This review may contain spoilers
Please leave your brain at the door
When a show ventures into ludicrous territory, you have to be convinced to turn off your brain and just enjoy the ride. Unfortunately, Pursuit of Jade couldn't do that for me.
The final straw was when Changyu defeated General Shi (in 2 strikes, as they love reminding us!) despite not training and having zero battle experience. I think there's a fine line between creating a strong, powerful FL and creating a ridiculous caricature, which is what Changyu devolved into despite a great start. That said, Tian Xiwei is playing the hell out of this role. This is her personal masterpiece, although the show itself is such a mess.
Unfortunately, that substance is lost when it comes to the male lead. Zhang Linghe is barely given anything substantial to do, and the few emotive scenes he has fall flat anyway. This is a hardened military man who is somehow not known by 99.9% of the army (huh?). He's also a grieving son trying to avenge his father, despite the fact that we never actually get any scenes to show that grief. He's also suffering a huge recent betrayal from his uncle, but we also don't get to see any emotional fallback from what he's gone through. He's just always ... there in the background, hair gently fanned by the breeze. They could have hired a puppet to play Marquis Wu'an, like they did for the falcon, and the role wouldn't have suffered one bit.
It feels like the show tried to do a lot, but did very little of it well: the slice-of-life story about orphans who have to provide for themselves was amazing. The Marquis seeking vengeance plotline was a flop. The imperial politics was forgettable, but I'm eternally grateful because it introduced 2 new members to the list of iconic cdrama villains: Qi Min and Yuanqing. The noob-to-female-general storyline was painfully overdone but saved by TXW's brilliant performance.
Ultimately, I could have powered through the last 10 eps, but I fear I would have become those bitter hate-watchers. Best to tap out early and find something else to gush about.
The final straw was when Changyu defeated General Shi (in 2 strikes, as they love reminding us!) despite not training and having zero battle experience. I think there's a fine line between creating a strong, powerful FL and creating a ridiculous caricature, which is what Changyu devolved into despite a great start. That said, Tian Xiwei is playing the hell out of this role. This is her personal masterpiece, although the show itself is such a mess.
Unfortunately, that substance is lost when it comes to the male lead. Zhang Linghe is barely given anything substantial to do, and the few emotive scenes he has fall flat anyway. This is a hardened military man who is somehow not known by 99.9% of the army (huh?). He's also a grieving son trying to avenge his father, despite the fact that we never actually get any scenes to show that grief. He's also suffering a huge recent betrayal from his uncle, but we also don't get to see any emotional fallback from what he's gone through. He's just always ... there in the background, hair gently fanned by the breeze. They could have hired a puppet to play Marquis Wu'an, like they did for the falcon, and the role wouldn't have suffered one bit.
It feels like the show tried to do a lot, but did very little of it well: the slice-of-life story about orphans who have to provide for themselves was amazing. The Marquis seeking vengeance plotline was a flop. The imperial politics was forgettable, but I'm eternally grateful because it introduced 2 new members to the list of iconic cdrama villains: Qi Min and Yuanqing. The noob-to-female-general storyline was painfully overdone but saved by TXW's brilliant performance.
Ultimately, I could have powered through the last 10 eps, but I fear I would have become those bitter hate-watchers. Best to tap out early and find something else to gush about.
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