Zhui Xu (2021)

The Virtuous Husband.

In this witty satire, a modern business man finds himself in ancient China where he is Ning Yi, a soon to be zhui xu/赘婿 or matrilocal husband to Su Tan'er, the heiress of a wealthy cloth merchant. Using modern business methods, he hilariously wins his Tan'er's heart and mind as they take down internal and external rivals together and he proves his worth beyond being a useless kept man.

The wicked role reversals as Ning Yi and Tan'er navigate their marriage made my shoulders quiver with laughter, especially the darned Academy of Male Virtue. I love the way Ning Yi is written in this drama - he is cunning, compassionate, innovative, ruthless and far from the virtuous husband, he is the academy's most farcically subversive element. Guo Qilin and Song Yi sparkled together, transitioning seamlessly between brilliant comic timing and repartee, heart stopping action and moving emotional moments. The colorful ensemble characters, friend and foe alike are well dimensioned and written and acted with verve and audacity. The humble Guard Geng with a big heart and big dreams is my favorite supporting character.

I thoroughly enjoyed the first half of this drama, which is easily a 9.0+, the second half is noticeably loses its mojo and is at best a 7.5/8.0. The decision to back burner both Tan'er and Guard Geng would have been fine if comparable new characters stepped up to fill the void. Unfortunately while Xigua starts out as a powerful and interesting character, she becomes pathetic. It does not help that while she is lovely and likable, the actress Jiang Yiyi is miscast here - she not funny and has little chemistry with Ning Yi/Guo Qilin. Ditto for his shifu and the creepy Lou Shuwan; I didn't really see the point of either character. The drama only picks up again when Guard Geng and Tan'er re-emerge and our power couple is reunited. This makes it obvious that despite Guo Qilin's undeniable talent, he cannot pull off these uproarious moments when he is not lined up with the right team.

Similarly, the antagonists in the first arc are very comical but in the bandit arc, the villains were mostly trying too hard to be humorous caricatures. The attempts at comedy are also often at odds with the heavily political and increasingly complicated plot line, one that leaves scarce room for Ning Yi the maverick to save the day. The story also takes a darker and more cynical turn and even though Guo Qilin impresses with his ability to make me feel the weight of his loss and cry alongside him, the drama ends in a way that does not leave me thirsty for the heavily hinted season 2.

Overall I rate this a 8.0. I would recommend dropping after completing the much more outstanding first arc.

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