Jiu Chong Zi (2024)

When karma slaps back.

Blossom (九重紫) stands out in a year where too many highly anticipated period costume dramas implode and self destruct pass the mid-point. This is short drama director Zheng Jingjie's debut long form drama where he once again compels with his brand of immersive storytelling. This drama avoids naming the dynasty as the narrative takes liberties with history and is quite critical of the emperor but it should be loosely set in mid-Ming dynasty, during the reign of the Chenghua emperor. The rebirth premise is straightforward and the business and palace conspiracy plot arcs while often done, are transformed by innovative takes on tired themes, a masterful build up in tension, suspense and relief and brisk pacing overall. There is nothing really that special about the plot or the acting, it is once again mostly about this director's captivating camera language and narrative panache that turned multiple low budget short dramas into memorable mini hits that punch above their production values. His foray into long form dramas should hopefully shake up the complacent and lazy storytelling characteristic of the well established long form directors.

Dou Zhao is the capable, long suffering wife of Wei Tingyu, the profligate Marquis of Jining. She chooses the cold and snowy night that vengeful butcher general Song Mo helps Prince Qing depose the crown prince and seize the throne, to dump her husband's sloppy ass. As she flees the capital, she is rescued by an injured Song Mo and they take refuge at the temple of a mysterious monk Yuantong. Cornered and betrayed, they fall into an abyss through time and space, inextricably bound through Yuantong's cryptic book of divination. Dou Zhao wakes up as if from a dream, as a young girl again, clutching the prophetic book like a lifeline. She is immediately thrust into one of the turning points in her life, where she painfully learns that forewarned is not necessarily forearmed. Nonetheless, she determinedly sets out to get it right this time around; to make herself financially independent and to avoid her past disastrous marriage. One of the story's strengths is that when karma slaps back, jeopardy is at play and Dou Zhao's book of riddles is far from a roadmap of the future. As the ripple effects of the changes she makes snowball, her world increasingly deviates from the past and the path ahead is murky and no less treacherous.

As for Song Mo, he has the hero halo and is the total package as far as physical appearances go but that is about it. As it turns out, his impressive muscles extend all the way up between his ears. This is an all bravado, all heart, kind of character that allows his rage and impulses to dictate his actions. As Ji Yong mockingly points out over and over again, he is a mantis with little insight or awareness even of who is moving the chess pieces around him and is easily manipulated into being someone else's pawn. His reckless, selfish and misguided quest for justice for one person, puts the wrong person on the throne and upsets the order of the universe, resulting in injustice for many people. So much so that 閻王/Yanwang the King of Hell himself must have rejected him and sent him back for a reboot. He does not get smarter, he is simply Dou Zhao's pawn the second time around and not the chess player. She is the inner voice of caution he does not possess that saves him time and again from his worst instincts. Dou Zhao's mature styling gives her gravitas as a business woman but it also makes her look visibly older than Song Mo. Leaving a few grey streaks in his hair may have negated this impression somewhat. Needless to say, even though I enjoyed the plot, I am lukewarm about this kind of CP and was not bowled over by their romance or chemistry. In fact, I find Dou Zhao has better chemistry with Ji Yong, who is her intellectual equal and her soul mate and confidante. But yeah, I get it, I'd probably also pick the hot general over the chess grandmaster. Being shallow is so much more fun!

The cast in this drama are all up and coming actors whose acting skills are still works in progress. Nonetheless, this director is accustomed to working with C-grade actors and adroitly papers over all their flaws with his brilliant visual narrative style. The best decision this production made was to invest in good voice actors that were able to give definition to all the roles that mattered. This is a case study for how in some cases, it is better not to rely on original voice. While I always like the storytelling approach of making certain supporting roles main characters of their own arcs, this was hit or miss in terms of execution. I enjoyed Wei Tingyu and Dou Ming's sub-plot best, but both characters did not get an ending they deserved. This was so that a tropey villain like Wei Xingyue got her own super unoriginal and overly melodramatic arc. It was a race to the bottom with the completely ridiculous and boring Song Han and Miao Ansu arc, which highlights the two most atrociously bad actors in the cast. There are more interesting character stories played by more charismatic actors including Chen Jia and Zhao Zhangru, Gu Yu and Wu Shan that they could be better explored. I really enjoyed Gu Yu and hope to see more of this very humorous and charming young actor Fu Weilun. Unlike Dou Zhao who has Ji Yong, Song Mo doesn't have a really good sidekick and Gu Yu could have been better utilised in this capacity. While there is no shortage of petty and not so original villain archetypes, this story lacks a really good villain with a compelling motive. The only ones that had real mastermind potential got whitewashed in the finale to deliver one twist too many.

Despite a few arcs that could have been better, a few missed opportunities, some sloppy logic and messy edits, the story finishes strongly at the plot climax and ends in a satisfying way. It is a very solid production that made the best of its limited resources. It got noticed and won well deserved praises not only because it is truly quite good but because so many other dramas with superior resources ended up bombing out so badly in 2024. As someone who was long ago bored with the romance genre, I enjoyed this enough to rate it 8.5/10.0

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