Kate

It’s a story about how often women have no say in making decisions, but also need to face the consequences of the decisions men made. How not only do they survive, but learn how to thrive in any environment. This is not a story about revenge, but a story about adaptation of oneself to the environment, but also their environment to their own goals. I appreciated how the drama tried to keep some balance and realism to the positive outcomes - you don’t always get all you wanted, but you are satisfied with the result you were able to achieve. At times it was sad to watch how even women use the vulnerability of being a woman against each other, but that also added more interesting layers of depth to analyze. Women are neither good nor bad, as people are neither good nor bad. A person’s nature is complex and has to be judged individually.

I think we all agree that Lan Xiang was the heart of the story. She might have been more stoic and reserved, but she was not a stagnant and passive character. She observed her surroundings and acted according to what's best for her survival. She is the person that teaches by example, that stands by her morals. That seeks peace and resolution, not pity fights and revenge.

She was the heart and brains of the story, but what’s more important, she was the storyteller. She was not really a central character, but rather a central storyteller. None of her personal stories are truly explored, but she is there to convey what other people struggle with, bring solutions, and empathize. And most of the things that development wise would be important for her character happen in the "time skips" or are presented with one scene solution. They often showed turning points, but never the actual development. Be it how her relationship with Lin Jin Qi changed after marriage, how she was accepted by Lin elders, how her personal goals and dreams developed. Her role in the drama is not necessarily a bad thing, but because her situation was in fact so complex - both internally and externally, I just crave for more focus on her as an individual.

That said, I do appreciate how consistently she was used throughout the show to convey all these amazing stories. Be it the tragic end of the Shen family, the hardships of the servants, the misguided pride and need for power with noble ladies, the maturity that comes with experiencing hardships. Each character had a specific role in the drama, specific life lesson and, in a sense, advice that was given to the audience. Some of my favorite supporting characters were Lin Xiu Ru, Lin Xiu Wan, Zhao Xing Tang, Ji'er and surprisingly Grandpa Lin.

I think both Xiu Ru and Xiu Wan exceeded any expectations I had. The way their stories were not stereotypical and both had amazing, yet such a distinctively different development was just beautiful. Xiu Ru, who was extremely smart and observant, yet so timid at first, found her voice and confidence. Xiu Wan who was spoiled and did not care for the consequences, learned how to depend on others, but also help them if needed, without losing her spark and want for freedom. I adore how the shy lady was not also this naive wallflower - she had all her strength from the start, she just had to learn how to use them. Or how the silly and free spirited one did not get a complete character change into a mature lady - she was still a bit childish by the end, but also good natured.

Even grandpa Lin was such a surprise. I think many of us were ready to send him to hell for what happened in episode one, but I love how the drama slowly was able to present the events from his perspective. He might have been more strict and seemed cold, but he was also wise and cared deeply for his family. He understood the dangers of politics and the consequences one might face if they get too deeply involved. Truth to be told, I believe he was far more similar to Lan Xiang, than Lan Xiang’s actual father.

Then we have Ji'er. What a journey. I honestly think her arc was the most moving of them all. She was never a bad person, but she was someone who was competitive and felt like they always had to find new opportunities and use them. With lack of experience and young age she was not able to correctly assess risks and that brought her trouble. She was naive and childish in how she viewed the world, and then the world made her mature in drastic circumstances. But she never lost that spark and drive. She just redirected it into more reliable and honest ways.

Even during her maid era, she was spoiled and made many mistakes, but she was never evil. She did think about herself first on many occasions, but in a really honest way.

And then when we witnessed the brothel era - she could easily turn bitter, and even blame Lan Xiang for not stopping her in the past. But she knew it was partially her fault, and instead she was grateful remembering how Lan Xiang actually did try to warn her and cared for her. And now she decided to help her back even if the risks are high.

I also adore how she truly was the only person who treated Lan Xiang exactly the same whenever she was a maid or now Lin madame. She was the only one who did not care for the title and saw the person in front of her.

"Not as a maid of the Lin Residence, not as Young Lady Shuang, not as Concubine Lu. I want to truly live as Lu Ji'er once. (...) From this day forward, the person who will treat me best in this world is myself"

And can we talk about Liu Mei Han? What a performance. I think she stole the show for me. I love every second of her acting and how expressive and raw it was. I cry even thinking about that scene in the brothel.

While I enjoyed all the positive supporting women in the show, I have to say I was completely captivated by Zhao Xing Tang - what a perfect performance with intense and complex writing. She was not a good person, but she was not bad at the core. She was also trapped in her position and wanted freedom. I think making her illiterate was such a brilliant writing choice - the ultimate wall that stopped her from truly being free. Unable to read or write any documents, even if given a way to enrich herself, she would still need to rely on someone for all the paperwork, she would be unable to do it herself. A perfect example of a bird in a golden cage given as a gift to whomever benefited the family the most, abandoned when deemed to bring no value.

For the man, sadly I do not have much to say? Most of them existed as either love interest, or the antagonists against the female characters. Even our male lead does not truly present much complexity. Don’t get me wrong, I really like Lin Jin Qi. I loved how he did have actual flaws, how he was at times extremely selfish and impulsive. How he always wanted to gain first and deal with potential consequences later. That led to realistic and slow paced development with him learning how and when to give up his desires and ideals, how to focus on what truly matters, how to be patient.

I also really liked his dynamics with Jiu Gao and Nan Ke. On the topic, Nan Ke was such an unexpected comedy king. I am curious if he found all the butterflies already.

I am not sure how I feel about romance though. The build up and anticipation was one of the best I have seen in any slow burn romance, but the payoff was just heavily discounted. I am not really mad that I never, not once felt like Lan Xiang truly romantically loved Lin Jin Qi. I think she loved him, but she was not in love with him. She cared for him, she admired his strength, she appreciated his character, but she was never in love with him. On paper I love it, and I find it a realistic and fascinating subject to explore, but in the drama the set up made me anticipate something more grand.

But I also love how smart the big picture of the story is with her family’s fate in the past and how the fate of her, Lin Jin Qi and Scholar Han concluded. By all means the ending mirrors the past - Lin Jin Qi did not care for the grand morals and political integrity, he made choices that let him come back to his family. Scholar Han could not abandon his principals and would rather die, leaving his family alone to deal with the consequences. Isn't that exactly what happened with the Shen and Lin families in the opening of the drama? Isn’t that just amazing writing?

Best romance though? Xiuwan and Xie Zhao.

For the schemes, the focus was on the smaller politics between social classes - on how lower class lives and how the nobles’ decisions impact them. Even if the story dived more into court politics, it was still all mostly contained in how it affects the characters we follow in a local area.

The production had many amazing touches that enhanced the quality of viewing. One aspect I truly loved was how they kept highlighting the contrast between different character’s environments and their current situation. A good example of it was the wedding between Lin Jin Qi and Zhao Xing Tang, while Lan Xiang was suffering alone. Or Lan Xiang leaving Lin’s home with her newly found freedom while Zhao Xing Tang is being shipped to the capital for another unwanted marriage. Mixing scenes that emotionally have contrasting messages was an extremely effective way to emphasize the impact they are supposed to have on the viewer.

I also liked how they didn’t verbalize everything that was happening and every decision that was made by the characters. They showed details and assumed you would get it from the context. Or how they framed the characters with architecture, which made the scenes feel fuller.

And then we have to talk about the acting - almost perfect casting. I had almost no complaints. Almost. We get back to it later, for now let’s just focus on the positives. First of all, Tan Song Yun has a more stoic and grounded character, over the more hype one she often plays, which was an amazing choice for her career development. She shined so much as Lan Xiang. Especially during the “silent suffering” scenes - perfectly capturing the deep pain she felt while trying to control it and keep it inside.

And did Liu Xue Yi graduate from toxic male lead into soft potato? Because that role fits him so much more than anything he has played (or at least anything I watched with him). Give this man more roles when he just has to look at the female lead with soft eyes full of love, let’s skip the glaring and smirking - that can be used for the villains. This man delivers being in love so well, I was left speechless and breathless.

I did have some issues though - not ones that would strongly influence my watching experience and the rating, yet ones worth mentioning.

I heard some sentiments in comments that this drama is anti-men, but for me it’s completely uninterested in men, which might be actually worse writing wise. When a show focuses on showing men in a negative light, they might still write complex and compelling villains with it, but here we got none of that. The men were by all means just props to tell women’s stories and I’m not sure how I feel about it. You can have a drama that centers around womanhood, and still have well written and interesting male characters. Except for male lead, I’d say all the other men had good moments, but in general were just… fine.

I also truly believe Lan Xiang was too perfect of a character. One could say her flaw was the fact she always took the burden of helping others without complaining and asking for help, but I disagree. Not only did she ask for help and cooperate with people around her, she rarely ever truly fixed things herself - she actually knew how to use her support system extremely well. Yes, she was the mastermind for the majority of solutions, but it was a natural course since she was in fact written to be the most intelligent character in the whole series. I think her taking charge was less about her not wanting to ask for help, and more the result of the character’s strength. I truly wished to watch her make at least one major mistake that would lead her to deal with the consequences, whether internal or external. But it never happened. She always made the correct assessment, she always managed to help others.

What’s more, I think they ended the show with the weakest villain out of all they presented throughout the drama. Du Cui Que just ain’t it. She was the most flat in both writing and delivery, her motivations were the most obvious and stereotypical and she did not have the presence to give us the high stakes ending. She did go with the bang at the end though, gotta give her that.

The biggest flaw that was actually infuriating in one of the episodes - time jumps. I am sorry, but the number of time jumps we had, and how ill fitted they were for the flow of the story was crazy. What do you mean you hit me with “6 months later” after a major revelation/confession? What do you mean you won’t show me the actual aftermath of it and how the characters dealt with it? Episode 39 was a whole ass math exercise to keep track of how much time passed.

I think they were a little bit too ambitious with the timeframe of the story. The period of the time they wanted to cover just did not work, whenever we talk about transitions between certain eras, or the casting. I see these young actresses that have baby faces making them look like they are in their teen years, but the characters tell me they are in their mid thirties. Can I ignore reality and what I see to this extent? Not really, no.

For me, the story should have ended when Lan Xiang took over the Lin’s household - a powerful and fitting conclusion. All that followed after seemed unnecessary and did not expand on the story nor the characters at all. I think they were so hyperfocused on that touching ending and showcasing truly the whole life of Lan Xiang, they kind of lost the plot, or rather the idea of how to tell it and how to get that dreamed ending scene and conclusion. I do appreciate the “many years later” at the end, instead of giving us the specific number. No one knows how many years have passed, they knew the math was gone and we were lost good 15 episodes ago.

And honestly, the scene of all the ladies together right after offing Lin Jin Qi kind of did leave a bad taste in my mouth. What I liked about the show were the moments of brotherhood, sisterhood and partnership. I liked the moments when it was focused on being a good person and helping others in need. So this shot after the lead man of the show died, with no man in frame… with Xiuwan standing next to a freaking horse and not her husband? What’s going on? It would be a great scene… but it was so poorly timed I just rolled my eyes. You gotta put something between these two scenes.

Overall, it’s still an amazing watch. Might be a bit overly ambitious and that’s where the majority of the issues come from, but emotionally it had such a strong impact on me, and I was so impressed with how well connected the motivations and events were from different periods of the story, I just cannot care too much about the flaws I saw. Highly recommended for sure.