modernvictories

[modernvictories]

strange tales of tang dynasty ii to the west was surprisingly just as good as the first season (although it took me a while to get into the first season initially: early lu lingfeng and su wuming didn't click with me until later on) and i'm looking forward to the next season! it does make me laugh that the whole series is pretty much about lu lingfeng, his character development, and everyone's obsession with him LOL

[modernvictories]

Finished Ep. 6 & 7 and happy to report that I found it much more tonally consistent and tightly-written during the last two episodes, even as it approaches the wildly controversial school arc setting of C-dramas (I find that those tend to be a hit-or-miss among audiences). The expository stuff seems to be pretty much over, and now I'm hoping we get to see more character focus: I do wish we got to see more of the grandmother and family dynamic before she went to school, but time constraints and whatnot.

Interested in seeing her 'maternal cousin' and his role in the story: hopefully he's not going to be interested in her, because as much as I like the FL, four suitors when the show isn't even a fourth of the way through seems a little excessive. Also love that the ex-husband and her got to talk a little.

Started watching "The Double" which I enjoy but am ultimately not impressed by yet; the visuals are gorgeous and the setup of the story keeps me around, but I feel like the pacing is too wonky for my taste and the writing isn't the greatest. Hoping it falls into place in the next few episodes because so far the story seems primarily focused on exposition and getting characters to where they need to be.

[modernvictories]

Started watching "The Double" which I enjoy but am ultimately not impressed by yet; the visuals are gorgeous and the setup of the story keeps me around, but I feel like the pacing is too wonky for my taste and the writing isn't the greatest. Hoping it falls into place in the next few episodes because so far the story seems primarily focused on exposition and getting characters to where they need to be.

[modernvictories]

If you told me before I saw The Legend of Shen Li that my favorite airing drama of March 2024 would be about a man falling in love with his questionable-looking chicken, I wouldn't believe you.

[modernvictories]

In Blossom, Episode 13:

I think Episode 12 and 13 are the strongest episodes of the series yet (Episode 12 being superior in my opinion, but only slightly), and the writing considerably tightens in these episodes.

More below the cut. Spoilers included, obviously; proceed at your own risk.

I found myself irrepressibly charmed by the interaction between our second male lead and our first male lead in the beginning, and the insight into Pan Yue's past (the wounds on his heart finally revealed) was appropriately heart-wrenching; the mystery still isn't the best, but the investigative writing in this episode (12) is by far the most impressive of the things shared so far (in no small part due to the fact that they're investigating themselves, and not just interviewing people who coincidentally have the answers they're looking for and then going Eureka! while staring at scrolls or randomly thinking). I think it's no secret that In Blossom doesn't have the tightest writing when it comes to actually being a mystery, so the focus on the character aspects instead makes it a much more compelling story.

Our female lead continues to be the weakest point in the show to me (including her writing): I think her chemistry and compatibility with Pan Yue and Jiang is pleasant and much improved since she first met them, but her writing is inconsistent when it comes to her own character and her interactions with other characters, plus I think the lack of cohesion between how the two actresses portrayed Yang Caiwei doesn't do her any favors either. I'm liking Jiang more than I thought I would, too: his personality is playful, fun, and boyish, and I wonder if he's going to end up as an item with Yang Caiwei's other friend instead? They have very cute interactions and it does seem to be set up that way: I wouldn't be surprised if they ended up as an item.

I previously said I was glad Pan Yue's father didn't look to be an abusive monster (just a bad dad) during a previous episode discussion, but I'll have to take that back now: apparently I was too optimistic about historical fathers with illegitimate sons. My bad! For all I think that it's a tired trope, though, I was hoping for more angst, and it definitely delivered. It's so fascinating that Pan Yue's father doesn't seem to care for Pan Yue's mother or back up Pan Yue when he stood up for her despite his illegitimate birth and instead reprimands him when he refuses to apologize for defending his mother, because you notice that Pan Yue doesn't care about what other people say about him at all: but that temper and violence lashes out whenever people speak badly about people he cares about (like Yang Caiwei).

I also love how Pan Yue's propensity for violence isn't something that he manifested late in life because of Yang Caiwei's death: his method of defending the women he cares about in both past and present is strangling people who speak badly of them with his bare hands.

Again, though, I wish that Yang Caiwei was allowed more complexity: I love Pan Yue grappling with his trauma, his guilt, his suspicion, and his burgeoning feelings of affection towards "Shangguan Zhi" while still grieving, but Yang Caiwei's portrayal is widely inconsistent; she uncovers Pan Yue's grief before she clears him of suspicion (like finding their portrait in his locked box with a key he keeps on him, then saying that he probably did it to fool the public[??]), but once she realizes he's not the killer, she doesn't really think about it afterwards: I expected some more emotional impact from her figuring out he buried her where she wanted because he loved her, or some more grief about her affection for him after she decided not to tell him who she was because she thinks he's in love with the princess, but apart from that initial melancholy, she seems to be giggly, upbeat, and inquisitive around him. I anticipated some shock or emotional response from her: they only reunited for a few days, so she couldn't have known how deep his love ran; but now that she knows he genuinely cared for her, it's just unfortunate that she doesn't figure out the reason for his white hair or have any response to what she found out previously.

Various notes:

I hope Shangguan Zhi and Pan Yue's servants don't become an item; they're cute together, but I'm so tired of the trope where the main characters' second-in-commands/servants get together! It's basically in every drama I've seen.

That moment when Shangguan Zhi almost tells him who she is! And I can't believe that a traumatized, coughing, poisoned(?), still-injured-from-wolves, ill Pan Yue manages to smash a wall with his bare hands, carry Shangguan Zhi out of the dungeons, grieve his dead wife, and flirt with his close friend's sister while laying under the stars: the level of multi-tasking is insane.

The reveal of what the princess actually wants from him was also fascinating: I love that the princess isn't the obsessive female lead type that we're familiar with (see: Shangguan Zhi) but instead has a vested interest in protecting the natural interest.

And when is Pan Yue going to fire that coroner? There doesn't seem to be any point in him being there since he hasn't been able to do his job on multiple occasions.