Knavery

Looks like it could be fun

The writers hit on the nose here. Rong Yu is the head of the astrology department and predicts a bunch of things. And because he does that the writers feel no need to their jobs and tell a story on the screen for the viewer to show how we get from the start of this story to the prediction he makes.

Maybe in Episode 15 they can get Rong Yu to break the 4th wall to predict the end of this absolute mess of a show and we won't have to continue further.

I'm all for tragic stories that are told well. One of the most highly regarded Chinese historical dramas on here is Nirvana in Fire. This has been so messy. I'll keep watching this trainwreck though. Sometimes you can't look away from an unfolding disaster.

All 3. It's an extremely poorly written character and plot so far.

I think the Mongolia stuff was visually beautiful. The characters are promising. It's a good set up, lets see if they can deliver a story with some comedy now.

I couldn't find it in good quality but it's really good alternative to the typical long form melodramas.

The problems are mostly self-contained within episodes and it's about learning life lessons with some comedy so it's not too serious. I think the show did a good job trying to be what it was.

Not a bad start, could be some fun each week for me.

It's short, sweet and light if you're in the mood. Nothing too complicated. Kind of wish the second couple (the general) got more focus but the bulk is definitely with the sickly lord and his bubbly bride without giving too much away.

Liked the cast but that could have been way shorter.

That seems pretty fair where I'm at with Episode 14. A strong cast but a rather weak story all things considered. You learn pretty quickly who most of the major players are. I'm sure they'll have double crosses and reveals but yeah. Not super impressed, not disappointed either. Average.

Damn these are some big names on that cast list, time to give it a go.

It starts strong and then the last half is kind of draggy. Overall a decent show.

As far as the 2-10 minutes per episodes dramas go this was pretty good.

Feels like a soap opera and then the last few minutes is a history lesson where they tell you what happens with each character.

The show just continued to lurch from moment to moment with the expectation the audience would tell the story in their own minds. Weak.

The standout for me was the actress who played Lin Lang. She needs to get more roles. She played the unrequited love role really well.

Dilraba should try to get more roles like the one she had in this drama. I think she's at her best when she plays a slightly more upbeat, carefree and mischievous character. I liked her better here than in The Long Ballad as an example.

Sounds interesting

This is going to be walls of text with spoilers up to Episode 20:

The problem I have is we've spent 20 episodes getting nowhere. The male lead and female lead have done almost nothing to this point. They've looked at each other. Talked to other characters about how they want each other but can't have each other. But fair enough fans or book readers will claim this isn't a romance story. Fine. So lets talk about the revenge plot.

She's tried to insert herself in as crown princess since the first episode and that has barely moved. Some will say it wasn't her goal to become crown princess and again fair enough. So then the questions become: Who is she winning over for her revenge plot? Since episode 1 it has been her and Luo Ming Xi who is a lovesick puppy who may have ulterior motives. They haven't introduced sympathetic ministers, they haven't introduced the Luo family being sympathetic, they haven't shown any real plan to de-throne the Han family. What's worse is they're not even being smart about it. A corrupt and treacherous Gu family could have been useful tools you dispose of. But instead they help Han Ye and the emperor get rid of a corrupt Gu family making the Han dynasty look better.

I'll take that back what I said about the show not introducing potential allies - they introduced the Mo family through a princess and we find out bodyguard of Princess An Ning is the prince sent by his father. And it's unclear how much he has been working with Dilraba's character or Luo Ming Xi.

We're over halfway through and things have not moved in a substantial or meaningful way. Worse - nothing has been set up either. The show has spent over half its time introducing an extremely short list of characters and revealing some of their motivations in a very vague sense. The Mo prince is here to do something probably not good for Jing and the Han dynasty. Dilraba's character wants revenge but loves Han Ye. Luo Ming Xi wants Dilraba's character to love him and while he might have his own plans he'd probably give them up instantly if she said "marry me".

The show is okay but I think the people behind it think they're much more clever and experienced in making good television than they actually are. It's watchable TV for sure but that's because of the cast and not their dialogue or scene choices by the directors.

This is legitimately the first show since Heroes (US) and "my father's research", "save the cheerleader, save the world" where I can audibly recall identical lines of dialogue. And I remember Heroes fondly. This show is kind of "meh but I like some of the performances by the cast and it's worth sticking it out for that".

Anyways, I think this is okay, I like some of the performances. I'm disappointed by the story pacing and the lack of romance so far. Yeah there's still half the show to go, I haven't rated anything yet but so far I'd say average like a 7/10 or something as I tend to rate the way teachers grade. B- because they have a strong cast from the leads right down to supporting cast.

It's a bit nonsensical because the backstory for this entire show is that the current emperor slaughtered 80K Di soldiers because he thought they might be rebelling. I understand she hasn't dangled it in front of the emperor too much but the fact she used it as a bargaining chip once should be enough to set off alarm bells.

I think the writers and director(s) have no idea how to move this story forward coherently. The show just lurches forward from moment to moment like it's a daily soap opera. Whatever a character needs to be in a given episode... that is who and what they are.

I'm not here to bash soap operas. People like them but it's not my cup of tea just like musicals and anime aren't my thing either. I was hoping for a different show and it seems more and more likely I won't get what I wanted. It's unfortunate too because I think this type of role - the mischievous plucky female lead suits Dilraba a lot better than more serious ones like The Long Ballad.

I thought point 1 was the lowlight of the show. The less of him the better.

Lin Lang is adorable and I'm worried about where her story is headed.

I enjoyed it but it was bittersweet like Nobunaga Concerto (JP) or Running Man (TW). They dealt with similar issues of fate despite the time travel being different. I think 14 episodes was the right length. It was good.