luxee

Generation to Generation is honestly such a frustrating drama because I can clearly see how good it could have been. There is a genuinely interesting story here, some beautifully written characters, gorgeous cinematography and two leads who carried the drama for me. At the same time, the editing and pacing made me want to personally enter the editing room and ask what exactly was going on. 😭

The beginning was definitely rough. There were so many names, sects, old grudges and connections being thrown at me that I spent the first few episodes wondering whether I was supposed to understand any of it. The editing did not help either. Some scenes felt like pieces had simply been cut out and the audience was expected to fill in the blanks ourselves. Thankfully, it gets considerably better once the story settles down, and the middle portion is where I became properly invested.

And then there is Zhou Yiran as Mu Qingyan.

Yeah. He was the main reason I was seated. 😂

Mu Qingyan is an absolute mess of a man, but in the most entertaining way possible. He is intelligent, manipulative, obsessive, morally questionable and occasionally completely unhinged. Yet underneath all of that, he genuinely cares about the people he considers his own. Zhou Yiran did such a good job with those quieter moments too. Sometimes he barely had to do anything with his expression and you could still tell exactly what was going on in his head.

Cai Zhao was another character I really liked. I appreciate that she does not suddenly lose her personality just because she falls in love. She has her own ambitions, responsibilities and principles, and she continues making her own decisions even when those decisions complicate her relationship with Mu Qingyan. Bao Shangen brought a lot of charm to her.

And yes, their relationship is toxic at times. I am not going to pretend otherwise. Mu Qingyan manipulates her, hides things from her and has absolutely no understanding of the concept of leaving well enough alone. 😂 But that is also what makes their dynamic so interesting. They are constantly challenging each other, and Cai Zhao is not someone who simply accepts everything he does because she loves him.

I also have to give Song Yuzhi his flowers because that man was a surprisingly excellent second male lead. I was fully prepared for the usual jealous second lead nonsense, but thankfully the writers did not go there. He respected Cai Zhao's choices, supported her without trying to control her and remained a genuinely decent character throughout. His interactions with his father were also some of my favorite lighter moments.

The biggest problem for me was the editing and storytelling structure. There is clearly a lot of material here, and sometimes it feels like the drama is trying to squeeze an entire novel's worth of history, relationships and mysteries into the runtime. The generational aspect is fascinating, but some of those older stories occasionally overshadow the present storyline. Even the detailed finale coverage notes how much history and backstory the drama has to resolve.

Still, I ended up enjoying it much more than I expected. The characters kept me invested, the leads had great chemistry, the wuxia atmosphere was beautiful and the story gradually became easier to appreciate once everything started coming together.

Is it perfect? Absolutely not.
Did the editing occasionally test my patience? Absolutely.
Did I still get attached to these people and finish the whole thing? Also absolutely. 😭

For me, Generation to Generation is one of those dramas where the execution is much messier than the potential of the story. But the characters, especially Mu Qingyan and Cai Zhao, made the journey worth it.