launev

Once again - the book sounds waaayyy more interesting - wish they had stuck to the original story. Where did you find the book?

If you like long, epic, historical dramas with beautiful costumes, scenery and filming - this one is for you, But, be prepared, you will feel all 68 episodes. It started out strong, gets super-draggy through the middle and then ends on well.
The best part of the drama is, hands-down, General Qi- talk about presence - he just eats it up in every scene he is in, even if he is just standing there - just exudes confidence, sexy, calm - but man, you know you wouldn’t want to be on his bad side.
While they called this the Rebel Princess - and I know she was supposed to the focus - it fell short - wasn’t much rebelling on her part. A bit at the beginning and then again at the end - but most of the rest of it was just her running around in gorgeous costumes being aloof or sad and sticking her nose into everything. I kept waiting for this badass, rebellious woman to show back up after that first story arc - and it just didn’t happen. And while the actress is certainly stunning - it just did not work to to be having a 39+ yr old playing a 15 yrs old girl at he beginning - soooo did not work. And while I thought she as going to age a lot more - she is really not 21+ by the end - so that piece didn’t work for me. Also, really shocking at what a HORRIBLE judge of character she was and overly forgiving of everyone - this weird narrative of making her saintly - it was just annoying given the level of betrayal. And, seriously - why do they do this thing where every man she comes in contact with has to fall in love with her to the point of obsession - it was absurd.
Way too many schemes and plots to keep track, especially at the beginning - I had a seriously hard time keeping it all straight.
Leads had good chemistry - but they spend way too much time apart and when they are together - we dont get much (like only 2-3 kisses for the whole 68 episodes) and the biggest miss on this front is when they reunite after getting separated towards the end - we get NOTHING!
The Prime Minister is one of the best villains - you love him and hate him all at the same time (mostly hate, cause he is a true POS at the end of the day).
In the end - if you are up for it - its worth a watch for The General, the costumes and it is filmed beautifully - but it is super-draggy through the middle.

Pretty much just binged this on a rainy Sunday day - didn’t go into it with much expectation - actually thought I wouldn’t like it as I am not a fa of the the super-wealthy people being crappy genre - but this one surprised me - it was actually quite enjoyable - I think the only place that it failed was in the relationship with the two lead characters- they had great chemistry and they just didn’t really do anything with it.

I just started this and not enjoying so far. I will stick it out a little while longer to see - but the horrible monotone delivery of lines, the stiff acting, the bad voice-overs, the overly-dramatic music - is kind of killing it for me. Also hard to watch as the subbing is kind of bad (I am watching on My Asian TV)

Update: finished it and it did get better - acting was still kind of stiff, but the storyline at least got better. Usual cdrama messy ending that wasn’t clear - maybe I missed in too much FFing - but how did they save him in the end from the poison??? So not clear at all and then weird that they dont actually show them - you just hear his voice

I tried, but just couldn’t with this one. I get they were going for campy (a bit) - but, just none of worked for me - from the ridiculous cat burglar suit (where they only show his face inside it when he is in it, which just screams - he is not actually the one in the suit when doing the scenes) - to the tropey FL cop who is supposed be tough - but she just has attitude - to the all the greedy, evil-doers. Just wasn’t anything new or exciting about it (for me) - gonna drop it for now - may try back again later.

Just finished it and would just say it was ok.
The thing I liked was how well it depicted the FL falling apart - that felt real. I started out not liking this character at all - but it falls into place because it shows her having to come to terms with the fact that she was living a lie - not just the relationship, but her own identity. And then recovering from that - that I felt was well done
I wold have liked if the they had had the ML get to his own growth before that last episode - it starts to go there when he says goodby to his ex - but then stalls out and he reverts back - so that was weird
HATED the CEO/assistant romance - quite frankly, it was creepy. She felt like she was fresh out of high school and had been living in a bubble somewhere and it was like -the small town girl falls for the big city CEO who was nice to her - everything about it felt wrong.

Weird little, disjointed drama - kind of fun - totally should have been longer

I am not a big medical drama fan - but this cast is just spectacular - all of them, together and they have done such a great job of incorporating a few new characters each season that add to it.
One of the best bringing back of an original characters in a series out there
We’ll don to all the people in the making of this series and I look forward to season 4 (I mean, you cant end season 3 on that note without a 4th season in the works)

I am not a big medical drama fan - but this cast is just spectacular - all of them, together and they have done such a great job of incorporating a few new characters each season that add to it.
One of the best bringing back of an original characters in a series out there
We’ll don to all the people in the making of this series and I look forward to season 4 (I mean, you cant end season 3 on that note without a 4th season in the works)

Just finished this and have to say - it was weird - and still not sure if that is good or bad. It’s like they were trying to be ‘edgy’ - but it didn’t quite work.
Things that didn’t really work for me was that the FL was supposed to be this trained assassin, but couldn’t event run properly and she was kind of pathetic during a lot of it. The SFL, who we are supposed to have empathy for - was just crazy and cried wolf too many times and then wondered why no one listened to her. Really didn’t like how they ended her brothers story line - so unnecessary and a bit counter to the whole story. I actually liked the ending, but we will see if they do a second season - if not, its kind of pointless.

This one ranks up there as one of the better ones. Story was interesting, actors did a great job, main couple was really good. It has its usual draggy parts - but not extensive.
One of the better FL characters out there - smart, no whining or pouting or baby-voice, no damsel-in-distress silliness - she was pretty badass and ran the show.
ML was super-charming and completely trusted the FL - they were true partners and once they got together, the cuddling and hand-holding was the best - they truly loved each other
Loved the Feng family of women - grandma was the best!
Liked that no-one dies
Tight supporting group that all trusted each other and no internal strife amongst them
ML's two best friends were hysterical - well done!
Things I didnt like - the biggest thing, and it almost ruined it for me - was the maid-servant to the FL - I dont know who wrote this character - but it was BAD! She was just annoying throughout, never stopped talking, was kind of useless beyond just being this side-character - no added value and actually distracted from the story.
Kind of annoyed that the two main baddies didnt really get any sort of penalty at the end - the usual let them off the hook and they can live with their guilt for the rest of their lives, kind of thing - so, kind of anti-climactic

this is one the stranger dramas I have watched recently - just a weird, weird storyline - especially the whole marital manual thing - talk about f*ing creepy - I am sure that it probably happened - but, gross!)
All the actors did a fine job - but the writing is horrendous.
The over-campiness in the first half - especially for the FL (the weird, constant sniffing and having to put her leg up on everything like a guy would do and she always looked like she was chewing on something) - just did not work for me. I also found it weird they went with the tomboyish schtick given she actually grew up in a brothel around women - so it didnt make a whole lot of sense to me
Can tell it was the first time as a lead for the ML - he's got some work to do - but it's there.
Too many plot holes left unanswered and too many tropey pieces - the long-time friend/business partner who has been 'in-love' with the ML since childhood, butwho doesn't reciprocate and then becomes obsessed, the usual palace intrigue stuff (would have been better and more interesting if they had just stuck with merchant world instead of moving to palace), the SML who falls 'in-love' with the FL - who is cluelesss - and kind of leads him, but doesn't like him 'that way' - which then causes issues.
Story had potential - but just sloppy, sloppy writing. If you want something light to watch, its worth at least one viewing.

Absolutely agree - this is completely the fault of the writers. What I also find so interesting about your reply is the point about the novel. It’s amazing to me how many times I write about a troubling character (and, sadly, too often the FL character) and someone comes back about how they weren’t like that in the book and the character in the book sounds WAAAAY more interesting - I just dont get why the huge change when converting from book to screen. Always interesting to me since I dont read the books these were adapted from - so makes me kind of sad to then learn how much more compelling the character could have been.

This one was just ok for me. Not great, but not bad either.
The beginning and end are kind of confusing (beginning more so - like you have walked in to the middle of a story confusing)
I thought all the actors did a fine job - just bad script writing.
I don't really care for FL's that do that stubborn, willful, ignore everyone's advice cause I am hellbent on doing the thing I want to do - no matter the consequences or reverberations on those around me, and then don't realize my mistake until its too late - kind of character - just gets old after a while - and this one really pushed the limit on it.
Once the leads get together - it's lovely - but it's not until ep28 - so you have to wade through ALOT of annoyance to get there.
Most of this drama is about people who cant let go of grudges, past wrongs, jealousy, revenge until its too late - pretty standard wuxia stuf

Ha! No - none of us - but I really do have to question the choices made by whoever created this character - it was a bit much and cumulatively, made this character very unappealing (at least me)

I love reading why folks liked or disliked something - thanks for sharing!
I would add that Neo with the white hair at the end was very appealing :)

so love this reply and what I enjoy about comments - everyone has a different take and finds different thing enjoyable (or not) - you loved BFTB and TTOEM didn't work for you and it was just the opposite for me - that's what makes watching all these and then sharing viewpoints so great. Thank you for your comment!

Just finished this after I stopped at EP20 (ish) because it wasn't done at that time.
Don't need the haters as this is just my opinion and doesn't invalidate yours - but this was just ok for me.
It started out with a really good premise and I really liked how the leads were clear and open from the get-go about their history and stories - this was so refreshing - but man did it really lose steam for me in the second half.
I enjoyed the ML and was conflicted with the FL from early on. I just kept having this visceral reaction to her of that 1-20yr old who thinks they know everything - but don't really (which is hoe old she was in the story) - but I just didnt care for it and wished they had had a more mature FL. It also didnt help that the actress looks like she is still a teenager (yes, I know she is actually 25 - but man did she give off the teenager vibe here). Now, given that, she had her good mature moments and I did like that she was direct and clear with her intentions. So she wasn't all bad for me (hence my conflict). I think I am also just tired of this constant narrative with cdramas of the 18-20yr old female paired with the dragon god/king/god of war guy who has been around for a very long time - it just always feels a bit pedophelic to me.
I also started to lose interest in all the side-characters and side-stories - just got a bit repetitive and boring and predictable.
I thought they dragged out story arcs too long - like when he gets reborn - was cute to start with, but then it just went on too long.
Also - way too many repetitive flashback scenes - probably took up at least 3 episodes worth of time
And while I felt the two leads were cute together - didn't get much other sense of intimacy from them - so, that aspect was also just kind of meh!
I would certainly say - if you like this genre - its a good watch - but I also wound't put it anywhere near on the same plane as TTEOM - not even close.

I meant the ultimate tragedy is the last two episodes (for the main characters) - but other tragedies start to happen before that

just started this and only on EP7 - but so far - what the actual hell is this mess?
Basic premise so far is a grown ass woman meets a guy she had a crush on in HS and becomes a crazy lady by turning right back into that teenager (and acting like one too). She is spoiled, judgmental, jumps to every wrong conclusion so far and her personality/moods swings are giving me whiplash. I generally am ok with actress (not a huge fan, but she is usually ok) - but this character is awful. I will push on for a bit longer as I do like the ML - but so far, the story is not that interesting and the FL is distractingly annoying - like, I want to slap her up-side-the head annoying.
it also doesn't help with how they styled her - the horrible top-not/poney-tail thing, the white go-go boots and the mom jeans - just awful
The whole thing so far is just stupid - I get its supposed to be rom-com - but that doesn't mean it needs to be dumb