A Familiar Stranger Episode 1

Surprise! This is him!

I am watching on Viki and the episodes are set up differently. There are only 8 in total with 20+ mins on most and a few with 30+ mins. So these will have spoilers if watching the 18 episode version.

The story begins with a painter (Shi Qi) painting a group of courtesans. She is looking for her sister who has a peach blossom on her shoulder. A wealthy woman (Shen Qin)arrives and wants a painting done. She promises to give location of sister once painting is finished. It’s an odd situation because the meeting is set up at night and while the materials are there, something feels off. She sees Shen Qin being intimate with a prince and thinks she is mistaken to be there. She is told if she leaves there will be no help finding her sister, so she reluctantly stays and follows the directions she is given…..to paint what she sees. The prince wants his lover to marry a general so he can have sway with the military. He has plans for getting her back eventually, but even saying she is pregnant has no sway with this louse of a prince. When the painter is getting ready to leave she feels she has been swindled but accepts her loss. She finds Shen Chin in a lavish pool asking her if she loves anyone and wants to be by their side. Shi Qi doesn’t respond but someone does come to mind for her. When Shen Qin disappears in the pool, she thinks she is harming herself so comes close to the side, where she is forced into the pool. She is carried to a bed where a strange cloaked magical type person with bandages except for her cat eye is all that is seen. When she wakes, she finds she has the face of the rich lady, and in the general’s mansion getting ready to be married. She is in completely shock and is rambling about to find more mirrors. In her search she does find one, but it reveals an interrogation room where the general is killing someone. She faints from the blood and shock. She keeps trying to convince anyone she is not the person with this face, but who will believe her? Someone claiming to be her brother refuses to talk with her and actually sends a maid assassin to kill her. The maid is not cut out for this and is interrupted by the general who rescues Shi Qi and swaps out what is probably poisoned wine. Here is where Shi Qi sees him for the first time and it’s the general that rescued her. He is her savior and the one she always wondered about. When she sees he is to be her husband, she still tries to tell him she is not Shen Qin, but he quiets her and has her make the wedding toast. I did not see him drink but he then has a different look and locks her in the room. Assassins are planted and making their way into the mansion when the episode ends. This was an interesting introduction to the story. It is clear there is a backstory we have no clue about yet and somebody wants the general and Shen Qin dead. How does Shen Qin know about her sister? An interesting fate for the general. He gets the one who will really like him. I am enjoying everything about this episode including the music. It is fast paced and tells a good story.

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Wow

Few seconds starting the first episode was so unexpected. I was gagged. The cinematography was nice. The pace was quite fast bcs of the episodes duration and quantity(?) I guess. Dammn it was so cruel to swap the villainess face with the other girl bcs I was trying to familiarise myself to hate her and later I hv to like that face??? Her wedding hair ornaments were so pretty. The dress too. I think I meet again the actor who played ML in this drama, I've watched this year's drama of his. Shangjue if I'm not mistaken, the character's name... So good. Well... He looks sooooooooo young in this drama. I'm not fond of it. I prefer his 2023 drama looks more. Anyway, he did saw her face before this right? Well, next scene answered my question. Good. The question is this drama looks like it had a decent budget but what prompted them to release it like this? The next episode's duration was less than 10 minutes.

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