This is actually a really fine drama. I don't know why I listened to naysayers and put this off. It's really up my alley. I finished it in about 2 days. And rewatched it. If anyone is interested in what I have to say about it, look under the spoiler tags.
Frankly it's a better far more consistent show than Flower of Evil. And there are plenty of gray characters.
Well, what do you mean by gray? It feels like we're talking at cross-purposes here. What do you mean by "good"? Give us some examples. It's important that we're on the same page with the terms.
It's hard for me to write everything I want to say about the drama on MDL because of its limitations. And I write essays. But this is a show that I've come to really love and am blogging about it a fair bit. If you're interested to read what I have to say... look under the spoiler tag.
For me more than the romance(s) the show's biggest strength is how it carefully shows different perspectives in a given situation. It doesn't take sides in the way the viewers do. All it does is show why the characters do what they do and we're left to ponder their strengths and weaknesses of their positions on things. I'm actually surprised at times by the complexity of various confrontations and event after the fact. It's been good watching this with the other half because he occasionally has a different perspective and it's really helpful. It's also good that despite the youthful energy of the show that it doesn't condone everything that the lead character does. It's not a fantasy where everything she does is right. All the young ones have to grow up in the school of hard knocks.
I have so much time for Gongsun Heng. What a great mentor for Changge. I loved what he said to her about trade-offs. There are no perfect solutions. Something has to give. It's an important lesson for someone like her to really take hold of because she wants to save everyone. I understand where that impulse comes from but it's not commensurate with reality.
Tbh I was a bit pissed as well about Luo Yi. I was disappointed. I hoped at least he would survive after all the…
I don't think selfish is really the right word. Certainly not after Yuzhou anyway. My problem with her is that she's always in a hurry. If she has any fault, that is it. I get it she's passionate about people and country. But she's a double-edged sword. Her passion can work for her and against her.
I think the entire situation with the freeing of Luo Yi was a perfect storm of opportunism and individual choices. Apportioning blame to one person is certainly not useful. Everyone made their choices and there were huge negative ramifications for all the players. I also want to point out that Sun's Ah Na also made her choice to help and of course Princess Yicheng. But I do feel that decisions were made with haste spurred on by Princess Yicheng who was fed up with the status quo. Honestly, someone like her should have been more circumspect and not encourage Changge to engage in such a foolhardy expedition. She did at first. But at the right moment she happened to be humiliated by the Khan and his concubine. In a way I find the writing here somewhat unconvincing. She'd been badly treated forever and she's put up with it. She'd also been very cautious previously. Suddenly she's had enough. Of course it could be that Changge planted a seed of hope and she saw an opportunity to get even.
I think the lesson from this chain of events is that all these decisions were made emotionally and there were consequences to them. Even Sun who isn't easily given to making hasty emotionally-driven decisions succumbed because of the woman he loved.
It's a serious of good intentions that went awry. A reminder of the old adage -- the path to hell is paved with good intentions.
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I have so much time for Gongsun Heng. What a great mentor for Changge. I loved what he said to her about trade-offs. There are no perfect solutions. Something has to give. It's an important lesson for someone like her to really take hold of because she wants to save everyone. I understand where that impulse comes from but it's not commensurate with reality.
I think the entire situation with the freeing of Luo Yi was a perfect storm of opportunism and individual choices. Apportioning blame to one person is certainly not useful. Everyone made their choices and there were huge negative ramifications for all the players. I also want to point out that Sun's Ah Na also made her choice to help and of course Princess Yicheng. But I do feel that decisions were made with haste spurred on by Princess Yicheng who was fed up with the status quo. Honestly, someone like her should have been more circumspect and not encourage Changge to engage in such a foolhardy expedition. She did at first. But at the right moment she happened to be humiliated by the Khan and his concubine. In a way I find the writing here somewhat unconvincing. She'd been badly treated forever and she's put up with it. She'd also been very cautious previously. Suddenly she's had enough. Of course it could be that Changge planted a seed of hope and she saw an opportunity to get even.
I think the lesson from this chain of events is that all these decisions were made emotionally and there were consequences to them. Even Sun who isn't easily given to making hasty emotionally-driven decisions succumbed because of the woman he loved.
It's a serious of good intentions that went awry. A reminder of the old adage -- the path to hell is paved with good intentions.