Nepeta 22

Oh dear, sounds very depressing for her. Thanks for warning me.

In the beginning she did not know as she skim read the script, but as she slowly gained more knowledge she started to change. That's what the scriptwriter wanted us to see. But she's feisty and not a details person. She's imperfect. She knew him as god of death. She also thought her sister would be a villain but learned she was nothing like that.

The whole point of the script was to parody the idol drama industry with classic tropes turned on their head. FL was an average girl and not smart & had no gift. SLF was smarter and was not grasping. Father loved his family and daughters and was not trying to social climb. ML had an image of being cold and harsh yet he was soft and misunderstood.

Also ML just fancies FL with all her flaws. That's how life is and I think some people can't deal with that. Love cannot always be logical & this is what sells for me. No big grand gestures. He can't help himself and scriptwriter wanted to drive us mad by showing this. As usual females get judged more than males.

You can not like FL, but it's the script writer's "creation" and not real. So yes, it's a blame on the scriptwriter.

The key bit is after everything, the last laugh is on the creators to us the viewers. They created a lot of highlights for the ML but never expanded the FL's character. Viewers cannot work out they were given the all seeing eye whilst she didn't. She is just an average girl with no special highlights. People cannot put their selves in the character's shoes.

OK. Does SFL get out of her marriage or come to her senses?

I'm afraid I'm only on episode 18 at the moment. I will carry on because I like the actors here and they are all doing a good job. Not that short cut narrating...but thanks for the spoiler😁.

Thanks for being honest on that. It does look that way with how everything is closing in. I feel there was no need for so many episodes. The repetitive issues that would inevitably arise due to ML's position in the court and FL's ex doing his best to terrorise her just feels typical and doesn't add much to what we've already seen in the first part. This prolonged pestering and bitterness almost feels forced. This SML character is pure creepy and shouldn't be dragged out this way. But I fear the writing is weak so they rely on this to create some sort of drama.

I understand. I'm not dropping it yet but more disappointed by the storyline. The actors are doing a great job though.

What's happened to the latter half. She's gone all Mary Sue and loaded with plot armour. Tinkly music piping and can do no wrong dishing out socialist ideals for all with husband in the background geeing her on...

Was it like this in the novel? When was this novel published? It just seems to go all formulaic from mid way onwards. It's already bad that villains are plain 2 dimensional with not an ounce of greyness, and SFL & SML are cardboard cut outs with no sort of development. From being self righteous to full on villain with a walking stick. It's like a joke.

His wife also written with little development. I sincerely hope she has more depth later because right now, she's just a spoilt brat and love brained. She's a victim of domestic abuse and it's OK because she's jealous and spiteful. She would have no redemption because she tries to burn down her "rival".

I feel part 2 is mainly filler and did not need these amounts of episodes to get to the point. There are continuity issues of snow filled scenes with cold air and then the next scene there are high light levels with lush greenery in the background. Then back to winter leafless background. Peonies feature sporadically when we all know in general they only flower for max 4 weeks in a year. They claimed to have done as much research as possible for this drama, but it doesn't show for me. I will plough on as I hope SFL gets a story line as that is the only interesting thing in this drama. As for her husband, he speaks like he has two golf balls shoved in his mouth and I'm creeped out by his horrible voice.

You need to watch right to the end to "get it". But many were like you. I didn't as I can see she only knows what she knows whilst you the viewer get the all seeing eye.

It's the sort of drama that questions yourself. So for those that are "irritated" they ought to look at their biases and most importantly their inability to work out the script was not even what she saw. It was what the scriptwriters wrote for her. So the last laugh is at us the viewer. This type of ending reminds me of Legend of Zang Hai when throughout the questions kept coming, the incoherent stories. In the end the manipulator controlled the narrative right to the end, so it kind of blew away all those comments people made.

OK, I must have missed that.

Well, I hope you look at more historical dramas. Modern is good, but I watch these costume dramas because it's unique content that I would not find where I'm from.

Well it is tropey but it's still going to weather bad scripts. I confess, this part I don't like in this drama. SML and SFL. Like stock villains with no depth or reasoning. Their stories are not well thought out and very two dimensional. SFL should be a victim and they chose the path of casting her into a typical spoilt princess.

FL & ML is done well in my opinion but the surrounding stories and even the lack of horticultural research just seem like an afterthought. Yes the costumes and hair is more well thought out, but for me, a well rounded drama needs three things to mix and work well. Here, the drama is centred around the romance. All other storylines around it are less engaging and lacking in depth and meaning.

You must have skipped A Love Never Lost. One of the best productions I've seen this whole year. And yet the ratings here on MDL will tell you to give it a skip. But I fear many Li Xian fans dropped it even though he was so good in it.

I don't know about MDL scores as there is hardly any respect for drama making and story telling. The scores tend to be more fan based rating, and that means it's not rated always on general content and standard. I'm sure over in China it will be well received.

My main concern here is there is so little research given to the horticultural aspect. You would see blossoms at the same time as lush green foliage in forest areas. Sometimes in the same scene. In part one, they showed a double camellia bush when at the time of Tang, they will only have had single of semi double form of this plant. They give very little details on MD's formula for success. I know it's a romance drama, but still, in order to reach a higher rating these things matter.

I think the drama needs to put some kind of timeline otherwise it's confusing, or there is some kind of continuity issue.

From episode 8 to 9 it seems a fair amount of months have passed since they are now asking the FL to produce a flowering peony during winter weather and I see snow. Only last episode, she was swinging away in her garden full of roses and peonies.

Truth is they need this story line otherwise it would be pretty hollow. This SML obsession is a tried and tested one and seems to be the go-to for making some kind of rivalry between ML and SML.

Well that's a shame if they don't expand on her character since I felt this character would be an interesting one. But I guess, I'd be asking too much. Sounds like there was more in the novel. I'll keep watching and hope she gets some shine instead of negativity later on.

Thanks for finding the time to explain. Yes, I'm aware of real life people that behave this way, but it's far less common than men harming women in general.

I was actually more interested in this character as I came for this character. I really hope there is more depth on her later and I resonate with Sheng Yi's story and character, but here I fear they lost the opportunity to expand on the complex dynamics on her position in society and her father's role in her life.

I'm behind at the moment so cannot comment but so far, he's less jovial and more silent and almost awkward around FL. I know this misunderstanding will drag on a bit so hopefully not too long. But FL's repetitive suffering just doesn't feel natural. It's almost as if the writer cannot think of an engaging way to hook the audience so the easiest is to create endless contrived trauma for her. It's hard to watch because it feels like filler and that's not right.