Against the Current

Interesting premise that accumulated to disappointment

Against the Current is a drama that took everyone by surprise. After all, nobody expected it to be a hit, but does it being a hit mean it's perfection?

Anyways, I only watched this drama after seeing everyone loving it, and I have nothing to watch lol. It had a hard time keeping me interested after 3 episodes, but I still gave it a chance. I gotta say, the first episode was so impactful that it left an impression on me, and I would say that was a good episode to start.

I came into this drama expecting revenge due to the first episode, but that wasn't the case lol; it could have been a good foundation for one. Anyways, what disappointed me ultimately was how they handled the marriage. Look, with the hole they were digging themselves into when it came to how they would get married? They found a quick way to deal with it. The execution could've been better, because for a story that depicts a woman's story and livelihood during a period in the past, it sure is disappointing that they let their female lead end up like this.

I could not see their marriage as any sort of "romantic" as they were trying to sell us when they got together, and, to people's dismay, I mean the viewers. Even if she chose to let go of past grievances eventually, it still felt disappointing because it didn't feel like she let go; rather, she accepted her situation and chose to live as the madam of his family because she had no other choice.

The writers didn't convince me much that the male lead "learned" how big his actions led to very big, irreversible consequences. I didn't feel like he actually learned at all, but it felt more like a parent cuddling a child, to say the least, but im lowkey so happy the male lead got cursed at by other fellow female characters because he deserved it. And him still getting the girl in the end felt rather undeserved because it felt like he was getting rewarded for his actions. Also, those saying the male lead just became a lovesick puppy by the second half, I would have to disagree because when everyone falls in love, they will act differently, but the way the writers wrote it was badly executed.

Anyways, it feels rather like a shame that for a story that depicts women's lives, it didn't see the opportunity to explore more what it was like for a woman to be trapped in a marriage they didn't want. Tho it did make a great irony and parallel in the story.
Ultimately, for a story that got 47 episodes, the second half sure felt like it didn't have much time, especially the final episodes.
I do gotta say it was interesting to finally see a lead couple grow old together and raise kids.

Well, Against the Current is an interesting premise that just fell flat due to the execution, which is a shame because it did explore an interesting topic and message. Still, I would've preferred to see the female lead get an opportunity to choose for once, whether she wanted to stay in this marriage or not.

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It's complicated

By far one of the most gut-wrenching and promising storylines I've ever seen, but I'm not sure if it delivers as much as it implies.

It's not a secret that Chinese dramas only see the possibility of a woman-centric narrative if the male counterparts are diminished to a bunch of fools. Don't get me wrong; men are mostly evil and self-centered even when they are not trying, and it's very easy for them to be terrible in this show's time period, but if you are going to dabble into romance, you should at least save the ML from it.
I appreciate the reality of what a powerful man's obsession can do; the ML wants Lan Xiang more than anything and forces her into marriage with the highest power he can reach. It hits even harder when he's the man you're supposed to like and root for. But it has its consequences: they become the worst part of the show.

Lan Xiang can't leave him; she eventually has to lie down and bear his children. She endures being away from her parents and has to take care of his household until the day she dies. It's suffocating even when the story tries to say she eventually started to like Jin Qi, because of course she didn't.
She couldn't forgive him for taking away the life she suffered so much to get, and it's made worse by the choice of making Jin Qi mushy enough so she can force herself to accept and merge into the role of the heir's wife.

I find interesting how she was always an object, even with loving parents. When Han Liang started talking about proposing, it was never shown he was taking her into consideration, even as a free woman with free and caring parents; that aspect of her life was still going to be decided by them. It's even more evident when she writes the play for Jin Qi and tells him how she sees things: all those rules and filial duties mean nothing but a job to be done.

Lan Xiang appeared very unbothered by love the entire show, and she would've been unhappy with either Jin Qi or Han Liang.

Also, the plot in itself is very absurd and makes Lan Xiang this almost sentient being; in the beginning it makes sense since she has the noble education but had to live a difficult life as a slave, and she sees and understands a lot because she has been there before. But after the wedding, it's ludicrous how she almost senses things and gets into absurd conclusions (that are always right) from scraps when Jin Qi, who's a skilled and trained official, takes more time and effort to reach her.

It's the same problem I had with Pursuit of Jade: how can a woman accomplish so much in such an unknown, harsh, and imbalanced world when her man, the one said world was build for, can't?
That's not feminism or ideal; it's just lazy writing. Women should be given stories that are well written and in tune with the rest of the world, not plot armor and words of effect.

I find the other ladies storyline infinitely more realistic and satisfying; even Xiu Wan was able to find her way back into love without insane expectations or limitations from both sides. He has been married before, and she has seen the worst side of it from her sisters's experiences, and now they both can live together in peace.

When this show is good, it's great. Lots of impactful scenes, good conversations, important realizations, and the always-present necessity of protecting and uplifting women, but when it comes to the main leads, it loses steam very quickly, and all I could think about was any other development other than them.

It was possible to live a somewhat fulfilling life even in hard times; Lan Xiang should've been able to find this balance as well.

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41% In - Slow burn done right

I stopped watching dramas while they're airing. Good ones make it impossible for me to focus on anything else. But the reels in my YouTube feed kept intriguing me, and I started Against the Current and fell for it hook, line, and sinker.

At around 41%, no drama can be fairly judged, but I'm sticking my neck out: this one has been very good so far.

The pacing is solid. Storylines are introduced and wrapped up in good time, and nothing has dragged. The acting is top notch across the board, from the leads to the main villains to the supporting cast.

There hasn't been overt romance yet, but the chemistry between Tan Song Yun and Liu Xue Yi is undeniable. This is a slow burn done right.

My two favorite elements are the love LanXiang's adoptive parents have for her, and the bond between the four maids. It's refreshing to see women supporting women instead of internalized misogyny dressed up as romantic rivalry.

Of course, the drama could falter as it progresses. If it does, I'll revise my rating. For now, I'm thoroughly enjoying it.

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A 47-Episode Journey I Won't Forget

I kept seeing posts about this drama everywhere, and everyone was calling it a masterpiece. But when I saw it had 47 episodes, I hesitated—I had never watched a drama that long before. I told myself, "Okay, just watch the first episode and see how it goes."

Since then, I haven't been able to stop. It's that addictive.

When I started watching, I was waiting for the romance and kept thinking, "What is happening? It's been so many episodes and basically nothing has happened between them." Then I realized—it's not a romance. That's not what this drama is about.

At its core, this drama is about woman empowerment. It depicts what life was truly like for women in old times—the limitations, the hardships, and the quiet strength required to survive. It is primarily centered on female characters, and their stories are given room to breathe. This is not a typical love story. The main focus is on the female lead and her journey through life, not on romance.

I love the female lead. It is so refreshing to see a lead who is knowledgeable and always taking care of everyone around her. It is satisfying to watch her put her teachings into practice—she is intelligent and always thinking of solutions. Watching her navigate the treacherous politics of the Lin estate and rise through the household ranks was deeply rewarding.

I especially love her time as a maid in the Lin household, where we see Lin Jinqi slowly falling for her. I really love Lin Jinqi's character—the way he was always on her side and always listened to her advice. The dynamic between them—once betrothed, now separated by class and circumstance—is beautifully portrayed. I also love the maid squad. Characters like Jiu Gao and Nan Ke add so much heart and humor to the story. They are not just background characters; they have their own arcs and growth.

The storyline is amazing—the story is told so seamlessly, and you can see each character develop naturally. The production is outstanding, and every character is properly introduced rather than thrown in randomly. It is also not overcomplicated; you can get lost in the politics of some period dramas, but this one strikes the right balance.

That said, it is not a typical romantic drama. Most of the time, the love is one-sided, and I did not like how she suddenly changed her mind. Until episode 39, it was perfect. After that, I had a hard time adjusting. The female lead had always been cold toward the male lead, and the sudden shift just did not sit well with me. As time has passed, I can see her affection toward him more clearly, but in the moment, it was jarring.

For the final episodes, instead of a time jump, I would have preferred proper closure for the side characters and more of their lives. Even so, it was an amazing journey that I will not forget.

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I would definitely name this the best work of 2026. Great plot, cast, editing, and music.

I love the emphasis on "letting the female lead live a good life" rather than obsessing over revenge, choosing instead to move forward. She is genuinely kind-hearted, deeply filial to her adoptive parents, and works tirelessly toward a better life. Fortunately, she can defy the norms of her era because she found the right life partner.

The male lead is truly a good person—humble, unpretentious, and a calm, reassuring pillar of support worthy of an eldest brother. Toward his wife, he offers complete trust, tenderness, and respect. A husband made in heaven, truly.

I love how he teaches his children about fighting by telling them to look at their mother as an example: she never needs brute force, but if they ever must fight, they must do so smartly—always remembering that it is a fight to the death and they must give it their all, because their parents love them and cannot bear to lose them. It is such wise parenting, true to his background as both a former soldier and an official.

This drama is exceptionally well-crafted with magnificent storytelling. I absolutely loved it.

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Weeping fest

Cried a lot, laughed a lot and loved the characters a lot. If you liked the Story of Minglan you’d love this. Xu Lian Xinag character is a lot more repressed owing to years of trauma but she’s is smart, loving and overall a great character.

I wouldn’t say the romance was lacking in any way, it was a slow burn but we did get to see the characters love each other. Were there moments I’d have liked a clear shot of? Yes i.e. piggy bike ride, their first kiss, etc.

Overall, loved it, weeped like a baby. Low rewatch value because I can’t go through all those emotions again

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Amazing Screenplay, Stupendous Performance

Switched with Xu Lanxiang, the dead daughter of a slave couple Xu that both her mother and her had helped with in an earlier encounter, Shen Jialan barely escapes with her life intact as her whole family is executed by the Emperor for a deed deemed as treason. Years passed, and just as she starts to envision her life as a free citizen together with her adoptive parents, Lanxiang is summoned to serve the Lin Residence to which her adoptive father had sold his servitude to. With heavy heart, she stepped into the household to which she had been bethrothed to as a child before her family’s execution, and maneouvres around the intricately winding path as a slave while clutching on the last message from her birth mother, Hao Hao Huo Zhe - Live well.

I never thought I’d be so invested in a family drama as I did with this one. Starting off the title with an initial expectation of the usual sole-survivor-of-wrongfully-accused-family-seeking-revenge theme, I was instead met with a plot of a sole survivor looking only for means to live well way out of any conflicts. FL is not the typical survivor living only for revenge that we see so common as a drama plot. She is just a daughter of prominent family who had fallen hard into the fate of a slave, and as many of those with such status, she too is only focused on surviving whichever ordeal she is thrown into. While other maids are eager to show off loyalty and curry favour with their masters to climb the ranks, FL relies more on her highly perceptive senses to veer off problems and grabs opportunities, whichever that would serve her purpose to live well and survive. She thrived as a maid, then as a free citizen, then as a forced bride, and then as a loving wife and mother.

FL is the poster child for a woman who could counter any hurdle with her intelligence, or ride with it in style without losing hope when she couldnt. Tan Songyun did a phenomenal job as Xu Lanxiang/Shen Jialan. She is very expressive with her eyes, and definitely didn’t need articulation to convey any feelings or sentiment of her character. This is the first time that I saw her, and she took my breath away with her perfect depiction of the resourceful and always hopeful Xu Lanxiang. She doesnt gets beaten down when situations arent in her favour, and she never gets discouraged when others got an upper hand. What she always does is to look for a way out. I totally love it that she isn’t like the usual victim of forced marriage where the couple either fall in love in a short time by multiple lame-ass sexual tensions, or live in resentment for the whole of marriage duration (like how Zhao Xintang had gone through). Xu Lanxiang is flexible without simply bending the knee. Basically she gets through without losing her dignity and that’s what makes her character memorable and special. Although I could not quite understand why FL never revealed her real identity to ML despite already surrendering her heart and soul to him, the later scenes of ML deducing who she really was made it all make sense. Because this is not just a typical story with a dumbed down ML to elevate the FL kind, but the growth of both through tough times.

This is not it the first drama of Liu Xueyi’s that I have seen, but I gotta say this is the best one I have seen yet of him. His character Lin Jinqi the ML initially looks like a brute, ruthless man who would take whatever he wants and discard whatever he dislikes on a whim. Mad that he is used as a pawn to forge a relationship with the grand councillor Zhao’s family, he protested by throwing off the brush that he was raised with to pick up the sword instead. He hated the Zhao woman he is forced to wed, hence upon returning from the frontier he quickly devised a plot to catch the wife with adultery and dissolve the marriage. Then to avoid being used as a pawn again to forge the next relationship with another prominent family, he made a name of himself with the future emperor, gain merits for helping him ascend the throne and ask for marriage decree to the one he loved instead. He is a loose cannon that the clan elders disliked but had to cling to due to his military merits he earned. He is a man no one should cross, until he crosses Xu Lanxiang, the maid that had served his courtyard whom he had fallen for and ended up spending years to win her heart over. One thing I noticed with Liu Xueyi, in every drama I saw him in, he had no problem developing chemistry with his co-star, it has always been stellar when it comes to romance with Liu, even without spicy bed scenes or overzealous frenchkisses.

I cried more than once here, there are too many touching scenes that invoked my tear glands, although most doesnt involve death or absolute separation. The relationships within and without the Lin family, almost all end up with touching moments be it sad, happy or beautiful, most notable one got to be Zhao Xintang’s and Lin Jinqi’s conclusion.

Despite being largely drama with substantial passage of time from FL’s teenage years to her death, there are still notable fight scenes that mostly involve ML and his colleagues fighting off pirates, villains, rebels etc and damn those had been good too! No flying off between treetops or neili driven fights, these are pure physical combat that still provide enough adrenaline to keep you at the edge of your seats. Lin Xueyi truly thrives in action setting and he made the struggle to cling for life after grave injuries truly believable. My most favourite scene has got to be the Prince Han rebellion arc, that moment of him and his reluctant bride trying to survive as the rebel forces hunted for them is pure gold.

And as great as the screenplay, the themesong playlist is packed with great tunes too! Although slow ballads, they add well to the touching atmosphere when needed.

Honestly the only thing that’s stopping me from giving a pure 10/10 rating is the fact that I most probably won’t rewatch this. I am an action lover at heart, hence am only giving the rewatch rating high enough to not drag down the overall rating from 9.5. This series deserves that much. I only give a 10 rating in the rewatch category to series that I would want to rewatch and I generally only rewatch action packed masterpieces. Despite an action lover, I had to admit this story is memorable enough that it made me want to read the novel to see the difference and which would have better plot.

Edit: I tried reading the novel but couldnt go past Ch73. I am so glad the screenwriter dropped the source’s plot and characters and devised this beautiful masterpiece instead. I wish i could give this a solid 10 for such brilliant writeup.


Spoiler beyond this line……………..






I loved it how they made the ML acknowledge FL’s original identity in his last breath. It was so damn beautiful despite the scene to be a sad one.

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Excellent series !

When Shen Jalan and the first lady Shen met the Xu , their act of kindness to help the Xu and give them money so their child Xu lanxiang can get treatment and when Shen Jalan gave one of her extra clothing to the real Xu Lanxiang while she's on hers father's back. Jalan and the real lanxiang looks at each other. And that act's of kindness leads to good karma . The Xu took good care of Jalan and became Lanxiang. They loved her as their own. Xiuru's character development is amazing she's no longer the timid girl she once was but developed into strong woman and fight what is rightfully hers and for her children. Also what she believes in . What an amazing series. The cast delivers every emotion, Pain and suffering powerfully. I enjoyed watching this series every night. The cinematography, story, ost , acors , etc . are amazing.
Tan Songyun and Liu Xueyi their chemistry are amazing.
Congratulations to the cast crew 👏 this is now
Part of my top dramas ❤️ alongside Swords into Plowshares. A gem that i cannot forget for along time.
I highly recommend this drama series.

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Delightful, moving, heart breaking but a beautiful, beautiful story

Against the Current is a gem. It challenges current CDrama storytelling. The acting is first class. The OST is wonderful, the songs by Seven a real treat. The costuming, makeup and sets are a standout. The opening credits are breathtakingly beautiful. They tell a story on their own.

In all honesty, the show needed 70 - 80 episodes. At 47 episodes, the number of time skips needed made the story a little disjointed. I watched this on Viki and like any show on that platform, when they slow down to one episode a day, I set this show aside until I could binge the final six episodes.

In short, the show unfolds over many decades, although there is plenty of time devoted to each key development in between each time skip. The beginning is dramatic. The attention to what happens next is sublime. The unfolding of our leads is a mature take on life, whether as a servant or as a noble. One message is clear: never take life for granted.

As I looked through many comments around the place, there was a lean towards how this drama was feminist in its portrayal. I have to disagree with this sentiment. If you look at the story from the point of view regarding how women are responsible for running a household, the challenges this brings, the pressure on the matriarch, the jostling for position and acceptance, the lack of interest by the menfolk as they pursue their own interests, we get to see something similar to Minglan.

Xu Lan Xiang is intelligent, sage and patient. Lin Jin Qi is masterful, impetuous and loyal. Lan Xiang is the saviour. Jin Qi carries the weight of the nation on his shoulders. The defining moment in their relationship is when she suggests he leaves the royal court. Other viewers will pick other moments but for me, and anyone who has been married for some time, knows how powerful and meaningful such a moment is.

The adversaries are magnificent. Very fine performances, scurrilous, pouty and unforgiving. Each has an ending that is fitting for who they are.

The use of Chinese Southern Opera to give the people a voice, an avenue for Lan Xiang’s talents as a writer is extremely well done. I enjoyed the attention to detail from the makeup, costumes and sets through to the delivery of the stories themselves. It took Jin Qi time to catch on regarding the use of the Opera but he got there eventually.

My final reflection is on the parents. Lan Xiang’s mum and dad were amazing. The dad was clueless but developed due to Lan Xiang’s guidance. Her mum was a beautiful person who only ever wanted what was best for her daughter. Jin Qi’s mum as the Lin family matriarch was wonderful: strong but fair, doting, biased against Lan Xiang until her brilliance saved the family. Sadly, his father was a wastrel. The grandfather was the powerful scholar and he too went through his own personal development at such a late stage in life.

Even if you aren’t inclined to watch this, at least listen to Seven’s wonderful singing of the theme songs - delightful and moving.

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A Love That Lasted a Lifetime, Until the Very End

Wow, the plot is truly amazing! This is the first drama I’ve watched where we get to see both leads go through their entire lives together from getting married and having children to growing old and eventually passing away after a lifetime of love. 🥹❤️

Honestly, I still don’t know how to feel about the ending. It’s a little sad, but at the same time, it somehow feels like a happy ending, too. They got to spend their entire lives together and grow old side by side. What more could you ask for in a love story? 🥺❤️

I also find it so funny how the male lead basically forced the female lead to marry him, only to end up getting slapped on their wedding day. Like, sir, was that part of the plan?! HAHAHAHA 😂😂

Overall, this drama is truly remarkable. It’s not just about falling in love, but about choosing each other through every stage of life until the very end. A little heartbreaking, a little heartwarming, and a love story that truly comes full circle. ❤️🥹

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