In this drama so far, the number of actually likable people is so tiny. Basically we have the FL and the ML (though with qualifiers given his misbehavior in the backstory), Grammy, and Sun Hui (FL's best friend), ML's dad and Dr. Kim Tae Ho (ML's friend). Pretty much _every_ other character is either objectively evil or at best an incompetent idiot. Most of the time, the FL seems to be surrounded by truly awful, awful people. What a horrible world to live in.
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I know a lot of viewers will focus their ire on the Jin Seo U character and certainly she is not a good person for what she did. But let's be very, very clear: The person who should own full responsibility for this disaster affecting these 3 girls is Hong Ji Hong. It was HIS arrogance and irresponsible behavior as a "teacher" that set everything on course for this outcome. He was grossly inappropriate and unprofessional and he kept waiving off and ignoring all the signs of trouble coming. Almost certainly because, well, he enjoys having a bunch of young. teen girls fawning over him. It will be a HUGE disappointment in the script writers if he doesn't at some point acknowledge true remorse over his fault in this. Yes, Jin Seo U is at fault for her own actions. But she is just a minor - an impressionable, emotional young girl. The teacher is supposed to be the responsible adult. Okay, bitching about the ML is over for now. This episode was packed with some big events both in the back story and also introducing the modern version of our girl, looking like a competent neurosurgeon - so clearly she did a LOT over 13 years to remake her life.
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In all other regards, this was a good first episode, but right off the bat, watching the ML, Hong Ji Hong, conduct himself as a "teacher" with a bunch of teenage girl students, I am mortified. His behavior is so unprofessional and almost guaranteed to be a recipe for a disaster. He acts WAY too flirtatious with the students and while he may think it's a joke and not serious, he has to remember that these are minors - young people without fully-formed brains and not emotionally mature. He is being incredibly irresponsible with his behavior, which is certain to lead at least one of the girls to have wrong ideas.
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This drama kicks off with an immediate contest of wits between Li Pei Yi (Bai Lu) and Xiao Huai Jin (Wang Xing Yue). Right off the bat from the moment they meet they both start measuring each other up on the intelligence scale. Huaijin seemingly has a bit of an advantage in that he knows her from something connected to the night her family was killed whereas she apparently does not recognize him. He seems to think this gives him room to maneuver. However, she recognizes one of his tokens and it gives her a flashback to that night so she already knows he's connected in some way. The flashback seems to suggest that the boy version of him led the girl version of her to safety that night, but we don't have a lot more to go on yet. At any rate, while after their initial encounter he tries to distance himself from her, she clearly took steps to get an imperial decree to force him to assist her. This suggests strongly that she already realizes he has some connection to her. rr On the quality of the show, first impressions: Wow, absolute stunning visuals and fantastic cast. The cinematography and costumes are as good as on any drama series I've watched. The camerawork and lighting and effects are being used like an artist's paintbrush to produce some beautiful, mesmerizing imagery. And while it's probably enough to laud the casting of Bai Lu and Wang Xing Yue (glad to see them as allies after being in opposition in One and Only), the rest of the cast is filled out with veteran, talented actors up and down the cast. So far, this all foretells a really excellent drama to come.
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On one hand, the revelations from Wei Yan about what really happened were very moving and added a ton of depth to the story. Really makes you disgusted by the actions of the late former emperor. But otherwise, it felt like the episode short-shifted on the real fates of the various characters in order to provide a weird alternative universe short story. I'm not sure what the point of that was. Some sort of fan service? I would much, MUCH rather they spent more time on the fates of the actual characters in the main story. For example, it would have been cool to see an actual formal wedding for Changyu and Zheng. It would have been cool to see their two kids (and by that time, both Bao and Ning growing up to be a young adults). It would have been nice to see a bit about the fate of Gongsun and Qi Shu. All that would have been far, far more interesting than the weird alternate universe thing. Oh well, I still liked the series overall.
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So all the threads came together with both the revelations about what happened 17 years ago and also Qi Min's attempt to take the throne. Within this we had some exciting moments such as Xie Zheng's duel with Wei Yan and some dramatic moments such as Wei Xuan sacrificing himself to save Zheng from an assassination attempt by Wei Yan's man. But a couple of things just came up a little flat. For one thing, Qi Min's long-planned rebellion felt ... small and feeble and doomed to fail as soon as it started. Feels like the ML & FL barely had to flex to shut this down, esp once the Wei Yan nuisance was dealt with. And really, FL didn't flex at all since we surprisingly got zero combat scenes with her during all this. Finally, it seemed odd that, given her many amazing feats of super-strength, that Changyu would have had any trouble whatsoever pulling both Qian and Qi Min back up the wall. Feels like the writers have forgotten all about Changyu's amazing abilities of late.
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Yu Qianqian asks the question I've always been wondering: Just how on earth can Qi Min retain any staff or followers given the rate that he callously kills even his own people? Next, while Changyu looks lovely when finally dressed up in a noble lady's dress ... sorry, she looks the most awesome when wearing her armor. But I dd love the sisterly interaction between her and the Grand Princess. 'Hope they can always be besties! And man, she is SUCH A BOSS QUEEN the way she dispenses with Song Yan. "Well, you know I won't be using you. You may go." Total, cold bad-ass! And that's just the first of 3 heavy psychological blows that just crush his feeble pathetic mind in short order! Oh, that scene was SO SO SO SO satisfying! Changyu's character is such a delight to watch in every scene in this episode, especially with the deft way she handles the court politics despite being a 'lowly' pig butcher.
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This episode is all about drawing lines. We get Changyu's clear view of how the palace factions are lined up against each other. Her entrance to the capital and the palace is bold and epic and when it comes to the verbal sparring with imperial ministers, the Flower General shows she is just as skilled with words as she is with a butcher knife.Love Changyu's quiet flex of physical power when she breaks Minister Li's jianyu.Now that he's fully healthy and in command of his resources, it is notable how Xie Zheng is sneakily able to be anywhere he needs to be. And once again Li Haui'An continues to show just how pathetic he is, unable to make a convincing argument to his grandfather.
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Okay. I get it. This series has become - intended or not - all about how a family deals with a mother who is mentally ill. And as long as I keep my perspective oriented on that, I have to say it is pretty brilliantly executed. The acting performances are just so good. And the cinematography is beautiful. But ... this is painful and exasperating to watch. It's simply not pleasant to watch someone spiral the way Liu Wanyu has spiraled and the impact that has on her family. Yes, that's a selfish viewer perspective. I can only take so much of watching this sort of stress before it's just, well, too stressful.
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Chenghuan's mother, Liu Wanyu, gets a diagnosis that _might_ be cancer (further tests needed) and instead of talking with her family and getting the further tests done ... she spirals into a massive self-pity bout of depression and pulls back selfishly from the rest of the family and runs away. The whole thing drags out and is annoying and frustrating to watch .... but I gotta admit, it's kinda what real life is like when you live with someone who has a mental disorder. And it's been obvious for some time that Wanyu definitely has mental disorder issues. On one hand, the acting performances are great. On the other hand, it's very depressing and frustrating to watch.
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The ending of this episode was a bit shocking and it certainly can be criticized as the writer using a pretty blatant plot trope. Some commenters on Viki didn't understand why it hits Yao Zhiming so hard. I think the reason it just floors him is that he had just bounced back from one moment being typically mad at his dad to suddenly seeing a glimmer of light: That maybe, maybe he could have a normal healthy relationship with his Dad, like he had never dared dream possible. And then just like that, the chance was gone.
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Buried in this episode, Zhang Pei Sheng injects herself into the situation, clearly intending to make use of Yao Renfu to cause trouble for Zhiming and Chenghuan. Otherwise, most of this episode is about everyone finally learning about Chenghuan and Zhiming's relationship. In particular, Mama Liu Wanyu finally learns about it ... and amazingly she handles it without any crazy dramatics. She somehow stays, 'in character', but actually handles the whole experience very reasonably.
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The arrival of Yao Zhiming's father is annoying because he feels like an almost random injection of chaos and drama out of nowhere, but I get it that he is indeed part of the Zhiming's back story that was referenced early on and the ML needs closure on his roots. But his arrival certainly forebodes future unnecessary angst and drama. Aside from that, though, this episode reaches an amazing cuteness peak moment when Chenghuan does a 'flower dance'. Well worth watching this episode just for that.
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This episode continues with the same, "let's keep it moving forward" pace of plot advancement that kicked in during episode 27. This episode sets aside FL's mom for a moment and focuses more on a couple of the 'other' moms in the drama: Mao Mao and ironically Zhang Pei Sheng (who may be the worst mom in the whole show, but she is a mom). Side- mentions to all the moms in the the day-school and the teacher, of course. Along the way, we finally reach a reckoning point with that snarky concierge, Liao Gang. After giving him chance after chance, Mai Chenghuan finally has to dismiss him. Yay!!! And on the Yueda front, Zhiming pulls an ace out of his back pocket to trump card Zhang Pei Sheng's attempts to undermine him,
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This episode fairly quickly shook off all the weird, time-wasting trope junk that filled the last episode and resumed with moving the plot forward. In particular, the romance between FL & ML finally starts to really get going.
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