darkstar

Thanks! Do you know what the 6, 7, 8, etc. mean? Are they the June days of the following releases?

What's the deal with iQiyi? It has been releasing two episodes daily. Today it stops and only one tomorrow? Anyone knows what's the release plan from now on?

Derailment, Parallel Word, and Serendipity are very good also.

Try Derailment and Parallel World

Awesome series. History inside a very nicely written story. Impecabble combination of production, directing, acting, soundtrack and special effects.
This small sample made me imagine what was lost during the "cultural revolution" that massacred dozens of millions and destroyed years of Chinese History. It's great to see the attempts to restore it.
This series surely deserves more seasons.

Posting it on Viki's request page so it streams season 2 also. Season 1 was awesome.

I agree. The original character had a feisty/aggressive personality that seems transformed into a tamed/broken type in season 2. Cannot even recognize her.

I'm on the 21st episode now. They have been spending way too much time on the corruption and examination. I haven't read the book. Does it also spend several chapters on this topic?

She's my favorite character also.

Viki has also been saying "coming soon" for a (long) while. I guess that the term, like for those fantasy 10,000-year-old deities in the Chinese dramas, can be very loose. Like one day in the heavens is one year in the mortal world. ;-)

Looking great so far. Yang Mi never disappoints.

@CristyRawks I thought about that but since there are several veteran actors in season 1, I think it's more related to what @Lili suggested about the season 2's overall concept of it being more geared towards strategy and scheming and the previous more towards action and go with the flow. I watched a few season 1 and 2 back to back and the difference it noticeable. Both are great and show how versatile the actors and director are.

By the way, episode 12's scene where the second prince was wondering whether he was poisoned or not was really good. I laughed too hard on that one. The Qi princess (MXT) also did really well on that "battle horse" scene. :-)
However, I liked HJN better playing Ling'er than GJ. She conveyed the character's personality better.

Thanks! Makes sense, even though I feel like the actors themselves are a bit different, hence I even thought it was a different director and screenwriter. Neverthless, it's interesting watching them acting in a different pace.

Anyone else feeling a difference between both seasons? I cannot pinpoint exactly where. However, when I watch season 1 episodes back to back with season 2, the newer season feels a bit more "mellow" while the first one felt more "snappy" (not sure I am describing well, since I myself cannot tell exactly where the difference is). I looked at the director and screenwriter and they are both the same in season 1 and 2. I'm watching from Viki, so still on episode 8 (9 and 10 only released today). So far enjoying season 2, but feeling there's a difference.

You should read your own posts. This "presentism vs. historicism" argument you are using is a fallacy in this case. You are falling in the trap that several governments typically use to justify their change in position and new interests but the underlying problem remains the same.

E.g. 1: England "condemned" Portugal and Spain until it got a piece of the pie. It then showed it was no different, if not worse than them. For example, after it set its hold in China it used all barbaric means to keep it, including flooding that country with opium to destroy the population (and then blamed the Boxer uprise on the Chinese). Same England that condoned slavery until its industrial revolution required consumer markets and it unilaterally outlawed slavery (only in the areas that interested it). Same England that only let its colonies go on their own after it lost its power after WWII.

E.g. 2: Wars are wars and did not change much since Sun Tzu, whose strategies are still up to date. No matter it was the Chinese warring states or Russia-Ukraine the strategies are the same, only technology and (some) tactics changed.

So, a spade is a spade in this case. For some reason you are desperately trying to defend a series that is decent but not more than a typical fictional entertainment that distorts historical accuracy in order to attract audiences. It's because of that that I am with the OP and rate this series as a 7.5/10.

Your own description: "He was a soldier, an explorer, a tradesman, an ambassador. In those letters of marque he was empowered to attack and rob any enemy ship or base. His "salary" was 10% of his prey he took back with him to Amsterdam, those were the rules in those times."

Sounds pretty much like the description of a mercenary. Queen Elizabeth I called her henchmen "privateers" just because they were pirates hired by her.
The Netherlands had their Dutch East India Company (and the West India Company), which were the equivalent of England's privateers (just not so brazen). One of them tried to take possession of part of Brazil but the Portuguese kicked them out.
France had the Foreign Legion until recently. What was it?
Aren't Russia and Ukraine at war and using mercenaries? Does being at war precludes one from using mercenaries?
2024, or the 1500s, or 1600s, etc. robbing and plundering is the same (a spade is a spade).

Very good points. I took it just as an entertainment fiction. If we look at it just as entertainment (very) loosely based on History, its production is good. I use a lot of suspension of disbelief when watching thus kind of drama, since I also doubt the people at that time would think and act like that.

No. Your analogy isn't correct. The British knew exactly what they were doing when pillaging the Portuguese and Spanish colonies and ships. That pilot worked as a mercenary whose mission was to investigate and sabotage them. He himself stated that very clearly when describing his "mission". So, yes, the hypocrisy is laughable.

I did not watch everything. Just browsed through trying to figure out. I also asked there but they did not reply.
Anyway, while browsing, I saw some scenes in one that I did not see in the other and vice-versa, hence the confusion. Maybe they just changed the sequences. I'll watch the longer one with shorter episodes.

Agree. It's one of the reasons I enjoy the Chinese, Korean and Japanese series and movies.
On this specific one I loved that "Iron Chef"-style competition when she was fighting to get the restaurant. Perfect scene.