Mydogdu

: So Much Potential, Too Many Shortcuts.

Pursuit of Jade started well and had the potential to be a much better drama, but unfortunately the writing became weaker as the story progressed. There were many things I enjoyed, but also far too many things that simply did not make sense to me.
My biggest problem was the military storyline. I liked Fan Chang Yu as a butcher. She was strong, fearless and capable of fighting, and I had no problem believing that she could kill skilled opponents. But being a good fighter does not suddenly make someone a good military commander. She had no military education, experience or understanding of strategy, yet she rose incredibly quickly and was eventually treated like an exceptional general. This is the military, not simply a question of who can fight best.
After her achievements, she could have been rewarded with a title, land or money and returned to her village. From there, she and her husband could have had a proper discussion and decided to investigate what really happened in the past together. The drama said they were going to investigate, but I never felt that we actually watched a properly executed investigation. Instead of seeing them uncover clues, question people, connect information and gradually discover the truth, important evidence such as the tiger tally and the letter practically dropped into their laps. That was disappointing because the mystery surrounding the events of 17 years ago should have been one of the strongest parts of the story.
Again, my criticism because the problem wasn't simply “she shouldn't have become a general.” There was already another storyline waiting for her — the investigation the drama itself promised and then barely gave us.
At the same time, Xie Zheng was supposed to be an experienced and highly capable Marquis, but I rarely got the opportunity to see his real talent. He spent far too much of the drama injured, poisoned or wounded. Other characters kept telling us how capable he was, but I wanted the drama to show us. I never really got to see enough of the military intelligence and ability that his reputation suggested.
I also disliked the unnecessary misunderstandings between the leads. When Fan Chang Yu discovered that her husband was actually the Marquis, I could understand her being shocked and angry that he had hidden his identity. But I did not agree with repeatedly treating him as a liar. He concealed his identity for reasons; that does not mean everything between them was a lie. She had every right to sit down with him and ask why he had not told her sooner, and he should have been given the opportunity to explain. Instead, the screenwriter chose another prolonged misunderstanding when a proper conversation between husband and wife would have been far more believable.
The supporting cast actually contained some of my favourite performances. Deng Kai as Qi Min/Sui Yuan Huai gets my main vote. He played a horrible person extremely well and made the character memorable. Yan Yi Kuan as Wei Yan was also very good as the mysterious Prime Minister; I enjoyed never being completely certain what he was thinking or where he stood. And little Fan Chang Ning completely won my heart. For such a young actress, Cao Yan Ning handled the role very well.
I also liked Gongsun, Sui Yuan Qing and Tao Yi, but unfortunately they didn't receive enough screen time. Sui Yuan Qing in particular felt wasted. His death left me wondering why his story had to end there when I wanted to see much more of him and what he might become after everything that had happened.
The post-credit scenes were another disappointment. I don't understand why they chose to create alternative versions of events instead of giving us meaningful closure for the characters we had just spent 40 episodes watching. Those alternative scenes might have worked better as opening-credit sequences or simply as separate bonus material.
For the actual post-credit scenes, I would much rather have seen Chang Ning growing up and becoming Empress, the future children of the lead couple, the Princess Royal and scholar's wedding, and perhaps small glimpses of where the surviving characters eventually ended up. That would have felt like a genuine conclusion and a reward for following their stories.
Overall, the drama had a good cast, some strong performances, attractive production and a promising beginning. My problem wasn't that there was nothing to enjoy — there certainly was. My problem was that the writing repeatedly took shortcuts, created unnecessary misunderstandings, underused interesting characters and told us things instead of properly showing them. Too many developments left me asking why?
With a more carefully written military storyline, a genuine investigation of the past, better use of Xie Zheng's abilities and proper closure for the supporting characters, this could have been a much stronger drama.

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