Joy of Life Season 2 (2024)

Have You Ever Thought of Going Against The Flow? Have you Ever Thought of Making The World Better?

"Joy of Life" Season 2 picked up from where season 1 left off. It continued with the life of Fan Xian, and how he climbs higher as an official and gained a strong foothold in court. Fairness, Justice, Principles, those are the things I like about Fan Xian. While Fan Xian is an official with high ambitions, he's different. Why? Other officials are willing. No, Many Officials will willingly step on hundreds, even thousands of innocent lives and common people so they could climb higher, to wield more power. Fan Xian on the other hand, wants power so he can protect his family, loved ones, and innocent lives. I love his character because he's both righteous and humane. He's someone who wants to put an end to evil and corruption, and right the wrongs that has become the norms in the imperial court.


Can Fan Xian achieve fairness without offending many powerful officials, and even the power hungry Imperial Princes? Or can he go against the flow, set a change, making the world a better place, with less evil without facing dangers? Of course not. But that's what makes the story more interesting. In this path Fan Xian has chosen, it's a path full of perils and dangers. A path where his enemies outweigh his allies. Many people will plot and scheme against him, some will even try to kill him, that's certain. However, Fan Xian is someone who's tactical, intelligent, and scheming, so even though his path is full of adversities, he's bound to overcome them with his intelligence. After all, though his enemies outweigh his allies, he's not without support.


To be honest, I don't know how Fan Xian was portrayed in the novel, but I would say I loved his character in the drama more. He does not only care for all human lives, he's also a faithful man. He's faithful to his feelings for Lin Wan'er. What do I love about "Joy of Life"? What I love about this "masterpiece" is not just because the ML is strong and intelligent, it's far from that. I love this drama because aside from the excellent portrayal of scheming in the imperial court (politics), all the characters acting were top notch. It also has strong character development, plus, the stunning cinematography that mustn't go unmentioned. It's wuxia genre is also a great bonus to the show.


Is this a drama that's to everyone's liking? Most definitely! Is this a drama worth the try for potential watchers who are not familiar with the plot? Of course, trying a new genre through Joy of Life will definitely make you love the genre, even if you're unfamiliar with it.
In short, "Joy of Life" Season 2 is a must watch for everyone and anyone who wants a drama with substance! As 'Joy of Life" season 2 has concluded with another cliffhanger, I hope Season 3, which will also be it's last season, the final conclusion of this wonderful drama, a drama that explores both good and evil, will be as tentative as the second and first season.
Can't wait to see how Fan Xian cleanse the imperial court in the last season, season 3, which their aren't much information about. But I'm hopeful it won't keep us waiting for too long.
Note; I have edited my review upon rewatching this drama, so for people who have read my review before, this is a new review that I wrote after rewatching this drama. After much thinking, I think this one suits this drama better.

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You only live twice.

Fan Xian is back!!! There are no words to describe the pure joy I felt after what was for me, a three year wait. I never expected S2 to be as strong as S1 and as much as I enjoyed it, it is not quite at the same level. To begin with, killing a character onscreen is never easy to unwind and their walk back of the S1 cliffhanger was long winded, cumbersome and comically farcical. What saves it is that most audiences are so grateful to see the whole gang, villains and all, back together again they willingly suspend disbelief.

The most noticeable difference with S2 is the visible shift in the narrative from plot driven to largely character driven. After narrowly cheating death, an introspective Fan Xian who realizes you only live twice, returns to the capital. During S1, Teng Zijing showed Fan Xian that some things are worth dying to protect. This season explores what those things are for Fan Xian. He reflects upon his mother's ideals and begins to see the injustices that made her want to change the world. The plight of the common people resonates with him as he comes to understand that he is also but a pawn in a high powered chess game. He embraces his mother's legacy with a sense of purpose and a clear vision of what he means to do with it. The most exhilarating moments of this season are not action packed or full of intricate twists but pivotal moments in Fan Xian's character journey. It is less exciting if you are an action junkie but this is the season that reveals who Fan Xian really is and more importantly, who he wants to be.

With the signature Joy of Life verve and wit, important plot points or character motives are conveyed indirectly with humor. As the laughter abates, the manifold implications, often dark and diabolical start to sink in. The most chilling aspect of S2 is Fan Xian's complex, multi-dimensional chess game with the emperor, who is the grandmaster firmly in control of the board and all the chess pieces. It is not even clear that Chen Pingping is really on Fan Xian's side; after his "miscalculation", he seems just as dangerous as friend or foe. It is from such a disadvantaged position that Fan Xian plays to win even though winning could also cost him his head. While the emperor's end game remains murky, he reveals a guarded, almost resentful affection for Fan Xian that has me hopeful and fearful at the same time. Some of the emperor's schemes and motives are too intricate and have to be explained via dialogue, which is something I am not a fan of.

Inasmuch as I quite miss the rounder and carefree Fan Xian, Zhang Ruoyun's lean and mean new look lends a sense of maturity and gravitas to the role. My mouth goes dry at the layer upon layer of divine masculinity that comprise Fan Xian, the man. His scenes with the emperor where they both test and measure each other are mesmerising until the tension is broken by at times offbeat humor that has me yodelling with laughter. Every dysfunctional Li family gathering is a hilarious parody of a feast at Swan Goose Gate (Hongmen banquet/鸿门宴). There are many insanely well acted emperors in c-drama yet Chen Daoming still manages to stand out with his complex, differentiated, infuriating and utterly unpredictable portrayal. Just when I am sure I loathe him, he blindsides me with an unexpectedly moving expression of almost regret. Fan Xian has yet to get the better of this sociopath but at least he still manages to run circles around "Mini Me". The moment he scared the living daylights out of the second prince is one of the highlights of the season.

It is no small feat that they managed to reunite such a large and sought after cast and practically all the roles are well conveyed. Ye Lingér however was obviously abducted by aliens and replaced with a bot. Hopefully Si Lili rescues her offscreen and returns with the real Ye Lingér just in time for S3. I won't deny that I basked in every moment of this reunion of my favorite characters, good and evil. That said, outside of Fan Sizhe, no one really gets to do anything consequential. Many new characters including the first prince, the Beiqi princess and Fan Xian's scholars are introduced with unclear purpose. Everyone is being teed up but the punchline is put on hold until S3. This unbalanced focus on introducing and fleshing out characters and relationships comes at the cost of plot movement. This makes me worry that this leaves too many open plot arcs to be closed in S3. While I wouldn't dare to explicitly wish anyone's bestie villain dead, I think they should have closed at least one of the villain arcs instead of pushing everything into S3.

The character arc of S2 closes triumphantly with Fan Xian reclaiming his power and free will by choosing what family means to him and in doing so, he changes the game. I expect S3 to be once again more plot driven like S1. While I savored S2 and appreciate that they took the time to flesh out the characters and key relationships, there are just too many open plot threads for me to rate this the 9.5 I gave S1. Thus this is a 9.0/10.0 for me for now. If everything comes together well in S3, the series overall will easily be 9.5 or a 10.0.

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