This review may contain spoilers
35 Episodes In, Then It Panicked
The First Jasmine is like a song with a great hook. It has captivating verses, a pre-chorus that builds anticipation, but right when it should hit a crescendo, it crashes into awkward silence instead. That silence outweighs the rest of the brilliance.
To be clear: beyond vague character outlines and names, the drama has no relation to the novel. It borrows the concept, then carves its own path. Fair enough; the novel would need 100-200 episodes to do justice, and 40 isn't doing anything. If you've read the novel first, forget it. If you plan to read it after, just treat it as a different story.
Strengths
Performances, visuals, music, costumes, production - all strong.
Bai Lu makes Ye Li intriguing in her usual effortless style - artless scheming, cleverness, vulnerability, will to survive. She's pretty to begin with; the costumes just make her prettier.
Chang Lei plays Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao, and I'm slowly becoming obsessed with his performances. I went in expecting the larger-than-life Xiuyao from the book, so it was hard at first to reconcile him with this depressed, beaten-down version. But once I got past that, his understated Prince Ding held my interest like a marching band. Depression, hopelessness, careful hope, steadfastness, quiet love, all beautifully done. Shout out to his voice actor too; that deliberate tone adds real depth.
Supporting cast does a decent job. Visuals and music are a treat throughout.
Relationships between women: healthy. No other word. No catty fights over the hero. Stepmother, sister-in-law, step-sisters.. all handled with maturity. It's heartening to see mature female characters actually act mature.
Weaknesses
The last 5-6 episodes. OMG. Once the Lishan mystery resolves, the show has nowhere to go, but still needs 40 episodes, so it hits every costume-drama cliché: coup, spitting blood, gravity-defying jumps, a closing scene for everyone (even if you don’t care about some of them), forced sympathy-backstories for the villains. Check, check, check.
The narrative loses its grip. At the climax, we get a prolonged fight between villains and random extras and some NPCs, while the actual hero/villain showdown lasts 5.25 seconds. Why put Chang Lei in a full suit of armor if he's not going to fight?
Some suspension of disbelief needed too. A few too many "why does that happen" moments the drama can't answer since it insists on ignoring the book.
And the lovesick-puppy energy of the SML - yikes.
The two dowagers cause a mountain of grief with barely any consequences. My bloodthirstiness needed a better outlet. Didn't get it.
Overall
Overall, it's a good drama that forgot it was a drama for the last five episodes. Watch it, love it, and then gaslight yourself into forgetting the finale ever happened.
To be clear: beyond vague character outlines and names, the drama has no relation to the novel. It borrows the concept, then carves its own path. Fair enough; the novel would need 100-200 episodes to do justice, and 40 isn't doing anything. If you've read the novel first, forget it. If you plan to read it after, just treat it as a different story.
Strengths
Performances, visuals, music, costumes, production - all strong.
Bai Lu makes Ye Li intriguing in her usual effortless style - artless scheming, cleverness, vulnerability, will to survive. She's pretty to begin with; the costumes just make her prettier.
Chang Lei plays Prince Ding Mo Xiuyao, and I'm slowly becoming obsessed with his performances. I went in expecting the larger-than-life Xiuyao from the book, so it was hard at first to reconcile him with this depressed, beaten-down version. But once I got past that, his understated Prince Ding held my interest like a marching band. Depression, hopelessness, careful hope, steadfastness, quiet love, all beautifully done. Shout out to his voice actor too; that deliberate tone adds real depth.
Supporting cast does a decent job. Visuals and music are a treat throughout.
Relationships between women: healthy. No other word. No catty fights over the hero. Stepmother, sister-in-law, step-sisters.. all handled with maturity. It's heartening to see mature female characters actually act mature.
Weaknesses
The last 5-6 episodes. OMG. Once the Lishan mystery resolves, the show has nowhere to go, but still needs 40 episodes, so it hits every costume-drama cliché: coup, spitting blood, gravity-defying jumps, a closing scene for everyone (even if you don’t care about some of them), forced sympathy-backstories for the villains. Check, check, check.
The narrative loses its grip. At the climax, we get a prolonged fight between villains and random extras and some NPCs, while the actual hero/villain showdown lasts 5.25 seconds. Why put Chang Lei in a full suit of armor if he's not going to fight?
Some suspension of disbelief needed too. A few too many "why does that happen" moments the drama can't answer since it insists on ignoring the book.
And the lovesick-puppy energy of the SML - yikes.
The two dowagers cause a mountain of grief with barely any consequences. My bloodthirstiness needed a better outlet. Didn't get it.
Overall
Overall, it's a good drama that forgot it was a drama for the last five episodes. Watch it, love it, and then gaslight yourself into forgetting the finale ever happened.
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