Lan_Cheer

Your review is so beautifully written and to the point! I love how you criticizes Zhu Yizhen's character and Tong Yao's performance because I feel exactly the same. I also agree with part of your comments on Zhu Yilong and his character. In my opinion, the problem in his performance is the result of his implausible character. The story is set in 1930s and Lin Nansheng consciously joined the Fuxing club, his naivety in the beginning of the series is very strange. I believe the show tries to present him as an innocent boy from a distant village so he was not well informed about the CCP, which is why he picked the side of the ruling party as a conventionally educated young man. (That is also a little bit implausible to be honest.) What you call the first arc of the drama is also why I was attracted to this show in the first place. However, I do not believe the plot remains at that high quality in the later episodes. Besides, even though the beginning of this show is thrilling and suspenseful, the dumbing down of the characters is quite unbearable. Chen Moqun is definitely my favorite character in this show. But unfortunately, the complexity of this character has not been fully developed in this show.

Actually, he did graduated from the Teachers College. He only joined the Fuxing academy after he had graduated from the Teachers College. This is explained in the first episode. And his cover identity works because that his background can be checked out.