bojojoti

Ren Min was mesmerizing as Gu Jin Zhao. It wasn't difficult to understand why she was sought after by several men. She was ethereally beautiful, strong-willed, and of fine character. Also, as Chen Yan Yun (played by Ci Sha with a powerful aura) liked to tease her, she was rich. Each man represented something special to Gu Jin Zhao, and the viewer could easily see her ending up with any of them: the scholar, the Marquis heir apparent, the court official, or her cousin. Her interactions with each one were full of chemistry: sweetly yearning, fireworks and explosions, mature and alluring, and kind and caring.

The drama began before her coming-out party, when she was immature and rebellious, for understandable reasons. She'd been spoiled by her grandmother, ignored and stigmatized by her father, and vilified by her stepmother. Her journey to navigate the poisonous waters that swirled around her helped her mature, become wiser, and solidified in her mind what kind of life she wanted for her future.

It was a nice change from most romances that after the couple got together, the passion and love were still on display. I've never understood dramas that depict early married life as dull and routine. This couple was more affectionate as husband and wife than they were during their courting. They communicated, planned, and strategized together. I relish dramas with strong married couples; they are too few.

The romance(s) were intertwined with palace politics and family hierarchies. All three built steadily throughout, with each affecting the other parts. There was a nice symmetry to the beginning and end of the drama: they both involved fire.

Ending was abrupt. Like that sentence. Nothing was tied up with a bow. The viewers were given vague outlines and were expected to connect the dots.

There is a 41st episode with deleted scenes that are from Chen Yan Yun's viewpoint: https://kisskh.co/Drama/A-Splendid-Match/Episode-41?id=12910&ep=215433&page=0&pageSize=100