This review may contain spoilers
Amazing twists, breakneck pacing, questionable plot
Finally finished this series and I'm here to write a review! The Glory is in a weird place with me. It's got definitive plot twists that will definitely surprise you, with foreshadowing that is well executed (omg the gun was great). The characters are also very distinct and unique in cdrama in that they sometimes use violent, even borderline unlawful methods to get things done. And the soundtrack is great (I love the token sad OST "Cut" or 剪, it's beautiful and I've played it on loop for hours). I don't like how the WeTV adaptation on YouTube cuts off the music itself even though I paid for a membership, so I'm missing some BGMs >:( But that's an issue with the channel, not the series itself.
Also, it's surprising great with food? We don't get many scenes, but there are still delicious when you see them! Why did the dad have to be such a good cook! I was so sold on him in the beginning >:(
Also the pacing is VERY fast. I was talking with others viewing the series and they were like "it's like they knew this is a revenge drama and went through all the usual stops and steps very very fast," to the point where you almost don't keep up with the emotional cues. But then the plot develops in other ways so you're like "oh, it makes sense that they wanna get over the smaller conflicts to move on to the bigger drama later."
This is also where the biggest question mark of the series comes in: the plot itself. It makes sense and it's definitely gripping, but sometimes takes leaps of logic that has to make me pause and re-suspend my disbelief. People have plots and counterplots to deal with each other SO fast, to the point that while it feels great to watch, it's also a little unbelievable that things could proceed so smoothly. The whole story arc where Hanyan has to dig up that body and drag it to the capital has a super skewed timeline, for one thing.
In terms of acting, Chen Duling (Zhuang Hanyan) has improved a lot since her earlier days, so I'm genuinely happy to watch her progress here. She still needs work in some aspects, but she doesn't make me wince when she shows emotions like crying or rage anymore! Xin Yunlai (Fu Yunxi) more or less finished the series with a wooden face throughout, but the plot and everything else made me more or less accept it. Jinna Fu (Chai Jing) was wonderful as the assassin character, and I wish she had more screentime case she was SOOOO cool but I get why they had to write her out later.
Last but not least, the cinematography is GORGEOUS. Even the care taken in the opening and closing credits (with mother-of-pearl on lacquer kinda art!!) is breathtaking, to say nothing of the various scenes throughout the drama. You can choose any episode and find a beautiful, wallpaper-worthy scene to screenshot.
So yeah, to quote the netizens who've watched it, this is a somewhat brainless series, but it's still very addictive and follows through on its own (borderline nonsensical) logic at times to make a coherent story. I would say to focus on the emotional beats and individual characters---the side characters are fascinating and complex, and I really loved how for once the "evil females" in a series were redeemed for the better and learned to live for themselves. It seems to reflect that people are sometimes twisted by circumstance because it seems like easy way to live a happy life, but that's not always the case.
I also like the little instances of wordplay in the series, especially with the secret code revealing Fu Yunxi's status as a spy AND the missing character on 家 to 冢 in the final episode to show how Zhuang Shiyang's "home" ultimately became his "tomb." And the way they depicted the ending was veeeeeeery subtle but well done (big spoilers ahead):
Ultimately, Fu Yunxi didn't survive long. In the ending scene when the characters both past and present, alive and dead, are watching the fireworks, he's dressed in the paler/colder/yin-coded shades of white & blue with the other dead characters on the left, while Hanyan and the living are dressed in vibrant reds on the right. But the fact that they're all in the same scene shows...that ultimately, their memory lives on in the family that continues beyond their deaths. TOT
Like Fu Yunxi said, "No matter how the past was, there's no need to revisit it. No need to entangle with the past. Because now, we have a beautiful future." WahhhHHHHHHhhhhhhhh (Also the reason I believe this is also b/c Chen Duling's studio released an edit post-series showing all of Zhuang Hanyan's dead loved ones "fading away" next to her and Fu Yunxi was like the first guy in the video to poof lol. If he did survive, he definitely didn't make it to or past the new year's. You can watch it here if it's still up: https://x.com/chenduling1018/status/1909936759460467143)
Anyways, the end! (I still can't believe main leads only kissed TWICE, once by accident and once in the last episode!!!! But I get it, this is more of a revenge drama than a romance drama hahaha).
Also, it's surprising great with food? We don't get many scenes, but there are still delicious when you see them! Why did the dad have to be such a good cook! I was so sold on him in the beginning >:(
Also the pacing is VERY fast. I was talking with others viewing the series and they were like "it's like they knew this is a revenge drama and went through all the usual stops and steps very very fast," to the point where you almost don't keep up with the emotional cues. But then the plot develops in other ways so you're like "oh, it makes sense that they wanna get over the smaller conflicts to move on to the bigger drama later."
This is also where the biggest question mark of the series comes in: the plot itself. It makes sense and it's definitely gripping, but sometimes takes leaps of logic that has to make me pause and re-suspend my disbelief. People have plots and counterplots to deal with each other SO fast, to the point that while it feels great to watch, it's also a little unbelievable that things could proceed so smoothly. The whole story arc where Hanyan has to dig up that body and drag it to the capital has a super skewed timeline, for one thing.
In terms of acting, Chen Duling (Zhuang Hanyan) has improved a lot since her earlier days, so I'm genuinely happy to watch her progress here. She still needs work in some aspects, but she doesn't make me wince when she shows emotions like crying or rage anymore! Xin Yunlai (Fu Yunxi) more or less finished the series with a wooden face throughout, but the plot and everything else made me more or less accept it. Jinna Fu (Chai Jing) was wonderful as the assassin character, and I wish she had more screentime case she was SOOOO cool but I get why they had to write her out later.
Last but not least, the cinematography is GORGEOUS. Even the care taken in the opening and closing credits (with mother-of-pearl on lacquer kinda art!!) is breathtaking, to say nothing of the various scenes throughout the drama. You can choose any episode and find a beautiful, wallpaper-worthy scene to screenshot.
So yeah, to quote the netizens who've watched it, this is a somewhat brainless series, but it's still very addictive and follows through on its own (borderline nonsensical) logic at times to make a coherent story. I would say to focus on the emotional beats and individual characters---the side characters are fascinating and complex, and I really loved how for once the "evil females" in a series were redeemed for the better and learned to live for themselves. It seems to reflect that people are sometimes twisted by circumstance because it seems like easy way to live a happy life, but that's not always the case.
I also like the little instances of wordplay in the series, especially with the secret code revealing Fu Yunxi's status as a spy AND the missing character on 家 to 冢 in the final episode to show how Zhuang Shiyang's "home" ultimately became his "tomb." And the way they depicted the ending was veeeeeeery subtle but well done (big spoilers ahead):
Ultimately, Fu Yunxi didn't survive long. In the ending scene when the characters both past and present, alive and dead, are watching the fireworks, he's dressed in the paler/colder/yin-coded shades of white & blue with the other dead characters on the left, while Hanyan and the living are dressed in vibrant reds on the right. But the fact that they're all in the same scene shows...that ultimately, their memory lives on in the family that continues beyond their deaths. TOT
Like Fu Yunxi said, "No matter how the past was, there's no need to revisit it. No need to entangle with the past. Because now, we have a beautiful future." WahhhHHHHHHhhhhhhhh (Also the reason I believe this is also b/c Chen Duling's studio released an edit post-series showing all of Zhuang Hanyan's dead loved ones "fading away" next to her and Fu Yunxi was like the first guy in the video to poof lol. If he did survive, he definitely didn't make it to or past the new year's. You can watch it here if it's still up: https://x.com/chenduling1018/status/1909936759460467143)
Anyways, the end! (I still can't believe main leads only kissed TWICE, once by accident and once in the last episode!!!! But I get it, this is more of a revenge drama than a romance drama hahaha).
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