Peões do Amor (2024)

The Double - A Drama that Hits the Bullseye

The Double is a drama that serves up a delightful concoction of all my favorite elements. This show is like a rare gem, combining various ingredients in a way that's hard to match.

Now, let's talk about the male lead. I have a weakness for those competent, smart, and drop-dead gorgeous guys who are as cold as ice but secretly hold a soft spot for the female lead. While I wouldn't mind a bit of an age gap (mature men have that irresistible charm, you know), Wang Xing Yue nailed his character with style and finesse.

I can't stand weak and helpless female characters but hold onto your hats because our female lead is a force to be reckoned with. The chemistry between the two leads is simply electric and gives off major "Love Like the Galaxy" vibes. The male lead is like a hawk, constantly watching over her and ready to swoop in for protection. Although I wish there were more scenes between them at the beginning, the few they share are nothing short of mesmerizing and keep me hooked.

Let's not forget the conniving and scheming female characters. Oh, how satisfying it is to have someone to despise! But what makes it even better is that we don't have to wait for ages to see them get their just desserts. Our female lead is no pushover; she's sharp as a tack and skillfully navigates their malevolence, emerging unscathed.

Now, here's a tiny gripe our female lead was once married to a despicable character. It's a shame, especially considering she was genuinely in love with him before his betrayal. Personally, I prefer my main leads to be each other's firsts, but hey, you can't have it all, can you?

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An ending that pulled the whole show down

The drama is actually quite a fun watch. You know from the get go what sort of drama it is going to be and you can sit back and just enjoy the beautiful cinematography with ease, because the plot armour is going to be thick in this one. No drama, no stress. Our characters never really face setbacks themselves, but the people around them do, so the leads come in as a sort of messiah to save the day.

Yes, it is a typical Mary Sue. And no, there is nothing about the plotline that is original or never seen before. We have it all - the OP couple, the spineless father (that suddenly finds one by the end), the jealous half-sisters, the obsessed lovers, the court drama etc. YetThe Double has taken the same formula and delivered it in a bottle that people will buy just for how it looks…like stanley cups.

The leads seem to be in their comfort zone with acting, with Xue Fangfei being a more peppy version of Wei Yinglou. But the acting in general is quite good. The drama does many face zoom shots, which are really a hard hit-or-miss, especially when it comes to Wu Jinyuan, but Wang Xing Yue does them quite well. However, the two antagonists - Liang Yong Qi as Shen Yurong and Li Meng as The Eldest Princess, Wanning- stole the show. The two bring a depth and emotionality to their characters that the leads seem to lack, allowing us the space to understand their characters better. It is almost like the plotline tries to do the leads dirty. Everyone gets a sad backstory for being evil, even Ji Shuran; I dislike it when shows don’t do that well. Especially for this type of story, such backstories only annoy or seem meaningless.

As you progress in the story, you find yourself confused about Shen Yurong’s intentions - is he protecting Xue Fangfei, is he remorseful, is he manipulating Wanning, or is he really evil? Even till the end, you wonder what his actual plan is. Liang Yong Qi shows us Shen Yurong’s descent from an upright and happily married scholar to a morally corrupt, murderous and unhinged man who himself doesn’t know which of his words are the truth and which are false. Though he blames the world for making him the way he is - hungry for power to protect himself and his family. Shen Yurong comes from a poor family. His father’s death was caused by someone powerful and they were unable to even seek justice. The final words Yurong’s father left behind were “be the most powerful or you will always be the one being crushed”. And his struggle to become the most powerful also comes with giving up his morality and love. He values the struggles his mother and sister went through to raise him to his level so for him they are non-negotiables. So when pushed to the corner, he sacrifices Xue Fangfei. Every Time he meets her since then, he always seems to be on the brink of a mental breakdown. You can see he struggles with his choices- both past ones and the ones he knows he has to make. He hates the man he has become and seems to want to return to the way things were - to start afresh. Almost putting the whole country in jeopardy to achieve it. Every scene takes him closer to the desparation of a cornered powerless man fighting off the demons he created. I can't say I am dissatisfied with his ending, It is sad to watch a man who had the potential to be good to turn out be the most pathetic. As Xue Fang Fei said, I hope he reincarnates as a powerful noble so he can finally hold up the morals we all know he possesses at his core.

At the same time, you don’t see Wanning as anything but a princess drunk on power. Someone who likes to hold her “sacrifice” of being used as a hostage for the enemy kingdom and her poor treatment there to get away with murder. And she gets away with so much that it doesn’t make sense at all for any emperor to tolerate her! Sometimes I found myself wanting to scream at the emperor “Just use Xiao Heng to spread the Princess’ true character which can give you a chance to investigate and prove it and THEN get rid of her!”, but I guess I am too modern to understand the intricacies of imperial politics. It was annoying, seeing this seemingly motivationless woman just kill someone because she fancied her husband. But then you get her backstory - you see the humiliation, the torture, the pain, and the torture she went through. She is treated like a low level concubine and not a princess, being used to the whims and fancies of her captor. A hauntingly beautiful scenery to mask her inner turmoil. She has been abandoned in a shed with sheep and goats. She walks into the middle of the lake in the winter, forcing herself to miscarry the child in her belly. Which eventually leads her to not be able to have children. As a woman myself, it was hard to see all that and not even feel an iota of empathy. It makes everything she does make so much sense. She thinks the country owes - she suffered while the rest of the country lived in peace. She takes what she wants, rules be dammed. She is delusional and obsessive, but it makes sense. Despite her sarcasm and mean demeanor, she genuinely fell for Shen Yurong. The possibility of being with his child makes her lose that evil edge, making her softer and less domineering, yet that is only for Shen Yurong. In the end, her death also is decided by her, she lost for the first time since her return, and not to Xue Fang Fei or Duke Su, but the love of her life, Shen Yurong.

They both have tragic ends, never even coming close to their goals. Though as they reach their end, you feel a tinge of regret for the people they could have been had they not been dealt such unfair cards in life. But that also means the main characters would’ve continued on as their incomplete selves.

That is something the show portrays very well. The leads are well matched in terms of cunningness, smartness and wit. In fact you can see there are gaps in one’s strengths that are filled in by the other. For example, Xiao Heng starts to lose his cool when Jiang Li is in danger, while at the same time Jiang Li keeps her cool (even the emperor comments on it at one point). Jiang Li tends to go overboard, often placing herself in danger, which is where Xiao Heng steps in to pull her back. Jiang Li does take a lot of support from Xiao Heng, but initially it is mostly to involve him in her scheme so if exposed he can help her, but later that support is freely given and she takes advantage brazenly. The love confession is unspoken - they both know, only a confirmation of affection (along with a pan away kiss scene that makes you want to pull Yu Zheng’s fair out) is needed and they KNOW. In fact they have KNOWN for a long time about each other’s feelings and I find that so so so refreshing.

There are honestly only good things in my mind about the drama. It is a splendid watch. I wanna binge on it again. THOUGH the ending was FRUSTRATING and UNNECESSARY. Even though the special episode was a little awkward (maybe because it was so rushed and the snippets were really too short), you kind of understand the importance of post production work that goes into adding the dots on chemistry. Like usual, I am going to pretend the drama ended at the marriage scene and they had a happily ever after.

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It is always the least anticipated one that does wonders

When everyone was waiting for all the big dramas of the year to finally air and end the wait...all they did were just to disappoint the viewers with mediocre acting or boring script. Excessive CGI and stellar cast cannot save the drama either if the plot isn't going anywhere. And we have been graced with such CDramas for quite some time in the last few months. I really find it interesting that most of the dramas that are not hyped much ends up being the best ones. It was the case for this drama as well.
The story isn't too complex to give you headache but still makes you want to stick till the end and despite having many loopholes here or there you would still be on the edge and wait for the next episode. There is nothing much to nitpick about acting when veteran actors are in the side roles and many of the actors that we already love are in the drama. I was surprised by a few actors who didn't leave much impression on me in their other shows but despite small role they did really very well in this one. The main cast and and their characters reminds me of LLTG a lot. ML is just so Ling Buyi and FL is just like Shaoshang. (If you tone down them a little). I loved all the scheming and bonding of the characters. Though the main lead do not interact a lot (especially in the first half) but when they do it is all sparks. All the subtle expressions and longing eyes are enough to make your heart flutter. Towards the end it feels as if plot was dragged a little bit and the open ending leaves audience with bitter feelings but the special episode make up for it. For CGI: Special mention for the music competition episode- it was little too much but still very beautiful. From music to production design everything is top notch.
Overall it is one of the best dramas of this year which you shouldn't miss at all. I highly recommend this one.

Leia Mais

First Ever Review For a Drama well deserved

This drama came out of the blue for me. I was on a drama drought and randomly clicked on this not really expecting anything.
However, after the first episode, I was hooked. Despite initial annoyance with the constant close-ups and weird directing, I gradually adapted, and it became a unique signature of the show. Now, let's delve into the details.

Characters: 10/10
- Xue Fang Fei/Jiang Li (FL) - This is a female-centric revenge drama centered around Xue Fang Fei. I had seen the FL in "Yanxi Palace" and thought she did a wonderful job there, but her acting has improved significantly in this drama. Her crying scenes are especially moving. Xue Fang Fei, known as a "Chai Nui," is clever and talented in literature, arts, and crafts. She proves her title throughout the show. Despite her intelligence, she has flaws, notably being overly emotional, especially when dealing with her trauma. Considering her experiences—betrayal by her lover, false accusations, family deaths, and near-death—it’s understandable that she would be emotional. Ignoring this would strip her of her humanity and turn her into a Mary Sue, which thankfully, the show avoids. I appreciate that she knows she's not perfect and is open to feedback. For example, when the ML tells her she’s been too emotional lately, she agrees and tries to improve, yet she stands her ground and fights for what matters.

- Duke Su/Xiao heng (ML) - Wang Xing Yue’s portrayal of Duke Su is a pleasant surprise. Duke Su is charismatic, charming, stylish, mysterious, and has a way with words. Despite having less screen time than the FL, every scene with him is impactful. He initially seems cold and nonchalant, but soon reveals a gentle and considerate side. Unlike many dramas where the ML is only kind to the FL, Duke Su shows kindness to everyone he cares about, including his sidekicks and the emperor. This adds depth to his character and makes him refreshing. He is, without a doubt, the green-ist walking red flag there is.

Antagonists: The show features some of the most intriguing antagonists, each with depth and well-written backstories. They are not evil for the sake of being evil. Here are the main three:
- Princess WangNing: She probably has the saddest backstory of all the villains. She was sent as a hostage, and the trauma from that experience turned her into the unstable princess we see in the show. Despite her cruel actions and seeing others' lives as beneath her, deep down, she just wants to be loved wholeheartedly and live a normal life. However, she knows she'll never have that, so she sabotages other people's lives to cope with her own pain. Li Meng played this role brilliantly, making her a villain that you can't help but appreciate, despite hating her actions.

- Stepmother Ji ShuRan: Imagine the typical evil stepmother character, but played by a veteran actress who brings this trope to life. Joe Chen did an outstanding job in this role, making you despise Ji ShuRan for all the evil things she does. Although she was a victim herself, she chose a destructive path, causing immense pain to the real Jiang Li and ruining the happiness of the Jiang family.

- Ex-Husband Shen Yu Rong: Wow. I've never seen a more complicated antagonist. Throughout the show, there were moments I was unsure if he was a villain or just a cowardly man acting as the princess' puppet. His character is complex, ridden with guilt, and a brilliant mind wasted on cowardice. He constantly deflects responsibility, blaming his choices on his rough upbringing, and refuses to acknowledge his wrongdoings. Once a righteous man, he has now turned evil.
We also have interesting and fun support characters in the show, but too many to get into details.

Chemistry: 1000/10
The chemistry between the leads, WJY and WXY, is phenomenal. Despite minimal physical contact, their interactions are electric. The push and pull, eye contact, wordplay, and mutual understanding create an intense and palpable connection. They exhibit one of the healthiest relationships I’ve seen in a couple. There are no misunderstandings; both the ML and FL are intelligent and communicate effectively, showing a tactical understanding of each other. They are strong characters who complement each other without overshadowing one another. Discussions about the actors' real-life age gap are irrelevant, as they convincingly portray their characters' love.

OST: 10/10
The soundtrack is superb, fitting the drama's theme perfectly. I'm waiting for the full sound track to get released in spotify.

Cinematography/ Directing: 8/10
The beautiful sets and backgrounds sometimes suffer from awkward camera angles. Abrupt cut scenes and black fade-outs can be jarring. The director's fondness for close-ups took time to get used to, but it eventually became a distinctive feature. The artistic approach to intimate scenes, though unconventional, worked well due to the leads' chemistry.

Overall enjoyment: 1000/10
This show definitely quenched my drama drought, but now I am left wanting more. The development between our leads was the highlight for me. The revenge storyline was also satisfying, especially seeing the villains get their deserved retribution. Despite its flaws, the fast pace, well-written dialogues, incredible chemistry, intriguing villains, enjoyable side characters, and engaging plot make this a definite rewatch in my book.

Ending: ITS A HAPPY ENDING.
I know people are debating the ending of this show, but even before the extra episode content, the FL mentioned in an interview that it’s a happy ending. Since the story is from her perspective, it’s clear that the ending aligns with her view. Additionally, the drama is based on a novel that ended with the FL reuniting with the ML and having a daughter, making the extra content canon even if it was a last-minute decision to film. Even if we ignore the extra - The drama follows the FL's point of view, showing that she achieved her's and JL's revenge. Her family is alive and well. Her father recovered, her brother is with JiuYue, and her best friends are happy. She not only restored her original family but also gained a new one. She found the true love of her life and married him. So, even if XH had died (which he didn't), the main plot revolves around revenge and retribution. XH also got his revenge and reconciled with his grandfather. Apart from his two sidekicks dying in the last scene, this ending is undeniably a happy one from the story’s perspective.

Leia Mais

Exceeded expectations

The drama was extremely addictive with tons of positives.

The first 15 or so episodes were amazing. FL falls victim to her husband's heartless plot to kill her because his powerful lover ordered him to. She feels betrayed, confused, and heartbroken. Shortly thereafter, she assumes the identity of a dead girl she befriended and moves into the girl's family home to plan her revenge. The story has mystery and intrigue. I enjoyed watching Li Jiang/Xue Fangfei maneuver through the Jiang family drama, befriend new family members, and outsmart the evil step mother. FL's character was classy and mysterious making me always wonder what she would do next. What I like about this drama is that episode 1 jumps right into the plot. There was no set-up. We didn't need to sit through 10+ episodes for things to start happening.

Unfortunately, which is typical of most Chinese dramas, the story tends to deviate from the main plot into mini-arcs. Here, the story was the most interesting when Li Jiang was in the capital. After she left the family residence to meet the Ye family, the quality of storytelling went down. The Ye family, draught, and imperial diviner arcs were completely uninteresting. As soon as FL started dressing like a man, playing drinking games, and skulking in the mines with ML, the story hit every cliche trope and lost its air of mystery. Also, FL befriending the Ye family and gaining their backing did not add anything to the plot. They disappeared from the story as soon as she went back to the capital and did not re-appear to help her in any way.

One of the highlights of the story was FL and ML's explosive chemistry. They flirted, bantered, shared passionate glances, and were just a step away from ripping each other's clothes off. Unfortunately, due to incomprehensible Chinese censorship, this amazing romantic chemistry climaxed with a very underwhelming chaste candlelight kiss.

The story was worth watching just for the villains. Li Ming did an amazing job as the elder princess Wanning. She portrayed the character exactly how she would've been - conniving, hateful, jealous, resentful, and very very insane. Her smiles were deadly and her threats were real. Walking around and twirling her dresses made her look like the main character in her own story. I normally don't care for villain backstories because there shouldn't be any sympathy for evil. But, boy oh boy, did she gain my sympathy even though she was worth hating. It also made me wonder whether she was a different person before her father sent her to the enemy kingdom to be abused. I also felt like the punishment for every villain was fitting. Wanning killed herself with her beloved hand after realizing that he never truly loved her. Yurong committed suicide after realizing he will never get back what he lost and that his death was inevitable for committing treason. He dug his own grave committing one crime after another without truly taking responsibility for the all the evil he's done.

The ending felt rushed. Some cool characters were killed off in the very last episode just to get last minute emotion from the audience. It did not feel like a natural story progression, just something the writers decided to do the last minute. One moment, Xiao Heng was holding on to the pendant his beloved gave him as the token of her love while awaiting his death from the charging army, the next moment he rides his horse towards Fangfei standing by the tree they planted together. It didn't look very well thought through and felt rushed just to finish the show with a happy ending.

Overall, I really enjoyed the drama. The relationships felt real and mature, the intrigue was interesting, and the acting was brilliant.

Leia Mais

My first thought “Damn Awesome”

so I was in a drama slump and like I was eternally bored, so I just decided to watch it as it just randomly popped up… And Thank all gods that it popped up or else I would’ve missed this masterpiece.

Right from the first moment it hooked me and I was like wow! that’s intense. I thought wait I came here for a romance what is this?? thank god it is!!

The acting is amazing! The sound track- breathtaking! And finally the cinomatography- chefs kiss! Just looking at it it’s obvious that it’s a high budget drama! And the director cares literally cares for the drama! Perfection!

If I you don’t get hooked by the intense fast paced plot, you get an amazing story, you get life like characters, you get brilliant absolutely brilliant cinematography! and most of all you get great Soundtrack!!

May lord bless the one who decided to make it!

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If I wanted to waste hours of my life watching the worst of human nature, I'd watch the news . . .

Our main female lead is out for revenge against the selfish, deluded and truly evil. Much of the screentime goes to these terrible people to the point of frustration. Just as you can't handle one more cruel or petty scene, Jiang Li appears and takes them down. Jiang Li's plots are not overly complicated there isn't tons of intrigue, there's not a lot of gray areas. Frustratingly, also, most of the evil characters are women.

If you were hoping for a romance centric story, the romance is strung out for one or two scenes per episode, with our Duke Su always the puppet master, and never losing his composure or risking anything.

The costumes and production values are a bit low budget and do not make-up for the handicaps of this story. My frustration levels were high, and the rewards too delayed. I'm dropping.

Leia Mais

Strong start, weakened by excessive tears and superficial storytelling

This was a super easy drama to get into because you have the intelligent and strongwilled protagonist being framed for having an affair before she is swiftly "saved" by her righteous husband only to then be murdered by him. We then learn it's him and his family who orchestrated the whole thing! So does one need anything more but to get stuck into our popcorn and watch the unravelling of events where we get to see the FL return from the dead with a new identity seeking revenge not only for herself, but for the identity that she has claimed? Two is better than one!

Ignoring certain unrealistic or illogical happenings at the start, this drama was captivating enough to continue because the story and direction kept us engrossed. You have the ex-husband who's being kept prisoner by a princess whose chronic obsession with him renders him a puppet to be used and abused by her both mentally and physically. Witnessing such a miserable existence of the ex-husband, coupled with the peculiar/deranged personality of the princess really made this unique drama set-up, an oddly satisfying watch.
The excitement surrounding FL Xue FangFei revealing hee face to her murderers at an important event also kept me on my toes wondering, what next??

So with the characters nicely set up, we are rooting for FL, and although I find the ML a little A4, at the very least he's not annoying, nor is he hard to look at, so I'm thinking, not bad Youku, you may have a big hit with this dark horse!

However.... the weaknesses of the story slowly start to emerge due to the poor directing of Yuzheng. Firstly, we see FL and her maid crying more than necessary and during scenes where tears were not required to convey the feelings of the characters. At one point I felt like the director had a fetish for beautiful tears streaming down pretty actors' faces. But I can overlook the insistence of the director instructing the actors "cry here, and cry again there", because in his mind he believes that's how the audience will believe these actors have acting talent.

Things start to seriously get wonky once the FL and ML get drunk one night and FL decides to let ML know she is physically attracted to him. Oh boy... where do I begin to vent my frustrations with the many problems of this particular scene???

You have just been betrayed and killed and buried alive by your husband not long ago, in addition to finding out that your dad and brother have also been killed by him or the person behind him, and yet you can quickly transition to flirting with another guy? Is she out of her mind? I understand that one can still develop feelings for a person even if one has been wronged, but the way in which one moves on, and the type of trauma suffered should be a factor in how one moves on. It was as if she had never been murdered, and she's now got herself a handsome new suitor that she's excited about... Would one not be a little jaded to say the least? And how can one fathom even entertaining the idea so soon after experiencing such a stomach-churning experience? I mean we know its still in her mind since theres no shortage of them replaying the scene of her being hit over the head with a shovel multiple times. I think its fine to like the ML, but it's weird how they are portraying the attraction. Her behaviour and thought process doesnt seem to fit in with the rest of the story and the time the story is set.

We then get a much slower pacing of the drama which detracts from the enjoyability of the drama since it was the fast pace and tightly packed story that held our utmost interest at the start.

We get an early boring arc of her cousins family being targeted, before they show FL seeking justice for her real dad which was the most poorly delivered part of the drama because they tried so hard to make it tug at the heartstrings which then led it to produce the opposite effect. There was a lot of overacting and plenty of contrived scenes which detracted from the overall emotional portrayal that one would expect from such a storyline.

The other problem aside from the weirdly developing romance, incessant tears, and lack of subtlety of the injustice done to FLs real dad, is the fact that the duke is always solving all the problems. We need more scenes where he doesnt just appear out of nowhere to save the day. If so, then why do we need FL to have any intelligence at all? The worst scene so far is when Jiang Lis dad stands in front of FL to save her from being killed, and instead of focusing on this touching moment, the limelight is given AGAIN to ML for saving the day with his fan... But he has done it a million times before, and it wasnt even a difficult save, so why not put the focus back on the actual dad and his moment of standing up to the bully and protecting her daughter??

I'm going to continue watching this for the exhusband and craycray Princess Wanning because their characters are the most intriguing and its a treat to see the tortured soul witness a live version of his dead wife coming to life to torment him whether intentionally or unintentionally. In terms of the main romance, and even the upcoming story development, I don't have much expectations.

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