how unfathomably a feather brain like Liu Feng manages to find himself in the right place at the right time to deliver an unnecessary and uncalled for outcome. This is just a misguided attempt to deliver an audience shocker to make up for the nothing burger of a final reveal.

Even though this remains a very entertaining and highly recommended watch, the ending is a big let down that knocks 0.5 off my final rating for the show. I feel that an 8.0 is the best I can give to this show, which is still one of the better c-dramas of the second half of 2021.

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All style no substance.

I was really excited to watch this Republican period detective drama. Having enjoyed Hu Yitian and Zhang Yunlong's chemistry in My Roommate is A Detective, I couldn't wait to see them team up again in a similar setting. The adaptation of Agatha Christie's Poirot mysteries seemed like an added bonus. Sad to say, despite the visually sumptuous set and costumes, both the characters and cases are bland, uninspired and the pacing is very draggy.

While Situ Yan is the lead detective, he is not meant to be a literal adaptation of Hercule Poirot. Poirot with his known eccentricities including his fastidiousness and obsession with symmetry, is one of the the most distinctive, well dimensioned fictional detectives ever. He has a clear process and methodology that is based on human nature and psychology for solving the case. I would never cast Hu Yitian as Poirot and I am ok with the fact that Situ Yan is not Poirot. What I am not ok with is the colorless, cardboard characterisation of Situ Yan as simply a highly intelligent but rather lethargic lawyer with a strong sense of justice. Hu Yitian does his best with the role but he doesn't have much to work with. This is made worse by Luo Shaochuan, the money guy whose contribution to the crime solving aspects of the partnership is unclear. This character is so indifferently written it is not worthy of an actor of Zhang Yunlong's calibre. The two leads get little screen time together as they go down disparate paths in the investigations. Unlike their previous best loved collaboration, Zhou Mowan is more often Situ Yan's sidekick than Luo Shaochuan is. Thus we don't get to enjoy their banter and their incredible chemistry that builds up and fleshes out both characters as they work through the cases. While both female leads are well written and likeable, they crowd out the bromance.

When it comes to adapting these beloved Poirot classics, I am no die-hard Christie purist. I am receptive to and have seen good adaptations that take a fair amount of liberties with the original works. This can be successfully achieved because changes notwithstanding, the adaptation remains true to the essence of Christie; the psychology of the crime. This is where Checkmate fails to deliver. The supporting cast is very mediocre and lacks screen presence. Bland storytelling and poor pacing with unnecessary romantic digressions disrupts the build up in suspenseful tension into the final reveals. The cases must be evaluated convincingly from the point of view of each character, to assess their psychology as a sense of imminent peril escalates. Who was the victim? Why would someone want them dead? Who would cross that line and actually do the dastardly deed? This drama fails to make me feel invested in the human aspects - the victims and potential suspects; it fails to create a sense of urgency to solve the case or engender that mixture of sorrow, pity and revulsion for the perpetrator that is signature Christie.

The first case is Murder on the Orient Express, a well known case that has been adapted to death. While this version does not stand out, it stays close to the original and is fairly well done. Although Roger Ackroyd is also quite well done considering how difficult it is to adapt an unreliable narrator case into this format, from there, things start to go downhill. These cases are masterpieces; material changes should be weighed carefully and not made with the misguided idea that such impeccable Christie plots have scope for improvement or merely for the sake of delivering a surprise twist. Which is what they did to one of my personal favourites. They went for the plausible alternative solution which simply did not fit the human nature aspects of the case. And thus fails to deliver Christie's magic wow factor, the thrill and the chill and that sense of shock, sorrow and acceptance that it all made sense; that it is the best and only solution. It devolves further as cases are stitched together in a cut and paste fashion that is increasingly incoherent. The final case bears little resemblance to what I think must be the original. While it took no genius to spot the the final antagonists a mile away, their motives are uninteresting and unconvincing and the ending is frankly farcical.

If you are a Christie purist, I would say avoid this drama. You will feel they have desecrated some of the author's best works. If not, this is a watchable if unexceptional adaptation. The production values are quite good and the Republican period setting in Harbin has some novelty appeal even though the drama overall is all style no substance. This is a 7.0 for me but I would have rated it 7.5 if they didn't ruin Five Little Pigs and finish in such an absurd manner.

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Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies.

Mysterious Lotus Casebook is a dark 江湖/jiānghú story about the ultimately futile aspirations and obsessions of the martial world. In an epic battle for supremacy, Di Feisheng of the dark Jinyuan Alliance challenges Li Xiangyi, the leader of the righteous Sigu sect. Both men disappear from the martial world afterwards, leaving a vacuum at the top and their sects in disarray.

Ten years later, aspiring young detective Fang Duobing comes across Li Lianhua, a famous itinerant doctor whom he is convinced is a quack. Determined to expose him, he attaches himself to Li Lianhua as inextricably as a wad of chewing gum in his hair. They run into Di Feisheng, who immediately recognises in him his old nemesis Li Xiangyi. The two old rivals remorselessly keep Fang Duobing in the dark as they try to figure out who sabotaged their fight and search for Li Xiangyi's deceased sect brother Shan Gudao's corpse. An unlikely friendship develops as they work together to solve a series of strangely connected jiānghú cases.

Plot wise, this drama is solid but dry and unremarkable. The cases all unfold at a fast pace and are easy to follow, but do not engage audience participation. They are simply plants for clues to a treasure hunt for artefacts that unlock the main conspiracy. Despite a hint of the supernatural, the cases fall short of chilling or suspenseful. The hidden mastermind behind the main conspiracy is pretty obvious and revealed fairly early on, and even the ironic twist at the end is not much of a surprise. Both villains are one-dimensional jiānghú archetypes driven by vanity and delusions of grandeur. Wang Herun's scarily convincing portrayal of the Saintess of the insane cackle elevated the role beyond its one-dimensional character blueprint.

\What makes this drama a success are fascinating main character designs, strong rapport among the three leads, the scintillating dialogues, and well-choreographed and exciting action sequences. The real mystery is about who Li Xiangyi was and why he was killed. The answers are at surface trivial. Li Xiangyi was perched at the top of the martial arts world as the world's best swordsman and leader of the righteous sects. This made him the envy and natural target of virtually everyone. However, Li Xiangyi was far from the perfect hero of Fang Doubing's idealistic imagination. In fact, he was a self-absorbed, pompous ass who believed the universe revolved around him and his worldview. His swordsmanship is matched by a brilliant, cynical mind and a razor-sharp tongue that, according to poor Ai'man, can slay a person with a few words. If there is one thing lacking in Cheng Yi's otherwise stellar performance, it is that his Xiangyi is too empathetic. This masks his many flaws and hides how insufferable and difficult he was as a person. It took me awhile to realise that his sect had some inkling who Li Lianhua really was but they refused to recognise him because they just did not want Li Xiangyi to come back.

As for Li Lianhua, he is just a shard, a detached, sickly, disillusioned and world-weary remnant of the glorious Li Xiangyi. Cheng Yi really compels with his heart rending expression of this facet of the character singing his swan song without a shred of self pity. I lived for the sudden bursts of energy or sheer willpower that momentarily revives the breathtaking, dazzling and dizzying swordsmanship that propelled Li Xiangyi to dominate wuling. Only to all too rapidly diminish back into Li Lianhua again, a wickedly unapolagetic compulsive liar whose mantra is clearly, "Ask me no questions, and I'll tell you no lies." This is how he keeps everyone, and especially the hapless Fang Doubing, at arm's length; to avoid new personal entanglements. Fang Doubing (which literally means "sickly") is a parody character, the typical naive, high-minded, young adventurer raring to make a difference in the martial world. The dialogue is well written and humorously illustrates how grudgingly Li Lianhua is moved by this pesty young detective and tacitly accepts him as his successor. However, this kind of clichéd relationship dynamic of the clueless sidekick that elevates the brilliant sleuth is too common and quickly becomes boring. Li Lianhua's lies to Fang Doubing went on for too long to the point it became cruel and unnecessary. Their relationship is over explored and shortchanges the more interesting relationship in the drama.

What disappoints me most is that the writers opted to very cursorily explore the more complex and interesting relationship between Di Feisheng and Li Lianhua. Di Feisheng is the most layered villain in this story; that rare antagonist who transforms into a protagonist. Like Li Xiangyi, he rises to the top of his sect through sheer martial prowess rather than by winning hearts and minds. They are enemies who become friends, both betrayed and searching for answers. But his story is sidelined for much of the drama, his backstory is rushed, and his relationship with Li Lianhua does not really get a chance to develop and grow. Yet the best moments of this drama, are when all three of them are together, like a found family.

I like that this ends with an action-packed finale and satisfying final confrontations with the antagonists. But as for the plot, the best reveal is when Fang Doubing figures out who Li Lianhua is, which isn't really a revelation to the viewer. And I can't really pinpoint when the plot reaches its climax, as none of the high points make a strong impression. As for the ending, it is fitting but not as definitive as I would have liked. Most of Li Lianhua's journey is about putting his affairs in order and offering closure to those he cared for; to help them move on from Li Xiangyi who in all the ways that mattered died ten years ago. Yet Li Lianhua continues to string poor Fang Doubing (and us) along, which is too cruel and inconsistent with the drama's core message about letting go of past attachments and moving on. These kinds of endings that try to please all audiences really annoy me. I still enjoyed this superbly well written drama, immensely even though I think it had the potential to be much better. For me, this is an excellent 8.5/10.0 and a highly recommended watch.

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