Hi

Interesting alternative ending there

First off, I really like reading your synopsis! It’s really nice and hilarious, and I always like to see what others thought of a drama. Admittedly though, I would have preferred you to use the character’s on-screen name. I got confused with a lot of the characters (am not the type to remember actors’ names) lol

I think the most annoying thing about this show, as with a lot of TVB drama, is the clear-cut good and bad bifurcation. Even when I was way younger, I was mad at all the ‘Mary-Sue’s and ended up rooting for the bad guy – except, of course, the drama makes the bad guys so extremely bad that it’s just not possible to sympathise with them. I mean, hello? What’s the reason behind your evil doings??? It’s like, they do bad simply for the sake of it. I prefer a show where the antagonist was forced into a position where being evil was the only way left for survival. It makes a character more believable. Like the way Shih Huang Ti became bad because he was abused by others and wanted to rise to the top for revenge in “A step into the past”(Chum Chun Gei).

Throughout the entire series, I must admit I never did see the Charmaine x Kevin chemistry. I thought that the part where Moses finally took Charmaine as his concubine was really sweet (Ep31, since I’m sure you must have forgotten by now). I was like, yeah! That’s the way to go, man!! Then I was heartbroken when Charmaine left Moses. He’s the emperor!!! You don’t just walk off on the emperor after he declared that the only person he’d ever loved is you (I do understand that with ancient Chinese emperors, promises like these usually don’t last long. Still!) It’s like I can literally feel his pain as he watched her leave. Mother dead, his trusted allies gone, no friends, all alone to face to politics by himself. If it was me, I would have a mental breakdown due to overstress. Or I might get sink into depression. It would be nice to have someone who know you as who you are and not “the almighty emperor” to talk to. At that moment, I really want to kill someone.

I mean, TVB always like to portray that the “good” characters always win, but why can’t they make Moses win just this once? Because obviously, the only reason Moses lost is because he is too nice. T__T But then again, after making the Charmaine character love Kevin so much, it would be unrealistic to make Moses a tyrant all of a sudden and force himself upon her, even though he can. However, it was quite refreshing to see the male protagonist not getting together with the female protagonist for once. (Though admittedly, I wouldn’t mind a cliche happily-ever-after ending here, after all the frustration) Also, at least it’s not like in K-dramas where the girl ends up loving a bad guy and being completely blind to a nice guy because Kevin is a decent guy ^_^

I thought that the reunion with Kevin ending was extremely fake. I mean, so somehow Kevin ends up in the same village, somehow he’s well-dressed (hello? Amnesiac who just fell off a mountain? Where did he get the money?), somehow he suddenly remembers Charmaine. I mean, amnesia doesn’t work like that. Most of the time, the patient will just come to terms with what you told them, and accept it as a fact since there’s no one else to say otherwise, and then the brain will just make up images and memories to fit in the missing gaps they have in memory to keep them happy (yes, the brain does do that. It was proven in an experiment where a girl was told that she was sexually abused by her parents as a child and she ended up believing it, even having vivid memories of the “incident” I thought it was pretty cruel, but the experiment proved a point. And they did tell her that it was all fake at the end. Still!!)

Oh yeah, and I pity the kid. She’s like, “Mum, who is this???” and Charmaine doesn’t even bother to explain. Ugh… I would have preferred it if they zoomed up much further into the future when Charmaine is an old woman and one day, when she’s sitting alone outside her house, someone (unshown on screen) shows up and asks her if she wants to join him on a trip to a faraway land, then she turns around to face the screen (and the unseen man), smiles and agrees. Kind of like hinting that she’s dying and Kevin’s spirit came back, or it can be that she found Kevin somehow and they lived a happy life together with their daughter. Definitely, that ending would produce more frustration, but at least it would have been better than the one we have.

P.S. I lol’ed at the reference to Moonlight Resonance. I thought the Tavia x Moses pairing there was weird too! I mean, you grew up with him as a child, calling him “brother”. Weirdness overload, anyone? At least it’s okay with “ah hou” and “sou chau” who always thought of each other as friends (sorry idk their names!! lol).

P.P.S. If you’re reading up to this point, I think you’re awesome for putting up with my rant lol Thank you and all the best!

Thanks for all your hard work! You summarized each episode very well and I easily identified with your commentary!

Keep up the good work!

p

I found the show was really good, but there wasn’t enough character development or analysis or even any real conflict or plot development. All the garments and costumes are fancy and the actresses and actors were great, but really, be a little more in depth?

Yes, I found this really ridiculous..Moses is in love with Charmaine too much, it’s like he doesn’t have a mind of his own. Tavia’s argument of why Moses “cannot kill her” was really weak too. SHE KILLED HIS MOTHER. Even if Tavia wasn’t truly evil deep down, she did many many wrong things, taking the lives of many people- she really does deserve to be punished..

I can see where she’s coming from, too. When you’re powerful, you get respect regardless of who is around you. But when you’re nice, or even considered nice, earning respect is the hardest thing to do, especially in the royal court.

I don’t think my mind will change about Tavia. She is definitely a unique character and I don’t think her heart was dark at all. I think deep inside, she is still kind-hearted, but not as sweet as Charmaine. Call me crazy, but I have a feeling she’s not completely emotionally unstable as she seems in the last episode. I have a feeling it’s an act so she doesn’t have to face the consequences of what she’s done and as well, she is paying for it in a sense. Being locked away in the “cold” palace, that’s pretty harsh, if you ask me.

I have to admit, though. I felt Moses was kind of awful to just forgive Tavia because Charmaine asked him to. He seemed to hesitate, but the answer was already evident. He just said yes and that was that. Tavia was placed away and off the punishment because Charmaine requested that.

Even after all she’s been through, Tavia still can’t make a big enough impression, regardless of it being bad or good, since Charmaine will always get the last word. I find that really sad.