It’s not good, but it’s not bad enough to be called “bad”, either. Gosh, so many dramas fall into this category lately, I’m not sure what to do with them.
EPISODE 1 RECAP
A young woman — Luo Yining — is travelling home for her grandma’s birthday. In the carriage, she gives us some expositions about her situation. Basically, she was a little naughty in her teenage years but her family, especially her father, treated her like crap. A concubine of her father made it look like Yining caused her to have a miscarriage, which made the father so furious that he sent her away.
Yining turns out pretty well, though. She is independent and pretty astute.
Suddenly, the carriage stops as a pedestrian passes out in front of them.
Instead of letting the bodyguard investigate more thoroughly, our kind and sweet Yining decides she will save him. She and her maids are just like: oooh an unconscious person, let’s show the audience our girl is not just sweet, she’s sweet AND a healer.
The man springs up when Yining gets near and holds her hostage. At the same time, some men in black jump out from behind a building in response.
One of them shoots at the crook with a crossbow and saves Yining. That’s that for the sudden ambush business.
Moving on to the party, at the Luo manor, the ladies take turns flattering each other. Grandma, on the other hand, is thoroughly bored. And I empathize with her, the number of people coming to this party is overwhelming.
She doesn’t bother with the guests and just wants to wait for Yining. She lectures her son — Yining’s father — about his neglect towards Yining. This guy gives a very strong… weakling vibe.
When Yining arrives, the front door receptionists disrespect her. All the unfair treatment towards Yining aside, I do think Yining’s two maids should keep quiet. They’re not helping her at all with the constant interfering and bratty attitude.
Yining gets in anyway because a custodian recognizes her. At gift time, she’s got something special for grandma. I thought it was a flat-screen at first, but it’s actually a painting — could be embroidery.
The grandma sheds happy tears. None of the other kids give her handmade smart gifts like Yining.
Later on, one of her father’s concubines tries to provoke Yining, this is when Yining’s not-so-sweet side manifests. She shuts down the concubine and gives a warning to the servants who gossip about her past.
A bit later, one of the servants gives Yining a defective firework stick to sabotage her. A guard standing behind a bush gives Yining a quiet warning about it. It’s the same man who saved her earlier. We can see his face clearly now.
But before Yining does anything, one of the concubines’ daughters grabs the stick, which explodes and nearly causes a fire.
The guard on duty gets punished. And because Yining speaks up for him, she gets punished too. They have a little moment while kneeling together during the timeout. It seems the man is already fond of Yining. She gives him a cushion for his knees and he looks like a goner.
The father and his favorite concubine lament their fate that night. Basically: she loves him, he loves her, but grandma doesn’t like them together. So there it is. That’s why they take it out on Yining — the daughter of a legitimate lady.
COMMENT
From what has happened so far, The Rise of Ning seems to be a pretty light-hearted drama that aims to tell the story of an unfavored woman who rises above society’s judgement and becomes successful. Of course, most of the time, C-dramas don’t follow what they introduce in the beginning so we’ll never know. But for now, it looks like a show to relax with, not in a cozy “Meet Yourself” kind of way, but more like something you can put in the background, miss a few episodes and still understand what’s going on. It’s cliched and predictable; the side characters and antagonists are not complicated, but that also means you don’t have to worry about anything too crazy catching you by surprise.
The acting of the two lead actors is fine for the kind of show this is.
There’s one thing I will make a note on: Zhang Wangyi looks unusually thin here, even more so than in Are You The One. If this is his natural body build, cool, nothing else needs to be said; but if this is the industry pressuring him to be stick-thin to satisfy those unrealistic “beauty” standards, then one has got to wonder why C-dramaland keeps pushing this “starved young boy” look for characters who are supposed to be experience-worn fighters and whether these actors’ health suffers because of it.