When the wives throw over the husband and say, Nah, we can do it.

Marvelous Women is clearly some Chinese's director's answer to the ban against hair-pulling harem infighting. So you don't want to see women fighting over the favors of one man? Let's pit two singularly stunning and capable women at odds with one another, then make them work together to save their family, their children, their livelihood, and each other.

I do appreciate Cdramas that take the drama out of royal politics and center it around other characters entirely. The setting of Marvelous Women does that just. One woman is the respected but unloved first wife, the other a childhood sweetheart turned secret lover/concubine. Either one of these character types would be ripe as a villainess, and the show just barely teeters on this edge. Neither one of them is infallible. And they're not honestly always 100% good. They are messy and they have their faults, but more than that they have their wills. When the family finds itself in danger, it's up to them to band together. And then we're giving the picture of what might happen if two potential villains actually don't decide to fight each other. Perhaps, they can learn to be even more loyal to each other than anyone ever thought.

My. brain wanders, and this drama doesn't completely stamp out the possibility that in another country... these characters could have gone in another direction entirely. A romantic one perhaps? Find yourself a still of these women holding hands and you'll see what I see. That said, what the show gave us already is more than enough.

A satisfying, rich, and lovely watch overall.

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Seriously no depth. A Kdrama will have its ups and downs; times when you want to scream with frustration, and times when you want to die, just for cuteness overload. This doesn't seem to have any cuteness. The main characters have absolutely no chemistry, there are almost no redeeming scenes. Yi Seul is perpetually clueless, Baek Ho never seems to step up to the plate (sad, considering this is a baseball drama as well!). I might have given it 2 stars, but I have to admit the last few episodes are actually watcheable. Still doesn't completley redeem it though. Oh well, they can't all be awesome..

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The worst drama we have to love

We all have that one drama we know is terrible, but will love it regardless. That's Noble Aspirations for me. It's hard to find a campier drama that attempts to take itself so seriously, with such self-important imponent villains, a main couple with negative chemistry, and side characters who don't so much as shine but rather dull your senses until the only thing you have left is... Xiao Fan. Xiao Fan, my most favorite useless main leads ever, I would die for you! Perhaps it's a testament to Li Yi Feng's (lackluster?) acting, but somehow he comes off as the sweetest best boy ever, and that was all I needed? He is simple and adorable, and his smile brings healing. Sometimes you don't need a complicated hero, you just need a hero you want to hug.

Unfortunately, the rest of this drama is trash. Only half the arcs are worth watching once, the rest can be fast-forwarded if you really dare. Bad CGI I can handle, but combine that with ridiculous storytelling, flat villains, and serious misdirection of the rest of the characters (Shu Shu - you are the drama's only other exception) and it's nearly unwatchable. For real, I can't see Mao Zi Jun as anything other than Mr. Poison. This one character has ruined the actor for me forever.

Bonus: If you can actually make it through Noble Aspirations 1, honestly, the sequel is better. Go figure. It's shorter too.

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I honestly enjoyed the premise of the first half of the plot. Was it over the top and ridiculous, yes, but from time to time that kind of genre can be fun. Add a fun and good looking cast, lots of cliches which are both obvious and enjoyable to pick out and see come to fruition, and I had the time of my life. Unfortunately, given the number of episodes I guessed the second half would be dull. It was worse than that: a true makjang of amazingly bad decisions and typical second-lead character guilt trips that would make anybody Not in dramaland beat their head against a wall. I fast-forwarded most of it. It's better that way. Will always have the first half though. That was a good watch.

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