Period C-drama Love and Crown with Allen Ren and Peng Xiao Ran Manages to Deliver an Even More Absurd and Ridiculous Ending When Viewers Were Already Expecting to be Bad
C-drama Love and Crown feels like if a group of middle schoolers played Mad Libs and then made a drama out of it. Reportedly the script was written/rewritten/unwritten as filming went along and it certainly delivered on that foundation. The ending this week, which I along with any viewer watching expected to be bad, actually outdid itself on just how terrible it was. Beyond the rocks fall down aspect, and yep nearly everyone died, it’s once again the how/why of it that exemplifies the dumb as rocks narrative of this drama. The real baddie turned out to be the second female lead High Priestess played by Chen Yi Han, but her motivation for evil was either her mom was killed and she wanted revenge on the royal family or because she fell in love with Allen Ren‘s male lead the Emperor but he didn’t reciprocate (oh and he was revealed later to be her half-brother as well so at least they avoided incest). Peng Xiao Ran‘s female lead the Queen remained stupid as bricks through the entirety of the drama, and she and Allen basically had one scene together in the last few episodes and it was his sacrifice himself for his kingdom and greater good death scene.
Allen’s death thwarted the evil Priestess’ plan and then Peng Xiao Ran reveals she was pregnant with his royal baby and that must’ve been an immaculate conception because the two never even had sex (as far as viewers saw) in the show. She delivers the crown prince, then five year time jump where she dies from lingering poison/sadness/consumption (I don’t know!) and then her BFF the third female lead (who is now married to Allen’s younger brother the new Emperor so she’s the new Queen) dies right alongside her! Like Peng Xiao Ran dies and then BFF keels over right next to her on the bed and dies seconds later. Again, from sadness maybe? It’s never even discussed much less explained, like all things in this drama. That leaves the second male lead the new Emperor with chipmunk cheeks alone raising the orphaned Crown Prince as they survey their sad mopey Kingdom that was saved by the deaths of so many. Oh, and the High Priestess is punished by being locked away in a tower forever tied to chains and writing letters to Allen or laments about her sorrow. The end. I thought this drama couldn’t get worse when I dipped halfway through but the drama stared me in the eye and said “hold my beer” and delivered this swan dive off the cliff that still managed to somersault by hitting a ton of rocks on its way down.
oh boy Im glad I didnt waste my time with this… thanks for the update.
🤣 just by reading this review
There are some actors who do keep getting similar roles. I am unsure they have real choice to roles, alot is down to the investors/sponsors. I really would not blame artistes for some of scripts they have to take on…at the end of the day, they need to earn money.
There are too many jobless artistes… only a tiny % actually earn well deserved earnings.
Of course, Allen Ren acting skilled have limitations but the roles he does take on, he still has man fans that enjoys it. They like his acting style and gentlemanly manner.
Peng Xiao Ran, I really hope she gets better scripts. I really like watching a few of her roles.
@HL
I agree with you. Artistes need to earn a living. I just hope the crew wouldn’t simply change scripts.
And I suspect PXR didn’t really wanna play the role according to the revised script….
She would be appearing in The Boundless Bright Moon with Zheng Ye Cheng. I wish them well
Was she good in Blood River. I saw her in episode 1 or 2 and I almost couldn’t recognize her acting and gestures
She had a minor role in Blood River, more like a guest role.
Thanks Leia,
I particularly enjoyed her appearance in the first 1-2 episodes. She gave a very different vibe.
I wish it can be duplicated in her other future roles..
I’m here for a laugh. Koala’s lively rant cracked me up. As much as I’m indifferent to Allen Ren’s dramas, I did note that his choices of scripts seemed to have a penchant for main leads to vanish by the end of the drama. This one is just another example that fans should expect Allen can only have a happy relationship in real life. LMAO. But it seems this one is more tragic with collective death of key figures at the end. LOL.
So, out of curiosity, I watched 2 episodes. What came to mind were the words of a 3 year old child from the nursery I work at, critiquing the drawing of one of his peers – “that’s just scribble” It was the film/plot/writing equivalent. The acting was OK. Paid special attention to the fl, she was good at what she did, particularly taking into account the ‘conditions’ she mentioned.
From what I read, the author was criticising the characterisation, brought about by making it female lead-centric rather than male and changing the fl character starting out as a silly, immature spoilt princess type. From what I could gather, she had been rewritten as a rebel/social justice warrior, I think.
And once again, Allen Ren did not survive lol. At this point these writers need a therapy session because why are they out here massacring every d*mn character like it’s a hobby? Honestly, I wish the characters could climb out of the script and rant the writers out for killing them off so shamelessly in the name of ‘plot,’ lol.
What he had bad ending yet again!!!!
That’s what Koala said. The ML, the FL, and her bestie dies.
After people wonder why lousy short dramas are becoming popular
Lousy short dramas are still lousy but each episode is just 10/15 minutes long.
Haha, some short & most vertical dramas at least have a happy ending and the narrative is quick. It’s like watching a 2-6 hr movie.
Koala, you crack me up!!! Thank you for the summary.
LOL@yet another Allen Ren trademarked ending.
and the writer had the guts to blame it on the actress. Producer and Writers are to blame. When you do an adaptation, you already got a blue print. Your job is basically done. But this drama goes into the waste of $ of production. RJL is needed only to cover for crap shitting work.
This may be the funniest review I’ve read yet.