Lovebirds that are not meant to Grow Old Together
I was contemplating to start on this one because Wu Jinyan's character in The Double didn't give me much of a good impression, but eventually decided to get on with it anyway because the novel was good. It is basically about the assassin FL whose mission was to kill the ML, solely driven by the urge to avenge her parents because ML had been the general fighting off kingdom's enemy in her hometown Qingzhou which later burnt down, killing her parents in it. Little did she know, it turned out he was the one who called for the assassination of himself to frame the evil Crown Prince as he was trying to avenge his army who died in Qingzhou after being framed of burning down the whole town. ML lived for 10 years carrying this guilt and labelled as "The General who Killed All". When FL realized ML wasn't the one who burnt down her hometown and killed her parents, she shifted her objective somewhere else - the real culprit - which of course aligns with ML's own objective so they ended up becoming partners instead of enemies. So they kinda worked together to bring down the Crown Prince, as of course fell in love with each other in the process.
Honestly, the first 2/3 of the story was definitely good despite it being totally different from the novel, all the power struggle shows how brilliant the ML, Murong Jinghe, and how resilient the FL, Mei Lin is. However, after 24 episodes of engaging plot, it took a total nosedive from there on. With the Crown Prince out of the picture, the story became bland with just inner struggle of the feelings of each FL, ML and SML. From a ruthless, brilliant strategist, ML became a lovesick puppy who spent his free time lamenting his awful luck in love. The show lost its appeal right there and then, it became a pure drag to finish each episode, and I kept ff those boring flashbacks of each main leads and SML.
Who do they wanna fool by having the FL hide from ML and SML in the very town ML governs, bordering the SML’s kingdom, in her own hometown which everyone, even the villains know, walking around freely only donning a sheer veil that is so see-through she should've just ditched it already? 😑 at least in the novel she hid in a secluded rural village so far away that it took ML 1 year to find.
I don't know why cdrama is obsessed with having lengthy episodes. When i read the novel, it only had 24 chapters so i thought even if the production had expanded on side plots it wouldnt have exceeded 25-30 episode. But danggg it turned out to be 32 episodes, complete with so many unnecessary side stories and draggy plots. Even with the expanded plot they did, it shouldve concluded within 25 episodes. All those hours wasted, gosh. The whole expansion on Princess Zigu’s character was one of the draggiest and totally unnecessary, the fast forward button really had to work hard for me. That little side plot with Wei guy from Laowuzi with A’Jia was also too forced and detached, totally unnecessary at all.
And all those torment of ML by FL would've been more satisfying to watch had the ML was the novel Murong Jinghe who kept denying his feelings for FL, emotionally tormenting her while indulging Lou Mei, instead of the lovesick TV Murong Jinghe who had done so much sacrificing for FL until the end. For the tv, it would've been satisfying if the ML had died and left FL heartbroken and forlorn for the remainder of her short life.
However dissatisfied I am with the last 10 episodes, I had to admit the show is indeed rather good with amazing cinematography. Definitely didn't look cheap. The ML and FL did a phenomenal job and their chemistry went right off the chart. This is the first show I saw the actor for ML, and his performance was superb even the screenplay made the characters out to be inconsistent and confusing. The most confusing character is definitely the SML, Yue Qin. I don’t even want to elaborate on him, he is a dodgy little fella right from the start, one point going his all to capture FL’s heart, the next so eager to send her off to Qingzhou, then he wants her back again just to send her off again? What the hell? 🥴 Although, the Yue Qin in the novel had only been 15yo, met FL during the hunt, owed her his life and went to be the sweet little brother she doted on that ML somehow grown to be jealous of. 😝 But anyway, the actors truly rocked their characters really well.
The kissing scene is rather good too! Both worked on them really well unlike most wooden lips stuck together like most cdrama i saw. So far only Prisoner of Beauty and Kill Me Love Me manage to pull this off.
Anyway, the song’s tune kinda got stuck in my head so I’ll give an 8 for that.
The ending is kinda appropriate although not quite the happy ending as written in the novel. I wouldnt say it was a sad ending at all. However, i would still prefer the ending in the novel. So those of you who are not satisfied with the tv ending, go read the novel to quench yourself!
Honestly, the first 2/3 of the story was definitely good despite it being totally different from the novel, all the power struggle shows how brilliant the ML, Murong Jinghe, and how resilient the FL, Mei Lin is. However, after 24 episodes of engaging plot, it took a total nosedive from there on. With the Crown Prince out of the picture, the story became bland with just inner struggle of the feelings of each FL, ML and SML. From a ruthless, brilliant strategist, ML became a lovesick puppy who spent his free time lamenting his awful luck in love. The show lost its appeal right there and then, it became a pure drag to finish each episode, and I kept ff those boring flashbacks of each main leads and SML.
Who do they wanna fool by having the FL hide from ML and SML in the very town ML governs, bordering the SML’s kingdom, in her own hometown which everyone, even the villains know, walking around freely only donning a sheer veil that is so see-through she should've just ditched it already? 😑 at least in the novel she hid in a secluded rural village so far away that it took ML 1 year to find.
I don't know why cdrama is obsessed with having lengthy episodes. When i read the novel, it only had 24 chapters so i thought even if the production had expanded on side plots it wouldnt have exceeded 25-30 episode. But danggg it turned out to be 32 episodes, complete with so many unnecessary side stories and draggy plots. Even with the expanded plot they did, it shouldve concluded within 25 episodes. All those hours wasted, gosh. The whole expansion on Princess Zigu’s character was one of the draggiest and totally unnecessary, the fast forward button really had to work hard for me. That little side plot with Wei guy from Laowuzi with A’Jia was also too forced and detached, totally unnecessary at all.
And all those torment of ML by FL would've been more satisfying to watch had the ML was the novel Murong Jinghe who kept denying his feelings for FL, emotionally tormenting her while indulging Lou Mei, instead of the lovesick TV Murong Jinghe who had done so much sacrificing for FL until the end. For the tv, it would've been satisfying if the ML had died and left FL heartbroken and forlorn for the remainder of her short life.
However dissatisfied I am with the last 10 episodes, I had to admit the show is indeed rather good with amazing cinematography. Definitely didn't look cheap. The ML and FL did a phenomenal job and their chemistry went right off the chart. This is the first show I saw the actor for ML, and his performance was superb even the screenplay made the characters out to be inconsistent and confusing. The most confusing character is definitely the SML, Yue Qin. I don’t even want to elaborate on him, he is a dodgy little fella right from the start, one point going his all to capture FL’s heart, the next so eager to send her off to Qingzhou, then he wants her back again just to send her off again? What the hell? 🥴 Although, the Yue Qin in the novel had only been 15yo, met FL during the hunt, owed her his life and went to be the sweet little brother she doted on that ML somehow grown to be jealous of. 😝 But anyway, the actors truly rocked their characters really well.
The kissing scene is rather good too! Both worked on them really well unlike most wooden lips stuck together like most cdrama i saw. So far only Prisoner of Beauty and Kill Me Love Me manage to pull this off.
Anyway, the song’s tune kinda got stuck in my head so I’ll give an 8 for that.
The ending is kinda appropriate although not quite the happy ending as written in the novel. I wouldnt say it was a sad ending at all. However, i would still prefer the ending in the novel. So those of you who are not satisfied with the tv ending, go read the novel to quench yourself!
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