Kseniya Green

Haha, I've already stepped on this rake with Shin Ha-kyun in The Villainess. There are actors whose power is so great that if the script is weak, it's as if they start telling their own, completely different drama with their eyes.

It won't just be boring, it won't be psychologically believable - which is subjectively a much more critical problem for me than historical inaccuracy.
Because all these moments - Zhou Zhifei's face before killing Cell 8, his attitude towards his son, the whole arc with Ou Xinping - and other smaller moments - just don't make sense if he's a primitive villain with a simple goal to survive. It will be a Frankenstein's monster, stitched together from pieces of different people.
I don't blame the actors, but I'm beginning to fear that the scriptwriter simply didn't know what he wanted from this character. And he just gave him scenes that look spectacular and arouse the viewer's interest.
But let's live until the finale, I still hope to be very wrong.

To be honest, I'm a little confused about where Zhou Zhifei's character is heading. I'm starting to worry that Zhang Songwen is playing a much more complex character than we'll be presented with in the end. Either there will be some kind of daring plot twist, or the logic of the character breaks down for me.

Zeng Shunxi certainly has room to grow - that's natural, considering that this is his first serious dramatic role. But also... maybe romance isn't his thing? In my opinion, he looks much better in scenes, even complex ones, in which he does not need to play out some kind of love line.
What I mean is that there are actors who can be great in other genres, but in romances they always get critical reviews.

Well, it seems that perception of chemistry is a rather subjective thing. I see chemistry, and moreover, I was captivated by this drama primarily because of their scenes together.
I can't judge the historical accuracy, since I'm not really in the know. So I look at it more as fiction.

I'm not sure, but maybe what turns people off is that it's not a romantic drama - it's more of a drama about how love dies in this environment. And it's not a superhero drama. It's more of a psychological drama about what happens to people in troubled times. And how difficult it is to preserve even the real you along the way.

I don't understand the low ratings. After so many dramas I've started and dropped, this is one of the few where I actually look forward to each episode.

They also have a parallel - a romantic moment in a boat, like a beautiful memory of pure youth, a keepsake from a loved one (a leaf/ a pen).
I think Zhou Zhifei embodies what this work turns a person into. What Gu Yizhong can become if he does not resist very actively.

After the episode of Haimo's arrest, I am a little confused about what Zhou Zhifei really wants from Gu Yizhong. To lower him in the eyes of the Japanese "authorities"? He could have done it more reliably using the story of the break-in to the prison. Instead, he makes a deliberately false accusation. Why? Is he using Gu Yizhong as a piece on his chessboard? Or does Zhou Zhifei want to force him to burn all bridges? To force Gu Yizhong to become like him?

I'm still thinking about the execution scene. It's heartbreaking, but at the same time, this scene especially clearly shows the part of Zhou Zhifei's personality that he usually hides. It's clear that this moment hurts him like hell. And he could have avoided it, taken up Mr. Li's offer, left "on business" - and lie to himself for the rest of his life that he had nothing to do with her death. But he goes through this hell to make her last moment a little easier. And this is a very very atypical act for a "traitor opportunist".

I also want to express my admiration for Zhang Yao's (Ou Xinping/Spring) acting. Her image turned out to be no less impressive than the main male roles. And in the last episode, her acting just makes my heart ache.

Yes. He survives this hell by gnawing off parts of himself, one by one - what will be left of him in the end? There is a feeling that in the end this situation will either destroy him as a person or kill him physically. And I think this is part of the reason why in every scene with Gu Yizhong, Zhou Zhifei always touches him. Not only as part of the "hunter's behavior". But on some level, he literally wants to cling to Gu Yizhong like a drowning man.

Zhang Song Wen’s acting is absolutely heartbreaking. I literally hold my breath watching every emotional scene with him.

Yes, I agree that we haven't seen the whole picture of Zhou Zhifei's true motives and goals yet - perhaps we'll only see it all by the finale.
For now, we can only judge him by the emotions that the actor plays out. And based on this, we can definitely say the following - he is capable of love, he does not support occupation in his soul and he is definitely participating in some big game, and not just holding on to a "warm place".
But it also seems to me that regardless of the goals of the game he is leading and the side he is on, there is toughness in him. He is ready to sacrifice a large number of good people for these goals.

Against the background of this traitor, it is especially noticeable how much more real (for now) Zhou Zhifei is. With all his cynicism, opportunism, lies, maneuvering between different groups. But he loves his son - more than his mother loves. He sincerely cares about his ex. He even worries about his country in a sense. As if under all this cocoon of cynicism and lies there is something piercingly alive in him. And this is the tragedy.

A powerful scene when Gu Yizhong looks at Zhou Zhifei through the scope - and begins to hesitate. Yes, he is filled with rage, he wants revenge, he thinks that he must take revenge. But at the same time, even in this state - killing an unarmed man is still not so easy for him.

I feel the same way, and I tend to think it's intentional. So far, I think the drama has maintained the tone of each scene very accurately. And this traitor is really a fake from start to finish. How he threw his own child to kill the Eagle. And then his whole conversation with his wife. He is absolutely rotten to the core. And I think his wife's death was not an accident. Consciously or semi-consciously - he knew that he needed to kill her, and he was ready to do it.

After episode 21, I'm thinking about how the drama has already brought up the topic of mentor-student relationships several times. And that the relationship between Gu Yizhong and Zhou Zhifei also falls into the category of student and teacher in some twisted sense. So the question is - will they end up being that teacher and student who destroy one another, or those who save one another ?

He's definitely an anti-hero and definitely not a good person, but in my opinion he's much more complex than Saruman. And that's why he's so interesting to watch, because I can't predict what choice he'll make at the crucial moment.
He could end up losing the last of his humanity and turning into an absolute monster.
Or he could do something selfless, even save Gu Yizhong's life. Both scenarios are possible.

I think "lonely hero" applies to all the characters in this drama in one way or another. It is the specific loneliness of the individual in troubled times. In the end, faced with a cruel choice, each of them is alone.