I mean… I guess it wasn’t terrible. But that’s only because I was already expecting something terrible, so “not terrible” feels like a treat.
EPISODE 1 RECAP
This first episode wastes no time. In the opening scene, you see a city on fire. It’s chaos everywhere.
Inside a household. A girl named Mei Lin is shaken awake by a man. How can she be asleep while everyone around her is practically screaming and running for their life though? Is she already poisoned by the smoke?
Anyway, this girl is the female lead. And I know that because I recognize Wu Jinyan. She doesn’t play supporting roles anymore, does she?
The man who woke her up is her father. I thought it was a servant for a while. But it doesn’t matter who he is, he dies like 2 seconds after helping her leave the burning house.
While people are still running and shouting, Mei Lin walks in the opposite direction of everyone else’s, looking like she doesn’t remember if she charged her phone or not.
Then suddenly she sees a man. He’s splashing some liquid onto a flaming roof. I thought he was putting out the fire at first, but Mei Lin screams at him to “stop fueling the fire”, so I guess that’s oil he’s pouring out?
How’s that going to help spread the fire though? The whole city is already on fire so like… what more can a tiny amount of fuel on a roof do?
The man shoves Mei Lin away but she manages to get ahold of his ID badge. The name on it is Murong Jinghe.
The scene switches, Mei Lin has joined an assassin group and is now training to become a fighter.
This “training” consists of guys beating her up till she throws up blood and somehow she magically becomes the best of them all in the next scene.
Mei Lin vows to take revenge on this Murong Jinghe.
Years later, the master of this assassin group gives her a mission: marry a prince named Murong Jinghe and assassinate him. Wow… what are the odds? *eye roll*
The sect’s master magically shoots some poison at Mei Lin and tells her that she will only get the antidote if she succeeds. OK, fair enough.
Next, I guess the drama decided we don’t need to know how Mei Lin uses her wit and resilience to be selected as a bride for the prince either, so in the next scene, we just see her in an entourage of young women being brought to Prince Murong Jinghe on a carriage.
The prince comes out. He appears to be unable to walk and very bored with it all.
He makes things difficult for the princess — the leader of the girl group — and also his attendants, but his pet dog quickly solves the problem by running towards Mei Lin. Prince Jinghe decides he’ll just take her.
There’s some back and forth about how he must choose four brides and not one, but I don’t think it’s important here. The point is, Jinghe is just not interested.
The princess turns out to be a nice friend and this group of girls doesn’t appear sinister. At least for now.
They all share a room for the night and give each other some pep-talk.
Though later that night, Mei Lin flies onto a roof and then walks into the prince’s room. *More eye roll*.
There are booby traps guarding his room, however. When Mei Lin makes a move, arrows fly at her from the wall. How does this work though? I need details. What if the prince just walks in for some snacks or an innocent servant just wants to change a bedsheet? Is there a button somewhere you can push to let the walls know you’re not an intruder?
You know, if we’re going to be a drama about spies and assassinations, at least elaborate on these things.
Mei Lin’s attempt to get to Prince Jinghe is thwarted when another assassin flies in. This is hilarious. In the end, they both have to give up and retreat.
The next day, Mei Lin walks into Jinghe’s bathroom and tries to seduce him. Girl just gets to work on that mission right away and doesn’t quit.
But when she is close to the bathtub, he lifts a crossbow and points it at her while looking at her seductively. Wait wait…He carries a crossbow into the tub? Is this a regular thing or was he just expecting a beautiful woman to come in and stab him in the back today?
Mei Lin says she’s only here for HIM so he pulls her into the tub.
They play around for a while. Mei Lin pretends she doesn’t know martial arts and lets this guy grab her, poke at her neck with a sharp pin, and choke her with a string.
She endures everything and even kisses Jinghe when some people barge into the bathroom to check for assassins. Sheesh, assassination attempts here happen more often than fast food delivery.
Afterwards, Jinghe declares that Mei Lin may stay with him. then he gets up from the tub and walks away. And he reveals to us that he already knows who Mei Lin is.
Then Jinghe stands up and walks away. Mei Lin is silently shocked as she watches because he’s not supposed to be able to walk.
Jinghe reveals that he already knows who Mei Lin is.
COMMENTS
Goodness, I’m going to guess that this drama was made for Wu Jinyan’s fans.
So my comments are the same as those about Wu Jinyan’s previous dramas. If you like her and her line of work, you’ll probably like this. It’s a drama about a female lead who is driven by revenge but will eventually soften up by the presence of the dude who taps into her playful side.
As far as acting goes, Wu Jinyan is the same as ever before. Probably because she’s never chosen to do anything different from the “strong, vengeful” girl story. It’s the same set of expressions you have seen; and while this is not necessarily a bad thing, it can be uninspiring more than often.
I am intrigued by the male lead’s performance, however. He does seem to have some range there. Although, his performance sometimes gets ruined by the dubbed voice that makes it sound like he’s whispering the ENTIRE TIME. I get that they try to go for the “deadly and mysterious” vibe, but too much whispering makes it unnatural.
The writing of the story is almost predictable. A character says something, does something, and you can almost guess what’s going to happen next. Sometimes, it’s so predictable that you don’t predict it will be that way, but it turns out to be that way anyway. Like the pet dog running to Mei Lin in the beginning, for instance, or the grab-kiss in the pool. Things also move at breakneck speed. There’s no elaboration on Mei Lin’s journey to become an assassin — for example, who introduced her to the sect? Did she just walk in and sign up for it? — or how some weapons and poisons work, which I think is rather important considering assassination is a recurring theme here. It’s clear that the drama wants to push the romance to the forefront and skip all the world-building as well as the necessary character-building, especially that of the the minor characters.
When the lead couple encounter, there isn’t much “character” going on, either. A big amount of screentime is devoted to slo-mo, dramatic effects and scripted physical contacts. Yes, all contacts are scripted in a drama, but a good script makes them look natural, which is not the case here.
The bottom line is: from a critical perspective, I wouldn’t say I’m impressed with how this drama is introduced. But if you just want to watch Wu Jinyan being admired by more than one guy once again, or if you’d like a quick drama with some politics and revenge sprinkled on top, this can be it.