This review may contain spoilers
Good concepts/character with poor execution
Pros:
- The leads are refreshingly unconventional for a historical drama. The female lead struggles with mental health issues, while the male lead lives with a disability. Watching them confront challenges that most people could never fully understand made them compelling characters.
- The plot twist involving the monkeys and Linshan Mountain was genuinely surprising and well executed.
- The first half of the drama is excellent. The female lead methodically puts her revenge plans into motion, and her eccentric personality and unusual habits make her stand out from typical heroines. The retelling of the beginning from different perspectives was good.
Cons:
- The breakup and divorce arc near the end was baffling and made the male lead come across as petty and hypocritical. After the female lead healed his legs, restored happiness to his family, and cleared the injustice surrounding his clan, he decides to divorce her over a mistake committed by her mother. The reasoning simply doesn't hold up. First, he was also responsible for the military mistake that caused those cities to fall, so he has little moral high ground. Second, he insists he doesn't want her to stay out of pity, only to turn around and pity her himself after learning the truth. Finally, after everything she sacrificed and accomplished for him, casting her aside so quickly felt completely undeserved and made it difficult to sympathize with him.
- I know white-haired male leads are a popular trope, but the look just didn't suit him.
- Too many side characters contributed little to the story while taking up valuable screen time. Characters like the dowager concubine, FL's naive sister, the assassin who never won a fight, and the evil marquis's son added very narrative value and left so much unresolved.
Overall:
An average drama with a strong and promising first half that ultimately squandered its potential through a frustrating final act.
- The leads are refreshingly unconventional for a historical drama. The female lead struggles with mental health issues, while the male lead lives with a disability. Watching them confront challenges that most people could never fully understand made them compelling characters.
- The plot twist involving the monkeys and Linshan Mountain was genuinely surprising and well executed.
- The first half of the drama is excellent. The female lead methodically puts her revenge plans into motion, and her eccentric personality and unusual habits make her stand out from typical heroines. The retelling of the beginning from different perspectives was good.
Cons:
- The breakup and divorce arc near the end was baffling and made the male lead come across as petty and hypocritical. After the female lead healed his legs, restored happiness to his family, and cleared the injustice surrounding his clan, he decides to divorce her over a mistake committed by her mother. The reasoning simply doesn't hold up. First, he was also responsible for the military mistake that caused those cities to fall, so he has little moral high ground. Second, he insists he doesn't want her to stay out of pity, only to turn around and pity her himself after learning the truth. Finally, after everything she sacrificed and accomplished for him, casting her aside so quickly felt completely undeserved and made it difficult to sympathize with him.
- I know white-haired male leads are a popular trope, but the look just didn't suit him.
- Too many side characters contributed little to the story while taking up valuable screen time. Characters like the dowager concubine, FL's naive sister, the assassin who never won a fight, and the evil marquis's son added very narrative value and left so much unresolved.
Overall:
An average drama with a strong and promising first half that ultimately squandered its potential through a frustrating final act.
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