This review may contain spoilers
Disappointing End to a Fabulous Story
I loved this series. Actually, I mostly loved the character of Duke Su and especially Wang Xingyue's portrayal of him. On the flip side, I also had major issues with the series, especially the ending. But I'm getting ahead of myself.
Firstly, despite my critique, the story is very well structured. It starts off with small situations in line with the FL's revenge arc and merges brilliantly into the ML's greater agenda. The back story and the way the two storylines of the FL and ML meet are logical; the overall storyline is deliciously complex and makes sense as it grows. There aren't (too) many extraneous arcs or side journeys that seem to be out of context. Even the villains are given back stories that make you sympathise (though not empathise) with who they have become (except perhaps Shen Yurong. His choices baffle me. I think I've missed something with him.).
Secondly, the acting is excellent. In particular, the actress who played Princess Wanning and the actor playing Duke Su, both deliver masterful, enjoyable performances that, in anyone else's hands, would have been cheesy and melodramatic. But they're just restrained enough to avoid the cheese and the fact that they can draw that fine line is a testament to their skill. Duke Su's flamboyant body language was offset by the subtleties of his expression and the fact that he had such few lines. His sidekicks, Wen Ji and Lu Ji, depicting energy and restraint, were a joy to watch. I also liked Ji Shuran and Chancellor Li who both delivered believable menace and viciousness as needed. Wanning's final scene, in particular, is spectacular. I empathised with her so much at that point, villainy aside.
Xue Fangfei, unfortunately, wasn't quite up to the mark, perhaps because she was in so many scenes (I imagine she must be exhausted at different points and failed to deliver as a result). She slipped into the role of Jiang Li so effortlessly that it was unbelievable and by the end, I felt that even she didn't know who she was any more (completely ignored in the script, by the way. This should have been a major plot point). This might be why she didn't resonate with me. The whole teenage cadre (her sister, cousins, and classmates at the school) were frankly just over-acting and the scenes at the school felt like they were ripped off from every Hollywood teenagers-in-school movie ever made. The emperor, Situ Juyue, and Ye Shijje were all one-dimensional characters that would have benefitted from less screen time.
My real rant, however, is about the atrocious, unsatisfactory ending. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!!
I had so many questions at the end of this series:
1. How did the FL and ML get married if no one knows she's Xue Fangfei? How could the Jiang family accept that she went off and got married without informing them? (I'm not Chinese, so I don't know if this would be acceptable. It would not be in South Asia!)
2. Was she going to live as Jiang Li for the rest of her life? If not, was her real identity revealed? How did that happen and how did she avoid the charge of deceiving the emperor if it was? Shouldn't this be a major plot point that needed resolution?
3. If she was going to continue as Jiang Li, what would that mean for her father and brother? Were they simply going back to Huixiang and leaving her in the Capital, never to see her again?
4. Why would the emperor send off Duke Su to lead an army in the north instead of remaining by his side as his most trusted advisor and the only man he could trust in his court?
5. Also to that point, as brilliant a strategist as Duke Su was, he had no experience leading an army, yet he was sent off alone to guard the northern borders. Duke Su himself should have nixed that idea.
6. What was the point of killing off the sidekicks? It served no purpose--the plot did not need their deaths to move on (or to resolve itself and end), so was the whole fighting at the border scene just to bring some real grit into the show (which it didn't need)? Aside from giving us the epic visual of Duke Su with the pendant in his mouth, the battle at the end was totally extraneous and could have been built into the battle in the capital.
And my second rant is the lack of sufficient character-building for Duke Su. This is a complex, powerful character, yet we only get to see his full back story halfway into the series. We only meet his grandfather towards the last quarter of the series and an 8-year-long feud with him is settled in a matter of minutes by Xue Fangfei. Duke Su is a man with a demonic reputation, yet Xue Fangfei hangs out with him openly and no one in her life (her second uncle, the people of Huixiang, for example) stops her, questions her, or finds it odd that he has an interest in her activities. He's been immersed in a violent, corrosive scheme for 8 years and yet adapts seamlessly to having a woman in his life by the end without making major adjustments to his lifestyle.
The story would have benefited greatly if eye-rolling arcs like the slapstick maids in the beginning, the too-long arc of the Annual Exam bet, or the exorcism in the Jiang household had been shortened in favour of more interactions between Duke Su and Jiang Li's world. It would have benefitted as well if the FL spent less time hitting up Duke Su for favours, and more time strategising with him. (Note that the one time she doesn't ask for his help in her scheme against Wanning, she fails.) That would have given us a more satisfactory relationship-building arc. As it stands, Duke Su has almost no interaction with Xue Fangfei's world and vice versa. It's like they live in parallel worlds only connected by Xue Fangfei. So frustrating!
Despite my rants, I still loved Duke Su and Xue Fangfei and their slow-burn relationship. I loved the way their stories connected. I greatly admired and understood the villains (mostly). The dialogue is clever and multi-layered. The plot is also very cleverly revealed; when the penny drops for the FL, it will drop for the viewer as well--you're going to make connections and go back and watch scenes just to confirm what you've learned. I've watched the show more than twice and the third time, I skipped over the annoying arcs.
I highly recommend watching this because Duke Su is a beautiful (both literal and figurative) character. Watch it to meet him. It's worth it.
Firstly, despite my critique, the story is very well structured. It starts off with small situations in line with the FL's revenge arc and merges brilliantly into the ML's greater agenda. The back story and the way the two storylines of the FL and ML meet are logical; the overall storyline is deliciously complex and makes sense as it grows. There aren't (too) many extraneous arcs or side journeys that seem to be out of context. Even the villains are given back stories that make you sympathise (though not empathise) with who they have become (except perhaps Shen Yurong. His choices baffle me. I think I've missed something with him.).
Secondly, the acting is excellent. In particular, the actress who played Princess Wanning and the actor playing Duke Su, both deliver masterful, enjoyable performances that, in anyone else's hands, would have been cheesy and melodramatic. But they're just restrained enough to avoid the cheese and the fact that they can draw that fine line is a testament to their skill. Duke Su's flamboyant body language was offset by the subtleties of his expression and the fact that he had such few lines. His sidekicks, Wen Ji and Lu Ji, depicting energy and restraint, were a joy to watch. I also liked Ji Shuran and Chancellor Li who both delivered believable menace and viciousness as needed. Wanning's final scene, in particular, is spectacular. I empathised with her so much at that point, villainy aside.
Xue Fangfei, unfortunately, wasn't quite up to the mark, perhaps because she was in so many scenes (I imagine she must be exhausted at different points and failed to deliver as a result). She slipped into the role of Jiang Li so effortlessly that it was unbelievable and by the end, I felt that even she didn't know who she was any more (completely ignored in the script, by the way. This should have been a major plot point). This might be why she didn't resonate with me. The whole teenage cadre (her sister, cousins, and classmates at the school) were frankly just over-acting and the scenes at the school felt like they were ripped off from every Hollywood teenagers-in-school movie ever made. The emperor, Situ Juyue, and Ye Shijje were all one-dimensional characters that would have benefitted from less screen time.
My real rant, however, is about the atrocious, unsatisfactory ending. Warning: Spoilers Ahead!!!!
I had so many questions at the end of this series:
1. How did the FL and ML get married if no one knows she's Xue Fangfei? How could the Jiang family accept that she went off and got married without informing them? (I'm not Chinese, so I don't know if this would be acceptable. It would not be in South Asia!)
2. Was she going to live as Jiang Li for the rest of her life? If not, was her real identity revealed? How did that happen and how did she avoid the charge of deceiving the emperor if it was? Shouldn't this be a major plot point that needed resolution?
3. If she was going to continue as Jiang Li, what would that mean for her father and brother? Were they simply going back to Huixiang and leaving her in the Capital, never to see her again?
4. Why would the emperor send off Duke Su to lead an army in the north instead of remaining by his side as his most trusted advisor and the only man he could trust in his court?
5. Also to that point, as brilliant a strategist as Duke Su was, he had no experience leading an army, yet he was sent off alone to guard the northern borders. Duke Su himself should have nixed that idea.
6. What was the point of killing off the sidekicks? It served no purpose--the plot did not need their deaths to move on (or to resolve itself and end), so was the whole fighting at the border scene just to bring some real grit into the show (which it didn't need)? Aside from giving us the epic visual of Duke Su with the pendant in his mouth, the battle at the end was totally extraneous and could have been built into the battle in the capital.
And my second rant is the lack of sufficient character-building for Duke Su. This is a complex, powerful character, yet we only get to see his full back story halfway into the series. We only meet his grandfather towards the last quarter of the series and an 8-year-long feud with him is settled in a matter of minutes by Xue Fangfei. Duke Su is a man with a demonic reputation, yet Xue Fangfei hangs out with him openly and no one in her life (her second uncle, the people of Huixiang, for example) stops her, questions her, or finds it odd that he has an interest in her activities. He's been immersed in a violent, corrosive scheme for 8 years and yet adapts seamlessly to having a woman in his life by the end without making major adjustments to his lifestyle.
The story would have benefited greatly if eye-rolling arcs like the slapstick maids in the beginning, the too-long arc of the Annual Exam bet, or the exorcism in the Jiang household had been shortened in favour of more interactions between Duke Su and Jiang Li's world. It would have benefitted as well if the FL spent less time hitting up Duke Su for favours, and more time strategising with him. (Note that the one time she doesn't ask for his help in her scheme against Wanning, she fails.) That would have given us a more satisfactory relationship-building arc. As it stands, Duke Su has almost no interaction with Xue Fangfei's world and vice versa. It's like they live in parallel worlds only connected by Xue Fangfei. So frustrating!
Despite my rants, I still loved Duke Su and Xue Fangfei and their slow-burn relationship. I loved the way their stories connected. I greatly admired and understood the villains (mostly). The dialogue is clever and multi-layered. The plot is also very cleverly revealed; when the penny drops for the FL, it will drop for the viewer as well--you're going to make connections and go back and watch scenes just to confirm what you've learned. I've watched the show more than twice and the third time, I skipped over the annoying arcs.
I highly recommend watching this because Duke Su is a beautiful (both literal and figurative) character. Watch it to meet him. It's worth it.
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