raquelle b

When the universe’s Top 2 Warriors fall in love and combine their joint slay

(Long review contains a lot of spoilers)

When i started the show i didn’t really know what to expect. I knew it was gonna be xianxia and i’ll like the production based on the visuals alone. But not only is LITC a gorgeous gorgeous show, it’s also super fun and entertaining to watch!! I was throughly invested every ep!! The plot is not super new or complicated, but i enjoyed every arc! There are some conflicts but never too dragging. And of course we got true Happy Ending which is 10/10 in my book. 🤧🤧

Directing and editing is also great! Obvi when it comes to xianxia visuals are so important, and i think directors did a great job at weaving a cinematic show 😃😃 everything really is so dreamy, and love scenes are so romantic!

I also loveee this OST!! Every track is a bop!! 😃😃 my favs are “If Your World Had No Sunshine” by Hou Minghao and “Pretending It’s Nothing”, Lu Yuxiao ver!! (yes im basic and biased 🙈🙈 BUT THE SONGS ARE GOOD! 😭😭

Characters commentary / analysis

The characters are endearing to me. Even villains i have beef with don’t make me wanna punch the screen too much 😭💀 (cough cough, Situ Ling 💀💀).


Ming Yi is officially my top 5 FLs ever!! A powerful, strong but also sensitive, compassionate, funny, and suuuper adorable!! Ming Yi is a well written heroine to root for! The show starts with MY being at the top of her game and fall to the bottom, then as the story progresses, MY gradually regains her strength and former glory, finding her enemies and seeking justice. It’s such a classic revenge hero archetype that can’t go wrong.😃😃

Ji Bozai is such a physically and mentally strong character, yet also able to be soft and vulnerable. Contrast with Ming Yi, JBZ begins his story at the absolute bottom of the world, a prisoner, a slave, weak and close to death. He then progresses his character development by being saved, training good and eventually become the top warrior, with the aim to find his enemies and destroy them. Also the revenge protagonist archetype like Ming Yi, but even more tragic 😭.

But the show actually starts with Ji Bozai coming from ‘nowhere’ and stealing Ming Yi’s thunder. Their trajectory started in opposite directions. As Ming Yi’s loses spark, Ji Bozai gains his, for the first time ever!
Ming Yi 📉 Ji Bozai 📈.
Though unintentionally on JBZ’s part, this puts him and Ming Yi at enemies ends of the spectrum. This twisted beginning is the basis for the majority of their conflict in the first half of the show 😭 A relationship based on lies is bound to hurt 😭 those lies are gonna bounce back to the liar and it’ll be too late to fix. 🥲

Although that kind of miscommunication bothers many, i find it in character for Ming Yi to hide her Ming Xian idenitity for as long as she did. MY could never burden JBZ with her quest to find Huang Liang Meng, that is her sacrificial personality. MY could never show her love truly to JBZ, that’s on her traumatised past 🥲. JBZ lost all trust in MY’s feelings for him after her stealing HLM despite everything she did to protect him before? That’s his traumatised past. JBZ hiding his decision to sacrifice himself for the Sky-Swallowing Array? That’s his sacrificial personality 😭.

It’s funny how similar Mingzai are, that even their conflict and miscommunication happen cuz they both share traumatised and sacrificial personalities 😭
That’s cuz lore behind Mingzai soulmatism ties together well. Them being born the same day and the baby switch?? I love that! 😃 is it cliche? A lil bit. But it makes sense to me 😃

And Mingzai romance?? Top 5 cdrama couples of all time in my book 😩😩🔥🔥 the way their flirting make me squeal and giggle so hard, their seperation make me cry, their divorce era make me laugh 😭 their back and forth yoyo romance make the Marriage Stone take a sigh 🤣🤣

But truly they got all my fav tropes and execute them perfectly! Rivals to lovers? Check ✅ Romeo and Juliet? Check ✅ He falls first and falls harder? Check ✅ Hidden Identity? Check ✅ 2 family-less characters finding family in each other? Check ✅
😃😃
Even their yoyo romance was so fun to watch cuz no matter what, we watchers know he’ll come crawling back to her anyways 😭🤣 after telling her to get away from him too, mind you 😭🤣 Mingzai also got all the milestones my previous 2 xianxias didn’t 😭 not only did they kiss, they also mukbang 😛😛 and even MARRIED OFFICIALLY AGAIN!! 😃😃 previously with LGIEF, not even a KISS 😭😭 i ate vegan food 🫩🫩🥲 LBFAD have many kisses, but no mukbang and 2 failed weddings where Xiao Lanhua was engaged to Changheng 😭😭 that’s why LITC is peak for not making me eat vegan again 😭🤣🤣 djjdjd

Shoutout Lu Yuxiao and Hou Minghao! 😃😃 Been seated for this show before i even watch any LYX drama and by the time i sat down for LITC i alr watched 2 with her as the lead 😂😂 Perfect Match and Serendipity (both are mid alas 😭 altho i actually like PM more, surprisingly 😃). Never saw HMH but he’s kinda fav-in-law a bit 😭. Lu Yuxiao really becomes one of my favs, tho i alr like her before watching any of her shows, i just like her vibes 🤭🤭 but LITC really sealed the deal for me. This is peak LYX 😃😃😃 her ability to be playful and cute and switch to a strong tough warrior is seamless. Also my fav thing about LYX is how dynamic her eye acting is 😃 she can tell sm with just her eyes, and that’s so important to me!! Also lovee the crying scenes sm 😭😭 every single Ming Yi cry scene makes me cry, but the worst one must be Ershiqi’s death 😭 bro LYX crying got me sobbing so hard 😭😭 that was such good heartfelt acting!! Anyhow i just love Lu Yuxiao 🥹🥹.

First time with HMH and he impressed me! I really like his performance as Ji Bozai 😃 pretty good crier too actually! A notable scene is the Xun Ming losing Xinliu illusory dream 😭😭 this was so sad and HMH was acting his ass off 😭
LYX and HMH also have insane chemistry 😩😩🔥🔥 love that 😃😃.
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Sm yapping, next up is 1 of fav second couples ever 😃 Jixiao Mu Tianji and Yan Xiao served childhood sweethearts and second chance romance so hard 🥹🥹 I’ve been rooting for them since their first interaction! Even when they’re in their angst era, we can tell they have deep history and potential to be a good couple, and writers deliver 😃😃 Yan Xiao was such a 2 faced character at first, seemingly hates corruption but is working for the n1 corrupt politician in the land 😭😭 he obvi has feelings for Tianji but is conspiring her her uncle who want her and her father gone?? But then the reveal of him being double spy? Writers ate that 😌😌!

Shoutout Quan Yilun and He Nan!! This is my 4th QYL show, might as well be his stan 😛😛 usually a supporting role but as always, QYL got everyone’s attention with that majestic face card and emotional eyes 🤭🤭 he’s such a dreamy romantic partner, need him in more romance pls 😭😭 the only one he was the lead in was Echoes of the Self, and it was good but short 😭 hope he gets long drama lead sometime soon 😃😃
He Nan is sooo pretty 😩😩 also she alternates between a soft flirty girl to a majestic and authoritative Empress so well! HN also has this mocking smile face that just makes Tianji such an interesting character!!
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Next, our SML Situ Ling 🙂🙂
This is a clasic case of obssessive SML turned villain and he’s defo up there with Chu Zhao and Su Rongqing in terms of most punchable, but he has redeemable qualities and somewhat understandable trauma 😭 So still annoying but not the most ig 🙃.
Shoutout Yu Chengen 😃😃 ive been lowkey simping for him ever since Situ Ling started turning evil 😝 not only is his face card smth serious, he also suits traumatized psycho more than i thought 😃 i dont think another actor would’ve been able to salvage STL like he did 😭

Not a true villain either, but by association is Fuyue. This is such a classic case of tragic second female lead character 😭 though she still has interesting aspects to her personality and character building, Fuyue’s main purpose throughout the show is very much a prop to other characters. First she was a segway introducing Ming Yi to Jixing Abyss, then a sidekick and unrequited love interest to Situ Ling, then the character driving some of the plot forward, providing information and help 😭 she really is just there to save STL a few times and serve to be a his own reflection he never bothers to look at: someone exactly like him in everyway, bullied, weak, underrated, abandoned, even down to the painful obssessive love with someone who don’t love them back 😭 in the end Fuyue left STL, but now that he’s dead, he’ll forever be her bai yue guang, the one who inhabits her most cherished memory 🥲 such a pitiful fate, but im somewhat so glad she didn’t kill herself to save STL, it’s such a cliche i dislike 😭😭 (although she defo burned a few of her years on him 😭).
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Bo Yulan is another character that gets mixed opinions 😭 personally i see her as a tragic mother figure 🥲 yes she had no bio children but she did raised Ji Bozai for a minute.
Imo we gotta remember Ji Bozai forgives Bo Yulan and tho he was hurt upon learning the truth, never held it against her. Her atonement outweighs her sins in his heart. JBZ understands BYL is a victim of his own mother’s greed. The whole Bo fam suffered enough 😭
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Other supporting casts worth mentioning: the found family!! Gotta talk about Ershiqi, the cutest cat/ baby brother everrr 🥺🥺 his temporary death got me sobbing 😭😭😭 pretty sacrificial but Ershiqi serve as a comedic side kick and his death was a turning point in Ming Yi’s life as well: beginning of divorce era and MY’s past and origins reveals.

Ershiqi’s Ji Bizai’s counterpart is Buxiu. Another sidekick character, defo brother type relationship with Ji Bozai too, although they have a more boss-employee vibe too 😭 Buxiu is pretty cool as a dragon, his fight with Mu Qibai and Ming Yi’s help was a strong highlight! Also him and Ershiqi fighting sequence together was pretty cool too! 😃😃

Shout out to Granny Xun. The grandma Ji Bozai never kmew he needed 😭😭 although she mostly just serves comic relief and grandma figure, still a very endearing character 🥹🥹
Also shout out to old man Master She Tianlin 😂😂 ngl at first I thought this guy is a villain 😭 smth about his behavior seems sus 😭 but the reveal that he’s actually Ming Yi’s birth father actially touches me 🥺🥺 i like this plot direction more for sure 😂 also he’s just a bit of comic relief at times, a quirky guy who loves his daughter and her late mother 🥲🥲.

Another major character i love sm is Zhang Tai! What a cutie 😽😽!! She really is the sister Ming Yi never knew she needed 🤧🤧 tho sometimes vain and naive, Zhang Tai is a caring friend and loyal companion. Even being heavily tortured, ZT wouldn’t reveal a thing about Ming Yi!! Her biggest mistake is falling for Xun Ming, but it gave her a lesson. This arc was also particularly profound to me, cuz i find Xinliu’s fate to be such a tragic and cautionary tale 😢. Seeing how Ming Yi and Zhang Tai freed and uplifted Xinliu’s soul really got to me 😢😢.

Also this was my Coroner’s Diary sisters’ reunion, Qin Shuang and Qin Xiang, aka Pan Junya and Wang Junbi 😃😃 this time around they don’t beef anymore, but help each other 🥹🥹

Talk about comic relief, shout out to Meng Yangqiu and Chen Xi 😂😂 this himbo rascal and his baby brother 😂😂 love how Meng Yangqiu is basically Jixiao’s son 🤣🤣 Chen Xi is a cutie pie 🥹 yet so strong! My Jixing Warriors love them 🤧🤧
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Aside from Situ Ling, other villains are also entertaining to watch. Shout out to lord Hanfeng Mu Qibai aka ‘Bai’er’ 🤣🤣 truly the most pitiful villain 🤣🤣 all his employees betray him, and his best minions died for him in vain 😭💀💀🤣

That being said, i am annoyed how easy Mu Qibai’s death was. He just poof and gone 🥴 was it poetic irony in terms of karma and narrative progression? Yes. Was it justice served? No 🥴.

About Zhushui Emperor Chao Heng, maybe we could’ve delve more into him, but the short backstory with Lin Ziyao was enough lore for me 🙃🙃 imo he’s the worst guy in the whole show, greedy and evil. Should’ve been final big bad instead of Situ Ling but whatever 😭💀

Altho not regarded as villains by the show, the Yaoguang royal fam are whole other level of annoying and ungrateful!! First Empress Jing Shu basically forcing Bo Yulan to give up her niece and then not even treating this child right. Then Ming Xin and his mother poisoning Ming Yi. Worst of all is the Emperor who dgaf, but the moment sht hits the fan uses Ming Yi’s own weapons to torture her 😡!!

I’m annoyed how in the end no retribution happened to Emperor and Empress. Ming Xin is dead, Madam Meng is imprisoned, but Empress Jing Shu got away scot free?? Just cuz Ji Bozai asked it 😭
2 things to consider ig:

1/ Ji Bozai though has no feelings for his birth mother for all the pain she caused him with her abandonment, can see the complicated relationship she has with Ming Yi. The show ends with MY asking about Empress Jing Shu’s wellbeing, so they’re on good terms now. This pmo a bit but i can look past it 🫠 after all, happy endings require a certain compromised balance where one or more of the annoying perpertrators get a lighter sentence than they deserve (even more so when they’re a parent 🫠🫠 smth smth taoist piety idk. 😭😭)

2/ They don’t wanna make Ji Bozai the heir to the throne 😭 therefore they can’t have too much bad beef with the Yaoguang royal family, cuz now that Ming Xin is gone, Ji Bozai gotta take over. But if he doesn’t want to, then Emperor continues to rule, in all his ignorance and prejudice i guess 🥴🥴💀
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Now that i’ve mentioned all the mother figures, let’s talk about the last one - the woman who haunts the narrative: Bo Yucen. Appearing for a total of 1 episode, BYC’s role is to answer so many questions about the most uprooting event in Mingzai’s life: the baby switch 😭 Bo Yucen is the mother Ming Yi never knew, who would’ve loved her, the one who gave her such strong spiritual veins. She Tianlin’s love, the Bo family descendant, the mother Ming Yi met her once and when MY knew the truth, her tears hurt me almost more than it hurts her 😭😭

Bo Yucen is a classic tragic woman archetype, the “wife that dies at the beginning of movie”, similar to characters like Fantine in Les Misérables or Fengxian in The Apothecary Diaries. Her existence is to highlight how tragic and ironic Ming Yi’s (and Ji Bozai’s) fate really is, through how tragic *her* fate is. All Bo Yucen did was love a man outside of her own realm, and the price she had to pay was not only her own life, but her daughter’s as well.

And that’s my Love in the Clouds review 😃😃 this was a long ass essay 😭😭 Overall, truly one of my fav dramas! 10/10!! Mingzai is one of my fav couples fr, and my fav cdrama couple of 2025 🥹🥹! I’ll probably come back to LITC from time to time. But for now, Goodbye Love in the Clouds 🥹🥹🤧🤧🫶

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Has potential in the beginning, unfortunately was a let down (webtoon spoilers)

The show started off with potential, especially with the amazing webtoon material but the plot derailed for the worst TT. As someone who read the webtoon I find the plot of the show even more disappointing. The webtoon already has great premise enough for 16 episodes so I really don't know why the script writers fumbled this hard. My favorite part about the webtoon was the fact that it touched on mental disorders and how Sajo Hyeon and Akhee are ultimately the same person, just different aspects of his personalities. The show 'kind of' tapped onto this, but also ruined it in the same breath with Akhee being very much his own entity (the "spirit" entering Hyeon's body when he was a child right after his father committing the Yeon massacre) and many unnecessary fantasy elements with Cheongta and Akhee as well.
I also dislike the changing of Sajo Yoong's fate from the webtoon, where he was Gyera's twin and a Yeon descendent. Him ending up inheriting the throne and fulfilling the prophecy makes for a satisfying irony to Jin Mudal's and the late king's evil plans. The show took away the Shakespearean in it by making Sajo Yoong your stereotypical boring illegitimate heir, evil and villain hungry for a position he does not deserve. The beauty of the webtoon is how even though the main villain was Jin Mudal, ultimately it was Hyeon’s own trauma, aka what Akhee represents, that destroyed him from inside.
Also, their romance was so much more poetic with the enemies to lovers plot in the webtoon, where they both resent but still love each other. The show took away this tension and dynamic by making their ‘enemies’ arc end too quickly, with Hyeon not much involved in the Yeon massacre and having his father take all the blame instead. With little to do for their romance arc, the show started adding so many random plots, like why did we have so many attacks and deaths for NO REASON!! This kind of side plots would work better in a longer drama like 20-30 eps, with more time to get to know the side characters, but with only 16 eps, there was no need to cram as many side plots as this show did! The many cliché plots and the DOUBLE amnesia tropes were just terrible writing choices. Made no sense and served no storyline purpose other than to prolong the plot to fit 16 eps!!

Furthermore, why did Sajo Yoong live for as long as he did while we can all very well end him with his many crimes and him being illegitimate as well??? Poor logic there, writers! Finally, with Cheongta’s tricks and Gyera entering Hyeon’s mind realm, the many rituals, and the shaman association, like these uncoordinated fantasy plots are poorly written and leave viewers more confused than answered! They should’ve just kept to the webtoon’s plot if they wanted to add fantasy, aka MINIMAL!! Production was also a letdown. The saving grace was Park Jihoon and Hong Yeji's acting which I can appreciate, but the main villain was very meh for me.
In the end, I rated this show 3.75/5. Since I read the webtoon already, my feelings towards the show is even poorer, but the show itself was a recipe for a plot disaster, even if you haven’t read the original webtoon!

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A thrilling revenge story with top tier cinematography and an exquisite slow burn romance

(Review contains ending spoiler)

A spectacular show that hooks its viewer in from the first to the last scene. Packed with multiple plotlines and characters, yet every arc is distinctive, and every character is memorable in their own way. It’s hard to really pinpoint my favorite thing about this show because everything just stands out and leaves me thinking about it long after I finish the show. But if I have to pick what draws me to this show and what the show excels at the most, it is the thrilling action-packed plot, commendable characters, strong acting and absolutely stunning cinematography.

The first thing I notice about this show is the cinematography for sure. Every random still from the show can be used for wallpaper, THAT is how gorgeous this show is! Director certainly knows how to capture the essence of these beautiful sets and characters. I love how the gothic, eerie vibe is set from the first scene in. You know you’re in for a dramatic story. As the show progresses, I fall in love more and more with the approach to an almost theatre-esque directing style, with close up shots of characters dialogues and surprisingly instead of making it cringe, I find it very entertaining.

The characters have very distinctive introductions, and each storyline feels full on its own. For shows with so many characters, it can be hard to get viewers to care about or even remember the more minor characters. But with The Double, I feel like every minor character’s storyline is closely intertwined with the main plot in a way that feels like they are more than a role or a plot device, but their own character.

The leads are super interesting characters on their own, but it is their relationship to each other that fascinates me. Xue Fangfei/ Jiang Li and Xiao Heng are both strong, independent and charismatic leads who are well written and easy to root for, but their foils, or should I say, their “Double”(s), the main villains Princess Wanning and Shen Yurong, are equally interesting and well written characters. These 4 characters each hold their own in terms of personality, character development and plot importance.

Xue Fangfei has become one of my favorite female leads I’ve watched lately and she is undoubtedly the center of this revenge story that is The Double. Meanwhile, the other 3 characters make up the triangle that surrounds her tragic fate and her road to seek revenge and justice. I like how she started out as a total tragic figure, losing everything and “died”, but by the end she survived all her enemies and prevailed. It might be cliché trope nowadays, but a good revenge story will always put a smile on my face! I also like that she is not invincible, that she makes mistakes, that she’s not even totally “good” but also never evil, that she uses people but also gives her opponents their deserved karma.

Xiao Heng is one of my fav male leads as well. His story, his relationship to XFF, to the royal family especially the Emperor and Wanning, to his father and grandfather, to his men, are all memorable and interesting. I like how he’s kind of morally grey but romantically a total green flag (that is lowkey everyone’s favorite kind of male lead isn’t it HAHA). I also like how even though it’s Xue Fangfei’s story, he is his own distinguished character and not to dependent on XFF’s plot to uplift the writing of his own plot. His connections to the corruption schemes, the peace of the country, his political schemes and agendas with the emperor, all are intriguing plots that tie altogether with the main plots.

Some people say this show doesn’t have a lot of romance because it’s a revenge story, and to that I disagree strongly. Not only is romance one of the main plots driving the show forward, it is also one of the main themes of this story. The thing about The Double is it’s a slow burn done right, and for that I am more obsessed Xue Li and Xiao Heng’s love story. Their relationship is one built on understanding, partnership, equality and trust, which I think are the best foundations of a good love story, and also make for a great foil against
1/ Xue Fangfei’s relationship with Shen Yurong and
2/ Shen Yurong and Wanning’s relationship.
Together with SYR and WN, these 4 make a relationship square that fascinates me greatly. Even in modern standards, their love-hate relationships would make for great drama, let alone back in historical times where things such as dignity, political power struggles are involved.

Shen Yurong is such an interesting villain. He manages to make me despise him so much and yet I can still see where he comes from. He’s evil in a pathetic way, but not dumb. His character is nuanced and tormented in a way that, instead of wanting him to die early, he makes you wanna see him live to see what other evil schemes he would come up with and how much more manipulating his gaslighting can get, as well as to see how his satisfying (or not) his end was gonna be. Personally, I dislike how the show ended him, because I wanted to see him truly suffer. But I guess in a weird way, his death makes for a more thematic ending, relating to the themes of guilt, love and hate. The poetic irony of him being a character so afraid of death, willing to kill his own wife whom he loves to escape dying, and ends up killing himself for said wife? I think it’s beautiful. Do I find it satisfying? Not totally. But it’s beautiful. =))

In the same reasoning, I think Wanning’s death is a beautiful and tragic poetic irony as well. Her tragic past and subsequent descent to madness makes her story a perfect foil to Xue Fangfei’s. Both are victims of sexual crimes, both are deemed as “ruined”, both loved the same man, both suffered under said man. Where XFF found strength to seek her justice, Wanning lost all her strength and succumbed to the darkness, becoming a total villain. I thought she deserved a worse ending then getting to choose how she died, but the way her story is told, I think having SYR be her ender is a great irony.

As for the technical aspects, I LOVEEE the acting in this show. Everyone brought their A-game. I was mesmerized with every performance, from the leads to the villains to the minor characters. Shout out to Wu Jinyan, Wang Xingyue, Liang Yongqi and Li Meng who play our main leads and villains. This is my first time watching all of them, except Wang Xingyue whom I knew as Zhang Zhe from Story of Kunning Palace, and I must say they all impress me. Wu Jinyan has such raw and emotional eyes that just makes every crying and sad scene so much more emotional TT. She really nailed that soft and vulnerable look when she was betrayed and then the tough and cunning look of a person on a revenge path. Knowing that she was a ballet dancer before impresses me more because she makes Xue Fangfei so ethereal with her elegant movements! Li Meng was such a maniac as Princess Wanning, and it was such a captivating performance. Every time she says “Kneel” I get chills TT. She made Wanning so alive and scary and yet pitiful at the same time. And the more I hate Shen Yurong, the more I’m impressed by Liang Yongqi. This character has dead eyes for the majority of the first act and yet you’re able to see his guilt and greed and madness in the second act so well and not feel like 2 separate characters. And lastly, Wang Xingyue is fast rising to my top fav actors. Duke Su can be charming and soft, but he can also be tough and cunning. You can see the transition from his suspicious era where he was using Xue Fangfei and trying to get her to admit her identity, and his partner era where he and XFF finally became a team and him falling in love with her. Also seeing his role in Kunning Palace and then in The Double impresses me even more, because he pulls off two very different characters and it’s so satisfying to watch!

The chemistry between the leads Wu Jinyan and Wang Xingyue are really something else. I see many people are put off by the actors’ age gap and being agist towards WJY, but honestly you can barely see that gap on screen at all. They have effortless chemistry, and they make the slow burn so delicious! This couple barely has kisses, but they have a good amount of skin ship that makes your heart flutter! The tension and build up was so great that’s why when they finally get together you feel earned!10/10 writing and acting for me!

Lastly, I want to take a moment to appreciate the music in this show. Every song is a 10/10. I’m a sucker for ballads, especially sad ballads and this show really nailed it. My fav is Withered by Huang Shifu, but all the songs are so good, and the lyrics just match the story so well!!

Overall, this drama was such a feast for the eyes. Not a moment of boredom for me. A captivating story with characters that leave you thinking for days. I might be watching new shows but I just know The Double is that one drama that will be on my mind for months and I will be randomly referencing it whenever I watch anything else!!

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