K-Drama 
1
1
Entertaining enough, for awhile
This story gets off to a decent start. The premise is not bad. The FL is on a revenge mission and the ML is fighting corruption (which also ties into his own revenge mission). These two story threads are linked, moving in and out of each others’ orbits.
The characters are not my favorite, but they’re alright. The FL is smart, scheming, and brooding. She’s also quite confident, although I’m not sure where her confidence comes from- not only is she completely unable to defend herself and needs regular saving by the ML, but also her schemes don’t always seem to be under her control. Still, true to her typecast, she fights against bullies and stands for what’s right, making her a heroine to root for.
The ML is your typical dashing hero with a tragic past. He starts out a bit smirky, but unfortunately this bit of character sort of dies away. Of course he turns out to be strong and capable. I didn’t mind him but he didn’t stand out to me.
Especially at the beginning, the show tries really hard to make both of them look formidable and menacing. I thought it’s way overdone; they just don't quite deserve such cinematographic aura farming, at least not yet. It’s like the show is telling me they’re cool, but I hadn’t arrived at that conclusion yet based on their words or actions.
In general, the show is somewhat lacking in finesse and depth. Many motivations are stereotypical and/or don’t make sense. Some of the logic leaps are pretty wild, clearly just manufacturing drama and dramatic moments. And the two leads have no reason to be constantly thrown together like that, with the ML always waltzing in whenever the dialog reaches a convenient point for it. Not a show to turn your brain fully on for.
As far as the romance goes, it’s definitely idol romance style. The two leads start out a bit antagonistic, although the ML clearly has a thing for the FL. On her end, she gives confusing mixed signals- I couldn’t figure out what she’s thinking or why. In general, there’s quite a bit of dialogue that I couldn’t really follow, like they’re speaking riddles. So while I sometimes found the show a bit dumb, it also made me feel dumb. Impressive.
That said, this show is still entertaining enough, for awhile. I was generally satisfied by the intrigues and the villains, who are easy to hate. Who doesn’t like seeing bullies put in their place? Some of the villains I felt sorry for after they're disposed of, but the show seems to reflect these sentiments so I didn’t feel too bad. The relationship also develops at an appropriate enough speed and I was happy to watch it.
The pacing is pretty good in that the story arcs feel developed but don’t drag too much. The ML’s grain corruption thing had my eyes rolling to the back of my head and I wasn’t really following it; the screenwriters must have recognized this too, because as he continues to tackle corruption in the second half, his exploits aren't even shown anymore.
As far as side characters go, there is a spectrum of them from likable to not quite. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of them, but it’s clear the show isn’t about them.
Unfortunately, about 2/3 of the way through, the FL suffers a character assassination. It is honestly frustrating to watch a hitherto smart and resourceful character suddenly become totally unreasonable, selfish, and single-minded. And suddenly the best “scheme” she can come up with is finding a man to use (the show does otherwise have echoes of women’s autonomy, independence, and struggles, so this is extra out of theme). It’s obviously just manufactured drama, to create a setback in the leads’ relationship. ...which actually wouldn’t be a bad narrative development at this point. But the setup is too uncompelling, and comes at the expense of the FL’s likability, while along the way an actually likable character becomes cannon fodder. So it’s pretty irritating to watch.
At least the farce doesn’t go on for too many episodes (as an aside, sorry if this counts as a spoiler but I must rant- it ends in a cop-out that allows the FL to avoid responsibility and even become a victim, so the ML can conveniently save her yet again... PUKE). But I personally had a hard time rebounding and regaining interest. So I can’t tell if the show actually gets worse, or if it was just me being unable to care about or support the leads anymore. To be fair, it’s not like the show at that point is trying that hard to develop the characters, either.
Rather, the show by then seems to be more about the motions of the plot, as the corruption and family vengeance threads converge. The ultimate “mastermind” hinted at the entire show is rather uninteresting and disappointing, resulting in a painfully trite and boring story arc. Luckily the greater intrigue is buried in the family, and I was actually pretty satisfied with the reveals at the end. Like much of the rest of the story, it has holes that are not fully plugged, as it tries to string together too many different pieces. But I still found it an interesting explanation for everything that happened, and we even get some complicated emotions along the way (from side characters; the leads are not multidimensional enough).
For the acting, I don’t think this kind of intimidating character is what either Xu Kai or Zhou Ye is best at. Xu Kai does snarky characters well, and there is a hint of that at the beginning, but by the middle-end he’s just acting cool. I still think Zhou Ye with her adorable smile is best in cheerful, upbeat roles, which is just not this one- she does fine, it’s just not my favorite show of hers. I did, however, think Fu Dalong as her father did a great job. Some of his expressions are so creepy.
The sets, costume, scenery, are all fine- nothing extraordinary but not bad, either. I really like the music, both OST and BGM, and think it is used well to set the mood. A bit overdone at times, but maybe that’s the plot’s fault for having too many dramatic moments. Or maybe at my 1.5-2X speed, it just sounded a little nervewracking, hah.
Overall, despite logic flaws, manufactured drama, and too many idol moments, I was still entertained for a good portion of the show. It’s fun for shallow entertainment, maybe a 7-7.5 rating. But I was infuriated by the development 2/3 of the way in, and had a hard time regaining interest afterwards, even though the final 4 or so episodes turn things around somewhat. It was such a struggle near the end that I ultimately knock this down to a 6.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is happy, discounting some deaths throughout the show. Several characters die at the end, including some you might sympathize with, but nobody who’s unequivocally good. Both leads get their revenge, and good things happen politically.
The final wrap-up is very short. It’s not that satisfying, though I didn’t really care. For some reason, it just shows quick montages of the FL’s three sisters, and then the FL herself, finding love or being happy in their relationships. From those scenes you can guess what they decide to do with their lives. I never forgave Second Sister and am annoyed she got a happy ending like that, though I guess the main point is that we all want the SML to be happy. Other side characters, like the FL’s brother or best friend or the ML’s brother, are forgotten.
MORE MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD
The holes in the final revelation are, I feel, mostly a product of not fully fleshing things out. Some links are just not fully explained but could have reasonable explanations (eg why did Minister Hu make the FL’s father kill her mother? Well, perhaps her trying to convince him to lose his resolve, made her a threat). To me, the most egregious hole is her father’s rapid transformation from idealistic minister to selfish and somewhat crazed hypocrite. Landmark events in his progression to hell are shown, but he’s so extreme at both ends, I just found the transformation unbelievable. I suppose the solution would be to show more scenes along the way... but to be fair, that just sounds kind of depressing, so it’s not like I’d really want to see it.
So, like the rest of the show, take away the gist of it and don’t think too hard.
The characters are not my favorite, but they’re alright. The FL is smart, scheming, and brooding. She’s also quite confident, although I’m not sure where her confidence comes from- not only is she completely unable to defend herself and needs regular saving by the ML, but also her schemes don’t always seem to be under her control. Still, true to her typecast, she fights against bullies and stands for what’s right, making her a heroine to root for.
The ML is your typical dashing hero with a tragic past. He starts out a bit smirky, but unfortunately this bit of character sort of dies away. Of course he turns out to be strong and capable. I didn’t mind him but he didn’t stand out to me.
Especially at the beginning, the show tries really hard to make both of them look formidable and menacing. I thought it’s way overdone; they just don't quite deserve such cinematographic aura farming, at least not yet. It’s like the show is telling me they’re cool, but I hadn’t arrived at that conclusion yet based on their words or actions.
In general, the show is somewhat lacking in finesse and depth. Many motivations are stereotypical and/or don’t make sense. Some of the logic leaps are pretty wild, clearly just manufacturing drama and dramatic moments. And the two leads have no reason to be constantly thrown together like that, with the ML always waltzing in whenever the dialog reaches a convenient point for it. Not a show to turn your brain fully on for.
As far as the romance goes, it’s definitely idol romance style. The two leads start out a bit antagonistic, although the ML clearly has a thing for the FL. On her end, she gives confusing mixed signals- I couldn’t figure out what she’s thinking or why. In general, there’s quite a bit of dialogue that I couldn’t really follow, like they’re speaking riddles. So while I sometimes found the show a bit dumb, it also made me feel dumb. Impressive.
That said, this show is still entertaining enough, for awhile. I was generally satisfied by the intrigues and the villains, who are easy to hate. Who doesn’t like seeing bullies put in their place? Some of the villains I felt sorry for after they're disposed of, but the show seems to reflect these sentiments so I didn’t feel too bad. The relationship also develops at an appropriate enough speed and I was happy to watch it.
The pacing is pretty good in that the story arcs feel developed but don’t drag too much. The ML’s grain corruption thing had my eyes rolling to the back of my head and I wasn’t really following it; the screenwriters must have recognized this too, because as he continues to tackle corruption in the second half, his exploits aren't even shown anymore.
As far as side characters go, there is a spectrum of them from likable to not quite. I wouldn’t have minded seeing more of them, but it’s clear the show isn’t about them.
Unfortunately, about 2/3 of the way through, the FL suffers a character assassination. It is honestly frustrating to watch a hitherto smart and resourceful character suddenly become totally unreasonable, selfish, and single-minded. And suddenly the best “scheme” she can come up with is finding a man to use (the show does otherwise have echoes of women’s autonomy, independence, and struggles, so this is extra out of theme). It’s obviously just manufactured drama, to create a setback in the leads’ relationship. ...which actually wouldn’t be a bad narrative development at this point. But the setup is too uncompelling, and comes at the expense of the FL’s likability, while along the way an actually likable character becomes cannon fodder. So it’s pretty irritating to watch.
At least the farce doesn’t go on for too many episodes (as an aside, sorry if this counts as a spoiler but I must rant- it ends in a cop-out that allows the FL to avoid responsibility and even become a victim, so the ML can conveniently save her yet again... PUKE). But I personally had a hard time rebounding and regaining interest. So I can’t tell if the show actually gets worse, or if it was just me being unable to care about or support the leads anymore. To be fair, it’s not like the show at that point is trying that hard to develop the characters, either.
Rather, the show by then seems to be more about the motions of the plot, as the corruption and family vengeance threads converge. The ultimate “mastermind” hinted at the entire show is rather uninteresting and disappointing, resulting in a painfully trite and boring story arc. Luckily the greater intrigue is buried in the family, and I was actually pretty satisfied with the reveals at the end. Like much of the rest of the story, it has holes that are not fully plugged, as it tries to string together too many different pieces. But I still found it an interesting explanation for everything that happened, and we even get some complicated emotions along the way (from side characters; the leads are not multidimensional enough).
For the acting, I don’t think this kind of intimidating character is what either Xu Kai or Zhou Ye is best at. Xu Kai does snarky characters well, and there is a hint of that at the beginning, but by the middle-end he’s just acting cool. I still think Zhou Ye with her adorable smile is best in cheerful, upbeat roles, which is just not this one- she does fine, it’s just not my favorite show of hers. I did, however, think Fu Dalong as her father did a great job. Some of his expressions are so creepy.
The sets, costume, scenery, are all fine- nothing extraordinary but not bad, either. I really like the music, both OST and BGM, and think it is used well to set the mood. A bit overdone at times, but maybe that’s the plot’s fault for having too many dramatic moments. Or maybe at my 1.5-2X speed, it just sounded a little nervewracking, hah.
Overall, despite logic flaws, manufactured drama, and too many idol moments, I was still entertained for a good portion of the show. It’s fun for shallow entertainment, maybe a 7-7.5 rating. But I was infuriated by the development 2/3 of the way in, and had a hard time regaining interest afterwards, even though the final 4 or so episodes turn things around somewhat. It was such a struggle near the end that I ultimately knock this down to a 6.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
The ending is happy, discounting some deaths throughout the show. Several characters die at the end, including some you might sympathize with, but nobody who’s unequivocally good. Both leads get their revenge, and good things happen politically.
The final wrap-up is very short. It’s not that satisfying, though I didn’t really care. For some reason, it just shows quick montages of the FL’s three sisters, and then the FL herself, finding love or being happy in their relationships. From those scenes you can guess what they decide to do with their lives. I never forgave Second Sister and am annoyed she got a happy ending like that, though I guess the main point is that we all want the SML to be happy. Other side characters, like the FL’s brother or best friend or the ML’s brother, are forgotten.
MORE MAJOR SPOILER AHEAD
The holes in the final revelation are, I feel, mostly a product of not fully fleshing things out. Some links are just not fully explained but could have reasonable explanations (eg why did Minister Hu make the FL’s father kill her mother? Well, perhaps her trying to convince him to lose his resolve, made her a threat). To me, the most egregious hole is her father’s rapid transformation from idealistic minister to selfish and somewhat crazed hypocrite. Landmark events in his progression to hell are shown, but he’s so extreme at both ends, I just found the transformation unbelievable. I suppose the solution would be to show more scenes along the way... but to be fair, that just sounds kind of depressing, so it’s not like I’d really want to see it.
So, like the rest of the show, take away the gist of it and don’t think too hard.
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