With Joy of Life 2 done it’s time for a lot more C-dramas to premiere. Two that arrived at the tail of JoL2 has two very different outcomes – big budget high expectation Fox Spirit Matchmaker: Red Moon Pact is a dud in every way from acting to chemistry to writing to directing while comparatively lower budget with less well known leads The Double is not going doing gangbuster ratings but the reviews are really strong with viewers addicted to the fast-paced scorned smart woman getting revenge plotline. The Double is reportedly doing the streaming numbers that The Legend of Shen Li pulled in the same span of time which would be quite a feat. But industry pundits are saying the success of the drama is due to the story and visually appealing directing and leads Wu Jin Yan and Wang Xing Yue playing interesting characters and doing a solid acting job and delivering strong chemistry despite their 11 year real life noona-dongsaeng age gap. So the success of The Double isn’t going to deliver a leveling up in career for either lead but will be a small step up which she needs to get back her groove in the 6 years since Story of Yanxi Palace while he’s sooooo young still this is just the male lead successful drama he needs to keep up his career growth. I watched the first two episodes and thoroughly enjoyed it, it’s so entertaining but put your brain on the backburner lots of shit doesn’t realistically make sense but once you go with the flow this drama is legit a lot of fun to watch.
Yu Zheng must really like Wu Jin Yan… he really boast her career alot. Tailor characters that suits her.
I have yet to start watching but so far ratings seem to be on the rise.
I’m thoroughly enjoying this drama for what it is. Visually appealing and highly entertaining without needing to make much sense. This is a turn your brain off and enjoy drama.
I’m waiting for it to finish before watching, but from what I gathered the plotholes/things not making sense happened because it’s a rebirth novel adaptation (Xue Fangfei actually dies and her soul takes over Jiang Li’s body) so they had to change a lot of things to get around the ban.
And I’d say the source material is a big reason for the drama’s success. Qian Shan Cha Ke’s plots really translate well on screen (it also help that this is her 2nd best novel in terms of both writing and keeping timelines and details straight—a noticible issue in her earlier Rebirth of an Ill-fated Consort and Rebirth of the Malicious Empress). There are many good cnovels out there but their adaptations are at best boring (for example Yue Xia Die Ying’s; unfortunately, the only one of her novels that would do good as a series is a harem novel and those are banned).
👍👍👍 Thanks!!
He does like her, once ppl were comparing to BaiLu saying she doesn’t have many lead roles and he defended her saying she has many projects but she just likes to take time to choose one
I love the Original novel writer alot…. Thus am excited with Yu Zheng version.
I watched ep1 out of boredom. To my surprise, it’s watchable cos you know I’ve been checking and dropping so many C dramas. LOL.
It’s fast paced by far that is good. On the flip side, it lacks some depth in the plot development to suck your emotions in that a memorable drama entails. The ML is too skinny to my liking. But agreed with you about the role fitting WJY who seems to do well specifically on revenge storylines.
I have no specifically strong passion to follow this drama every day, given that I still have quite a few good Kdrama recommendations to check out. But I’ll keep watching and see if this will be another drama like LSS’ A Journey to Love that I was able to finish.
@Somebody, I will watch till it end before I start. I enjoy reading almost all of this writer’s novels but we know translating into drama is always edited. Thus I will keep my expectations low so I will not get disappointed. Visually, the ML does not do anything for me but who knows what happens after watching this drama…
I don’t know if I have seen any “strong” reviews. Most people take it for eye candy and a bit of fun, while ignoring plot holes.
It has a 6.9 on Douban which seems about right.
Yeah, the higher than normal Douban score, despite all the plotholes, is because there’s no “big” actor on the show, so there’s not a whole group of people going in to rate it 1.
agree. liuliangs get flak in that site. it’s automatic.
6.9 (I count it as 7) is quite a feat for a drama like “The Double” nobody expected with plot holes. It means people at DB are enjoying it
It’s not a seven yet, it will probably rise but that’s kind of my point?
They have no antis, the drama has issues, so a 6.9 is a good score for this type of drama. But overall, it’s hardly amazing. Perspective.
My guilty pleasure right now since there aren’t any other good dramas airing right now.
I’m currently on episode 12 and I have to say it’s kind of addicting so far? Although there’s many plot holes, the plot pace is fast and keeps me on edge.
Agreed with your comment about this being addictive. I know this show has it’s flaws.. like the crazy guqin competition was a bit dramatic to say the least, but the show keeps me coming back.
Yeah its not brilliant but it’s addictive. I just finished 14 episodes in 2 days. I just started Queen of tears 2 days prior and I abandoned it in episode 3
The double is fast paced and keeps moving. Lovely to watch. Not perfect but totally worth following.
So far I love the horror elements and murderer husband going crazy. It would be perfect for me if there was a bit more more action.
First of all, I really like Wang Xing Yue and I thought he is doing a perfect job in the live adaptation of the original (novel) character.
As for Wu Jin Yan, I am a little bit conflicted coz she is perfect as the murderers led wife but not the “transmigrated” version of Jiang Li (the teenage weak willed daughter of the Prime Minister)… but because Yu Zheng changed the entire premise (maybe due to broadcasting restrictions on “rebirth” themes), we ended up with the “wife” character imposing as Jiang Li.
In the novel, Jiang Li appears to be very polite and rather accommodating to the domineering, dangerous and “older” Duke Su (WXY) but in the drama, she is indifferent, dismissive, stanfoffish towards him…
And some of the characters are whitewashed, and the dramatic parts are muted… while some scenes are too exaggerated and appear to be “fantasy” like.
Anyway having said all that, it’s still the most interesting drama now.
Sorry typos …. Murdered wife, imposing =
disguising
Do you know where to read the novel with eng translation? What is the title of the novel? Thank you in advance.
I believe it’s called 嫡嫁千金 (Di Jia Qian Jin) by 千山茶客 (Qian Shan Cha Ke).
@Yui
Marriage of Di Daughter
https://bloomingtranslation.home.blog/2019/08/27/mdd-chapter-1-1-fang-fei/
The English translated version is not completed yet, only halfway… and I doubt it’s gonna be completed soon
Wang Xing Yue has this really intense eyes, either you’re taken in by it or you cant look at it. Either way we’re still winning lol
A show without “traffic actors” doing really well in viewership? Look at that, now maybe now these platforms will understand that traffic does not equal ratings. This show reminds we of those short dramas, the 10 minute long episodes. It’s not great, but it’s just very fun and addicting rooting for the underdog and seeing these evil people getting what they deserve.
O.m.g I haven’t started this drama yet, watching Fox Spirit Matchmaker and enjoying it. Is it doing that bad?
Happy for Wang Xing Yue and Wu Ji Yan since she’s hasn’t had a buzzed about drama in a while. I don’t even see the age gap when these two are on screen. I really hope WXY’s drama Shadow Detective gets released this year given The Double is doing well.
This show is the only thing I’m watching. Super addicting and good. So pissed that we’re only getting one episode a day now.
All wang xing yue need is a spectacular drama. He cam act, has great chemistry with co star and he’s good looking too but probably not as beautiful as some names but his talent will definitely save him.
This drama got me hooked since ep 1. There were some plot holes but it’s still better than other current airing dramas.
So sad that for friday to sunday, they only release one ep.
6.9 douban rating is too small, they deserve more than 7 points.
Handsome is not the same than beautiful tho 😉
I’ve never cared about Douban ratings. It was said that those C drama ratings could be manipulated, not credible. Why should we take fake statistics seriously. We just enjoy what we like as drama viewers. Some dramas have high rating, e.g., Blossoms Shanghai. But BS is literally BS (pun intended LOL), one of the worst C dramas I’ve ever watched.
So far,this drama is the best Cdrama that has aired this year.its so addicting despite its many plot holes. Totally washed away the disappointment of Fox Spirit Matchmaker.
WJY does better in historical dramas than modern ones.
That 22-year-old baby sure got a lot of presence plus he dubs himself and so far from all accounts he is doing a good job at that
The drama is fun. I am watching it for what it is. Fast pace, entertainment, with color saturation that my eyes can handle (people don’t look like ghosts).
It’s very much a drama like Yanxi Palace but with less Palace. Lol
I’m embarrassed to say I’m binge watching the drama and totally enjoying it. It’s totally a little low budget, the first episode was cringey and has the quality of those “short” dramas that you just watch to past time. But I’m now totally hook and sad I have no more new episodes fo watch. I think Wu Jing Yan does well in such storylines of being smartass and revenge seeking, Wang Xin Yue is totally serviceable as the male vase and a very hot one. I think this drama is smartly scripted- there’s no boring scenes, I hardly hitFF and it’s quick paced which I like/ the story line to my surprise is quite interesting and most importantly entertaining. I’m also being won episode by episode by Wang Xin Yue – I think this is the drama he needs to pop. It’s not stellar acting, he just looks good and the acting is solid not cringey and I think the character is just one easy win.