PhoenixKhan
USA
This review may contain spoilers
The "Manual" is barely part of the plot...
Gosh where do I start...
This show feels like something the actors were required to do by their contracts with TVB to fill their quota, not because they liked the script. The show is based on a real Chinese herbalist / doctor named Li Shizhen who spent majority of his lifetime composing books that compiled thousands of Chinese herbs, explaining their functions and natures.
TVB took liberties with adapting his life story to the screen, as they often do with their biographical dramas, which could be very interesting had they done it right and gave it more care. Unfortunately, this show was a let down.
For a show that I expected to portray Li Shizhen's upbringing, how he found the passion for herbs, and his contributions to the Imperial government as a physician, it sure was long-winded and focused on absolutely NONE of that. 90% of the 25 episodes that The Herbalist's Manual revolves around an annoying love triangle between Frankie, Michelle, and Selena!!! Then you have Kenneth here and there who didn't do anything really besides cause more angst in the love triangle. TVB sure loves their love triangles don't they?
Li Shizhen's father was an elderly physician who did not want his son to follow his footsteps, and instead urged him to compete in the Imperial civil service exam. Apparently, the real Li Shizhen failed the civil service exam three times before he turned to medicine and a proclaimed doctor. Why didn't TVB show that?! We're just TOLD he failed multiple times. We also never got to see where he got his passion for herbal medicine came from, Sure, most likely it came from his father, but why didn't they elaborate? No. We're just told he just wanted to do it.
TVB made Li Shizhen a wishy-washy, indecisive, docile man who was afraid to say anything. I feel sorry for the real Li Shizhen for how TVB butchered the character. Frankie's Li Shizhen got on my nerves. He never rejected Selena, knowing that he didn't love her when they were engaged. When he loved Michelle, he was too shy to tell her and asked his brother to deliver the message which caused a huge misunderstanding. When he found out he no longer had feelings for Michelle, he never told her the truth, giving her a small glimpse of hope that they could still be together. This is supposed to be our main character?! And then you have people left and right ready to throw their lives away to save him.
They would sprinkle in side plots of sick patients coming in here and there. Frankie only directly healed a handful of people. Most of them were cured by Liu Kai-chi, Lau Kong, or Michelle, with background actors coming into Michelle's herbal restaurant, explaining their illnesses and were treated by Liu Kai-chi and Lau Kong. Even the plague was cured by Liu Kai-chi's finding. Who's the titular character again?
The love triangle. Oh boy did it drag. I thought the love triangle would get resolved within the first 5 episodes and a new plot would arise. Guess I gave TVB too much credit as the love triangle actually lasted the entire series up until the last episode!!! Every episode was Frankie's wooden, helpless stare, Michelle's pining and crying, Selena being all sweet and innocent until she decided to be "independent." Michelle's pining was annoying. Rebecca's urging of Michelle to steal a married man was annoying. Selena constantly being kept in the dark while doing everything for Frankie was annoying. This show should be called The Love Triangle Manual, not the Herbalist's Manual. Even then, the way characters make decisions in this show is NOT what you should do in a love triangle.
Ending - What in the world? So everything got resolved off-screen and we just get an exposition dump by Power Chan? That was one of the lamest resolutions ever. Did TVB's budget get dropped to pennies during the last episode? No one gets their comeuppance. We're just told people died and this happened, so Li Shizhen is free to go. What?! And then we go right back to the dumb love triangle. Yeah, TVB, I don't want to watch our main character fight bad guys or save people or any court politics. No, I just want to watch two ladies who deserve way better sit in a room and talk slowly about how they love Li Shizhen but can't be with him. Yeah, that's what I want. Good grief.
This show feels like something the actors were required to do by their contracts with TVB to fill their quota, not because they liked the script. The show is based on a real Chinese herbalist / doctor named Li Shizhen who spent majority of his lifetime composing books that compiled thousands of Chinese herbs, explaining their functions and natures.
TVB took liberties with adapting his life story to the screen, as they often do with their biographical dramas, which could be very interesting had they done it right and gave it more care. Unfortunately, this show was a let down.
For a show that I expected to portray Li Shizhen's upbringing, how he found the passion for herbs, and his contributions to the Imperial government as a physician, it sure was long-winded and focused on absolutely NONE of that. 90% of the 25 episodes that The Herbalist's Manual revolves around an annoying love triangle between Frankie, Michelle, and Selena!!! Then you have Kenneth here and there who didn't do anything really besides cause more angst in the love triangle. TVB sure loves their love triangles don't they?
Li Shizhen's father was an elderly physician who did not want his son to follow his footsteps, and instead urged him to compete in the Imperial civil service exam. Apparently, the real Li Shizhen failed the civil service exam three times before he turned to medicine and a proclaimed doctor. Why didn't TVB show that?! We're just TOLD he failed multiple times. We also never got to see where he got his passion for herbal medicine came from, Sure, most likely it came from his father, but why didn't they elaborate? No. We're just told he just wanted to do it.
TVB made Li Shizhen a wishy-washy, indecisive, docile man who was afraid to say anything. I feel sorry for the real Li Shizhen for how TVB butchered the character. Frankie's Li Shizhen got on my nerves. He never rejected Selena, knowing that he didn't love her when they were engaged. When he loved Michelle, he was too shy to tell her and asked his brother to deliver the message which caused a huge misunderstanding. When he found out he no longer had feelings for Michelle, he never told her the truth, giving her a small glimpse of hope that they could still be together. This is supposed to be our main character?! And then you have people left and right ready to throw their lives away to save him.
They would sprinkle in side plots of sick patients coming in here and there. Frankie only directly healed a handful of people. Most of them were cured by Liu Kai-chi, Lau Kong, or Michelle, with background actors coming into Michelle's herbal restaurant, explaining their illnesses and were treated by Liu Kai-chi and Lau Kong. Even the plague was cured by Liu Kai-chi's finding. Who's the titular character again?
The love triangle. Oh boy did it drag. I thought the love triangle would get resolved within the first 5 episodes and a new plot would arise. Guess I gave TVB too much credit as the love triangle actually lasted the entire series up until the last episode!!! Every episode was Frankie's wooden, helpless stare, Michelle's pining and crying, Selena being all sweet and innocent until she decided to be "independent." Michelle's pining was annoying. Rebecca's urging of Michelle to steal a married man was annoying. Selena constantly being kept in the dark while doing everything for Frankie was annoying. This show should be called The Love Triangle Manual, not the Herbalist's Manual. Even then, the way characters make decisions in this show is NOT what you should do in a love triangle.
Ending - What in the world? So everything got resolved off-screen and we just get an exposition dump by Power Chan? That was one of the lamest resolutions ever. Did TVB's budget get dropped to pennies during the last episode? No one gets their comeuppance. We're just told people died and this happened, so Li Shizhen is free to go. What?! And then we go right back to the dumb love triangle. Yeah, TVB, I don't want to watch our main character fight bad guys or save people or any court politics. No, I just want to watch two ladies who deserve way better sit in a room and talk slowly about how they love Li Shizhen but can't be with him. Yeah, that's what I want. Good grief.
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