The Untamed (2019)

I put off watching this drama for a very, very long time because I have heard so much about it and it had always been hyped up, but I often saw fans talk about how good looking the characters were or about the main ship in the show. I thought that it would be another overhyped show that was only popular because of the characters' appearance & the fetishisation of the BL aspect. As someone who is Chinese as well, I always found it kind of weird when people talked about the show and pronounced/wrote the characters' names incorrectly, which put me off more. However, I decided to give it a go anyways and I don't regret staying up till 2 am every night watching all 50 episodes within 4 days.

This drama's themes have actually been extremely thought-provoking, with one of the main ideas being the question 'who is truly good and who is truly evil?'—it is interesting that the main character was actually seen as a villain by the public in the story and uses unorthodox practices that are perceived to be evil, but for a good cause; the episodes really encourage the reader to question to what extent there is an absolute way to measure 'righteousness'. The drama also explores the idea that just because a society collectively believes in something doesn't make it right, and explores cancel culture and its severe influence on the attitude and actions of a crowd. The plot beautifully weaves together themes of friendship, trust, injustice and power to create an absolute emotional train-wreck that I was definitely not ready for.

STORY

The story is beautifully written. I have not read the novel so I will not be comparing the drama to the novel and the following will be based purely on what happened in the show. For me, the first episode immediately captured my attention and I loved that they opened with the scene where Wei Wuxian fell off the cliff at Bu Ye Tian (Nightless City): although we do not know why this was happening at the time, I was already eager to know why the main character was so hated by everyone except for Lan Wangji, who was the only one who tried to save him. I really liked that the writers started with this scene before proceeding into a flashback of what happened 16 years ago; it draws the viewers in from the start and encourages us to question why he ended up like this. But I think more importantly, it adds to the dramatic irony because after the flashback starts, we already know that WWX will be driven to this lowest point and eventually die no matter what he does, leaving us with a sense of inevitability and helplessness as the events unfold which in my opinion makes what happens more tragic.

A lot of people have said the action/plot in the first few episodes is not particularly great, which I agree with but only to some extent. In the next section with the events at the Mo Mansion, to be honest I didn't find the battle especially exciting. However, for me that doesn't mean this part was 'bad'—instead of the action being what drove my interest, what actually kept me watching was the hints of the past relationship between WWX and LWJ, from WWX thinking of someone from his past when he saw Lan Shizhui to WWX hiding from LWJ and finally LWJ's famous 'Wei Ying, is it really you?'

When we go into the flashback of 16 years ago, the roles of Jiang Cheng and LWJ are almost reversed and now, LWJ is the one who cannot stand WWX whereas JC and WWX are close friends, which piqued my interest further. And though I agree that the action in the first few episodes is not amazing, I enjoyed watching the dynamics between the characters, from the beautiful fight between WWX and LWJ on the rooftop of Cloud Recesses (Yun Shen Bu Zhi Chu) and WWX constantly annoying LWJ, to JC's frequent bickering with WWX but also the deep care they show for each other beneath all the verbal quarrels.

After the first few episodes, the drama takes off and we're thrown on a high-speed train that does not stop for the rest of the show. I am not kidding when I say I got so invested in the plot that I would watch 15 episodes in one sitting. The characters and their actions and dialogue, coupled with all the mysteries and scheming and questions, really make the show shine. The events are very unpredictable and entertaining but now that I look back with hindsight, the foreshadowing is all there. And though the special effects in battles are not perfect as this is a relatively low-cost drama, they are still enjoyable. I particularly liked the Yi Cheng arc where the atmosphere was actually scary and intense.

CHARACTERS (I accidentally got carried away and wrote way too much. Also contains spoilers)

The first time I watched this, WWX was my favourite for many reasons. I loved his carefree attitude (which did add a lot of comedy to the show) and how he doesn't like following strict rules. This aspect of him also paves its way into a more significant trait: he does not like to blindly follow public opinion and always sticks to his own thoughts and values, which I find admirable. I also loved how much he cared for his friends, such as making sure Jiang Yanli actually marries someone who will truly love her, and helping LWJ when his leg was hurt; he is committed to standing up for them even if it means more trouble for him. Although he then switches to practice demonic cultivation, I believe he still has a strong moral compass; he just believes that the ends justify the means. His core values never changed: he is still just as determined to protect the ones he loves and to live without regrets. Moreover, the practicing of demonic cultivation didn't come out of nowhere and I think that him inventing his own way of magic/cultivation is consistent with the independent and carefree nature of his character; I like that the writers already foreshadowed this from the very beginning, when he questioned why they couldn't use darker spirits to their advantage if it's for a good cause.

His biggest trait that I was drawn to, however, is his selflessness: from sacrificing his golden core for JC, to drawing a zhao yin qi (a flag that attracts evil spirits) on himself to save the young cultivation masters. The way he still upholds his values, despite having practiced a method of cultivation that was seen as 'evils', not only shows his strength of character, but also proves that there isn't a single way to determine right from wrong.

When I revisited the show again however, I suddenly found a deepened appreciation for LWJ. For me, the best part was watching how he changed as the relationship between LWJ and WWX developed: seeing the elegant, seemingly-perfect LWJ grow from despising WWX's rule-breaking and playful antics to slowly accepting this and becoming friends with him as they overcame life-threatening events together. I really loved seeing how LWJ and WWX started off being polar opposites, but gradually began to understand each other as they share a common dream to fight against evil and to help others in need.

Then the question of what is black and what is white ('孰正孰邪，孰黑孰白？') comes to light when WWX is forced to practice demonic cultivation and this particular question is portrayed through LWJ's internal conflict when he witnesses how much WWX has changed. It was evident how hurt LWJ was, but at the same time I could see he still wanted to trust WWX as a friend. Although this was a painful experience to watch, I thought this internal conflict was essential in the development of their relationship and I enjoyed watching as LWJ slowly questions what he was raised to believe and they both get closer to realising that there isn't a single standard for what is right. It is also intriguing for a Chinese wuxia drama to explore this theme because in wuxia culture, pure righteousness and following what society deemed to be the 'correct path' were seen to be unbreakable rules, so it was interesting to see characters who challenged this belief. At this point I was really encouraged to question to what extent the ends justify the means as WWX uses the dark arts to defeat Wen Ro Han: I loved that his core values have not changed even though his methods have, which truly emphasises that there shouldn't be one way to achieve righteousness.

The buildup to the battle of the Nightless City and WWX's death is extremely tragic but a captivating watch. First we have the dramatic irony I've already mentioned; the viewers already know that his death WILL happen no matter how hard he tries to stay out of trouble. We can only watch helplessly as WWX is blamed for the Qiong Qi Dao murders, as WWX is forced to build his own life in Luan Zang Gang (Burial mounds), as LWJ is forced to stand on the opposite side as him: the characters' feelings of desperation and hopelessness is now mirrored by that of the viewers'. Finally we are brought back to the scene in episode 1, but this time watching it was much more tear-jerking for me knowing how alone Wei Ying must have felt, and that is when I realised how smart the writers were for arranging the events like this to accentuate the tragedy.

Fast forward 16 years later, and you can tell that after seeing WWX die once and going through 16 years of searching, LWJ has made up his mind to stand by WWX's side and now wholeheartedly trusts him. He even stood up against his own upbringing to question the idea of morality, a major turning point in his character development—this made me love him so much as a character. As LXC later reveals, this was an extremely difficult decision for LWJ to make but he did it anyways. This sense of powerful trust and understanding is also emphasised by the contrast between his previous doubts and conflicts and his current unconditional faith in WWX. Because of all this that happened in the story, I became truly attached to this '知己之情' of theirs: one would translate this to 'confidant', but I don't think I can find an appropriate English word that encompasses the mutual trust and understanding between them—it's as if they can 'see' into each other now. Their unwavering friendship is further accentuated by something that WWX himself has said in a scene that made me sob uncontrollably: everyone wishes to kill WWX, but LWJ is the only person who still believes in him; this effectively combines the themes of cancel culture and trust into a heartbreaking dialogue. LWJ cares for WWX so much in his own way: carrying WWX when he was injured, crying when he found out about WWX's golden core.

Though the relationship between WWX and LWJ is my favourite element of the drama, that is not to say that the side characters were not interesting: the side characters are equally well fleshed out. I love seeing how much Wen Qing cared about Wen Ning as well as her courage in helping WWX and LWJ despite knowing the repercussions she would face; I was crying so hard when she sacrificed herself and the Wen Clan by turning themselves in to try to save WWX. I was endeared by Wen Ning's innocence and kindness as well as his loyalty towards WWX, especially when he couldn't stand seeing WWX being beaten up by JC and was determined to tell JC the truth about the golden core despite having been attacked by JC multiple times with the purple lightning. I also found the changing relationship between JC and WWX interesting but tragic: maybe in a different world where people didn't constantly bring up the competition between them, where the public didn't decide to shun WWX, where JGY didn't exist, where JC wasn't so pressured by society to be a good successor to the leader of the Jiang clan, they would've been great friends till the very end. I loved Nie Huaisang, whose carefree attitude mirrors WWX at the beginning and added an element of humour, but also his depth of character as he also plays a part in scheming and revenge.

Even the villains of the show are well-designed and no villain acts without reason (apart from maybe Wen Ro Han who is more of a stereotypical power-hungry villain). Although I absolutely despise Xue Yang for what he did to Xiao Xingchen and Song Lan, he is an intriguing character. In a sense I found it interesting that though Xue Yang and WWX are enemies to each other, it can be argued that Xue Yang and WWX were actually very similar in terms of background, both being orphans; WWX just happened to be saved by the Jiang clan whereas XY had to endure years of loneliness and pain. It makes me wonder what would've happened if Xue Yang also had loving people care for him, but unfortunately he lost his happiness and 'righteousness' due to the years of hardship. Momentarily a glimpse of this happiness was brought back by XXC, but XY didn't know how to deal with it, so the arc of Yi Cheng was a blend of thought-provoking and painful.

Jin Guang Yao was another masterpiece—while his role as a villain was unexpected, this was also foreshadowed very well in previous episodes. For some reason, though I found him a bit suspicious and something about his vibe was off to me in some of the scenes, I still desperately wanted to believe he was good, which entirely mirrors how betrayed Lan Xichen felt and that's when I know the writers did a good job at making us empathise with the characters. His character is also used to explore the idea of the public and how damaging the words and opinion of the public can be, given how much he was hurt by everyone calling him '娼妓之子' and looking down on him, to the point where his resentment and desire for revenge drove him to become 'evil'. But even as he became the biggest villain of the show, his relationship with Lan Xichen is yet another tragic one and I think I've never felt such conflicted feelings about a villain before.

ACTING

I loved the acting in the show even though I've never seen the actors before. Some actors definitely stand out more than others but honestly I'd say the story itself is so great that I probably overlooked the problems in the acting, if any, because the well-written characters just completely make up for it. But if we consider the ones that really caught my attention, I was so impressed by how Wang Yibo managed to convey so many of LWJ's feelings with such a limited amount of dialogue (because LWJ does not speak much due to his personality); it's actually so insane that so much has been expressed purely through his expressions and eyes. Like when Wen Ning told JC about the golden core, Wang Yibo didn't even have to say anything to make me start crying uncontrollably because I could literally feel how sad LWJ was when he found out WWX had to go through all of that. Also, Xiao Zhan portrays WWX perfectly as not only does he embody WWX's playful attitude in the happier and more carefree scenes, but his talent also shines through his expressions during the moments where he thoroughly shows WWX's hopelessness and despair. (eg battle of Nightless city).,

MUSIC

This show has hands down one of the best soundtracks I've heard and it's now downloaded on my Spotify because I literally listen to it while doing homework, when I go on walks, etc maybe because I like to torture myself by making myself cry. But anyways I thought that every scene had the perfect music to go with it and now whenever I listen to a track from the OST, I automatically associate it with specific scenes or characters because it is that memorable and powerful; Lian Hua Wu (Lotus Cove) reminds me of Shijie, Zui Meng (Drunken Dream) reminds me of the Cloud Recesses as well as WWX and LWJ, and Ye Ben (Night Run) reminds me of the one and only episode 33 when WWX falls off the cliff. Every track gives off a specific feeling, some of them being indescribable feelings that a piece of music can express more than my (bad) english can. I could go on and on about the OST because it is That Good but of course I have to talk about Wu Ji (the main track), which brings back all the memories of so many scenes and encompasses so many emotions in a way I can't even explain. Not to mention how the sung version by XZ and WYB once again makes me amazed at how talented they are.

I think another thing to mention about the music is that it is especially important since music is another thread that runs through the whole show. Music is a major component of LWJ and WWX's relationship: LWJ learning how to play Qing Xin Yin (Clear Heart Sound) illustrated his internal conflict as well as his immense care for WWX; WWX playing LWJ's song was the reason why LWJ immediately recognised him when he came back to life. Moreover, music is also a source of tragedy in the show with JGY's Luan Po Chao being used to kill off multiple people. I think the fact that music is simply just a tool that can be used for both good and evil deeds in this show once again reflects how nothing is absolutely good or evil, it all depends on one's intent. Because of how important the role music plays in this drama, I think the amazing OST adds even more to the story than it normally would in another drama.

The only reason why I gave rewatch value a 9.5 is because it is very long and staying up till 2 am watching it every night has definitely made me so exhausted during school the next day lol but I'd gladly do it again when I have the time.

I've never written a review before and I wasn't planning on ever writing one, let alone one that is this long but The Untamed is just different and I clearly got carried away because I could talk so so much about it. I've never seen a show that made me change my impression on it by 180º so quickly and now I can definitely say it is NOT the overhyped drama I used to (stupidly) believe it was. It is a masterpiece—an extremely well-done exploration of morality and friendship and in all honesty it's kind of changed the way I see things.

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