Amazing enough to garner my first review on MDL heh.
*ps minus the last 15 mins as others have noted, I'll forget that ever happened ok ok~The drama is gripping and well-paced. Chemistry and angst, the eye gazes and sexual tension are killer. The actors (even without a lot of your usual "A" listers or typical ones we've been seeing lately giving lackluster performance...IYKYK!!) have gone over and beyond to connect deeply with their roles and deliver on an outstanding level. They make many references to how they're putting on "a show/play" and they definitely put on an amazing one at that! The occasional arc to build towards the end were however a little long but there wasn't much downtime for a show which was good. Yes, the last maybe 10 ish eps had more scenes cut to fit the 40ep timeline but it delivers much better than some of the other shows lately in the post 2020 era of Cdramas.
I did want to note that I think all of our villains had such "positive" backlighting to their -sad- histories and pasts. They really wanted to humanize them and tbh I think all our bad guys got it off easy. Not much time to sit on their "regrets" but with easy things like suicide (x2) and going mad!? Anyways - I felt that could have been a bit more fleshed out to see their character truly repent and apologize.
Also some people didn't really like the fact there were some "plotholes" to the FL's identity and how it was slightly glossed over (albeit revisited) and not pursued. Even the Emperor, did he know??! He's in on it I figured! Hah! Cute.
Anyways Here to also say I could have definitely wished for more fan service or skinship but I'll give it to them for building a strong enough ship that I'm okay without it. They were really firing up the screen and I was always so giddy for their glances, smiles and little moments. Could do with more of 'em for sure. I'll be adding this to my top to-rewatch/recommend dramas! I will miss this. The cast, the plot, the OST, the action scenes, and the overall energy this gave to my rather sad 2024 Cdrama year. I will see you guys hopefully on the next! I'm always looking for other good rec's like this. Cheers!
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Great Awesome overall
This drama gets in my veins over and over again.The casting
The music
The story
Was perfectly and beautifully done
I was waiting for this kind of drama
Its good that i in counter this one especially its wu jin yan
It’s really great the best acting indeed.
Of course to all behind this drama hats off
You give justice and chooses the best cast
Well deserved
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Very good, but also a lot of missed potential
I will go straight into the parts that I felt detracted from this drama since other reviews have said plenty about the pros such as acting, characterization, music etc.-Cons-
Weird camera work:
There is an overuse of extreme closeups to characters' faces and characters speaking or looking directly into the camera. This technique is usually used for emphatic moments and stylistic storytelling, but because it's being used everywhere, it undermines the dramaticism of the moments that actually uses it well. Or else it feels like it's trying too hard to make suspense happen even when it doesn't feel organic in that moment.
Plot/logic holes:
The FL is quite smart and capable, but also things go her way a little TOO well. Everything is, or is set up to be, in her favour, even uncontrollable and highly variable elements (like human nature or... life happening). Her enemies are supposed to be smart cunning individuals, but it seems while she grows stronger with every victory, the villains never grow to keep up and will keep bashing their heads on the wall hoping to succeed where they've failed before. And even when they DO seem to have an upper hand they're always quickly brought back to just a step below her, because apparently fate just doesn't want them to win, or something. This is a glaring issue for me because there are plenty of moments where the FL's success is fully earned by her abilities so these handwaving moments on the writers' part is obvious and irritating.
Inclusion of overused C-drama tropes:
Cue the classic "FL laughing and twirling in the rain while ML falls in love with her", or "ML watches calmly, with zero expression, as the blade pass over him by a hair" (used at least once in every fight scene and breaks tension every time), or "FL and ML have a slow-mo romantic moment while physically in the middle of a major conflict and somehow everyone around them, friends and foes alike, just stares at them like the NPCs they are and let them have it". There's also a downright bizarre moment in one of the episodes where the shows turns into a magical CG-filled Xianxia for 10 minutes because I guess there was really no other way to show how OP the FL was? I was speechless.
Trying to bite off more than it can chew:
Without any spoilers, I think it became WAY too ambitious near the end, as if they suddenly realized they haven't had enough of the universe and was scrambling to fit literally everything under the sun into its last moments. Messed up the pacing, even kind of messed up the focus of the plot due to how certain characters' story arcs resolved [spoilers].
FL and ML don't fully mesh well:
This one is very subjective, so only speaking for myself here. The actors are very good at their roles and have done everything right, but I could never fully invest in them as much as I tried. I think the reason might be that the FL's actress, Wu Jinyan, just inherently exudes a more mature air than the ML's actor Wang Xingyue. I do not get the same feeling when the FL is in scenes with her ex-husband, who are much closer together in age to each other in real life. I do not care about age differences when it's between two consenting adults, but that doesn't mean I don't see differences in maturity or mindset in couples that have them, and it isn't inherently bad, only that I prefer very well-meshed chemistry in my fictional romances so this isn't my preferred vibe.
-Overall-
I think this drama had the potential to be among the greats of costume c-dramas, but there are many small things that adds up to hold itself back from its full potential. My overall impression of these fumbles is that the team could not fully commit to whatever ambitious vision they had and took a short cut by including things that were "audience pleasers" when it wasn't necessary at all, and instead undermined itself.
I highly recommend this drama If you're looking for a revenge power fantasy. The FL is capable, and where she falls short the plot will bend itself to her will, so there's an infallible sense of reassurance that everything will be alright. But if you're looking for a drama that will stand up to scrutiny, then it's best to keep your expectations in check.
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Exceeded expectations
The drama was extremely addictive with tons of positives.The first 15 or so episodes were amazing. FL falls victim to her husband's heartless plot to kill her because his powerful lover ordered him to. She feels betrayed, confused, and heartbroken. Shortly thereafter, she assumes the identity of a dead girl she befriended and moves into the girl's family home to plan her revenge. The story has mystery and intrigue. I enjoyed watching Li Jiang/Xue Fangfei maneuver through the Jiang family drama, befriend new family members, and outsmart the evil step mother. FL's character was classy and mysterious making me always wonder what she would do next. What I like about this drama is that episode 1 jumps right into the plot. There was no set-up. We didn't need to sit through 10+ episodes for things to start happening.
Unfortunately, which is typical of most Chinese dramas, the story tends to deviate from the main plot into mini-arcs. Here, the story was the most interesting when Li Jiang was in the capital. After she left the family residence to meet the Ye family, the quality of storytelling went down. The Ye family, draught, and imperial diviner arcs were completely uninteresting. As soon as FL started dressing like a man, playing drinking games, and skulking in the mines with ML, the story hit every cliche trope and lost its air of mystery. Also, FL befriending the Ye family and gaining their backing did not add anything to the plot. They disappeared from the story as soon as she went back to the capital and did not re-appear to help her in any way.
One of the highlights of the story was FL and ML's explosive chemistry. They flirted, bantered, shared passionate glances, and were just a step away from ripping each other's clothes off. Unfortunately, due to incomprehensible Chinese censorship, this amazing romantic chemistry climaxed with a very underwhelming chaste candlelight kiss.
The story was worth watching just for the villains. Li Ming did an amazing job as the elder princess Wanning. She portrayed the character exactly how she would've been - conniving, hateful, jealous, resentful, and very very insane. Her smiles were deadly and her threats were real. Walking around and twirling her dresses made her look like the main character in her own story. I normally don't care for villain backstories because there shouldn't be any sympathy for evil. But, boy oh boy, did she gain my sympathy even though she was worth hating. It also made me wonder whether she was a different person before her father sent her to the enemy kingdom to be abused. I also felt like the punishment for every villain was fitting. Wanning killed herself with her beloved hand after realizing that he never truly loved her. Yurong committed suicide after realizing he will never get back what he lost and that his death was inevitable for committing treason. He dug his own grave committing one crime after another without truly taking responsibility for the all the evil he's done.
The ending felt rushed. Some cool characters were killed off in the very last episode just to get last minute emotion from the audience. It did not feel like a natural story progression, just something the writers decided to do the last minute. One moment, Xiao Heng was holding on to the pendant his beloved gave him as the token of her love while awaiting his death from the charging army, the next moment he rides his horse towards Fangfei standing by the tree they planted together. It didn't look very well thought through and felt rushed just to finish the show with a happy ending.
Overall, I really enjoyed the drama. The relationships felt real and mature, the intrigue was interesting, and the acting was brilliant.
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Competent characters and engaging story
This might actually be the first drama after The Untamed that impressed me with a full cast of actors who're not only all skilled but completely fitting for their roles.Shen Yurong was a standout for me in terms of character writing, my faith in him slowly eroded along with the XFF's, which I thought was really well done. As for the other characters, they are all quite tropey but definitely executed extremely well.
On to the plot, this is pretty much THE plot that most of these historical female lead centric dramas have. Again, nothing surprising here but is done extremely well. For a person who is faking her identity, the show really gave XFF a run for her money more than any of the other similar shows I've watched. e.g. Her family harped on her changed personality even though I thought suffering a decade of abuse can pretty understandably change a person.
Out of all the pairings I've seen with this kind of main couple dynamic, this is by far the healthiest and most respectful variation. When they are still just acquaintances, Xiao Heng doesn't keep an eye on XFF all the time because he's smitten (which would be...uncomfortable), but rather because she's (1) extremely suspicious (2) very competent at dealing with their common enemies. XFF generally knows what's going on when XH uses her for his plans, and either goes along with it for her own reasons or calls him out on it. Other than the fact that XFF can't fight, she perfectly capable of handling herself most of the time and stays that way, unlike in some shows where the female lead's intelligence decreases as the male lead becomes reliable.
Minor gripe about the ending (just the last two scenes of the final episode: neither realistic nor particularly happy....what's the plan here?) which pulled the score down from a perfect 10. But do give it a watch. The show ended such that you can chop off the offending last section and still have a fulfilling ending.
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In order to enjoy this drama, one should just go with the flow because it IS a fun and addictive watch. But it is also fairly cheesy (perhaps that’s what made it such fun) and often illogical. I liked the FL’s and ML’s acting as well as both of their characters but there didn't seem to be that magical spark between them. Plus the ML did things that seemed out of character for somebody who was supposed to be cool and calculating (e.g., the way he dealt with the fish token, ran off to deal with an entire army by himself, and volunteered himself for a final battle). There were some beautifully filmed scenes, such as at the very end. I think though that they overdid the thunder and lightning, which inevitably came rolling in when something ominous was about to happen. Ditto the wind, which always seemed to come out of nowhere to set clothes and hair prettily swirling. Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
ONE OF THE BEST CDRAMAS OF 2024
The writing is very well done as it is the live action adaption of "The marriage of di daughter". This story starts off with a strong plot that makes you root for the FL. Also that this show has a very handsome duke su that makes this even more beautiful/masterpiece. I rarely rave about shows but this is it!! The plot twists are hard to predict as you dont know who will do what and whats next this keeps me on edge. The only problem is that youku is only releasing 1-2 eps a day..Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Best Drama 2024
An absolutely mesmerizing story..love both FL and ML acting lots of revenge which i love amd beautiful chemistry between the main characters. Side characters have also played their role beautifully. After a long long time am watching a beautiful c drama live. Much better than other on going c-dramas which have famous actors.. it shows acting and story is more important than famous faces ?..Please go and watch it. You won't regret!Vond je deze recentie nuttig?
Once in awhile, you just succumb …
You know that feeling of “just 1 more episode”…, if that’s what you are craving for recently, you’ve come to the right story.The Double has 2 things done right. Pacing in the first part of the story, where it matters more to hook the audience in; and casting a strong CP for a 爽文 “shuang wen” - loosely translated as pleasurable novel. Once you are able to suspend logic, you will be able to ride onto the main characters’ wave for the tide is always on their side, like all 爽文 stories go.
What works well is having Wu Jin Yan casted as Xue Fang Fei - she has this aura about her where you’d want to root for her revenge journeys. Similar to her prior portrayal of Wei Ying Luo in Story of Yanxi Palace, it’s enjoyable watching how Xue Fang Fei in The Double toed the line on not being a pushover, yet still maintain her own principles when fighting against the villains, which were practically everyone except for her lover and chosen allies.
Wang Xingyue also interestingly found his own niche in idol romance show - the dude who love / covet other’s wives. Good thing he is the Duke Su and main lead in the Double this time. (no, I refuse to acknowledge the last part of the show. This show ends with a happy ending as far as I am concern.) I love the slow burn push and pull, the double entendre laced dialogues, as well as the build up chemistry between Duke Su and Xue Fang Fei - such that I am able to ignore the plot logic and some… questionable cut scenes.
Another 2 people who caught my attention was Ji Shuran and Princess Wanning. As the director for this show likes to do close up shots, I feel Chen Qiao En’s portrayal as the evil stepmother who maintain a kind facade and Li Meng’s portrayal of a pitiful bully hit the best mark. These 2 characters have lots of nuanced conflicting emotions that may not hold up as well with less competent actresses. And thus, I am grateful for Chen Qiao En and Li Meng, having managed to express these multi layered emotions on screen for the most part, questionable morals of their characters aside.
Alas, I don’t have much else to say for the plot. Though what I can say is if you are in the mood for a fast paced, addictive story where the smart leads can subvert all sorts of crisis, I’d recommend checking out The Double. Quoting Duke Su, “It sounds like a great show, watch it.”
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could've should've ending ruined the last episodes of the series
i had to narrow down my ratings after seeing the last few episodes but overall it was an enjoyable watch. let me start with the strong suits of the drama that kept me watching:- good acting by everyone from the main cast
- great cinematography
- interesting plot
- lovely support characters (i really liked that all characters had their own ambitions in this story . we even got flashbacks of their past which added a lot to the story)
- chemistry is out of this world
- moral of the story: don't trust men
- women were portrayed as smart people, especially XFF
now the things i didn't like that much:
- at some parts downplaying SA
- promoting it as an angsty romance (there was no angst since the beginning, only yearning)
- cheap cgi effects (but it's slowly becoming a trademark of a popular drama)
the biggest mistake writers ever made the messy ending of the show. they were trying to please core audience the book lovers and viewers at the same time. it ended up blowing up to their face
- SYR just offing himself after writers portrayed him as the obstacle
- WN's forced ab*rtion
- don't get me started on the battle scene where everyone got offed followed by peaceful epilogue of the leads
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1Even if people are powerless, justice always prevails unjustness.
The Double (墨雨云间) is a compelling tale that revolves around Xue Fang Fei, who was buried alive by her own husband but miraculously survives, and Xiao Heng, who investigates to unveil the corruption in the imperial court. Together, they embarked on a journey of revenge in the rightful/moralistic way and uphold justice to avenge their loved ones and protect the people.The main story's pacing is well-balanced, it did not start off too soon and ended too late which makes sense because of specific circumstances, and the side stories were explored and wrapped up just in time. The drama also have fascinating cinematography, clever dialogues, and well-matched OSTs. The production team also gave attention and put effort even to the smallest details. It kept me on my seat as I got invested right from the beginning 'til the end. It was also too unpredictable, I enjoyed the twists and turns which made me and most of the viewers patiently wait on how the story will unravel.
I love how The Double stayed true to what it promised (the synopsis), and never took a 180° when the romance partakes the plot (unlike other revenge dramas), showing its consistency.
While the drama is executed almost perfectly, flaws are still inevitable. I could scarcely fathom some things about the plot, like how she dug herself out of her own grave and teleport beside the river, or how the people she convinced to speak up for her father did not agree at night, but suddenly all of them agreed the day after. I think it would be best to think that everything in this drama does not have to be taken under realistic circumstances, but rather on the creative writing style and entertainment value. Moreover, it would be better if the ending was also wrapped up better. Even if I am used to rushed endings, I still had high hopes in this drama, which therefore made me feel quite a sense of incompleteness (and the extra episode still was not able to fill in the gap in me). However, I can overlook the minor flaws because of how well this drama has been made. I am satisfied with the overall outcome!
The cast did exceptionally well in portraying their well-crafted characters. Wang Xing Yue undoubtedly excelled in portraying Duke Su / Xiao Heng, from his glare and stance to his bearing and articulation, perfectly delineating the ruthless (who uses others as a pawn) yet humane side (who cares for the well-being of the people) of his character. On the other hand, Wu Jin Yan's performance as Xue Fang Fei / Jiang Li is truly remarkable. Her facial expressions, especially her eyes, conveys diverse emotions which shows how her character was grappling with conflicting emotions inside while restraining herself to be overwhelmed by abhorrence. Liang Yong Qi as Shen Yu Rong and Li Meng as Princess Wan Ning also have impressive wide range of emotions in depicting the different sides of their multi-faceted characters. They managed to evoke mixed emotions within the audience and feel what their characters feel (without necessarily feel pity to them). Chen Xin Hai as Ye Shi Jie is an intelligent and righteous character, though his character was not much explored in the drama as much as the first four that I mentioned above.
The characters, especially the protagonists and antagonists, were three-dimensional and each have their own complexities. They were intelligently created and explored in-depth. Their backstories are also well-built, allowing us to understand the motivations behind the decisions and choices that they made, making us either sympathize with them or not. Even some supporting characters have their own related arcs that were not related to the main plot but surely worth it to see.
I love the supporting characters who served as the great support systems of the leads, whom they went through the mill with. These includes XFF's friends Jiang Jing Rui and Liu Xiu (together with Ye Shi Jie), and XH's comrades Wen Ji, Lu Ji, Situ Jiu Ye and Emperor Zhao Ye, who surely made them feel the true essence of companionship.
One of the most substantial part of this show, in my opinion, was how the leads' relationship gradually developed. Their bond went through many stages, from being a pawn and a master, to being a secret holder and a secret keeper, to being allies who have each other's back, forming a sacred bond that transcended the mundane. Also, their fervent and palpable chemistry had us giggling and tickling as they flirt in their own poetic ways. As a couple, I also love how they are on equal footing — they trust and respect each other as individuals, which is crystal clear in the drama. Their slow-burn romance has a perfect blend of all its ingredients, just up to my taste.
All in all, it was a well-written drama that is worth it to give a try, then see for yourself whether it is up to your taste or not.
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