This review may contain spoilers
Good But A Classic Case of Poor Pacing
Pursuit of Jade has all the ingredients for a memorable drama: compelling leads, a strong premise, and emotional depth. But in trying to do everything, it ultimately sort of fumbles its own story.
EP 1 - 18
We open in Lin'an (a cosy little village) and before you know it, we have an arranged marriage between 2 good looking people who clearly have some tension. One who is thought to be dead and the one who saved him. A great combination.
We get to play house for a while, butcher pigs, make friends with single moms, build a found family and beat up ex fiances all while fighting off judgemental neighbours and avoiding the problems in the capital like all Marquis and their wives do.
And then slowly but surely, reality catches up to them and they face a major disaster (EP 18).
EP 18 - 27
The next few episodes we see Changyu navigating grief from the horrible massacre of her village people, the loss of her little sister, separation from her husband and the conscription of her loved ones. She perseveres through it all and even gets conscripted into the army as well.
She goes to the camp in EP 24 where she sees Zheng and her little sister and then we spend the next 3 episodes setting BACK her character development and making her look like a fool.
She becomes this reckless, almost arrogant person who somehow thinks it's okay to flout military laws and bait prisoners, and instead of Zheng to allow her to deal with the consequences of her actions, he wants to be whipped in her steed because he's low-key a masochist.
Zheng still lies to her about his identity and then he proceeds to make a bunch of other people lie to her about it as well.
She also DRUGS him before a BATTLE and miraculously kills a GENERAL with no substantial wounds to her person and what does Zheng do when he shows up? Carries her away from the battlefield of course, to go and have a lover's spat because his true identity has now been revealed.
Does she face any repercussions for DRUGGING the Marquis at such a critical time? No, because she's Mrs. Fan Changyu and the rules don't apply to her. After all she was only trying to be a good wife right?
EP 28 - 30
Prince Changxin is finally introduced in EP 28 and by EP 30 he was dead. I kid you not. Just 2 and a half episodes we spare for this guy. This is someone they hadn't even SHOWN since the beginning. This big bad character shrouded in mystery, only to be killed in 2 strikes (as Changyu so humbly likes to remind us) by a 19 yr old who has alarmingly little experience fighting wars and seasoned, battle hardened generals.
She suddenly has superhuman, Avengers type strength and prowess and the fact that Zheng left her to fight him and went after SUI YUANQING of all people only to LOSE him at the end was the cherry on top of our delusional cake.
Notice how there hasn't been much worth mentioning about Zheng well that's because he's basically a background character when he's not interacting with Changyu and even then she overshadows him. He spends a lot of his time sick/riddled with injury and his only character trait is being Changyu's malewife.
EP 30 - 40
At this point, we have 10 episodes left and then suddenly the weight of the capital and it's schemes comes crashing down.
Changyu becomes a commander, the truth about her parentage, the Li clan's alliance with Qi Min, Qi Min betraying the Sui clan, Wei Xuan's parentage, Wei Yan and his past lover, Wei Yan and the puppet Emperor, Qi Min's plans of taking the throne, the truth about Eastern palace fire that happened 17 years ago, the truth about the Chongzhou massacre that also happened 17 years ago, etc.
So many plot lines, stories to follow, truths uncovered, loose ends to wrap up and it all ends up condensed and mushed together with a mildly satisfying ending.
The first half takes its time (maybe a bit too much) building an intense, character driven story with emotional stakes and the second half loses restraint and nuance. It's a bit poorly written and things aren't given the time they deserve. I found myself skipping through the last few episodes just to get the end quickly.
Overall, Pursuit of Jade was a promising watch in the beginning and an exhausting one in the end.
EP 1 - 18
We open in Lin'an (a cosy little village) and before you know it, we have an arranged marriage between 2 good looking people who clearly have some tension. One who is thought to be dead and the one who saved him. A great combination.
We get to play house for a while, butcher pigs, make friends with single moms, build a found family and beat up ex fiances all while fighting off judgemental neighbours and avoiding the problems in the capital like all Marquis and their wives do.
And then slowly but surely, reality catches up to them and they face a major disaster (EP 18).
EP 18 - 27
The next few episodes we see Changyu navigating grief from the horrible massacre of her village people, the loss of her little sister, separation from her husband and the conscription of her loved ones. She perseveres through it all and even gets conscripted into the army as well.
She goes to the camp in EP 24 where she sees Zheng and her little sister and then we spend the next 3 episodes setting BACK her character development and making her look like a fool.
She becomes this reckless, almost arrogant person who somehow thinks it's okay to flout military laws and bait prisoners, and instead of Zheng to allow her to deal with the consequences of her actions, he wants to be whipped in her steed because he's low-key a masochist.
Zheng still lies to her about his identity and then he proceeds to make a bunch of other people lie to her about it as well.
She also DRUGS him before a BATTLE and miraculously kills a GENERAL with no substantial wounds to her person and what does Zheng do when he shows up? Carries her away from the battlefield of course, to go and have a lover's spat because his true identity has now been revealed.
Does she face any repercussions for DRUGGING the Marquis at such a critical time? No, because she's Mrs. Fan Changyu and the rules don't apply to her. After all she was only trying to be a good wife right?
EP 28 - 30
Prince Changxin is finally introduced in EP 28 and by EP 30 he was dead. I kid you not. Just 2 and a half episodes we spare for this guy. This is someone they hadn't even SHOWN since the beginning. This big bad character shrouded in mystery, only to be killed in 2 strikes (as Changyu so humbly likes to remind us) by a 19 yr old who has alarmingly little experience fighting wars and seasoned, battle hardened generals.
She suddenly has superhuman, Avengers type strength and prowess and the fact that Zheng left her to fight him and went after SUI YUANQING of all people only to LOSE him at the end was the cherry on top of our delusional cake.
Notice how there hasn't been much worth mentioning about Zheng well that's because he's basically a background character when he's not interacting with Changyu and even then she overshadows him. He spends a lot of his time sick/riddled with injury and his only character trait is being Changyu's malewife.
EP 30 - 40
At this point, we have 10 episodes left and then suddenly the weight of the capital and it's schemes comes crashing down.
Changyu becomes a commander, the truth about her parentage, the Li clan's alliance with Qi Min, Qi Min betraying the Sui clan, Wei Xuan's parentage, Wei Yan and his past lover, Wei Yan and the puppet Emperor, Qi Min's plans of taking the throne, the truth about Eastern palace fire that happened 17 years ago, the truth about the Chongzhou massacre that also happened 17 years ago, etc.
So many plot lines, stories to follow, truths uncovered, loose ends to wrap up and it all ends up condensed and mushed together with a mildly satisfying ending.
The first half takes its time (maybe a bit too much) building an intense, character driven story with emotional stakes and the second half loses restraint and nuance. It's a bit poorly written and things aren't given the time they deserve. I found myself skipping through the last few episodes just to get the end quickly.
Overall, Pursuit of Jade was a promising watch in the beginning and an exhausting one in the end.
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