What a start to this series! So much action in the first episode and once again Li Qin establishes herself as one of the best femaie action stars! The scene of her (Fu Xiao) taking on so many assassins in the woods was way cool and very entertaining. The episode overall is full of exposition in order to setup the series, and feels a little choppy, vague and purposely confusing at points - but that seems likely intentional as the director clearly wants to keep things from us for later reveals. Not totally a fan of that technique since it's obviously a contrivance of the show direction & editing but it's fine. The story also kicks off with the usually extremely annoying amnesia trope but as an initial story premise it feels okay here.
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A very well-paced final two episodes. Still had quite of bit of conflict resolution, 'action and drama' for the first half of the episode to provide a great series crescendo, and then enough time to provide a very satisfying denouement that lays out the post-drama fate of most of the characters.
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So 5th Uncle, Dou Shishu, gets betrayed and turned into a scapegoat by the evil factions of Empress Wan and Prince Qing. But it turns out that he expected it and is ultimately exploiting this whole situation - including sacrificing himself as a 'bad man' - to elevate his younger brother in the future!!!???
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So the villains are making their moves and, typical of c-drama plots, they are 'winning' nearly everything at this point.. This episode will frustrate viewers as they see character after character either fail to step up or simply be outright evil. With 3 episodes to go, things actually could get even worse in the next couple of episodes!
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That painful-to-watch romance is still a problem, but fortunately this episode gives most of its screen time to the the main plot involving the two leads. So we get several fun scenes both with them individually and together. Love the interactions between the two leads and the Crown Prince & Princess. We get some crucial backstory finally on what the Emperor was trying to accomplish by arresting Song Mo's uncle. And the good guys may have gained a key asset as one of the Empress' top maid servants, currently assigned to An Su's household, realizes she owes a huge debt of gratitude to Dou Zhao.
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It was inevitably going to happen. He is stuck in his thinking because he believes that the larger fate is fixed and that Song Mo's doom is inevitable. But a key point is that SHE (Dou Zhao) actually knows more. Yes, he acts very confident and as if he knows more about the big picture but she has two key factors that affect her thinking differently from him. First, she has the actual book in hand. It came back in time with her. And second, SHE has actually had two conversations with the author of the book (God?). She knows that fate can be changed. It's not easy. It is as hard as moving a mountain. But it can be changed. So because of that, Dou Zhao's mindset is completely different from Ji Yuantong's. In other news, watching Song Han further tighten his abusive control over An Su, isolating her from everyone she loves, is heartbreaking and painful to watch. I recommend skipping much of it because it's just depressing. Sadly realistic. But depressing.
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Folks in the Viki comments callously saying that An Su 'deserves' what she gets for not seeing the truth about Song Han are ignorant of just how insidious manipulative abusers like Song Han are. There is a reason that so many women end up trapped in such horrible abusive relationships and it isn't because they "deserve" it. It's because the techniques such pathological creeps use to manipulate are extremely effective on innocent, 'good' people. This plot line is so hard to watch because it is unfortunately very real.
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All signs are pointing towards bestie An Su falling for psychopath Song Han, who is super-eager to sign-up for treason, specifically to betray his brother. There is a slim possibility that is an act, but it doesn't look like it's an act. So An Su may be headed for a tragic romance if she stays on course with him. This show has killed off so many 'good people' so far, from SM's uncle to his mom, to DZ's mom and then most tragically, her sister, Dou Ming. Indeed the latter counts as one seriously tragic couple so the show clearly has no qualms about killing off the good guys. And on the flip side, the only bad guys that have even been 'caught' so far are ML's dad and FL's step-mom and the latter is still alive.; So this show seems intent on building up the karma on one side but hopefully will bring justice to everyone by the end.
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Giving this episode a low rating solely because the writers decided to lean into the stupid, "Noble Idiocy", drama trope to form the 'drama' for this episode. Fortunately, it gets busted up before the end of the episode and didn't drag it out for multiple episodes, but just using it at all is so annoying. They have Song Mo deciding to hide his poisoning from Dou Zhao and 'suffer in silence' for the 'greater good'. This is one of the most annoying, stupid, lazy-punk writer devices that should, frankly, be banned from ever being used again by story-tellers. It requires the character who is previously shown to be very smart to act like an idiot. It requires the character to break promises made. It basically requires a complete plot-induced character change and is just dumb. In almost every case, the same overall story can be told without using this trope. So please writers, don't use it.
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Much improved direction and editing over the prior episode. Unfortunately this episode sees the start of an annoying, contrived separation of the leads - so stereotypical of c-dramas to keep bringing them together and then separating them - but makes up for it a bit with the way Song Mo has his men still helping her, 'in secret'.
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Overall plot was fine, but editing of this episode was weird and choppy and made it look like the plot was hand-waving over a lot of key details.
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Fantastic cinematography and right off the bat the casting up & down the ensemble looks exemplary. Zoey Meng is so great at projecting a regal, commanding presence so the early scenes of her commanding her household are so cool and then, even as her world crumbles, her ability to hold her composure feels authentic to the character. And then kudos to the young actress, Liu Jia Xi, playing the young Shou Gu. She has the mind and memories of her adult self and quickly starts to project the same calm decisiveness. The mood set by the cinematography, costumes, lighting and effects is intense and dramatic, but not overwhelming. Just enough to establish the doom that awaits if fate is not changed.
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He's really morphed into a bizarre caricature of the unrequited love / psychopath c-drama villain. His body and facial contortions in this episode are cartoonish. The biggest question is why Jiang Jun goes within 20 feet of this scumbag. And why she AND Yuan Shuai keep going easy on Du Lei and giving him more and more chances. Meanwhile, the Xu Li & Li Xiaochuan store continues to be completely skippable. Yes, it has a happy 'transformation' of Xiaochuan .. .but it isn't really a credible transformation.
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Not surprisingly, Du Lei completes his villain reveal as he shows himself to be just another stereotypical psychopathic unrequited 3rd-wheel c-drama villain. Basically tries to sexually assault Jiang Jun but is fortunately stopped by YS' timely arrival. The frustrating thing about this episode is just how much rope Du Lei keeps. being given by Jiang. She keeps ignoring all the warning signs until things get way, way too awkward. And then, even after he basically assaults her, they just leave him and walk away. No calling of police. No accountability whatsoever.. So naturally, he's going to cause more trouble ...
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The writers have just leaned heavily into the stupid, most-annoying drama trope of, "Noble Idiocy" -- Yuan Shuai proceeds to take on all the burdens, lets himself get framed, pushes everyone away and declines to explain or share what he's doing. "Gives up on their love" for the "greater good". And for no F'ing good reason. This is a cheap, stereotypical plot gimmick that is among the most hated by fans (for good reason). It requires huge truckloads of plot-induced stupidity. The 'break up' with Jiang Jun is unbelievably stupid. It is obvious to us viewers that he's performing a scheme and it makes no sense that he had to keep her in the dark for what he's doing. There are lots of ways for him to have carried out this ruse while not hurting her. Doing it this way is just stupid and unnecessary and shows a lack of trust - right after he had just promised her he would not lie to her. And he's also breaking his promise to both her father and mother to not be the reason she cries. This is not the Yuan Shuai of the last 26 episodes. This is a plot-twisted version derived out of nowhere by the writers just to create some drama. Sigh ... having come this far, I'll gut it out until they bring the plot past this stupidity and hope they finish the series with a better arc. Just very disappointed in the writers right now.
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