How cute -- the actress playing Chu Qiao (FL) played the younger self of the same character in the original Princess Agents. She was 10 then. HuangYang TianTian.
Excellent article. Great supporting characters especially villains are the heart of so man y shows. More articles like this! The artistry of the changes in expression, cheek shape...and more... deserve a little airing too. Where better than here.
That is an alternative ending if that 17 years ago incident didn't happen.
The questions of punishment and motive which swirled around each important character stood out to me as very interesting, This is what I wrote at the time:
Ep40 it wouldnt have been a ZQJ show without the consistent blend of fantasy and realism at the end.
Generally speaking... I just finished watching the show so I dont want to parse it exactly for fear of making mistakes, but...
here are the factors:
POJ was always POV ChangYu, and so ZQJ's really elegant take on the female-centric genre is a joy to behold.
POJ's style may also be shared by other shows, but maybe not, I dont know. The director ZQJ was masterful at controlling the tonal balance. For the outsider the best explainer is that techniques and modes from what is called 'Chinese horror' in the west or sometimes Laozhai-style have become as of now possible turns in costume drama and heroic fantasy.
POJ was always about love not about heroism. More war's effects than anti-war, it also touched on ideas of a just war and on the necessities of military duty with respect and love. So politics and the narrators'/viewers' opinions about them are scarily real, but the action and the plot all hinge on love. Unlike most costume dramas lately corruption was not the backbone of motivation. Filial piety, greed for power, pride and paranoia instead made for a really satisfying intellectual experience.
Specifically speaking Ep40 Super-interestingly, separate wrap-ups of various strands in the story were extremely distinct -- differences in lighting, sound and structure. I really liked this effect because it tickles my 'THIS IS NEW' instincts. It also showcased the director's skill in handling all the different tonal structures which he has shown such masterful control of in this production. Comedy, tragedy, irony, fairytale, shadings of horror and heroic fantasy.
The various wrap-ups, not in any particular order. 1. The simplest and clearest was the main couple. What is in fact a visit back to Xigu Alley for the main couple does not preclude their plans to settle in the northwest and rebuild Lin'An (haha, miles to the south, but oops, the Marquis reclaimed the lost 16 prefectures before the show began, didnt he?). Since POJ was POV CHangYu all the way through the show, here as she makes her mini triumphal entry, all the dead revive for a few seconds in a rosy haze and Yan Zhang is waiting for her dismount. She promises the dear Zhaos that she will always be with them. No details on how, but if the viewer hasnt learned how to swing with the ZQJ way, whine on. All of their planning has gone well so far, so even the Marquis' planned military posting in the northwest is included -- she wont let him go out alone, so she continues as the not-really-official fighter alongside him in a fairytale way.
In the alternate ending for ChangYu, we see that no matter what, the fairytale love would still have happened. The lack of a role for the hairpin demands an extra scene to be aired later, its absence is so loud I kept shrieking, show the gift, show the gift!
2. WEi Yan. Oh Wei Yan. Deep in the dungeon he awaits death. He narrates the heart of the imperial events which created this story over a game of Go with Grand Tutor Tao. Our couple overhear this, which could make the scene their memory, but just like their overlook inside the palace after the coups (intentional plural) their presence seems more like the act of the stories narrators. The blue ribbon of storytelling.
Wei Yan's love affair and the doom of Prince Chengde have already been emotionally dealt with in the previous episode. In ep40 his personal tragedy is felt. The question of whether he deserves reincarnation is a live issue for me. I think that the show's message is that justice demands he not return as a human. But somehow the viewers in this style have the right to love WEi Yan anyway, despite his crimes. Makes you think, hmm?
The alternate ending for WeiYan is wrapped within the main couple strand. Since he is really, justly, and very very dead in the show’s main narrative, his resurrection only makes sense as a fantasy redo of family ties.
3. As for the toxic and doomed lovers, Yu QianQian and QiMin, the show gives them the best weeper ending, since the warm ending(s) for ChangYu and Yan Zheng is a sentimentally satisfying one.
In the alternate ending these two get the funniest roles. They deserve it. I loved them.
4. The Empire and its problems. Yu QianQian makes the difficult decision to accept her fate, which technically sets up the final solution of the ruling crisis. She becomes the empress regent along with the main couple, even though they logically must live only part-time in the capital. Bao-er and NingNing happily have a normal childhood running around the palace. Let us hope the falcon, now Ning's instead of Gongsun Yin's does not get too fat to fly.
4. Qi Shu, the previous Grand Princess, visits her now completely insane brother, Qi Sheng. Cdrama watchers worried that his food was poisoned, but no, a refraction of QiMin occurs, but a cheerful one. Qi Sheng now satisfactorily plays the role of a mad but now harmless (ex-)emperor. We do not see Qi Shu's marriage and life with Gongsun. Their last love scene (2 or 3episodes before) will have to do, and it was a very nice scene. AS a plotline outside of the novel's dramas, they had planned to go live in obscurity in the north as soon as the crisis was over, so this, along with the hairpin and the falcon's descendants will have to wait for NingNing and Bao-er's sequel..
Good for the agency to defend him strongly. Keep it up!
I mean, the guy just wanted to play a little basketball like a normal person. What kind of rotten fan would want to take such a simple pleasure away from someone they 'like'?
ep3 beginning. Gun-Woo does the self-torturing guilt-trip and weeps buckets. "You have a fist of iron, but a heart of cotton candy." In S1 he seemed a little faster on the uptake. In S2 the show took pains to emphasize from the get go that Gun-Woo has a big heart, but he's not much of a talker. (e.g. the 1st meal with Mom, where she jokes with them about their happy "yes" replies being non-verbal grunts)
ep2 Rains character was powerful and very efficient as a fighter. Nice. The boys however, lost and lost again. They fought with fists only in some gentlemanly disregard for death, while their opponents used kicks, throws, bats, batons and of course knives, tasers....I found it strange that the simplest items near the boys such as bricks and pipes were disdained. Woo-Jin! GunWoo! Just hit one or two opponents over the back of the head to even the odds!
Ep1 Wow. I was out of breath at the end. Really exciting. The sound, pacing, choreography were great altho Rain's brutality was too messily raw for me. I closed my eyes while he mashed the poor Russian's face in. I feel as if the boys would have been safer in the old neighborhood instead of in this isolated quiet house. And betrayed by the electronics they put in to keep themselves safe! Talk about modern fears.
I hate that this was made about ZLH after a show in which he finally started looking and acting his age -- he looked like a man in his late 20's (he gained weight and did judicious bodywork) -- and his portrayal of a man in love was really outstanding.
Poor man. Harassers should be arrested asap. Swift justice will benefit all. Good for the company to issue a detailed statement. Now they need to back it up and press charges.
Bloodhounds is #2 worldwide including shows shot in English and all the countries Netflix has a presence in.
THIS IS THE LIST that counts.
Scoring on this list WHICH USES ALL OF THE NETFLIX DATA, which can be found on Flixpatrol, is NOT THE SAME at all as scoring in the Top Ten on the Tudum NON_ENGLISH TOP TEN list.
Much as Cdrama, especially new works, is my new love, the ridiculous hype over POJ as a cdrama doing better against other non-English shows was basically nationalistic scrabbling for position, imo.
POJ did score well on the worldwide numbers as well, but it stayed in the worldwide teens, and never broke into the top ten. No matter how the numbers are massaged it wasnt the worldwide hit that it deserved to be.
I think POJ will be a show for the ages long after this, but the first costume period cdrama in Mandarin to break into the top ten is surely coming our way along the path POJ paved.
Didnt the modern cdramas this winter score at all? I dont remember.
I liked the way in which the show's plot keeps their relationship private for long stretches , so that you can assume a lot about what they do together when we are not around.
1 
1 
Zhao Chun Er "SETTLED?"
you tell him! What a jerk to think his reality is the only one.
This is an action drama. The kids are really cute and great at fighting. It will not be in the grand style, but thats ok.
the metaphor of the truth (pile of corpses, ambush) obliviated beneath the frozen lake (lies, amnesia) is nice.
It almost looks like an anime, so starkly black amd white.
For fans of battle narratives, great to see onscreen a last swordsman standing astride a pile of slain enemies as so often in fiction.
The artistry of the changes in expression, cheek shape...and more... deserve a little airing too. Where better than here.
Ep40
it wouldnt have been a ZQJ show without the consistent blend of fantasy and realism at the end.
Generally speaking...
I just finished watching the show so I dont want to parse it exactly for fear of making mistakes, but...
here are the factors:
POJ was always POV ChangYu, and so ZQJ's really elegant take on the female-centric genre is a joy to behold.
POJ's style may also be shared by other shows, but maybe not, I dont know. The director ZQJ was masterful at controlling the tonal balance. For the outsider the best explainer is that techniques and modes from what is called 'Chinese horror' in the west or sometimes Laozhai-style have become as of now possible turns in costume drama and heroic fantasy.
POJ was always about love not about heroism. More war's effects than anti-war, it also touched on ideas of a just war and on the necessities of military duty with respect and love. So politics and the narrators'/viewers' opinions about them are scarily real, but the action and the plot all hinge on love. Unlike most costume dramas lately corruption was not the backbone of motivation.
Filial piety, greed for power, pride and paranoia instead made for a really satisfying intellectual experience.
Specifically speaking
Ep40
Super-interestingly, separate wrap-ups of various strands in the story were extremely distinct -- differences in lighting, sound and structure.
I really liked this effect because it tickles my 'THIS IS NEW' instincts. It also showcased the director's skill in handling all the different tonal structures which he has shown such masterful control of in this production. Comedy, tragedy, irony, fairytale, shadings of horror and heroic fantasy.
The various wrap-ups, not in any particular order.
1. The simplest and clearest was the main couple. What is in fact a visit back to Xigu Alley for the main couple does not preclude their plans to settle in the northwest and rebuild Lin'An (haha, miles to the south, but oops, the Marquis reclaimed the lost 16 prefectures before the show began, didnt he?).
Since POJ was POV CHangYu all the way through the show, here as she makes her mini triumphal entry, all the dead revive for a few seconds in a rosy haze and Yan Zhang is waiting for her dismount. She promises the dear Zhaos that she will always be with them. No details on how, but if the viewer hasnt learned how to swing with the ZQJ way, whine on. All of their planning has gone well so far, so even the Marquis' planned military posting in the northwest is included -- she wont let him go out alone, so she continues as the not-really-official fighter alongside him in a fairytale way.
In the alternate ending for ChangYu, we see that no matter what, the fairytale love would still have happened. The lack of a role for the hairpin demands an extra scene to be aired later, its absence is so loud I kept shrieking, show the gift, show the gift!
2. WEi Yan. Oh Wei Yan. Deep in the dungeon he awaits death. He narrates the heart of the imperial events which created this story over a game of Go with Grand Tutor Tao. Our couple overhear this, which could make the scene their memory, but just like their overlook inside the palace after the coups (intentional plural) their presence seems more like the act of the stories narrators. The blue ribbon of storytelling.
Wei Yan's love affair and the doom of Prince Chengde have already been emotionally dealt with in the previous episode. In ep40 his personal tragedy is felt. The question of whether he deserves reincarnation is a live issue for me. I think that the show's message is that justice demands he not return as a human. But somehow the viewers in this style have the right to love WEi Yan anyway, despite his crimes. Makes you think, hmm?
The alternate ending for WeiYan is wrapped within the main couple strand. Since he is really, justly, and very very dead in the show’s main narrative, his resurrection only makes sense as a fantasy redo of family ties.
3. As for the toxic and doomed lovers, Yu QianQian and QiMin, the show gives them the best weeper ending, since the warm ending(s) for ChangYu and Yan Zheng is a sentimentally satisfying one.
In the alternate ending these two get the funniest roles. They deserve it. I loved them.
4. The Empire and its problems. Yu QianQian makes the difficult decision to accept her fate, which technically sets up the final solution of the ruling crisis. She becomes the empress regent along with the main couple, even though they logically must live only part-time in the capital. Bao-er and NingNing happily have a normal childhood running around the palace. Let us hope the falcon, now Ning's instead of Gongsun Yin's does not get too fat to fly.
4. Qi Shu, the previous Grand Princess, visits her now completely insane brother, Qi Sheng. Cdrama watchers worried that his food was poisoned, but no, a refraction of QiMin occurs, but a cheerful one. Qi Sheng now satisfactorily plays the role of a mad but now harmless (ex-)emperor. We do not see Qi Shu's marriage and life with Gongsun. Their last love scene (2 or 3episodes before) will have to do, and it was a very nice scene. AS a plotline outside of the novel's dramas, they had planned to go live in obscurity in the north as soon as the crisis was over, so this, along with the hairpin and the falcon's descendants will have to wait for NingNing and Bao-er's sequel..
I mean, the guy just wanted to play a little basketball like a normal person. What kind of rotten fan would want to take such a simple pleasure away from someone they 'like'?
beginning.
Gun-Woo does the self-torturing guilt-trip and weeps buckets.
"You have a fist of iron, but a heart of cotton candy."
In S1 he seemed a little faster on the uptake.
In S2 the show took pains to emphasize from the get go that Gun-Woo has a big heart, but he's not much of a talker. (e.g. the 1st meal with Mom, where she jokes with them about their happy "yes" replies being non-verbal grunts)
Rains character was powerful and very efficient as a fighter. Nice.
The boys however, lost and lost again. They fought with fists only in some gentlemanly disregard for death, while their opponents used kicks, throws, bats, batons and of course knives, tasers....I found it strange that the simplest items near the boys such as bricks and pipes were disdained. Woo-Jin! GunWoo! Just hit one or two opponents over the back of the head to even the odds!
Wow. I was out of breath at the end. Really exciting. The sound, pacing, choreography were great altho Rain's brutality was too messily raw for me. I closed my eyes while he mashed the poor Russian's face in.
I feel as if the boys would have been safer in the old neighborhood instead of in this isolated quiet house. And betrayed by the electronics they put in to keep themselves safe! Talk about modern fears.
Bloodhounds is #2 worldwide including shows shot in English and all the countries Netflix has a presence in.
THIS IS THE LIST that counts.
Scoring on this list WHICH USES ALL OF THE NETFLIX DATA, which can be found on Flixpatrol, is NOT THE SAME at all as scoring in the Top Ten on the Tudum NON_ENGLISH TOP TEN list.
Much as Cdrama, especially new works, is my new love, the ridiculous hype over POJ as a cdrama doing better against other non-English shows was basically nationalistic scrabbling for position, imo.
POJ did score well on the worldwide numbers as well, but it stayed in the worldwide teens, and never broke into the top ten. No matter how the numbers are massaged it wasnt the worldwide hit that it deserved to be.
I think POJ will be a show for the ages long after this, but the first costume period cdrama in Mandarin to break into the top ten is surely coming our way along the path POJ paved.
Didnt the modern cdramas this winter score at all? I dont remember.