Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #476

Anne: Happy Tuesday everyone! Well...my week went by in flurry of work and craziness that will probably continue until next year. It really was never a good idea to have a client meeting as one of the first thing Monday morning. After the meeting this week, where we didn't even finish discussing the agenda, I needed a drink. I had to schedule another hour for later this week with the hope that we can finish. Sigh... at least the end of the year is coming, and despite all the stuff that I still need to do...such as complete my written feedback for my team, the forced holidays will at least slow some stuff down. Isn't this a bit sad? I really need a cure for my work-a-holic sickness.

Anyway... remember last week when I went through some of my favorite dramas of the year, and I said that if nothing unusual happens, then this year ended with a short list of dramas that caught my attention. Well...let's talk about my current obsession...

Blossom

This was certainly a surprise at the end of the year. And the reason why I started this is really silly, the English title. I was like...why is there a THIRD drama with the word Blossom in the title? (And I'm not even sure WHY? The Chinese title has nothing to do with the word.) Now, I liked the other two dramas, so I thought I should give this a try. The synopsis of the drama did not indicate that this was a re-birth drama. Imagine how confused I was when the first episode started with Song Mo and Dou Zhao basically going fast towards a tragic ending (both of them are "sickly"). Song Mo kills the crown prince, who tell him that he's seeking revenge from the wrong person. In this chaos, Dou Zhao discovers that her husband has been having an affair with her half sister. Rightfully pissed, she decides to divorce her husband. In her escape, she runs into Song Mo. (I really like the way they did the streaks of white in his hair.) 

With them in their end was a young monk named Ji Yong, who gave Dou Zhao a "book" and opened a "doorway" of sorts that pushed them back into the past.

Now, imagine how excited I was that this was another re-birth drama!!! One of my favorites. Now.. it does appear that only the FL retained the memory of the past life.

When they go back into the past...Dou Zhao wakes up in the same place where she died, with Ji Yong by her side, telling her that she was emersed in her book that she knocked herself out.

Back in her childhood, with her last life's experiences, she refused to rely on a man for her future. She made sure that she implicated her new step mother in trying to "harm" her and was able to get taken away by her grandmother. This life, she choose to make herself as self reliant as possible, even down to the point of making sure that every women in her employ learned enough martial arts to protect themselves. The first thing she tried to do was to prevent her mother's death, but despite her best efforts, she wasn't able to change her mother's fate. There was a great scene (at least from my point of view), where she is at the river and asked the passing "author" of her book, why nothing really changed despite her best efforts to change the events. The passing "author" tells her that her attempts are merely throwing rocks into a flowing river. No matter how large the rock, the only thing it does is to make ripples in the river. But it never alters the path of the river. If she really wants to change her fate, she needs to become powerful enough to move a mountain. It is the only way to change the path of the river. 

For the next few episodes, up to 10, which I've watched every single one, told the story of Song Mo, and how he became the feared general that he became in his last life. It was great to see his relationship to his maternal uncle, the Duke whose death was the major influence in his past life that caused him to doubt everything that he believed in. 

In this life, Ji Yong, the young monk from before, became her childhood friend, growing up with her. The two of time meet again, in the town where she grew up with her grandmother, as Song Mo eliminates the pirates plaguing the area. As his uncle gets "called" back to the capital, Song Mo saves his uncle's only child, and in his trip, he ends up in Dou Zhao's home. This sets off an interesting "hostage" situation between our two leads. Song Mo is good at reading people. But Dou Zhao is better at navigating court politics. 

As her step mother and uncle plots to marry her off to the man in her past life, she is actively trying to escape that. Along the way, Song Mo's uncle still ends up being tortured to death and convicted. At this lowest point in his life, which is the end of episode 10, is the turning point in his life. The episode ends with Dou Zhao, who was "released" from the fight, turning back, and (most likely) be the support he needed to prevent him from spiraling down the same path as before.

I am completely hooked! I love it!

Ok. This is where I've stopped this week. On another hand, there is a short drama on iQiyi called The Night is Still Young...I have a feeling this thing will end in tragedy. It is another re-birth drama, but in this one, the FL never realized that everything she "knew" wasn't the truth. And that the enemy she thought was responsible for her family's death, is actually the person who loved her the most.

Hope everyone have a great week!