Alaskan

A Dream Within A Dream is a funny parody of Chinese costume dramas. It skewers many typical historical drama tropes, such as Male Lead trying to kill Female Lead, OTC surviving falling off a cliff, and underwater kiss. Even the beautiful costumes in typical historial dramas merit a snarky comment. It’s fun trying to identify references to specific scenes and music from other dramas (e.g., Love Like the Galaxy, Till the End of the Moon, A Journey to Love, Love Between Tiger and Rose). Viewers expecting logical progressions and likeable main characters will be disappointed because the drama turns even that on its head. For example, the "rules" of the script are openly inconsistent and the female lead is annoying as hell. You will not like this drama if you go into it with the usual drama expectations...or any expectations at all.

Liu Yuning, who is the Male Lead (hence the sign above his gate that says “Male Lead’s House”), seems to be a good sport because the drama makes fun of his roles in other dramas, as well as his modern day Male Lead actor image. I burst out laughing watching him cough out purple poison dust. It was such a contrast against the calculating and ruthless male lead characters he usually plays. And watching him become so mushily lovesick was tolerable if viewed as an exaggeration of the enemies to lovers arcs in countless other dramas.