Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #362

Anne: This weekend I decided to "get back into my youth" by taking up inline skating again as a way to help my son be more interested in biking. Yes, I know this doesn't make a whole lot of sense, but it did when I was standing in Target, looking at bike PPEs for the little one. What I have concluded after 20 minutes on those skates were...That was one supremely IDIOTIC idea. I am still amazed that I only ended up with some scraped elbows, a sore knee, and a sore neck. Seriously, if I go missing on this blog, it's probably because I'm in the hospital with a concussion, or broken wrist/arm. While I'm still mostly intact, let's get to discussing the 3 shows I managed to watch this week.

One and Only

Yes, I succumbed and started this drama. I can't help it, it has both Bai Lu  and Allen Ren, whom I still think oozes sex appeal in costume. It's not an easy feat with all those layers of clothing! Also, the sequel Forever and Ever started airing this week, so at least we have the "happy ending" plot broadcasted. It would have sucked if they decided to film the 2nd part of this story depending on how well the first one did. First, the story is quite well written for being a minor part of the actual novel. The plot is quite intricate and the motivations and how the story evolves makes sense. It is a story about family and power and the throne. And all the motivations and actions all result from this one goal. 

Zhou Sheng Chen cannot be any more noble than he already is. His entire life is devoted to avoid being drawn into the fight for the throne. And when his 6 year old nephew was enthroned, in order to make it clear that he has NO aspirations in that direction, he swore the vowel to never marry or sire any children. Shiyi was originally engaged to the crown prince who became emperor. But because the emperor's mother and the head eunuch didn't want to give the Cui family (our FL's family) any more power, they still kept the engagement to a "crown prince", by giving the title to the young emperor's study buddy. 

I'm only on episode 12. The funny thing is at this point, Shiyi actually already had her engagement to the "crown prince" broken because the empress dowager has no intention of honoring that vowel because the emperor, at this stage probably like 16 or so, has started to build his harem, and they expect to have a direct heir soon. So the "crown prince" will never have that title formally installed. Of course this "crown prince" has already fallen for Shiyi and is plotting all sorts of things. Even with her no longer engaged, of course the very noble Zhou Sheng Chen cannot break the promise he made.

But what a surprised to find one of other favorite actors, Han Cheng Yu, playing in another support role. He was in Listening Snow Tower, Under the Power as the Taoist, and also in Love and Redemption. He's always great playing the quirky characters. 

Now, be forewarned that this is tragedy all around. Every single couple that has been formed is doomed to fail. I mean sure, yes, you don't get to choose your marriage, but must we be so cruel? Here's hoping that I survive to the end.

Update. Wow...well...I have to say that this is one of first time I've ever witnessed a dowager empress roofie a guard to get him into a comprising situation as a threat to take commend of his soldiers. 

The Ferryman: Legends of Nanyang

This week, I finished episodes 13 to 18... um... the stories aren't as captivating as the previous 12. Episode 13 was about a painting that housed a nine-tail fox that mesmerized men and fed on their life forces until they died. 

Episode 14 was about a hit and run that killed the Ferryman's love and a young girl who wanted her dad to wake up from his coma to watch her ballet performance. The best one was Episode 15, about the Fifth Master, a cook that literally fed his customers to themselves. It's the irony and the grotesque plot that made this one of my favorites. And the "holy water" was virgin urine...so that was hilarious especially when you see how it was "delivered".

Episode 16 and 17 was the same tragic story, and it didn't quite make any sense, especially that the The Ferryman came to get justice for a ghost who was wronged in her previous life. The sad part wasn't that the ghost was wronged, it was that the couple in the story was the intended pair. They had to pay for their happiness in their last life with atonement in this one. Episode 18 was a painter who was obsessed with a flower. He didn't even realize he has died, and was wondering why there was no one else in the world but him. And this is where the inconsistency came in. Why this ghost is unable to "see" the living? Does this mean that no ghosts can see the living? But that wasn't true for the first 17 episodes. So why does this one cannot "see" the living? Still looking forward to this week's stories.

Good and Evil

I am finding that I like this quite a lot. Part of the reason is that the relationship between Chun Yao and Han Sheng goes through development. Even from the beginning, he fell in love with is own creation after spending a lot of years with her at his side. Also, while their story is the main driver of the plot, there are separate story arcs that are complete stories within themselves. The first mini story about White Fan (Bai Shan) was tragic, as she ended up only fooling herself when she thought she was getting her husband to be alive again. The second story was not as tragic. I just got through the second one where Kong Qi (the peacock demon who cannot manifest his wings) nursed their family "goddess" (Xiao Shan) from an egg. He fell in love with her but because Xiao Shan always referred to him as her great grandson, he had this emotional/mental block that he could not get over. Through a series of events, he and Chun Yao and Han Sheng traveled 1000 years into the past to retrieve a snow lily to save Xiao Shan's life. But a thousand years ago, Xiao Shan was a princess who was married to the man she loved, who didn't love her (due to a misunderstanding). In the end, Kong Qi managed to manifest his wings to save the princess, and his love for her was greater than his desire to "save" the one from his timeline. In the end, he saved the princess because he promised Xiao Shan to return her to her family. Back in their own timeline, Kong Qi's Xiao Shan no longer existed. The princess remained alive, and her "husband" had died in battle 500 years before. Kong Qi defied his parents and stayed to serve the princess. They are super cute.

Hope everyone has a wonderful week. I will see how much work I can get out of the way for next week and expand my discussion topics!