Cherrybanana

Whether it was a funding issue or a time constraint issue something definitely happened.
Xu Kai had scenes that weren’t filmed

No one reacting in surprise to Shen Run not being dead made the whole playing dead plot completely pointless. This drama constantly failed to build dramatic tension, just flop from one scene to the next like they’re just trying to get it over with. What’s the point then?
I did feel bad for Qingrong because talk about conflicting feelings. But hey hey at least she and Madam Hu showed: EMOTION!
Unlike our FL, true to end , with ZERO emotion. Waaa I’m in awe. Nothing moved this girl at all. I’m usually not that hard on actors and am pretty easy to please but this performance was dismal. Come for me, idc. When they were discussing the play dead plot, she literally was just reading her lines. I just 🫠.
Shen Runs long fought for revenge was over so quickly and felt a bit empty. Then we all forgot he existed cos like why is his wife at her family home pretending she hasn’t been married and lost her husband and then found him again?🫠🫠🫠
Aiya.
Well I expected it to not be great and it was about average.
Standout and all around savior to the drama is Xu Kai. IQIYI and Youku should be thanking him for his financial support for this project 🙂‍↕️

Poor editing as well as just straight up not filming some of ML scenes.

Not a spoiler-Just a ramble.
While other people are comparing this to that other currently airing drama, I am re-watching Love Like the Galaxy due to SotB ep 14 where we have an almost identical scene. When the bandits are attacking and Yan Rui hears that 4th of Xie fam is in danger he rushes off to save her which is very similar to Ling Buyi rushing off to save Cheng Shaoshang from the bandits in LLTG. Although the drama are not comparable in quality and storytelling I do find there are similarities in the male lead characters. They are both revenge driven with love side story. Both witness the extermination of their entire families and both have close relationship with the Emperor. Both characters are audacious and even invite themselves to stay in the FL’s home, for different reasons however. I don’t think the portrayals of the characters are similar at all. Ling Buyi is a bit uptight and serious whereas Shen Run is much more at ease. They’re both calculating and smart but Shen Run can pursue his revenge openly whereas Ling Buyi has to even hide his true identity to pursue his. Although both characters are fierce in battle, I feel like Shen Run is slightly more unhinged than Ling Buyi in terms of blood lust. In ep 19 when Shen Run crashes the funeral he takes pleasure in killing and scaring everyone in the hall. I feel that Ling Buyis big revenge scene in LLTG is much more sombre in tone as he has more to lose than Shen Run. It’s been fun to watch both and see the small similarities (we also have a cliff falling scene!) as well as compare the two similar but different ML while waiting for new episodes. Like I said I don’t think the actors portrayals are similar at like. Like I don’t think Kai took anything from Wu Lei for his performance but the characters definitely have some commonalities. Anyways that’s my ramblings while I wait for the new episode of Great Escape in 30 mins 😌

Honestly that scene today is probably the one that screamed low budget the most to me lol

Yes, the rewatch value for this drama will be Kai’s performance. I’m not gonna write off the drama without watching the last 5 episodes. Today’s episode was a bit lame but hopefully we can get back on track (for this drama 😶) tmr

The drama can be popular for watching but still can attract criticism for having poor plot/acting/editing whatever peoples complaints are. Many popular drama have low douban score

Hopefully Kai can also use his own voice here too 🤗

Honestly, it’s done way better than I expected.

I don’t think he needs to have multiple relationships. Drama doesn’t need romance to be good. This drama could easily have been flipped to make it male centric. You could still have the FL revenge plot in it, on a smaller scale as a way for Yan Rui to get inside the Xie residence but he wouldn’t have to have a romance with her-they could just have a partnership for mutual benefit. Just an example. Because this drama has not shown a developed backstory for either character it wouldn’t diminish anything by making it more male centric. We are all more interested in his backstory because how did he get from should have been murdered kid to right hand man of the emperor. These writers really did an injustice to such an interesting character. FL character can’t compete.

It’s disappointing that they chose to bring up unrelated people into this so called interview. People he’s never even met but is expected to know about???
This poor kid. I was also confused 😅

Too much everything else and not enough main story line. This editing…🫣

I’m not sure what the director was thinking a lot of the time. There’s a lot of BTS where Kai is questioning what is happening in the scenes and then adjusting things to make things more coherent. It also seems the director wanted to do things that would have put the horse in danger and Kai corrected that too. Perhaps the drama would have been better if Kai had taken over 🤭🤭

If the story is compelling and well
told you don’t even need those things. As ever, storytelling should always be the most important part of any drama.

I agree that seems to be all international fans want but I didn’t think it was the same for Chinese audiences lol

Yes, people finally can realize that he is indeed a wonderful actor. Too bad he didn’t get as much recognition for Eight Hundred.

😵‍💫

I’m not “after her” I just can’t relate to her at all. I don’t feel anything for her. The actress isn’t making me feel any care at all for her character. I’m just reacting to what I’m watching. I’ve never watched a drama where I have no empathy for the main character so it’s weird and I can’t help but notice it.

Personally, I found her complete lack of emotion 😐more bothersome. Bro just rode up on a white horse to save you, raise your station, change your name and call out your crappy fam via imperial edict and the most you can muster is a hard fought tear. 🫠are you happy or mad? I surely don’t know 🤷‍♀️

He deserves the best 😭