This review may contain spoilers
Underrated gem - had potential to be a 10/10 if for some adjustments
Beautiful revenge story, good acting, decent cinematography for its budget, nice soundtrack. The luck or romantic subplot does not truly diminish its quality, but it does leave with a taste of wanting more. Enjoyable sismance that could have been more expanded, very good sociopolitical commentary! The makeup team did a great job of ditching the overly pale foundation (minus Ni Chang, but understandable).
Ye Pingan and Yuan Saocheng are an excellent duo* and very enjoyable to watch as they work alongside each other. Although verbally stated otherwise, there are heavy implications (including remarks by the supporting characters) of the romantic nature of their relationship, evident by the obvious (well, to my eyes, at least) tension between them, especially during the early episodes. I won't pretend that I wasn't disappointed we never got to see an actual romance subplot, nothing huge enough to overshadow the main and side plots, but enough so the tension would have an outlet. I believe it would elevate their dynamic and make the dilemmas Saocheng was facing more difficult and enjoyable for the viewer to see. However, the lack of it didn't negatively impact my enjoyment that much.
Lots of heavy topics are covered in the plot, which truly adds an extra flavor. The political intrigues were nice to watch, and I didn't find them confusing or complicated at all. Li Zongxu's death was a highlight of the show for me. There were some romantic undertones that I caught from Lu Daxin towards Pingan in some scenes, and ideally we would have seen that too, but I'm asking for too much. The dynamic between the women was beautiful and I wish we got more scenes of them together. Hai Yiping and, especially, Wu Xianer were interesting antagonists although something was a bit lacking in Xianer's development? Can't quite pinpoint it as I'm writing this. I'm all for female villains who leave their male relatives (or lovers) behind for their own personal gain, though, and I'm very pleased with the absence of a love interest for her.
Individually, Pingan is a great character and one I enjoyed deeply. I would have liked to see her in more morally ambiguous situations where she'd have to make difficult decisions.
On the negative side, Pingan's abilities were never properly explained. She inherited some form of supernatural abilities from her aunt who is supposedly practicing something akin to witchcraft? From one point and onwards, the "this has been their plan all along" plot style keeps happening way too much, it borders on cliche. The viewer already knows Pingan has been one step ahead and isn't worried about her wellbeing or her mission's conclusion. There was a moment where I indeed questioned if Saocheng had switched sides but he had been proven to be too smart for such a reckless move, and the too on the nose "dislike" towards Pingan made it obvious they were working together again. Would have liked it if there was more angst in that department. The budget was also not as high as the story deserved. Finally, the plot was a bit rushed towards the end and there should be more episodes in order to build the viewer's relationship with the characters better - more screen time for the ladies and for the main leads to actually transition from rivals to cautionary allies to "friends" without the need for grandiose testaments of soulmates that seemed to have been expressed way too early. The final interaction we see between them being just a "Pingan" and a smile, with a gorgeous scenery in the background, was perfection.
*if I didn't consider them a very obvious romantic pair, but actually believed they were friends, I wouldn't be complaining. The female and male leads being just friends would be refreshing, but it just doesn't work with those two in my eyes.
Ye Pingan and Yuan Saocheng are an excellent duo* and very enjoyable to watch as they work alongside each other. Although verbally stated otherwise, there are heavy implications (including remarks by the supporting characters) of the romantic nature of their relationship, evident by the obvious (well, to my eyes, at least) tension between them, especially during the early episodes. I won't pretend that I wasn't disappointed we never got to see an actual romance subplot, nothing huge enough to overshadow the main and side plots, but enough so the tension would have an outlet. I believe it would elevate their dynamic and make the dilemmas Saocheng was facing more difficult and enjoyable for the viewer to see. However, the lack of it didn't negatively impact my enjoyment that much.
Lots of heavy topics are covered in the plot, which truly adds an extra flavor. The political intrigues were nice to watch, and I didn't find them confusing or complicated at all. Li Zongxu's death was a highlight of the show for me. There were some romantic undertones that I caught from Lu Daxin towards Pingan in some scenes, and ideally we would have seen that too, but I'm asking for too much. The dynamic between the women was beautiful and I wish we got more scenes of them together. Hai Yiping and, especially, Wu Xianer were interesting antagonists although something was a bit lacking in Xianer's development? Can't quite pinpoint it as I'm writing this. I'm all for female villains who leave their male relatives (or lovers) behind for their own personal gain, though, and I'm very pleased with the absence of a love interest for her.
Individually, Pingan is a great character and one I enjoyed deeply. I would have liked to see her in more morally ambiguous situations where she'd have to make difficult decisions.
On the negative side, Pingan's abilities were never properly explained. She inherited some form of supernatural abilities from her aunt who is supposedly practicing something akin to witchcraft? From one point and onwards, the "this has been their plan all along" plot style keeps happening way too much, it borders on cliche. The viewer already knows Pingan has been one step ahead and isn't worried about her wellbeing or her mission's conclusion. There was a moment where I indeed questioned if Saocheng had switched sides but he had been proven to be too smart for such a reckless move, and the too on the nose "dislike" towards Pingan made it obvious they were working together again. Would have liked it if there was more angst in that department. The budget was also not as high as the story deserved. Finally, the plot was a bit rushed towards the end and there should be more episodes in order to build the viewer's relationship with the characters better - more screen time for the ladies and for the main leads to actually transition from rivals to cautionary allies to "friends" without the need for grandiose testaments of soulmates that seemed to have been expressed way too early. The final interaction we see between them being just a "Pingan" and a smile, with a gorgeous scenery in the background, was perfection.
*if I didn't consider them a very obvious romantic pair, but actually believed they were friends, I wouldn't be complaining. The female and male leads being just friends would be refreshing, but it just doesn't work with those two in my eyes.
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