noor1234

The most intriguing character in the drama is and will remain FL. ML is a boring good guy & will remain so. I think he's also supposed to be older than her by 8-10 years so he's the steady dad-type. Most of the cast is one-dimensional, including ML. It's the way plot is unfolding that is interesting, the screenplay is very well-written.

I believe FL would've interacted with any other eventual husband similarly, she would've been a good partner to anyone, there's nothing unique that ML has that makes him stand out - other than the interconnected past history (his own, his brother's and FL's mother & Lishan Mountain) between them that makes her obliged to help him (because of promise to mom & his dying bro). She has more interests in life other than him.

I think he has entered ML's house just to keep tabs on them.

I think FL looks at the big picture - she likes stepmother's young son so she wouldn't have caused trouble for him, & she doesn't want to take revenge over petty issues that she has already handled (like getting her respect & property back). But that doesn't make stepmother & her daughter less shallow or incapable of deceiving FL. These sort of people will always be untrustworthy.

I don't think stepmother should get a pass just because she is the 'lesser of all evils' in Ye Family: she had planned on embarrassing FL on her wedding day with cheap broken 'dowry' & giving everything to her daughter instead. And she tried to do this to FL who was already sidelined in Ye Family & demoted to marriage with a crippled former prisoner of treasonous family. She also had taken over her shops & installed her own people, including a bf there. She had alienated the husband as well from his first-born - the father was worthless but I think women in these sort of households engineer a lot of mistreatment.

That was straight out of some horror movie!

Qin Cang is Muyang's son. As for Ye Family, Ye Ling is FL's father's daughter by the second wife BUT the boy/ son is not from the same father, he's from the guy who was caught with the second wife - that's why second wife has helped FL, because she wants to make sure the son carries Ye Family's title & name. They would've been thrown out of Ye Household if truth had come out, second wife would've been killed too, for adultery etc.

FL doesn't come across as the type to 'fall in love', she's a nurturer & would've been a good wife to anyone she ended up with - ML is nothing special. I don't think she thought anything more about ML other than the fact that this dashing soldier who was 'manly' / older than her, had rescued her - after her original betrothed (son of heir to the throne, that she studied with) was jailed. She has tried to help ML because of the vow she made to her mother & to ML's brother (before his terrible execution) - & she has tried to be a good wife & partner to him. BUT she is moved by revenge & to right past wrongs & to be self-sufficient. She would've been exactly like this with any other man as well.

PTSD & her way of boxing her trauma so that she can function in her daily life & take revenge.

Yup, her stories about Lishan Academy have gone wilder with each new episode - she's skilled in all kinds of things, & has done hard labor & knows martial arts: those 8 years after the coup are the big mystery - I think 'monkeys' were assassins who killed many people up in the mountain, & she is the one who got away. I'm sure that student she cut the tree for is also dead - because he hasn't sent any letter to his family for 8 years......

Prince Li was technically heir to the throne so of course he feels 'entitled' to what he deserves, what is owed to him or who belongs to him. FL is totally right about him & his character.

I think it's a tragedy that Prince Li & ML can't work together. In court/crown battles everyone is morally questionable & grey: Gen. Mo (ML's brother) was coming back on dying Emperor's orders because there was a tussle for crown & he sided with Emperor's wishes for crown prince. Meanwhile concubine saw her chance of installing her son as king as opposed to the designated crown prince, since emperor was dying & weak & she allied with security & court officials who helped her by removing obstacles (people). ML's brother (& other male members) got killed & FL's mother got killed because FL's father's side helped concubine & dowager by removing a key military family (by getting that decree). Crown prince would've removed concubine & her kid from capital (if kept alive at all) the same was done to his son (Prince Li), so who is right & wrong? It's only a matter of who avails of a chance & strikes first for throne & making your faction win.

Everyone who sided with crown prince got displaced or hammered (Lishan Academy, the 'assassin' family, ML's family, FL's mother, Yuan official, etc.)

Technically & morally, ML should side with Prince Li & help Prince Li get power just to get revenge against people who betrayed his family, last emperor, crown prince, & others, BUT he won't do that because he is not vengeful or ambitious or power hungry. And it looks like Prince Li would be a very cruel, obstinate & short-lived ruler, if he ever got to be king! He had no other choice but to aspire for throne, because he was told his entire life he was destined for that post & then was turned into a peacock & has resentment for everyone including ML because he has FL. I think his wife will rat him out.

Ep. 6-12: Even though Prince Li will lose in the end because he's the anti-hero & ML+FL will side with the kid emperor, he is a pitiable character because of his circumstances and of course his actions. He was the descendant from Empress, not concubine, yet concubine's son is on the throne & his father is dead and he's relegated to being a source of entertainment for the current Empress. He has no role in court either nor was he sent off to some province to live out his years. It's unfair for FL to put the blame for the deaths of 12 Lishan men on him as a 14 year old, but I guess the standard for an heir to throne is higher than ordinary boys. Just like ML, he has lived a life in the shadows, never revealing true intentions, but his position is such that he HAS to aspire for the throne, unlike ML who simply wants to clear his family's name & honor & is not ambitious. Prince Li's irreparable fault is that he will do anything for the throne, but that's what everyone does, so I don't think he's bad, it's just that he's extremely indecisive & makes bad choices & will lose in the end. I couldn't stand it when he duped FL into having a conversation after marriage & when he kidnapped / 'rescued' her.

These episodes have also made it clear that originally FL was a big fish, destined for marriage with the crown prince's son aka heir to the throne. She is the most interesting character in this drama.

It's also interesting to see how the 2 'sisters' handled husbands who didn't want to marry them: FL has never taken anything for granted & approached everything headlong (that stone growing flower is a perfect example of her patient perseverance bearing fruit), she even initiated normal touching with ML when he was distant, while Prince Li's wife is dumb, immature, childish, impatient, spoilt & unsuited for anyone other than that jobless buffoon 'assassin.' She has allowed Prince Li to mistreat her, ignore her, dismiss her, humiliate her by simply rejecting her over and over again, & she still doesn't get that she holds the power to how others treat her. FL also has a life & interests beyond ML, & the sister doesn't have any thoughts or ambitions.

Ep.3-5: Okay, I underestimated this drama, ML & FL's characters in the first 2 episodes were so lacklustre & driven by same-old revenge tropey plot that I brushed them & it off. But this drama is non-linear and is telling the story in pieces, both ML & FL have totally different side-stories that converge at a point, both working behind the scenes, and then there's the slow-burn romance / understanding element, but I'm also now invested in the psychological scars that the FL carries - which are a surprise to me & how ML and others perceive her. Will keep watching the drama.

I'm hoping for another tub scene (after they get 'together'), considering that ML's dramas always have one, but 'Pursuit of Jade' has set the bar too high for 'tub' scenes.

I don't know how 'evil' Empress Dowager is or turns out to be, and it's weird to see she at odds with her own young son, the 'Emperor' (who is working against her allies) but I think whatever she has done is to make sure her son survives the court politics, since they came to power when he was a kid, and also to keep the 'peace' in the realm between all factions, this unfortunately meant removing the power Mo family and Lishan Academy held, hence they were casualties of a mother's desire to get and maintain power for her son. Maybe there's more to the story and maybe it will get boring later on, but this is what I think right now.

P.S. if anyone knows the significance of titling the drama 'The First Jasmine,' kindly enlighten.

Yes, I'm talking about the characters, not actors.

Ep. 10: Am dropping this. Extremely lacklustre, though production is high-end. The main villain (FL's ex-husband) is a very good actor. Ep. 1 treachery by him was shocking to see, how it all unfolded. But Ep. 10's kissing scene between the leads has got to be one of the most boring kissing scenes ever. There is simply no heat (or understanding) between this couple (other than the fact that he will never betray her & can give up his life for her). The plot is boring too. For a woman who did not notice ANYTHING in her previous life, to turn into a master manipulator of court politics and battlefields and STILL IGNORE THE FACT that her ex-husband had poisoned her father (and had told her dad would've died in any case even if he was not condemned for execution) - and she took a vow to never take a husband - which poor lovesick ML also knows!!!! (I know the novel's ending but still, where's the drama, the stress?) There is zero drama, zero tension, zero stakes here and FL is extremely bland as a character, so is ML. The recently started drama The First Jasmine also suffers from leads who have boring personalities.

Just want to throw in a comment on the visuals of Ashes to Crown - the way ML & FL are filmed in their scenes together, makes me feel sorry for Chen Feiyu & Love Beyond The Grave, where he & Dilruba were filmed extremely badly. Even though ML is just a face, and not really an actor, even in his last drama Generation to Generation, the production values were good, money spent was there to see. I'm not talking about the stories or 'chemistry' of any drama, just the way the leads are filmed to show connection, and unfortunately, LBTG suffered from an incompetent director.

Watched a few short-form dramas that starred him such as 'Deep Love Love Again.'

After a great start, this drama descended into a farce pretty quickly. This was an average, forgettable production. The ending is nonsensical. There are plenty of 'celebrities' & business people in the world, there are only a few 'royals' - it's a USP & glamorous status that provides a certain shine, gravitas & historical context to a country - As regent / prince, Yi Ahn was attending all kinds of charity & diplomatic gatherings in SK & abroad, this is a ceremonial role, he could've 'modernized' the monarchy & continued as a constructive head, instead of 'abolishing'. To leave all that stardust, just to 'cook' & kiss on baseball cam wearing a ridiculous team merchandise shirt is dumb. The prince turned into an ordinary moron (frog) with a rich wife & direction-less existence. So what was the point of it all? And Disney executives agreed to this ending!!!!

People who humiliated Heejoo since childhood for e.g. her father & step brother are given redemption arcs & turned into her solid support system! By the end, Prince Yi-Ahn is as lost as he was in the first episode - but now he is not even a 'prince' (or is former prince/ king) - AND he is shown having 'The Last Emperor' 1987 film kind of a moment as a former king seeing his robe in a museum!!!! Extremely bad ending.

Plus, such a copout that (in Ep.12) Yi-Ahn says he 'always' liked Heejoo - we know he had a crush but we also know for a fact that he neither approached nor knew of her existence till she aggressively started pursuing him. The romance was on the back burner for last 6 episodes.

Prime Minister turning into a bad guy was lame writing. I don't for a second believe that a man who is voted into power by the people - & is ambitious - would jeopardize everything for some 'obsession' he NEVER acted on for 30 years over a rich girl who only looks at him as a friend & he loses his 2 best friends since high school in one go. Where's the responsibility & bromance?

Extremely average drama. Has no repeat value beyond Ep. 6 or 7 (whenever the boat kiss happened).

Personally I don't think he redeemed himself, it's just that the FL accepts him back in her life after he shows up 4 years later, that's it. He didn't change, nor said sorry, not really, he just wants her back & tones his sharpness / rudeness a bit to get her back.

But yes, they had great physical chemistry / connection & maybe the author wants people to focus more on that, & not his bad, distant, rude attitude as a boyfriend/ lover.

His problem is that he never gives her emotional support as a boyfriend / lover, just spouts rude & abrasive remarks you're likely to hear from a leadership coach. He's extremely distant unless they have s*x. He used her for physical intimacy even though he knew she liked him more than just for s*x. He doesn't want to admit he loves or likes her. He hides behind the 'we are just s*x partners' lie for SIX years. They never had a relationship beyond the bedroom, as in doing things couples do, spend time together as normal people. She lets it all happen to her (puts up with his whims & rules, because she loves him & is in awe of him as a boss) till she grows tired of his attitude & wants to escape the city where she has entangled herself in a dead-end stale relationship, where she has failed to get a promotion, where she has lost her good male friend. He doesn't understand any of it.

The novel is good but the guy is not a catch. Even in the end, when they have a kid together, she is constantly busy, rarely available on weekends, he's traveling for business all the time, away all the time, & actually says to her he doesn't know or can promise whether he'll sleep with someone else or not on one of his travels! There is a basic courtesy in relationships, & he doesn't give it till the end.

Read the novel. An HR / company nightmare relationship (boss-employee), but intriguing concept (no strings attached casual s*xual attraction). Upcoming shorter series 'Touch Me Like You Lied' (based on a short webnovel) also has a similar concept. Will watch both but I wish 'miscommunication/ non-communication' as a trope to separate a 'couple' runs its course. It's unrealistic in such longterm encounters. For six years the guy is trying to make up his mind, & when he does, she's gone! (this is not a spoiler - it's a HE). She also did not have a backbone & never told him her likes & dislikes during that period & when she wants emotional support from him as to work (since she looked up to him), he mocks her & is rude to her. That broke her because she realized he would never give her emotional support but was great to have s*x with. He never understood why she broke up!

I was glad when she built her own business after separation. Though it was sad when she realized that they did love each other in those 6 years, despite the misgivings she had at the time, I think the guy wasn't good to her on a human level.