I just finished Autumn Ballad and all I can say is, what a tragically beautiful work. Beautiful but tragic.

The ML and FL were both very mature in their outlook of life and even their relationship wasn't sudden or random. It happened over time, like most relationships. They grew to love each other for each other's quirks and character and understood each other's weaknesses and strengths. I loved how the FL was the absolute star of the show and grew to earn everyone's respect. She didn't have respect straight away, but she had to earn it and I think that makes it much more meaningful.

The main plot and sub-plots were pretty tight (except for towards the end) and very interesting and I loved the character development in the key characters. This was such a refreshing change from watching the complete shit show Rebirth for You which was also supposedly about a ML and FL working together against adversity. Autumn Ballad had plot twists almost every episode and some I really didn't see coming.

There are so so many layers to this show. The theme of abandonment. The theme of revenge and forgiveness The theme of love and what it really means and how you define it. They played out so well in this show. This show can be compared to Allen Ren's Under The Power (although I have a slight preference for Under The Power just because of their epic fight scenes and Allen Ren is incredible as an actor - but I digress).

The Theme of Abandonment was played out constantly. Almost every character faces their own dark demons of abandonment. Whether from loved ones dying (murder / suicide) or just being abandoned and unwanted and tossed aside as a child. Qiu Yan references her being abandoned by her birth mother constantly throughout the show. It was a real sticking point for her and her birth mother. Her mother (the legitimate wife of Qiu Yi) and her shared a common bond of being abandoned (just that Qiu Yan didn't know this until it was too late). Liang Yi was abandoned by his father when his father died and they talked about him being completely different before and after his father's death. Even Qiu Min had to deal with her own abandonment issues and those issues really came out towards the end. Throughout the series they extrapolate this theme of abandonment and how people deal with the insecurities that stem from it wonderfully.

The Theme of Revenge and Forgiveness. Constantly, Liang Yi talks about revenging his father's death (which he did), Qiu Yan carries her burden of her mother's death and is also constantly looking to settle the score against anyone who crosses her, Qiu Min is also constantly burdened with her own demons and Yuan Long is like the personification of revenge. Even the lesser characters are constantly out for revenge. But then the show demonstrates that there to gain from revenge and revenge just leads to misery. To me, the purest character is Qin Xuan who literally could not hate anyone even though he was constantly being made use of. Yes he tried to hate, but he never took revenge. He was full of forgiveness.

The Theme of Love. There were so many interesting layers to his. The Confucian filial piety of love for one's elders was constantly played out in this show (I guess as in most costume dramas). Of course romantic love. Also, Qiu Yan talks about her own feelings and what she thought was love and what she then discovered was true love. Finally, the final scene made me think that there was some sort of love going on between Liang Yi's mother and the Noble Consort. I am very sure they were more than just best friends. And finally love for country was there. Without going into further detail, it was how Liang Yi appealed to Yuan Long, or Noble Consort appealed to Liang Yi etc...

Yes, most dramas cover these key themes but I feel Autumn Ballad did it well. The writing was very solid and well thought through. The dialogue was good as well. Even the OST was really nice.

I didn't have many issues with the show. The show was fast-paced, well executed, well written and well acted.

But ok, I realised I have three.

First, one minor issue I had was with Liang Yi's MUA. Did he/she not colour match the foundation to his face?? He kept looking so pale and cake-y throughout the entire show it was almost comical!!!!

Also like other reviewers, I was also pretty annoyed by the absolute final plot twist. I mean can't you let them just have peace for 1 second!?!? Although it did show a happy ending in the end FINALLY, the last plot twist was unnecessary and actually gave me a shock. It did also leave me with a lot of question marks. Like why did the person choose to do that only at the very last moment? And she looked perfectly fine and happy before. Even though I truly think the screenwriters were great, they should learn the value of restraint!! Too many plot twists is also not good! Also it seemed like they were probably riding on a high of plot twists by then. The end just pissed me off honestly. And it was out of character of Qiu Yan to do what she did. Like what happened to my fate is your fate!?!?

Finally, since we are talking about what happened in the last few minutes of the show... What's up with all the suicides and people dying?!?! The show is obsessed with death. OBSESSED. And it is obsessed with killing people off for no reason. There were so many unnecessary deaths. You didn't need to kill all these people to propel the story line forward but they did. I mean in the beginning already they kept trying to bury Qiu Yan with the "dead on arrival" groom. It's like literally every character is murder, tried to be murdered, tried to suicide or dies by suicide.

Overall, besides those annoyances, it really was a spectacular tragic romance drama and I highly recommend it to anyone who likes romances!