Eleison

Yes, agree, he's a great actor!

Yeah, they could do with some healthier perspectives on weight in the film industry in Asia. 😬

Wonderful, thank you. Always appreciate the recs! Slowly chipping away at the recommendations I'm getting. I have too many to feasibly tackle any time soon but I'll work on them slowly. I'll look into Reset and Guardians of the Dafeng!

Yes, ZRY was really great, and I agree, I like how he doesn't have the conventional actor looks. That said, he lost weight and looks positively gaunt for season 2, and it was nagging at me the whole season. It was actually legitimately distracting/concerning; at one point someone was putting a ring on his hand and I had to pause the episode in shock at his skeletal hand. 😳 Health concerns for ZRY aside, I also loved Wu Zhu (and of course Ruo Ruo and Duo Duo). 🥰

Ooh, no royal court? Sounds refreshing! 😅 I wish sageuks would try that more often, too.

I think I will try this drama soon. I loved ZRY in Joy Of Life 1 and 2, and I am now a fan of his. Someone else suggested New Life Begins (anachronistic and has a social commentary element, but I liked it; it was cozy) and Sword Snow Stride, (which I haven't gotten to yet). You said you haven't seen the Joy Of Life seasons, right, since they're not complete? I was bummed watching them, though, because there was so much I wanted to talk about regarding both seasons but since the threads are not active since the dramas are done airing, there's no one to talk to (It's too boring reading people's blogs to get my questions answered). 😭 I was thinking, "Where's ShortCircuit when I need a buddy to process this?" 😂 Since you liked NIF, I'm pretty sure you'll like it once you get to it. ☺️ It's quite the ride! It has a more sinister, yet also mischievous, feel to it than NIF, with more stylized, exaggerated characters. The characters in NIF feel more like real people to me, but the Emperor in JOL is quite unique.

I also started TTEOTM, but I lost steam at the dream sequence; I'm gonna have to ease into the xianxia. It's very different from what I'm used to and it's a lot to take in. 😳

I think I ended up refering her to Wan'er, actually, after finishing Season 2! They just have a similar nonchalant way of encountering things that cone their ways that pairs well together. I'm fine with Fan Xian ending up with Wan'er and they're a good match, but I find Ruo Ruo and Duo Duo more fun to watch and more interesting in general. Haitang is just such a fun character, and I love how quickly she takes a liking to Fan Xian and becomes ones of his besties. They have a really heartwarming dynamic. I feel like Duo Duo, Ruo Ruo and Fan Xian have a trust in one another that is still not fully cemented between Wan'er and Fan Xian, even though it's Wan'er that Fan Xian opens up to the most. Probably partly due to that wedge between them regarding Lin Gong. 🫤

Nope, not in this season, at least!

I didn't care much for the last few interactions of Fan Xian and Wan'er, with her finding out Wu Zhu killed her brother and all. To me, Wan'er feels like a character with a strong moral compass based on how she's portrayed, and someone with compassion, intuition, and sense. Someone like her would be able to see that her brother, for all his kindness to her, was kind of a messed up dude to other people and just in general. That should have allowed her to get over this whole thing after some time to pause and collect herself without putting Fan Xian in the middle of two of the people he trusts and loves most in the world. He NEEDS you Wan'er; badly done! 😠 (And c'mon, your hubby even saved your dad AND took in your brother who everyone else avoided--can't you see he had his reasons!? 😭).

And I KNEW Wu Zhu was some kind of robot/cyborg! I loved the way he went into robot-defend-his-person mode when the Divine Temple emissary mentioned killing Fan Xian--ooh, the Mama Bear really kicked in then. No one messes with Wu Zhu's boy! 😂🥰 I was honestly bummed there was so little of him in this season; the middle portion of Season 1 with him and Fan Xian teaming up were some of my favorite episodes out of all two seasons!

Well, like Season 1, this was quite the ride! I very much enjoyed it.

Unlike some of the things I've read people say about this, I don't think it was that different from Season 1. I thought it was a bit more confusing at points, for sure (and some characters, if possible, became even more ambiguous and confusing, but it also felt intentional), but I thought it continued to show Fan Xian as smart, capable, compassionate, a person of integrity, and ever the optimist with a seemingly endless supply of hope.

Fan Xian does realize he's more of a pawn in this season (we see it, too, and boy is it frustrating; it maybe makes him feel less smart and almost more naive than in Season 1, but even in that season at the end he realized he was played the whole time, too), and I can't to wait to see what he does once he's had enough. Cause CPP and the Emperor can only keep up their shenanigans for so long before this kiddo snaps.

I'm wondering if so far Fan Xian hasn't been able to break out of pawn status and anticipate the Emperor and CPP's plots because their true intentions and goals are hidden. Because he doesn't know what they want to achieve or what they want, he can't anticipate their moves. On the other hand, the reason they've been able to play Fan Xian so easily is because he is an open book. What he wants and who he is is there for all to see--and exploit. I love that about him, though. His good-hearted sincerity makes him a character you can't help but root for and love.

This season does have considerably less action, and more court/city politics, and I missed the pacing of the action breaking up the politics like in Season 1, but it was still solid in its own way and explored some new facets of Qing that we haven't seen before. And there are even more lovable characters added to Team Fan Xian this season, as well!

A very good drama, and I look forward to seeing what season 3 has in store--I honestly don't know how one season will be enough to wrap this up!

Two final things:

In Season 2, I'm a bit confused why Fan Xian keeps going along with their schemes and playing into their grand plans even though he knows he's a pawn? The reality of this started revealing itself at the end of Season 1, and has continued to be made clear in Season 2 several times.

I'm at Episode 20 so far, and it just seems like CPP keeps talking him into doing the troublemaking thing that gets CPP and the Emperor what they want but ends up leaving Fan Xian in a lurch. At this point, if I was him, I'd just want to derail their plot if I was him (he has the brains for it!)! 😅 He's too optimistic and kindhearted for his own good. 😟

And the Emperor makes even less sense in this season than Season 1. In Season 1 it seemed like he genuinely liked Fan Xian and approved of what he did. In this season, the Emperor is just hardcore messing with him and doesn't seem to give a darn.

On Episode 20. Eunuch Hong Zhu is fishy and feels off; I predict he'll be attached to a villain...

I'd suggest the K2! It has kind of a ridiculously over-the-top plot, but also addictingly fun and Ji Chang Wook is at his best in it (I think) outside of Healer, which he also shines in. :)

Yes, this was definitely his era, in my opinion!

To be consistent they should end their subscription to Netflix, since it's all a slippery slope as far as who's releasing propoganda, if any.

That seems like the age range that would start a bandwagon tirade against a drama that they've never seen and only downvote because people they follow/like are telling them to. Though I expect that behavior of teenagers; when adults do it it's profoundly disappointing, and far more concerning.

SAME! 🤣

I loved that scene.The squeak he made.... 😂😂 I died.

Thankfully most dramas (especially older ones) don't get/didn't get this kind of attention so it's probably not an issue with every drama's ratings.

Haha, thank you!

And doesn't it seem like something the ever observant Fan Xian would have noticed and capitalized on when he was in Qi? 🧐

I'm only in the first 1/3 of Season 2 so maybe they'll explain it later? 🤷‍♀️ Most of the threads I thought they had dropped get picked up again at some point, except for Yan Xiaoyi and He Daoren (who doesn't seem to be in Season 2), which are just a few I can think of off the top of my head.

Have you finished Season 1? If not, don't read the next part cause it has ending spoilers. 😉

I really hope Fan Xian pulls the card of being the Emperor's son at some point; it seems like (and I assume) only Chen Ping Ping, Fan Jian and the Emperor know about his identitiy. And I mean, Fan Xian is clearly the best candidate for emperor among all of the princes (not sure about the 1st Prince yet). Did the Emperor experiment and have him raised differently to see if he would turn out better than the princes? 😅 But it also seems like a great way to get your son to turn on you; if I was Fan Xian I'd be very, very displeased about being toyed with and used. And I've officially decided I dislike the Emperor; he treats people like they are pawns in a game, as does Chen Ping Ping. This is Fan Xian's whole issue with those in Jingdu: they see people not as people but as tools to achieve their ends.

Ah, the power of social media to "make real change"; if this is true, I'm so convinced people grew in compassion for the victims of war due to this drama getting down voted. 👏👏👏 So impressed with their earthshattering championing of "the good."

🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️🤦‍♀️ Sarcasm aside, this is an embarrassing case of internet "bandwagoning."