Nelly

A Love Letter Wrapped in an Angry Rant: Triad Princess (2019) and the Netflix Injustice

Let me preface this by saying: this is not an angry review of the drama itself. Triad Princess is not the problem. Netflix, come outside—we need to talk.

Let’s deal with the two elephants in the room. Pun intended—honestly, I have never seen so many elephant-themed props in one series. I half-expected a pachyderm to walk through a scene and get a cameo credit. But I digress.

Elephant #1: That Ridiculous MDL Rating

I don’t know what happened, and I’m not even going to pretend to understand the black hole of logic, But why Triad Princess is floating below where it deserves is beyond me. It had decent viewership, loyal fans begging for a second season, and some of the most fun, stylish energy I’ve seen in a Taiwanese production. I know MDL can sometimes feel like Yelp for the emotionally chaotic, but come on. If you stumble across this drama on a lazy Tuesday night, do not look at the rating. Don’t even glance at it.The reviews that scream “rushed" are missing the point—this show is a riot, a trip, and one of the best Taiwanese dramas Netflix ever bothered to touch.

Elephant #2: Netflix, What Were You Thinking?!

Let me just say it: Who in the bright boardroom of streaming wisdom thought it was a great idea to buy a six-episode, 40-minute-per-episode, genre-blending Taiwanese gangster romcom in 2019—and then ghost it like a bad Tinder date? Not just any drama, but a visual feast, a nostalgic thrill ride, a rare gem! And then they left it hanging with no plans for renewal? Netflix, baby, why even start if you’re not going to finish? This is five years late, yes, but my rage has been slow-cooked to perfection. I’m not okay.

Back to the Beginning: How I Ended Up Here

So, why am I talking about a 2019 drama in 2025? Yes am still locked in the drama slump prison so I found Behind Your Smile—one of those emotional sagas that makes you feel like you’re legally obligated to send the characters birthday cards—and I met Eugenie Liu. I went digging through her filmography and—bam!—Triad Princess slapped me across the face like a long-lost memory. I had watched it back in 2019, blissfully unaware it was even Taiwanese (I admit, my Asian geo-cultural radar was… let’s say “under construction”). But this time? I was watching with fresh eyes, and a keyboard ready to spill some feelings.

The Story: Triad Nostalgia with a Modern Glow-Up

So, what is it about Triad Princess that made people fall in love and scream for more?
Two words: Gangster Nostalgia.

Remember those golden-era Hong Kong triad dramas? Where every family had a code, every betrayal meant war, and you settled grudges with actual fistfights instead of lawsuits? Triad Princess brings that essence back—only this time, they swap the gritty back alleys for neon lights, the bloodshed for few broken ribs, and the tragic male antiheroes for a female lead with a motorbike,a gun and attitude. There are still bullets, sure, but it’s cleaner, stylish, more tongue-in-cheek.

And this triad isn’t just for show. The Ni family, led by mob boss Kun, is the real deal. Kun is mafia to the bone—he’s got men in black, a castle for a home, and enough hierarchy to make a Roman emperor blush but he prefers to stay home making Chinese tea.Angie, his daughter and our female lead, is protected by layers of loyal foot soldiers: the Inner Circle (ride or die), the Outer Circle (kind of useful), and the Outer-Outer Circle (half-asleep at the gate unless someone yells "hotpot"). Honestly, I could watch a whole spin-off just about these guys.

Our Leading Lady: Angie Ni, Motorcycle-Riding Royalty

Casting Eugenie Liu was a masterstroke. I had seen her being soft-spoken and tragic in Behind Your Smile—then here she comes, kicking goons into the Pacific and handling firearms like she was born on an action set. I paused mid-episode just to whisper “YES” into the void. This is the FL I’ve been waiting for. No whining, no brooding—just a woman trying to outrun her destiny,she fights fate for being born into the Triad,she fights love that shows up in her present and uncertainty that looms over her future.

Angie wants her freedom, but her father wants her to carry on the traditions. She says, “No thanks,” and with the help of her makeshift brother/bodyguard/friend-with-an-escape-plan, she bolts. Cue her transformation into a bodyguard in the glamorous but brutal entertainment industry.While Angie can disarm a thug, can she disarm a headline-hungry paparazzi? And then, of course, there’s love—the biggest emotional landmine of all..

Raised as the only daughter of one of the most feared triad bosses in Taiwan, Angie was supposed to live the high life behind guarded walls, making polite tea and smiling like she’s in a historical drama. But Angie revved up her motorcycle, and chose a path of fake identities and actual employment in the entertainment industry. The rebellion? Immaculate. The execution? Questionable, but entertaining.

Angie Ni isn’t perfect—and thank God for that. She’s messy. She makes dumb choices. She reacts before thinking. But she’s also passionate, loyal, wildly brave, and funny in the way only people who’ve never had to follow the rules can be. And whether she’s crying in her helmet or she is kicking someone with her limited edition boots,you believe every second of it.
She is, without a doubt, the blueprint for every chaotic-good female lead we’ve begged dramaland to give us. And they did—for six episodes. (Netflix, come to the front of the congregation.)

Enter Xu Yi Hang: Jasper Liu in His Element

Played by the king of emotional devastation himself, Jasper Liu. This man must have a clause in his contract that says “No happy endings allowed.” He plays a beloved celebrity, living in a glass house.Until he meets Angie.They’re opposites, they’re magnets, they’re destiny—and yes, Angie was a fangirl before she became his co-star's bodyguard whose life is intertwined with his. Cue every delusional fan fantasy being fulfilled. (Don’t look at me, I will not go down my Ji Chang Wook rabbit hole. Not today.)

So here he is, our leading man: a mega-famous idol with enough charm to convince a brick wall to open up about its feelings. On the surface, Xu Yi Hang is every publicist’s dream—soft-spoken, polite, visually angelic with a smile that would light up a small country. But peel back the layers, and you’ll find a man who's basically living on autopilot, running on 80% PR scripts and 20% unresolved crisis.He’s not even living his own life at this point—he’s living a crowdsourced fantasy. Every interview answer is a carefully curated lie, every relationship is a contract.

The thing about Xu Yi Hang is that he doesn’t know how to exist outside the script—and Angie? She’s never even seen the script. So their dynamic is basically watching a porcelain teacup trying to keep up with a tornado in high heels. Xu Yi Hang is the perfect balance of cinnamon roll and “someone please keep him away from sharp objects.” And maybe that’s why you will love him—because under all the glamor and perfect hair, he’s just a man hopelessly in love with the "wrong" woman.

Let’s not forget he literally jumped headfirst into the wild world of triad politics for her, without a single life skill relevant to gang warfare. No gun training, no street smarts, no get-out-of-death-free card—just vibes and love. Like, sweetie, this isn’t a fanmeet. These people carry real weapons. And he just rolls in with his heart on his sleeve and maybe a monologue about personal freedom. Bless his soul.

Side Characters: A Rich Tapestry We’ll Never Fully See

There were so many intriguing characters—friends, rivals, comedic relief, ex- lovers—and every one of them felt like they had a full backstory just waiting to be told. But alas, Netflix (insert furious emoji #3) took all that potential and yeeted it into a vault marked “To Be Continued” that they never reopened... Criminal 😢

1. Sophia (The Agent Who Deserved a Whole Spin-Off and a Hug)
Sophia, Angie’s boss at the entertainment agency, is the kind of character you initially think is just a no-nonsense career woman with a Bluetooth earpiece permanently fused to her head. But then—boom—you learn she’s carrying enough emotional weight to crush a lesser human.

2. Eddie (The Second Male Lead Who Had No Chance, But We Respect the Effort)
Eddie is the crown prince of Second Lead Syndrome Prevention. Not because he isn’t sweet or likable—but because the man never stood a chance the moment Xu Yi Hang walked in with that hair and trauma.But he tries. Oh, he tries.He’s the human equivalent of a LinkedIn-approved relationship: stable, presentable, and deeply, tragically boring to our chaos queen.

Open Letter to the Writers

Dear writers: Next time Netflix knocks and says “Here’s some cash, give us six episodes and we’ll see about the rest,” slam the door and run. Or, at the very least, use those six episodes to tie up enough loose ends so we’re not left dangling like a third lead in a 52-episode C-drama.
Also, I didn’t catch Second Lead Syndrome, but let’s just say… he was not my favorite and he took up too much screen. You know, you know.
And that one couple they tried to toss in for inclusivity points? Look, I appreciate the effort, but it felt like trying to turn a tiger into a sheep with a dye job. If you’re going to do it,don’t do it at all. I said what I said.

Final Verdict: 10/10 Would Recommend (And Rant About Again)
This drama may be short, but it punches hard. It’s got gangsters with hearts, princesses with brass knuckles, and just enough emotional depth to make you scream into your pillow "I need 10 more episodes".. If you want a break from melodramatic slow burns and second leads who cry more than they talk—this is it. It’s fast, fierce,fun and verbally uncesored.

PS:I now know how to curse in Mandarin. Thanks, Triad Princess. And Netflix? We’re still not on speaking terms.