Goosebumps
A good actor bring goosebumps. But she cant do it alone. it need director and male lead and screen writers etc. But FEMALE LEAD DELIVERS on crunch time make this drama successful. for me its draggy in many many parts.Male lead got style issue covered. Also like that princess girl scenes.
Even though success depends in many factor , i think director of this drama played key role.
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Revenge is a well-shaken martini
The fl's character really stood out to me. She’s strong, but not in a way that feels overly perfect or predictable, which i find refreshing. Wu Jinyan did a phenomenal job, her emotional depth was genuinely moving, and i couldn’t help but admire her. Now, Wang Xing Yue’s as a ml? Wow. From the beginning, his character felt intimidating, and i assumed his intensity might lessen as the show progressed, but it didn’t. Whether it’s the writing or his performance, his presence remained powerful throughout, and i loved it. Their dynamic was electric—less about romance and more about brains and action, constantly supporting each other. As for the plot, it’s one of the few political dramas i didn’t want to skip. The story is crafted with clear cause-and-effect arcs.That said, after episode 25, the story did start to veer off in different directions a bit too quickly, but it didn’t feel rushed, so i stayed invested. By the time i hit the 30+ episode mark, i was completely hooked. The tension kept building, and i found myself genuinely anxious about what was coming next. Usually, fl always finds a way to win, but this time, i wasn’t so sure, which added a great element of suspense.
And as for the ending, it felt rushed, as is often the case with shows like this. Introducing key antagonists right at the end didn’t sit well with me. I would’ve preferred more buildup, and the deaths of Duke Su’s guards felt really sudden. The final battle scenes also seemed unnecessary, and the pacing of the last 20 minutes was overwhelming. So much happened in such a short time, it was hard to process. Still, the ambiguous ending left me oddly satisfied, even if the pacing was a bit off.
ofc, there was one issue besides the ending. Shen Yurong’s character felt a bit off. His interactions were so awkward and stoic that it made him feel distant and hard to connect with. While his mysterious nature is important to the role, giving him more dialogue or inner thoughts could’ve added some depth. He ended up feeling more passive than i’d like for an antagonist.
All in all, despite its flaws, this show was an absolute ride and worth watching. 9/10
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Excellent but some confusing parts
Overall the acting and story line was very well done. The story concerns a wife who was supposedly murdered by her husband, and buried alive, but lived and was found by a noble woman, who was sent to a religious institute, and her maid. The noble had been beaten and was treated badly and succumbed to her injuries. The wife assumed her other woman's identity and along with the maid vowed to avenge herself as well as the woman who's identity she assumed.It was confusing in that the two didn't look anything alike, but since the noble was sent away when she was 10, they dismissed it as she changed while away. When the husband and family met the returned 'noble', they all almost fainted as she was a twin of the wife he supposedly murdered.
Of course, the wife/noble avenged everything, but now the confusion. The noble and her sister were both in love with the same guy, even tho one was 10 when sent away the other was when her sister was sent away. We're suppose to believe that everyone was still having the same feelings? The fake was saved by an investigator, Duke, and he was the Emperor's right hand man, even thou the two met 8 years ago,, when bother were about 8 or 9 years old. Every one are adults but the time lines don't match.
Lastly, at the end, the Emperor sends Duke to the north flank to save that border, but it looks as if he failed, but the closing credits we see a horseman (legs only no face) riding towards his wife (the fake one), but not sure if he was still alive or it was his wife's dream/vision?
If you can get by the timeline of the different characters, it's well worth watching as there are some awesome plot twits that you don't see coming.
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Worthy of a rewatch.
This film has all of the elements of a good movie. The opening was suspenseful, and had high energy, with a little bit of a thriller. The main leads and some of the supporting cast portrayed their characters very well. The story has a nice flow without overshowing the backstories. The ending was unexpected but it put your heart to rest. I plan to rewatch this drama in the near future to pick up on what I missed the first time.I think there is some resemblance in the features and mannerisms of Wang Xing Yue and Zhao YingBo. Both of them portray their characters well. I'm looking forward to seeing what they do in their future roles.
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Revenge on revenge on revenge
Revenge? Check. Political intrigue? Check. Family drama? Check. Action? Check. Loyal friendships? Check. Romance? Check. Slow-burn romance? Check, check! This series really has it all. I mean, too much of it all, in fact. The revenge alone would have you going for hours. It was really engaging and I enjoyed how the revenge plots played out. It was pretty satisfying. The acting of both Wu Jinyan and Wang Xingue are topnotch. They were perfect for their roles. I could not have imagined a more perfect Xue Fangfei and Xiao Heng. They also have good chemistry. The side characters also did great. Totally love (and hate) the Eldest Princess Wanning. She was awesome and loathsome in her role. I also loved the cinematography of this series. It was so beautiful and added to the total vibe of the series. The breathtaking shots and angles were key to taking the storyline further.Now, there are some things that I thought were problematic about this series. This was 40-episode long. Did it need to be that long? Honestly, yes and no. Yes, because it had so much to tell, and also no, because some plotlines just dragged on, and I felt that some scenes were unnecessary. And as much as the revenge plots were all resolved in the end, it all were just too good to be true and too convenient. And well, that ending? I usually do not mind an open-ending like that but seriously, you had me watch for 40 episodes and go through all of that just to give me a vague ending? That was just really painful and really unsatisfying, even unfair. I don't want to think of the end, please just give me a happy ending, for real!
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Cunning vs Crazy and Cruel
I am adding my thoughts to compare to other recent dramas.With high melodramatics and several overtly theatrical visually cinematic moments, despite plot weaknesses, this drama works. Her cleverness, his cunning-- are a match of witty and eye-candy moment that are 'steamy' due to acting and visuals--for a censored C-Drama. This drama made me think of The Ingenious One with Chen Xiao but I thought it failed because he was too self aware of his intellect (which despite being a genius would fail time and again), whereas here, you get wrapped up in the attacks and counters from the lead pair against crazy evil injustice. This was more enjoyable despite the tragedy and cruel events that occur than Lost You Forever 2 which left one drained over the selfish melancholy.
That said, the apparently deep affection between the Emperor and the prior generation Consort was not explained (perhaps because in history there really was an Emperor who love a woman old enough to be his mother--but in that case she had raised him!--featured in Sleuth of Tang Dynasty, and an episode in Hi Producer with Joseph Zheng), which might have been more believable/palatable had we understood their backstory since the backstory for Emperor and ML, and all others were adequate (not necessarily justifiable) to explain their motives and actions.
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A new chance in life
"The Double" is a revenge story. Fang Fei is a happily married woman who's betrayed and buried alive by her husband, who's having an affair with a princess. Like a miracle, Fang Fei survives, assumes another identity and makes her revenge plan, to make Shi Jie suffer the same way he hurt her. She caught the attention of Xiao Feng, a duke who becomes interest in her.Wu Jin Yan is an amazing actress, her acting is impeccable <3
Fang Fei is a badass, I was rooting for her plan to work, I wanted to see her get even with the bastards that hurt her. That scene, when Fang Fei is playing was truly magnificent, the song and the visuals, combined with her feelings, it was really impressive.
The drama is really good, if I have to find a mistake, i would be the romance. Fang Fei was already married, she wasn't a naive little girl, I thought the story would be more passionate. There are cute moments and some more intense, but Xiao Heng and Fang Fei only stay together basically at the end, it barely gives you any time to enjoy it.
I can't believe it, the moment came when Chen Chiao makes the part of the mother of a 20 year old woman and also the villain... that makes me feel so old. HAHAHA'
The scenery, the photography is really beautiful, i really like the contrast of white and red.
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Female protagonist who suffers a misfortune and finds love in the middle of the road
I won't say much. The romance is embracing and captivating - the main couple doesn't talk about it - but all their actions prove it. It is in the chapter between 30 and 32 where they affirm their love relationship and until the end of the story they give us sweet moments.
If you want to see a drama where they don't break up their relationship (I saw one where they broke up more than three times (Wonderland of Love, I will never forgive you) - when they are a couple they are razors, be sweet but don't be the main thing in the story. A sexy ML, a silver tongue FL. It's your drama.
My score is not 10 for two reasons (SPOILER) in the end we have the unexpected deaths of the ML teams - unnecessary at that time - where they did want to give it drama and make it tragic. They could have killed him in the main war with the people or in a scene further from the end. I didn't suffer, it was uncomfortable. Second reason, the protagonist continued to deny his feelings with the emperor until the moment they became a couple, he hated those moments where he said it was a chess piece. I know it was so as not to involve her in danger.
A sweet couple - who made me embarrassed and stopped some chapters to recover and be able to talk -. I hope I'm not the only one
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However, I thought the chemistry between the main characters was not quite there. I'm not sure about Xue Fangei's acting in some parts, and it's a bit odd to see her "act cute" when her makeup and persona didn't fit that vibe.
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Revenge drama with political intrigue
Felt like a pretty standard revenge drama, similar to the Legend of Zhang Hai in many ways in that the main character uses their intelligence rather than their fighting ability and it is their love interest who does the fighting. Felt like a big budget series with amazing sets, costumes and overall production value. The plot dragged at times, but overall was engaging enough to keep me interested. For those expecting a romance, there is definitely some of that, but not as much as you would see in a series more focused on it. This is mainly going to be a revenge drama, the romance is secondary.I would say that they had some unusual casting choices though. I really liked the ML actor. They aged him up so that the 12 year or so age difference between him and FL wasn't as obvious, but the similar situation in which the emperor was 29 and his consort was in her 40s was quite a bit more apparent. It was a bit jarring to see the FL looking like she was in her mid-30s playing a character that should be around 21 at most. The acting from the FL was good, but she just doesn't look the part. I really liked the Tong'er maid character played by Ai mi. She's going to be a star someday.
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loved the leads loved the plot
I was shocked by how hooked I was while watching this drama. Binge watching it will be the best option cause the plot is not difficult to follow so it wont be very confusing. It was a generally very well written drama.plot: it was a revenge plot but not like a blind revenge. The female lead's plans involved more than just taking revenge on the people who harmed her but she also focused on clearing the names of people who were wrongly accused using the power of her current title. The female lead was extremely smart and independent she was definitely not a damsel in distress but really thought through all her plans before executing them. This was exactly why many times the male lead would just sit from far and watch her do her thing knowing she can resolve it herself.
characters: i did hope for more romance cause sadly there was barely any BUT the couple still liked each other for very long so everytime they met and had a conversation their chemistry was insane so you dont feel like you are missing out. Don't stop yourself from watching the show knowing the romance is a slow burn because the plot is really worth ur time. The ML was so good he was equally as smart and of power so even their chemistry in resolving the issues was so satisfying to watch. That one scene in the rain ahhhhhh (watch it to find out).
the villains on the other hand were so annoying means they really acted well. Princess wanning's character really made sense for the way she was treated and the actress did such a great job. SYR on the other hand was a coward till the end.
Now there is one thing which I am very disappointed with....the ending. Dont get me wrong, it is a happy ending but just not in the satisfying way. They rushed alot of things in the last 2 episodes and there were a few really redundant scenes.
Other than that I felt like this drama was really good and I would recommend it!
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Surprisingly enjoyable
I was never on the double train when it first came out and so many people were raving about it. I tried watching it thrice and never quite got beyond the second ep for whatever reason. I just found Duke Su rather camp and the constant wind blowing from god knows where in every scene got to me. But one day my mum wanted to watch it, I accompanied her and the rest was history lol - we binged like close to 30 eps over 3 days. I'd have to say this turned out to be a very enjoyable ride, but it's not without its flawsPros:
- The acting from the cast is pretty good and it was what kept me going. Special nod to Li Meng (Princess Wan Ning) - absolutely unhinged lol, Joe Chen - I've never seen her this evil and scheming and Wang XY, what gorgeous costumes he had throughout the show and if I didn't look up his age I'd have thought he was 30. He has such gravitas and presence on screen for serious roles like that but can play up the theatrical side of Duke Su as well. Also his makeup etc here is the best I've seen him in
- Story is gripping and the pace is good enough, open loops get tied up at some point and I kept watching beause I just wanted to find out what happened next.
- Chemistry between the leads is good enough. There's rapport and they play off each other well. I wouldn't call it terribly romantic or sparky, but I just liked that they had each other's back throughout in some way.
Cons:
- There are some arcs that take really really long to close off. Jiang Li's entire family story is played over the first 10 or so episodes. Tbh this was what initially put me off the series, but if you are able to sit through all of that, it turns out quite ok. There's another arc with the Ye family and yet another with Xue Fang Fei's real family so it can get a bit tedious and annoying
- I didn' find Jiang Li/Xue Fang Fei to be the empowered woman that she was portrayed to be. Plenty of times, she managed to get something done or get away with something because of Duke Su's help. She'd have died a long time ago if not for him.
- Duke Su's role in the story, he was the real pawn lol. He was jsut there to further Jiang Li's story/intentions, alot of giving from him.
- I thought their relshp from allies to romance was abit too sudden for me. One moment shes all vengeful and all, then the next moment she's super soft and worrying about him out loud. I couldn't buy Wu Jinyan's portrayal in those scenes. This is a small point though.
On a whole, one of the best historical costume drama plots I've seen in awhile. C-dramas are rarely well-written and always fall apart somewhere, so I was surprised this didn't and was actually pretty intense and pacey. I had to take mental breaks in between to rest my mind haha
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