mycloverformrdarcy

Kind of the show of a lifetime, and what a lifetime Shen Jia Lan aka Xu Lan Xiang has had. This is a show about survival, with only little revenge although the female lead certainly had grounds to hold a grudge. However, bearing her mother’s last words in mind for the rest of her life, Lan Xiang would choose to live life to the fullest, holding people accountable only when necessary, and trying to stay out of harm’s way as best as possible. Because what is glory if you’re unsafe. The more powerful you are, the more danger you will face. What is power if you have to watch your back and protect your entire clan every step you take? It is not worth the effort because harm can come even if you’re innocent.

What I loved most was this beautiful focus on kinship. Kinship means so many things, and blood relations do not automatically mean that one is kin; “Against the Current” proves this time and time again. The real Lan Xiang’s parents take Jia Lan and raise her as their own (so much so that our female lead reacts to the name in her mother’s last moments at the end of the series…) The servants Lan Xiang works with in the beginning—Gan Tang, Bao Gai, Xiao Lian—become her sisters in name, and once she marries into the Lin family, the girls and women slowly start to depend on her, knowing that she will lend a hand and be there for them. So much so that their relationship becomes second-nature once they have matured into women in their 30s, teasing each other, caring for one another, and protecting the family as a unit. The final panorama scene was absolutely shattering; all these women who at one point finally lived life on their own terms, all of Lan Xiang’s kin.

Her relationship with Lin Jin Qi is an interesting one. He takes matters into his own hands when he forces LX to marry him, however, those who thought theirs wasn’t a romance—I disagree. I think there was such an intriguing aspect to their relationship. LX and LJQ had romance, but maybe not a love story. Those are different. No grand declarations, but actions defined their relationship. Maybe out of duty and necessity, and yet it takes guts to do what LX did by saving JQ in the cold and protecting him while he was gravely injured. I also appreciated Tan Song Yun’s subtle acting in those moments when LX was clearly conflicted; I think she did have feelings for the male lead (even before it’s made more evident), however, due to their complicated history, on top of the marriage decree (and thus taking her autonomy as well as ability to remarry in the future should she wish to), LX did not waver or had her judgment clouded.

One character in particular had such beautiful development over the course of the show, and that was Xiu Wan. From this silly young girl, who was manipulated and used, to this strong-willed young woman. I really loved XW, and how she was a girl’s girl of her time: taking Xiu Ru’s side during the concubine debacle; wanting to help Xiu Lai without a second thought, and going to Lan Xiang because she knew LX would help and find a way. I just love how these girls grew into women with aspirations (and fighting for those!).

The last few episodes moved rather quickly, and the plot is accelerated through several time jumps. I did not mind too much, though the pirate plot and maybe even Scholar Han’s death probably took up much more time in the initial stages of editing. These plots, I’m sure, were meant to be longer, teased better, resolved better. Like I said, I don’t care too much because I still enjoyed the show very much. Visually stunning, great acting, wonderful music/score, and a beautiful life story. Truly beautiful. I think I shall miss this one…