[this is more of an after thought than a full review]

This drama has Guo Jing Ming (director/screenwriter) written all over it making it a double edged sword from start to finish.
As someone who only found out about the existence of c-drama during the Pandemic, his work had a sense of exciting familiarity from the get go. The way he uses visual story telling and symbolism reminded me of some of my favorite movies/shows growing up. I have yet to find another Chinese Director or writer who is able to evoke that feeling in me.
Visually this drama really is impressive. I have a massive soft spot for dark, goth-vibe movies and shows. Combine that with the bad-ass BGM when the characters were introduced and the carefully crafted visual storytelling ... ah I love it!

The more dramas I watch, the more drama-fatigue I get and it's hard to watch anything from start to finish because everything becomes so predictable. But for the first time in a long time I watched episode after episode being excited about what happens next. I could not have guessed it and that made it a really good watch for me.

Instead of thinking of it as FL, ML, SFL, SML, TML,... It was quite clear (to me) that this drama has multiple mains and every story is equally as important. Although it begins quite ambiguous, it becomes more and more evident that among all the leading characters there's no one who is really a villain. Everyone's ambitions are justifiable and not born out of greed. This solidified my initial impression that this is a story of many, not of just two.
But unfortunately the story of first CP dragged along after having a very good start. Any sense of chemistry that was there eventually fell into a slumber as their story became more and more lukewarm. The intense stares and slow mo walking past-each-other scenes early on quickly ceased to exist and in my opinion this is what gave the second CP the chance to shine even brighter because they kept the intensity up. ZY was introduced as the spoiled son that spends a lot of time hanging out at the dance house (brothel?), likes to drink and pretends to be weaker than he actually is. He often rebelled against his father and did not hesitate to yell that he will leave. Everything about his introduction had me believed he would at some point reveal his true character and show every one his wits especially after the tattoo scene, however he and YS were gradually reduced to being the safe option in order for the more complex characters to go about their story. After all you cannot have your bread buttered on both sides.
GSJ and GZY had such epic introductions, with epic instrumental that is not commonly used by c-dramas and their styling was also much better than that of the ML, who sometimes looked like his make up was wet paint.
The brothers reminded me of a duo of wolves, so calculated but also deeply complex and their dynamic was amazing. In comparison ZY fell short on so many levels and became the SW although GSJ was much more qualified and long term would have been more respected and feared by outsiders. Thinking about ZY ten years down the line... I cannot help but to suspect that the reputation of Gong will become less and less feared. Selfishly though I must admit this provides GSJ with a tiny chance of freedom, that he unlikely is to take willingly but if the circumstances are right I believe he could have his own drama about how he leaves the Gong family, despite having an undying sense of loyalty towards them. I have no doubts was the situation flipped YZ would not hesitate and leave to be with YSS... but doesn't it sound more interesting if it was the so-sure-about-his-place character that ended up leaving the mountain? - Wishful thinking I know.


Not being able to have multiple deeper, darker main characters is something I have noticed in every c-drama that attempted this so far - guess this is where Censorship comes into play. At this point I don't think I'll ever get see a 10/10 drama from China because only the most dark and twisted (love) stories can get such a rating from me.

GSJ, GZY and SSQ were the most interesting part of this drama. She was thrown into a lion's den and of the two assassins, her mission was much trickier and therefore so much more exciting. We only got glimpses but I believe these three could have their own drama, making it a push-and-pull game of wits and raw feelings. I would not want it to be ruined by idol romance but rather make it a dark romance. I'm kinda fed up with healthy or realistic relationships in dramas, it's fictional so give me all the borderline toxicity. I wasn't walking around in a "Mrs. Salvatore" hoodie for years because I liked Matt, lol. (vampire diaries).
The story of these 3 had an even flow and from all the characters I found theirs could be the perfect background story for a season 2. Yet I did wish we had gotten more scenes of them taking a (dangerous) liking to each other.
But I really didn't like how they schemed against her near the end. It wasn't until then, that SSQ was singled out as the only antagonist of the four/five. YZ did not tell her about the fortnight flies and she also ratted her out to the others, which totally took away the element of surprise and potential for a great reveal scene. I was actually looking forward to that a lot and I'd almost say while watching it was one of my biggest disappointments.
My favorite scenes were early on when GSJ was riding a horse in the dark and the camera films from above and then through an open gate as he rides past.. and a little earlier GZY being on the roof to stop ZY - just EPIC. You already get the clear feeling that these two are very different from your usual drama characters and they delivered 100%.


--BIG SPOILER--

I read up on the final scene and it's interesting how on Chinese internet the interpretation is that SSQ's life ended since he saw her standing on water. Previously only for-sure dead characters were 'seen' by the leads, so the fact that he imagined seeing her could hint at that she is no longer alive. On the contrary on mdl, reddit, etc everyone is certain she is alive since she was seen in a garden tending to the flowers.

-- CONCLUSION--

In the beginning it all felt like one epic production and I could envision it continuing in so many ways. Even now I still think if they were ever to make this a multi-season show, they could really pull the wheel around and make it amazing. Somehow I can't shake the feeling that it felt like the backstory of something greater. Knowing how this is most likely a stand alone drama, I do feel let down but in my mind there is no doubt that the story continues and the best is yet to come. (small hope is that the screenwriter/director has multiple works that have more than one part)
As I said, it truly feels a prologue. In a perfect world (or literally just a country without TV censorship) this could turn into a complex game of survival and love that could de-throne any drama I ever watched. As small as the world of Wufeng & Gong was, it was just the perfect amount to get immersed into the story without feeling like you need to care about the rest of the world. I really loved that aspect.

One of SSQ's lines early on was "curiosity is the biggest bait" and they really took that and went with it for the entire drama. I was really curious after the very intriguing start and was baited into watching till the end. I don't regret as it stands out a lot to me and is not comparable to other dramas in my opinion but I also kept waiting and waiting for big things to happen and from to time things did happen but the entire 3 trials thing was such a big plot of the drama which I really didn't like it at all. I only fast forwarded twice during this drama, both times were during the second trial. I really wanted the leads to have a more intense story. Also I feel like for some of the symbolism I know too little about chinese language, culture/history to really get it. I felt like there was a lot of hidden meaning behind things shown and spoken.
In all of the drama, there is only one thing visually that bothered me. The transitions... some of them were just like the ones you use for a fancy power point.
Also there are so many single tear drops running down the characters face… I was about to make a drinking game out of it, lol

Full circle moment back to the beginning of this after thought that turned into an endless thought: Guo Jing Ming's work is always like that. I watched his movie "The End of Endless Love" a few days ago and had the exact same feeling afterwards. Some real glimpses of gold, that just hit so right and feel totally unique but he's never able to make a full stream of light from the few glimpses. Makes me wonder, does he just have really great ideas but doesn't have what it takes to turn them into reality... he needs to pair up with a superb screenwriter and maybe then it will turn into a masterpiece.

Another drama watched that was on my "not interested" list and ended up leaving a big impression. Maybe I should listen more to what people are hyping up?