Doris Luka

I am sorry, I didn't see it as "poetic", I saw it as pathetic attempt to make it "poetic".

Last 15 minutes of this drama were complete unnecessary nonsense.
What was wrong with the novel ending? Nothing was wrong with the novel ending!

Dear screenwriters, directors, producers, your drama is not going to became a piece of art if you kill the ending, like you did here. It will still be an idol drama, only with the crappy ending.

This is not romance focused drama. It's focus is on revenge and some palace plotting. ML is working for the Emperor and has his own revenge agenda. This is FL centric drama. She has double revenge to make happen. They meet. They start as partners, she uses him (and he lets her) and he uses her as a pawn (those who speak Mandarin say that pawn and wife sound similar, so it is a word play: he calls her "his pawn". Very soon they start to like each other (FL too soon, in my opinion, which makes no sense). They continue to work together. They like each other more and more and they don't hide that. They are not officially together until ep. 40, but they work and stay together all the way. Wonderful relationship, no silly stuff, no misunderstandings and break ups, no "crying, fighting, missed opportunities, foiled plans", both are very mature. They have very little time together, but every scene is "nice" in some way. Really good chemistry. The only separation happens in 30.30 minute of ep. 40 when he... well, spoiler.
Try it. If it doesn't suck you in you can always drop it.
Hope it helps. English is not my first (nor second) language, sorry for mistakes.

I didn't rate it bcs I don't know how to rate it. I loved everything about drama, but I just didn't feel the ending as happy one. People are divided about it, some sees it as HE, some don't. So, it's personal feeling. 40.5 is HE.
Last 10-15 minutes have different vibe from the rest of the drama. I can't tell you more without spoiling it for you. So, the best way to decide for yourself is to watch 5 min extra 40.5 episode (no spoilers there) and if you don't mind spoilers, last 10 min of the battle scene.
Unlike AJTL, I don't think I wasted my time on TD, maybe bcs it did have HE in that extra.

Fighting For Love, yeah, ML was really stupid, I run away fast from it. Oh My General, I loved this one, ML had really great arc, from pouty, spoiled brat to responsible man. The Inextricable Destiny, I loved baby ML, but this drama became so unreasonably cruel, so sadistic writing, I dropped it. Rattan, I saw spoiler of ending, so... maybe one day. I Am Nobody, sounds interesting, tnx for recommendation.
As for strong FL, I tried most of them, all except Strange Tales and My Bossy Wife. I have to say i liked Ancient Detective very much and to this day I'm sorry FL didn't have more screen time.
Thank you for your time. Have a nice day.

Thank you.

Romance was done really weird in TD. They showed FL falls for ML very soon, which makes no sense since she was just betrayed and killed by her husband, for who she sacrificed a lot. So, there is no way she would fall for someone so easily. And after some (rushed) romantic scenes romance fade away from focus. Leads have very little time together. People were ranting about "no romance" or "so little romance" all the time.

I promised I'll give my impressions, so... well. It started great, and I loved first half of the show greatly. I was in for revenge and show did deliver it. Second part was in decline for me. More time was given to villains and their stories, so we got "3 dimensional villains" but we lost revenge story and the leads.
ML is pure green flag. I'm mentioning this bcs I know you liked Xie Wei so much. :) In the beginning they rushed romance, but all in all, it was slow burn and very little romance.
Pace is good. No fillers. Acting is good. Directing is so-so.
Ending is cdrama typical as-you-wish ambiguous ending, open for interpretation, might be HE, might be BE. If it was HE, it was so so so so anticlimactic.
In SOKP I was team ZZ all the way but after last episode I was so satisfied with the all rounded ending. It was true, respectful HE. In TD everything that happened in last episode after 30.30 min was pure annoyance which lead to me not caring abut this drama anymore. In the novel it was HE, so I have no idea what production team was doing. (They did shoot few days ago 5 min special with HE).
Well, if you have questions, feel free to ask...

So, basically, it's "Nancheng Banquet" all over again? I thought to give it a try but dumb FL is no no.
Eh, is there any story where FL is useful and strong and ML is naturally stupid and weak? I wonder if I would be as annoyed with ML acting all dumb and childish, as I am with 99% FL characters in these dramas.

Evil people always support evil people and find excuses for them!

Tnx for your comment, you saved me some time.

https://www.youtube.com/shorts/RGzwNpKfQKw
😁

It was done with SOKP.

Not a filler, not at all! In a female-centric REVENGE drama those episodes are very important for the revenge story progress.

True. I would say this episode was preparation for The End of I'm-not-cruel-enough stepmother. In my book, she is the worst of them all since she killed two little girls. Yes, I count real JL bcs it was stepmother's scheming that got JL in that awful place she died.

I'm here for revenge arc, not romance at all. Just saying, you are not the only one.
And I really don't understand why people want romance to be focus in a revenge story. So many many many idol dramas out there with romance only.
Have a nice day.

He did not help her, he helped Princess to win the bet bcs she was betting on FL.
FL just proved that her father wasn't corrupted officer, so if he exposed FL as his wife he would have a lot to explain to the court and the Emperor.
So, everything he did was for his own sake.
And Princess is psychotic and arrogant witch makes her careless and stupid.

And, on the other hand, very, very realistic. Sad, but true.
Thank you for your comment.

Tbh, I've never seen him in any "sympathetic light", only as a garbage that he is.

😂😂😂