This review may contain spoilers
Unsatisfactory, Traumatic and Boring
I wanted to love this drama, with its premise of a woman seeking out revenge/justice. But I hated it. The revenge/justice is unsatisfactory. There are traumatic scenes and themes that never get properly resolved. In typical c-drama style, there are too many fillers throughout the series, but a rushed ending that doesn’t give the viewers even 5 minutes to enjoy/understand how justice is being served.
I was hoping for something like The Glory, but with beautiful c-drama costumes, sets, and wuxia choreography. Please don't waste 40 hours of your life watching this. The eye candy actors aren't worth it.
Now that I’ve been vague, spoilers ahead.
********SPOILERS AHEAD*****
Please don’t kill me because these are my views and I’m not here to fight with anyone.
1) Unsatisfactory & Traumatic:
For a show that is all about getting justice/revenge against evildoers, too many culprits get away. I am most disturbed about the three men who gang rape the two courtesans, causing one of them to die. We never hear a peep about them again. Will they continue to kidnap women and sell them into prostitution, and gang rape? The show doesn’t give us anything to dispute this deduction. What type of justice/revenge show is this?
Unlike The Glory, we’re not given enough time to enjoy some of the revenge/justice being served. We get less than five minutes for some of the most important victories. The justice is illustrated through a voice-over and quickly mentions what happens to bad people. After 40 episodes, the viewers deserved a longer montage of watching the evildoers suffer. For example, the FL’s former mother-in-law and sister-in-law begging for food on the street or working terrible jobs.
The FL never gets justice in clearing her name of being an adulteress. The montage above mentions that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are questioned, but the show doesn’t tell us if the questioning cleared the FL’s name of cheating. Were they questioned only about SYR’s treasonous acts, or also about setting up the FL? What they did was horrific–getting a family member raped and then saying it was a consensual affair. They should face bigger consequences.
Similarly, Jiang Li also isn’t vindicated of the accusation that she tried to kill her step mother and her unborn son. Or did I miss it because they were so stingy with the revenge/justice scenes?
2) Horrible people who are forgiven
I thought this was a revenge drama? Too many characters are forgiven.
Jiang Li suffered for 10 years and was tortured to death because her father and grandma wouldn’t protect her. They should have suffered more. I couldn’t buy Jiang Li’s dad suddenly becoming a good father after being terrible for a decade. He never even visited her during this time! The monastery nuns may have killed her physically, but they were successful only because he killed her emotionally a long time ago. Her grandma obviously had power as she threw out the treacherous son from the family in the end, but why didn’t she exercise that power to stand up for Jiang Li?
3) Duke Su:
Everyone is singing his praises for what? Passing the lowest bar on how a man and good partner should be? First, a woman is not “tainted” if a man rapes her. She is not a piece of furniture or fruit that goes from “pure” to “tainted.” The fact that Duke Su “still” loves the FL after knowing she is a sexual assault survivor doesn’t make him amazing. Any good man should do at least that. I understand the show is set in a different era, but women are still treated like this.
He is too cold. I understand why he became this way, but a rape survivor needs her partner to do more than just the bare minimum. He needs to validate her and comfort her based on her individual needs. He should be nurturing. Duke Su is none of these things.
I don’t like the way he treats the FL. He knows how much the FL has suffered when he starts using her, but he’s too ruthless to care.
I don’t know if it was the director’s decision or the actor’s choice, but his face/emotions didn’t have a lot of range. Too many times, I couldn’t tell if he was supposed to portray anger/joy/disgust/anything else. A character can be stoic on the outside, but that doesn’t mean the viewers shouldn’t feel emotions from the actor. A prime example is the FL from The Glory. She maintains a stoic persona, but the viewer can experience what she is feeling through her eyes. The majority of the time, Duke Su has only one expression, that of being suspicious/calculating.
I could keep going on about all the things I hated about this show, but I don’t want to waste any more time on it.
I was hoping for something like The Glory, but with beautiful c-drama costumes, sets, and wuxia choreography. Please don't waste 40 hours of your life watching this. The eye candy actors aren't worth it.
Now that I’ve been vague, spoilers ahead.
********SPOILERS AHEAD*****
Please don’t kill me because these are my views and I’m not here to fight with anyone.
1) Unsatisfactory & Traumatic:
For a show that is all about getting justice/revenge against evildoers, too many culprits get away. I am most disturbed about the three men who gang rape the two courtesans, causing one of them to die. We never hear a peep about them again. Will they continue to kidnap women and sell them into prostitution, and gang rape? The show doesn’t give us anything to dispute this deduction. What type of justice/revenge show is this?
Unlike The Glory, we’re not given enough time to enjoy some of the revenge/justice being served. We get less than five minutes for some of the most important victories. The justice is illustrated through a voice-over and quickly mentions what happens to bad people. After 40 episodes, the viewers deserved a longer montage of watching the evildoers suffer. For example, the FL’s former mother-in-law and sister-in-law begging for food on the street or working terrible jobs.
The FL never gets justice in clearing her name of being an adulteress. The montage above mentions that her mother-in-law and sister-in-law are questioned, but the show doesn’t tell us if the questioning cleared the FL’s name of cheating. Were they questioned only about SYR’s treasonous acts, or also about setting up the FL? What they did was horrific–getting a family member raped and then saying it was a consensual affair. They should face bigger consequences.
Similarly, Jiang Li also isn’t vindicated of the accusation that she tried to kill her step mother and her unborn son. Or did I miss it because they were so stingy with the revenge/justice scenes?
2) Horrible people who are forgiven
I thought this was a revenge drama? Too many characters are forgiven.
Jiang Li suffered for 10 years and was tortured to death because her father and grandma wouldn’t protect her. They should have suffered more. I couldn’t buy Jiang Li’s dad suddenly becoming a good father after being terrible for a decade. He never even visited her during this time! The monastery nuns may have killed her physically, but they were successful only because he killed her emotionally a long time ago. Her grandma obviously had power as she threw out the treacherous son from the family in the end, but why didn’t she exercise that power to stand up for Jiang Li?
3) Duke Su:
Everyone is singing his praises for what? Passing the lowest bar on how a man and good partner should be? First, a woman is not “tainted” if a man rapes her. She is not a piece of furniture or fruit that goes from “pure” to “tainted.” The fact that Duke Su “still” loves the FL after knowing she is a sexual assault survivor doesn’t make him amazing. Any good man should do at least that. I understand the show is set in a different era, but women are still treated like this.
He is too cold. I understand why he became this way, but a rape survivor needs her partner to do more than just the bare minimum. He needs to validate her and comfort her based on her individual needs. He should be nurturing. Duke Su is none of these things.
I don’t like the way he treats the FL. He knows how much the FL has suffered when he starts using her, but he’s too ruthless to care.
I don’t know if it was the director’s decision or the actor’s choice, but his face/emotions didn’t have a lot of range. Too many times, I couldn’t tell if he was supposed to portray anger/joy/disgust/anything else. A character can be stoic on the outside, but that doesn’t mean the viewers shouldn’t feel emotions from the actor. A prime example is the FL from The Glory. She maintains a stoic persona, but the viewer can experience what she is feeling through her eyes. The majority of the time, Duke Su has only one expression, that of being suspicious/calculating.
I could keep going on about all the things I hated about this show, but I don’t want to waste any more time on it.
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