SilverStream

Excellent Story and Acting, Lost to Fandom Nonsense

More and more, I’m beginning to think that C-Ent fandoms don’t really care about storylines, characters, or plots in a drama, as long as it always portrays their chosen actor in the most favourable light possible. Some irrational reactions to Episode 29 and Xiao Huaijin (whose actions were in-character, and absolutely correct) have cast a deep shadow on the series finale and the wonderful subversion of gender roles that, up until the wave of online hate, were what set this show apart.

Confused? Let me explain.

Unveil Jadewind is a story about a woman who spends her life in the pursuit of justice. She’s a highly intuitive and capable investigator and martial artist. She runs the Palace Investigation Bureau, is a favourite adopted child of the Emperor, and is loved by the people she works with. This is Li Peiyi, a judicial officer who bends the law in favour of justice, determinedly working for the marginalised and powerless, thereby dispensing actual justice rather than just following the rules.

She’s assisted by a genius historian who, unbeknown to her, is deeply intertwined with her tragic past. Xiao Huaijin is the opposite of Li Peiyi. Where she is brash, reckless, instinctive and in-the-moment, he is rational, calm, clinical, and able to see the wider picture. The couple are written as human, with flaws and weaknesses that manage to paint them as real. She’s an exceptional fighter and strategist, but often acts unilaterally and from the gut without considering the consequences (the fact that she has the Emperor’s favour contributes to her over-confidence). He’s a brilliant mind with a well of patience, wisdom, and knowledge, but he can’t stand the sight of blood and has no physical prowess. They complement each other perfectly and their individual character growth as a result of their interactions is visible and delightful.

The cases they investigate are complex and layered, moving from what on the surface seem to be straightforward, often to have deep and lasting effects on the world around them. The show spends, in my opinion, an inordinate amount of time on the stories behind the cases, explaining the murderers’ motivations and circumstances in great detail. But this is in service to the overall atmosphere of the show, which seems to be a powerful treatise on how following the law does not always equal justice. The cases aren’t connected to each other or to the overall arc of the story, but they all warrant an understanding of the human psyche and the social conditions prevalent during the Tang Dynasty.

Both characters and story are a recipe for success, and this should have been a much more popular show than the ratings suggest. The reason it’s not is that audiences are no longer looking for depth. They want instant gratification and don’t want to be asked to think about what each case in this wonderful story is teaching you about the world around you—because so little has changed in terms of discrimination and disparity today, setting aside technical and social evolution. This show tells you that in gentle ways at almost every turn.

Worse still, Chinese fandoms reacted in exactly the way that this drama is trying to subvert. At a certain point, Huaijin stops Peiyi from doing something that would ruin her life—a scenario in which the justice-loving Peiyi’s harrowing life story subsumes all rationality and common sense and gives way to base vengeance. This action garnered Huaijin—and the actor playing him—enormous amounts of vitriol online. Under different circumstances (different actors, perhaps?), the audience would have seen this for what it was—the rational character calming the intuitive one. But the fact that the male was the calm one and the female reacted from the gut seems to have ignited some vicious double standards.

The online reaction may also have to do with the misaligned popularity of the actors rather than the characters. The fact that Episode 29 laid bare Peiyi’s flaws wasn’t appreciated AT ALL and the growing popularity of the gentle male lead (Thai Orange Tea, anyone?) was roundly attacked. Bai Lu’s massive fanbase mobilised so effectively at any possible criticism of her character that Xiao Huaijin, who’d been consistently beating out conventional testerone-fuelled male characters in character indices, dropped from #3 to #9 in two days.

The reality is that the frail Xiao Huaijin and the overbearing Li Peiyi stand out from typical C-Ent heroes and yet they’re both great characters, acted out extremely well. Even the supporting cast, including the case-specific actors, do a good job, making the individual stories believable and effective. Add to that a high budget and some truly exquisite costumes and set design, this becomes an atmospheric, layered, and well-made show that is totally worth your time.

Read More

Why is Sappiness so Popular?

I'm not sure when it became fashionable to drown the main leads in saccharine sappiness, but this drama is clearly under water. The story has two distinct storylines: a) the love story between the ML and FL, and b) the politics of the empire.

The love story is where the sappiness blooms. A young woman promised in marriage to the (then) crown prince becomes another prince's apprentice. She's initially mute, but finds support and kindness in her apprenticeship and blossoms into a young woman who's found her voice. Unfortunately, the love affair drags itself into an early grave. I was bored to tears by the longing looks and unspoken gestures that seemed to signify everything but a commitment to each other. Neither of the main characters have the backbone, smarts, or determination to do anything but accept the hand dealt to them and fall passively into their respective fates. Arguably, the FL chose her final fate, but she could easily have taken a different route if the scriptwriters hadn't been so wedded to the aforementioned sappiness. It didn't help that the FL was so childish and wooden.

The court politics may very well be a close reflection of reality, but they came across as a hot mess. No emperor, until the final emperor, could maintain power. There were coups within coups, backstabbing, power grabs, and revenge arcs played out in quick succession. It was obviously meant to depict the raw ugliness of power politics, but until the villain finally stepped up, all I could do was watch in utter bemusement as people in power ended up in early graves, one after the other.

The only saving grace for this sappy hot mess was (wait for it) the villain. The young crown prince is deposed before he ever becomes emperor. He is sidelined, abused, discarded, and rejected. He nurses his grievances and waits for his opportunity. He goes from being a sickly, helpless, sad boy to a cunning, vicious powerhouse. It's almost like the writers loved writing him more than any other character in the entire drama. The actor does a brilliant job with this character, and really, this is the only reason this show gets 4.5 stars instead of 2.

Read More

Mystery Lovers Shouldn't Miss This!

Shadow Detective isn’t the most suspenseful drama of the year, but it’s a surprisingly gripping story with well-developed characters and strong acting. (I attribute this to Wang Xingyue’s soulful portrayal of Guan Cen, but you should know that I’m deeply biased.)

Years ago, Guan Cen’s little sister was kidnapped along with Lu Jialei (the heroine of the story), and he’s been searching for her ever since. With laser focus and a deep obsession, he burns bridges with a ruthless calm that screams tortured hero. While his sister is still missing, a grown-up Lu Jialei, now Lu Yizhen, who escaped her fate years ago, joins the police force and becomes one of the first female detectives in the squad—reporting directly to the quietly simmering Guan Cen.

Lu Yizhen is a bold heroine, thankfully neither coy nor perpetually in distress. She’s a badass that can hold her own physically and intellectually, which is a delight. Her chemistry with Guan Cen is strong (ignore comments that say otherwise). The two of them fit well together, though it’s a slow-burn romance.

This is NOT a romance, though romance-chasers will find more satisfaction in Shadow Detective than they did in The Wanted Detective. It is a detective show—clearly WXY’s preferred genre—and our protagonists grow close over a series of cases that, while not as bizarre as advertised, are still enjoyable to deconstruct. The clues are well-placed and the detectives’ deductions are sound.

This was filmed in 2022/2023 over a short ~50 days on a shoestring budget. As such, it’s a tight, efficient script without bloat (24 30-minute episodes), so you don’t have to wade through eye-rolling antics to get to the finale. This Republican-era Wang Xingyue is impeccably dressed and gorgeous, even though he’s only 20 years old and sometimes, it shows. The supporting characters are great—my favourite is Dr Ding. Everyone should have a friend like Dr Ding. (Lu Yizhen’s roommate, however, is a bit of a drag.) Director Huo is hilarious; the scene where he asks Lu Yizhen if he’s handsome had me laughing out loud. Du Lingfeng is even more suave than Guan Cen, but an ally, not a rival, which in such a tight script, would have been obnoxious.

The show has held up remarkably well considering its budget, though I do have some questions (WARNING: SPOILERS AHEAD):



1. What happened to Lu Yizhen's parents? They cut her off then completely disappeared from her life. I would have liked to see them at the end when she has a ring on her finger (if you’ve watched the show, you’ll know why).

2. The whole ‘Juggernaut’ thing was possibly the only ‘bloat’ in the show. This remarkable heroine is also a writer in her spare time, and apparently, Guan Cen is one of her biggest fans. But this storyline gets dropped midway through the show and we never hear of it again. I don’t get its relevance to the main arc.

3. Where is Guan Cen’s family??? He’s so despairingly alone in this world.

4. They give the heroine a little too much credit towards the end of the show. She is too self-composed against Sasaki for a rookie detective. Impossible that in her first undercover assignment, she doesn’t put a foot wrong. That said, she grows up over the course of 24 episodes quite nicely.

Shadow Detective is an atmospheric show with a good build up and an emotional ending. If I hadn’t had work, I would have binge-watched it on release. Fortunately, I got a chance to binge-watch it this week. Like any good show in this genre, it keeps you hooked. Niggling issues aside, this is an enjoyable easy-to-consume story with a satisfying ending. I highly recommend it!

Read More

A Veritable Brand Fiesta

This was a show extolling the 'virtues' of big corporations in a world that is dying because of the excesses of capitalism.

But let's leave politics aside for a moment. Even if the product placement wasn't oppressively in your face, this show lacks any cohesive plot or character development that might give it any appeal. It's popularity seems to be more about the actors than the story, or perhaps the notion that it depicts a 'progressive' modern image of South Korea.

There are so many issues with this show. I found that the FL had no character development at all - she was apparently perfect to start with. The ML, on the other hand, was ridiculously imperfect and arrogant and had to be TAUGHT to care about other people by the FL.

Some things were really over the top:

1. The ML had no experience at the job (he spent years studying) but he was made the president of the hotel after ONE event.
2. No one in the entire hotel could provide the ML any clues about his mother's disappearance for decades, but the FL found out about her almost effortlessly in a matter of days.
3. The ML had almost nothing to do at work (where he was apparently given a challenging leadership position) except fall for the FL. And he fell almost immediately. Granted, without his immediate interest, the plot would not have moved along, but it felt forced and uncomfortable, built on superficial interactions.
4. The FL's ex-boyfriend was such a stereotype. I can't understand the purpose of his role except to make the ML look good in contrast (since the ML was quite a trainwreck himself, to begin with).
5. They found, forgave, and moved on from the disappearance of the ML's mother in one episode. Wasn't this a major plot point?
6. The FL discovered and implemented her lifelong dream in one episode.
7. In 32 years, the ML made NO friends and had no relationships, not even bad ones. Really?

Almost every episode made my roll my eyes in agony at the complete lack of originality or depth in the script. It's pure bubblegum fluff, trite romantic tropes, and grating brand promotions, built entirely on the looks of the main leads. The only reason it got 2 stars is because the main leads' acting was half-way decent. Give it a miss. You won't have lost anything.

Read More

Came for Wang Xingyue; Found it Surprisingly Funny

I had low expectations for this story; I'm not a fan of romcoms, but I needed some Wang Xingyue content after the end of the brilliant show "The Wanted Detective". It seems, recognising that some of us may be in withdrawal, iQIYI recently uploaded and made free to watch (on their app and on YT) the entire 24-episode show.

This has some absurd plot lines, some annoying ones too -- I found Lin Chi's sister and her master immensely irritating. And the misunderstandings between the protagonists are predictable and sometimes even irksome. However, WXY's acting is as superb as ever. He made me empathise with a character who, for all intents and purposes, is Pinocchio waiting to become a real boy.

As someone who was born without the senses of touch, taste, or smell, Mo Ching Chen regains sensory perception as soon as he touches the heroine, Lin Chi. So, naturally, he wants to keep her with him at all times as he finally experiences the joys of cold snow, the fragrance of brewed tea, and the taste of salt and spice. Inevitably, these two fall in love, but not before some laugh out loud moments ("You were at 53..."). The earlier episodes also have some hilarious acting from the FL, such as when Mo Ching Chen calmly exploits a loophole in their contract, and her frustration boils over at him.

But Mo Ching Chen is a prince, a martial arts expert, and a recluse living in the outskirts of the capital. Romance comes with the inevitable court politics, a manipulative emperor, an overly invested empress, and an evil scheming brother.

This does feel like a series of haphazard plot lines thrown together to make a show, but it's highly enjoyable regardless. The chemistry between the main leads is good, there's plenty of kissing for those can't do without, and it really is quite funny.

Don't take the story seriously. This is a good show to watch when you have nothing else happening and you want a laugh along with a serious dose of Wang Xingyue's angular beauty. If you're looking for depth or meaning, stay away.

Read More

Severely Underrated and Misunderstood

It's astonishing how many people came into this show with preconceived notions of what it should be. Even though its genre is clearly defined (mystery, thriller, suspense), the lack of "romance" (in quotes because there IS romance, just not the stereotypical flirty kind) caused many people to drop the show without giving it a chance.

Here's the thing; this is a brilliant story. It has two things that make it eminently rewarding. It has a complex matroska-style mystery, and it has great characters. The suspense alone and the shock of discovering who Yesha was and why he even existed should have been enough, but alongside that, there was significant and logical character evolution, starting, of course, with the greatest detective in Qi, Xiao Beiming.

A lot of Wang Xingyue's supporters may have watched this because of him, and I'm about to piss them off. Xiao Beiming is a better character than Xiao Heng (aka Duke Su). Beiming has a visible growth arc, unlike the perfect Duke (whom I also love, don't get me wrong). Beiming faces defeat, often, and still manages to come out on top. He falls from grace, and still manages to recover. He has flaws, and the writers are not afraid to expose them to us. They're also not afraid to beat the hero down at every opportunity--something that pissed off a number of WXY fans, I suspect. But as a trope, it's one of the best ones out there. The hero that rises from the ashes to defeat the enemy is much more impressive than the perfect hero, and Xiao Beiming really is a phoenix in this tale. He's ably supported by a series of characters each with their own amazing growth arcs, from the preening peacock who becomes friends with his rival to the fumbling poisoner who turns into the best coroner in Qi. The women aren't treated any differently--they're just characters with their own arcs. They come in all forms, from fearsome warriors to delicate flowers with their own strengths and weaknesses.

There also aren't any plastic villains. Yesha is as smart, if not smarter, as the heroes, and his evil plans are deliciously far-sighted.

Even the romance, such as it is, is beautifully done. It's not a fairy tale romance, rather it's the warm embrace of old lovers who know and support each other through countless trials. It favours emotional intelligence over chemical reactions, which is preferable for the story, considering the seriousness of the evil the characters confront.

There are real consequences to people's actions in this story, and nothing is obvious or easy to solve. Each case unlocks the greater mystery of Haiya and Yesha. At the end of the series, all the pieces of this giant jigsaw fall into place with satisfying clicks. Everything is so deeply connected that you're going to have to go back and watch earlier episodes to see if everything makes sense. And it does.

I'm truly in awe of this story. It's a visual, auditory (I love the music), and intellectual treat, and those who missed out because they wanted perfect heroes and trite romantic tropes have done the writers and actors of this show a great disservice. Without support, stories like this will be few and far between and THAT would be a great tragedy.

I'm giving it 10 stars because everything was really well done. There was some exceptional acting, especially Wang Xingyue and He Luo Luo, and I expect to be rewatching this often.

Read More

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.

Read More

Laugh Out Loud Awesomeness

Having been previously disappointed with the immensely popular "King the Land", I almost gave this a miss despite the ratings. I am so glad I didn't.

Shin Hae Sun is an AMAZING actress. She embodied the role of modern-day chef in the body of a delicate queen so well that I absolutely believed she was a man. This is a great story that I recommend to everyone. It has humour, considerable palace intrigue, plenty of romance, and a well-thought-out plot. Add to that some excellent character evolution (especially the young king) and you've got a real winner on your hands.

I won't spoil the story, but just let me say, this is a funny show with a soul, and some great plot twists that you won't see coming. I commend the writers on their entirely believable character development. This is amongst my favourite K-dramas so far.

Read More

Charming and Funny, with Some Flaws

To be absolutely frank, I watched this hot off the heels of The Double and only because it had Wang Xingyue in it. Good actors tend to choose roles and scripts wisely, and so far, he hasn't disappointed. I watched him as a villain in One and Only where he was outstanding.

So, I went into Perfect Match expecting another great show, and he didn't let me down.

Perfect Match is a light-hearted comedy with rich characters and some unbelievable plot twists. It's a period drama NOT, for once, set in the imperial court and there are no court politics to navigate. That by itself makes it different from all the other costume dramas I've seen so far. The story is about a widow with five daughters, four of them unmarried, and her prime goal in life is to marry them off. Reminiscent of Pride and Prejudice, there are misunderstandings, schemes, and issues of class and income to overcome with each match. One by one, however, the Widow Li finds the perfect match for the different temperaments of each daughter.

It's not all perfect, however. There are some things in some of the stories I found annoying. (Warning, SPOILERS AHEAD!)

For example, the second match of Du Yangxi and eldest daughter Shuhoa was just fraught with issues from the get-go. He's secretive and scheming, laying plans and executing them on his own, and she's mistrustful, giving him 'tests' of his feelings for her. Given how they began their marriage, the distrust was to be expected, but I found their storyline too unbelievable to like them as a couple. The youngest daughter was married off to someone who once threatened and bullied the entire family. THAT was a major red flag. No matter how they tried to explain it away (he was young and had unsavoury companions who led him astray--can you feel my eyes roll as I write this?), this was an appalling match. And the fourth daughter married a robot masquerading as a man until he had an accident and suffered a bout of--of all the tropes--AMNESIA. That apparently set him straight, turning Pinocchio into a real boy.

Perhaps the only two matches I was totally on board with (and I admit, I'm biased) were the third daughter and the stepdaughter. They rushed through the storylines of the youngest daughter and the stepdaughter, however, (six episodes for both, whereas the others each had ~10 episodes per couple) so these weren't properly fleshed out, sadly.

On the flip side, the sets are meticulous. The attention to detail with everyday life during the Song Dynasty is top-notch. The atmosphere is beautifully designed and, overall, if you don't take the crazy too seriously, Perfect Match is fun to watch. It's low-stakes and comedic, the acting is crisp and funny; it will draw you in, and before you know it, you'll be invested in the characters and will HAVE to watch the series till the end.

Read More

Too Gentle

I generally enjoy slow, deep stories. But this was too slow, too gentle, too shallow a story line to maintain my interest. The main characters are overly sweet and, frankly, just dull. This may be because this is aimed at a much younger audience; the FL in this case was just too young and naive.

I skipped large swathes of the episodes focused on the FL and ML relationship, so I technically haven't seen the whole series. The story line of the ML's career was much more compelling, so I did watch chunks of the last few episodes. But the love story itself just made me roll my eyes. Watch this only if you like excessive sugar.

In fact, I preferred the chemistry between the FL's brother (Meng Xiaodong) and his ex (Linlin). I wish that had been fleshed out a little more, or even given their own spin-off series. I am now curious about their rollercoaster relationship.

Read More