K-Drama 
This review may contain spoilers
Classic Historical Revenge Romance....but loses steam in the last 10 episodes
What a ride. I would say this is a solid historical romance overall but it missed a lil *pazazz* to really making it *amazing.* That said I loved:
- the **acting** was excellent all around esp from the male lead(s)
- the **romance** and chemistry was solid. i enjoyed watching them play cat and mouse back and forth until she finally gave in.
- while the ending with the antagonists were just okay i was pretty satisfied with the ***very* end shots about where everyone is as an “epilogue”.** its worlds better than many historicals even though it was simple and pretty succinct
- the fact that the **second male lead** was not a loser, jerk bum. i honestly felt a tad bad for him considering everything, but they seem to imply he accepts the 2nd lady as his wife which honestly i don’t know that I agree with — I thought she too went crazy and was imagining him LOL. I cannot emphasize enough that I actually really liked his character and loved that he didn’t become such a cliche. More of this PLEASE.
as for what I didn’t like:
- Zhou Ye is a great actress but her character here just felt a little *too serious.* It was mostly fine, but she doesn’t give as many nonverbal cues as Xu Kai does. And her character, while smart, is also terribly stubborn. Her refusal to apologize for giving the jade pendant away and also trust to wait for Shen Run to help her get revenge just didn’t make sense. He *only* helps her and she still acts as if he ever went against her interests.
- Following the above, the whole “I cant help you get revenge on your dad rn” conflict felt forced for the sake for the plot. I would have loved a bit more team work at this point esp bc the wedding is just a tragedy – not for her but for Chun Zhi.
- I KNOW we don’t care abt Chun Zhi as the 2ml but I wish Xie Qing Yuan hadn’t kissed Shen Run the night before her wedding. Kiss is even an understatement, they were getting hot and heavy. I just **hate cheating** so much and this still counts! which detracted from the romance for me. IMO this whole scene could 100% have happened *before* she agreed ****to marry Chun Zhi.
- The **2nd Xei lady** was quite the brat and I wish they gave us more to work with than her being a spoiled bully in love with Chun Zhi. I just wanted to see a bit more growth outside of her loyalty to Chun Zhi.
- Every **antagonist just goes crazy**? Like full hysterics and madness in the eyes. I felt it lacked depth and made most of the “defeats” feel a bit redundant. I can appreciate that each antagonist had their “reasons” and different types of flaws but Hu Wen Zhuo and Mei Ying Hua both lose their marbles as does Xie Yu and you can even argue the other bad politicians too - just a smidge less dramatically.
- I dont like when good people die in general but I felt that Xie Zheng Lun’s character was really cheated. I know his death *technically* moved the plot forward but at the same time I just felt that it didn’t feel real, he’s in the show for so little esp compared to his brother that killing him just felt more convenient rather than a real part of the story’s flow.
- parts of the story felt random/under developed
- Pei Yu Ting as a character just didnt make sense to me? We could have not had her in the show at *all* and nothing really would have changed? Like she just seemed to be Commander Hui’s lover? Side kick? IDK.
- I wanted way more about the dad’s villain arc. We are told he was good and had solid aspirations with the Shen family, but then just did a 180. We get flashes as to him slipping from good to evil but it didn’t feel like enough. I think we needed more of his struggle in the past, more tension between him and madam xie because as it stands it just feels unbelievable that he was ever “good”.
- Maybe its just bc its not common in the shows i watch but i didnt really understand the Eunuch that was apparently the “root” of all the trouble. Like huh?
- the **acting** was excellent all around esp from the male lead(s)
- the **romance** and chemistry was solid. i enjoyed watching them play cat and mouse back and forth until she finally gave in.
- while the ending with the antagonists were just okay i was pretty satisfied with the ***very* end shots about where everyone is as an “epilogue”.** its worlds better than many historicals even though it was simple and pretty succinct
- the fact that the **second male lead** was not a loser, jerk bum. i honestly felt a tad bad for him considering everything, but they seem to imply he accepts the 2nd lady as his wife which honestly i don’t know that I agree with — I thought she too went crazy and was imagining him LOL. I cannot emphasize enough that I actually really liked his character and loved that he didn’t become such a cliche. More of this PLEASE.
as for what I didn’t like:
- Zhou Ye is a great actress but her character here just felt a little *too serious.* It was mostly fine, but she doesn’t give as many nonverbal cues as Xu Kai does. And her character, while smart, is also terribly stubborn. Her refusal to apologize for giving the jade pendant away and also trust to wait for Shen Run to help her get revenge just didn’t make sense. He *only* helps her and she still acts as if he ever went against her interests.
- Following the above, the whole “I cant help you get revenge on your dad rn” conflict felt forced for the sake for the plot. I would have loved a bit more team work at this point esp bc the wedding is just a tragedy – not for her but for Chun Zhi.
- I KNOW we don’t care abt Chun Zhi as the 2ml but I wish Xie Qing Yuan hadn’t kissed Shen Run the night before her wedding. Kiss is even an understatement, they were getting hot and heavy. I just **hate cheating** so much and this still counts! which detracted from the romance for me. IMO this whole scene could 100% have happened *before* she agreed ****to marry Chun Zhi.
- The **2nd Xei lady** was quite the brat and I wish they gave us more to work with than her being a spoiled bully in love with Chun Zhi. I just wanted to see a bit more growth outside of her loyalty to Chun Zhi.
- Every **antagonist just goes crazy**? Like full hysterics and madness in the eyes. I felt it lacked depth and made most of the “defeats” feel a bit redundant. I can appreciate that each antagonist had their “reasons” and different types of flaws but Hu Wen Zhuo and Mei Ying Hua both lose their marbles as does Xie Yu and you can even argue the other bad politicians too - just a smidge less dramatically.
- I dont like when good people die in general but I felt that Xie Zheng Lun’s character was really cheated. I know his death *technically* moved the plot forward but at the same time I just felt that it didn’t feel real, he’s in the show for so little esp compared to his brother that killing him just felt more convenient rather than a real part of the story’s flow.
- parts of the story felt random/under developed
- Pei Yu Ting as a character just didnt make sense to me? We could have not had her in the show at *all* and nothing really would have changed? Like she just seemed to be Commander Hui’s lover? Side kick? IDK.
- I wanted way more about the dad’s villain arc. We are told he was good and had solid aspirations with the Shen family, but then just did a 180. We get flashes as to him slipping from good to evil but it didn’t feel like enough. I think we needed more of his struggle in the past, more tension between him and madam xie because as it stands it just feels unbelievable that he was ever “good”.
- Maybe its just bc its not common in the shows i watch but i didnt really understand the Eunuch that was apparently the “root” of all the trouble. Like huh?
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