The Double (2024)

#HottiesForGoodGovernance

I love bad boys. I especially love bad boys with sharp wit, dressed in black, and adorned with a fan to show that fragile masculinity is a foreign concept to them.

What I don't love is when a bad boy turns out to be not a bad boy at all.

Before I go any further, I'm setting PeachBlossomGoddess' review as pre-requisite reading because their review matches exactly my thoughts and feelings on The Double. The point on which I will extrapolate is why I think the drama ultimately undermines itself.

For me, The Double fails to follow through on what is a very powerful swing during the first half of the series. And this is for two reasons. The first, as PeachBlossomGoddess describes, is weak plot lines echoing those of other dramas of this genre.

The second reason, I argue, is the second half kills a boner. No, seriously, bear with me here. This drama is horny AF. In the first half, you have a FL and a ML equal in terms of looks and wit dancing around each other as they glide from suspicion to mutual trust to deep thirsting for one another.

The appeal of the ML derives partly from mystique. He has a sharp mind and, as explicitly stated, he is projecting himself in a similar direction to the FL. Although he doesn't ultimately give up his dom position, there's enough switching between the two to keep the power dynamic infused with sexual tension. At the initial stages of the drama, we don't know the ML's background nor his intentions. The fact he appears to be a bit of a lone wolf lends him an even sexier air; the idea that he isn't at someone else's beck and call.

Or is he?

It was a disappointment to find out that the ML, all this time, has been in cahoots with the emperor. I feel like you'd be disappointed too if you were crushing on a silver-tongued, hot and brooding colleague at work only to find out they're actually the boss' right-hand man. idk about you, but that gives me the ick.

Sorry but maintaining the status quo isn't sexy. I'm not saying everyone has to be a rebel or underdog in order to be attractive. However, if you're going for the Bad Boy Hottie approach, supporting the vanilla and (assumedly?) benevolent monarch kinda takes the edge off.

Honestly, this isn't an issue unique to The Double. It's probably safe to say that, to get government approval at all, the good governance narrative must endure in these historical C-dramas. As I've mentioned in other reviews, it's a common trope to have the FL and ML protect the emperor's power (or help the 'rightful' emperor ascend), even though at no point do we see proof that the emperor actually does anything beneficial for his people.

Which is why, by the end of the series, there's not much substance to the political plot. Oh goodie, #HottiesForGoodGovernance win again. I'm shocked. How grand, the ML and FL have mellowed and now have domestic bliss. Sly smiles and black coats be damned.

And y'know what? If it wasn't for Shen Yurong losing his cool right at the end, he could've been a great Bad Boy Hottie. Uxoricide aside, I'd personally love for a morally ambivalent (and conveniently good looking) scholar to come brood in my corner. Let's hang out, shall we? I know a great graveyard.

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Exquisitely enjoyable slow-burn romance

The slow-burn romance was exquisitely enjoyable. I love how the ML quickly became impressed by the FL and trusted all her plans while being ready to lend a helping hand if necessary. They took their time openly expressing their feelings for each other, but WE ALL KNEW (including the side characters who saw them together), and when they eventually got there, it felt so rewarding. I lived for those 5-10 mins of main couple scenes in each episode and have rewatched them multiple times.

Wang Xing Yue was so good as the Male Lead who was economical with his words but conveyed a lot with his gaze and expression. I had seen him in "Amidst a Snowstorm of Love" but had no idea he could be that good!

The overall storyline was good in the sense that it was complex enough to be interesting, but simple enough to follow (I hate overly complex plots in historical dramas, especially when there are too many characters involved and unclear timelines). However, a bit too much screentime was given to the baddies. I get it that they were trying to make sure they were not one-dimensional, but maybe they could have cut down on some of the baddies' plotting to give more scenes to the main leads. I think they really underestimated the draw of the main couple to viewers.

I am not a fan of the last 10-15 mins of the final episode - it felt unecessary and rushed to add on a new final villain when all the previous episodes had been building up to one set of villains.

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a plot driven drama with some crumbs of romance

Dispite what you've might guess from the title of this review, I LOVED this drama.
I'm usually a sucker for romance and, if a drama doesn't give me what I expect it to give on this regard, I don't really like it... as for this one, I'm glad to say it was a plesant surprise.
I must confesse I did fastforward in some moments, since I'm anxious and I couldn't take it, however, this drama was great.
I loved the premise of the story, the acting was superb and the photography as well as the figurines were on point.
Honestly, aside from this drama feeding you basically crumbs of a romance, there's nothing else to criticize about it - and even in this I don't dsre criticize because the chemistry between the leads was so damn real and intoxicating.
I waited 34 episodes for their first kiss, was mad as hell with the camera for slipping away in the edition and not properly showing it, but it was more about frustation than anything else lol
Ou first (and only) proper kiss, is on the last episode, still, I wasn't mad with it, because it was so damn satisfying.
I must confess the ending made me a little mad. It was completely perfect till around halfway through it, than things started to go south, still, the extra episode, which has only 5min, kind of made up for a little bit of it, so it's fine.
Eitherway, this series surely deserves more recognition and love, because the actors are AMAZING and the plot is new and full of plot-twists you don't quite expect and are sure to keep you hooked.
10 out of 10, must watch.

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A bit far fetched

Can not see how jiang xuanbao ever got to be a left or right chancellor, he is too gullible and stupid, believes anything almost anyone says especially his wife. Since there are so many incidents in his family occurring and he doesn’t question anything. Obviously really doesn’t care about his daughter(s) just his reputation and how he looks to others. The grandmother is too passive and must not feel she has any real power either. Pretty much the same with the emperor, doesn’t may sense how she betrayed her brother to help the present emperor ascend to the throne, so she can have a lot of power in the palace
Lastly the ex-husband is probably more unscrupulous than Princess Wanning once he learnt to deal with her, had the nerve to be jealous of his former wife, after the other things he did, he just as crazy as the princess they deserved each other

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I was just about to stop binge watching & here comes temptation!

Okay, I have been binge-watching cdramas for a while now & I was about to break out of this habit, but they have done such a good job with characters & finding the right cast, that I gave into this temptation. Here's to hoping that this drama continues being so intriguing & I won't regret spending my time on it.

Ep 1 to Ep 5: The beginning of the ep 1 starts with betrayal, the guts of the guy to do her so wrong and still have the balls to pretend like he cares about her! I care about you but I don't have a choice so I'll frame you parent, get your brother killed, & one more, kill you myself. The tears are the worst, how meaningless. Man the kindness at that Zhenvv Hall, here's to hoping the head of the hall receives the same kindness. Poor Jiang Li, Fang Fei is so right, the wicked go unpunished & take pleasure in punishing the kind. I'm of two minds about Fang Fei taking over Jiang Li's identity. One one hand I can see her conviction about making Jiang Li's family suffer for the neglect & abuse she received at the hall. At the same time, it also feels like Fang Fei did it not because of Jiang Li but because she want to get her own revenge. Ep 4 clears that up, she is doing it for both and man is she brilliant! She told the Duke to scold her back for calling him brainless & he come back with her original identity.

Ep 6 to Ep 10: I get that the stepmother is evil, but the father is worse. His daughter is dead because of the both of them. She died without having her name cleared. This is the time, I wish this was a horror story & she would haunt their ass. Still not sure what's going on between princess & the murderer, but I don't feel sorry for the guy at all. Every time he is confronted with what he did to his loyal wife, he has tears in his eyes. Honestly, what good are those tears? That guy had no care for her. I don't know if the romance between the Duke & Li will go anywhere or if they will even get to be together without any issues. I hope it works out well for both of them though.

Ep 10 to Ep 15: I was so excited to see the competition between the two sisters, knowing that our double would win. But I must say that Rua Yao gave a terrific performance, I didn't think that Jiang Li would have been able to top that. But she won for a reason, the emotions she put in her song made it seem so real. I didn't much care for the graphics because for some reason they didn't properly convey her feelings. They were good but I wish they have come up with a better idea. We finally have a little hint of romance popping up, with Li being jealous about the Duke being at the brothel. I like the drama as it is, but I wish the leads had more screentime together, they are beautiful to watch. The Jiang family is so messed up, Jing Rui is the only person I like so far. Ruo Yao & Yu'e deserve each other, but I can see that being married to Yan Ban will not meet Yu'e expectation. What's more, it looks like both the cousins might end up being married to the same guy and none of them are his first choice. He has such a wandering eye.

Ep 16 to 27: I can't believe how good this show is. I messed up my sleep schedule again to catch up on all the episodes! I don't want to wait so long for the rest to come out. I love the progression of relationship between Duke & Li. It is so good to see such well-written characters with minds that gel well. I also feel a certain level of dread that either the Duke or Li might not make it till the end. That would be heartbreaking, but it wouldn't negate the bond they shared. Yu'e marriage ended up as predicted, I'm surprised that Ruo Yao actually did something right for once. I'm sure Jian Li's father suspects Jian Li's identity. I wonder how everyone is going to react once they find out that Jiang Li was murdered by the members of the Hall where she was supposed to be well cared for. I want them to be devastated! Jiang Li deserves that at least. Here's the hoping both Fang Fie & Jang Li get to clear their names & people who murdered them & plotted against them suffer. For a main character, Ye Shi Ji has very little screen time & I wonder how his feelings for Jiang Li will change things. I saw video on Youkou's international page which included a scene that suggested that Li & Duke might have happy ending. However, they were both standing in front of two graves, if one of them was Jiang Li's whose was the other? Here's to hoping Tong Er survives.

Ep 28 to 31: I had hoped that Tong Er would make it! But now she is gone to go be with her lady. I wonder what's gonna happen to Ji Shu Ran now. Was glad to see her maid being dragged away. I do not like waiting for each episode. It was soo good to watch the first 26 one after the other. I must say, this drama is gonna be one more addition to my favs list. For a moment their Fang Fie had me worried that she had really forgiven Jiang Yuan Bai on behalf of Jiang Li. Thank goodness, Jiang Li deserves better. There should be no redemption of any kind for Ji Shu Ran, for all her claims of she was forced to do things, she is the one who reveled in being cruel. She caused the death of little Yue and covered it up. I don't know if she was really pregnant at the time, but if she was, she killed her own unborn baby to frame a little girl who loved her. Framing that little girl led to her death as well. She is the reason so many people have died. I do think the diviner arc was a bit pointless. They sacrificed Tong Er for that arc. Here's to hoping that the Shen Yu Rong meets the same fate as Fang Fie who was buried alive. Okay this drama just makes me scared for everyone's life in there. I kept wondering who's gonna die next, will it be Fang Fie's father, the poison princess, or Wen Ji. Now, I wonder if Zhao prince might ask Duke to marry his sister. Then where would our Fang Fie be? Living Tong Er's dream probably. Poor Shi Jie probably wondering what's happening around him.

Ep 32 to Ep 35: Wow, the brains on Wanning! She thought she might be able to use Xue Zhao in some way so she kept him alive without anyone knowing. Fang Fie's whole plan centered around exposing Wanning & Shen Yu Rong's relationship. Recanting the testimony might again put Jiang Li in the way of rumors. And it looks like Duke Su will be coming to the rescue. (Maybe their marriage begins with this) Well, it is hard not to like Duke Su & Fang Fie being together, especially since both have such a keen understanding of each other. And the trust in each other is so overwhelming, you rarely get to see such a couple in dramas. I can't wait to see the moment where Fang Fie gives him the jade pendant. Shen Yu Rong has gone mad for sure but he clearly has different goals from the wanning & he is willing to even sacrifice his own child.

Ep 36 to Ep 40: I admit like everyone else, I felt for wanning. Had she only taken revenge on people who did her wrong, I would have liked her as a character her, but she forgot that there was a line she wasn't supposed to cross. I wonder if she ever knew that such a line exist. What she did to Fang Fie and countless other innocent people stops me from feeling anything for her now. I felt for the princess who was treated as an object & violated, but not for the one who decided to the same in return and not to the people who deserved it. You gotta hand it to Duke Su, even with the tempting made by Zhao he still rejected the marriage proposal because in his heart he has already made a commitment. So, that's how Wanning & Shen Yu Rong met their end. I'm sad about Wen Ji & Lu Ji, when I first saw them on screen I had a thought that one of them is gonna die. I didn't expect that both would. I think the ending needed to be better planned. It is a happy ending but still it does not do justice to the entire drama.

I did see Ep 40.5: It was kinda okay. It would have been better if there were other characters in it.

One of the weirdest parts about the drama were the closeups when the characters were supposed to be looking at each other, but it seemed as if they were looking at a camera. It especially happened when the communication was supposed to be between Xiao Heng and Jiang Li. This happened far too many times with this drama and never with other dramas.

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NOT AGAIN WANG XING YUE!

Wang Xing Yue has picked another synopsis not too far from his role in Scent of Time (as Zhong Xie Wu) a character who's attracted to someone else's wife. He's good in that character, powerful and noble, reserved & upright, but not challenging enough to bring out his best talent. Hope in his future project, he won't again taking in this kind of role. Okey, the story is about the most talented well-educated girl Xue Fang Fei (Wu Jin Yan) who took the identity of second miss Prime Minister Jiang Li in abandonment of 10 years seclusion in women's sect monastery.

Xue Fang Fei was the wife of a talented poor scholar Shen Yu Rong, because of his well manner and handsome face - a cruel grand Princess attracted to him and wanted him for herself. His ambitious mother and greedy sister insisted him to get rid of the wife Xue Fang Fei with accusation of infidelity and adultery in exchange of high position in the palace as trusted official ministry. With regret he dragged his wife to the wood and killed her, he believed his wife Xue Fang Fei dead and buried 6 feet under. He didn't know that she survive the killing - dug out her own grave and happened to meet Jiang Li - the abandon Prime Minister daughter and gave her a helping hand. On the way out to help Xue Fang Fei, Jiang Li got caught by the monastery and punished till she died. Before she died though she tell her story about her background and hopes to Xue Fang Fei. With no way out in her own personal life, she decided to take in Jiang Li identity and bring her out of situation; go back to the capital, claim Jiang Li's identity as respectable second miss and fullfil Jiang Li's wish to reality, she also wanted to get her revenge. She met Xiao Heng/Duke Su (Wang Xing Yue) while he's chasing after a criminal, with her intelligent to manipulate situation to get her home. Duke Su suspicious about her, he has seen her as Xue Fang Fei not as her claim as Jiang Li.

Too much dramatization of scenes that are not necessary (wind blowing exaggerate slow motion scenes or when she played music Gu Zheng), jealous hideous women, acting is 7 the most to all of them. I mean I've seen Wang Xing Yue's same acting to similar personalities in his previous dramas (Scent of Time as Zhong Xie Wu, One & Only as Liu Zi Xing, Story of Kunning Palace as Zhang Zhe). Wu Jin Yan is ordinarily gloomy & blank eyes. The story has potential if they cast someone else other than Wang Xie Yue, he's good but he should act in different character & story line. Actually the one that acting good is the jealous step-mother and cruel princess, just too bad their characters are so despicable, I just hate them but that's make them good actors. Face beauty accessory with pearls is like Trypophobia skin disease?? Not pretty as it intended to be.

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Just started this…

I was curious with this series since I saw it on my fyp, and also because of Wang Xingyue, I liked him in scent of time and I’m a big Zhou Ye fan. The story is quite interesting so far although there are scenes wherein I find a little absurd or cringey, I’m only on episode 9 and still continuing to watch it & haven’t dropped it yet means a lot on my end, it means that the story is that intriguing, the actor who played Zhou YeMs brother, the girl who portayed Mu Yaoare from scent of time, the assistant/maidservant of the FL was also the one from scent of time, and The actor who portrayed Zhou Ye’s father in scent of time is also here, as well as the personal butler of the crown prince, & the supposedly concubine of the crown prince from scent of a scent time is here too!!!, so it’s nice to see a familiar faces. Also the princess from the kunning palace is also in this series!

My only issue would be, the FL I don’t know there are angles wherein I don’t find her pretty, some angles she looks okay, but it’s really distracting me… most of the female actresses in this series are prettier than the FL tbh, but since the story is interesting I shall try to bear with looking at her face.. no hate this is just my honest opinion…

of course I’ll add a more depth review once I get deeper into the series and once it finishes.

UPDATE:

currently on episode 16, despite me being bothered with the FL, the story and plot is strong, it’s so intriguing, that it makes you want to watch longer, and would want to know what will happen next. there are tons of antagonists on this series, but a handful of protagonists, I love the fact that the character of the FL is smart and fearless, not the helpless annoying kind.

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Overrated but not bad

It could have been amazing, however it’s a little bit like a jigsaw puzzle box that’s been opened; the picture on the outside is interesting, but when you open the box, you find there are pieces missing or some of the pieces don’t belong.

WHAT I LIKED
I adore stories with strong, smart female leads which is why I started watching C-dramas. This story attempts to have that.

The cinematography and set design are gorgeous! Apparently, this show had 3 directors and it’s clear that some were more interested getting the right looking shot that they were in ensuring that the story and characters made sense on screen.

WHAT RUINED IT FOR ME
I think it’s important to establish chemistry and harmony so that the audience is swept up into the plot. IMO, that did not happen here. Reading a book is not the same as watching a movie. A movie requires that the visuals on the screen and the harmony between the cast and script are visually palpable. That didn’t happen here.

First, the casting decisions were terrible. I’m not saying that the acting was bad. Individually, I think each cast member did a terrific job. However, the cast never had any chemistry.

For one thing, it was difficult to understand how old these people were supposed to be. You have Wu Jin Yan who is a beautiful 30+ plus old woman in RL, but she looks like a 28 to 30-year-old. Then you have the rest of the non-parental figures in the show cast as 21-year-olds. If the story had been about 21-year-olds being led by a charismatic 30-year-old then I think that it could have worked. Instead, they put 5+ lbs of make on Wu Jin Yan and used trick lighting to try to make her look 21. The result is extremely uneven. She looks that age in about 80% of the scenes but, often within the same scene or episode, she clearly looks WAY older than the people that are supposed to be her peers. Instead of focusing on the plot, I spent as much time tying to figure out what was going on with their ages and whether that was intentional.

Furthermore, I think the decision to pretend that the Directors could manipulate things so that WJY could pass for 21 also destroyed the chemistry. Instead of a harmonized crew, we got great individuals playing good roles. What we needed was people that seemed to care about each other on screen as much as they did in the novel.

Second, the plot line was not great. Wu Jin Yan can be a great actress. She was fantastic in Yangxi Palace! IMO, she’s one of the best at making you believe that the FL is clever. However, in this it seemed like she was sleepwalking through the plot. The examples of her charater’s cleverness are not delivered with the same zing as Yangxi palace. I blame a lot of that on the plots. They’re clever, but predictable. Please tell me if you didn’t know what was happening with the flags at the quasi-nunnery 5 minutes before it was revealed.

Part of it was the setup. The main character went from normal and somewhat gullible when she was first introduced to being clever as a fox overnight, literally. At least, show us how she mentally worked out that she could be clever person instead being just a pawn.

The instrumental music used to propel the scenes is meh. It’s kind of like the show. It’s not bad, but it’s not something to get excited about either.

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Another Predictable Revenge Plot

After watching the trailer, I expected some intense palace intrigue. The drama started out so well, but after watching 10 episodes, all we've seen is the stepmom and stepsisters scheming against the female lead. There's a lot of unnecessary filler, with too much talking and comedy that makes the plot feel unserious.

I've dropped many dramas like "Love Like the Galaxy" because I don't enjoy plots where all the female characters gang up on one person, making the female lead a perpetual victim. The supporting characters in this drama aren't compelling enough for me to care about them. The stepmom's hatred for the female lead simply because she's the daughter of the first wife is such a cliché; we've seen this plot in so many dramas.

The main reason I've stuck with this drama is because of Wang Xing Yue. His strong presence, acting, and voice are impressive, and I will definitely check out his future works. I don't mind a slow-burn romance, but we're not getting enough screen time for the male lead, and there's a lot of pointless dialogue between the main leads. To be honest, Wu Jin Yan is not the right choice for the female lead role.

For now, I'm dropping this drama, though I might pick it up again in the future just to watch the male lead.

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