K-Drama 
This review may contain spoilers
A Gripping, High-Stakes Historical Epic That Unravels at the Finish Line
Before diving into this heavily hyped drama, I’ll say one thing: Against the Current is not a romantic drama. Despite the official posters misleadingly framing it around a central couple, this is fundamentally a serious historical and domestic family drama that has romance, but ultimately is not romance driven story. It serves as an unforgiving showcase of the immense difficulties, systemic oppression, and limited agency women faced during that era. If you are going into this expecting butterflies, a neat love story, or a clean, happy ending, stop here.
Yes, there’s a central love story between two main leads and a whole bunch of other romance storylines with majority not ending well. But after watching the entire 47 episodes I’m still not certain if Xu Lan Xiang / Shen Jia Lan ever truly loved Lin Jin Qi. I think she simply settled into her fate because she had no choice and grown fond of him because, after robbing her of choices, he did ask for forgiveness and treated her well but her ultimate goal was always to preserve her family’s well-being. Because such was the responsibility of the head of the household whether she liked it or not.
The Cast: Finally, a Worthy Match for Liu Xueyi
As a long-time fan of Liu Xueyi, it has been incredibly frustrating to watch him constantly get robbed of great projects. Historically, if he had a solid script, his onscreen partner lacked chemistry; if he had a great onscreen partner, the script was ridiculous. Finally, in Against the Current, he has a project where he and his leading lady are exceptionally well-matched.
While I am generally not a fan of Tan Songyun—especially in romantic roles where she often fails to deliver genuine chemistry—she is absolutely perfect for this specific role. Because the drama heavily de-emphasizes romance build on physical attraction to focus on high-stakes survival and political tension, her acting style works beautifully. Her quiet defiance pairs brilliantly with Liu Xueyi's grounded performance.
A Flawless, High-Stakes First and Second Acts (Episodes 1–42)
The premise starts incredibly strong. We are immediately thrust into a brutal landscape of politics and treason. The female lead survives a family massacre, only to end up working in the household of her former fiancé—whose own family is partially guilty of eradicating her clan.
The first 42 episodes are excellent. Even though the pacing is extremely slow, all stories are deeply meaningful and features superb acting. The production quality is top-tier, and the focus on female agency is a massive highlight. For 40 episodes, we are kept on the edge of our seats waiting for her true identity to come to light. When Lin Jin Qi takes her to her family’s grave and finds out her true identity, it feels like a massive, hard-earned payoff. The scene at the Shen family grave is masterfully done.
The Post-Episode 42 Collapse
Unfortunately, after this peak, the writing simply falls apart and the drama goes downhill fast. I really did not need to see the characters die. If the writers wanted to show their lives from their teenage years to their deaths, that would have been fine, but the execution was terrible. The framing of the final scenes leaves our female lead dying entirely alone in her study, completely isolating her from the very family she fought so hard to build. I think reframing the scene into her being surrounded by her family on her deathbed would have not made for such a frustrating ending.
A Rushed Roster of New Characters: Toward the end, a massive wave of grown-up children and new adult characters are suddenly introduced with no preemptive setup. Yes, they are all family members, but I was so confused. Trying to keep track of who was who was difficult for me. Pushing the pacing faster in the early episodes to give us time to ease into these adult characters of grown up children later would have saved the final act.
Abandoned Storylines & Lack of Justice: While I understand it makes historical sense that the Shen family couldn't be easily acquitted during Xu Lan Xiang’s lifetime without harming her new family, the lack of narrative consequence is incredibly unsatisfying. And I am not talking about justice that came in after the female leads death. I was actually very fine with it. I liked how they framed it. The male lead's grandfather, who was directly guilty of withholding warnings about the treason charges, gets off completely unpunished. And yes, he feels guilty, but essentially he lived a good life and it just feels unfair to the female lead who is the one carrying his family’s legacy on her shoulders. The grandfather never once asked her for forgiveness. Additionally, multiple storylines are abandoned, and several important characters are simply forgotten without closure.
Final Verdict: Brilliant, But Prepare for Disappointment
Against the Current is a masterclass in acting and production quality for its first 42 episodes, but it ultimately suffers from a poorly written final act that it never truly recovers from.
For fans of serious historical fiction and female-led survival stories: This is an excellent, realistic portrayal of a woman's lifelong struggle against her environment.
For fans of romance and clean endings: Skip it. This will not give you the satisfying closure or the romantic payoffs you are looking for.
I personally enjoyed most of the drama, however, after episode 42 it became extremely boring and I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I don’t mind deaths of the main characters if they mean something in the grand scale of things, but I don’t like how it was executed in Against The Current.
Yes, there’s a central love story between two main leads and a whole bunch of other romance storylines with majority not ending well. But after watching the entire 47 episodes I’m still not certain if Xu Lan Xiang / Shen Jia Lan ever truly loved Lin Jin Qi. I think she simply settled into her fate because she had no choice and grown fond of him because, after robbing her of choices, he did ask for forgiveness and treated her well but her ultimate goal was always to preserve her family’s well-being. Because such was the responsibility of the head of the household whether she liked it or not.
The Cast: Finally, a Worthy Match for Liu Xueyi
As a long-time fan of Liu Xueyi, it has been incredibly frustrating to watch him constantly get robbed of great projects. Historically, if he had a solid script, his onscreen partner lacked chemistry; if he had a great onscreen partner, the script was ridiculous. Finally, in Against the Current, he has a project where he and his leading lady are exceptionally well-matched.
While I am generally not a fan of Tan Songyun—especially in romantic roles where she often fails to deliver genuine chemistry—she is absolutely perfect for this specific role. Because the drama heavily de-emphasizes romance build on physical attraction to focus on high-stakes survival and political tension, her acting style works beautifully. Her quiet defiance pairs brilliantly with Liu Xueyi's grounded performance.
A Flawless, High-Stakes First and Second Acts (Episodes 1–42)
The premise starts incredibly strong. We are immediately thrust into a brutal landscape of politics and treason. The female lead survives a family massacre, only to end up working in the household of her former fiancé—whose own family is partially guilty of eradicating her clan.
The first 42 episodes are excellent. Even though the pacing is extremely slow, all stories are deeply meaningful and features superb acting. The production quality is top-tier, and the focus on female agency is a massive highlight. For 40 episodes, we are kept on the edge of our seats waiting for her true identity to come to light. When Lin Jin Qi takes her to her family’s grave and finds out her true identity, it feels like a massive, hard-earned payoff. The scene at the Shen family grave is masterfully done.
The Post-Episode 42 Collapse
Unfortunately, after this peak, the writing simply falls apart and the drama goes downhill fast. I really did not need to see the characters die. If the writers wanted to show their lives from their teenage years to their deaths, that would have been fine, but the execution was terrible. The framing of the final scenes leaves our female lead dying entirely alone in her study, completely isolating her from the very family she fought so hard to build. I think reframing the scene into her being surrounded by her family on her deathbed would have not made for such a frustrating ending.
A Rushed Roster of New Characters: Toward the end, a massive wave of grown-up children and new adult characters are suddenly introduced with no preemptive setup. Yes, they are all family members, but I was so confused. Trying to keep track of who was who was difficult for me. Pushing the pacing faster in the early episodes to give us time to ease into these adult characters of grown up children later would have saved the final act.
Abandoned Storylines & Lack of Justice: While I understand it makes historical sense that the Shen family couldn't be easily acquitted during Xu Lan Xiang’s lifetime without harming her new family, the lack of narrative consequence is incredibly unsatisfying. And I am not talking about justice that came in after the female leads death. I was actually very fine with it. I liked how they framed it. The male lead's grandfather, who was directly guilty of withholding warnings about the treason charges, gets off completely unpunished. And yes, he feels guilty, but essentially he lived a good life and it just feels unfair to the female lead who is the one carrying his family’s legacy on her shoulders. The grandfather never once asked her for forgiveness. Additionally, multiple storylines are abandoned, and several important characters are simply forgotten without closure.
Final Verdict: Brilliant, But Prepare for Disappointment
Against the Current is a masterclass in acting and production quality for its first 42 episodes, but it ultimately suffers from a poorly written final act that it never truly recovers from.
For fans of serious historical fiction and female-led survival stories: This is an excellent, realistic portrayal of a woman's lifelong struggle against her environment.
For fans of romance and clean endings: Skip it. This will not give you the satisfying closure or the romantic payoffs you are looking for.
I personally enjoyed most of the drama, however, after episode 42 it became extremely boring and I wasn’t satisfied with the ending. I don’t mind deaths of the main characters if they mean something in the grand scale of things, but I don’t like how it was executed in Against The Current.
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