This show was by no means perfect, but it was super enjoyable, and definitely got better with time.

BL - Can confirm the BL aspect is very light but enjoyable and definitely not broken up with a het romance! I promise the show will be way more fun if you're not fretting about whether every new female character is supposed to be a forced love interest - they're not. Actually, a lot of people are pretty shippable in this show imo, but you have to like non-canon pairings.

That said, if you're hoping for a more romance-y story (like the way Untamed or Guardian, even with the BL technically removed, was heavily focused on the main leads and their relationship), this really isn't that kind of show. But if you're like me and enjoy stories where the "couple" are doing other things and there are just some side hints at romance, that's more of what this show is.


Story - this one went a bit back and forth for me, as the pacing earlier in the show was a bit slow in places. Several of the Dorla scenes felt unnecessary and slow, and the Yunhe arc could have probably been better condensed. The later part of the show (about the last quarter) was very fast-paced and much better in this regard, and there were a lot of tie-ins that came back, which I loved. Probably one of the biggest weaknesses is that it does sometimes rely on people missing things that seem obvious to the viewer - it's often fair in-story why they would, but it can be frustrating if you're used to American-style procedurals.

Note that this show isn't exactly a whodunnit/procedural, and more of a story-based crime-themed show, so I recommend setting your expectations accordingly.


Cast/Characters - the actors all did a great job, but the top spot has to go to Wang Zhi for me. You'll find yourself rooting for a eunuch! Who is adorable! And he has a tiny gun and rolls his eyes like a PRO.

The two leads (Tang and Sui) admittedly get a bit of a slow start, and it will take a while to like them and get more of a sense of chemistry in their relationship, but it's very very cute by the end. I didn't read the novel so Tang's character didn't bother me, but it sounds like he's pretty different from how a lot of people thought of him from the book. I still enjoyed him even if sometimes he was a complete idiot. Also don't let anyone tell you Sui Zhou was too emotionless because he had the BEST facial expressions. I also got pretty used to his looks and accent after a few episodes (although warning: he keeps getting demoted and forced to wear really dorky uniforms).

The side characters are all excellently done - I loved the Emperor and consort (who were adorable, badass, and harsh all at once), Eunuch Ding and Jia Kui (who were just super competent), the brothel Madam (hilarious), General Chen (just a good guy surrounded by corrupt shitty people), General Gao (bad. ass.) and Dr. Pei (super cute and has a great friendship with Tang Fan). Even many of the antagonists were well done albeit often intentionally unlikable - I especially want to mention Sui's boss, who was /hilarious/ even if a terrible person. And since I saw this mentioned, I just want to say I actually didn't mind the sister of Dong'er, or any of the other female characters. Dorla even gets way better once we move on from the weird vaguely romantic vibes they give her with Tang Fan earlier on.


Production - overall really nice for a drama. There are a few props/effects that look a bit cheap or feel unrealistic if you think too hard about it, but I was willing to overlook it because everything else was so enjoyable. The fight scenes are SUPER nicely choreographed (even if occasionally a bit wuxia) and the costumes and sets are gorgeous gorgeous gorgeous. The use of music is really well done too.

The one big issue with production is the weird cuts. Several episodes end on very odd cuts, especially later. Also, due to fan complaints about Dorla, it seems like they cut a bunch of her scenes (and possibly some with Qingge later?), which was mostly fine since her earlier scenes were often slow and repetitive, but this did result in a) some weird scene transitions, and b) an occasional scene where someone confusingly mentions something that presumably only occurred in a removed scene.


Overall, I had a really good time, and there were some great tense moments! I loved the vast majority of the characters (or, at least, how they were portrayed) and the story kept me hooked, especially as we approached the end.

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I watched this one with a friend who had seen the original drama, while I had not. She had to keep explaining parts of it to me, and even she ended up just skipping through the later part of the film. I marked this as dropped since I didn't watch it all the way through and have no plans to go back and remedy that.

Positive:
The visuals were admittedly nice, particularly the scenery and CGI. The music was fine.

Negative:
I had trouble understanding what was going on even before the skipping, and the film felt like it was trying too hard to condense a complicated story into an oversimplified movie-sized one. What I could get of the story (even based on my friend's description of the drama) seemed like a really cliche marysue love story.

The actors were not good at all - I don't like Crystal Liu to begin with and her acting seemed particularly one-note here, and she had no chemistry with the awkward male lead. They also weren't helped by the bad writing, as the change of heart seemed really abrupt.


If you really love the drama, I suspect there's at least some chance you'll like the film if just for additional content for an IP you enjoy (no judgment, I do that all the time), but there's also some chance it'll disappoint you. My friend wasn't very impressed and told me the drama was much better. If you haven't seen the drama but you like cheesy romance stories that will make you get out the tissues, you might like this one and at least it's nice to look at. But if you're like me and have no connection to the original AND dislike cheesy romances, there's not much there that will be worth your time.

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