This review may contain spoilers
Started strong, fell off 2/3 of the way through and found itself again at 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 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.
Was this review helpful to you?
