OldandNew

Everyone has moved on but I am still mulling over this drama. Does anyone else share these thoughts:
1. Any chance of this being put on Netflix for international audiences? I think it would really appeal to young people (high school and college) in the West.
2. A major criticism of viewers on Douban was the weak logical structure of the second part. I agree. Up to episode 10, the drama laid out the basic story line; SGCM's 8 year training arc to prepare him to go and destroy the Tianxiang Sect. But between episodes 10 to 19, the story became the scams themselves, and there was little effort made to tie these scams into the real story being SGCM's overall strategy for destroying the Sect or how he advances his strategy in each successive scam. I think I figured it out at the end that his strategy was to undermine the Sect by removing the corrupt officials protecting it, and creating internal division among the batous. And he has to improvise a little each time. But this was not clear; and having to figure this out by yourself without any help from the script makes it a heavy lift for the casual viewer. Make no mistake, each scam was interesting and exposed the evil of the Sect; but the logical connection between the scam and the main story, ie. SGCM's revenge arc, was not clearly established.
Despite that flaw, I still think this drama was original and very well executed. Too bad it missed the mark for many potential fans. Perhaps they can fix it in any sequel that is being planned (although I read that is unlikely since the original was not super popular). So goodbye to all that now, and I am waiting for Yang Lei and/or Li Xian's next drama.

Watching Meet Yourself on Netflix, not here.

I got tired of reading the nitpicking criticism on Douban of the drama "I'm Not a Master", one comment was "Li Xian's voice delivery problems are cropping up again". So I decided to come and watch this drama instead, which I have been following, where ordinary people speak in the most ordinary way. Just ten minutes and I felt calm and peaceful and in love with life and the characters in it.

Came here because I've now watched both this drama and the new one "I'm not a Master" written by the same scriptwriter. The drama "I'm Not a Master" is far more sophisticated to this one in every way: plot, visuals, pacing, acting, suspense. So I am kind of surprised at the ratings difference.

I watched a few episodes of A Vanishing Beauty by the same actress and much as I liked her, I could not stick with it (nothing original) but I see that the MDL score there is 8.0 and the heat index (which I understand reflects the discussion among drama audiences) is much higher than for this drama. Real time demonstration of what I've been reading on this page about the appeal of romance vs non-romance dramas. But I am pleased for her. She is a good actress.
On another note, I read two posts on Douban: one a letter from Wang Jiaxian (pen name) to Shangguan Chengming , and a second one by the director. He had high praise for Li Xian. I also read a post from the scriptwiter. All very thoughtful and added to my enjoyment of the drama. Kind of sad that it's over.

How do you tell? I can't, so it's a serious quesiton.

So is this considered a good Douban score?

Is this a stable score or will it keep fluctuating?

Oops, movie was called Love Song 1980.

Looking for a movie directed by Mei Feng and starring the same male lead when he was much younger. The score was written by a well known contemporary Polish composer and this same actor, Li Xian recorded the promotional trailer song. Did a very nice job, but I cannot find the movie. If someone has found it, please share. Thanks.

Got to say I'm rewatching from early episodes on and really enjoying this drama all over again. Revisiting a story or film is very unusual for me; this drama really captured my imagination and contained so much detail to appreciate.

Same here, rewatching for clues to unlock Shangguan Chengming's real identity. Pretty ingenious screen writing, because the clues already planted can take the story in different but equally credible and logical directions.

More research and learning as I go.
On this site, "Dazzling" has an 8.2 rating and the same rating of 7.00 is being given by a reviewer of both. I am starting to appreciate the ratings bias at work here. Fair enough, entertainment answers emotional needs and if romance meets emotional needs on a broader basis for users of this site, that's perfectly legitimate.

Loved that you said it was super entertaining. That's exactly where it excelled.
You hit the nail on the head (oh, a grotesque pun, sorry).

Thank you, will be sure to put the spoiler tag on next time.

Sorry, a couple of letters went missing from the fifth line: should be "deus ex machina".

Not a review (not qualified as this is first suspense chinese drama watched), just some thoughts to summarize the experience for myself really. I came to this because of the reputation of the director (not seen his previous work but know his name) so I may not be critical enough. Here's what I thought:
The pacing and story telling was superb.
Script writing with the plot twists and surprises was fantastic (although I thought the military "deux machina" was overused). Mildly irritating: the last hint about a sequel was not too subtle, and unnecessary, since hooks for an eventual sequel were already sprinkled throughout.
Acting was exceptional. Kudos to the entire cast.
The descent of the protagonist to a dramatic dark despair at the beginning, the adoption of a slick yet still vulnerable persona in the middle and a redemptive return to an open innocent self at the end (I was struck by how happy, sunny and young he looked in the last few scenes) was very well done.
Special kudos to the leads who kept their romantic tension on edge. Even their rare kisses were filled with ambiguity. I especially liked the open ending to their relationship. How can it be otherwise for two incredibly traumatized people whose healing has not taken place, within the space and time of the drama.
Art direction: film noir effects were ok, production did not seem cheap except the green scene at the lake was jarring.
Special effects: the Taoist rituals were fascinating. I liked that the male lead who was new to the sect often had an absurdist "I can't believe I am doing this" undertone in performing his rituals but the female lead looked absolutely terrifying.
Dark humour: Sprinkled throughout but the emperor scam was brilliant.
All in all, this was a very satisfying experience. I'd rate this drama a 9.5 out of 10.

Thanks for the info.

False scam ratings?

Is there any way of checking the statistical distribution of the votes from Oct 5 when there seems to have been a surge of ratings. I'd be interested if there are some very low scores.