AleksandraSucur

I wish I've started today... instead of being roasted every single day with just one episode. But that stingy episode release make us think more about the story and all the subtle details we might have missed... You are coming fast where we are, remember I warned you 😂

Oh, you're welcome. If you read older comments here, other people noticed the same thing, mentioning other characters also speak with accent revealing where they come from (Futu, Bana... speaking western dialect, while Pu Ying speaks with "central" (Shanxi) accent coming from a region closer to the capital).
The production put a lot of thought and care in making this drama, we aren't all so hooked for no reason 😂

The instruments of NW of China would sit well with Ennio Morricone's genius and atmosphere his music was able to create. In Once Upon A Time in The West he used folk instruments such as harmonica and cimbalom (traditional cord instrument of Central Europe similar to Chinese yangqin but able to produce vibrant metalic sounds almost as a guzheng) mixing them with all sorts of orchestral instruments, percussions, electric guitars...

I've noticed a different pronounciation of these two, too, so I've asked AI, which replied "yes, Pingping speaks Sichuan dialect bc she is from the region where Tang clan (famous in Chinese wuxia literature for their poison skills) lived". Ban Cha is supposed to speak "northwestern" dialect as someone in the drama referred to him as a "Tartar" but I'm not sure how his lines are delivered, remembering Mandarin speakers criticised Vengo Gao's accent in Eastern Heretic and Western Venom in which he was supposed to speak northwestern dialect but he delivered it speaking with his (native) northeastern dialect and people said it would have been better if he was dubbed in that drama.
I am also curious what Mandarin speakers have to say about it, bc I have ear to distinguish different accents but can't precisely tell where it comes from...

My impression is that the fight scenes are intentionally "mediocre". Most of the fighting scenes were under the effect of poison, when the moves would naturally be uncoordinated, beside the fact her family members were not particularly skilled (her statement), she is ill and broken, Pingping is also a fragile girl, Pu Ying is clumsy and can't keep his nerves in check, soldiers aren't much motivated to fight... Two assassins (the dancer and the other one) from Futu's gang moved well, so I concluded the level of fighting skill was tuned to depict every singular character

Indeed. She said YH he had "weary eyes and costraint in heart".
I also like how Zhang Luyao is written, it's almost incredible such a character was invented for the purposes of this adaptation, such "inventions" usually fail or irritate novel lovers... But she in particular works on my mind, can't stop thinking of her. She is the only person I trust: she isn't after money, she has patience and is driven by certain moral standards - she thinks 100 times before she acts, she needs and seeks for truth in order to distinguish good from bad, she is intelligent and skilled despite her broken and ill body... And the actress really nailed her.
As Chen Kun nailed Yu Hou. Actually, all actors are delivering the characters and the story is very interesting and gripping, I continue to think about it all the time. Asking myself what would I do, but not as I (I wouldn't certainly move a finger just thinking about the weight of that gold, around 10 tons, and 100 camels I must find to transport it + trusted people who won't kill me in the process... + I hate heat), if I were in that particular character's shoes.

That "good, bad and good turned bad" is pivotal for the drama.
Yu Hou is definitely good turned bad. He executed her entire family because he believed it was an order from his beloved general. When Ha told him the general is long dead and that the order was his (=Ha's, aiming to keep secret the fact of general's death), his entire world collapsed! He have done a truly bad thing and has no moral justifications, no alternatives but to keep doing bad things (ie., being bad)

1. I think that "familiarity" is connected with the general. Her father must have known him and had him in high regard, he always told her "general is a divinity and divinities hold no evil thoughts". When they first met, she sensed Yu Hou's loyalty towards the general. Last time they met, she donated her family's estate and transportation company to Yu Hou's army - that donation makes them "familiar" in a way.
2. I think she still doesn't know who (and why) exactly ordered the elimination of her family, she evidently doesn't believe Futu, a bandit with army's connection/backing, could have done that on his own whim or intention.
3. She never killed a person before. If she wants him dead, with Bana who wants to kill him, she doesn't even need to get her hands dirty, right? But evidently, from her pov, this is not the moment, she wants to know more first

Commentators on wuxia dramas/movies pages are mostly wuxia lovers, it's always a story that attracts us in the first place. Together with the genre's deadly allure, jianhu codes of living/surviving in extremely hostile environment and cracking the mysteries in it, ofc.

A propos "western influence" on Gu Long you've mentioned, I've also sensed a classical western pattern from the very beginning of this drama, which I've attributed to the director: lawless, "Far West", ultimate frontier & desert setting with tumbleweeds rolling around, unbareable heat melting humans' brains, allowing them to speak only short sentences, or better, disconnected words which must be decoded to be fully understood etc.

Hi, my friend! Nice to see you 😘

👍😂

I agree MZY was irritating, ruining that chapter with her performance but confirm what TaraVerde said: other chapters were watchable and followed Jin Yong's story and logic.

Bana and Bancha are both gold guardians (confirmed in ep 7). Maybe there were more (maybe others could still be alive, maybe guarding the very place where it is hidden). You are 100% right about the dimension of such an amount - if the gold is real... but they could still take out small amounts, turning back several times.
Instead, Bana is on a killing spree when see someone searching for gold, that's why I wonder why he didn't kill Futu as well. Bana said he didn't even know Futu used his (/Bana's) poison to kill Zhang family.
Yes, Futu is colluding with Yu Hao...

If it isn't, what would be the reason for the gold guardians to keep it in the desert instead of spending it in liveable places?
As we now start to know who they are, it looks like the guardians need the story of people searching it turning into vengeful spirits, for the only purpose to keep people away from the desert.
The thing I don't get is why they keep Futu and his gang alive? Maybe they tolerate them bc they are useful to eliminate treasure hunters? And why Futu needs poison woman to deal with the guardians?

I've dropped this drama after the first arc (/chastity arch) bc - despite the drama being convincing in recreating the Ming aesthetics and atmosphere (great Deng Ke's direction and choice of settings and camera frames 👏) - the script overlooked Confucian strict social hierarchy and laws of the time that separated scholar-officials from merchants. FL's family could have been engaged in salt trade only in violation of law and only covertly, through a proxy and in that case, they would show off as less as possible and certainly wouldn't seek visibility with chastity arches or extravagant feasts with dancing floors covered with salt... The writers' intention to show us the cruelty and hypocrisy of "chastity arch" institution (which truly existed, as well as unbelieveable submission of women to men) was too obvious and the plot involving the frustrated widow, hypocrite grandma etc, simply contradicted or neglected the underlying legal frame which was mostly well shown in the following arcs and subplots.
Now that I've completed it and despite the fact this one wasn't the only moment in which I ought to suspend my disbelief, I am glad I changed my mind and retook watching it. Overall, it was good and in certain parts and details - it was even brilliant. I've expected the drama would heavily rely on great cinematography (and it did) but the narrative also earned certain merits: eg. how it approached a systemic corruption giving us a chance to distinguish it (general Wang's deal with smugglers in order to feed his soldiers) from other types of overwhelming corruption and illegal entanglements between officials, merchants and outlaws aiming to accumulate more power. I found the emperor's relations with his grandma, ML and ministers (as well as the relations and differences among high court officials) also quite original and - as a frame - it gave a realistic foundation for continuous struggles for survival of the lead couple. The only "splendor" related to the road they've passed is that they survived and escaped the mud created by power and corruption only fools or greedy persons take for splendor.

Remnants of Gold

The saying "it's about the journey, not the destination" fits so well to this treasure hunt, affected by all sorts of poison...

This actor Wu Han Kun (Xiao Fang) could play a Wu Lei's twin, incredible resemblance... The same family name, I wonder if they were related in real life...

I like the intro animation and music, desert setting, sudden changes in pace and tanned skin of the actors who seem to be well cast.

Indeed. Btw, I still remember this actress playing a chief palace maid in Ming Dynasty - she was so impactful (as a very difficult and complex character to play) that she outshone the leads... A top class actress, like the actress who plays Lady Yu

I am well aware of this institution and punishments on "unchaste" women. It wasn't the contradiction I was talking about at all. The props, dresses and uniforms allude to a Ming dynasty setting, when officials-bureaucrats (such as local magistrates) were banned from engaging in private commerce or seeking profit by Confucian laws and a strict social hierarchy that separated scholar-officials (placed on the top) from merchants.
If such a family was engaged in salt trade (violating the law), it would have done that only covertly ("per interposta persona", per proxy), showing off as less as possible and certainly wouldn't seek visibility with chastity arches...