A messy plot with decent actors and missed opportunities
For a drama with such a nice title, I was expecting something abit more mature.
It is clear that they went with an overall direction that is meant to please younger audiences with over the top editing, slow mow, fighting scenes, visual effects, stylish poses etc. Same with how they directed the FL and ML and their romance.
The show had many good premises, but it ended up being an absolute mess of story line.
1. Forced arranged marriage where a smart and defiant FL is not scared of ML, eventually aligning in solving cases together.
2. An empress dowager regent trying to fend off the wolves and protecting the throne for her grandson whilst also trying to promote women into power and Official positions.
3. Marshall Xu raising a bottom up police force to fight off the crimes of the nobles.
4. A sect spreading throughout the state brainwashing people and threatening the safety of the state and the throne
Any of these premises would have worked as a great drama in itself, but combined together, it was very chaotic. I definitely feel like it's a wasted potential, I wish the story line was consolidated and targeted towards more mature audiences. If they truly wanted to go with a silly romance and over the top action with good looking actors, they didn't need to go with such a convoluted plot.
Now, in terms of the premise of the show, FL acts according to her age, she is supposed to be young and willfull, so they went in that direction both woth how she acts and the romance itself. The actress in real life is very young, so making it the most sexy, steamy drama isn't very fitting in this instance. The story itself would have worked if the FL was older, almost considered "spinster" in those times. It would have been fun to see a "discarded" FL that has career ambitions slowly win over the scary and unapproachable ML. No need for the childhood connection.
There are some really interesting characters in the show, the actors do great/decent job. I appreciate some of the storylines in the drama, like FLs family and the empress dowager regent. It's a drama that is totally fine to watch in the background, but has little rewatch value, and relies on many tired tropes and this very empty feminism agenda.
I would give this a 6.5/10 in MDL scale. I fastforwarded alot of the last 10 episodes, because most of the scenes didnt really add much to the story.
It is clear that they went with an overall direction that is meant to please younger audiences with over the top editing, slow mow, fighting scenes, visual effects, stylish poses etc. Same with how they directed the FL and ML and their romance.
The show had many good premises, but it ended up being an absolute mess of story line.
1. Forced arranged marriage where a smart and defiant FL is not scared of ML, eventually aligning in solving cases together.
2. An empress dowager regent trying to fend off the wolves and protecting the throne for her grandson whilst also trying to promote women into power and Official positions.
3. Marshall Xu raising a bottom up police force to fight off the crimes of the nobles.
4. A sect spreading throughout the state brainwashing people and threatening the safety of the state and the throne
Any of these premises would have worked as a great drama in itself, but combined together, it was very chaotic. I definitely feel like it's a wasted potential, I wish the story line was consolidated and targeted towards more mature audiences. If they truly wanted to go with a silly romance and over the top action with good looking actors, they didn't need to go with such a convoluted plot.
Now, in terms of the premise of the show, FL acts according to her age, she is supposed to be young and willfull, so they went in that direction both woth how she acts and the romance itself. The actress in real life is very young, so making it the most sexy, steamy drama isn't very fitting in this instance. The story itself would have worked if the FL was older, almost considered "spinster" in those times. It would have been fun to see a "discarded" FL that has career ambitions slowly win over the scary and unapproachable ML. No need for the childhood connection.
There are some really interesting characters in the show, the actors do great/decent job. I appreciate some of the storylines in the drama, like FLs family and the empress dowager regent. It's a drama that is totally fine to watch in the background, but has little rewatch value, and relies on many tired tropes and this very empty feminism agenda.
I would give this a 6.5/10 in MDL scale. I fastforwarded alot of the last 10 episodes, because most of the scenes didnt really add much to the story.
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