listen y'all..... when i heard that this was a new project by the same director as 'go princess go' i knew i HAD to watch it. the king of camp, and one of the only c-dramas i've seen with explicitly clear queer and trans themes, it was one of my favorites. unfortunately, his characteristic style choices such as dramatic slow mo fabric waving in the wind with falling petals and zoomed in close up shots of the main leads... as well as the stupid goofy campy humor that carried over was NOT enough to make this drama good.

plot is very entertaining, enough to make you want to click next and just keep binging it, because things are constantly happening non stop. i would say the pace is really pretty fast, with one scheme/case after the next. however, i would say that the actual quality of the small arcs of schemes and plots are quite average. often recycled from other revenge/political court dramas, or unsatisfying in their conclusion or how they are solved. sometimes, they just show a quick montage and offer that as their only solution and i'm just supposed to believe that everything is cool and fine now?? esp the luyang silk poisoning case ending was extremely disappointing. a positive note i will give this show is that while the schemes are average and forgettable in quality, the actual longterm plot was simple, straightforward and didn't fall too far from the original set up. meaning that the ending wasn't completely wack and out of the realm of expectation, which is what i have come to expect now unfortunately, from c-dramas. the plot of woman is betrayed---> gets revenge is never lost, and the final ending for xue fangfei and shen yurong is satisfying. otherwise, the plot is ehh.... okay... there's definitely a lot of parts that if you thought about for even a second don't make sense, and there's a lot of meaningless scenes as well. sending xiao heng to battle at the end and killing his side kicks was completely unnecessary.... the story already ended!!! everyone's revenge is fulfilled!! why we gotta drag this out and create meaningless problems for the main leads??? because the only way they know to create conflict and tension is to separate them and have them yearn??????? stupid as hell.

the most disappointing part of this drama was the two main leads. while the plot moved quickly enough for me to stay focused on the show, characters will always be the soul and heart of a story. creating interesting and dynamic characters who make you FEEL something should be the priority of every screen writer.... or else how can you truly feel committed to a story? xue fangfei and xiao heng spend more time staring blankly, making meaningful eye contact, sitting backlit against a window, slowly walking by a wind fan and giving soft smiles than having any kind of deep character exploration. they are the main characters, and yet they are just hollow and empty shells with beautiful faces. it is incredibly clear that the primary motivations of the director was to make a Beautiful drama, rather than a good one. similarly, wu jinyan and wang xingyue's primary motivations were to look beautiful, rather than act. if that's the goal, they may as well have just made a really long music video or photoshoot that's been turned into a fan edit lmao. literally they are both so soulless and wooden with nothing behind the eyes.... and that is saying something because shen yurong also looked like that the entire drama but that was what we call ACTING!!!! it is clear that both wjy and wxy are just too afraid to emote too much for fear of looking ugly or scrunching up their faces too much, and neither of them are good enough at top tier idol micro expressions to properly convey the emotions in this drama. it's just a lot of raised eyebrows and slight lip trembling as one or two tears gently fall. just kind of looking constipated which gets exhausting after a while. tbh ive seen several wjy shows at this point and she really wasn't this bad in yanxi palace??? like i feel like back then she was more willing to make expressions and now she's become less and less able to act out of fear of looking ugly. i dont presume to understand the pressure that idol actors are under but i've seen plenty of idol shows at this point and it's v clear when the actors are still committed to ACTING.

ok but BACK to the characters.... both xff and xh grate on me because they are so blankly simple and good and incapable of ever making a real mistake. they are both beautiful, smart, powerful, good at everything, talented, etc. etc. etc. went through some kind of immense trauma and are dedicated to revenge, but would never hurt an innocent, etc....... like...... yeah they are good people, but does that make a good CHARACTER???? a character that is worth rooting for, has some bite to them, some complexity??? even just a shred??? i cant just root for someone because they are right and good, they also have to give me a reason to truly love them, to relate in some way, or some extra layers of complexity. xff is actually just a mary sue FR and xh is her beautiful empty flowerpot reward bf for her struggles. there is nothing of substance to their characters, nor is there any substance to their relationship. xff being so perfect only hits with people who enjoy the fantasy of 'what if i was beautiful and gorgeous and smart and talented and won at everything and got the hottest man too,' and for anyone w a modicum of taste it's just endlessly boring. like, everyone always accused wei yingluo from yanxi palace of being comically 10 steps ahead of her enemies in the game and being a mary sue w protagonist armor but like.... at least wei yingluo was also notably DIFFERENT from other cdrama leads. she was also violent and ruthless and would actually stop at nothing for her goals. because it was unusual, it was also refreshing and satisfying to see her leave no mercy for her enemies. she may have won every time but her character was flawed, and she had to LEARN kindness, empathy, and patience. xff is like her sad cardboard cousin who only looks good in a photoshoot and terrible in actual time based media. xh is even more of a joke, we are told that he is violent and ruthless and we NEVER see him get his hands dirty. only his subordinates. because xh is never personally torturing or abusing anyone, you get to continue the narrative that he is a good man, while also pulling girls in with his domineering and powerful character type. i would much rather contend with a xh who is actually cruel, violent and maybe makes us uncomfortable who has to learn how to solve his problems without violence, rather than one with no teeth who's just a perfect idol husband fantasy w a canned sad backstory. there is ONE scene where the emperor puts him under house arrest for 2 days and yells at him for being too impulsive and violent and that's ALL WE GET. and nothing even happens after that anyway! so blaaaahhhhh. meanwhile xff went through something so horrific, and instead of ever dealing with that trauma, she is just devoted to justice, and offers endless wisdom to the people around her. like... there isn't even an ounce of fear or distrust in her, when that would only be NATURAL for someone who went through what she did, would also make her more interesting, and her relationship w xh more difficult. their relationship was already built on him being the great and powerful audience far above a small pawn, so why should she trust that he won't sacrifice her to extend his own goals.... just like syr??? i'll admit that the fact that there was 0 conflict in their relationship, and only good things like mutual support, trust and respect etc. was refreshing to watch after seeing so many c-dramas fall to endless miscommunications and plot-information reveal led conflicts. but what i think people fail to realize, is that a couple having conflict is not bad writing..... a couple having BAD conflict is BAD WRITING. and when you just remove conflict entirely, you remove relationship complexity and development as well. it's literally just... xff does something.... danger happen aaaahh... xh flies in like tuxedo mask to save her and flies away... they have a chat and flirt a bit and have meaningful eye contact... scene ends with wind machine blowing and camera slowly shifts focus to like a flower or a tree in the foreground, repeat 300x until the end when they shyly admit they like each other. it's so funny that people say they have rly good chemistry... my friends i did not know good chemistry just meant sustained eye contact while a wind machine blows and they say a couple lines of witty dialogue at each other. nothing about their interactions w each other feel natural or real or easy and comfortable. I know it's not a romance drama so fine, i won't get too up in arms about it, it doesn't matter, but it never hurts to have a nicely written romance!!

can you believe that the characters i like best in the drama are jiang ruoyao, ji shuran, shen yurong and wanning????? because they were literally the only characters with ANY DEPTH TO THEM WHATSOEVER!!!!! (i guess jiang papa had some too, but he was never properly punished for his crimes lmao) even though it was poorly written for the most part and just straightforward, oh they had an abusive parent, or a hard upbringing, or some kind of trauma and that's why they suck :( like i can't even say that they were that well written, in particular ji shuran was the most bleh, but at least they had more going on than the main leads!!! wanning def made me feel the most, and easily she and syr had the better actors in the show. i was prepared to not really like her at first, but she grew on me, and i came to look forward to her and syr's scenes of emotional power struggle and manipulation because it was more interesting than whatever blank staring - gentle smiling xff and xh were doing. by the end they actually got me to feel real pity for wanning, which is an accomplishment for this show. in her, i could see a shadow of zhen huan zhuan's iconic villain, hua fei.... but just a shadow, because she could never measure up!!!! but it was specifically the simplicity of her truest wish, that was almost childlike and innocent, that kind of reminded me of hua fei. i wish she existed in the hands of better writers, because she did have some potential. i am so sick of c dramas w their perfect blank slate good people main characters!!!!! i too, like wanning, would like to drag them into a muddy puddle!!! sick of it!!!!! i may be an american, and used to the likes of our bad guy complex main characters in dramas but like, i'm not asking for walter white or bojack horseman or succession!!!! just like!!!!! something deeper than i am good and perfect and smart and without flaws!!!!! like at least give me a wei wuxian or a xiaoyao or a dongfang qingcang! it's just so irredeemably boring and cowardly to do this jfc.

anyway as much as i complain about the show's characters, a part of me also recognizes how pointless it is.... the main characters weren't characters, they were models here to serve a fantasy..... and that's all this show is!!! it was not meant to be well written, it was meant to be a 40 episode vanity photoshoot! that's all it ever was!! i know that and yet i still get frustrated when i see bad writing!!! but whatever. watch this is u want to numb ur brain and look at pretty people, or scroll on tiktok for several hours and watch fan edits for the same effect.