Slow and tedious

Being a cynic and an unemotional person isn't a choice I made but rather it's an unconscious sensory output that seeps into many aspects of my life; consequently, I have less tolerance for things I deem illogical. Therefore, if one goes through my MDL reviews it might feel as though I'm just a hater who's never satisfied or is too proud. However, I genuinely find it impossible to process anything that calls for too many suspensions of disbelief.

And therein lies my problem with Maiden Holmes. How does the writer expect me to believe this woman could have survived the very risky job of an investigator with barely any martial arts skills? For an investigator who crisscrosses dangerous terrains I would assume it would be a job requirement to know how to protect not only themselves but also their witnesses and nothing about whatshername says she has such capabilities. Yes, she is a sound detective who knows how to reach conclusions that solve cases, however, she's also the most uninquisitive person ever. Right in front of her were two people who weren't who they said they were and even with the copious numbers of obvious clues, she remained lost, unable to put two and two for four. This I found to be nonsensical and unbelievable.

Next, the FL was supposed to be pragmatic and sensible yet she lacked the wisdom needed to make her character believable as someone who could solve these cases without being constantly saved by the ML. She just bumbles into dangerous situations without forethought or any idea of how to save herself.
Thirdly, and with all due apologies, the actress playing the FL can't act. Mostly she has one expression and that is what she gives us from start to finish. She either looked depressed, downcast, or unhappy with the ML and for the most part, we got a rotation of these three with a few quick smiles thrown in.

Lastly, the dialogue. Oh my god, do these people ever stop talking?!! Something that could have been said with four words would instead be done with a dozen and this directly impeded the flow of the story which sometimes meant having to try to remember what was the original question or line of thought.

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Boring

I had high expectations for this drama, however, the story that started off being so promising became dumber as it progressed. It was so bad I gave up by episode 22. Jeremy is old and it shows on his botoxed-to-the-max face. The supporting actors tried but with the script being what it is, they were never going to make a silk purse out of a sow's ear.
Ultimately, I've no interest in knowing how the main couple ends up together nor do I care about all the tiresome subplots.

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Brain numbing

This was a solid 7 stars until episode 36 when our formerly strong female lead who was proficient in martial arts became a damsel in distress who couldn't even save herself from 2 guards when previously she'd fought off over a dozen bandits simultaneously. It's as if the writers took a hiatus and came back with amnesia and decided 'What the heck, no one will know that we've made her stupid(er)'. Secondly, the baby voice and random infantilizing of the FL were so gaddamn nauseating and idiotic. ??I implore C drama writers to please stop with the stupid female characters.
Lastly, the romance was toxic af but because the male lead was hot we're supposed to forget he kidnapped the FL and effectively ruined her reputation. Then there was the obsessive and unrequited love quadrangle that basically turned supposed teenagers into psycho killers.
Anyway, it's watchable but maybe turn off your brain and just take it as it comes.

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Intense

Yes, every positive review you've read about this series is true. The stunning cinematography, the dialogue (oh my god, the dialogue), the characters, the intricate and soul-ripping plot, and lastly the intense chemistry between the protagonists. The flip side of these will gut you at every turn: deaths, betrayals, fratricide, filicide, suicides, and hate. At some point, I just had to start laughing at all the betrayals and deaths otherwise I would have lost my damn mind. Heed the warning, do not attempt this if you have suicidal ideations or depression.

Then there's the Emperor (Crown Prince's father) who is probably the best antagonist I've ever had the pleasure of watching. I hated him with all my soul and yet I waited with bated breath for him to speak or act because a mere flick of his eyes could deal untold hardship on those around him. I rooted for him as much as I wanted him dead. How is that not some insidiously perfect scriptwriting?

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Hopes dashed, again

The euphoria I felt whilst watching the first dozen episodes is indescribable. Finally, I said, finally I found an intelligent series with strong characters and an intriguing plot that was truly riveting; however, by episode 20 the story and characters moved from the palace location to the barracks where we were then introduced to the other players in the game. Thereon, it appears characters that were previously intelligent became stupid, and certain plot points that had seemed inviolable at the beginning were no longer so.
How do the writers explain the Emperor and Empress sneaking out of the capital dressed as guards when the audience had been told previously that they were mostly grounded and rarely ventured outside of the palace grounds without permission? On the other end of the plot advance was Sima Yi who seemed clairvoyant and could deduce future events with almost no clues just because he was supposed to be the intelligent one. In a way the writers were their own worst enemy...they actually thought giving Sima Yi ( and to an extent, Guo Jia) all the clues without us seeing him(them) work through it themselves would make the characters seem smart. They were mistaken. It was lazy and unimaginative.

Enough about the screenplay, let's talk about the actors.

Wan Qian was the MVP of this series. She more than carried the show and had the most realistic character arc of the lot of them. She portrayed an Empress that was at the end of her tether and unwilling to go down with the ship but would rather find a way to right the rudder come hell or high water. Even I was on a knife's edge whenever she came on screen. All I can say is I hope she won an award for this series. Next is Ma Tian Yu. Sigh, I'm not sure I have anything nice to say about his acting skills. His face was either set at "resting stupid" or "slightly less resting stupid". His character was one-dimensioned to within an inch. There was nowhere for him to go so they made him run around in circles for the entirety of the series.

Then there were Cao Cao, Guo Jia, Man Chong, and the lot of them who were all caricatures of beard-twirling villains. If you want to see villains done right then watch Joy of Life or The Rebel Princess where even though you know these guys will kill their unborn babies to advance their positions, they could still evoke pity and even support from the audience. Objectively, I know these issues if isolated are not dealbreakers but combined, everything dragged. The pacing, the story, the characters, everything suffered.

While we're on this subject, did anyone notice when Sima and the Princess Consort fell in love? As in why and how? Lmao, theirs was the most boring and laziest "falling in love" I'd ever seen to the point I wish the writers had just left it out cos Elvis and Dong Jie had NO chemistry whatsoever.

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Fated To Love You is good enough

Fated To Love You was simultaneously funny, touching, and sad. In particular, Jang Hyuk, the ML really delved deep into the psyche of a manic, overbearing, yet loving CEO while, Jang Nara, the FL, tried her best with the pathetic heroine who despite being such a limp noodle managed to capture the attention of two very handsome, very rich men. Lolololol... who writes these things and when will they learn that not every series needs a love triangle?

(Fated To Love You was simultaneously funny, touching, and sad. In particular, Jang Hyuk, the ML really delved deep into the psyche of a manic, overbearing, yet loving CEO while, Jang Nara, the FL, tried her best with the pathetic heroine who despite being such a limp noodle managed to capture the attention of two very handsome, very rich men. Lolololol... who writes these things and when will they learn that not every series needs a love triangle?)

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A bit depressing

Going into this drama and knowing there would be no happy ending was not a deterrent; nevertheless, it was a huge waste of the viewer's time to have to go through 80% of the show before our main leads finally got together and then the FL died but not before we went through the tragedy of her losing her babies.

The only bright spot was, Lee Jun Ho, our male lead, whose face alone made the heartaches somewhat worthwhile.



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Wu Leo and Zhao Lusi owned this

Edit 15/1/2024: Watching for the fifth time and still can't get enough of Leo and Lusi


Whoever wrote this story deserves all the accolades because this series upended most of the tropes that I dislike in C dramas and made something so refreshing and compulsively watchable. Leo Wu and Zhao Lusi were spectacular and the other actors played their roles skillfully from the first episode until the last, I was glued to my screen. I love this and I honestly don't think there's any series that even comes close to its brilliance. It's a must-watch if you like the interplay of comedy, action, and family drama. Perfection!

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Terrible

The Hong sisters are now on my must-not-watch list as I disliked Hotel Del Luna as much as this one. Their attempt at writing atmospheric, romantic suspense got lost in translation because the pacing was hella slow and there's barely any plot progression.. even after 12 episodes. The push and pull of the lead characters were at first endearing but after watching 13 hrs of them not moving beyond being disadvantaged and unmotivated, there's really nothing left to care about. I don't understand why the creators took the decision to just string the viewers along. Did Netflix demand a certain episode quota and is that why the already thin plot was stretched beyond the capabilities of the scriptwriters?

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Here’s my problem with modern C dramas. They’re terribly cliche and C writers have yet to understand how to make a rom-com without the usual rude CEO and skinny female lead. K drama writers on the other hand have such a variety of themes with tight pacing and unconventional plots. The lone exception to this in C dramaland would be the engrossing “Dating in the Kitchen” which I watched right before this one but I suspect that was because the main leads had scorching chemistry and the writers gave their characters depth, qualities that were lacking in My Bargain Queen.

It might also be the lead actors who failed to delve deep into their respective roles because I’ve watched Lin Geng Xin and Wu Jin Yan in other dramas where they gave above average performances. LGX in particular was superb in Princess Agents while WJY was part of the great ensemble for Story of Yanxi Palace. Could it be they’re not suitable for modern dramas because it requires different methods of emoting? Anyway, whatever it is, they flopped big time and I would not recommend this to anyone unless you’re being forced at gun point.

Yes, it’s that bad.

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Here we go again

Going by the high ratings I was prepped to watch what I assumed would be a delightful romance that was interspersed with some mystery, but what I got instead was case upon case of murders being resolved by the leads without even a modicum of romantic feelings. Undoubtedly this was a well written script, however, and while it satisfies the sleuth in me, it was a let down in other ways. For one, I didn't expect the FL to look or act so childlike which is one of the biggest problems I have with most Chinese dramas. This need to infantalize the FLs in C-dramas has got to stop. The actress had this deer-in-a-headlights look whenever she wasn't performing an autopsy and her interactions with the ML and supporting actors were painful to watch. While this might be a script issue still there was that disconnect that gradually got me so exasparated I had to watch at 2x speed.

I think the ML together with his sidekick brother carried the entire series with their performance.

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It started out so well

I watch Chinese dramas for badass heroes/heroines who fight for the good and destroy the bad people who try to harm them. Not so with Fighter of the Destiny because the story lacks continuity in that the hero gets into a dire situation (usually bcos someone plotted against him) and then he's miraculously rescued after which he returns to normalcy without ever seeking retribution on those who attempted to kill him. At a point, it seemed like the whole world was out to get him and he just folded every single time.
It also didn't help that no one else in their clique had the intelligence to move things along. Loulou was always crying, pouting, or shouting for her Shifu, while thirty-six and the bear guy kept getting more stupid as the story progressed. Conversely, Chengsheng being the only one who could solve the riddles, heal with his blood, develop good fighting skills even if we barely saw him practice, and was primed to save the world...was just a tad bit too much.

Another negative aspect of the story is that I'm tired of the childhood-friends-to-adult-lovers pipeline in C dramas. I simply cannot watch another stupid story where kids are supposed to have fallen in love back when they were 5 or whatever. China has 1.4 billion people so even if we adjusted the population for the time period, it would still be in the millions and the likelihood of them reconnecting is infinitesimal. So, please, can writers please stop with this trope?

Lastly, despite not really liking the series, I have to give a shoutout to, Chen Su, the actress who played the Empress, as well as whoever styled her character because she was absolutely breathtaking.

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I understand the appeal but it just wasn't for me

There was such a dissonance between the story and the actors. Did the director and casting unit not read their own script before congregating 40-year-old actors to play the role of boys on the cusp of manhood? I could forgive most things but this one issue completely drew me out of the story. To compound that, wardrobe choices in the first half had the men in ill-fitting clothing and atrocious hair pieces. Again, that diluted the authenticity of the story.

The best part about this was watching the family dynamic, especially Minglan's relationship with her grandmother. So precious. Likewise, Ming's sizzling relationship with Gu Tingye in the second half. So hot. Yet, even these couldn't offset the evil that permeated the entire story. It was too much and it dragged on for far too long. Yes I know, the villain is very villainy but did we need to see her repeat the same playacting over the course of 40 or more episodes?

Did we need all that back and forth at the Gu mansions? Did we need to see the minutiae of their daily lives, especially the ubiquitous eating? Did the characters in the Sheng family have to speak obliquely when they all could have benefitted from some showdowns and home truths? Minglan's father was such a waste of space and to think three women were actually fighting over him. Why would Tingye risk the lives of Minglan and his children just to save the Emperor? Have the heavens fallen?

Seventy-three episodes is a lot no matter how lovely or compelling the story and sadly this drama was unconvincing.

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Fluff

Going through 24 episodes of the FL wearing ugly mummy jeans and tops has left me traumatized. I swear the wardrobe person must hate the lead actress for real otherwise there's no reason to style her character with such juvenile and ugly clothes. The story is okay-ish but there's an important element that's still unrevealed which will determine if this drama was worthwhile or not.

I'll update the ratings and review upon completion.

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