Started with a bang then fizzles out almost instantly
Let me start out with the positives:1. Insane chemistry between WJY and WXY
2. Revenge plot that was coherent throughout
3. The overall wardrobe design was breathtaking (Especially Duke Su and Wan Ning)
4. The cast all had excellent portrayal of their characters
Now to the reason why i was inclined to only give this a solid 8/10:
1. Tempo
At some point in time the progression of the story felt weird. Please take note that this may just be a personal take.
2. Ending + Special EP
Honestly if you told me the drama ended at EP39 i would have just believed it and gave it an all around 10/10 rating
Overall:
I had no regrets taking up this drama and watching after a somewhat dry start to the early half of 2024 dramas. Some of the cinematography of the scenes was just so symbolic and breath taking. Personal advise would be to just watch up to EP39 and just take that as a closure of its own. Other than that there was nothing worth criticizing.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
This drama has great villains and heroes but is weak in resolving conflicts.
The Double is like rain after a drought of good quality C-Dramas in 2024. Initially, I didn't expect it to be this great. But, after completing all the episodes, I would say this one might be in the same league as the phenomenal, Nirvana in Fire (NIF), as the best revenge drama of this year.Revenge historical dramas are usually not easy to watch because the plots are often quite complex, especially when connected to palace politics and intrigues. To enjoy them, we must pay attention to each milestone and understand the strategies and tactics to reach the targets. Because of these reasons, watching dramas in this genre can be tiring and boring if the story and plot are not captivating enough. Fortunately, 'The Double' is able to overcome this challenging aspect of a drama. For the majority of the episodes, I could not fast forward because it is really interesting, entertaining, and thrilling.
The story is the biggest strength of this drama. First, to help us understand and follow the storyline, and to manage the large number of characters, this drama smartly uses an episodic story structure every 4-5 episodes. We see this from the changing settings, such as moving from the mountain temple back to the capital city, then to Luyang City and several other cities, before returning to the capital again. In each place, we get a smaller story that contributes to the main story, and in each smaller story, we see targets achieved one by one. The storyline is mainly chronological. Backstories and flashbacks exist in certain parts, but they primarily help us understand the characters' motivations and personality development.
Secondly, I love how this drama heavily embraces realism and shows us two balanced perspectives from the elites and the commoners. This drama explores themes that are not commonly found in other C-dramas such as gender equality, women roles in society, social class and mobility, patriarchy, poverty, abuse of power, tyranny, greediness, etc. The tragedy that befell onto many characters are the results of society sickness. This context makes the struggle to seek justice and uphold righteousness in this drama very grounded, relevant, and realistic.
After the story, the most interesting aspects are the characters and their development, and the portrayal of trauma and the emotional scars left by trauma on several characters. I personally love the male lead (Duke Su) and the second male lead (Shen Yurong) because, as romantic partners of the female lead, they have such different personalities, like heaven and earth. Shen Yurong is the former husband of the female lead. He is an intelligent, kind, and gifted scholar who highly upholds his idealism. However, he lacks the agency and bravery to fight for what is right, and therefore cannot protect his beloved wife and is forced to do horrible things. Meanwhile, Duke Su is a military man, the later husband of FL. He is intelligent, powerful, and feared by many, but cold and ruthless in doing right things for the emperor and for the sake of the nation. This contrast is meaningful because it tells us that without power and bravery, you cannot uphold your idealism.
Besides the male characters, I love how this drama presents the villains. The biggest villain is Princess Wanning and her allies in the palace, along with her brother, a military general planning a coup. Princess Wanning is characterized as a psychopath (torturing, controlling, and lacking remorse). However, the story tells her complete background, showing why she turned out this way, and reveals her human side that deserves compassion. Similarly, the second biggest villain, the female lead’s stepmother, becomes a manipulative woman seeking power and domination, but also love and attention, due to her suffering. In the past, she was an innocent flower, but her family forced her to take the evil path. Besides them, there are several minor villains, each with eccentric, ruthless, and corrupt personalities, posing a great danger to the female lead in her pursuit of justice.
Overall, this drama is a story about society, not merely about revenge. The context and environment are realistically portrayed. This is a world of ancient China where family status, reputation, and position are the three most important things, and people can turn into beasts pursuing them. Meanwhile, women are loved, educated, and trained well, just to be used as tools to gain and maintain power by their men. In this aspect, I can say that this drama surpasses the masterpiece, 'Nirvana in Fire/ NIF' which is too high-politics and captures mainly the dynamic among elites and didn't provide us more insight about society. Furthermore, there is a balance between the use of hard power (military power, martial art skill) and soft power (manipulation, influence, deception, and intimidation).
However, from a problem-solving perspective or in terms of problem resolution, the story lacks sophistication because success is guaranteed from the beginning. There are no surprising twists in the middle that could make us worry about their potential defeat (In "Nirvana in Fire," we have the scene where Mei Changsu is poisoned, imprisoned, and nearly dies). We don't experience any gritty or desperate moments between the female lead and male lead because both of them are so capable and manage everything adeptly. Furthermore, upon closer examination, it's unclear what is truly at stake. Firstly, the emperor supports the protagonists, while the villains in the palace lack strong political influence. Secondly, the questionable identity of the female lead poses no significant threat to the Jiang family beyond a tarnished reputation. Thirdly, the romance between the male lead and female lead feels unearned and lacks any meaningful trade-offs. Fourth, the villains are ruthless to anybody, but the leads. Everybody dies, but the leads. Fifth, in the end, the wrong doing of Princess Wanning toward FL and her family is not exposed to the world. She just died by killing herself after mistaking the intention of her lover, who poisoned her for political purpose, and being heartbroken. The same goes for the second male lead (Shen Yurong). He killed himself because the female lead no longer loved him and that he couldn't return to the beautiful past days, not because he understood why he had failed his own idealism. So, the justice is not served well.
This drama is perfect until episode 30. The last 10 episodes are a downfall, making the story anticlimactic. It's a good idea for the female lead to try to make the second male lead admit his wrongdoing, but she does so as if they were strangers. In fact, they were husband and wife who loved each other. It's understandable and valid for his reasons like 'I had no choice' and 'I had to protect my mother and sister.' However, the emotion remaining in the female lead's heart is just hatred and anger, while the second male lead feels guilty and regretful. Psychologically, it doesn't make sense because it seems forced for the plot to make the female lead and male lead become lovers. It would be a redemption story if FL helps him remind his true heart before entering palace, and he turns out to be her another hand to revenge Princess Wanning, playing new role as a trojan horse.
It's a significant development that Princess Wanning finally succeeds in trapping the female lead inside her game. However, it feels wrong to leave her safely in jail without any torture. This action seems out of character and misses the potential for a desperate scene that could increase the stakes and conflict, pushing the emotions and motivation to succeed in the revenge mission and save the nation. Additionally, the episodes involving the coup d'état are shallow and lack complexity, with less strategic movement. This should have been the climactic moment to leave a deep impression on the audience, but instead, it feels like an everyday event. It could have been a great war within the country and against an evil neighboring country simultaneously. This final development would have made the deaths of Duke Su's two aides more acceptable. Alternatively, they could have provided Prince Chen with a more compelling reason to stage a coup, such as seeking revenge for Princess Wanning, who was taken hostage, or aspiring to become a braver emperor and defend against enemy countries. It's disappointing that Prince Chen, as the main culprit behind the country's suffering, is portrayed as merely greedy for power, without a higher purpose.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
There is a running theme about putting on a show in this drama, and for much of the first half, it is certainly an entertaining one. Xue Fangfei is cruelly betrayed by her husband Shen Yurong, who buries her alive at the behest of psychotic Princess Wanning. From there, we follow Fangfei as she is rescued by the noble Jiang Li, who faces an unjust, untimely death and whose identity Fangfei assumes on her quest for revenge for the both of them. Along the way, she crosses paths with the powerful and intimidating Xiao Heng, who is on his own mission to clear the imperial court of corrupt officials and to seek justice for his father's wrongful death.This drama has a lot of similar beats and characteristics as The Story of Kunning Palace, and had I watched this one first, I may have rated it higher. Unfortunately, it is too much of the same thing and nothing much profound is developed. Expect a lot of juicy plot and not much on the side of multi-dimensional characters or logical world building. The problem for me with these types of dramas is that without spending the time to build a story, themes and characters, the end product tends to fall flat at the climax because it is ultimately "just a show" without much substance. For example, the final conflict with Prince Cheng feels unearned. More build up with his character and his collusion with the other antagonists (Shen Yurong and Wanning had so much more potential for something truly interesting) may have helped to make that storyline work.
At the end of the day, it was still an entertaining watch, especially if you are in the need to see the good guys win and trounce all the evil guys and gals out there.
Was this review helpful to you?
Xue FangFei was the daughter of an integrous magistrate who was wrongly accused and sentenced to death. She was murdered and buried alive by her husband whom she loved. The husband was a very conflicted personality - in the drama, you would witness his struggle. Rescued by Jiang Li who eventually died due to ill-treatment, she took on her identity.
She assumed two huge responsibilities - how to get Jiang Li's stepmother to admit her crimes, and to investigate and exposed the mastermind behind the extermination of the Xue family. To return to the capital, she made use of Duke Su, known for his ruthlessness, and for which she received both help and retaliation.
Of course, you have Wu JinYan (Xue FangFei) of Yanxi Palace fame as the lead actress, acting once again an intelligent woman seeking and upholding justice. And then, there was Wang XingXue (Duke Su) who had a flair for selecting and performing well in good dramas. His last four dramas were all above rating of 8 on mydramalist.com; the Kunning Palace was one of them. He is certainly very young to have earned these accolades.
The plot was interesting as both FangFei and Duke Su had their share of scheming and being schemed against. You watched wondering what they were going to do next to counter the traps set for them, and whether the dangerous schemes they set for their antagonists might backfire. And for sure sometimes they did. When Duke Su handed over his army tally to the Princess to entice her brother to hasten the rebellion, you would expect him to have also a back-up plan to re-secure his power besides relying on the army from an ally. But he did not - I thought this was a pretty dangerous and foolish gamble.
This, as I understood, was the adaptation of a novel with some significant changes from the original story. The original was more of a supernatural setting but this was more down to earth.
It is worth pointing out here that the sound track was outstanding - one of the best in Chinese drama and witnessing a return of good music pieces to dramas after the pandemic. I love the theme songs and the two instrument pieces played at the entry examination.
Whenever there is an actress who is significantly older than her male counterpart, or acting a maiden much younger than herself, there is always the question whether they would be able to bring out the chemistry. Very often they do. So I would say to viewers not to discriminate on this basis. The camera, make-up and excellent acting can often overcome this.
There was however an unexplained scene - how did FangFei escaped from being buried alive as she was tied up and knocked unconscious. It showed Jiang Li finding her near a river, but how did she get there?
While the story and plots were relatively original, the themes of fighting for the throne and revenge for misjustice were a little overused and somewhat stale and cliche. They made good stories for a period drama, but would be nice to watch something of a different theme for a change. However, if you have not watched as many Chinese dramas as I have, this would not affect you.
Overall, I was debating whether to give it a 9.5 or a 10. Eventually I settled for the former for the last two reasons above.
Was this review helpful to you?
Almost there.
The Double is a pretty good drama. For the first 15 episodes I would have said that this show was on its way to being as good as Love Like the Galaxy.But it's not quite good enough to fill that LLTG Hole.
The positive things I have to say are endless, because this is an example of when you can feel every ounce of effort that was crammed into this show. The cinematography was amazing, there are so many shots that are screen saver worthy. The consistent use of flowing fabrics, wind and flower petals made my eyes pop open on more than one occasion. The fight choreography was on point too, it's almost comparable with Blood of Youth and fighting is the whole point of that show. The music also slapped. Be it a bgm or the featured artists it was always a pleasure to listen to whatever was coming out of my speakers. I did add more tracks to my playlist, and that's always the mark of great music.
I have the highest praise for the actors, there's not a single person in this show who was not giving a stellar performance as well, the direction and cast's chemistry was great! I feel like there are so many scenes where I can't imagine another actor replacing any of our main characters. This along with the initial writing in the first quarter of the show made the story so compelling! Everything just made sense, and I really liked that.
On the other hand it's hard to overlook the flaws of this drama. I think it can be overly dramatic and prioritize visuals over telling it's story in a more useful way at times. I also think that the pacing of the show could have been better. The 1st through 15th episodes are clearly aware that this story has a time limit and all the events flow evenly… But once we pass that halfway mark the plots take forever to resolve and get more and more choppy. I especially despise the final episode which unnecessarily kills off some characters in the dumbest and most abrupt ways. I didn't care for the drawn out reunion that we don't even really get to see. It's gore and murder and then a flower field and the FL looks into the camera and this hefty 40 episode monstrosity ends… Just. like. that…
I felt that there were so many moments where I wanted something more, something deeper, something intricate to happen and for the writing to be just a little smarter in how all of these characters related to each other.
I didn't care for it…
but the beginning was amazing so I can't rate it that low. I'd recommend it! But this is not on Love Like the Galaxy or Love and Redemption's level. Those stories kept you hooked until the very end and had very satisfying endings that didn't need unneeded shock value for its finale.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Best Strong female lead I have ever seen in the c-dramas
Episode 11 was truly excellent, very moving - where she played the zither, it made me teary and the #1 reason why I have to finish watching.She played the piece 'The Spring Fading into White Pear Blossoms' a folk tune expressing a woman's lament about her fate, filled with sorrow and grief as if she experienced great injustice.
To add the lyrics of the song " Even the moonlight can't bear to wander, watching me helpless and forlorn. Who's giving up so easily?
In my opinion, one of the best performances of the main leads and they nailed their roles, great acting and chemistry even with zero or less kissing scenes, that did not stop me from dropping - plus all the supporting casts delivered. Kudos to the script writers. I have nothing negative to say about this drama. I liked the story, worth watching until the last episode.
Was this review helpful to you?
The one to watch !!!
The story / script is well written and well executed. Both leads are incredible. ML Wang XingYu is all grown up and so hot ! If I must pick a con, it would be the villains along the way don't seem too smart :) The story and character developments were exciting from beginning to end. Must watch !!!btw I've never given a 10/10 review before but this one deserves it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Well worth the hype
I can´t recommend this drama enough. After watching amidst a snowstorm of love, I was drawn to Wang Xing Yue, and I was delighted to see his familiar face and gazing eyes in The Double. Each of the main leads were exceptional, the chemistry was incredible too. The story line and plot were really strong and it´s very easy to rewatch any episode. Even the supporting crew did a fab role which is quite rare.10/10.
PS - I cannot do unhappy endings, so my ending was 5 mins prior to the actual ending.
Was this review helpful to you?
Best Asian Drama I've ever seen and superior to any Western Revenge Movie or TV Show
This is the first time I give a 10 to any drama and with good reason.While slow at times it never becomes tiresome keeping me on the edge of my seat for it's entirety, with it's gripping story, Oscar worth acting - specially from Wu Jin Yan (FL) - and then there is the OST, god how good can a OST be???
While the story is heavy and grounded, there are some wuxia-esce and humorous moments that could have broken the pace or my interest in what was happening but even those moments were perfectly made and weaved through the story allowing us to breath between heavy drama moments.
Then there is the chemestry between both ML and FL that allowed them to act on a realistic and slow burn romance, never over the top realistcally built through their struggles that contributed to the first drama that I consider to be perfect...
They even gave us a happy ending in the special episode but I would not be sad if they kept it as it ends in episode 40...
Was this review helpful to you?
40 episodes than don't fall off a cliff halfway through.
A great story that doesn't make you feel like its being dragged out, like a lot of 40 episode Chines dramas do. It has a little bit of light heartedness sprinkled over a serious setting but well balanced you might even find a few laughs. There isn't a single time when you think to yourself "when is this going to be over" . Also ep. 40.5 which is 5 minutes long but will put a smile on your face.Was this review helpful to you?
THE BEST!!!
I just finished this drama. Now my problem is how to get over with it! I owe them my life for giving us a happy ending for the hottest Duke Su and amazing woman Jiang Li/Xue Fang Fei. They are both captivating and mind blowing! They ate their characters, I just love them!! The story was very interesting, intense, and binge worthy! Life is not always easy ,and watching this Cdrama at least made me very happy! THANK YOU FOR THIS WONDERFUL SHOW!!Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Satisfying story of revenge
Who else loves a great, satisfying revenge story? I sure do! I've watched revenge dramas before and this one hits all the marks--great story telling, wonderful plot twist that keep you on your toes, and an intelligent FL who seem to be playing 4D chess using with the characters as pawns. The ML is also smart and together they compliment each other well. I love seeing how the FL's schemes play out--it's SO satisfying seeing how she used her wits to make a mess of her enemies and also coming out on top each time. I love smart FL who is not only witty, but is a brilliant strategist. The only slight disappointment is the ending... no spoilers, but I only wish they had ended it differently. I also would've loved to see more romance between FL and ML especially with how much chemistry they had.Overall, this drama was one of the best I've watched in awhile. I was hooked since episode one and literally binged watched it on in a few days. It's SO good, leaving you feeling so satisfied--revenge is best served cold!!! Love a good revenge story.
Was this review helpful to you?
