Alaskan

The Legend of Zang Hai has a lot of wonderfully complex characters, including the brilliant and ruthless protagonist and his adversaries and enemies, especially the general. There are a lot of machinations, as well as many twists and turns (and a few loopholes), as the male lead seeks revenge for the death of his family and friends. It reminds me a little bit of the great classic Nirvana in Fire (still my favorite drama), in that the protagonist is believed to be dead but returns in unrecognizable form to exact revenge for the slaughter of his family and friends.

Unfortunately, I thought that the older actors far outshone the younger actors. Zhang Jingyi was particularly disappointing because I usually like her acting. But as she kept jutting out her chin and sparring with the male lead it became more and more annoying rather than charming. Xiao Zhan is more of a hit and miss with me and this time he was a near miss. He did a good job of projecting cold and calculating but his acting didn't truly evolve from that, nor did he seem to develop much connection with his romantic partner or with his masters. The actors who protrayed the general, the head eunuch, the emperor and the queen, on the other hand, made lasting impressions.