PeachBlossomGoddess

Falls for the oldest trick in the book. Smh.

Wow the eldest brother is a real dumb shit.

I agree the script is not good and the characters are not consistently written - as you point out the ML is sometimes kind of stupid and other times incredibly smart as demanded by the scene. But he is not the only victim of bad scriptwriting, every character gets their fair share of this. Bail Lu may or may not be trying to help him - we need to see the BTS for that but she simply cannot actually act the ML's role for him, he still has to rise to the role. So it is hardly fair to blame her for his failings. Why not put all the poorly acted roles on her too?
Having said all that, I don't think he is terrible and I don't think anyone is. He is just not executing to the same level as Bai Lu and other cast members.

I hope so. IMHO Bai Lu and Ren Jialun are both well matched in terms of ability.

Terrific article. The only thing that impressed me about The Untamed is that I didn't manage to die of boredom. Maybe these are some (but definitely not the only) reasons why.

Not at all, she is doing a good job but its like watching one hand clapping. That is why most of the critical comments on this show so far are focused on the lack of or awkward chemistry between the leads. She is a good actress but she definitely has room to improve.

I really like Bai Lu but I hate how they keep pairing her up with less established actors they are trying to promote. She really deserves to be paired up with someone who can pull her up to the next level and not the other way around. That said, I do think Wang Yizhe is a really excellent actor I really enjoyed both his roles in Court Lady. But he is much better suited towards playing an anti-hero or more complicated character not an infatuated and rather simple character like this. He has been badly mis-cast here.

Lol... its ok eyebrows grow back...

I know it is the style from that period but it is an atrocity - it makes her look plain and old. The only time I recognized her is when she sings the sheng role with strong eyebrows in the opera and she sizzles more with the dan in that than she does with the ML. smh.

Well this is another Yu Zheng production like Court Lady where for me anyway, you don't have to love the CP to like the drama. Even though they get better in the later episodes, I still enjoy both performances a lot better when they are interacting with other characters so the chemistry is not there yet (~ep 10). That said, this is clearly a creative take on Hunglou Meng/Dream of the Red Chamber, one of the 4 great Chinese vernacular classics. The broad similarity is that it is about the decline of a great aristocratic family where the protagonist (the eldest son) cannot marry the love of his life due to her low status. And they avoided the marrying cousins part but many characters have similarities to Hunglou Meng characters. What is interesting is they write in a bunch of very strong and independent modern thinking women during Ming dynasty, one of the most oppressive periods for women in Chinese history. The side characters are all much more interesting than the leads - the dad seems a bit dodgy, the 3rd sister in law is deliciously evil, even the ML sometimes comes across as cunning and sneaky (but I think that is not intended). Long winded way of saying if you are watching for the CP forget it, there are better romances out there. But if you are interested in the bigger story then its different in an interesting way. So far.

He has a great villain/scheming face that doesn't fit this character he is playing. He has gotten better in the later episodes - maybe Bai Lu makes him nervous as well, he seems more natural in scenes without her.

"Mindful person" is spot on. Maybe her acting can improve but callous people rarely do...

I dropped the first time too - glad you went back to it and I really hope you enjoy it as much as I did. :)

This is interesting even though I have no interest in the couple there is no chemistry there. The ML opens his eyes overly wide and unnaturally whenever he is with the FL and he puts on a very creepy fake innocent smile it really gives me goosebumps in not a good way. But the story is otherwise quite interesting.The dialogue is a bizarre mix of ancient and modern.

She just said focus on the matter at hand, i.e., the victims; Golden Hairpin is just one project out of many.

I was very impressed by her attitude and statement bc as much as it sucks for the production team, she is right, it is not about them but those poor girls. So I may never end up loving her acting but I will probably not avoid her dramas going forward.

I wasn't planning to watch this because I have already read the books and I am not a fan of Yang Zi's acting. But I feel it must be mentioned that her immediate reaction to this scandal and its impact on her is very cool - I believe she/her fan club made a statement along the lines that this is just one project among many for her and we should focus on the victims.

That would be a great watch party. But sounds like what we really ought to do is ask your mom for a watch list.

Lol tyvm - I am with you on Republican dramas but you won't even notice that about this one. My folks loved it, even my dad who has short attention span I am actually shocked he finished it. He kept shaking his fists at the screen yelling rascal, rascal!!!

Oh you must, I can't write a review to do justice to how good this show is.