EPISODE 1 RECAP
Pearl collecting is a risky business in this world. Most divers never come back from their first plunge.
The most famous pearl corporation in the land enslaves people and trains them as divers. The abuse in here is not at all subtle, there’s a lot of beating, gagging, slashing, and yelling going on. Women, of course, get the even shorter end of the stick because they’re also used as s** slaves.
The female lead Duanwu (Zhao Lusi), just like everyone else, spends most of her days trying to survive.
The manager of this place is a little overly dressed up for this job while everyone else is in rags at best.
One day, they throw a challenge at the divers: get some pearls from a giant clam at the bottom of the most dangerous part of the ocean in exchange for freedom.
Duanwu decides to take on this challenge.
Cutting to the male lead’s situation.
Named Yan Zijing (Liu Yuning) He seems to be a businessman. He’s on a ship chilling with other merchants who happen to be steering in the direction of the divers who are going for the Giant Clam and they stay to watch the dive.
One of the CEO dudes is confused: why are these people diving in such dangerous water? Er… you’re near a pearl farm, what do you think they get into the water for?
But it turns out, he’s the one with a conscience in the group.
These merchants suddenly decide to release blood into the ocean to attract sharks. Hmm, what’s going on here?
As we all expected, when Duanwu finds the big pearl (because of course she does), the dicks from her team attack her and try to take the pearl.
Duanwu passes out underwater after one of the guys choked her, but then, boom, she jerks awake and shoots to the surface with the big pearl in her hand.
But somehow the manager lady doesn’t wants to give her credit for it and one of the other divers gets set free instead. Later on, though, the manager brings Duanwu medicine and tells her she’s lucky. She seems to be looking after Duanwu despite her outward abuse.
Next, the pretty girls get dressed up because they’re hosting a pearl sale for the merchants who visit the farm. That includes the male lead and his friend who asked the silly question. The latter pays immediate attention to Duanwu and shields her from a goggling guy.
Duanwu takes another chance, offering to sell the biggest pearl for a price higher than its true value. Again, she wants her freedom in exchange.
COMMENTS
First of all, the visuals. Not bad. It’s very convincing. You can still see the green screen and special FXs — and hey I can tell that those ships just float in a pool, not the actual ocean — but it isn’t terrible.
The acting. I didn’t expect much because I have seen a drama about pearls and the ocean before, Pearl Eclipse, and that lowered my expectations about dramas involving aquatic elements to almost zero. That being said, Zhao Lusi is definitely doing her job well: a poor, abused girl who has to rise above her circumstances. I’m not sure if the romance will be central or take the back seat, but I’m guessing this girl will also fall in love. This premise is nothing new in C-dramaland, so if you already like Zhao Lusi as an actress, you’ll have no problem with her acting in here. If you haven’t seen her in anything before, you’ll also enjoy her performance. If you’re here to look for something different or an upgrade in her skills, you most likely won’t find it, not because Zhao Lusi is incapable of more, but because this type of role doesn’t give her room to reach higher.
I am not too crazy about Liu Yuning. His background in music is impressive, but I’m not sure the same can be said about his acting. Here he’s playing a CEO-type male lead who has money and power and is out for revenge. It’s not that he is bad, just that other actors have done it better so when you watch Liu Yuning, it’s a little unimpressive.
As for the writing, I’d say the drama needs to pick a route.
The SA is too over-the-top and it happens more than necessary. Now, I know the argument: oh but they need to show how women were treated like dirt, oh they need to show the hardship otherwise how can the audience sympathize… so on and so on.
But here’s the problem, if this drama really wanted to take the realistic approach, it would have focused more on the main conflict on which the plot is built: the pearl business. There’s barely any elaboration on the system they run; there’s only abuse and more abuse from minute one. Yes, abuse is probably the main method, but they also have to be teaching the divers a thing or two about diving, right? These people WANT the pearls for their business, don’t they? Shouldn’t they be doing more than plunging kids into the water and whipping their backs? Because that would just kill every single potential diver they can find.
So, there are not many details on pearl collecting. There isn’t much on the ocean or the actual pearls, either. For a drama that emphasizes jewellery making, it sure doesn’t put a lot of effort into that department.
Also, I know that divers can hold their breath for a long time, but the underwater scenes make it look like they’re mermaids. Especially the female lead Duanwu, she flips and spins and fights in the water and there’s no discussion about the techniques she uses or how often she needs to surface. If the drama waned to be realistic, then… should’ve done some research, I guess. If the goal is to stay strictly in the Escapism lane, don’t make the audience sit through random SA scenes and endless physical abuse to the female lead through whom most of the viewers watch this drama.