A well-balanced drama

This is my favorite drama this year and it’s one that will have a special space in my heart because of its charms.

The show did start off slow initially in part 1 to build up the backstory for the characters. However, it was necessary for you to have the emotional connection with some of the characters in the last several episodes of part 2. The drama was great in being able to tie a lot of the loose ends and giving you closure to each issue/character that you encounter. It has a good balance of humor and angst for most of the show. The latter episodes were a bit heavier than normal but it’s necessary for the situation.

What’s great about this show?
1.) Wonderful Emperor, Empress and Consort Trio (it’s refreshing to see that they all respect one another and aren’t scheming against one another)
2.) Realism - the tribulations and time for character growth; development of feelings; shades of gray in characters (not everyone is perfect - even the main characters are flawed); variety of characters and their priorities (flawed or not, it’s their perspective and priority)
3.) Good balance of humor and angst in most of the episodes
4.) Side Villains/Issues/Mini Arcs are solved in a timely manner and not dragged. I hate shows where I feel like there’s so many misunderstandings or if the villains are screwing people for so long without karma.
5.) The ability for me to still sympathize with unfavorable characters at some point in the story. Surely, some characters are bad. But not all of them are truly just bad. Some have their own reasons and it’s understandable but you don’t have to agree with them. It’s a difference of opinion.
6.) I’m shocked and happy that they keep characters like Yangyang, who is genuinely good until the end. There was always a fear that she will turn evil since it showed that she was interested in Yuan Shen at the beginning.

Did I feel like the latter episodes were a bit rushed? A little bit. They had a lot of content to fill and it did help by minimizing certain scenes during the 5 years gap (ie. Luo Ji Tong poisoning her husband - it would’ve been a waste of minutes to see her doing it at a normal pace vs. the hints and highlights that they gave us) I appreciated that because it allows for us to focus on more important scenes. I don’t blame the team for the rushed scenes because the number of episodes were limited and they’ve lost many scenes. People argue that they could’ve tried to pace things better by shortening earlier scenes, but it would’ve affected the feel of those scenes as well.

The thing that I’ve seem to realized from this and other novel adaptations is that people have expectations. I haven’t read the novel but I’ve been so obsessed with this that I’ve read a lot of excerpts and discussions about things from the novel to satisfy my obsession while waiting for new episodes. I feel that sometimes it’s better to just treat the novel and the adaptation as 2 separate things. I’m sure it’s lovely to see all of your favorite scenes from the novel come to life, but not at the expense of not enjoying the show for what it is.

What could have been better?
1.) More episodes to include everything that the director and team had envisioned originally. It’s unfair to them as well when they have to cut episodes/scenes and be mad at them for not including everything or rushing.
2.) I do believe some scenes are longer than I personally care for - but it could be their artistic approach and what they want to capture or have us feel. Personally, there’s only a handful of times where I felt that things didn’t have to be so slow for particular scenes.

Overall, with everything considered - I feel that the show is very successful and one that I love dearly. I’m sure the show could’ve been better if they were able to showcase everything that they wanted and had more time for edits. Considering what they had to work with and what they were still able to produce - it’s a 10/10 for me.

At the end, this is a story about family, love, friendship/companions, life, revenge, growth and learning. Not everyone is perfect and everyone have their own individual strengths/weaknesses. There’s a lot to learn from others and don’t be too rigid in your thoughts. There’s a reaction to each of our actions and we should be mindful. Life isn’t always fair and right but we are in control of what we do.

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