Yidenia Jang
This review may contain spoilers
Poorly executed to the point where it becomes frustrating, but fun to roast
1. The theme of the story does not match how it plays out
There are a lot of tales about fate and the futility of rebelling against it. Oedipus Rex. Ragnarok. In China, the Tui Bei Tu was a real prophecy book which inspired a real Emperor to go on a massive massacre in order to prevent one of its prophecies, which still came to pass (ie, a female Emperor Wu Zetian interrupted his dynasty, but then she gave it back so I don't know what his problem was). Generally, though, if you're going to write a story about the fruitlessness of do-overs, there should be something about the character that had enough hubris to challenge fate. For example: if someone WANTED to go back in time and change everything, and then actively created a time machine/cast a spell/sacrificed first-borns, etc. If you're going to drag our FL INVOLUNTARILY back in time, however, then Fate itself was responsible for the repeat, in which case, why? If everything that happened should have happened, why did the universe itself propel Lu Anran back in time just to do everything over again? I normally forgive the mechanics of supernatural phenomena when it comes to writing, but literally no one asked for this. When I realized everything was just going to be the same as before, I was so bored. This isn't Lost Track of Time, this is Wasting Everyone's Time.
2. Pacing, Where Art Thou?
It's clear to me that Xing Fei chose this role to flex her drama skills. She normally portrays young women who are relatively collected and put together. At best, they get mildly distressed/aggravated, but rarely are they truly angsty. But 10 minutes of watching Xing Fei cry isn't the way to do this. If she's going to mope for a day and a night, you don't have to film her moping ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT. It's possible to cut forward. No one looks good enough to sustain such a long segment. These episodes are only 45 minutes long, we're not interested in lingering over a sobfest for almost a quarter of it. Further, the script has a tendency to make characters introspect when they really should be in action; ie, if someone is found dead, even if that someone is a loved one, the natural reaction is not feeling sorry for yourself, it's calling the police. If you found your best friend expired from blunt force trauma, wouldn't you want to figure out what led to that? No? You want to lay out a red curtain neatly on the ground and lie down next to it in a stupor to simulate your dead friend's corpse instead? Who does this? It's absurd. And then, because this show drags these ridiculous scenes out past the limits of anyone's attention-span, to move forward it employs the strangest time-skips I've ever seen. It's a low budget show, so they can't even be bothered to change outfits and hairstyles, all of the sudden we're five months out when it looks like the same day. They don't even change the lighting. It's so confusing that any limited immersion you might have had gets rudely interrupted because you're trying to reorient yourself. Ultimately, the director and editor have a poor understanding of what the audience needs to see at any given moment. They are constantly choosing the wrong thing to show; when we are ready to move on to see what happens next, they wax philosophical over the same scene for another 7 minutes. However, when we actually want to see what is going on right now, they jump forward 2 months and retroactively tell us all the things we missed. Whoever directed this thing should go back to school.
3. Intrusive OST
Pet peeve of mine: Songs with lyrics overlapping on-screen dialogue. You have words being spoken and words being sung in the background; which one am I supposed to listen to? It just becomes a cacophony of gibberish. Granted, a lot of shows do this for some reason. I suspect it has to do with limited soundtracks that they must disperse throughout multiple episodes, but it is never not ridiculous.
This show also has a tendency to use soundtracks the way 80s films used to. Sometimes the music would switch from one angsty piece to another mid-phrase. It often begins loudly too, to the point where it might startle you, and clearly indicates when you should start feeling sad in an incredibly melodramatic way. It's to the point where my friend and I exclaim "Cue music!" every time something sad was supposed to happen, and it always plays! It always plays.
4. FL's character is poorly written
It's hard to write a strong character. It's harder to write a strong FEMALE character in a period drama. I get it. But one key thing about strong characters is that, while they're allowed to cry and feel scared/helpless, they should be doers when something needs doing, not just mope on the side. Lu Anran supposedly accomplished all these things; she expanded her father's business empire despite facing down bandits and natural disasters, but these are things you are told. The Lu Anran on screen usually doesn't fit this description. On occasion, she gets her act together, but most of the time she's just in a self-pitying daze. It's clear to me that whoever wrote her character WANTED to write someone strong, but didn't know how strong people are defined. Everyone's allowed to feel sorry for themselves, but if you're trying to convince us that Lu Anran was competent in any way, you should probably double-check to see what competence requires on a fundamental level (hint: it means getting stuff done!)
5. Acting is decent for the script
Some people complained about the actors, but I don't think that was the problem. I wouldn't say the actors were Oscar-worthy, but considering what they were working with, I thought they did a decent job. FL and ML had pretty good chemistry. I agree with many that ML doesn't seem to have the chops to lead an ensemble, but his character wasn't written in a ML way. He was kind of useless and passive, playing into the "I'm a prince but I want to be a commoner because that's more honest" trope, which, considering the events of the story when this was happening, feels very immature. He was like a little boy who didn't want to become a man because being a man is too hard, with responsibilities and duties and having to do things you don't enjoy in order to support yourself. This was how he was written, though, so I don't fault the actor for that. FL can cry,, and glare stonily at people, which. Glad you flexed that, Xing Fei. I would never have guessed. I suppose from now on you can audition for roles that exercise your lacrimal glands. On a more serious note, though, Xing Fei added a certain maturity and grace to the character, which I don't think most actresses can. She certainly looked smart enough, even if she didn't act smart, but the latter's due to the script, not anything Xing Fei did.
SML definitely steals every scene he's in. People say he's not black or white. I disagree; he's definitely an evil character. I don't see any controversy about that. Sympathizing with someone doesn't make them less evil. Hitler grew up poor. He grew up without a father. He had to sleep on park benches and even spent time in jail. When he became a dictator, he fell in love with Eva Braun. Yes, Adolf Hitler did love someone. He even loved his mother enough that he allowed her Jewish doctor to escape Germany before systematically killing Jews. What, does this confuse people now, are we no longer sure if Hitler was a bad guy? Ultimately, everyone is good to some people at certain times. Even evil people. What matters is their bottom line. The difference between a good person and a bad one is there are certain things a good person will never do. Bad people can do good things, but they'll reverse course when it suits them, whereas a good person will continue to do good deeds even if it's hard. SML had the hots for FL and that made everyone melt, which, what? However, I do give SML props for giving the character so much charisma. His interpretation of the role is refreshing and delightful. A lot of villains are annoying, or you hate them too much to enjoy them, but SML here is someone who is interesting enough to capture your attention. He's a disgusting son-of-a-gun, but he's so much fun, partially because it's clear that the actor's having so much fun playing this character.
6. Good for roasting
The wallpaper backgrounds depicting 2D mountains. The polyester robes that these characters wear for weeks at a time. The lack of seasonal change. The rain when characters cry (lolz). The random narrator that pops in out of nowhere to recite things you already know, in this deep voice full of gravitas. The flashbacks to 2 minutes prior in the same episode, because the director's scared that our memory spans are as long as a goldfish's. This is one of those shows where you can do a Mystery Science Theater 3000 and it would be a good time. But, frankly, there are so many Cdramas where you can do this as well, so it's up to you, whether you want to waste your time.
There are a lot of tales about fate and the futility of rebelling against it. Oedipus Rex. Ragnarok. In China, the Tui Bei Tu was a real prophecy book which inspired a real Emperor to go on a massive massacre in order to prevent one of its prophecies, which still came to pass (ie, a female Emperor Wu Zetian interrupted his dynasty, but then she gave it back so I don't know what his problem was). Generally, though, if you're going to write a story about the fruitlessness of do-overs, there should be something about the character that had enough hubris to challenge fate. For example: if someone WANTED to go back in time and change everything, and then actively created a time machine/cast a spell/sacrificed first-borns, etc. If you're going to drag our FL INVOLUNTARILY back in time, however, then Fate itself was responsible for the repeat, in which case, why? If everything that happened should have happened, why did the universe itself propel Lu Anran back in time just to do everything over again? I normally forgive the mechanics of supernatural phenomena when it comes to writing, but literally no one asked for this. When I realized everything was just going to be the same as before, I was so bored. This isn't Lost Track of Time, this is Wasting Everyone's Time.
2. Pacing, Where Art Thou?
It's clear to me that Xing Fei chose this role to flex her drama skills. She normally portrays young women who are relatively collected and put together. At best, they get mildly distressed/aggravated, but rarely are they truly angsty. But 10 minutes of watching Xing Fei cry isn't the way to do this. If she's going to mope for a day and a night, you don't have to film her moping ALL DAY AND ALL NIGHT. It's possible to cut forward. No one looks good enough to sustain such a long segment. These episodes are only 45 minutes long, we're not interested in lingering over a sobfest for almost a quarter of it. Further, the script has a tendency to make characters introspect when they really should be in action; ie, if someone is found dead, even if that someone is a loved one, the natural reaction is not feeling sorry for yourself, it's calling the police. If you found your best friend expired from blunt force trauma, wouldn't you want to figure out what led to that? No? You want to lay out a red curtain neatly on the ground and lie down next to it in a stupor to simulate your dead friend's corpse instead? Who does this? It's absurd. And then, because this show drags these ridiculous scenes out past the limits of anyone's attention-span, to move forward it employs the strangest time-skips I've ever seen. It's a low budget show, so they can't even be bothered to change outfits and hairstyles, all of the sudden we're five months out when it looks like the same day. They don't even change the lighting. It's so confusing that any limited immersion you might have had gets rudely interrupted because you're trying to reorient yourself. Ultimately, the director and editor have a poor understanding of what the audience needs to see at any given moment. They are constantly choosing the wrong thing to show; when we are ready to move on to see what happens next, they wax philosophical over the same scene for another 7 minutes. However, when we actually want to see what is going on right now, they jump forward 2 months and retroactively tell us all the things we missed. Whoever directed this thing should go back to school.
3. Intrusive OST
Pet peeve of mine: Songs with lyrics overlapping on-screen dialogue. You have words being spoken and words being sung in the background; which one am I supposed to listen to? It just becomes a cacophony of gibberish. Granted, a lot of shows do this for some reason. I suspect it has to do with limited soundtracks that they must disperse throughout multiple episodes, but it is never not ridiculous.
This show also has a tendency to use soundtracks the way 80s films used to. Sometimes the music would switch from one angsty piece to another mid-phrase. It often begins loudly too, to the point where it might startle you, and clearly indicates when you should start feeling sad in an incredibly melodramatic way. It's to the point where my friend and I exclaim "Cue music!" every time something sad was supposed to happen, and it always plays! It always plays.
4. FL's character is poorly written
It's hard to write a strong character. It's harder to write a strong FEMALE character in a period drama. I get it. But one key thing about strong characters is that, while they're allowed to cry and feel scared/helpless, they should be doers when something needs doing, not just mope on the side. Lu Anran supposedly accomplished all these things; she expanded her father's business empire despite facing down bandits and natural disasters, but these are things you are told. The Lu Anran on screen usually doesn't fit this description. On occasion, she gets her act together, but most of the time she's just in a self-pitying daze. It's clear to me that whoever wrote her character WANTED to write someone strong, but didn't know how strong people are defined. Everyone's allowed to feel sorry for themselves, but if you're trying to convince us that Lu Anran was competent in any way, you should probably double-check to see what competence requires on a fundamental level (hint: it means getting stuff done!)
5. Acting is decent for the script
Some people complained about the actors, but I don't think that was the problem. I wouldn't say the actors were Oscar-worthy, but considering what they were working with, I thought they did a decent job. FL and ML had pretty good chemistry. I agree with many that ML doesn't seem to have the chops to lead an ensemble, but his character wasn't written in a ML way. He was kind of useless and passive, playing into the "I'm a prince but I want to be a commoner because that's more honest" trope, which, considering the events of the story when this was happening, feels very immature. He was like a little boy who didn't want to become a man because being a man is too hard, with responsibilities and duties and having to do things you don't enjoy in order to support yourself. This was how he was written, though, so I don't fault the actor for that. FL can cry,, and glare stonily at people, which. Glad you flexed that, Xing Fei. I would never have guessed. I suppose from now on you can audition for roles that exercise your lacrimal glands. On a more serious note, though, Xing Fei added a certain maturity and grace to the character, which I don't think most actresses can. She certainly looked smart enough, even if she didn't act smart, but the latter's due to the script, not anything Xing Fei did.
SML definitely steals every scene he's in. People say he's not black or white. I disagree; he's definitely an evil character. I don't see any controversy about that. Sympathizing with someone doesn't make them less evil. Hitler grew up poor. He grew up without a father. He had to sleep on park benches and even spent time in jail. When he became a dictator, he fell in love with Eva Braun. Yes, Adolf Hitler did love someone. He even loved his mother enough that he allowed her Jewish doctor to escape Germany before systematically killing Jews. What, does this confuse people now, are we no longer sure if Hitler was a bad guy? Ultimately, everyone is good to some people at certain times. Even evil people. What matters is their bottom line. The difference between a good person and a bad one is there are certain things a good person will never do. Bad people can do good things, but they'll reverse course when it suits them, whereas a good person will continue to do good deeds even if it's hard. SML had the hots for FL and that made everyone melt, which, what? However, I do give SML props for giving the character so much charisma. His interpretation of the role is refreshing and delightful. A lot of villains are annoying, or you hate them too much to enjoy them, but SML here is someone who is interesting enough to capture your attention. He's a disgusting son-of-a-gun, but he's so much fun, partially because it's clear that the actor's having so much fun playing this character.
6. Good for roasting
The wallpaper backgrounds depicting 2D mountains. The polyester robes that these characters wear for weeks at a time. The lack of seasonal change. The rain when characters cry (lolz). The random narrator that pops in out of nowhere to recite things you already know, in this deep voice full of gravitas. The flashbacks to 2 minutes prior in the same episode, because the director's scared that our memory spans are as long as a goldfish's. This is one of those shows where you can do a Mystery Science Theater 3000 and it would be a good time. But, frankly, there are so many Cdramas where you can do this as well, so it's up to you, whether you want to waste your time.
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