Fox Spirit Matchmaker Chapter 2 Love in Pavilion with Liu Shi Shi and Zhang Yun Long Ends Run with Better Reviews But Lower Viewership and Buzz to Red Moon Pact
Better quality doesn’t always translate to more viewership but at least the second chapter of the Fox Spirit Matchmaker series has concluded with no major hiccups or as a big flop. Love in Pavilion is more like a shrug of the shoulder type of drama run, with the heat index in iQiyi never breaking 9000 (which the first chapter Red Moon Pact did) despite more positive reviews from the public for the acting, chemistry, and story compared to RMP. I tried out the first episode and agree it was way better than the first episode of RMP but Liu Shi Shi came across as very stiff and Zhang Yun Long no matter how hard I try just does not work for me. This is probably as good as can be expected as iQiyi didn’t promote this nearly as much as RMP and it also feels like an in-between chapter as more buzz is growing for the third chapter Sword and Beloved with Cheng Yi and Li Yi Tong.
I read many enjoyed it. Even despite the sad ending and look forward to the third installment as it is about their son. Also these series are not meant to be so happy go lucky and most likely will have a tragic end so I heard, so maybe that might turn some off. The second series was a lot more interesting and visually cohesive. They did a good job. The first series being such a drag for me and confusing maybe due to awkward editing. Guess we will see if the third would manage well or flop like the first series.
The side couples in this were actually really compelling. Ding Yuxi and Meng Ziyi in particular were standouts!! But I really couldn’t watch the last few episodes with it’s Hamlet levels of tragedy…
Ding Yuxi and Meng Ziyi were really good, especially their scene together.Ding Yuxi is an above average actor in these idol-period dramas and when paired with Meng Ziyi, it was good. These 2 probably saved this series to a certain.
This one was definitely better than RMP from the lead’s story to the supporting characters. The sad ending was definitely well made in comparison to other sad ending.
LIP is definitely better than RMP but it’s still underperformed.