After ep 30 everything feels like a summary and the flashbacks and sequence of events get so confusing.
I really think they tried to get creative with the storylines and then realized that had to wrap everything up in a matter of 2-3 episodes. so these wrap up episodes became more of monologues leaving viewers doing their best to connect the dots. great drama, still love it. but they bit off a little more than they could chew
all of this. but here I was loving 39 bc I was starved in the previous 10 episodes. it was as if I finally got some action. this drama was masterpiece in the first 25ish episodes and it really said lol nvm for the next ten episodes. but you’re so right. it is a little ridiculous in 39 now that you spell it out. 🫠
I’m only halfway through, and I still can’t figure out how she fights like that or has all these skills. She…
the coin scraping is called gua sha and is a form of treatment in traditional Chinese medicine. it’s typically used for relieving pain and muscle tension and increasing blood circulation. you don’t actually need to use a coin specifically, it was probably just an easily accessible hard object for scraping in that setting.
the show took it a step further for story telling purposes and said her meridians were blocked. so gua sha was likely used for improving circulation for her. but it’s all just an exaggeration, girl fell from a cliff. gua sha isn’t going to save her. having said that, I’m not complaining if I can get a scene like that 🔥😅
somebody tell the second leads that they are just second leads. they need not go this hard pls T_T
of course! no actor would do that in their own volition. this is a professional setting. my comment was more sarcastic, actually commending them for such giving 100%
It was not bad but with 9.2 it is highly overrated. ZHL is talented based on the Story of Kunning Palace, so far…
I think the dissatisfaction may stem from this being a drama centered around the female lead. And the male lead I guess was always her supporting character. but it was annoying bc all the characters in the drama would talk about how powerful the marquis is but we didn’t see it. can you imagine if we got 5-10 episodes of the marquis we saw in the tent when he cut off the ear?
IMO, the weakest part of this drama is the YQQ and QM storyline. I think a little less of them and more on developing…
yah they didn’t need to give me all those scenes for me to understand that SML was possessive. I think just the time invested in the second leads confused the audience. made us feel like okay where is this going, why is there so much screen time? bc I agree I def think it could have gone more towards the uncle and the emperor and the counselors instead of jamming that all in the end
This drama hooked me from episode 1. The chemistry between the leads and the story were so well done. It definitely felt like the production team spent a lot of time developing all the relationships, especially the leads, in the first 25ish episodes. It was obvious the female lead wore the pants in the relationship in the first half of the drama since ML married into her family so I was very much okay with that. But there really needed to have been more scenes showcasing the male lead's strength when his true identity was revealed in the second half of the drama. I do feel like we were robbed of fight scenes from ML.
The drama started to fall off for me around episode 26 because it started focusing more on the politics and developing the story between the Wei and Li counselors. It really came down to pacing here. They should have woven the politics into the beginning scenes more instead of giving us 6-10 episodes of almost all politics. It was hard to stomach since we were already conditioned to see the FL and ML onscreen 95% of the time for the first 26 episodes. It just felt like they were trying to redirect our attention to learning something new more than halfway through the drama and it felt so disjointed.
Maybe one of the reasons why it was extra annoying to have so much FL and ML time but then all of a sudden have that drop off into politics is because despite this shift, the second leads' story was always so well developed. It just felt like they got it all. the scenes, the emotion, the build-up, the angst and of course the SK and DK was absolutely excellent in their acting and portrayal of their roles. It really left me feeling well, if the second leads can get that, why cant the first leads also get that?
The drama picked up for me again around episode 36 because well, surprise surprise, more primary lead time onscreen. Thats really what I needed. Thats not to say the drama was as good as its beginning episodes because it wasnt. The issue was the storytelling at the beginning was acted out, it was shown to the audience. But in the latter episodes in order to clear up all the politics/backstory/misunderstandings, characters had to actually spell it out while reminiscing. Listening to a monologue and trying to understand all the intricacies is very different and less entertaining than seeing it acted out.
Something that made this story really shine was allll the side characters. The ruffians turned brothers were so endearing. Mr and Mrs Zhao caring for FL and her sister really grounded the drama from the start and gave it warmth. Even ML's trusted guard was fantastic. Not to mention the comedy that all these characters gave to the story. Every single one of them was such a joy to watch. Usually when I see an express package come out, fans are quick to speed through the drama because they want to know what happens. But I think for the first time, I'm seeing fans say, I'm going to wait because I dont want it to end. I believe its this sense of safety and nostalgia from the beginning episodes that really left a mark for the audience.
Definitely one of my fave dramas of all time because I'll never forget the obsession of waiting to watch the next episode at the beginning. It simply started out so strong. Perhaps one way around episodes 27-35 being disappointing for me, would have been to wait and binge this drama. It was unfortunate that during that time, only one episode was coming out a day. So we were waiting a whole 24h for a subpar 40-50 min, which really added to the resentment. But had I been able to watch some less desirable episodes quickly and then make my way to the better episodes ahead, I probably wouldn't have felt the sting as much.
Thankful for for this drama and I feel fortunate to have been able to watch this.
the show took it a step further for story telling purposes and said her meridians were blocked. so gua sha was likely used for improving circulation for her. but it’s all just an exaggeration, girl fell from a cliff. gua sha isn’t going to save her. having said that, I’m not complaining if I can get a scene like that 🔥😅
The drama started to fall off for me around episode 26 because it started focusing more on the politics and developing the story between the Wei and Li counselors. It really came down to pacing here. They should have woven the politics into the beginning scenes more instead of giving us 6-10 episodes of almost all politics. It was hard to stomach since we were already conditioned to see the FL and ML onscreen 95% of the time for the first 26 episodes. It just felt like they were trying to redirect our attention to learning something new more than halfway through the drama and it felt so disjointed.
Maybe one of the reasons why it was extra annoying to have so much FL and ML time but then all of a sudden have that drop off into politics is because despite this shift, the second leads' story was always so well developed. It just felt like they got it all. the scenes, the emotion, the build-up, the angst and of course the SK and DK was absolutely excellent in their acting and portrayal of their roles. It really left me feeling well, if the second leads can get that, why cant the first leads also get that?
The drama picked up for me again around episode 36 because well, surprise surprise, more primary lead time onscreen. Thats really what I needed. Thats not to say the drama was as good as its beginning episodes because it wasnt. The issue was the storytelling at the beginning was acted out, it was shown to the audience. But in the latter episodes in order to clear up all the politics/backstory/misunderstandings, characters had to actually spell it out while reminiscing. Listening to a monologue and trying to understand all the intricacies is very different and less entertaining than seeing it acted out.
Something that made this story really shine was allll the side characters. The ruffians turned brothers were so endearing. Mr and Mrs Zhao caring for FL and her sister really grounded the drama from the start and gave it warmth. Even ML's trusted guard was fantastic. Not to mention the comedy that all these characters gave to the story. Every single one of them was such a joy to watch. Usually when I see an express package come out, fans are quick to speed through the drama because they want to know what happens. But I think for the first time, I'm seeing fans say, I'm going to wait because I dont want it to end. I believe its this sense of safety and nostalgia from the beginning episodes that really left a mark for the audience.
Definitely one of my fave dramas of all time because I'll never forget the obsession of waiting to watch the next episode at the beginning. It simply started out so strong. Perhaps one way around episodes 27-35 being disappointing for me, would have been to wait and binge this drama. It was unfortunate that during that time, only one episode was coming out a day. So we were waiting a whole 24h for a subpar 40-50 min, which really added to the resentment. But had I been able to watch some less desirable episodes quickly and then make my way to the better episodes ahead, I probably wouldn't have felt the sting as much.
Thankful for for this drama and I feel fortunate to have been able to watch this.