picapica

Entertaining at first, slowly fell apart. (not spoiler free)

I find myself disappointed by the trajectory they took with the story and the many (many) plot holes and convenient writing.

The beginning was entertaining, albeit a bit cliché. I was rooting for A-Chou and even though I was not (still not) a fan of Lu Zhuo, their dynamic was interesting. To me, their mutual distrust had more chemistry than their latter interactions.
I thought his seemingly rigid moral compass would play much more of a role later in the story and would add even more tension, but it didn’t, unfortunately. The Lu Zhuo rant is coming.
I liked that at first, even though she was smart and resourceful, she genuinely seemed scared and wary, it added texture to her character. I also loved her relationship with Bitao.

The thing is, once the main plot was resolved, the show lacked any real backbone. First, they served the weakest, most predictable of plot twists which defeats the whole point of the drama; the commoner is actually a noblewoman.

Plus, Jundai’s death being as anticlimactic as can be, didn’t help.
We barely knew anything about her. They didn’t give us enough time, and she barely was fleshed out. The added brief flashbacks of her dying in Wei Rao’s arms and speaking of her grievances was too little. And flashbacks, really?
They just needed her to be vile and cruel, and added just enough of her “inner monologue" after her death for us to feel a little pity.

If the beginning was not perfect, the rest kind of fell apart. Plot holes, convoluted plans and an impossible-to-beat protagonist. Characters vanished never to be mentioned again, too.
The ending was so bad, I genuinely laughed. They had the time to tie it all up nicely, and to include other characters we had spent more time getting to know. The open ending certainly was a choice.

Now to my beef against Lu Zhuo.
First, his whole character is tropey; he’s the powerful heir, a smart, perfect, warrior with everything for himself. The only thing he lacks is a personality.
He serves no purpose other than jealously lurking in the corner, and to carry her bridal style to safety whenever she’s done plotting. And don’t get me started on that godawful coffin reveal.

The drama was relatively female-centric, and I don’t mind that it focused on Wei Rao’s character. The romance being so stale just made it hard to watch.
It was boring at best, and cringe from time to time. I’d have preferred it had they been just allies.

Also, the random AI usage doesn’t look good.

What I liked (because I like to have fun, I promise): Wei Rao’s relationship with Bitao. Some of the Lu family members. The brief moments of happiness she had with her people (Lu Zhuo not included).

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