AleksandraSucur

Thank you for this comment. It made me research about her, wow, what a life!
Beside, I've discovered that the poetry recited by SWM (to escape death with LLF) and later repeated by princess in tears, was indeed written by princess Taiping and found on the epitaph of her tomb (errected by Taiping as well).
The writer truly skillfully insert these real historical details in this drama (in all seasons) and it's always a pleasure to discover them.
Btw, "chancelor Cui" /Taiping's advisor may have been one of Shangguan Wan'er's lovers in his youth...

I love it, too. Now we know how to call such characters, "mansels in distress", lol

We've finally reached 1K watchers! 😁🤓

This all-righteous arrogant behaviour is part of his nature and noble status, he cannot change it, this trait is in his upbringing and authority as a scion of Lu clan of Fanyang, high military nobles for many centuries before Tang https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lu_clan_of_Fanyang
Although the story is fictional, it is inspired on real historical data and events as well as on zhiguai xiaoshuo, collection of investigation-mystery-supernatural folktales set in Tang dynasty, collected and put in writing from the Ming onwards. In these stories, a display of justice authority is common and actually expected. Combined with the self-perception as "defenders" and "pillars of the state" noble clans and families usually have (not only in China), it is only logical he behaves like that.
SWM can't afford himself to be rude to his superior. LLF can. It is his superior who must mind LLF' high status and can offend him only when has the emperor's backing. Because - beside being a Lu - LLF is also the emperor's cousin

yup, and she is particularly good in ambiguous roles. I remember how people hated her as Miao Renfeng's wife in SS of Fox Volant (always with QJJ as ML) when she switched to the traitor played by Peter Ho.
And I've just noticed I didn't rate that great drama based on my beloved Jin Yong's story... Incredible, I'll give it 9,5 immediately

That drunken monologue was brilliantly played. Imo, BXL touched all the "right spots" (we can call these spots "blemishes", too) to make him remember that specific moment after he killed his first wife, went to a dinner with BXL telling her how he got drunk for the first time: it was after his father, who was working his ass off far away, told him on the phone he was celebrating with his collegues the award his son received. His disconnected phrases in intoxicated state are indeed smth a true artist would say... after commenting the paintings "coming to a life" ... he creates couplets "Harmony blending light with dust/ Dust blinding my vision /Vision blurred by arrogance"
That's why BXL falls for him. He is an artist, maybe even a genial one in need to affirm himself and his vision of the world. But his poverty and rough ambition of his parents makes him a villain and a person with flows. That's why she provokes him (ofc. she knows how to do it, belittleing him, actually every wife knows how to offend her husband), choosing revenge over love.

I've seen that, but eps between 13-23 drained my forces to continue it in this moment. It is also predictable why it "picked up", the plot finally turned the leads into a couple fighting against the general moral perception but the solution to it will be dragged till the end, so it will have another downhill turn...

There's nothing "cheap" in this drama. Artistically speaking, it's "close to perfection" being "near to perfection" Leitmotiv of one of the protagonists.

And what is concretely "nonsense" you're talking about?

me too. I'm stucked at ep 23 where I arrived only tnx to a lot of ff-ing and turning a blind eye to FL's inconsistencies. But now I simply can't move forward, I've lost track of all the things that had a great potential but went south

It's an intricately weaved artwork indeed because we "sense" it (unconscious process in posterior brain) first and then we "think" about what's going on (conscious process in frontal cortex, rational part of the brain). It is achieved not only through this great camerawork, lights, music which are of great help to understand from whose perspective the story is told in every precise moment but also with the functional use of other arts: ceramics arts help to point out to the imperfections resulting from perfection seeking, impressionists' paintings point out to the blury vision of "the reality we actually see" and in particular Monet's Sunrise increases both the sense of haziness and fluidity and ofc., all the interiors are expertly chosen and function as stages in a theatre: this doesn't refer only to the closed spaces but also to the restaurants and promenade roads (the scene with the policeman's bro, the scene on the bridge with Da Hui Hui and Vivien playing with clownish wigs...) in the evening. And the direction is totally adapted to this (theatrical) stages.

yes, his perception of FZ is idealised, it's like a vision we have of our parents when remembering sweet things from our childhood: playing with them, going on picnicks, barbecuing in the garden, learning from them by making things together. In such reminiscing visions, our parent is always good, skilled and powerful, always doing right, knows everything and gives us a feeling of safety and comfort, briefly, a great person we would gladly sacrifice for.
When he remembers FZ, TLC constantly sees himself as an impulsive, childish, neurotic boy who can only be calmed, taught and shaped to a better person by such a well-intentioned and good teacher as FZ, his saviour. Beside his immense love and devotion to FZ, he also "rationally" has no doubts FZ will always do better than him, because in this reminiscence frame, for TLC nobody can do better than FZ, this is FZ's "ratione personae", being also generally percieved as a great, just and good man.

It looks like MDL boycotts this drama, I've filed for two actors and still nothing

24 votes are nothing...
Besides, we know MDL's users' preferences for romance and idol dramas... SToTD 3 still didn't reach 1K viewers.

Yes, the pace is great, I didn't ff one single scene

Seeing you all here, I've tried, got severly hooked (gosh, all pretty people from Heroes are here except LYN), binged 9 eps in one night shot... what to say? Addicted. Love how the pieces of the puzzle drop in each and every episode like drops of rain enlarging a big black hole, transforming it into a chasm. The water element is so present and aesthetically well employed: the rain scenes (usually connected with Vivian), the ocean light effects in YZH bedrom/living room, close shots of intoxicating liquids being poured in glasses... conveying the sense of slippery, of danger, of a vague dream. Does YZH reminisce or just imagine things?
And while you are distracted by ZJ's artistic hands, I am distracted imagining being handcuffed by (and/or handcuffing) the hot policeman, probably reminisceing these scenes in Heroes with the same actor playing a soldier in it. 😁Maybe that was the point of the creators, to make our imagination run wild while we follow YZH's tracing, reasoning and deductions...

I saw you all here and got hooked immediately. It's fine even binged, believe me.

Indeed 👌😂❤️

definitely

yes, Douban naturally matters more and it is really high for just 1/4 of the season. It will probably go up

Strange Tale of Serial Abducted Victim.
Moral of the story: we can evade any prison and get rid of any person suppressing our freedom except... of our own mother. 🙄