Good drama but some obvious shortcomings
I came away from this show conflicted. On the one hand, the production values and the acting are fabulous. I felt immersed in the world of the later Qing dynasty, with all its quirks. The premise is interesting to me, a scholar exiled to a harsh realm, desperately trying to get back to his hometown so he can make an honest living as a tea farmer, but the corrupt Qing dynasty, some rabid rebels, and various greedy businessmen have other ideas.
The show doesn't really fulfill its promise though. Numerous characters become plot devices more than anything else. For example, the mysterious noblewoman Su keeps threatening to have Gu Pingyuan killed, but for some unclear reasons she keeps helping him through some sticky situations. We never really get a resolution for her. The primary antagonist just... kinda... loses interest after his great dark secret is learned. The main character himself becomes... well, a merchant of some sort, I guess, but it's all pretty vague. The dramatic final showdown becomes a couple of secondary characters signing a piece of paper that... I don't know why that piece of paper was so important to them.
You get the picture, I hope. The immersion is entertaining, and there is some dramatic build-up, but the plot peters out at the end. I suppose that's a bit of a rule for late Qing dynasty shows, that you can't really have a clean ending, because the viewer understands everybody in the show is doomed. I am left with an interesting show, but I am not sure what the point was.
So let's give it an 8. The good parts were worth it to me. If you need a story with a compelling ending, then you probably won't be so kind.
The show doesn't really fulfill its promise though. Numerous characters become plot devices more than anything else. For example, the mysterious noblewoman Su keeps threatening to have Gu Pingyuan killed, but for some unclear reasons she keeps helping him through some sticky situations. We never really get a resolution for her. The primary antagonist just... kinda... loses interest after his great dark secret is learned. The main character himself becomes... well, a merchant of some sort, I guess, but it's all pretty vague. The dramatic final showdown becomes a couple of secondary characters signing a piece of paper that... I don't know why that piece of paper was so important to them.
You get the picture, I hope. The immersion is entertaining, and there is some dramatic build-up, but the plot peters out at the end. I suppose that's a bit of a rule for late Qing dynasty shows, that you can't really have a clean ending, because the viewer understands everybody in the show is doomed. I am left with an interesting show, but I am not sure what the point was.
So let's give it an 8. The good parts were worth it to me. If you need a story with a compelling ending, then you probably won't be so kind.
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