So I’ve been kinda been maintaining a bit of distance from Tumblr over the past couple of days because the viewer turmoil over the last handful of episodes was difficult for me to deal with, and I also wanted to avoid spoilers or negative commentary on the leaked episodes since I plan on continuing to watch the episodes as they air.
I finished 33 and I feel like I am getting back to a place of rediscovering my own enjoyment with the show. I do hope that going forward we see more initiative from FCY in her feelings for XZ, because for a few episodes it was hard to tell if she still had them. It made sense for her to pull away, though, because of the two major revelations she had in a short period of time as well as the loss of one of her squad members. And yet it also feels like Xie Zheng has been doing all of the chasing for the past 6 or so episodes. I really hope we get some more reciprocity for the last leg of the drama.
I am kinda nervous about how they’re going to handle the famous bath scene, because in the book I wouldn’t say it was equally reciprocated (he was drugged and it seemed like she more or less went along with it to save his life rather than actively wanting to participate…😅) And I did very briefly spoil myself on it in the drama w/o subtitles and… well… I’ll have to wait and see the context of it, I guess. Don’t crucify me for this, but I think within the context of a mutually loving romantic relationship it kills some of the romance and passion if one party has to ask for permission before every single kiss. I think that was one of my minor issues with the kiss in 33. She had his hands around his face, giving him the loving eyes… he kisses her and she clearly kisses him back before pushing him away?? 👀 Then he asked her to kiss him and then she did. So did she push him away because he didn’t ask first and then allowed the kiss to continue when he did? Or did she push him away because she was still having doubts about their relationship? Idk, but I have mixed feelings about it. I also think that it would be unfair, then, if FCY was allowed to give XZ kisses without asking but then expect him to ask first every time. Kiiiiinda hope they don’t go down that route.
I am also a lot less bothered by Xie Zheng’s characterization than I was now that I have had some distance to think on it. I think I kind of realized during this latest episode that he seems to be orchestrating a lot behind the scenes, like a puppet master of sorts. And that seems pretty consistent with his role earlier on in the drama as well. He has gotten some pretty GREAT scenes, like the one with the eunuch and then when Suiyuan showed up at the camp. Do I wish we got a bit more fight scenes? Sure, but seeing them cut fight scenes from other characters, not only him, helped me be more objective about it. It’s actually rare in a lot of my favorite dramas for there to be a ton of screen time dedicated to the actual fighting (such as TPoB). Others have said that shooting fight scenes is expensive.
So yeah. Just some random thoughts so far. And I’m done rambling lol.
People are always way too dramatic. All the episodes were leaked and many viewers watch them over the weekend and I think it tampered with the viewing experience. We always tend to be emotional and impulsive when it comes to something we like or for which we have high expectations, especially when we don't take the time to process them.
And the negative reviews come from hard-core novel readers. I read it last year and frankly, it's not the masterpiece that I thought it would be. I found many scenes were cringe and passed on a lot of political plot points.
And if Xie Zheng were to act, in flesh and blood, on the show, like he acts in the book, I'm sure we wouldn't like him as much we do now. Reading about unhinged (borderline cringe) behaviour and actually witnessing it are two different things. He's a massive red flag in the book and I couldn't figure out why Changyu fell in love with him. I do with the show.
Now, they probably should have spent a little less time in the village and focused more on Changyu's journey in the military and willingness to prove herself but her reluctance to join the military actually makes sense since the director chose to show us the gritty aspects of war and not just "cool battles". And he spent a long time on the massacre of her hometown.
Considering the production had a 40-episode limit (as they all do now and as we are aware of when we dive into any cdrama), we should consider this aspect to realize it is a great show overall, despite its dictated limitations and occasional flaws.
I will definitely rewatch it a couple of weeks after it ends to fully assess the show without interruption and other people impacting my judgement.
