I think my (one of many) favorite thing about The Double is the romance.
At the core of this story, it’s about one woman enacting the revenge and justice of two scorned and murdered women. So the romance instead becomes the perfect seasoning instead of the meat of the plot.
Jiang Li/Fang Fei and Duke Su’s romance progresses organically and refreshingly. It’s not established through grand confessions or plot relevant romantic drama.
Instead, every time they interact, their dynamic mutually progresses. Starting as chess pieces they can use but don’t think about past exploitation, to allies, until their dialogue naturally starts to become flirty and banter-y, and then a bit marriage-y, until they are soulmate ride or die for eachother.
It’s the perfect example of show not tell, and proves some fucking fantastic writing. Because neither of them really discuss the changing beats of their relationship. They are mutually aware of their own evolution and the audience is also aware without needing explicit exposition.
And that is SO FUCKING HARD TO PULL OFF AND YET THEY SOMEHOW DID IT PERFECTLY?!?!?! I’m so impressed

















