This episode pulls a plow. It makes only the tiniest of plot advancements. We do get indications that JBZ is still there for Ming Yi. She still clings stubbornly to her remaining lies though, so the plot is still stuck on that gimmick. On the other side of that, Ji Bo Zai is apparently now unable to figure out obvious clues that would reveal the truth to him even when laid out right in front of him. And various other characters are just irritating in this episode.This part of this series feels like the writers have no respect for the intelligence of the viewers and are just contriving reasons to drag out the episodes with no real progress in the story. It's a total shame after such a promising first 18 or so episodes.
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Unfortunately, the writers of this series have leaned hard into the same predictable and contrived plot devices of so many asian romance-dramas and the 'lovers who fail to talk to each other' has led predictably into a totally unnecessary conflict and falling out. So this will allow them to drag us through more episodes of misunderstandings as they struggle to live life without each other only to eventually come back together. And of course they are decorating that weak plot trope with other annoying hack tropes like the 3rd-wheel romantic wannabe who is really an obsessed stalker.So much about this show is very enjoyable. The actors are top-notch and the production levels are fantastic. But the basic plot so far is very, very disappointing and not creative at all. It feels the basic story was thrown together by ChatGPT from prompts from a 12 year old. Why is it so difficult to have the characters behave like thinking adults and still write an engaging plot?
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This episode gets a 10 simply because it finally kills off the stupid lie that has been dragging the series down for many episodes. The FL's unwillingness to confess her identity has been an absurd and stupid plot device that should have expired long before this. But at least now it is finally done with.
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This was a good episode overall. But the thing that is dragging on this whole storyline is that the writers have failed to give us a reason to empathize with Ming Yicontinuing to lie about her identity to Ji Bo Zai. There is no apparent reason for her to continue to do so and it is hurting both of them that she is. It could be accepted if the story presented a compelling reason for why she continues to lie. But it doesn't. So it has become annoying and feels contrived. As if she is only doing so to drag the plot gimmick out. This is a pretty big flaw in this otherwise very entertaining drama, and the flaw is getting bigger as it proceeds. If they don't either explain it or conclude it, it could make the entire series unwatchable as the audience looses empathy with the heroine.
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This episode started of with still more heartbreaking, emotional scenes. Watching Shaoyao say her good-byes to Grandmother was so wrenching. Lu Yu Xiao's performance as Shaoyao has been nothing short of amazing. The episode also included some revenge by the fam against 1st Daughter, who was publicly humiliated and formally booted from the family by Hua Zhi in a dramatic, commanding public proclamation. And finally, finally, Go YanXi is freed from his confinement and, after a stop to visit his scumbag father, finally returns to Hua Zhi. Their reunion is really cool. No over-the top dramatics. No misunderstanding-fueled anger. They simply talk like real human adults! My god, it is so refreshing to see the leads behave like rational adults in a romance-drama!!!!
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Wow. This episode was just so emotionally intense and sad. It was bad enough watching all the trauma and abuse that Auntie Qin endured and her suicide attempt, the brutality of Song Cheng Zu on 1st Daughter, the resulting insane, sociopathic tantrum that the latter then inflicted on Old Madam - basically driving her own mother to death. This episode was just brutal. And man,, the scene when Hua Zhi crawls onto the bed to lie close with Old Madam Hua in her last minutes. If you weren't crying watching that, then you must be a robot. The performances by both Liu Jia and Zhang Jing Yi in that scene was just so intense. And god, poor Shaoyao - this was like losing her mother all over again.
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So, the 'bussom friends' thing doesn't seem to have slowed down Zhi's and Yanxi's growing affections for each other. But his mind is struggling with how to resolve all his secret conflicts that seem destined to get in the way. The family is starting to have to deal with more and more 'soft' issues such as jealousy and pettiness within the family and rumors and gossip outside of it.
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The pace of the romance may frustrate some viewers, but I'm finding it so far to be extremely satisfyingly realistic. Especially because, at least so far, there are no bizarre, contrived romantic mis-dramas. Yes, he has secrets from her, but they aren't romantic secrets and, at least towards each other, they are so far being honest with their slowly developing feelings. The 'bussom friends' remark at the end is the first stumble, but it's not something that will derail their forward growth.
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This episode did the most to move the plots along since the beginning. For the Hua family's Imperial punishment plot, this episode finally saw the men start their journey to exile. This episode also used that to trigger a final come-to-terms moment between Hua Zhi and all the rest of the women as they once again made a stupid mistake that resulted in brutal consequences for her. This pushed her to the edge of considering severing ties with her family. And the third major plot thread - the romance - gets a major boost as the two leads finally spend some 'quality time' together as the ML shows up to help her out when she is beaten and alone. All in all, because of all the forward progress on the three major plot lines, this is easily my favorite episode so far.
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The leads AND their supporting cast behaved completely contrary to what QianYu (the crappy scriptwriter) wanted to happen, leading to a massive, epic cluster-F with everybody dying! This is an awesome meta-criticism of the writer (who ALSO got killed - HA HA!!!!). I love this show and its relentless desire to smash every classic drama trope! They did so all the way to the end of this episode.
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This episode was great no matter what just because it ended with one of the best c-drama tropes ever: Surviving a cliff jump!
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In order to solve the crisis, saving all of the Night Wanderers & Shanguan He, and to sheild both Song sisters, Nan Heng gives up his uncle for the crimes he committed 3 years ago and throws himself under the bus to take all punishment which includes 60 lashes and giving up his title and going into exile. A side story we can see evolving is Minister Song is clearly coming to a new and respectful understanding of Nan Heng and also a less favorable one of Chu Gui Hong. That's probably going to be very important going forward. Meanwhile, Song Yi Meng is still terrified of the remaining, brutal 'iconic events' that are still left in the SCRIPT. And she also seems to still not be aware of the brutal sacrifices that Nan Heng has given both earlier, to save her father and now, to save all of the Night Wanderers. It would be nice if someone told her. It would probably change her thinking. A lot of viewers hate her character but she is simply operating from a different set of information than we viewers have. Oh, and this episode really hammers home that Chu Gui Hong is on full evil villain arc. He refuses to learn or change from his evil even when his hypocrisy and abuse are gently and clearly pointed out to him by first the Song sisters and later by Minister Song.
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Reading viewer comments during the stream on Viki,it's pretty apparent that a lot of viewers just don't seem to get it that this show is a comedy - indeed that it is a PARODY of asian romance dramas. The comments make it clear that a lot of viewers are taking things way too seriously. At the start, they were hating on the ML for his over-the-top violent behavior. And now viewers are hating on the FL for her over-the-top cluelessness and mistakes due to her not really understanding how the plot has changed from the OG script. I loved this episode because it finally started to clear up some of the confusion and maybe that will sooth some of the haters. And it featured a throwback to one of the early fun trope mechanisms to do so. To any potential viewers out there: I recommend you have first watched a lot of C-Dramas so you can recognize and appreciate all the tropes they are making fun of in this series.
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This episode dealt more emotional gut punches to Nan Heng as first, despite his having given up so much and suffered so much to protect Minister Song from punishment, the latter STILL didn't want to accept his marriage to Song Yi Meng. Next, while disguised as Li Sixteen, he receives very hurtful words from Song Yi Meng herself (who, to be fair, does not seem to be aware of what Nan Heng did to protect her father). These leave him very depressed. And then, finally, while this is less impactful, he gets into yet another scuffle with idiot, pathetic Chu Gui Hong that ends in an exchange of more hurtful words and at this point the final severance of any trace remnants of their long-ago friendship. The series so far has focused for quite some time on Nan Heng going through emotional growth and getting hit with stuff like the above. Feels like the series needs to now start showing some character growth on the part of Song Yi Meng, who still his stubbornly hanging on to her OG script presumptions about Nan Heng and fate.
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This was FL's turn to fail to establish control over ML. He had failed miserably and painfully in the prior episode. She failed in her attempts in this episode (though at least she wasn't getting injured in the process). But it was still hilarious! At some point they need to realize they have to stop trying to get the edge over the other. But I suspect lots more hijinks will happen before then.
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