So Much Potential, So Many Missed Opportunities
What I love most about historical dramas is the beautiful costumes, but here they felt so underwhelming and, honestly, quite uncommon for a production of this level. The women’s costumes especially were disappointing. Some of them looked cheap, and the wedding dress in particular was probably one of the most underwhelming ones I’ve seen in a historical drama. It was supposed to be one of the most beautiful moments visually, yet the dress looked surprisingly inexpensive.
The story itself had huge potential, but unfortunately, I felt that the chemistry between Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao was far too soft. I’m not even sure how to explain it properly, because it wasn’t necessarily that they had no chemistry at all—it just never felt natural or intense enough to me.
And honestly, I can’t blame Li Cheng for that. From everything I’ve watched from him so far, his performances have been outstanding, especially when it comes to his interactions with female leads. His chemistry with his co-stars usually feels extremely natural, effortless, and convincing.
With Bai Lu, however, I felt something was missing. And this is not the first time I’ve had this problem with her recent dramas. I had a similar feeling while watching Only for Love with Dylan Wang and Arsenal Military Academy with Xu Kai. In both cases, I found the chemistry between her and the male lead somewhat off.
I also have to mention her crying scenes, because those bothered me quite a lot. And before anyone thinks I’m simply a Bai Lu hater: I’m really not. This is purely about her performance as an actress. I’m judging what I see on screen, just like I would with any other actor or actress.
Sometimes I actually feel that newer actresses are doing a better job at making their characters and relationships feel natural. For example, in Love Between Fairy and Devil, I know many people found the female lead childish or forced, but personally, I thought her behavior felt incredibly natural for the character. More importantly, the interactions between the two leads felt spontaneous and believable.
That’s why Mo Li was especially frustrating for me. It’s not about having unrealistic expectations or wanting a perfect romance. The problem was the chemistry. And unfortunately, that chemistry was important enough to damage what could have otherwise been a masterpiece.
I also felt that the video quality was a little underwhelming compared with some of the more recent dramas I’ve been watching. It wasn’t terrible, but visually it definitely didn’t feel as polished.
And then we get to one of my biggest frustrations: the heroine finally gets an amazing battle scene, and what happens? The hero comes to save her. 😭
Why?!
There were so many opportunities to let Ye Li shine on her own. She was finally having a moment where she could demonstrate her strength and competence, and instead the drama fell back into the classic “hero saves the heroine” trope, as if she couldn’t win using her own abilities.
That was honestly so annoying.
And just when I thought that, toward the final episode, the chemistry between Ye Li and Xiu Yao was finally starting to improve… it was already too late.
At that point, I really wanted more scenes between them. More conversations, more emotional development, more moments where we could actually see their relationship grow.
But instead, they filled the final episodes with scenes involving almost every side character imaginable. 😭
Like… we waited all this time for the main couple, and THIS is how you use the remaining screen time?
Overall, I don’t think this drama was bad. Quite the opposite: it had so much potential. That’s exactly why the problems bothered me so much. The story, characters, and world had the ingredients to create something truly memorable, but the weak chemistry, disappointing costumes, underused heroine, and excessive focus on side characters kept it from reaching its full potential.
It could have been a masterpiece. Instead, I’m left thinking about everything it could have been.
The story itself had huge potential, but unfortunately, I felt that the chemistry between Ye Li and Mo Xiu Yao was far too soft. I’m not even sure how to explain it properly, because it wasn’t necessarily that they had no chemistry at all—it just never felt natural or intense enough to me.
And honestly, I can’t blame Li Cheng for that. From everything I’ve watched from him so far, his performances have been outstanding, especially when it comes to his interactions with female leads. His chemistry with his co-stars usually feels extremely natural, effortless, and convincing.
With Bai Lu, however, I felt something was missing. And this is not the first time I’ve had this problem with her recent dramas. I had a similar feeling while watching Only for Love with Dylan Wang and Arsenal Military Academy with Xu Kai. In both cases, I found the chemistry between her and the male lead somewhat off.
I also have to mention her crying scenes, because those bothered me quite a lot. And before anyone thinks I’m simply a Bai Lu hater: I’m really not. This is purely about her performance as an actress. I’m judging what I see on screen, just like I would with any other actor or actress.
Sometimes I actually feel that newer actresses are doing a better job at making their characters and relationships feel natural. For example, in Love Between Fairy and Devil, I know many people found the female lead childish or forced, but personally, I thought her behavior felt incredibly natural for the character. More importantly, the interactions between the two leads felt spontaneous and believable.
That’s why Mo Li was especially frustrating for me. It’s not about having unrealistic expectations or wanting a perfect romance. The problem was the chemistry. And unfortunately, that chemistry was important enough to damage what could have otherwise been a masterpiece.
I also felt that the video quality was a little underwhelming compared with some of the more recent dramas I’ve been watching. It wasn’t terrible, but visually it definitely didn’t feel as polished.
And then we get to one of my biggest frustrations: the heroine finally gets an amazing battle scene, and what happens? The hero comes to save her. 😭
Why?!
There were so many opportunities to let Ye Li shine on her own. She was finally having a moment where she could demonstrate her strength and competence, and instead the drama fell back into the classic “hero saves the heroine” trope, as if she couldn’t win using her own abilities.
That was honestly so annoying.
And just when I thought that, toward the final episode, the chemistry between Ye Li and Xiu Yao was finally starting to improve… it was already too late.
At that point, I really wanted more scenes between them. More conversations, more emotional development, more moments where we could actually see their relationship grow.
But instead, they filled the final episodes with scenes involving almost every side character imaginable. 😭
Like… we waited all this time for the main couple, and THIS is how you use the remaining screen time?
Overall, I don’t think this drama was bad. Quite the opposite: it had so much potential. That’s exactly why the problems bothered me so much. The story, characters, and world had the ingredients to create something truly memorable, but the weak chemistry, disappointing costumes, underused heroine, and excessive focus on side characters kept it from reaching its full potential.
It could have been a masterpiece. Instead, I’m left thinking about everything it could have been.
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