Enigma05

Realistic Portrayal of Anti-Trafficking Cases; No Sugar-Coating. Good Drama with a Shoddy Ending.

Originally wanted to watch for Reba stepping out of her comfort zone of pretty and taking a gritty role and it paid off. Also knew the ML and several supporting characters. This series was a heavy one but it was a very real portrayal of anti-trafficking cases, zilch sugarcoating. A good drama but sadly with a shoddy ending.

Pros: For the first time in a long time it was the storyline and plots that took center stage not the actors themselves. Yes, they were important but they took a more sideline role here. The families, victims, the stories or abduction, captivity, abuse, sometimes torture, sometimes being sold more than once, release and reunion with family, which many a time took decades as the victims they focused on were children and women. You saw the absolute destruction of families when it happened, how they treated the anti-trafficking cops with panic and then rage which was very sad to see but understandable on both sides; families were frantic while the cops could only work when and if they got clues. Those didn't magically fall from the sky.

The FL or DY has childhood trauma of her own as she watched her best friend get kidnapped when she was no more than 8 years old. 24 some odd years later she still hasn't been found. That was why she joined the police force and eventually after getting successfully kidnapped on purpose and rescued, she was promoted to director of the anti-trafficking division. She also reconnected successfully with the mom of her kidnapped best friend who ran a simple noodle shop that doubled as a place where people with missing loved ones could come, pin their photos and write loving messages on the walls, they were also a community that held meetings where they branched out new ideas. As each case came along both sets joined in sorrow and gave the division something to work with. Turned out that they were essentially taking down a massive trafficking organization from the runner ants to finally the big boss (Cripple) himself at the end. It was he that kidnapped LR or DY's best friend and he had done it himself as his first time doing this.

Many were rescued or saved throughout but not without misery and sorrow. You really sometimes cried for these victims. Some were saved quickly, others not until decades later, and some were brought back no longer living but their families were still able to say their proper goodbyes. ML was a very enigmatic character who I'll speak more about in the cons but he did have his unfortunate realization that he lost his father who drowned saving a young boy who grew up to work as one of the middlemen for this trafficking organization. It took him a while but he finally was able to come to terms with it and decide that he in fact belonged following in his father's footsteps as a cop in this particular department. Sadly, we lost one officer and an elder on duty and that was a heavy hit for the department and viewers.

DY definitely was the brains but the team came together as a whole. There wasn't a time where they just sat there twirling their thumbs. Meanwhile the focus on the families was the most important and how they coped or didn't; divorce and even suicide was attempted, thankfully thwarted. Mom of LR was such an important part of the story and really the first case; she was the rallying force behind all families in the show. And her case was the last one solved. Every family and character, protagonist or antagonist were well portrayed; I can't think of one that was extra or unnecessary. The stories varied and many things felt unreal like even deaf and mute women were not off the table or because in poorer villages it seemed like they didn't know buying a human being was illegal. OSTs, small amount of makeup on everyone leads included made it more real. The twists in the story sometimes were pretty wild.

Cons: That ending made me pretty unhappy because DY and her friend's mom were the first case of this story and after everything they went through; the pain of 24 years of not knowing and than slowly inching closer, plus with the mom diagnosed with mid-stage Alzheimer's and starting to forget people and how she made her noodles causing one costumer to get sick because she put a cleaning solution in the noodles instead of what she thought was sugar. She even made the decision to go into a nursing home for proper care; so you would think once they found LR working in some field picking onions or greenery in some godforsaken village, they would have this amazing reunion; the three of them? Nope! DY called LR's name or nickname RanRan who picked up her head and smiled as she recognized the name and DY and than the camera panned away to a propaganda meeting where DY's division got an award and she made a speech where flashbacks of all the cases they solved and the families plus the officer they lost and her making some declaration about how they would keep working to bring more families back together. It was so unnecessary and made you feel cheated for the mom, DY, and LR! The entire show, there was barely any propaganda but now when it was the least needed, they packed it on and at the worst possible time. They could have had this wonderful reunion and than ended with a short ceremony in their office like they did the first time they got that award and then end out the show with flashbacks of everyone they saved with an OST. Why not? At least it would have done the three of them justice. This was just sad and inappropriate.

I had a problem with the ML; the man has virtually no expressions. He can be yelling or laughing and his face is frozen though his eyes do run around their sockets a lot. At first I thought when I saw him in Under the Skin that that's just his character but now I've noticed that nothing changes, even in real life when I saw him on an episode of Hi6. My assumption is that he's a high functioning autistic so these are the roles he takes. I do wish they had him practicing with the movement of his face more.

Felt the last few episodes were rushed as they were trying to get the rest of the rats caught in the net especially catching "Cripple" himself and his whole running for the border halfheartedly attempting to kidnap his supposed best friend's (whom he pushed off a building; dude lived, lord knows how) wife as he's obsessed with her, than holding her hostage at knifepoint and getting taken out by a SWAT sniper. Like what even? It was smooth going until those last few episodes, you could tell the pace picked up. It was still good up until this point and that BS ending.

Would I recommend it? Yes I would. Though the subject matter was heavy, it was also very hopeful. I'm proud of Reba here; she really played DY well and showed all of the proper emotions when needed. This was a realistic show and y'all should give it a shot.

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A Very Different Yet Inventive Variety Show

Very rarely, if ever do I review variety shows. I watched this one solely for LYN and the fact that I like the whodunnit factor. The show's 30 episodes were very well scripted and even when the cast went off script, it was great and funny. I won't rehash the synopsis because it's all there. I enjoyed it very much, from the mysteries themselves, how each character was somehow connected to each of the first 7 mysteries and then the rather twilight zone-ish last three weeks trying to find out who the mole was in the group. I loved how they all came together to solve the crimes and then at the end of each case the legal and psychology professor Dr. Ma was invited to speak about all of the legalities involved in each case from both that and the psychological perspective. It was quite fascinating (for me especially as law is one of my backgrounds and I like to see how other countries function legally). I would totally recommend this show, it's not scary in the slightest. It's fun and funny, with even some tear jerking moments towards the end. The only cons are that the subs are AI-generated and product placement with full speeches happen at least once an episode, otherwise a really great and fun show that I hope returns next year with the same cast; they really have a great connection together.

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"No One Can Judge Me but Myself"

First underrated gem of 2025! I had no idea this show even existed until I saw the trailer on X and was like wow, this looks good. I knew two of the leads and a few of the support; the writing, acting, storytelling, suspense, surprise it was all there.

Pros: The iron triangle consisting of the leads that knew each other pretty much from childhood though the ML or XTS/XH and SML or SY/HX (but I will use SML in this review because his "adoptive father" had the same initials)lost contact with each other and only met in the first episode. The plots revolved around a main story of the deaths of ML's parents which SML witnessed but because he was hit hard suffered from amnesia and didn't figure out who he was until later in the show thanks to the help of the other two. TS was placed in a foster home run by FL or JC's mom, so that's how they met. JC and SML met at work as he was a cop and she was a coroner. Bring in TS, the arson investigator and they created the iron triangle; a formidable team and great friends especially when SML regained his memories. Now they were up against two narcissistic psychopath serial killers; HP and SY.

This series left you guessing about almost everything; and just as you thought you had figured it out, they threw a surprise that was like holy cow, I didn't see that coming at all! There were individual cases to solve during the entire show but it all came back one way or another to the same two people who repeated the line that is the title of this review. All those cases were great and really showcased the strengths of our iron triangle and their sidekicks and leaders. HP had an identical twin HJ (but were different as humans could be; one was a cowardly nerd that always impressed their dad and one was a narcissistic psychopath trying to get approval from his dad) and one of them died in an explosive car accident in the very beginning and the whole show it was assumed by some characters that it was HP that died while HJ survived and was the kind one. Though everyone had their doubts and rightfully so. He stayed under the radar and didn't start showing his true colors again until the end of the series.

SY meanwhile was the serial killer that killed however he wanted and taunted the police until the very end. He was under their noses the entire time as he raised SML after figuring out that he lost his memory in the explosion that killed TS's parents; orchestrated by him and HK (father of the twins) and carried out by HP. All because they thought TS' dad had discovered their drug operation. SY was also responsible for SML's father's death in a way though that was his first one. Once he adopted SML he basically drugged him in some way to keep him from remembering the past. And though loving and caring; he was manipulating and controlling his "son" for 18 years.

Now I won't go more into the show because then what's the point of watching but this was a show you just wanted to keep watching. I had only ever seen the actor who played SY in protagonist roles so to see him play this horrifying character was pretty neat and creepy as to how he nailed it. He could go from a loving and caring father to an emotionless monster in the flip of a switch. And you could see it coming. With HP, he would be fine and then he would just go ballistic screaming, punching, kicking, hitting. One would do things cleanly and meticulously while the other was a screeching lunatic. There were other villains that were part of this series but obviously less than and when their connection became clear if there was one, you would see just how complex things really were. Some of the cases were related and some weren't.

Sadly, we lost one our leads at the end but her going for that necklace would be the only way to pin the entire thing including her own death on HP and prove which twin it really was without a doubt. Every character was there for as long as they needed to be. The side kicks of all three leads were awesome and there was even some comedy. JC and her mom's arc was actually devastating because just as they more or less reconciled and mom wanted to learn how to be a good, loving mom to her daughter, she lost her forever.

I really wish this show had the proper promotion or any actually because it really deserved it. OSTs, fight scenes, fire scenes, etc were all on point. I can talk about this show and its characters for hours but then you wouldn't have a reason to watch lol.

Cons: Very few; one anticlimactic death of SY, throwing himself off the roof when cornered by SML (many of us thinking that going in for that hug he would have taken SML with him) and couldn't face punishment so as a coward who routinely played God with other peoples lives and thought of them as things and cases, as well as manipulated and drugged the only person he claimed to love, so he took the easy way out and I felt that just didn't really fit his character. He should have died in a fire and slowly; that would have been justice.

When JC traveled abroad to study, though she constantly refused HP's (HJ at the time) creepy offerings to stay at his house that she would find a place on her own, she still somehow ended up living with HJ's girlfriend's house. I thought that was too much of a coincidence. Though no one ever explained it, it was a huge loophole. Also, her coming home to find the girlfriend that disappeared like she was a cop getting herself also kidnapped in the process was just dumb. No idea how she managed to shake the cops following her which was stupid to begin with. That entire thing seemed to go against who she was as a character and her death was also beyond unnecessary. She could have gotten to the necklace and passed out and then recovered at the hospital. But no, they had to make TS lose his training skills as a firefighter when he found her unconscious on the floor and instead of scooping her up immediately and running out the door, he spent precious seconds shaking her before picking her up and walking out in almost slow motion. Like what? Her dying was completely nonsensical. That's it.

Would I recommend it? I absolutely would. This was a gritty, arson investigation drama that had everything you could ask for and more. If you like these types of shows, I'd have to say this is one of the better ones despite the cons.

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Beast Mode Activated

Picked this up on a whim when the air date was announced as I had seen HYT (ML) in two republican era detective dramas and this was a totally different genre plus a romance so was interested in how he'd do. I'd heard of ZJY before but never seen her in anything and was familiar with some of our supporting cast especially the main antagonist. This was a female-centric drama about going through hardships and evolving. Not to mention ML's ability to go from quiet and kind to beast mode activated.

Pros: I have to give the martial arts of ML or GYX main pointers here; it gave this review a title. At 6'2 or 6'3, GYX towered over everyone including emperor psycho aka his own uncle (which baffled me when I saw it in the first episode as I had seen the actor who played big bad twice before and thought he was monster sized but here he looked like a mouse in comparison), so when he deployed his martial arts be it sword or fists, he could destroy a human in seconds. This was also funny to me because his fat guard in the brigade who could carry two people at once and the guard he killed upon assuming his post as commander; both actors played bad guys in TLB (ironically the aunt who was raising the kid of the concubine played the main antagonist in TLB too; reunion!), and they were huge there; yet here they paled in comparison. Props to HYT for doing the stunt work himself. The chemistry of the leads was on point as well; they were just too cute together and great partners in crime. Loved how no matter what—even during breakup—he had her back 100%; even if it meant as stealthy Batman. The story was nice about the FL and how she leads her female family out of disaster after disaster while they evolve from dependency on men to independence as the men are exiled north and just in general because once the men returned, they learned of the new normal very quickly. GYX also led the bureau to a change from barbaric to a brotherhood that was united and supported each other. Was also great that his three guards (my favorite was spider monkey guard though CQ was good too), always protected HZ and her family too however they could. It was like the Hua family and them became a massive family. Called the entire bureau the Spider-Man brigade; their ability to assassinate goons in a midst of a food competition at the restaurant while picking up blood drops took the cake. We're talking Cirque du Soleil meets Special Ops action here.

This drama was not short on comedy be it intentional or not. There was always something that made people laugh at any given point. The comment section here was lively. The OSTs and BGM really fit most scenes especially the beast mode ones. Favorite single character was actually very hard but both leads fit, wish we saw more of the SML as he spent like 30 episodes studying lol. The secondary couple (SY and SH) was adorable, SY stole everyone's heart (and boy is her actress versatile; from a cunning seductress spy in MJTY to a young woman with high functioning autism as it seemed here), Ah Jian, empress dowager (who I wish went to the wedding) as mentioned guards, the eunuch (first kind one I’ve seen in any drama next to a nasty emperor), all aunts and cousins of HZ, the maids and their men, one uncle, grandpa and grandma (grandma's death was the saddest thing of the entire show other than Hua Rong's).

Let's talk about our main antagonist; emperor psycho as I dubbed him. Actor never disappoints; you hated his guts from the first episode to the second he died in the last one. Hell has never had a more deserving candidate from a drama. A narcissistic psychopath that only with death could people be free. Though I loved how HZ finally took him to town in 38 and GYX let himself be heard too, the man himself was the absolute monster and played it very well. Costumes and sets were nice as well.

Cons: I wish the script let the leads emote more as HZ was far too perfect and could get through any turmoil without so much as an eyebrow lift. Only saw her really show negative emotions twice, when she was told by the emperor she couldn't redeem the men through money and she went from catatonic to ballistic in under 2 minutes and when GYX took on the palace guards and got himself severely injured, she was shrieking and crying. Same went for GYX, the actor has a difficulty emoting in general apparently as his are very subtle; but when he's fighting, he's not playing around. But his negative or even positive emoting was rare i.e. breakup scene and when emperor psycho croaked were the only two times he cried, I think I saw him really smile maybe three times in the entire show. He smiled more in their BTS when they did the actual scenes; so wonder why director didn't use those scenes.

I had more issues with the script than the acting; though the breakup scene lacked gravitas especially given it was a nobility arc for a change and not a dumb misunderstanding. It just seemed that many important scenes where angst was required, were never given a pause but just rolled along to the next whatever it was. The spy astronomer and last adult prince were more like plot devices to get to the death of emperor psycho; I forgot who that prince even was as he appeared a total of two times prior. Felt very disjointed from the rest of the show. The last 6 episodes were a sprint to the finish line as for a story that large you needed to pack it in. Especially the very last episode. They really sacrificed quality for quantity here, sadly. Instead of focusing on many smaller characters and story lines, they could have chosen less of those and really fleshed out the leads, second couple, SML, a few others and stuck to a more conducive storyline. What we got at the end, was a dizzying amount of people whose loose ends needed to be tied and it was done in 30 seconds or less for each batch while the leads were forgotten for a bit.

Wish the Jurassic sized CGI dolphins didn't take up the ending of the leads as they were unnecessary and made that scene laughable for the wrong reasons. Continuity and dubbing were also visible issues during the show, the other CGI wasn't that great either though thankfully rarely used and mostly for the background and I wish the music didn’t drown out some of the conversations as well.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. Despite the running around and kinks, it was an enjoyable series and one I would recommend especially if you like female-centric with sweet chemistry types of dramas.

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"Power Hungry Man Can't Take No For An Answer" <---Should be the REAL title

Lord almighty, where do I begin? I literally just wanted an easy rom-com with no complications. This was not it. I have since heard that most dramas with names longer then hell aren't good; whether that's true or not, I don't know but it's my second time running into a drama with a long title that got this score from me. The plot essentially fell apart after episode 16. More than halfway through the story and all of a sudden heavy palace politics and a nightmarish stalker SML became the prime focus of this at first comedic and mildly inspiring story. When the SML's screen time eclipses that of the leads, I'd say it's a problem.

The screenwriter threw everything but the kitchen sink into this show; crime solving, setting ppl up, palace politics, the stalker SML, romance, jealousy, you name it. It should have been called "Power Hungry Man Can't Take No For An Answer" because that's what the majority of the series was focused on. He turned up literally everywhere at every moment and you were sick of him. However, giving the actor playing him his due, he was a very convincing creep. Literally the worst stalker in all of the costume cdramas I've seen. Characters like his make my skin crawl. Even his demise in the last episode was a serious copout given how much he lorded over the majority of the show.

Had I known it would turn out this way, I wouldn't have started it. The only thing keeping me from dropping it was that I actually liked the protagonists and when I realized they knew how to deal with the creep, I skipped a lot of his parts, plus got into a holding pattern twice by stopping watching the show just so more episodes could release and ppl could spoil when seeing him on screen would be less. When you stop watching a show twice, that's not a good sign.

I'm very picky with the dramas I watch. Usually I only watch dramas that have ppl I follow in them but since it's been very quiet on that front recently, I decided to try something new and though talking and laughing in the comments with other viewers was entertaining, this was a very poorly executed show. If it was going to make the creep the main focal person, then start that at the beginning. Make him the ML or something. Same goes for all the crime solving palace politics stuff. It's like the screenwriter remembered that this story was about a female student being the first to be admitted into an all male college twice after episode 16 and it was haphazardly thrown into small mentions here and there. You completely forgot that that was the main goal of the show; to be a more inclusive school.

Absolutely not a recommendation from me. Don't waste your time.

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17 Steps Ahead of King Schemey McSteamy

This series surprised the heck out of me because I never even intended on watching it. When it was postponed I never really thought twice. Then I saw ZLH in MJTY and was intrigued plus at the time I hadn't seen BL in anything nor any of the other leads though the supporting cast I was somewhat familiar with. I'm not a fan of palace politics but this series got me curious from all of the excitement it generated once the drop date was announced. I nearly gave it a perfect 10 if it wasn't for the very few cons, I couldn't get past. But it really was the 17 steps ahead of King Schemey McSteamy.

Pros: It should be very obvious who the favorite character is; ZLH's acting has improved leaps and bounds. This was his first morally gray protagonist and he absolutely nailed it. He was like a mad scientist in every way. I have no idea how XW's brain worked. It was like he was psychic and planned things as he foresaw them. The story originally started more on the FL's side and she too just knocked her role out of the park. It was her redemption/rebirth story plus reverse harem so our ML had to be the 3rd wheel for a while, something that with his absolutely insane jealousy streak was heart pounding and hysterical at the same time.

YL was Spider-Man; dude had supernatural abilities when fighting in that heavy ass armor that the actor even said was really hard to move in. What made this series really worth watching is that other then our cast which were all absolutely amazing; I can't say anyone screwed up their parts, was that the plot was always rolling along. You kept waiting for what's next. You never had to ffw or you'd miss something vital. Furthermore, the cast filmed during peak summer months and in extreme heat, they were constantly on the verge of heat stroke. I loved every member of the cast the ones mentioned above, ZZ, the princess, JXH, the hilarious and yet awesome guards of XW, fake DF, and everyone else, even the villains sans Lord Pinghead as I think he was used as more of a plot device to get the leads together. I'll speak more about him below.

The leads chemistry especially Ep. 36; people should know what I'm talking about. King McSteamy was born! I was actually surprised how much made it in. Usually after a passionate kiss, it's cut to spotlight and curtains or next scene. Here we saw more and it was great! And so glad that the kisses were real and XW was an absolute panther. I could probably write a whole review on just his love and lust plus jealousy alone. From what I wrote in the comments: That whole “JXN: I want you” bit? Woof! And then of course…Duke asswipe is all “I’m gonna rule the world.” Our boy goes “Hold my Qin. Back up dog, emperor and I got this on lock before I even left!” Who saw that coming?!?

XW, uncle, cousin reveal actually brought a tear to my eyes. It was a brief but beautiful moment. Plus XW's jealousy of his own son liking ZZ was too funny and a totally face-palm moment. JXN needs to nip that in the bud before the son starts picking up dad's negative traits lol. Daughter was too cute too. There were so many great moments in this drama; even the villains did what they had to do and for the most part were intelligent so it wasn't like some trope or cliche.

Costumes, sets, fights, OSTs, were great! I probably will come back to write something I missed or forgot lol. Just too much goodness.

Cons: Very little of these, but the .5 was knocked off for several reasons. Though I wish the modern day wasn't returned to, I understand it was done so because of censorship; I really would have preferred the 7 minute wedding to be in the last episode instead of an extra one plus do it before the scene with kids, instead of her dreaming of XW killing himself per lifetime number one. We're past that, no need to go back. Furthermore, Lord Pinghead's whole arc towards the end felt off to me because, he's supposed to be this murderous insane villain who killed children and destroyed a city but it looked more like just a ploy to get the leads officially together. He really wasn't much of anything. Just a paranoid killer. Duke asswipe had mountains more on him in terms of evil.

Wish they kept ZZ's rebirth arc because otherwise even to the almost end, it seemed he was still pining for her and it felt incomplete. He should have been given his own proper ending. Should have killed loser Xue son as per the novel too. Why was Duke asswipe allowed to stab XW with so many guards around him just because he was staring at JXN? The poor guy was already pin cushioned 6 ways to Sunday. YL and DQ should have finished the job before he even launched himself off the ground. Lastly and this felt the most unnecessary, was the death of FY. They could have killed ZYZ as is, he held her captive and tortured her. Why did she have to grab hold of him and he stab her? He could have just kicked her away and run; he would have been caught regardless and JXN should have delivered the death blow herself like "You think I can't kill you? Watch this, bitch!" FY's death was completely pointless. I don't understand this portion at all.

Would I recommend it? 100% would. It was a gem that I didn't expect to fall in love with but did. The pros way outweighed the cons. The plot was very well handled even the portions that deviated from the book. This is how dramas should be written and done with proper endings. Must watch y'all!

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Righteousness Wins Over Profit in Jianghu

A bet set in the beginning of the show had its answer at the end. I wanted to watch a Wuxia but this had a lot of elements that didn't quite align with that. I knew the majority of the cast and they did a good job with what they were given. This time I won't write pros/cons but combine them.

For starters the show got the rating it got for the awesome martial arts, the fact that other then the draggy family feud like episodes, it was in fact quite entertaining and out of the 3 CY characters my favorite was LCZ because he had a quiet grace along with his wife and theirs wasn't a showy type of love but as you watched, it resonated. Even theirs deaths were beautiful and fit the characters perfectly. I liked QS as he grew from a foolish youth to a moral driven young martial artist; his issues were that they literally gave him a VERSACE sized wardrobe fit for a runway while everyone else got a few (his brothers notwithstanding). Also that he gained his strength and whatnot not always from practicing martial arts nonstop but from a monk here, an invincible pill and spirit snake there, then a total of 8 masters infused him with their energies/legacies randomly before he himself started integrating everything. He used his smarts on other things. Least useful character was XMM, in fact that entire modern world AI transmigration with a stolen copyright by some government secrets selling senior was completely out of left field. It completely took away from the real Wuxia or storytelling portion of it.

Why couldn't it just be a happy family of 5 living their lives until trouble called? Who needed the senior jumping into XKY's body a la Agent Smith from the Matrix? First we were made to believe the power gang were the bad guys and ok we could go with that until it was no longer true and there was a 3rd evil loose in the world creating chaos so he could take over the world because how innovative was that? 🙄🤦🏻‍♀️ The power gang with LCZ as its chief (for whom other than him being a royal, we never got a back story), were essentially double agents; appearing bad to the world but really a collection of kings and other people sending money and clothing to the border to fight the northern westerlanders which were constantly threatening Daxi where they lived. But even there, there were traitors left and right; on both sides to this third side. You didn’t know who to trust.

While this was going on, the Xiao family has to escape to their Sword Manor because someone originally thought to be the power gang had infiltrated their ranks and is trying to get to a rare artifact saved for a general. The real culprits in poisoning the water (and later massacring everyone parents included) is some whistle gang run by a masked man who we all suspected to be XKY with LN (the senior) in his body but he also had 2nd child syndrome and a lifetime of jealousy of both of his brothers who were better then him because they were proficient in different things with a major crush on his adopted sister, whom he later tried to force to marry him and then when she tried to hurt him, killed her instead. I wasn't sure after which did he plan to sleep with her corpse (eww)? She did leave vital information that saved the world for QS at the cost of her life.

Continuing, he and his siblings and their disciples plus sworn brothers and friends run away leaving their parents behind one last time alive to find help only for QS to realize their few sources of help have betrayed them but before he could convince his older brother, he was framed so badly and crippled and still his older brother didn't believe him. I have a theory on the older brother's costume; throughout the entire series he only got one but he had plenty of screen time and I feel that that was because he never evolved; he was narrow minded, he never believed his own brother but believed strangers that either humiliated him or laughed in his face. He was one of those people that was totally fine when he was surrounded by his parents who were in charge, but when the massacre happened, everything fell in his lap and he did not know how to cope. Do I excuse his actions? Absolutely not, but I feel that because he never changed and stayed exactly the same and hurt QS so much without an ounce of apology or repentance until his dying moment at the hands of his second brother did Eureka 💡 happen is why he only got one costume for the entire series.

After family feud we got the game of faces GoT style with XKY wearing a mask where he could become become whomever he chose to become to trap people in order to kill them or have them make horrendous mistakes like in the case of LSF and the huge Sect's where he pretended to be LCZ and ordered the deaths of two monks; when that was found out obviously Power Gang was screwed but LSF was determined to make amends to the man who saved his life. This was another character with a very fragmented backstory where he misplaced his rage on one person when in reality that person being QS's father saved his life. And we never quite got to solving that entire issue. LSF also never made amends with any of the other people he killed without mercy, even though power gang only killed those that betrayed them to align with the enemy.

Another character that was a waste of time was the emperor who poisoned his own half brother "to keep him in check" because he was supposedly doing something wrong and being greedy when all LCZ did was provide for the border. But yet when the border is secure, something that the emperor doesn't even know or just found out that the general was kidnapped and he ordered LCZ to save the general and is informed that the border is secure and they have a victory and that the bad guys won't invade for 50 years. He says "everyone has to be rewarded including LCZ; bring him here!" is when he finds out that LCZ died already trying to rescue the general, and the emperor is all shocked and taken aback like he doesn't even understand how it could be possible; hello moron you have been poisoning him with wine ever so often that has basically rendered him all, but an invalid and you're surprised he's dead? On top of that he actually saw the fake mask that XKY brought him with the fake promise of truce with the northern enemies that he himself was leading and the emperor bought it hook, line, and sinker. It makes you think that considering how supposedly large his country is, isn't he supposed to have a broad spectrum of intelligence to tell him what's right and what's wrong instead of him just hastily making decisions without anything actual nor factual.

I have to say that my favorite fight out of all of them, and there were quite a few was the one at thunderdome where we met crazy Yan for the first time. Now talk about knowing how to enter an arena this dude showed up, screaming some bad guy's name like Drogon entering the Colosseum roaring. It was awesome! All the fights together were spectacular there and then naming QS as the world leader of martial arts in order to rescue the general and repel the northern enemy was also great. QS' two sworn brothers (as we lost the third very early on) were there from the beginning to the back in the mortal world. Crazy Yan turned out to be Xuyue's biological brother. Even those four thugs that just seemed so out of place did work and the two that QS met while searching for the abducted TF. It seemed that after his family and the disciples were massacred, he was determined to establish a sector with a rag tag family of his own. One of those people who became my second favorite was Prince Liang; this man had enough benevolence, empathy, and sympathy for both his half brother, LCZ to even attempt to stop the emperor from poisoning him to giving both quiet and physical strength to QS when he thought he had had lost absolutely everything, including that hug that I will probably remember when thinking about this series that no one in his actual family ever thought to give him. He was there for every strategy, for every fight and the way he treated QS seemed like one would treat his own flesh and blood; a brotherly love. It made you tear up quite a lot. Even though there were a lot of problems with LSF's character and his assistant/girlfriend with his storyline overall in the end, he finally understood that QS had won their bet of righteousness over profit, and he fought with the good guys and then left the celebration scene quietly with her vowing to meet again in the future on better terms.

Now let me give my thought process overall on how I thought things ended; I think that 2 out of 3CY characters did in fact die, and that part was obvious. If you look closely, you can see XMM shedding a tear as LN information was being told to him so he can hear them and then you slowly see his blood pressure start to go down and doctors racing into the room, but because it was so badly edited, you couldn't really tell what was happening as it kept fading to black, but I do not believe that he died as well because he did not flatline nor did he go into cardiac arrest. His blood pressure just went down and it was enough to signal the doctors that he was in distress. Distress does not mean death and is very much survivable. I do have to ask what was up with those weird fireworks that turned into colorful smoke that made you think that you were in a Bollywood film in the photo? As for people discussing which character it was that walked away with the Qin and the sword in the historical clothing toward the light, I think it's QS because it wouldn't make sense for a modern day person to walk toward the light carrying all of that and wearing all of that. So I do think that, even though this was an OE, XMM survived.

Would I recommend it? Only for fans of actors and if you want to be entertained. This is not a memorable story because the storyline was all over the place and that's the fault of production. So decide for yourselves.

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The Answer is: You Are My World

This was a very twisty drama; originally watched because Yang Yang and Xuan Lu are two people that I follow. Plus the plot looked awesome and wuxia dramas are just cool if done right. Wanted to see YY in a costume drama and this one seemed like the one to really show his acting skills. I was pleasantly surprised.

Pros: The chemistry between HFX/FLX and BFX/FXY was off the charts starting in episode one. They were like two magnets, just circling each other. The attraction was real and they made a great team even when they still were very wary of each other and competitive. Best power couple vibes. The fact that they would be together was obvious from the get go. The romance between them was arguably the best part of the series even when it took BFX forever to get over denial (and I ain't talking about the River in Egypt). That pre-wedding, wedding, and afterwards was everything!

Loved that HFX was always many steps ahead of everyone else; though he was great at martial arts, it was his intellect that made him so powerful and scary for even his father. His brains and brawn were on full display here. Though BFX was certainly no damsel in distress, HFX was always there to save her in the knick of time and she in turn helped him as well. Probably his best scene albeit brutal was getting beaten by his father and losing his inner force; I feel YY's strength as an actor shown a lot there; the growth was obvious. Not just physical pain but emotional and psychological was impressive.

I also loved the face stuffing, butt kicking BFX who was the perfect other half to a dashing/smart as heck ML. FQW was a great SFL because usually these characters are the gorilla glue of a show but here to see her get turned down and just shrug it off becoming one of ML's most trusted allies and resources was truly refreshing. She was also a great BFF to BFX turning our poor HFX into a 3rd wheel lol.

Other great characters was the older brother, who though I felt was the most tragic out of the cast, was able to stay on his feet still while supporting FLX throughout everything they had to endure. Han Pu who we lost tragically at the end and who I felt should have stayed behind at the sect, was a cute edition. Purple robe dude was alright though completely oblivious to the walking evil next to him until like 20 minutes of the last episode? All of their sergeants and aides were great for both solidarity and comic relief.

The big bad, YWY was definitely convincing as the main antagonist and I like that they kept him mysterious enough. That final battle was epic; knocking each other through buildings and finally bringing him down in a slash and crash method. Only our power couple could do that and appropriately done by them.

And I'm not the slightest bit worried about HFX and his now white hair because there's still old man Taiyan's flower that people have somehow forgotten about; it does bloom, if properly nurtured, every 10 years and it's been over 10 years since last used so I think our couple will live peacefully in the world for many more years to come, hopefully with children. I think the ending was handled pretty well.

The martial arts I liked a lot though I wish there was more of it through the story without the gaping hole in the middle; the beginning was probably the best with them going around trying to solve mysteries. I loved the battle scenes! Those were real, some even reminded me of the CGI of LOTR or GoT; so very impressive. The OSTs were pretty awesome especially the one by Liu Yu Ning.

Cons: The reason this drama took a serious hit from me primarily is because of how much unnecessary political stuff was introduced in the middle. Instead of growing the FL's backstory and family, the constant infighting between Lord of Yongzhou, junior evil, stepmom, and the rest of that sewer drain that was just unneeded and the ffw button was deployed. It turned an interesting story into a petty fight for power that wasted precious time on things that weren't in the outside world and were more pressing. It was however very satisfying in episode 34 to get rid of most of those morons--in FLX's usual 7 steps ahead way along with the 3 slaps heard around the world--who contributed very little to the main plot but practically hijacked it.

The amount of absolutely useless characters that were seen once but never again. The conspiracy of that Empearyan Token that YWY said he already had but it wasn't revealed until the last episode was inconsistent along with so many other things. Purple robe dude was in the twilight zone of obliviousness the entire time and then out of nowhere it was like "EUREKA, he's been by my side the entire time!" Made me think like "did you just wake up; have the aliens returned you back to earth?!?" Even YWY killing his annoying sister wasn't a thing. The last episode of the 3 main warriors confronting YWY seemed like something out of a twisted church confessional where when they ask him, he just gives up all of his secrets but for 39 episodes for some reason HFX couldn't put those puzzle pieces together? Definitely dropped the ball there among many other places, screenwriters.

Lang Hua being the show's by far the dumbest character can't be forgotten and her literal backstabbing and then just getting away with a no big deal bugs me more then I wanted it to. Han Pu as a child could have run that sect better then her after her father's death (another smart character turned dumb in his final episode; completely the opposite of what we knew). Many characters that were portrayed as very smart, were dumbed down for their last appearances, it was very uneven. And of course I nearly forgot the beyond deflating reveal of FXY's identity; probably why I didn't add it when I first wrote this review. We were all anticipating this big deal because of the buildup that they gave us and then...crickets. Like "oh you're FXY, please pass the bread."

Would I recommend it? Yes for the actual leads, their chemistry, allies, martial arts, and pretty spectacular battles. Also, if palace politics don't turn you off, that's a plus. But it shouldn't have been marketed as a straight wuxia as it was far from it. Definitely has a lot of cons but I do feel the pros outweigh those.

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The Story of Nut Sack

The title says it all, doesn't it? I can't say this was a highly anticipated drama for me, but I did add it to my watchlist because of ZLH. At the time, I hadn't yet seen ZJM in anything but was familiar with the SML or CHY and several others in the supporting cast from previous things. I however didn't expect to see so much of the series essentially taken over by SRQ and away from the ML and leads altogether. It was sad and everyone was sick of it. Instead of The Princess Royal, this should have been renamed "The Story of Nut Sack." That's what I dubbed him; even funnier just how many people started using that nickname after I put it out there. I knew we were all in the same boat.

Pros: Everyone's acting. The leads really embodied their characters especially ZJM or LR; I'd only seen her in a modern drama at the beginning of this year. For a 21 year old, she sure knows how to act. Very impressive. ZLH or PWX, though relegated to a virtual supporting character, he was infinitely patient and loved with all of his heart. I don't know how he was written in the novel as I never read those but he did the best with what he was given. Little prince was too cute and I really liked him with QZZ. It was actually funny that he in real life is older than ZJM who plays his older sister. The other characters I liked were SY, SRH, QL, LFB, the eunuch, and the rest of the folks on team LC. None of these characters were cookie cutter good. They were all complicated with problems that they had to overcome and evolve into. That was the part of it that was really good. The sword fights were good; loved when PWX told nut sack off at the end for being so damn delusional and how he had every choice in life number two to change everything but still didn't. I also really loved the OSTs.

Neutral: Before I start on the cons, I just want to make sure people understand that I have no hate towards any of the actors. Though this story of nut sack was played by CHY, the actor did the best he could with what he was given. He himself is still very new in the industry and green. I do hope for better work for him. I think he was miscast here. If you want him in a good drama; check out "Warm on a Cold Night."

Cons: The people responsible for turning this story into the mess it became, was production. The script was absolutely horrendous (we had a second lifetime of do overs to get things right but instead what we got was a convoluted mess); it turned the story away from the leads and to the SML who wasn't even given a billing lead role but as a supporting character. How could they do that to him given how much screen time they gave him? Really unfair to the actor. At every turn, nut sack took most of full episodes of screen time and became essentially an obsessed lunatic with forced second lead syndrome plus producers really wanted to give him a redemption arc, though they still killed him; but his constant glorification was pretty ridiculous. He was vile and stupid; he killed her in their first life, yes with two others but he was probably the first forgiven. If the reason it took her longer to forgive her little brother and SY was because she cared about both more, why the hell did she waste so much time yelling for nut sack to turn back to the right path? Right up until his fiery death, both leads still were trying to get this POS to see reason and become good. It just didn't make any logical sense. Reason and what we were seeing were two different things and this was constant. Say one thing, mean another. Just constant contradictions until you got a damn headache! I can't begin to even really explain what happened to the story but it went from in-fighting palace politics over a throne in two lives that would have still happened to absolute chaos with the SML. A lot of the time, you were wondering; what was even happening and why? Many scenes had you cracking up because they were so absurd.

Nut sack was both Superman and somehow escaped flames for a long time after being stabbed plus he was able to play a song. What in the what? Way too many loopholes and continuity issues; arrow that killed consort Ru came from where? How did her daughter scream without opening her mouth? Cheng 2.0 came from where; was he created from clay? How did nut sack catch up to LR when they went diving off the cliff? When did this turn into a Xianxia? And many others. Suspension of disbelief was a constant must. Wasn't this an S+++ drama? Why the hell was everything so cheap looking? Where did all of the money go?

The ending was rushed obviously because over half an hour was spent on nut sack's last time on earth, though the sword fight with PWX wasn't bad. It was an HE for our 3 couples but very rushed and a lot of the characters didn't even get proper closure as they were just left on the sidelines or disappeared altogether. So now we're getting an extra episode at some point because our leads barely got their 3rd wedding in and the kids weren't shown. My question to producers is, was it worth it? To screw up a great story for one character that should have been kept as is. Only reason this got the score it got was because of the really awesome acting of the actors.

Would I recommend it? Even though the actors were awesome, this story was a mess and I can't with good conscience recommend something so completely out of left field. Even if you didn't read the book (like me), as just a viewer, you'll know very quickly something is very off about the story. All of these actors deserve a better script, so I'd recommend you watch all of them in other things.

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Multi-Layered Characters

Originally this was added to the watchlist because I had heard that LYR was doing his first ML role and he'd done a good job playing supporting ones so was curious and I'd seen XRH once before though I wasn't very convinced back then; don't know why. Some of the supporting characters were familiar. But the story itself was interesting and all of the characters were multi-layered.

Pros: What set this show apart for me from others I've watched was the fact that this second chance romance brought in the past of the leads first to the episode, than present day including their and the other two couple's participation in the filming of the variety show, that way things were explained and you understood why certain things happened. It seemed to me that all three couples evolved both separately and together as the show wore on. At first you thought FL was a selfish brat because of her actions and in fact she did admit to most of the mistakes from the past as being hers but when you saw her layers of trauma, you understood that though this was a drama, she was still a human being. Favorite character was ML; I like how he was sure of himself, confident, independent and quite obvious that from the two of them he had grown and matured first.

The second couple was weird, toxic, and codependent and at the end she became pregnant and somehow you just prayed the child wouldn't become neurotic like his parents. They were my least favorite. The 3rd couple were called the healing couple in the comments and I agree; even though they were both ridiculously shy to the point of social anxiety; they were always a soothing balm to each other and their friends especially once they got together. I also liked that all 6 people even with all of their shortcomings, were such great friends and support systems to each other to the point that the show ended with the 6 traveling around together. Their friendship started in HS and progressed way into adulthood.

The 3.5 annoying people who played either rivals in love or just one completely unhinged chick all stayed as long as necessary and were then sent packing. Ironically even though YS seemed like the most annoying, when giving advice to the other two women during their "dates" set by production, gave the best advice. And really great way everyone took down the unhinged chick in the 2nd to last episode. Also how symbolic that it was SXR that proposed to LXY in the last episode as a close to the chapter; the marriage-phobe realized that's exactly what she wanted and that near death accident made her understand being next of kin is vital when you love someone.

Cons: Obviously this show was lower budget, but it didn't really hurt it. I do wish the SFL was less baby-voiced viper most of the series. Towards the end, I don't understand why the legal proceedings were published on screen. For starters this was fictional and secondly, the unhinged lawyer chick's crimes went beyond "intentional attempted vehicular homicide", yet she wasn't charged for those. Also none of the civil charges were made public. So either get all of the charges or none. Makes zero sense to do what they did. I think things could have been explained better about the show itself, as well as how SQ met her abusive ex husband. The show should have focused more proportionally on the third leads as we don't know much about TML's or TFL's backgrounds or their parents.

Would I recommend it? Yes. This was a different show that you had to watch to understand the multifaceted characters and how they got to where they were. It's a nice modern drama.

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Not Very Shadowy but Loved the Case Solving w/the Majority bringing it Back to the Main one.

I wanted to see WXY in something that wasn't a costume drama. This was republican era so I knew it would be beautiful with costumes and sets. He absolutely handled it very well. I wish more versatile roles for him. The rest of the cast handled themselves well too.

Pros: It all begins with a case from 20 something years ago where the ML's sister and the FL are involved in a kidnapping and child trafficking operation. ML's sister is missing and possibly presumed dead but we don't find out until the very end. The FL ends up having amnesia but ML knows who she is. The initial big case is the one that they are looking to solve as it's a big cold case and yet many of the other cases within the series tieback to this original case as unfortunately, the child trafficking and other horrible things are happening to young women and girls. There are other cases that have nothing to do with the big case which I like the fact that they added sprinkled into the series and that it's not just about this main case. There are a lot of middle villains and many villains that do their part.

When meeting again as adults the ML and FL at first get off on the wrong foot because the ML uses her as bait to lure out the killer(s)/person (people) responsible for his sister's disappearance. After a period of another two years, the FL joins the police force where the ML is an inspector and at first, though not too fond of each other, they do grow to trust each other with the help of an intelligence dude Mr. Du who has a thing for the FL but once he realizes and it takes a while and quite a few people to try to get him to understand that she has no feelings for him and he sees that the ML and the FL have grown to care about each other, he does the gentlemanly thing and gives up. Instead, he and the medical examiner aka Dr. Ding get together.

I guess you can call them the four amigos as they go around trying to solve each case that either rolls back to the main one or find the murderers respectively. Other actors in the support section do a great job too. I have to say that the psycho serial killer with a grin was an awesome antagonist. When someone is so creepy with the way they kill that it makes you think of Silence of the Lambs and Buffalo Bill's line, "it rubs the lotion on its skin", you know that's someone believable.

I like that there was romance in it, but it didn't overpower the main theme. I also like the fact that the flashbacks were necessary, but also didn't overpower the episodes or were repetitive but instead they moved the story along. We got our HE with the ML proposing to the FL and he found his sister alive which is great for them both and the ending was very satisfactory.

Cons: Many people didn't see this as an issue, but it did kind of make me feel strange when the actress who played the FL for the most part, walked around with a frown on her face and didn't properly react to emotions unless it was happiness or love. I have seen this actress before and I do not recall the same. That and she, for some reason would always walk into danger alone. It was like she was a magnet to somehow end up by herself and at the mercy of some thug or killer, though she was always either rescued by the ML or was able to take care of herself; slightly. There had to be a lot of suspended disbelief, especially for the other main antagonist because of how quickly everybody figured out who he was, even though they tried so hard to hide his face in the shadows or behind poles it was quite obvious who he was, and it didn't take a rocket scientist to figure it out either.

Another thing that was very strange and unnecessary was to portray both leads as superhuman because they would get shot and bounce back like nothing happened, going after whoever shot them in most cases the creepy serial killer guy. And lastly, how his sister actually survived living in some random village for 20 years vaguely remembering her brother or at least the embroidery that he did for her while other children that were trafficked were killed or harmed, so it didn't really make sense for her to survive unless she was bought by a couple that needed kids. Only rational explanation I have.

Would I recommend it? Despite a lot of inconsistencies and strange things; the series was actually a great watch, even though it only lasted four days. Watch for the cases, for the actors, and of course, the beautiful costumes and scenery that always adorn the Republican era.

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Great Acting by the Entire Cast But Plot Took a Nosedive in the 2nd Half

I'd seen a retro tribute modern drama already with ZLY this year but this one had a totally different premise, so I wanted to see how she would handle a harder plot and though she and the rest of the cast did a wonderful job in their respective roles, the plot took a serious nosedive towards the second half and the end.

Pros: I can't say enough about the acting of this very professional cast. ZLY did a terrific job as XBX, a stubborn, enterprising, reflective, yet very flawed character and everyone else followed. At first, I wasn't a fan of GXY as she appeared like a spoiled rich girl going through a rebellion but it became clear after a handful of episodes that though she was spoiled and bratty, she had a big heart and really cared about TXQ. The "steel trio" of XBX, TXQ, and CYZ were a great bunch who sincerely loved one another even if that sometimes came across as tough love or protection in the form of lying which backfired more often then not. The intent behind it was real.

Other favorite characters were ZL, President Gao, Dr. Su, Su Computer Nerd, and manager Jia; all were wonderful supportive people to XBX and each other wherever they fit. When it came to the good guys, all of their parts were done accordingly. The scenery and OSTs were on point and appropriate.

Cons: While I understood this was a propaganda tribute drama and that it would have a lot of that included in it, what absolutely shocked me was the hamster wheel plot of the antagonists would completely overshadow even that. There were a total of 4 really bad guys, one coward, and one insignificant idiot that came and went. The plot essentially took a nosedive in the second half when the 3 main antagonists/business partners and XBX plus her ex routinely sent each other to jail. It was a literal revolving door of prison sentences. They'd set each other up, beg for someone else to take the fall, or manage to somehow twist themselves loose so many times that all of their illegal deeds combined would probably equal a 25 year minimum for each save XBX.

Everyone of them ended up with some sort of redemption arc in the last few episodes that they didn't deserve. Even though Mr. Wu did turn himself in, in the final 15 minutes of the last episode, the amount of illegalities he'd done throughout the years should have seen him in prison for more then just a year. I didn't like the antagonists at all in this series, though their acting was on point 100%, it was because every time one would get into trouble, he'd get himself out by setting someone else up, rinse, repeat x maybe 8! The storyline hindered them completely which was very sad because they could have really done something more believable in terms of how the law worked.

Speaking of the law, how is it that TXQ got 5 years in prison for kicking XBX's ex in the balls while the latter was choking her to death (murder attempt number 1) and the ex 10 years later only got 1 month after he ran her off the road and threw a metal pipe at her head causing a head injury (murder attempt number 2)? So saving another person from near death is illegal but actually trying to kill someone isn't. In that second case plus with the antagonists, was XBX Mother Theresa? She gave the ex a debit card that she'd deposit money in each month to help him and the kid he adopted. She felt like she owed him; for what? Trying to kill her? Same with Wu, Qiu, and even Dong, they'd set her up but there she goes trying to bail them out. That kind of backwards logic was confusing. Lastly on this topic, they essentially spent the last 4-6 episodes spouting various domestic and international laws that the average viewer wouldn't have a clue as to what was happening.

Another point of contention was with poor CYZ, once it was obvious he had terminal cancer and had little time to live, they kept dragging his death out. It was brutal to watch; they could have had the pier sunrise scene maybe 6 episodes earlier then they did. Made me wonder if they purposefully did it as filler but that's like the really wrong way of going about that. Because even to the last episode, they brought him in as happy and in flashbacks. That would have been way better then what was done with his character at that time.

The introduction of Russian speaking characters that couldn't speak the language fluently like Nina was ridiculous especially to someone whose native tongue it is. The entire Russian arc in the beginning, I fast forwarded because it was off historically among many other things. The last part that bugged me though it wasn't huge were the costumes especially XBX's wedding dress which was straight out of the 1980s instead of the year 2000. Some ppl said she didn't have enough money for a new one but that didn't jive either as by that time she and ZL lived in a huge house and her car was a Mercedes, she didn't drive herself but had a driver and assistant with her at nearly all times.

So though the acting was very well with a professional cast, the storyline/plot started out strong but then just unraveled. Hadn't it been for the great acting, I would have given it a much lower score.

Would I recommend it? Honestly, only if you like ZLY or anyone else in the cast. Otherwise, plot wise it's not strong at all with many factual and historical errors.

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A Psycho, Crypt Keeper & Narcissistic Sociopath walk into Bar; Result? Bloodbath, Revenge, & an HE.

Watched this for XZ and the tomb raiding element. Never really expecting anything but I was blown away but every part of this drama so much so that the way it ended, I didn't see coming at all. And XZ's acting was solidified for me here. Basically a psychopath, the crypt keeper and a narcissistic sociopath walk into a bar the result is a bloodbath, followed by intelligent revenge and a happy ending.

Pros: This director managed to pull off everything very well; the storyline that never dragged but always kept you on your toes trying to figure out what the real conspiracy even was and who to trust and not to. Every character and their backstories were fleshed out. ML or ZH after witnessing the slaughter of his entire family was saved by some mysterious person in a mask and brought to 3 masters to raise and learn the art of deception, war, and craftsmanship (which is what the ML's) father did. For 10 years ZH after going through facial reconstruction surgery learned under these masters how to get his revenge on who he thought was only one person but in reality were 3 and it was only towards the end did he and we learn that the masked person was also the mastermind.

I told people in the comment section that in the beginning the only people that were trustworthy were ML, maybe the FL and a few cats and dogs. Literally everyone else was suspicious. The ML worked for a whole year to plan his revenge meticulously on the first person who he knew was responsible for the massacre. He worked under this monster and molded himself in a way that he could take him down later. I usually never put antagonists this high up but the Marquis was a brutal man and an absolute suspicious psychopath and the actor that played him was absolutely top notch. I was actually at first kind of upset that he was the first one that was taken down given that the crypt keeper was just a hot mess, but then when the mastermind was unveiled, it became clear that he was the worst of all.

I can't say enough how the ML and every character portrayed their roles with such precision. You always have someone that you're like OK this person is unnecessary, this character is unnecessary. In this series, every single character was necessary for however long they belonged there. I am glad that the FL and her friend, his childhood friend and martial artist, and though taking orders from the mastermind, Shifu never harmed ML. So we knew who we could ultimately trust. And even a morally grey character like ZX got his deserved redemption arc at the end and for once I believed it needed to happen. As ZH himself pointed out, it was he who ruined an innocent teenager for his own revenge but said teenager, though getting lost on his path, ended up as the general his father never became; a righteous one with proper guidance.

The court was filled with corruption and ZH helped wheedle it out a little at a time while still working to being the rats to justice. The amount of planning that went into the first arc at Lord Ping head's home was just masterful. The Crypt Keeper was evil and did what he was supposed to until he was no longer needed though I feel he should've just been killed off earlier than what happened to him. What is absolutely amazing is that the three of them looking for this artifact that brought power without really realizing the detriment that that power possessed and why it was hidden in the first place; had met when they were kids at school to stand up to bullying and here 40-50 years later they were ready to turn on each other and eat their own young just to get their hands on this artifact.

In this one, I can't pick out the characters that I liked because honestly good or bad, I liked them all because they acted so so well. There wasn't a single one that dropped the ball. And even though the actors did a superb job, I have to commend the director and the screenwriter for writing a story that was so immersive that two episodes a day felt like an entire series. And we had to sit and guess who was bad, who was good, who could turn on whatever and very often we were surprised who really were the middle villains or the mini villains. Very few dramas had you understanding the complexities of antagonists and why they had to be put down not just simply "because he was evil."

This was an S+ drama and it showed in everything; costumes, sets, OSTs and especially those amazing battles. I have to say that this drama really cemented XZ as a full-blown actor for me, his ability to switch on emotions from fake sadness to downright evil or real sadness and being happy was something that had to do with taking the time to immerse oneself into the character. There was very small amount of comedy which usually revolved around ZH's lack of fighting skills and how the FL and her ninja powers had to come and rescue him a lot and he just used whatever the heck he could find under hand to throw it at bad people.

I really liked how the ML always was a step or a few ahead of the villains, and if he got caught somewhere, he would always play it by ear and be able to wiggle out of any situation with some contingency plan. Once he entered the court, which was very quick; he gained as many enemies as he did friends, but he took out the smaller villains with his smarts and used the big ones against each other. It wouldn't be fair to talk about everything because people need to watch this. Now onto the cons and there weren't many, but still some small ones which I wish they had covered.

Cons: I know the series had very subtle romance because of all the other genres and things going on, but I felt even there, that the ML and the FL got together a little too quickly. They went from just talking to friendship to asking each other for favors, and then him locking her away for both her safety, and because he was weary of her and then afterwards it was like everything was forgotten, and they were together. It should have been done in a much smoother fashion. The other thing I had an issue with was when Lord Pinghead went for the gates of the palace, ZH just jumped out of nowhere with a little crossbow coming into the sight of this Goliath? Exactly what was he thinking he was going to do with that itsy-bitsy weapon? If it wasn't for ZX, he probably wouldn't have survived that assault. It just shows that there are some times where he was a little too naïve. He could barely fight on the street let alone with a bunch of armies, and this brutal man who wanted to decapitate him. It was very wishy-washy and unbelievable for a smart man like him. I understood it had to be father against son ultimately but having the ML there with his little weapon just seemed off.

Felt the last few episodes were a little rushed, and the whole Dongxia arc at the end was also very rushed. I understand that they had to deal with the tomb raiding, truth of the ghost soldiers and figure out what to do next with that artifact, but everything in there was just kind of thrown in and even though ZX got his redemption arc and our leads were free to live their lives and everyone else did who was part of team good including the new appointed emperor, too much stuffed into the end. I think if they took three episodes and maybe just smoothed them out into six, it probably would have been more cohesive. No more cons.

Would I recommend it? 100% This is a story of many conspiracies not just the original one, revenge, intelligence beyond most people's expectations, a little bit of tomb raiding, and a very good plot with a very good storyline. I will, however say if you're looking for romance, this is not the show for you. It is a show for mystery, thriller, crime solving, and revenge taking. And it's still somehow ended up with a happy ending. Go figure! And again, I have to give a lot of praise for the director, screenwriter, and the rest of the production crew who made this possible. The actors could only do a fantastic job if the people behind the scenes were guiding them properly and that is exactly what happened here.

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Watered Down Sex & The City w/Lukewarm Romance Centered Around a TV Station & Some Debt

Watched only for LYN's first foray into an ML role in a modern drama and he made me proud. The story itself was a bit trying too hard to fit a lot of things into itself at once. It worked in the parts of being female centric and cultivating the friendship between the three women but I felt it could have easily been a 30 episode series and covered everything as with even 40, it still left many unanswered questions. It was pretty much a watered down Sex & The City w/lukewarm romance centered around a TV station & some debt.

Pros: Though he was the ML and did a great job at it, his role wasn't as substantial as the three women whose plot this really was and their lives. That said I'm still incredibly proud of LYN for tackling this new challenge and his slow but steady growth as a leading character.

I liked the fact that all 3 women were very flawed in their characters and even stabbed each other in the back at work before realizing it really wasn't worth it. Their evolutions came from both the necessity and the fact that they had no other choice like in the case of HH and her runaway husband. In the first episodes she took hit after hit; the disappearing hubby, the mountain of debt, her show's cancellation, her mom's illness and becoming a single mom. Many of us wondered how she would handle it as it was just insane. But out of the three despite all of that, she was the first one to realize how quickly she had to change her outlook and mindset in order to survive and though they weren't yet as close as they became, the other two were very encouraging of her. The tv station was the main base for the entire series.

Looking at it from another perspective, JJH was like a male version of her, starting with being in so much debt thanks to her husband and owning nothing, to slowly building himself and her up as well. HH's new business became very successful because of him. I also liked how they incorporated LYN's real qualities and both former and current jobs as a chef, livestreamer, and singer into the show. It made his character more realistic.

BY and YY both were extreme opposites of each other; one would do anything to get what she wanted even if it was quite shady, while the other was the epitome of Joan of Arc with her righteousness and stubbornness. They butted heads often but only when they really started to stand in each others shoes did they understand where the evolution must happen.

Other great characters were Zimo, the two directors of the tv station, plus main boss, RJ, LL, and HH's parents. The antagonists, I believe there were 4 of them grand total, honestly were an after thought to the rest of the plot. Costumes, OSTs, locations, were on point.

Cons: The show could have just been 30 episodes because there were so many things that weren't properly done or finished. Like did the 3 doofuses who lost money to OKG ever get that money back? Yes HH and him got divorced and the 4 buffoons were arrested for whatever insane illegal activities they did but even that wasn't properly explained. I've got a business background and all of my degrees are in that and I have absolutely no idea what exactly they did, why OKG had to run, why he blackmailed them for 100 million RMB, why he swindled those poor folks out of whatever he owed them. It had to do with stocks and finance but it was so muddled and rushed, that I still don't know. That could have been explained so much better and written into the series.

Also some characters were shoved into the spotlight to make things really uncomfortable for our female leads which I felt quite unnecessary like that Zhang Ke guy who was a borderline stalker of YY and was willing to do whatever it took (like ruining her reputation and nearly getting her fired) for her to date him when it was obvious she didn't like him. And the chick who looked up to HH but did some shady things herself and acted about 12. These were just two of several characters that really just didn't make sense of why they required so much screen time.

The character of OKG wasted a solid 2 episodes trying to get HH to go on the run with him. They could have used those same episodes to fortify her relationship with JJH and the other two couples. The romance portion of this drama was almost like an afterthought. I felt like HH turned robotic towards JJH once she found he had developed feelings for her. She treated him better when they were "enemies". And the sudden turnaround when he'd done so much to grow her business and helped with her mom's health and death, could have been a lot smoother. It felt like a whiplash. There definitely were a few plot holes in this series that could have been better explained. It was also quite obvious that many scenes were cut because they appeared in the opening or closing credits but never in the show itself.

Would I recommend it? I would for the female bonding primarily. If you're able to look past the cons, you will enjoy this show.

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Speed Skating through Episodes, Big Plot Twist Finale & a Possibility for S2

I had just come from watching XZG in Dashing Youth so wanted to see him in a different genre. CW I had seen twice previously and was familiar with some of the supporting cast, though not the female lead. This being a short with something like 15 minutes per episode, not counting credits, web series albeit with 52 episodes, was curious to see how it went.

Pros: I really liked the cases themselves and how our 3 leads were creative in solving them. Going from strangers to lifelong friends as they worked each case was nice. They never left each other in the lurch especially at the end. All three were equal favorites in their own way and how they made unlikely allies along the way from great martial artists to thieves to the wealthiest man in the city. The main antagonist was the biggest surprise as you really didn't see him coming because of how much he loved his son even though he was a total sociopath. Also it was cool to see how many cases were related to him when it was all said and done and how many of the villains and others were his followers. It being Republican Era as usual the costumes and sets were very nice. The fights were nicely executed. Though telling that one dude to not bring a knife to a gun fight would have helped lol.

Cons: As the title says, we were basically speed skating through episodes. It was one case after another with no break in getting to know our leads backgrounds or having them just shoot the breeze. One ended and in the very next scene you jumped into something else; there was no smooth transition and it definitely hindered the series. We saw why the leads became close but their actual characters weren't really given any deep dives. Like we didn't know SH's dad was a criminal until the last episode; in fact we didn't know anything about his past, who his parents were, where he lived, etc. There were many moments where you're like, how did so and so end up here and why? Like how did at the end the thief know to bring the wounded SH to Mr. He and why would SH know that was a safe zone? Also how did XF follow them so closely and also know this was a safe haven? How did that random bouncer guy know where HL lived and just happened upon the place with a knife and tried killing him while he was tied up on his bed and than was miraculously rescued by that Youlan lady? A lot of the pieces didn't fit at all and you're just watching with a lot of suspended disbelief. If they had less cases and less episodes, perhaps they would have had enough time to properly flesh out the cases and all of these kinks. The fact that they ended it in a way that could possibly suggest a S2, I hope that they understand that less really is more and that characters need fleshing out with proper backgrounds. Did they really stick every one of the bad guys including the mastermind in the same prison?

Another thing, hypnosis isn't an exact science. You can't hypnotize everyone as not everyone is susceptible to it and not that quickly. They made that part of it look way easier than it really was. The OSTs were very forgettable.

Would I recommend it? Despite the many cons, I actually found it entertaining and enjoyable to watch. Give it a whirl.

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