Just wanted to put my running thoughts here as my heart still feels bittersweet and empty. It’s weird for a drama to make me feel this way, especially one like The Wolf. I don’t know if it was 3 years of waiting for it to air, but there’s this feeling of non-fulfillment. It was probably because I wanted to like it, I saw potential, and loved certain characters. Despite the flaws, I felt emotionally attached to the characters and drama.

8 out of 10 comments talks about how ridiculous the plot was, the number of misunderstandings, and the lack of character development. 2 out of 10 talks about how this was the best drama of 2020 with the best plot. I can agree with both of these arguments. I understand that we all have our differences in opinions but sometimes I feel like drama viewers these days are too judgmental on the way that a story gets presented to us. Certain shows are not serious enough for me to take it seriously, so I enjoy it for the entertainment it should be giving me. Other shows try so hard to be great and it falls short and then I start mentally judging them. However, when I am presented with something new, I always try to go about it pretty open-minded. Dramas and movies help illustrate the flaws in relationships and everyday lives. In this sense, we see a lot of different relationships that could have been relevant to those back in the days or even today.

STORY
The plotline was a whirlwind of “I’m here already?” because things happened so fast, like the first 20 episodes. Then the rest of the show just kind of fell into a slump and this probably must be due to lack of character/story development. The writer’s decision to make the characters do a certain thing or act a certain way makes me question the plotline. This makes me curious if the postproduction and 3-year wait messed up the flow of the drama. If so, by how much or did it even matter. I feel like there were quite a few plot holes in the drama that never got addressed. I know that they cut off some episodes during postproduction.

ACTING/CAST/CHARACTERS (CONTAINS SPOILERS)
To be honest, I am biased towards the main cast. I was introduced to Darren Wang in “Our Times” and so far, I’ve enjoyed his works (that I have seen). Li Qin was discovered in “Princess Agents” and Xiao Zhan in “Oh! My Emperor”. In my opinion, they all did great in their roles.

Darren Wang as Lord Bo/Wolfie was spectacular! At the beginning where he displays the innocent side of the wolf who sees beauty in everything contrasted to his stoic face and anger that he portrayed later in the show. He did great at showing his struggle between Wolfie and Lord Bo. Such as the anguish he felt when he was put in a difficult decision. For most of Darren’s past roles, he has been playing the tough/bad guy. I was hoping for more of him as Wolfie and not Lord Bo, especially since Darren is supposed to depict two personalities as Lord Bo and Wolfie. I feel the drama should have presented the plot/characters to us in a way where we as viewers should instantly recognize him as Lord Bo or Wolfie, as Ma Zhai Xing claims she can.

I understand that this drama has more of a “dark” and “angst” theme and the writer wants to establish Lord Bo’s character as someone ruthless like a wolf. However, there are countless ways to go about making him seem ruthless than the amount of sexual assault he has inflicted on Ma Zhai Xing.

So, we know that Lord Bo grew up with wolves, which I hoped we would have gotten to see in the drama. That didn’t happen nor did they give Wolfie/Lord Bo a proper background. How he grew up with wolves, his family, or even his real name. We only saw the two leads playing around in the forest. He had a questionable amount of power for some reason, we know he was a test subject for the king but that shouldn’t make him invincible/stronger.

It is mentioned he wanted his revenge. What I never understood is as a smart character himself, how did he get so stuck in the king’s lies. It made me realize that no matter how awful the king was, Lord Bo saw him as a father figure that he never had. He craved that fatherly love and that’s why another scene that made me sad was when the King of Jin was talking to Wolfie about his sons and how they have dinner together and how Wolfie could come and find him to talk and treat the place as his home. He who was pretty much demoted and living in the shabby area with the other ex-slaves finally found a “home” or at least a place that would welcome him (even if it’s to use him for war purposes). I love how even though he is Lord Bo, he values his relationships. He treats his brothers/family/friends nicely or at least tries to.

LI QIN does a great job at acting all flustered and shy, however, I do not find her crying scenes as sad as they should be. As a character who cries a lot, especially in recalling painful moments as we have seen her gone through, we should be crying with her. I didn’t feel sad most of the time when I saw her cry through her trials, probably because I felt like it should have been a cry of anguish and not pity or hoping that Lord Bo would react to her.

There were quite some complaints about Ma Zhai Xing and how she kept trying to make it work with Lord Bo, even though she kept getting hurt. I just want to say that all Ma Zhai Xing ever had was taken away from her. The one thing that was left and was beautiful was Wolfie, which she fought so terribly hard for. It’s like having a beautiful memory that you don’t want to tarnish, so you try so hard to protect and keep it alive. I think she does a wonderful job portraying this character. It’s not healthy and it’s ugly but it’s so well done. Her character isn’t new to us, as I’m sure we know or heard of people like her character.

She was pretty smart and strong at the beginning, solving the case to prove that Wolfie was innocent. However, that was before the fall of the Ma’s. She submitted to Lord Bo because she knew where her power stood with the death of her father. No matter how smart she is, she plays the role of a female and one who doesn’t know anything about leading a troop. Ma Zhai Xing was irrational when Yao Ji tricked her because revenge was a spark she couldn’t stop from flaming up. We have those moments where we can’t be rational or that it’s hard to be. Even Wolfie knows that if Ma Zhai Xing doesn’t get her revenge, she would never be able to let it go. This leads to his ultimate sacrifices. While it was only for a short moment, her fight scene was beautifully done, wished they would’ve given her more scenes like that than her falling off the horse.

XIAO ZHAN really surprised me here as I have yet to see “The Untamed”. He shows us so many sides to him during this drama as the ruthless bounty hunter, the playful/thoughtful Ji Cong, and the serious Prince of Jin. I’ve come to realize that his character was probably my favorite in the drama as my top moments were filled with him (see below).

Honorable mentions to the actor and actress who played Yao Ji and Wen Yan.

MUSIC
This is probably just my opinion, but there are not many dramas out there that can make me fall in love with the whole soundtrack. I think that the entrance/exits of some scenes could have been better in the show. There was a lot of slow-motion with dramatic music playing, which I love, especially when it is done right. I believe only one of the soundtracks (apart from Bo Na’s instrumental) is upbeat and happy. The rest of them gets me emotional and sounds moody (my type of vibe).

RE-WATCH VALUE
I don’t re-watch a lot of dramas. The number of dramas that I have re-watched is no more than 10. Even when I “re-watch” I only play my favorite scenes or after a certain part of the drama, if that even counts as re-watching. I don’t find myself in love with this drama to the point of a re-watch. There were so many repetitive issues being cycled through that I don’t think I can watch them again. I might just skim to find my favorite scenes.

!! THE FOLLOWING SECTION CONTAINS SCENES AND ENDING SPOILERS !!

LOVES
One of my favorite scenes was when Ji Cong eavesdropped on his father’s conversation with Ma Jin Xing. He finally understood why his father made the decisions that he had. While I have yet to experience parenthood, I know that there are sacrifices that parents like to make because they believe it would be best for the child. This doesn’t have to be true; it probably isn’t the best for the child, but I guess parental instincts feel like it would be so they make decisions for us when we can’t/don’t want to. What made this scene beautiful was when Ji Cong walked step by step with his father whilst on the roof. While they never talked it out, it was like they finally understood one another’s intention. It was like Ji Cong has forgiven his father.

The second scene that stuck out to me was when Ji Cong confronted Wolfie on Qi Mountain. It made Ji Cong’s character a lot more beautiful than he already was. While he learned about the truth of Wolfie’s decisions, he was willing to give up Ma Jin Xing to make her happy. He knew that Wolfie could make her happy and encouraged him to tell her. His next words were also one of my favorite lines from the show, if we didn’t fall for the same women, we could’ve been friends. While I loved those words, they were weird once you thought about it because Ji Cong had minor interactions with Wolfie, even as foes. If there was more bromance thrown in, it would have made this scene even more beautiful.

One of my favorite lines from the show was how they should have stayed on Wolf Mountain and never came down. How all the monsters were at the bottom of the mountain. This line we draw where it defines who the actual beasts were, it made me ponder on it a lot. I feel like we all have beasts, demons, or even monsters inside all of us. Whether it’s a physical appearance that makes us feel inferior or our mental beasts. While I know that people can be beautiful and the world could show me so many beautiful wonders, I’m often stuck in wanting to enclose myself elsewhere. It brings me back to what my brother once told me about the reason why America has no more forests. Before the westward expansion and I’m sure settlement in America, there were acres of forests. However, people were scared of the beasts and darkness that lurks in the forests, so they decided to chop them all down (I know this isn’t true as they wanted to utilize the land and the wood, however, I like my brother’s version more). As we grow older, we start to see that beasts (or wild animals) are just like people, they’re just trying to survive the best way that they can. They can get scared and hurt as well. So, it comes down to who is the real beast?

DISLIKES
I think the weirdest thing that no one pointed out was the fact that Ji Cong and Bo Na ended up together. She “disliked” him up until he decided to divorce Ma Jin Xing. I understand that she probably finally saw him in a different light when he was willing to let Ma Jin Xing go. She followed him once to the battalion under the guise of a soldier. They bicker for a bit and they eventually ended up together. While I love that Ji Cong finally found his source of happiness and freedom that he has always wanted, it came too unexpected within the last not even 10 episodes.

Eventually, it wasn’t misunderstandings anymore. It was about the lack of communication and doing what we think is best for the other person. If we learned something from this drama, don’t make decisions for other people. This loop of them going back and forth got tiring. I really thought she gave up and was willing to move on and I was happy for her. We all don’t like to see people suffer, so when she had something good going with someone good, I was happy.