Reviews

Missing parts.

Let me preface this review with a warning - this is a well-loved drama that I simply fail to appreciate. If my criticism of it will offend you or ruin the joy you found in it, best give this a skip.

The soundbites are tantalizing: a taboo romance between a eunuch and a concubine; a ruthless and scheming male lead; a spirited and clever female lead; and palace conspiracies and mysteries aplenty. Not to mention Wang Hedi's Xiao Duo exudes that intense tall, dark, and dangerous kind of sex appeal that screams he is no Lord Varys. So I jumped in despite my reservations over Chen Yuqi's acting. As it turns out, that is one of the drama's lesser problems.

This drama is an inane attempt at dark satire aimed at the obscene privilege of emperors. It opens with the shockingly cruel practice of sending off childless concubines, known as tribute ladies to accompany the emperor in the afterlife. After high powered eunuch Xiao Duo rescues Bu Yinlou from this dastardly fate, an alliance of sorts forms between the two as they navigate treacherous palace politics in a time of power transition. I like how it was just a mutually beneficial relationship initially and how they disliked and were wary of each other; that the romance did not blossom instantly. Where it falters is in showing me why the two most powerful men in the palace connect with and fall so utterly for a woman afflicted by bizarre facial paroxysms.

Xiao Duo's wicked ruthlessness is gleefully conveyed with wit, panache, and flawless comedic timing by Wang Hedi. This is well matched by Peter Ho's slightly over-the-top portrayal of the deceptively simplistic, cartoonish-ly obsessive, and delusional emperor. Both portrayals convey each character's underlying ethos; a past sadness and secret loneliness. Unfortunately, Chen Yuqi’s jarring and tacky comedic interpretation is far more typical of a slapstick comedy than dark satire. Her exaggerated rapid eye movement and outlandish facial expressions had me triple-checking the synopsis to see if the character is supposed to be epileptic, schizophrenic, or simply possessed. While a huge upgrade from her usual vacuous sleepwalking, for the first 14 episodes, there is little beyond brazen tasteless humor in Chen Yuqi's Bu Yinlou. After that, she gets into character and delivers some really good scenes. She has good romantic chemistry with Wang Hedi that elevates her performance and the more serious tone the story takes also helps. But her acting is not consistent and wobbles again at the ending episodes. It highlights her limited range and is quite inexcusable for someone who is an acting school graduate with a long list of drama lead role credits. This is the best I have seen from her in years but that says nothing at all.

This drama's biggest issue is that it is missing a good plot. The storyline is contrived, naive and so ridiculous it is disdainful of audience intelligence. The writer's ignorance and superficial understanding of feudal imperial inner palace workings are embarrassing. It is impossible for someone like Bu Yinlou to waltz in and out of the inner palace like it is a hotel, live at a brothel and gallivant all over the kingdom with Xiao Duo. The production leaked "cut" romantic scenes like a sieve, trying to blame the abysmal failure in storytelling on censorship. The truth is all the kiss scenes in the world cannot salvage the messy plot and inconsistent characterizations. We are told both leads are smart characters but they are actually the architects of their own troubles. The allegedly Machiavelli Xiao Duo wrests the crown prince from the custody of the one person with the highest incentive to keep him alive and healthy and puts him in the hands of the person with the strongest incentive to kill him dead! As a couple, they have repeated opportunities to escape, but choose not to. Xiao Duo's revenge is anti-climatic and hastily swept under the rug once the killer is uncovered. They flaunt their affair with such reckless impunity they so deserved to get busted. I stopped caring if they ended up together and sat on the meh ending episode for weeks. I finally finished watching this so you don't have to. To my dismay, they got an ending they didn't earn or deserve.

The bottom line is Wang Hedi is the only reason to watch this drama. He is sexy even when he glowers and scowls and his costuming and visuals in this drama are swoon-worthy. In fact, save yourself some time and just watch all the fan-made videos of the romantic scenes hard-core fans have stitched together. You can skip all the rest because as foreshadowed by the eunuch theme, this drama has critical missing parts. I can only rate it 6.5/10.0 to finish at the rock bottom of my completed list for 2022.

Leia Mais

Overpowered Oppa with 768 IQ and ninja skills saves the day once again! I am surprised.

Listen to me. I really wanted to like this drama. I wanted to like this drama so bad that I watched it to the very end just so it could prove me wrong. I was crossing my fingers to the last minute, almost praying for it to get better. I ADORE Lee Je Hoon and Esom and I love the crime/thriller genre so there really was no reason for me to not like this except that... this is just bad. There, I said it. Now, let's get to the list of reasons why:

▪︎Writing▪︎
See, the fact that this drama is based on true cases was something that was like catnip for my True Crime loving heart. It started out strong as well with a few really jarring cases but soon it gave way to sheer monotony. The cases are so dramatized and they all follow the same black and white format: extremely evil villains get caught by a bunch of street smart folks out for vigilante justice.

That's ok, I mean. That's what you expect from an episodic drama what's not okay is the sheer amount of stupidity in literally every episode. The way these cases are solved is just mindnumbingly dumb. They hinge on convenient plot devices, pure luck on the good guys's side and Lee Je Hoon's ultra acting skills. Yes, you can let the ridiculousness slide once but not again and again.

▪︎ Just an example: ▪︎
Our ML wants to teach this criminal lady (who voice phishes people out of money) a lesson. He wants to play the biggest uno reverse card in k drama history and instead rob her out of all her wealth. So, what does he do? He romances her ofcourse. That's okay. Then, he goes along with her to the bank and leaves his duffel bag that is CONVENIENTLY fitted with a microscopic camera and asks her to take care of it. And what do you know, this lady who literally runs a whole voice phishing ring and bosses around quite a few dimwits CONVENIENTLY places that duffel bag on the freaking table where her atm pin machine is and she also CONVENIENTLY angles the bag towards the pin machine so the camera can CONVENIENTLY record her pin and the good guys can then CONVENIENTLY use that to rob her out of her money as revenge.

I mean, come on. Who even puts a gigantic ass duffel bag on the table and not the floor in the first place? And even if they do, how can the good guys know for sure that they will. It's just them counting their blessings instead of using actual smarts.

See, this is just one example because every single episode is filled with ridiculous stuff like this that requires a lot of suspension of belief.

Moreover, the way the Taxi Gang operates is akin to flashing a bright neon sign that says 'Look at us! We exist' so the entire secretive, batman hiding in broad daylight saving the world plotline falls flat hilariously.

There are also a lot of flashbacks, scene repetitions and just lazy writing with the way conflicts are written for the main leads.

▪︎Characters▪︎
This is your typical squad of self righteous goody two shoes united by their shared tragic pasts. The male lead is so over powered. He can fight, is smart, is hot, is basically a wonder boy all around. You know your typical oppa in every run of the mill k drama.

These guys never lose. Everything is just a small hiccup for them. Never mind the people they are trying to catch are seasoned murderers/criminals and have been successfully evading the authorities. No, because this gang of average joes can take them down EASILY.

I mean yes it helps that one is a hacker, one is an engineer, one is a CEO- but really these job descriptions are all just for the sake of moving the plot. These are one dimensional characters you've seen in so many dramas before and while there is definitely camaraderie and warmth between them, there's not enough focus on thorough character development both individually and in terms of the group dynamic for us to truly form a connection.

The serious problems they do face in the last couple of episodes are so tropey, badly written and resultant of their own stupidity complimented with pointless death baiting and trucks of doom that it's hard to sympathize.

The antagonists are screechy and definitely not the smartest bunch themselves so the entire drama is just a bunch of goldfishes fighting against each other.

▪︎Female Lead▪︎
Now this just made me mad. Prosecutor Kang Ha Na has to be one of the worst female leads I have ever seen on screen. Now, I know a lot of people didn't like the fact that she was out to get the group but I didn't have a problem with that. My entire issue was how useless she was. Her contribution to the plot was zero and she was just terrible at her job. I wanted her to have like 10 minutes of relevance and I would have been pacified but no throughout the show she wears these badass business casual suits and power walks to... literally nowhere.

She's the last to arrive at the scene, she solves nothing, saves nobody and basically is just a walking talking product placement there to create this fake and hollow opposition for the Taxi Gang and to justify or question their system of justice.
Cause after a while, even you start thinking that if the Prosecutor with so many resources at her disposal can't even decipher the most basic of clues, it's better to just let this rag tag group do their thing.

The only action the poor girl gets is this random gun firing in the air for like five seconds where she badly tries to assert her barely there authority. It's sad, really.

▪︎Plot Development▪︎
The ending episodes just makes the drama look like it's floundering for direction. For like 12 episodes, it has different cases, then suddenly it just focuses on this one villain and then phew that gets solved and what do we know, they pull out an entire plot line from thin air and just throw it in your face. There's no structure at all to the show and it feels like the writer brainstormed all these ideas and just splattered them all on screen without any elegance whatsoever.

▪︎Acting▪︎
Now, here's why watching this drama really hurt me. The cast is phenomenal. Lee Je Hoon is a chameleon. He is great at completely embodying every role he does. Esom is so charismatic on screen. The rest of the cast is great as well but the plot execution and script is so bad that despite the talented cast, it's just 16 episodes of wasted potential.

▪︎What I Did Like▪︎
The only saving grace for me was the comedic moments in the show cause they made me smile and Lee Je Hoon in his various roles was a delight to watch. There was also a lot of potential love/hate bickering chemistry between Kang Ha Na and Kim Do Ki that was left untapped.
The action sequences while enjoyable are nearly not as sophisticated as some other productions. Some fights look obviously fake and visibly "acted". You see the punch, hear the punch but it's like it never really landed lmao. Still, action with hype music playing in the back is always good.

I also loved Esom's Prosecutor boss but he has a total screentime of like 30 minutes in the entire show so that's awkward.

▪︎Ending thoughts▪︎

In my opinion, this drama is a time waste and massively undeserving of the hype. Better examples of episodics with a gang of underdogs fighting crime with crime can probably be found in Bad Guys and Mad Dog.

So, even though I know that you guys are readying yourself for hate comments and downvotes right now, this drama still gets a solid NO for me. Sorry.

Leia Mais

I started watching this series because the reviews were amazing. The trailer was very intriguing and overall it just drew me. The first 12 episodes were really good. The relationship between Xiaofeng and Gu Xiao Wu was also nice. Chemistry was interesting and overall acting, cinematography and especially the side characters were great. I loved the Danchi tribe and how Xiaofeng's personality was. She had self respect and a sense of power. She was like a bright star filled with innocence and kindness Everyone respected her and loved her. Her grandfather was truly the best. I seriously would emphasize that the first 12 episodes were the best.

Somehow after the first arc ends, it gets very lame. After the 25th episode it get's a bit boring. I hate Gu Xiao Wu or Li Cheng Yin. He was such a terrible person. It was always quest for power for him. Even when he was trying to protect Xiaofeng from other people, he was so mean to her. I don't even understand how she could love him again or when he actually fell in love with her again. Li Cheng Yin was really a terrible character. His acting was good but I somehow feel that this drama lost it's budget halfway. The story just kept on being prolonged for no reason. The development of chemistry in the eastern palace was so boring. Literally did Xiaofeng have nothing better to do in the palace?

Even though I saw this drama, I really won't recommend it to someone. I also have seen a few other tragedy dramas but this one was not a good one. Acting wise, the cast did a good job but plot wise I think it failed.

The costumes were beautiful. The acting was also great. No character had just one side to him or her. The OST's were really good. I will appreciate the good elements of the dramas but the middle portion of the drama was a bit weak.

Leia Mais

best of cdramas

this was a great cdrama, and before the buts I'll talk about the good points:
1- the fl was the main hero, she woke up 1st and she "solved" most of the problems, though at points they did seem to always praise the ml (once the cop even praised him for remembering "something" but at that timeline the fl did all the work)
2- each passenger had their own lives, as the leads suspected them all, each one of them revealed their own struggles and hardships (I do think they glossed over them too fast, but in the end they were all "heroes" eventhough most time lines they didn't want to intervene)
3- the cat guy UWU
4- the different interpretations of how each action resulted in a different reaction (though they were a little too repetitive at times)
5- I'm glad the final showdown was done by the fl

now for the buts~
1- I think one pervert one time was not enough for her meltdown. if someone touches you, SCREAM right away. there were many people there, her story felt like a simple "backstory" on why 2 people wanted to blow up a bus..
2- going to prison for terrorism and mass murder attempt probably has a higher jail time than sexual harassment, which is sad cuz that dude deserved worse...
3- I thought this was like that ep of "Mystery to Iunakare" where the kidnappers took the bus with all the suspects of that event, though indeed it'd have been harder to track down the pervert which results in my "solution"
4- this should've been revenge. like they did find the pervert but he got out easy and they wanted more..
5- at one point the ml was too controlling, the fl was the hero that did most of the job while the ml always nagged her
6- this needed half the ep counts, they had too many repetitions
7- I'm not into cdrama osts

Leia Mais

“I see you clearly”, and I saw it all very clearly.

“I see you clearly”, and as I sat down and started watching this show, I saw it all very clearly.

I saw the beauty of nature, the breathtaking environment, the cultural heritage of the herders, the kind and warm-hearted Kazakh people and the ever changing times.

It’s a simple plot, but it’s beautifully told, with sympathetic depictions of the common minority folk and richly nostalgic evocations of rural life.

What a wonderful slow, character-driven story with its dreamlike quality, yet so detailed and personal that it captures and connects stunningly with so many lives.

I still have the lingering feeling of being intimately acquainted with the people living in the isolated yet beautiful landscapes of Altay.

The music score was just perfect and poignant; on more than one occasion I found myself shedding tears for the beauty of it.

I highly recommend this, and I am extremely grateful to the person who suggested it to me, as it is deserving of recognition and praise.

Leia Mais

My primary issue with this season was the writing and plot. My secondary issue was that the acting & editing were often weird or poorly done; this was most frustrating as it hugely undermined the chemistry between the couples.

Writing: the poor actors were forced to say so many unnatural lines that people just don't say in real life that even if they were extraordinary, they wouldn't be able to believably deliver them. Next, the transition of fixation/anger into attraction was hodge-podged together out of weird, pretty stupid plot contrivances, and no deep thought on the characters' parts was seen to be put into the changing feelings. It just wasn't believable. Separately, the plot wanted so badly to be unpredictable that it relied on the most annoying, forced twists delivered in clumsy revelations whose timing make next to zero sense. Finally, THAT'S NOT HOW POLICE WORK WTFFFFF every time something totally unbelievable happened with regards to the police work, I was wrenched entirely out of the story. This is why I say it was a failure of ambition: they wanted to do something other than school setting, which is laudable, but didn't take the time or effort to do it well.

Acting/Editing: I combine these because I wonder if all the peculiar pausing in place was due to editing failures and because I really want to believe the actors had better takes than the ones put into the final product. One particular oddity was that the kisses never developed out of the wooden "one person's eyes stay wide and body stiff in surprise" stage, even after the romance developed to a mutually acknowledged stage. Another instance of bad acting or maybe editing is that in a particularly heated scene I couldn't stop laughing because the main actor looked like he got "petulant child" mixed up with "murderous rage". I'm laughing again as I think of it. The rest of my issues I'm willing to put on the writers hurting the actors with just frankly dumb lines/scenarios.

It would have been cute as a manhua, but the choice to put it to real life actors requires more realism, less lazy writing, and fewer dumb gags.

Leia Mais

that sub plot is most definitely gay

I know that there is a lot of controversy when it comes to North Korean stories being told by South Koreans, but as someone who isn't Korean at all I can't comment on it. With every twist and turn I was able to stay surprised (as long as I was able to hold up my suspension of belief). Like any movie that involves guns there are scenes where people don't shoot when they could've brought someone down, but once you get to the end you sort of understand why. I didn't look at the casting beyond the two leads so I was very surprised with how many well know actors there were. With such a great cast of course the acting was good and I have no complaints. I really enjoyed the soundtrack especially the inclusion of zionT's song. I had not heard it before watching but it was a very impactful addition. I can see myself watching this again once it goes to streaming, but I highly recommend seeing it in theaters if you have the chance. I would recommend seeing this.

When it comes to the *potentially* queer subplot, I don't care what the director says. "The Bastard I Loved" says it all. My thoughts were summed up really well by an article on the IndieWire by David Opie and I recommend giving that a read if you are interested.

Leia Mais

Life, all about choices.

Three cities, Yunpei, Tiandu, and Masui reign over the vast desert. Among the listed cities, Yunpei and Tiandu are the ones with strong armies and massive landscapes. Masui is weaker when compared to the other two cities (Tiandu and Yunpei). Princess Huang Bei Shuang of a fallen clan, beautiful, elegant, yet tactical, and skillful gets entangled with three influential men and in the struggle for power. Huang Bei Shuang decides to go against it all, and set a new record if possible.
In this journey, Huang Bei Shuang meets Huo Qing Yu, they hit it off, and eventually fall in love.

I've got a lot to say about this drama, both the positive sides and the negative sides, but I'll analyze the positive ones first.


POSITIVE
The first episode of Love in the Desert captivated me. Why? There I saw a strong, brave, determined, intelligent, and one of a kind FL. A woman who seeks survival in a cruel world. A woman who wants to make a name for herself in the merciless desert ruled by men. The FL impressed me right from the first episode. After that Huo Qing Yu came into the picture. I saw a kind ML. A man who's willing to feed his horse the water he has left. A man who care for his horse more than he does himself. I said to myself, "a smart and strong FL and a strong and kind ML. Yes, this is the type of the leads I always want to see when watching a drama." These two captivated right from the first two episodes.

A woman can't, shouldn't, and mustn't have aspirations, says who? If a man can do it, why can't a woman? This drama showcase the strong will of Huang Bei Shuang. A woman who wants revenge for the murder of her parents.

"In the desert and under the sky, people live. What if life is a pain? What if life is vigorous? I pick my own path. Since I choose to be this lady. I have to fulfill my responsibility." (Huang Bei Shuang's words). There and then, I knew this drama is about humans choices, sticking with them and staying true to your choice.

If there's one lesson I learnt from this drama, that'll be, "life is all about choices." Some choose power over love. Some choose love over power. Some decides to stick by their principles even if it means they have to die to stick by them, they do it anyway. While some betray their principles for survival. Some decide to die to save their loved ones, while some would rather sacrificed their loved ones to survive. Different stands, different decisions, and different choices.

In Bei Shuang's case, she chose a new identity, a perilous journey to fulfill her dreams, her aspiration, and to get revenge on the killers of her parents. She could have chosen to be on the run, or a much easier life, but she decided to choose a roughy path, a path where survival is uncertain. A path where most women fails. Yes, that's who our FL is, a woman of aspirations and determinations. I love her strong and resilient character.

Bei Shuang and Qing Yu with the wind, moon, and the universe as their witnesses got married. That's another choice yet again.

Hankiz Omar really did her character justice. I've only watched few of her dramas, but I've never really been so captivated by her acting, until now. Her facial expressions, the way she carries herself, I just love her acting. She's elegant, graceful, talented, and beautiful. She portrayed her role as the decisive, tactical, strong, intelligent, brave, yet kind Huang Bei Shuang excellently. And I'm not exaggerating about how good her acting is, she's really good. She deserves each and every praises I'm giving her. She's indeed a rare talent. A diamond among stones.

Allen Fang. What can I say? I've always been impressed by him since I saw him onscreen. He impressed me in so many dramas. I loved his role in The Long Ballad, and A Journey To Love, but that's just to mention a few. I loved him so many more dramas. I was impressed yet again with his role as Huo Qing Yu in Love in the Desert. One of the main reasons I watched this one in the first place is because of Allen Fang cuz he's one of my favorites. Indeed, I made the right choice of picking this drama up. He slayed his role yet again in this one. He added to the list of his dramas that left an impression on me.

Needless I say, I love the chemistry of our first couple💞. Their chemistry is natural, unique, and amazing. Their interaction and lovely moments are the true description of love. Yes,their path is not all rosy, neither was it smooth either, but they overcomed it together, hand in hand, in harmony. They overcomed many adversities together. They went through life and death together. Such devoted and strong love mustn't go unmentioned. A pure love.

Not to mention, Love in the Desert's beautiful OSTs. I love the OSTs. Here's the lists
1) Desert wind Chant/ Give me God's wings to conquer the distance by Jess Lee
2) Kiss by Zhang Wei
3) Ask by Jess Lee
4) Recall by Zhang Yu
5) Shadow by Allen Fang
Among all the listed OSTs, the one which I loved the most is "Give me God's Wings to Conquer the Distance." Why? Because I also need God's wings to conquer that distance.
I also loved Shadow by Allen Fang. All the OSTs are emotional and beautiful. I loved them!

NEGATIVE

Allen Fang has multiple identities, but his story wasn't explored enough. Where's the backstory? Where's our ML's screentime? His screentime is too little for a ML with multiple identities. How he became Huo Qing Yu from Na Yan Xing, how he became a powerful northern lord, all these weren't explored well enough.

Also, I hate to say this, but the SML got too much screentime than he's supposed to get. EP 21, 23, and 25 were like the SML episodes. In some of the listed episodes I hardly saw the ML appear. That really got on my nerves.

There's also the messy plot. The plot was all over the place in this one. Little backstory, little clarifications. It became frustrating at some points.

Ending explained
Towards the end, Huang Bei Shuang finally got her revenge on her father's killer "Ge'er Jiqin." Two stabs, then finally, a slit to the throat. Wow, how ruthless. Ruo Wen died 💔 Huang Bei and Ge Xin Wei stabbed Na Zhan decisively and brilliantly. Really, I love that scene, he thought he's facing two weak ladies, little did he know he's facing intelligent women. They cut him off guard. Huang Bei Shuang broke her flute into two and stabbed Na Zhan with it, while Ge Xin Wei used Ruo Wen's sword. I really love that scene, Huang Bei Shuang always doing the unthinkable. A woman who accomplished the task of a man. I just can't help but be impressed by her. And for once, I admired Ge Xin Wei. Finally, the desert is at peace with Huo Qing Yu as its ruler. A benevolent and righteous ruler is what a nation needs to prosper, don't you agree? Our main couple lived happily ever after, realizing their dreams, and helping out the weak tribes of the desert. That's a fulfilling life, isn't it? I loved how they accomplished all these hand in hand, it's really great to see.

In conclusion, I enjoyed Love in the Desert thoroughly despite the negatives, I loved it still. I didn't fast forward any part, even though I found the second couple annoying most times, I watch every minute of it and enjoyed it. This drama has its flaws, but it's definitely worthwhile. It's a drama I'd recommend. This is a solid 9/10 for me.
Also, don't let the negative comments sway you from watching this, it's actually a great drama. Love in the Desert delivered in so many aspects. So don't be deceived, this is a worthwhile drama. Hankiz Omar and Allen Fang slayed their roles. Same goes for the second leads, too.

Leia Mais

What am I gonna do with my life now ㅠㅠㅠㅠㅠ

MASTERPIECE!!!
Great plot. Phenomenal acting. Amazing production. Beautiful OST. A heart-touching, lovely, comforting show. IT'S MINDBLOWING.

I don't know how many times I cried. Their love was so worthy of it all. It was pure, genuine, and most of all, strong.
I am sad that there are only 6 eps after 2 years of waiting. But whatever we were given, it was so well-made. A very satisfying ending.

I read many comments discussing the symbolisms throughout the drama. The apple (snake & Eve), Barth being the temptation, Tanrak being faithful, Creation of Adam, etc. BUT imo, this is more about Barth. I see him as the sheep that lost its way. We know that he was faithful before the incidents that happened in his life, and ep 6 shows how him having his faith & hope back. This was anything better than I imagined. And the flowers and the family photo survivedddd (˃̣̣̥ᯅ˂̣̣̥) I am in tears

I want to thank everyone who made this series happen. I feel so lucky to be able to watch this. Now that it's over, I feel so empty. But I will always come to this show when I miss it. This will always have a special place in my heart.

P.S. Thank you, Aunty Lek ♥

Leia Mais

another drama that felt short in the last part for me

so let’s talk with the good :
1) Acting, I think the leads were great and side characters too
2) costumes and makeup were pretty
3) I didn’t wanna start because I thought: « oh a story about brocade, it will be boring », well not gonna lie, like almost every drama, there are some more boring parts, but I actually like the brocade plot. it was different from the usual shop we see in some Cdramas and interesting to learn about brocade history. So the premise was interesting and well written in general, I think it was flowing good, FL working, growing their business, the obstacles, etc..
4) I liked the friendship and how they all worked together
5) OST was very good
6) cinematography was also good
7) I like seeing the development between ML and his father, family. Made me smile their interactions in the last ep (always bickering with father ahah) and he even called her « mother ». I enjoy it when I think they deserved forgiveness and a second chance. And he actually made some efforts. I think his father and family deserved it (not like some characters in other drama, like cough cough The rise of Ning). even FL with his stepmom.
8) FL brother: he grow on me. At first I was like, what a weakling. But he stepped up, stood his ground and he surprised me. Like when the mom was in prison, bro wasn’t giving up, I liked that. A supportive and kind guy too
9) ML : I liked him a lot. Like many, I love red flag ML, but I also like green flag ML😂 well if he is the ML (and not a useless stupid weakling) I will love him. Always team ML and SML hater. He was kind, supportive, respectful. Always there for FL, but never overstepping. Pretty intelligent and resourceful. He was a great ML. Also, such a great fighter, always finds this attractive ahaha it was awesome eps 23-24 when he was running back and fighting to get to FL. Zheng Ye Cheng is great with fighting scenes, he should do more dramas as a martial artist and actions. also in ep 36, the fighting in that like arena or in the last ep, last fight.
10) FL : intelligent, kind and hardworking woman. I liked how she was working so hard to continu her father’s work and the brocade business. It was good when she was turning the plans of the uncle against him, it was always satisfying. Used her intelligence for example to changed the family rules and can we say the deal in the last few eps ? Or went she wasn’t trusting Bai at first and keeping some distance, didn’t accepted (before the wedding in ep 24) the help of Bai or the ex. Some choices were a bit questionable or stupid, but anyway I think it fits her character…
11) the romance in the first 3/4 : I think the development was really good. Mature romance ?them slowly working together, trusting each other and falling in love. We could feel their love for each other with the little moments. Then came ep 24, I think the scene of him crashing the wedding was really good and I liked the dialogue. Even before that, when the ex captured her, he came to save her and I think that scene was also very good. We didn’t get much, but their married life was cute. We got 1 kiss only, but it wasn’t bad. The cliff scenes and some others after the divorce, some good emotional moments and we could still feel their love. They loved each other a lot and were both ready to die for each other.
12) villains : we’ll get back to it, but it was somehow interesting to have strong villains who were winning sometimes before their loss of course ahah
13) happy ending. we’ll get back to it also

so what went wrong for me :
1) the 2 side guys with unrequited love and possessiveness became so annoying and never ending
2) the last part when FL went into Bai country: didn’t like it and why did it last for so long ? We already didn’t get a lot of FL and ML dating, but their screentime together was so reduced in the last 8 eps? we got more of FL and SML together, it’s like they were almost trying to romanticize that? because what was the point of all that screentime together. I didn’t give a damn. If only they didn’t went for the same old cliche plot, the bad guy falling in love with FL and wanting to possess her… Truly uninspiring and uninteresting. What could have been an interesting villain (and he was actually pretty powerful too), felt flat.
3) There was some sloppy weird editing
4) Some characters died to easily.
5) Ning girl wasn’t really interesting to get that screentime, just like the ex, who could have had way less screentime (at last got some character development)
6) stupid unnecessary death. why did they killed off the female friend? such waste, they had the brother confess and being rejected for a while. they got together really late, we got almost nothing and then they kills her off for no reason ? even ML’s friend… WHY DO THEY ALWAYS KILLS OFF ML FRIEND OR RIGHT HAND MAN???? in so many dramas
7) FL crying and mourning for Prince Bai (the guy who literally, kidnapped her and her friends, threatened them, hurt and tried to kill the man she loves, tried to literally assault her….), was just completely stupid and weird to me (I got a bit the ick). I don’t care if she sympathizes or something, just no. And they wasted screentime on this, we could have gotten more minutes for sweet moments between the leads. I don’t get it, what was the point, I read not of this was in the novel and he didn’t even died. Why did they make him die protecting FL and her crying for him? writers trying to glorify second leads or something sometimes (like the princess Royal or even the rise of Ning, in there too they made him die by « saving » FL)
8) happy ending, but I didn’t really feel anything. Also, after all that, months of separation, we got a smile ? not a hug or anything. That was disappointing, even the « wedding » (because we didn’t saw the wedding again), gave me nothing. FL title was something I guess. And the villain died, deserved death.


Anyway, it was still a good watch for the positive points

Leia Mais

It is bad, not the worst, but it is bad

If you're looking for a show that will change your life, this isn't it. If you're looking for a good story that will give you a message, this isn't it. But if you have free time, want to watch something with your meal, and are looking for something that won't strain your mind too much, this is it. In the story, all characters are in the gray zone except 3 of them.(two of them are black, one of them white, white is the only girl btw:) Some of them are very light gray, some are close to black. This may be the most admirable aspect of the story. You can empathize with almost all the characters or get angry and hate them at the end of the story. This choice is completely It is left to you.

The first episodes of the series are very fluent and different. But the cliché of bringing an ex-lover to open a new path has turned everything upside down. With such a clumsy move and the continuation of the lazy writing technique, the story jumped out of the window. Even though you understand the motivations of many characters until that hour, everything becomes a confusion after that hour. Characters exhibit self-contradictory behavior. Which is the failure of the scenario. The scenario also has inconsistencies within itself. While the kissing scene of one of the characters who has a boyfriend with someone else may cause major events, another character's not taken into consideration at all and is even applauded. In the series, everyone cheats on each other or everyone kisses everyone else, but these do not serve anything. The characters act as if nothing happened. They made everyone kiss to eache other for just get more interaction on social media and these scenes serve nothing. In short, it is another series where the weak and bad scenario is tried to be saved with popular actors and Nc scenes. It is bad but not the worst, but it is still bad.

Leia Mais

I originally had no interest in this drama.. But after watching a few scenes I kind of went into it because it gave me a vibe similar to Love Me If You Dare.. Well this was nowhere close to LMIYD.. It felt pretty generic and a bit too overdramatic at times but still a well written psychological thriller.. And the ML’s obsessive, possessive love was another reason to watch this.. The main leads had good chemistry and intense dynamic right from the beginning..

Obsession, guilt and regret are what make a psychological thriller like this thrive and this drama does that well.. The pacing can feel a bit slow at times with how much it leans into backstory and buildup but it’s clear every detail is carefully placed to connect the pieces and lead you to the finale..

I think we have to talk about the FL first.. She was at the center of a lot of criticism.. Personally, I don’t think she is completely blameless in the way she treated her husband but that just makes her human.. Her connection with her ex runs deeper than most people would imagine.. They were childhood friends.. He was part of her life for as long as she could remember and she loved him for years.. It’s not easy to just move on from something like that, right?? But she still did.. Even after he came back, even after it became clear he wasn’t the bad guy, she chose her husband.. She faltered at times and did hurt the ML, but she never crossed the line.. She made it clear that what she felt for him was in the past and now, she loves someone else.. She realised the ML was her safe place, her home, her future and she didn’t back down from that.. As for the rest of her character.. She didn't feel like a badass character no matter how hard they tried.. But the ending, she flipped the script..

“ I think you have been wrong about one thing from the start..
I didn’t come here to be your hostage..
I came here to avenge my brother..”

Yup that's when she was a badass..

And I have to say this, I keep seeing people call her character complex.. Seriously?? There was nothing complex about her.. She was just someone carrying deep regret, sadness and guilt.. Not every female character needs to be labelled complex just for the sake of it.. And let’s be honest, if the roles were reversed and the ML treated his ex like that, he would be called a creep, a red flag and worse..

The ML, well he was desperately, painfully, completely and maybe even a little foolishly in love with the FL.. I think Jing Boran did a really good job playing Jiang Hansheng.. A lot of people might not like how rigid and stiff he was.. But it fits someone who is so controlled on the surface but a mess underneath when it comes to her.. And his cat and mouse chase with the antagonist was genuinely exciting to watch..

The SML, I really didn’t find him pitiful.. Yeah, he lost a lot but that was the price of the choices he made.. He probably sacrificed the most in the entire drama.. Sure but that doesn’t mean he is entitled to a ' Welcome back, everything is just as you left it ' with a pat on the back.. His decisions affected a lot of people’s lives, especially the FL’s and not in a small way..

The twists in the middle phase weren’t all that surprising.. I had my doubts about Zhan Wei from the moment he appeared on screen but the identity of the mole, I didn't expect that..

Anyway the last two episodes really lived up to the psychological thriller tag.. The ML’s confrontation with Qi Yan, the antagonist was well done.. He stays calm and doesn’t lose his temper even with the FL’s life in danger, because he knows he has to target Qi Yan’s weakness.. The whole buildup was leading to that moment and it worked really well..

Overall this was a good watch.. The story development is neat and well written.. It builds slowly and with attention to detail which works well for a story like this.. I do think it needed a bit more psychological tension but that’s just my opinion.. I really liked how clingy the main leads were.. Even more so after they made up following the whole divorce situation.. I would have enjoyed it more if the SML wasn’t a focus in the final episode.. It felt like too much time was spent on him.. I wish we got more domestic moments with the main leads instead.. Now that they had worked through their issues and moved past all the revenge and chaos.. We deserved more of them just being at peace..

Leia Mais