This review may contain spoilers
A Brutal Study of Child Neglect Disguised as "Domestic Comedy"
The first half of this show is an exercise in frustration. Zhao Lusi is phenomenal as a girl who has been marginalized, bullied, and abandoned by a cold, calculating mother and a monstrously selfish grandmother. You feel her isolation and her brilliance as she outwits the bullies of the capital. However, the narrative issues start early: the show tries to make the grandmother’s abuse "funny" with silly music and slapstick antics.
Watching the ML (Wu Lei) enter the frame with such intensity and pain is the only thing that keeps you going. You hope for an epic about two broken people finding justice, but even here, the Emperor’s "funny grandpa" act is clearly a mask for a weak leader who allows a 15-year-old girl to be a political scapegoat. It’s a slow-burn setup that hints at greatness but is already showing signs of the twisted logic to come.
Watching the ML (Wu Lei) enter the frame with such intensity and pain is the only thing that keeps you going. You hope for an epic about two broken people finding justice, but even here, the Emperor’s "funny grandpa" act is clearly a mask for a weak leader who allows a 15-year-old girl to be a political scapegoat. It’s a slow-burn setup that hints at greatness but is already showing signs of the twisted logic to come.
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