scenophile

Tian Xiwei was absolutely fantastic in this dual role. The acting is probably the best part of the show for me and I was so impressed by the subtle facial expressions and tonal changes she did that made it so easy to differentiate between the two characters.

Wei Rao was just a great female lead. I love whenever we get an FL that’s intelligent and not afraid to scheme to take down her enemies. The drama is pretty female-centric in general which I really liked. My favorite scene in the entire show is one where it’s just a bunch of female characters in one room for an entire episode, unravelling a conspiracy. Amazing acting chops all around.

Plot-wise I’m a little bit more mixed. I think it was smart to move away from the dual identity plot halfway through. I think I would’ve gotten very frustrated if it had dragged out for longer, and even though I loved Jundai and seeing such a psychotic character on my screen, she’s really not a thinker and I could already feel the gimmick getting old. On the other hand, I feel like the plot got significantly less interesting once she was out of the picture. The palace intrigue stuff is still fun to watch and the villains are worthy antagonists, but I also feel like it was much less personal and emotional. There was also something weird going on with the editing — I often felt like it was jumping around or skipping scenes. The scheming felt a lot less thorough and the last episodes in particular felt really rushed.

I liked the romance as well, but I also felt it was a lot more interesting at the start when there was more tension between the leads. Their relationship was great throughout the show but the ML really isn’t given a lot to work with in terms of plot or character depth. I liked the ship a lot but they’re definitely not a big part of the show.

Overall, a pretty good watch! I wish this had longer episodes because I think the plot and the characters could have used it, but it was enjoyable nonetheless.