Reviews

Amazingly thought provoking series, though very much old school J drama style

(I don’t normally write reviews, usually just comments, so forgive me if this review isn’t good. SPOILER FREE)

I started this drama while it was airing in 2019 & watched all the way until episode 9 but got too busy & forgot to come back to the last episode. It’s been 7 years but I finally came back to finish it since it got put onto Netflix in the US.

Yes, it’s got some pretty heavy cheesy moments & probably even seen as cringey. The style is very much old school J dramas (even though it’s not from all that long ago). However, the message of the series is really good & very thought provoking. I won’t spoil it, but there are so many lessons taught throughout this series. Things like truly believing yourself, asking for help when you need it, don’t judge others so easily, help those around you, don’t blame yourself for things you have no control over, don’t follow the herd, be there for those you care about before it’s too late., & many more. However, the last episode really ties together the real message of the whole series; think before you speak/act. You never know how your words or actions can affect others.

I’d definitely recommend this series, though if you’re not used to old school J drama cheesiness, it may take a bit to get through some parts, but nonetheless, I’d still rate it a 9.5/10.

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It works but the ending was trash

I started this drama without much expectations, mainly out of boredom. But here's my review anyways
It started with Zhang Wang coming back to Hong Town after a long while because he was diagnosed with a tumor and he wanted to visit his grandma one last time before he died and he met this kid who lived in his grandma's house. He grew hatred for him but still cared about him, Typical enemies to lovers.
I have to admit it was a low budget show, the kisses were totally rubbish and the so called ''spicy scenes'' were a mess. It's a bit cliché and cringe but it works. I guess it was something to look forward to. The last episode was kinda disappointing. Anyways it was okay in all but I will never rewatch it. It had great potential but oh well 🤷

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Crappy ending!

This was one of the best BL dramas i have seen, but that ending was one of the worst i have ever seen!
This story was very good and very well executed by the actors and production. It had beautiful visuals and music.
I loved the lines the couples said at the beginning of each episode.
The tattoo scene was a bit unrealistic but still beautifull.

The main couple had great chemistry, the kisses and NC scenes were very good.
The second couple had good chemistry and good kisses and NC scene.
And we even got a bit of GL as a bonus. No kisses, but clearly a couple.

The ending was awfull.
My interpretation of the ending is: they died. And the end clip means, you make your own luck instead of wishing for it.
But that was one of the most crappy endings i have ever seen....
I'd rather have seen them die, being together and telling how they love each other than this...

I do recommend watching this amazing series, but just keep in mind that you will be mad ad the last 5 minutes.

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Untamed???

Starting with the cinematography... who handled this series? They deserve to be hired for every GMMTV series because it was absolutely stunning. Every shot looked so well thought out and cinematic.

The story was good too. I won't say it's completely new since it shares some similarities with other fantasy series I've watched, but they executed it really well. I also like how they mixed fantasy with political issues, which made the story feel even more relevant.

One thing that made this series work so well is the casting. This is where I realized I really can't act because I would probably be laughing through most of these scenes. Everyone did an amazing job. As for Sky and Nani, I already expected great performances because I know they can act. And of course, Nani absolutely nailed the action scenes.

One thing I couldn't stop noticing though... why does the ending of Wu remind me so much of The Untamed? Even the OST gives off a similar feeling. Is this becoming the trend for bromance series? 😂

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What was the finale?

While I watched the show, it was the typical stuff I expected from such a show. We had the evil dad, who turns out to be gay in the finale, we have misunderstandings and we have even two gay and one lesbian couple... And because any show needs drama, we have the bullying. So far, so good.

But the finale... WTF? The both stand of the rocks and watch the broken up comet which were toooooo far away to have any impact directly, but of course could have made a tsunami is they would have hit water. Normally they should have the comet up their faces and then ok, they both die - for what is the question? Xu giving in so willingly did also not make much sense. When you are already out, you should not care about others anymore. Period.

So for me, the finale did ruin the whole series, because for me it makes no sense whatsoever. Dad being outed as being gay came too late, that would have had more impact if we had seen his past also. That he then turned 180 degrees also makes no sense. When you are in denial for DECADES, you do not change over night, It would have made more sense, when Wang had beaten him up about it, but no. But I guess they did not think about that or they run out of time (and budget) becauase they wasted it through the whole story. The series did have it's lengths, they could have compacted the story and put in some other focus like the dad to have much more impact.

And because the finale ruins everything I don't get the high praise from some reviews... what is wrong with you people? While the acting of the MLs was fine, the acting of the side couple was weak. They did not feel natural in the series, but when you see them in private they have the chemistry which is missing in this series. Production quality was also fine, but that can't save any series. Because of all the factors I deducted my rating heavily... it could have been a 7.5 with a proper finale, but this felt rushed and imprudent. And I don't like it.

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Good show, not so good ending

I started this series blindly and it quickly became a fave. I was always looking forward to this series every week but the last few episodes and the ending were disappointing. I usually don't mind open endings but this just feels like the writers didn't know what to do and just finished it randomly...
Positives
-Interesting story
-Interesting characters
-good acting and chemistry
-beautiful cinematography
Negatives
-Unfinished ending
-poor execution in last 3 eps
-Comet and dad storyline were handled poorly and the comet one just unnecessary
-uninteresting 2nd couple (imo) and would've preferred more time with the main
All in all I liked it but i ended up a bit dissapointed.

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Good show, without the ending

In this serie, the storyline of Zhan Wang and Xu Yuan was my favorite, truly loved their chemistry, the slow build up of their relationship, ZW who went from arguing about his grandma house to doing everything to make XY life better, to make him believe that he isnt jinx as everyone claim, the tension between them felt sensual even when it was not, XY loved ZY a lot that he risked his life by making a wish in dangerous weather, i fecided to believe they both survived and living happily.

I didn't care about the sister and the ex fiancé after the girlie outed ZW's brother, i couldn't look past that.

The abusive dad deserves hell, him turning out to be gay wasn't surprising to me at all, smh, ill ignore bs writing of last ep.

Overall this was a nice watch

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This show feels like petered out somewhere along the line. It started out with so much excitement and I was engrossed watching them peel the layers back of what happened on the mountain. And as we were slowly working through the Lishan mystery, the show kept us fed with a heartwarming, mature, slow burn romance.

Ah, the first half was heaven!

But somehow in the 2nd half all that tension starts to die off. Xiuyao's arc to clear his brother's name is resolved in one of the most anticlimactic ways possible. In just a few minutes' screentime, Ye Li goes from being imprisoned and very likely facing death, to singlehandedly clearing Xiuyao's brother's name in front of the whole court.

I think that was the start of the downfall. You can't have such an important arc end so unimpressingly.

After that, the only thing to really care about was Ye Li's illness. And credit to both the writers & actors: it was handled brilliantly. I have zero criticisms. They spent enough time on it to allow us to grieve with Ye Li. And by letting us live with her on Lishan for those few days, we were able to feel the sadness and the horror of what her life had been like before she met Xiuyao.

I think the show should have ended there, with them coming down the mountain and going back to the mansion.

But of course, it couldn't end there because we had to deal with one of the most bleh villains I've ever met: Mo Jingli. Jingli was a failed character from the start because he's not even around for half the show. I was so indifferent to his rebellion, I believe this storyline could have been dropped and the show would still stand on its own. Anyway, with neither Xiuyao's revenge arc or Ye Li's healing journey to root for, I don't see the point of continuing.

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A beautiful story + perfect cast let down by a shallow storyline

I really thought this was going to be an iconic drama for me. It felt like the book Pachinko, watching a family's rise and fall across multiple generations. I was so convinced this was prestige TV.

But by episode 26, I've accepted that perfect casting and amazing cinematography can't fully make up for a shallow storyline.

How many times can we watch Li Zhen be set up, people turn against her, she proves her innocence and they accept that they were wrong to doubt her. And then just a few episodes later, it happens again in the exact same way. My final straw was the case with the bad glue by Uncle Decai. It was so obvious that she was being set up by someone from within the family, but still the characters act all confused and even want her to hand over the family seal. It made no sense. I couldn't believe that these are the people who have been running a centuries-old relatively successful business.

This whole "doubt Li Zhen then she clears her name and everyone likes her again" happens so many times to the point that it becomes unbelievable. It's clear the writer didn't know how to create conflict without over-relying on this trope.

When I realized that this is a story that just goes round in circles, I realized I don't need to watch the rest. Watching Li Zhen prove people wrong and stand in her integrity the first few times is enough for me - I don't need to see it happen 10 more times with the same characters over and over.

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The First Jasmine: All Fragrance, Not Enough Bloom

The First Jasmine started like a banquet but somehow ended up serving leftovers.
The opening episodes had everything going for them. A clever heroine, political intrigue, palace schemes, hidden identities, revenge, and a prince who was far more interesting than the usual cold, brooding male lead. The story grabbed my attention immediately, and I genuinely thought I was about to watch one of the best historical dramas of the year.

Then somewhere around the middle, the writers seemed to lose their own map.
The pacing slowed to a crawl. Several episodes felt like fillers designed to stretch the runtime rather than move the story forward. Conversations dragged on, misunderstandings multiplied, and the plot kept circling the same emotional roadblocks. Instead of building momentum, it gradually leaked it away.

The biggest disappointment was the truth behind Lishan Academy.
For dozens of episodes, the drama built this mystery into something that sounded earth shattering. I expected a shocking conspiracy, a massacre, treason, or some grand political crime that justified years of revenge and suffering. Instead, the final reveal landed with all the impact of finding a fly floating in your cup of tea. After all that suspense, the payoff felt surprisingly flimsy. It was a mountain giving birth to a mouse.

The endless angst also became tiring. Once again, another historical drama leaned heavily on the familiar idea that children must spend their entire lives paying for the sins of their parents. It is a common Cdrama theme, but here it felt overused, creating conflict that often depended more on stubborn misunderstandings than believable character choices.
The acting certainly wasn't the problem. Bai Lu and Cheng Lei gave solid performances and carried their characters with grace and quiet strength. Unfortunately, the script rarely gave them the emotional fireworks they deserved. Their roles often felt restrained, making two talented actors play characters that were far blander than they could have been.
The production was beautiful, the costumes elegant, and the cinematography never disappointed. Even when the story slowed, it remained pleasant to look at.

Overall, The First Jasmine is a good drama if you're simply looking for something enjoyable to pass the time. It begins with real promise, loses its footing through an overextended middle, and finishes with a reveal that simply doesn't justify the enormous buildup. Not a bad drama by any means, just one that could have been far greater than what it ultimately delivered.

Final verdict: A jasmine flower with a wonderful fragrance, but one that wilted long before the final episode.

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I will forever remember this series

I have been on a BL slump for a very long time before this was dropped. I couldn't even find anything to watch. And when it aired,I fell in love with this show.
I know it has some very problematic things,but aside those it was a lovely watch. The character Lu Feng showed so many emotions that I find other actors actings bland compared to his. I just loved loved loved ayden's acting. The story wasn't unique,but they made it unique with their acting and chemistry. Elio was good too.

All things aside,it leaves behind a good bittersweet feeling. I will probably rewatch it many more times and I already have. Did I mention it made me feel many things? I loved loved LOVED it. Hopefully they will act in another bl together.

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Tian Xiwei’s Best Role Yet and Xu Kai’s Long-Awaited Solid Comeback

Fantasy dramas are rarely my go-to, but this one was an exception. I genuinely enjoyed this drama overall. I watched it back in 2025, and to this day, I still think this is the role that suits Tian Xiwei the best, even after Pursuit of Jade in 2026 (fight me, I'll die on this hill). She fits the character like a glove, both in visuals and personality. She was playful when the story needed charm, mischievous, but still able to carry serious moments with weight. For me, she was the perfect “cat queen.”

As a longtime fan of Xu Kai, I was genuinely happy to see him in a drama that reminded me why I liked him in the first place. It’s been quite a while since I’ve seen him in a drama I truly enjoyed after Arsenal Military Academy and Falling Into Your Smile. Watching him in another strong costume drama felt refreshing and reminded me again how well he fits this genre, just like he did in Story of Yanxi Palace—though of course, this one doesn’t reach that level.

I know the ending gave divided opinions, a lot of people weren’t happy with it, but I honestly didn’t mind it. I think it made sense for the story and felt justified, the final moments actually felt comforting. The CGI was also surprisingly solid for fantasy standards, and the visuals between the leads were absolutely serving. Their chemistry was strong, the pairing worked so well, and the plot balanced tension with plenty of sweet moments to keep me engaged. This is a solid 8.5 for me, and considering I rarely rate dramas above an 8, that says a lot about how much I enjoyed the overall dynamic and storytelling.

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Double Helix is a story about cycles. Cycles of love, resentment, sacrifice, guilt, and trauma that keep repeating because no one involved truly knows how to break them. That's what makes the drama so emotionally exhausting in the best possible way. It isn't interested in giving the audience a comforting romance. It's interested in asking what happens when two people love each other deeply but have never learned what healthy love actually looks like.

What I appreciated most was how carefully the story establishes cause and effect. Almost every major conflict can be traced back to an earlier wound. Lu Feng's desperate need for control doesn't exist in isolation. It grows from abandonment, emotional neglect, and the constant fear of losing the one person who made him feel understood. Cheng Yichen's repeated self-sacrifice isn't simply frustration for the sake of drama. It reflects someone who has been conditioned to believe that his own happiness should always come second to his family's expectations and everyone else's well-being.

This is why I disagree with viewers who dismiss the series as "just toxic." Toxicity isn't the point. The point is that unresolved trauma doesn't stay contained within one person. It spreads. Every attempt to protect someone ends up hurting them. Every decision made out of love carries unintended consequences. The drama repeatedly shows that good intentions are meaningless if they are expressed through fear, control, or silence.

My biggest criticism is that the series occasionally becomes too enamoured with its own tragedy. Some conflicts are revisited so many times that they stop adding emotional insight and begin delaying the inevitable. There were moments where I wished the writers had trusted the audience enough to let quiet reflection replace another emotional confrontation. The characters had already earned our empathy. They didn't always need to suffer again to remind us of it.

I also think the final stretch focuses more on resolving the plot than fully exploring the aftermath of everything these characters endured. After spending so much time examining how trauma shapes people, I wanted a deeper exploration of what healing actually looks like. Recovery is not as dramatic as suffering, but it is just as important. Giving that process more room would have made the ending even more satisfying.

Even so, these issues never overshadowed what the drama accomplished. The performances, the emotional honesty, and the psychological consistency of the characters kept me invested from beginning to end. Double Helix never asks us to excuse harmful behaviour, but it does ask us to understand where that behaviour comes from. In doing so, it presents one of the most mature explorations of love I've seen in a BL drama.

It's not a perfect series, and I don't think it was trying to be. It is messy because people are messy. It is uncomfortable because healing is uncomfortable. And perhaps that's why it stayed with me long after it ended. With slightly tighter pacing and a finale that lingered more on recovery than resolution, this would have been an easy 10. As it stands, it's a very deserving 9/10.

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What makes Double Helix so compelling isn't the tragedy itself, but the way it examines how tragedy reshapes people. The high school incident doesn't simply separate Lu Feng and Cheng Yichen. It fractures them in completely different ways. Lu Feng returns determined to never lose Yichen again, while Yichen spends years convincing himself that loving Lu Feng only brings suffering to everyone around him. Their reunion is heartbreaking precisely because they're no longer trying to rebuild the same relationship. They're trying to love each other as two fundamentally changed people.

The story's greatest strength is its commitment to moral ambiguity. Lu Feng's possessiveness is never portrayed as romantic, yet it isn't treated as something that appeared out of nowhere either. Likewise, Yichen's constant retreat isn't cowardice but a lifetime of putting everyone else's needs before his own. The drama understands that trauma doesn't excuse behaviour, but it does explain why people become trapped in destructive patterns. That balance is what elevates the writing beyond a typical melodrama.

Episode 7 and Episode 8 perfectly illustrate this philosophy. Yichen isn't choosing Zhuolan because he stopped loving Lu Feng. He's choosing the crushing weight of filial duty over his own happiness after witnessing his mother's collapse. It's a decision born from guilt rather than love, and one that destroys both of them in different ways. The drama never presents this as the "right" choice, only the one Yichen believes he has to make.

However, I do think the series loses some of its emotional precision in its final act. Episode 9 is undeniably disturbing and succeeds in showing just how far Lu Feng has fallen, but the aftermath deserved more time than it received. The psychological consequences of captivity, manipulation, and broken trust are so profound that I wanted the story to spend more time on recovery than on reconciliation. The emotional healing occasionally feels compressed compared to the meticulous care given to depicting the damage.

I'm also conflicted about the revelation surrounding Lu Feng's mental disorder in the finale. It helps contextualize his increasingly erratic behaviour, but introducing it so late risks simplifying what had previously been a nuanced psychological portrait. Throughout most of the series, Lu Feng is compelling because he is a man shaped by privilege, abandonment, obsession, and unresolved trauma. Reducing part of that complexity to a last-minute diagnosis weakens some of the moral ambiguity the drama had worked so hard to establish. A slower exploration across multiple episodes would have been far more effective.

Even with these flaws, Double Helix is one of the most emotionally intelligent BLs I've watched. It refuses to offer easy forgiveness, refuses to create convenient villains, and refuses to pretend that love alone can heal years of emotional damage. Instead, it asks something much harder of its audience: to empathize without excusing, to hold people accountable without denying their humanity, and to recognize that the deepest wounds are often passed from one generation to the next.

That's why this is a 9/10 for me. Not because it's flawless, but because it dares to explore emotional territory that many dramas avoid. With a stronger final act and more time devoted to healing instead of simply reaching the ending, I genuinely believe it could have been a masterpiece.

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​A Masterpiece That Fumbled Its Final Sprint

I have so much to say about this drama, but I will try to keep it brief. Moli had all the ingredients to be, by far, THE drama of the year. For a huge chunk of the series, it was genuinely funny, the characters were insanely well-written, and the leads shared incredible chemistry. But then, it fumbled. The last 6–7 episodes completely lost momentum, and it felt like the writing lost track of its own purpose.

What drew me in initially was that, for the first time, we had a female lead whose vengeance wasn't just a side plot, it was her life's mission. She was actively working to destroy the lives of the people who hurt her, and I loved her for it. Her character had so many dimensions, and the inclusion of her schizophrenia was handled with insane nuance.

As for the Male Lead, he wasn't just a green flag at first, he was the entire forest. He was deeply supportive, gentle, and understanding. He was there for her whenever she needed him, and together, they allowed each other to feel loved again after their respective tragic pasts. Their relationship felt so mature that I was completely invested.

...Until he had his little over-the-top dramatic moment and divorced her. I might have accepted that plot point with any other FL, but not when he knew exactly how sick, lonely, and incapable of being by herself she was. Out of nowhere, he has a mental breakdown, decides he can't live without her, finds out she is schizophrenic, and then runs to the mountains for a redemption arc. The fact that she forgave him instantly, seemingly not even remembering that he had completely let her down, felt incredibly sad. The audience was left holding the resentment she couldn't. It was obvious the divorce arc was just a cheap excuse to get him into the mountains, but it could have been handled so differently.

After that shift, the spark vanished. I don't know if it was because of the betrayal, or because their relationship suddenly felt like siblings. The plotline with the aphrodisiac incense gave me a total ick. Why does a husband need a chemical gimmick to sleep with his wife if they are supposedly madly in love? I know historical dramas love this trope, but here it felt regressive; he was practically hiding and incapable of just approaching his own wife. They randomly stopped having chemistry, a problem made worse by choppy editing. It felt like many kissing scenes were cut, leaving us with jarring jumps from one scene to the next.

By the end, the writers fell into the classic trap: they traded her agency for a "happy ending." Turning a fierce, independent woman who survived absolute horror into a passive figure who just watches her husband run her dream academy completely defeats the purpose of her arc. Peace doesn't have to mean powerlessness, and the show forgot that.

Overall, I am still happy with the drama's success, even if certain things could have been much better. The leads did a fantastic job. I normally hated the ML's acting in The Legend of the female general, and I couldn't even finish Story of Kunning Palace because of Bai Lu and Zhang Linghe’s acting. However, I was pleasantly surprised here. It just goes to show that sometimes actors don't need to change, they just need a great director to pull out a nuanced performance.
Moli is a great ride that unfortunately traded its boundary-breaking agency for lazy, safe clichés at the finish line, but it remains a testament to what good directing can achieve.

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