Welcome to my Saturday blog post, where I give thoughts on dramas I’m watching, whether at the beginning, middle, or end. Whatever I want, because I’m petty that way.
This week, I recapped episodes 35-36 of The Prisoner of Beauty. That brings us to the stunning, canal-filled conclusion of this drama. You can get the details of my thoughts on the final episodes there, or I have a final review of the full show below.
I also recapped episodes 5-6 of The Proper Way To Write Love. Hiro is too busy playing house with Natsuo to remember that he ever had a revenge plot.
What did I watch this week? Just the one show I already mentioned:
The Prisoner of Beauty – 折腰 – 2025
A 2025 Chinese historical-ish BG arranged marriage romance with 36 episodes.
A warlord and a beauty are forced to marry even though his family has a deep, deep grudge against hers.
I enjoyed this show and think the romance is strong, but it has an identity crisis and pacing issues that kept it from being amazing.
At times, I felt like I was watching two different shows
We start in a tense, dangerous situation. Our female lead, Man Man, becomes betrothed to a nearby warlord, Wei Shao.
The problem is Man Man’s family once betrayed Wei Shao’s, and even though Man Man had nothing to do with it, families gotta hate families. Wei Shao wants them all dead. He doesn’t want to marry one of them.
The first 1/3rdish of the show is a tense power struggle between them. Wei Shao is angry and threatening. Man Man is reserved and manipulative, but mostly because she wants to keep herself and her family alive. They don’t understand each other.
I like this.
And of course, there are other family members making things difficult. This show is not a great endorsement for cousins or uncles, as 4 out of 5 times, they are going to try to kill you.
Gradually, because this is a romance, they come to understand each other and work together (kinda, the effort is more on her side). They bond over a shared desire to build ALL the canals and help the people.
And the comedy writer takes over
The comedy writer likes our male lead, the murderous warlord, to be stupid when it comes to romance. They also like it when he’s jealous, ridiculous, and insecure. But not in a violent way, in a silly way.
I’ll admit, I prefer my warlords violent rather than silly.
But if you prefer your warlords silly, you will also be disappointed, because we veer back into the angst territory in the last half dozen episodes. (For the record, the angst writer likes water metaphors and the game of Go.)
We also get a rushed ending where the pieces don’t quite fit together, so some of them get dropped.
These are not new problems
Lately, I haven’t been watching as many Chinese dramas as I once did, but uneven pacing and tone are nothing new. With their high episode counts, I get it. Writing is hard.
And it’s not just a writing issue. The show doesn’t have the money for big fighting and war scenes. They do their best, but you can tell they’re working with a limited number of extras and special effects. Some of the most impressive scenes are towards the beginning of the show.
Romance and comedy are cheaper than big, dramatic war scenes, and they had 36 episodes to fill.
But if you’re here for the romance, does any of that matter?
Not so much. I was here for the romance, and Wei Shao and Man Man delivered.
Despite the problematic overall pacing, I liked the pacing of their relationship. I’m a slow-burn person, and Man Man and Wei Shao take their time getting to know and trust one another.
While the progress between them wasn’t entirely linear, it never felt like we got stuck in an endless loop of misunderstandings. The characters were well suited to one another, and once they understood each other, they understood each other well.
They had funny fights, sweet conversations, real problems that they had to overcome, and a satisfying conclusion to it all.
So if you want romance with some angst and some comedy, just turn your brain off for the rest and enjoy.
Leave a Reply