A Dream of SplendorA 40-episode historical drama from 2022.
The premisePan'er (played by Liu Yifei) is a woman in her mid-20s who owns a teashop she co-runs with her friend Sanniang (played by Liu Yan). Pan'er prepares and serves the tea, Sanniang bakes all of the yummy pastries.
One day, some bandits show up at the teashop and start up some trouble. Pan'er and Sanniang defend themselves. Also present is Gu Qianfan (played by Chen Xiao) who is the commander of a kind of elite force that only answers to the emperor. He's been ordered to find an item that's supposedly in the village Pan'er's teashop is at. They make a really bad impression on each other.
A short time later, Qianfan asks Pan'er for her help as the two head off to the Eastern Capital...
This is a pretty cool story (for the most part. I'll try to be vague when I mention what didn't work me) It's v. different in a lot of aspects.
Liu Yifei is amazing as Pan'er. This is a character who is warm, compassionate, clever without being too precious abt it, and has a mature personality that I thought was neat to see onscreen. Fun fact: Liu Yifei also goes by Crystal Liu. She snagged the role of Mulan for the live action version of the animated film. I don't remember much of the movie, but there we are.
So Pan'er's background is quite
dark. (Because this is discussed front and center in Episode 1,
I don't consider this next thing a spoiler.)
OK so, when she was 9 y.o., her father had (allegedly) incurred some heavy debts and so he sold her to a brothel. (I say "allegedly" because things are a bit more complicated.) While there, she was trained alongside other little girls to dance, sing, and have other skills (of the non-sexual variety) in order to entertain the male patrons. The emperor granted a general amnesty to folks under the "pariah" status (such as sex workers and folks adjascent to sex work) when Pan'er turned 16. She was then able to leave the brothel, get her name taken off the national register of sex workers, and try to find a way to live.
Per the drama, Pan'er never engaged in
actual sex work during those 7 yrs she lived and worked at the brothel. Personally, I find it quite unbelievable given the environment she was at for almost a decade. Both her and Song Yinzhang (played by Lin Yun) state time and time again that they are (or were in Pan'er's case) registered musicians ONLY. Per the cultural norms of the time (I've heard this drama's set during the Song dynasty), they're both considered at a similar lower class like that of merchants.
Anyways, early in the show, there's a moment where (for plot reasons), Pan'er HAS to slip into her musician/entertainer role to set someone up. The scene continues all the way to the aftermath. Where she's shown frantically rubbing her hands and face, disgusted at having to pretend to be a sex worker. IDK, I thought it is a really interesting moment that says a lot abt her and her inner world without using much dialogue.
Chen Xiao is really good. In the show, Gu Qianfan is nicknamed the Living Devil for a good reason. As the show progresses, though, he does softens up whenever he's around Pan'er, heheh.
As for the CP…hmm. I love that they have an actual Meet Ugly. And then, as the episodes continue, the bluntness with which they interact with each other not only makes a lot of sense BUT it's kinda cute? IDK.
Once they get into the romantic mode… OOOOOH, I WAS ON THE FLOOR AND SWOONING!
Both actors have an exquisite kind of chemistry. They're two ppl who are adults, have complicated backgrounds, and respect each other. For him, it's abt being able to unwind while for her it's abt finding someone she can trust. When they're together, they don't quite achieve Power Couple status, but they get quite close. (I do have a :| abt the CP that I'll mention in my criticisms.)
Chi Pan (played by Dai Xu) is my Chaotic Baby. I adored his OTTness. He made me cackle whenever he threw yet one more tantrum. I loved him from the first scene where he had a nasty fight with Pan'er all the way to the end of the drama.
ANOTHER THING THAT KEPT ME WATCHING is that I like how the focus is ALSO on
female friendships. Both within the main trio AND each female character's relationships with other women. There are moments when one of them will meet another female who, in another drama, would be an enemy and yet they become friends too.
Speaking of, one thing that legit SHOCKED ME was a moment that I've NEVER SEEN in any Chinese drama before. At some point, a female character is searching for Pan'er. Suddenly, she doubles up in pain right in front of Pan'er's home. Pan'er happens to be leaving, she sees the female character practically on hands and knees, and so she asks her to come into her home. Neither character knows who the other one is, btw.
The female character mentions that she's got really bad cramps.
Me: DID SHE JUST SAY
CRAMPS? DID SHE MEAN THE KIND PPL GET WHEN THEY'RE ON THEIR
PERIOD?
The scene continues with the two of them talking abt PERIODS. Pan'er asks the female character which day is she on. The female character replies that it's the first day and how that's the worst one. Pan'er then makes her a PERIOD TEA!!!!
And before that convo, the female character is shown walking out of Pan'er's bedroom wearing Pan'er's clothes…which IMPLIES THAT THE FEMALE CHARACTER HAD STAINED HER DRESS.
ME: 😲😲😲 but also \o\ \o/ /o/!!!
Not only cuz they were talking abt People Getting Their Period, how much it sucked, etc WITHOUT using any euphemisms, but also because the TONE (from the beginning of their meeting to the end) was v. "this is a NORMAL thing."
Which made me curious abt the production team…
It turns out that Yang Yang (the drama's director) and Zhang Wei (the screenwriter) are both
women who are in their v. late 40s. And THAT explains why this show has a different, women-first kind of vibe that aaaalmost toes the line into preachy but doesn't overwhelm either.
The cinematography is SUPERB, bTW. The costume and set designs are excellent as well.
Do I have any criticisms?I do. 😥
- Some of the humor really doesn't work for me. Especially cuz there are moments featuring two characters (a woman who shows up in two episodes and a recurring male character) who are fat. The "jokes" abt the man have to do with his body size. As for the woman, it's all centered on how gluttonous she is.
- There's a character who is set up to be a villain and I just never cared for them even as an evil character. Especially toward the end where the character goes off the rails. The actor (and the role) reminded me a ton of Shen Yurong (the husband and one of the main villains of
The Double.)
- I have a v. strong criticism abt the CP (I know. I KNOW!) in something of a spoiler (I'll TRY to not be super specific) but let me go
what upset me abt the CP
As per the Drama Gods, they have a temporary breakup right before the last 10 episodes of the show. Up until then, I was a giggly mess whenever they appeared together onscreen.
HOWEVER, I 🙄 at the reason why they separated had to do with one character GHOSTING the other for a truly stupid reason. It leaves the relationship in limbo cuz then one character is trying to do a noble sacrifice (that made ZERO SENSE) while the other character is truly hurting and wanting to know WHAT HAPPENED.
The entire breakup goes on for abt EIGHT episodes. Before they make up for good, the character who is hurting does get caught up on everything that the other character has been doing. The character also gets actual, solid proof that the character who disappeared had tried their best even at the risk of their literal life.
Anyway, when they finally get back together, the character who ghosted NEVER APOLOGIZES. Rather than remorseful, that character CONTINUES TO TRY TO DO THE NOBLE SACRIFICE THING. Which was annoying the first time around and INFURIATING during that scene.
It's not until the Character who got ghosted pretty much SHOCKS the other character that they make up. IMO, all of that could've been handled way, way better. - Consequently, I was disappointed with the way that the last 4-5 eps turned away from the romance and the female friendships to address the whole imperial court stuff. Even though I was Muppet Facing one half of the CP, I wanted some more syrupy, ridic lovey-dovey moments between them and the show instead focused on everything and everyone BUT the CP.
- Then there's the ending. *sigh*.
FTR, it's a happy one for sure. During the LAST episode and now that everything had been solved, I was like
Me: OKAY, SHOW, YOU PULLED MY LEG THAT ONE TIME A COUPLE OF EPS AGO AND DIDN'T SHOW ME A LOT OF THE CP. BUT YOU'RE GONNA GIVE ME ALL OF THE ROMANCE YOU OWE ME, RIGHT? I WANNA SEE THE CP IN THEIR NEW HOME BEING ALL RIDIC WITH EACH OTHER.
At this point, I think there were, like, 3 minutes to go. I was SEATED for the CP's wedding and/or seeing them married in the future with lots of kids....
The Drama
HOW ABT I USE THESE LAST THREE MINUTES TO GIVE YOU A 3-MINUTE MONTAGE OF ALL OF THE CUTE CP MOMENTS THAT YOU'VE ALREADY WATCHED?
THE END🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️🤦🏾♀️ TO THE MAX
What's the FMC's plot armor level?Low.
Not only did she spend part of her childhood and most of her teenage years working at a brothel (again, allegedly NOT involved in actual!sex work but still!), she has to deal with a lot of misogyny. I mean, all of the female characters do, but y'all know what I mean.
She also goes thru some true financial hardships, homelessness, and (at one point) she tries to endure corporal punishment that almost leaves her in a coma. So she does suffer a ton. There's a moment she tells another character that she's so sad that she can't even cry. FTR, she does bounces back and her ending is a happy one.
How does the show handle the inevitable "Oh noes, the emperor's in danger of losing his throne!" storyline?It's presented in an interest way than I'd expected it to be.
The emperor (played by Bao Jianfeng) has an unspecified chronic illness that leads him to have really bad migraines. Funnily enough, Bao Jianfeng had also played the emperor role in
Love Like the Galaxy. This time around, he's playing the emperor with a more serious angle vs. LLTG where he was goofy for the most part.
Do I recommend it?Yes.
SO, taking into account everything good AND bad (the CP before the last 10 eps, Chi Pan (who brought in the laughs when they were most needed), the many female friendships and mutual support, the bullshittery abt the court thing taking over the ending, certain plot holes not being tied up, and that FUCKING FINALE), I give this drama
a 3.5 out of 5. All of the eps are on YouTube.
Queerness levelLowish.
There's a secondary male character who, due to plot reasons, does drag. It's not explained why, but everyone (in the show) is A-OK with that.
Le Trailer
It's pretty solid AND pushes the romance to the forefront.
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