shucks

First half of the drama was so amazing, while the second half left me raging

Cannot fully express how utterly disappointed I am with this drama. The first half, up until their marriage, was SO good, only for the writers to ruin the second half by turning the ML into a simp and the FL into a stone. I was raging so hard towards the end, until I came across some reviews here that felt the same way and finally found some peace lol.

Like yes, I know female empowerment is important, but do you really have to force it so hard? And in a historical drama, no less? The second half was filled with so many forced events and conversations just to push the feminist narrative that it became so boring and almost torturous to watch. And in an attempt to make the FL a strong, independent woman, they turned her into someone who wore a stone face 90% of the time around her husband, only showing emotion when interacting with her parents and other female characters. As if having romantic feelings for the ML would somehow make her less strong or independent and no longer fit the narrative.

Not to mention all the forced, textbook-like conversations and politically correct speeches that felt so out of place in a historical setting. Like yes, I KNOW life was difficult for women, especially in those times, and I have nothing against female empowerment. But do we really need to be constantly lectured about it through unnatural conversations that sound like they belong in a modern-day social commentary? And having the male characters deliver some of these speeches makes it even more jarring. The whole thing became so heavy-handed that the story itself ended up suffering. Gone were the smart plotting and interesting developments that made the first half so enjoyable. Instead, the later episodes became an absolute snoozefest, with the plot seemingly taking a backseat to the narrative the writers wanted to push.

And don’t even get me started on the romance. Years of sleeping separately after getting married, and they only consummated their marriage after FOUR years?? And throughout all this time, the FL remained cold towards the ML, keeping him at arm’s length and making him beg for the bare minimum, to the point that I genuinely started feeling bad for the ML/LXY. And what was the payoff for all that waiting? Almost nothing. We’re never even shown how the FL gradually opens up to him or how their relationship develops into something more intimate. Instead, the writers just keep throwing in time skips until we’re suddenly told that they’ve consummated their marriage and she’s now pregnant. Like wtf?? It genuinely feels as though the FL has no romantic feelings for the ML whatsoever, and they only ended up having a child because four years had passed and it was apparently time. No heart-fluttering moments, no emotional payoff, NOTHING.

It’s honestly quite sad that the writers had to turn the ML into a simp just to make the FL look strong and push their female empowerment narrative. Even in the final episodes, when the ML says he’d like to be with her in their next life, she basically tells him that being together once is enough lmao. The ML lost so much of his appeal in the second half that I actually feel bad for the actor. Really hope he gets a more consistently written character in his next drama.

Honestly, I rarely bother writing reviews. If a drama turns out to be bad, I usually just stop watching and move on. But this one started SO well and got me so invested that I was genuinely raging when it went downhill. It actually made me miss The Story of Ming Lan so much that I started rewatching it (last watched it five years ago), which says quite a lot because I almost never rewatch dramas.

Anyway, I see so many entirely positive reviews of this drama, so I’m glad I found some people here who feel the same way. At least I can vent and know I’m not alone lol. Guess this is why we need a drama community in the first place.

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