4
This review may contain spoilers
Stop the angst train!
At the end of Flourish Peony, things are looking up. Business is booming, their fake marriage could become real with one kiss. While it didn't exactly end on a high, it was full of promise. I was genuinely looking forward to the continuation of their story.
The start of S2 dashed my hopes. It was disaster after disaster. I can even accept the pain if the love line moves forward. The leads are obviously in love, but they kept dancing around each other. It went nowhere for 11 eps. The final straw is when the ML played the all-mighty Noble Idiot Card™! I was ready to rage quit.
Ye gods, I haven't felt like this for a long time. The show is still great. I can't fault the acting nor the production, they are S tier (as you would expect). It just feels like the show is mocking me. The drama kept teasing me and giving me false hopes. Yet it delivers naught. Consider we waited patiently for 6 months for this, it felt like a gut punch.
I have no doubt this drama was caught in the middle of the rule change regarding drama length. The production company chopped the show in two with scant consideration of how the halves will work after a 6-month hiatus.
As it stands, 2/3 of this new "chapter" feels jarring. We are dropped into a world of hurt. The OTP made scant progress with their relationship but faced setbacks after setbacks. It is literally all pain and no gain.
We finally hit paydirt in EP.17. This is the equivalent of 49 eps and 6+ months in real time before our leads are finally official! So much teasing, meaningful gazes and pining at the moon. Thankfully, the skinship quota went from 0 to 100 in 3 seconds. So much penned up passion on display! We give thanks for any fan service we are about to receive. Amen.
Will you be surprised if I told you the writer then hit us with the weaponised kitchen sink PLUS dishwasher combo? Ep.19/20 are the crème de la crème of angsty twists. Thankfully, the plot armour or maybe the Force is strong with our leads.
This is where I think the show is too focused on the palace intrigue. It sucks all the oxygen from the OTP's storyline. Granted, the antagonist's endless scheming is a ready source of angst, but it is so transparent. There are no subtleties with their machinations.
I rated Flourish Peony 9/10. This part is an 8 only because the last few eps bring home the bacon, otherwise, it would be a 7.5. If it was one 60 eps run, it would have worked better. The forced break in the middle did the show no favour.
It is done and dusted. Peace.
The start of S2 dashed my hopes. It was disaster after disaster. I can even accept the pain if the love line moves forward. The leads are obviously in love, but they kept dancing around each other. It went nowhere for 11 eps. The final straw is when the ML played the all-mighty Noble Idiot Card™! I was ready to rage quit.
Ye gods, I haven't felt like this for a long time. The show is still great. I can't fault the acting nor the production, they are S tier (as you would expect). It just feels like the show is mocking me. The drama kept teasing me and giving me false hopes. Yet it delivers naught. Consider we waited patiently for 6 months for this, it felt like a gut punch.
I have no doubt this drama was caught in the middle of the rule change regarding drama length. The production company chopped the show in two with scant consideration of how the halves will work after a 6-month hiatus.
As it stands, 2/3 of this new "chapter" feels jarring. We are dropped into a world of hurt. The OTP made scant progress with their relationship but faced setbacks after setbacks. It is literally all pain and no gain.
We finally hit paydirt in EP.17. This is the equivalent of 49 eps and 6+ months in real time before our leads are finally official! So much teasing, meaningful gazes and pining at the moon. Thankfully, the skinship quota went from 0 to 100 in 3 seconds. So much penned up passion on display! We give thanks for any fan service we are about to receive. Amen.
Will you be surprised if I told you the writer then hit us with the weaponised kitchen sink PLUS dishwasher combo? Ep.19/20 are the crème de la crème of angsty twists. Thankfully, the plot armour or maybe the Force is strong with our leads.
This is where I think the show is too focused on the palace intrigue. It sucks all the oxygen from the OTP's storyline. Granted, the antagonist's endless scheming is a ready source of angst, but it is so transparent. There are no subtleties with their machinations.
I rated Flourish Peony 9/10. This part is an 8 only because the last few eps bring home the bacon, otherwise, it would be a 7.5. If it was one 60 eps run, it would have worked better. The forced break in the middle did the show no favour.
It is done and dusted. Peace.
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