I'm trying to love The Double, I really am.
With the number of gorgeous TikTok edits and 10 stars reviews on MDL I was submerged with, my expectations for this drama were as high as they can get (plus, I liked Wang Xing Yue and Liu Xie Ning in Story of Kunning Palace enough to give it a try just for the two of them).
However, reality rarely reflects one's expectations and The Double is no exception.
As I'm writing this review, episode 14 is waiting to be watched, so take what comes with a grain of salt (read: my opinion may change as I continue with the show, be it in a good way or for the worse).
Moreover, I'm late to the party and this one has finished airing a while ago, most of what needed to be said has probably been said, so I'll try to keep it short.

Starting with the things I liked –
and, in particular, the very first thing the viewer notices upon starting this drama: its dark aesthetic and vibe.
Being a huge fan of gloomy atmospheres and dark/grunge colour palettes when it comes to historical and fantasy c-dramas, my eyes were heart-shaped since the very first scene.
Mind you, I'm talking about the visuals (colouring and lightning) and not the camera work. The cinematography is, all in all, good (I have seen a lot lot worse), with some rather nice shots, but I can't stand (and I reiterate, I CAN'T STAND) the way the camera zooms in on a character. Sometimes it gets worse: it zooms OUT.
The first couple of times I didn't know what to think of it: I didn't like it, but I found it interesting enough to bear with it. I always appreciate a director's creativity and you don't get many original camera angles and shots in Dramaland lately.
But then it kept happening. And it kept happening. And it kept happening. You get the jest. At a certain point it literally zoomed in on the face of every single character present in that scene.
And don't get me started on how sometimes the camera just focuses on the front of the character talking (or just staring intensely – there are indeed quite a lot of intense gazes in there) while the background is out of focus/foggy, giving the impression that there's nothing behind them, but then the shot changes perspective and it's back to normal. It takes me out of the scene whenever that happens and I can only see the actor and no longer the character. I... really don't like it.
Speaking of being taken out of a scene: the qin competition between Jiang Li and Jiang Ruoyao. Why. WHY.
Admittedly, I would have LOVED that one episode it they had kept it metaphorical, allegorical (what a cool way to show the emotions and power music has), but it was actually happening within the story. People were looking at that... everything. It brought a magic element where magic never was and probably never will be again. And the CGI wasn't even that good, but I digress.
Back to the things I liked.
Always on the visuals department, costumes and hairstyles are very good (especially for the women). I don't know whether they are historically accurate or not (but is the story in itself even historically accurate?), but I really like how they look. And when the melodramatic wind blows hair and fabrics all around, they get all the more gorgeous.
The sets are also nice. Nothing spectacular or memorable, but they do their job and set the right vibe and aesthetic for the scene. The dark filter also helps a lot with the texture and the sense of realness of rooms and backdrops.
With a better camera work, I would have given a solid 9 to the visuals alone.
Acting is also this drama's forte. Granted, some more than others, but right now I find all actors bring at least a certain level of depth to their character and emote the needed emotions when they are needed.
Except (don't come for my throat), our FL, Wu Jin Yan. I'm loving Jiang Li as a character (VERY rare kind of female character in a c-drama, she is). She is cunning, determined, patient and calm, fierce and caring, witty and even a little sassy at times, so character wise, chapeau to her. She's dealing with a huge trauma and she isn't letting it destroy her, instead she's taking her time to cope with it. She's strong and brave, without being the stereotypical badass heroine that can fight a whole army on her own at the cost of her femininity. What's not to love?
But the actress. Admittedly, this is the first time I see one of her works, so perhaps it's really a matter of representing the character (it would make sense and it works well with the type of character Jiang Li is) and not her acting capabilities, but I really struggle with getting any sort of emotion from her. Nothing is going on behind those eyes. It's like they don't even reflect light. Blank, total blank and dead stare – and most of the times her face is just as unnaturally wooden-like.

Now, onto the things I'm really not liking so far –
I never felt so frustrated and annoyed with characters before. I like the acting and there are some great and strong performances in there (ex. Ji Shuran, Princess Wanning, Shen Yurong and nearly all of the older cast – Wang Xing Yue's Duke Su could get an honorable mention, but I haven't seen much of him yet to actually tell for sure), but I'm hating about 90% of the characters.
Why are nearly all of them so hateful and would go to such great lengths to hate and ruin the life of a single individual? Sometimes for no particular nor apparent reason. They just hate Jiang Li and want her reputation ruined and, preferably, to see her dead.
Have they talked to her even once? No.
Do they still lie and try to trick her to bring her down? Oh, yes.
Why is that? No idea. It's just the way it is with those people.
They either hate or love our protagonist endlessly, no in between.
And why is the father so dumb? He's probably the one I am hating the most, because the “villains” at least actively attack Jiang Li and come up with cunning schemes to destroy her – I hate them, but they are interesting! –, but what does he do? Besides believing rumours and supposed scandals about his own daughter? Who isn't even his actual daughter, but he doesn't even realize nor questions HOW MUCH she's changed during those ten years. But what can you expect from a father that believed, no questions asked, that a literal child would try to kill her stepmother and little brother, sent her to the mountains and never visited her once. A child. She was, what, seven at the time?
Jiang Li proved time and time again that she's wrongfully blamed by family and whatnot, but does he take a step back and thinks “maybe this is the case too?”. No, one bad word about her and he immediately believes it.
I can't wait for her to take revenge, because what kind of family.
Another thing that I don't really like is a problem within the plot itself. A sort of plot hole, if you let me. It really is a detail, but its consequences could be huge.
And that is... male and female students teaming up for the exam.
How is that even a thing? How is that even allowed within the society of that fictional world and time? Boys and girls can mix together and work elbow to elbow for a school exam, even ride the same carriage with no servants looking over them, but it's absolutely prohibited for a boy and a girl to stay alone in the same room. Oh, the scandal!
You can see there is a flaw in this logic.
And how come nobody questions Jiang Li for disappearing for a whole night (and I believe it happened twice, actually), when her step mother and sister are literally waiting for the first occasion to ruin her reputation? I hardly believe it's alright for a noble, unmarried lady to spend the night out – and at another man's mansion, no less.
Sometimes this show sets rules in one episode and completely disregards them in the very next, if that's convenient for the plot to move forward.

To wrap this up –
from what I've seen so far, The Double has both merits and flaws (almost in perfect balance, really), so it's still worth a watch, but you'll need a lot of suspension of belief to get through some stuff. And I mean a lot of it.

– Mei