This review may contain spoilers
Beware of the mother-in-law!
I love the feeling of finishing a show🤭. A couple of thoughts on this one…
The costumes and sets were absolutely stunning, the female lead’s chambers were breathtaking—especially that window that looked like a moon! I also quite loved the detail of her evolving hairstyle, signifying her growth as the lady of the house.
Now, the monster of the show. Mommy dearest, big mama, mother-in-law. Girl. This woman was such a hypocrite and biased, it was actually infuriating. The ending scene also just made me laugh to be honest. Praising Shi Yi’s embroidery business, only because it ended up being mega-successful. Meanwhile, throughout the whole show, she held it against the female lead😐🧍🏻♀️. The mother-in-law was such a brainless woman, who was easily manipulated by anyone, and who could not once admit her mistakes. Not once did she apologize to Shi Yi for the abuse and mistreatment she faced. Every single time, she had to be reminded how amazing the female lead actually is in doing her duties as the legal wife/ladyship, only to immediately turn against her in a matter of seconds. No matter how many good deeds Shi Yi did, one bad thing and POOF, the mother-in-law just complained what a bad wife she is… Give me a break! It was so annoying, because the female lead’s submission was used as an excuse to push the narrative that “actions are louder than words”. It would have been really nice had Shi Yi just cussed out her mother-in-law… even just once, honestly. The female lead never complained, blabla, and I’m supposed to believe it’s aspirational, meanwhile, she faces unjust treatment all the time. No matter how much I like that man, having that kind of family-in-law is just a big no-no. Ugh, I would hate to live in that house.
Another time the writing pissed me off was when Shi Yi had a lapse in judgment and actually believed that Ling Yi had killed her mother. The show spends every single episode establishing Shi Yi as a level-headed female lead, who thinks before she acts. A female lead who is one step ahead, and when she is not, she adapts quickly and turns a situation back around in her favor. In order to create several episodes’ worth of conflict and tension between the two leads, they made her emotional and guided by irrationality when it mattered most to stay calm. Now, you can argue that 1) Shi Yi is still very young, literally a teenager, and 2) her mother was one of the very few people in her life that genuinely loved her, thus, her death was obviously a big blow—especially since she found her dead. Therefore, 3) finally finding some evidence, even if it’s collateral (as she did admit herself), it is not surprising that she would hope and be over-eager. But taking Ling Yi’s ambiguous and DRUNK confession as the absolute truth is just so dumb lol. Again, I just think the writers wanted some tension among the leads, but I did not like it (the conflict itself was annoying, however, the pay-off was … nice…. I guess… 👀 since we did get a really nice kiss… and yearning and longing… I’ll take whatever I can get!). Shi Yi, until that point, was rational, but not heartless, caring and sensible. In a critical moment like that, I wish the writing had been better.
The last 3 episodes were so … I just wanted to finish the show, so I skipped the part when girly was almost beheaded lol. I do think the show was good, and had sweet moments between the leads, but they dragged it a little. I think more than 40 episodes was just too much. However, the sets, costumes, the stunning OSTs as well has the yearning portrayed by Wallace Chung really did make up for it. I did enjoy the overall acting performances by the whole cast as well. I would not rewatch this show, though. Big Mama annoyed me too much… 🤭💖
The costumes and sets were absolutely stunning, the female lead’s chambers were breathtaking—especially that window that looked like a moon! I also quite loved the detail of her evolving hairstyle, signifying her growth as the lady of the house.
Now, the monster of the show. Mommy dearest, big mama, mother-in-law. Girl. This woman was such a hypocrite and biased, it was actually infuriating. The ending scene also just made me laugh to be honest. Praising Shi Yi’s embroidery business, only because it ended up being mega-successful. Meanwhile, throughout the whole show, she held it against the female lead😐🧍🏻♀️. The mother-in-law was such a brainless woman, who was easily manipulated by anyone, and who could not once admit her mistakes. Not once did she apologize to Shi Yi for the abuse and mistreatment she faced. Every single time, she had to be reminded how amazing the female lead actually is in doing her duties as the legal wife/ladyship, only to immediately turn against her in a matter of seconds. No matter how many good deeds Shi Yi did, one bad thing and POOF, the mother-in-law just complained what a bad wife she is… Give me a break! It was so annoying, because the female lead’s submission was used as an excuse to push the narrative that “actions are louder than words”. It would have been really nice had Shi Yi just cussed out her mother-in-law… even just once, honestly. The female lead never complained, blabla, and I’m supposed to believe it’s aspirational, meanwhile, she faces unjust treatment all the time. No matter how much I like that man, having that kind of family-in-law is just a big no-no. Ugh, I would hate to live in that house.
Another time the writing pissed me off was when Shi Yi had a lapse in judgment and actually believed that Ling Yi had killed her mother. The show spends every single episode establishing Shi Yi as a level-headed female lead, who thinks before she acts. A female lead who is one step ahead, and when she is not, she adapts quickly and turns a situation back around in her favor. In order to create several episodes’ worth of conflict and tension between the two leads, they made her emotional and guided by irrationality when it mattered most to stay calm. Now, you can argue that 1) Shi Yi is still very young, literally a teenager, and 2) her mother was one of the very few people in her life that genuinely loved her, thus, her death was obviously a big blow—especially since she found her dead. Therefore, 3) finally finding some evidence, even if it’s collateral (as she did admit herself), it is not surprising that she would hope and be over-eager. But taking Ling Yi’s ambiguous and DRUNK confession as the absolute truth is just so dumb lol. Again, I just think the writers wanted some tension among the leads, but I did not like it (the conflict itself was annoying, however, the pay-off was … nice…. I guess… 👀 since we did get a really nice kiss… and yearning and longing… I’ll take whatever I can get!). Shi Yi, until that point, was rational, but not heartless, caring and sensible. In a critical moment like that, I wish the writing had been better.
The last 3 episodes were so … I just wanted to finish the show, so I skipped the part when girly was almost beheaded lol. I do think the show was good, and had sweet moments between the leads, but they dragged it a little. I think more than 40 episodes was just too much. However, the sets, costumes, the stunning OSTs as well has the yearning portrayed by Wallace Chung really did make up for it. I did enjoy the overall acting performances by the whole cast as well. I would not rewatch this show, though. Big Mama annoyed me too much… 🤭💖
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