A Mess
TLDR: this show is exactly what would have happened if someone woke up one day and decided to make Till the End of the Moon look nicer while having a sh*ttier story and characters.
The Good: As previously mentioned, this is a damn good looking drama. Aside from the wirework and some really bad editing (things appearing and disappearing from hands) Things look VERY nice. It's been a while since I've watched a proper XuanHuan fantasy with the works. The sets were pretty premium looking and visually appealing. Lots of varied settings that add very much needed distraction from all the stuff on screen that either bores/irritates you. The music was also okay, no tracks stood out to me but I definitely feel that the soundtrack is more balanced than TTEOTM's.
Got to also give the cast their flowers, everyone was clocking IN for their check. Not a singling person was phoning it in, Bai Lu was especially exciting to watch as always but I am her biggest fan so I could be biased. Zeng Shun Xi was not a bad actor either, I started the drama thinking his portrayal was a little too stiff (I was having Blossoms in Adversity flashbacks) but as time went on he did kinda win me over…
Okay now THE BAD:
This sh*t is in the wrong order.
I'm not joking, this story is told to its audience in the wrong ORDER.
I'm officially getting into spoiler territory here, so be aware.
In TTEOTM there is a flashback portion that adds to the story. The Untamed also starts in the “future” after most of the inciting events have happened, then it has an extended flashback to tell its background to the audience so they can be more invested in the coming conflicts and have a better understanding of how the past effects the characters they are invested in.
Feud doesn't take either approach, instead it withholds crucial information in favor of subverting expectations later.
I truly believe this show would have been twice as good if it had just told its story in chronological order with Bai Lu's Siling as the focus. If we had experienced her pain and suffering in real time, then it would have had 2 main benefits.
1. Siling's actions wouldn't have seemed so unnecessarily cruel and meaningless. Since I spent so much of the show following Bai Jiusi, we have more of a connection with him and his suffering. When Siling's motivation was revealed I was so tired of the subversion that I couldn't help but think that basic communication could have solved everything… (This is comedic foreshadowing)
2. Creating anticipation, instead of always feeling confused and wondering I'm going to get enough info to alleviate the distinct feeling of stupidity I was constantly burdened with. I could have been given Siling's side of the story and been patiently awaiting Bai Jiusi's finding out more about her core motivation. Then satisfaction from his finding out would have been wayyy better than how it was implemented.
Imagine this same story told in chronological order.
Siling and Bai Jiusi meet and form a connection ➡️ they fall in love➡️ they diverge in their philosophy and spilt➡️ Tragedy strikes➡️ Reincarnation.
Boom, then you can basically pick up where ep 1 starts. It just seems like such a waste of potential.
The other bad: The Side characters.
Almost every side character is either one dimensional or kinda appalling. Our 2nd ML is a creature that is only ever driven by his desire for the FML ( a woman he barely knows or talks to). A lotus demon who commits murder for like 5 episodes and is conveniently excused and redeemed. Another love triangle that persisted until the 3rd to last episode… (dumb)
And a whole host of side characters who don't matter.
In fact, they matter so little that it is only when their lives are endangered and are ready to sacrifice themselves. Each insignificant background character bravely calls out their name before getting obliterated. (Can not make this up, I do not remember those walking corpses and I never will.)
The other other bad.
Bai Jiusi's the most impressive punching bag I've seen since Yu Sifeng from Love and Redemption. Dude is betrayed, beaten and bamboozled in almost every episode. He's supposed to be the most powerful person but he's so whack. It's crazy. Such a stoic character makes terrible and borderline dumb decisions almost every episode.
The romance was so flat. It was definitely that fact that we only see the most basic of interactions between the leads…. then we're thrown into the most nonsensical long ass plot.
SPOILER
--‐---------------------------->
The time travel nonsense really grabbed me by the hair, slapped me and spat in my face and called me stupid for watching till the end.
Siling getting to go back in time and fix everyone's dumb little problems with just communication and ..... Yea.... thats it. She just talks to everyone and that shows that everything was a huge waste of time that would have been solved if ANYONE in the story stopped for a second and TALKED about what they wanted.... OMFG💀 the ending is dumb and unsatisfying too.
Overall, I think this drama is beautiful, but it is most certainly a waste of time. I will never watch it again.
The Good: As previously mentioned, this is a damn good looking drama. Aside from the wirework and some really bad editing (things appearing and disappearing from hands) Things look VERY nice. It's been a while since I've watched a proper XuanHuan fantasy with the works. The sets were pretty premium looking and visually appealing. Lots of varied settings that add very much needed distraction from all the stuff on screen that either bores/irritates you. The music was also okay, no tracks stood out to me but I definitely feel that the soundtrack is more balanced than TTEOTM's.
Got to also give the cast their flowers, everyone was clocking IN for their check. Not a singling person was phoning it in, Bai Lu was especially exciting to watch as always but I am her biggest fan so I could be biased. Zeng Shun Xi was not a bad actor either, I started the drama thinking his portrayal was a little too stiff (I was having Blossoms in Adversity flashbacks) but as time went on he did kinda win me over…
Okay now THE BAD:
This sh*t is in the wrong order.
I'm not joking, this story is told to its audience in the wrong ORDER.
I'm officially getting into spoiler territory here, so be aware.
In TTEOTM there is a flashback portion that adds to the story. The Untamed also starts in the “future” after most of the inciting events have happened, then it has an extended flashback to tell its background to the audience so they can be more invested in the coming conflicts and have a better understanding of how the past effects the characters they are invested in.
Feud doesn't take either approach, instead it withholds crucial information in favor of subverting expectations later.
I truly believe this show would have been twice as good if it had just told its story in chronological order with Bai Lu's Siling as the focus. If we had experienced her pain and suffering in real time, then it would have had 2 main benefits.
1. Siling's actions wouldn't have seemed so unnecessarily cruel and meaningless. Since I spent so much of the show following Bai Jiusi, we have more of a connection with him and his suffering. When Siling's motivation was revealed I was so tired of the subversion that I couldn't help but think that basic communication could have solved everything… (This is comedic foreshadowing)
2. Creating anticipation, instead of always feeling confused and wondering I'm going to get enough info to alleviate the distinct feeling of stupidity I was constantly burdened with. I could have been given Siling's side of the story and been patiently awaiting Bai Jiusi's finding out more about her core motivation. Then satisfaction from his finding out would have been wayyy better than how it was implemented.
Imagine this same story told in chronological order.
Siling and Bai Jiusi meet and form a connection ➡️ they fall in love➡️ they diverge in their philosophy and spilt➡️ Tragedy strikes➡️ Reincarnation.
Boom, then you can basically pick up where ep 1 starts. It just seems like such a waste of potential.
The other bad: The Side characters.
Almost every side character is either one dimensional or kinda appalling. Our 2nd ML is a creature that is only ever driven by his desire for the FML ( a woman he barely knows or talks to). A lotus demon who commits murder for like 5 episodes and is conveniently excused and redeemed. Another love triangle that persisted until the 3rd to last episode… (dumb)
And a whole host of side characters who don't matter.
In fact, they matter so little that it is only when their lives are endangered and are ready to sacrifice themselves. Each insignificant background character bravely calls out their name before getting obliterated. (Can not make this up, I do not remember those walking corpses and I never will.)
The other other bad.
Bai Jiusi's the most impressive punching bag I've seen since Yu Sifeng from Love and Redemption. Dude is betrayed, beaten and bamboozled in almost every episode. He's supposed to be the most powerful person but he's so whack. It's crazy. Such a stoic character makes terrible and borderline dumb decisions almost every episode.
The romance was so flat. It was definitely that fact that we only see the most basic of interactions between the leads…. then we're thrown into the most nonsensical long ass plot.
SPOILER
--‐---------------------------->
The time travel nonsense really grabbed me by the hair, slapped me and spat in my face and called me stupid for watching till the end.
Siling getting to go back in time and fix everyone's dumb little problems with just communication and ..... Yea.... thats it. She just talks to everyone and that shows that everything was a huge waste of time that would have been solved if ANYONE in the story stopped for a second and TALKED about what they wanted.... OMFG💀 the ending is dumb and unsatisfying too.
Overall, I think this drama is beautiful, but it is most certainly a waste of time. I will never watch it again.
Was this review helpful to you?
