An ending that pulled the whole show down

The drama is actually quite a fun watch. You know from the get go what sort of drama it is going to be and you can sit back and just enjoy the beautiful cinematography with ease, because the plot armour is going to be thick in this one. No drama, no stress. Our characters never really face setbacks themselves, but the people around them do, so the leads come in as a sort of messiah to save the day.

Yes, it is a typical Mary Sue. And no, there is nothing about the plotline that is original or never seen before. We have it all - the OP couple, the spineless father (that suddenly finds one by the end), the jealous half-sisters, the obsessed lovers, the court drama etc. YetThe Double has taken the same formula and delivered it in a bottle that people will buy just for how it looks…like stanley cups.

The leads seem to be in their comfort zone with acting, with Xue Fangfei being a more peppy version of Wei Yinglou. But the acting in general is quite good. The drama does many face zoom shots, which are really a hard hit-or-miss, especially when it comes to Wu Jinyuan, but Wang Xing Yue does them quite well. However, the two antagonists - Liang Yong Qi as Shen Yurong and Li Meng as The Eldest Princess, Wanning- stole the show. The two bring a depth and emotionality to their characters that the leads seem to lack, allowing us the space to understand their characters better. It is almost like the plotline tries to do the leads dirty. Everyone gets a sad backstory for being evil, even Ji Shuran; I dislike it when shows don’t do that well. Especially for this type of story, such backstories only annoy or seem meaningless.

As you progress in the story, you find yourself confused about Shen Yurong’s intentions - is he protecting Xue Fangfei, is he remorseful, is he manipulating Wanning, or is he really evil? Even till the end, you wonder what his actual plan is. Liang Yong Qi shows us Shen Yurong’s descent from an upright and happily married scholar to a morally corrupt, murderous and unhinged man who himself doesn’t know which of his words are the truth and which are false. Though he blames the world for making him the way he is - hungry for power to protect himself and his family. Shen Yurong comes from a poor family. His father’s death was caused by someone powerful and they were unable to even seek justice. The final words Yurong’s father left behind were “be the most powerful or you will always be the one being crushed”. And his struggle to become the most powerful also comes with giving up his morality and love. He values the struggles his mother and sister went through to raise him to his level so for him they are non-negotiables. So when pushed to the corner, he sacrifices Xue Fangfei. Every Time he meets her since then, he always seems to be on the brink of a mental breakdown. You can see he struggles with his choices- both past ones and the ones he knows he has to make. He hates the man he has become and seems to want to return to the way things were - to start afresh. Almost putting the whole country in jeopardy to achieve it. Every scene takes him closer to the desparation of a cornered powerless man fighting off the demons he created. I can't say I am dissatisfied with his ending, It is sad to watch a man who had the potential to be good to turn out be the most pathetic. As Xue Fang Fei said, I hope he reincarnates as a powerful noble so he can finally hold up the morals we all know he possesses at his core.

At the same time, you don’t see Wanning as anything but a princess drunk on power. Someone who likes to hold her “sacrifice” of being used as a hostage for the enemy kingdom and her poor treatment there to get away with murder. And she gets away with so much that it doesn’t make sense at all for any emperor to tolerate her! Sometimes I found myself wanting to scream at the emperor “Just use Xiao Heng to spread the Princess’ true character which can give you a chance to investigate and prove it and THEN get rid of her!”, but I guess I am too modern to understand the intricacies of imperial politics. It was annoying, seeing this seemingly motivationless woman just kill someone because she fancied her husband. But then you get her backstory - you see the humiliation, the torture, the pain, and the torture she went through. She is treated like a low level concubine and not a princess, being used to the whims and fancies of her captor. A hauntingly beautiful scenery to mask her inner turmoil. She has been abandoned in a shed with sheep and goats. She walks into the middle of the lake in the winter, forcing herself to miscarry the child in her belly. Which eventually leads her to not be able to have children. As a woman myself, it was hard to see all that and not even feel an iota of empathy. It makes everything she does make so much sense. She thinks the country owes - she suffered while the rest of the country lived in peace. She takes what she wants, rules be dammed. She is delusional and obsessive, but it makes sense. Despite her sarcasm and mean demeanor, she genuinely fell for Shen Yurong. The possibility of being with his child makes her lose that evil edge, making her softer and less domineering, yet that is only for Shen Yurong. In the end, her death also is decided by her, she lost for the first time since her return, and not to Xue Fang Fei or Duke Su, but the love of her life, Shen Yurong.

They both have tragic ends, never even coming close to their goals. Though as they reach their end, you feel a tinge of regret for the people they could have been had they not been dealt such unfair cards in life. But that also means the main characters would’ve continued on as their incomplete selves.

That is something the show portrays very well. The leads are well matched in terms of cunningness, smartness and wit. In fact you can see there are gaps in one’s strengths that are filled in by the other. For example, Xiao Heng starts to lose his cool when Jiang Li is in danger, while at the same time Jiang Li keeps her cool (even the emperor comments on it at one point). Jiang Li tends to go overboard, often placing herself in danger, which is where Xiao Heng steps in to pull her back. Jiang Li does take a lot of support from Xiao Heng, but initially it is mostly to involve him in her scheme so if exposed he can help her, but later that support is freely given and she takes advantage brazenly. The love confession is unspoken - they both know, only a confirmation of affection (along with a pan away kiss scene that makes you want to pull Yu Zheng’s fair out) is needed and they KNOW. In fact they have KNOWN for a long time about each other’s feelings and I find that so so so refreshing.

There are honestly only good things in my mind about the drama. It is a splendid watch. I wanna binge on it again. THOUGH the ending was FRUSTRATING and UNNECESSARY. Even though the special episode was a little awkward (maybe because it was so rushed and the snippets were really too short), you kind of understand the importance of post production work that goes into adding the dots on chemistry. Like usual, I am going to pretend the drama ended at the marriage scene and they had a happily ever after.

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