I was intrigued by Avenue X’s praise (and legitimate quibbles) with Love In Between but the things that caught my attention in her review were ‘beautiful lighting’ and ‘live-recorded audio’ and ‘likable ensemble of leads.’ These are indeed reasons to watch this drama, and there are more, so without too much in the way of spoilers (always marked), here’s to my first fully completed drama of the new year!
First off, in terms of atmospheric lighting and general set pieces, this drama delivers the most beautiful, warm, candle-lit (and seriously, did someone in production have the candle concession and/or know about my pet peeve of historical dramas with night scenes lit for electrified day?) sequences that one could ever hope for in a relatively lower budget drama. Maybe they were using candles to reduce their electricity consumption, or perhaps to hide any imperfections on set, but one cannot complain about the end results. The natural shadows and mood created by this illumination just makes every yearning glance that much more poignant.
Just look at this beautiful room and candle-glow; you can just imagine the character of Wen Si Yuan straining to read by the dim light (no matter his levels of qi circulating around his eyeballs). The set piece for this room too is really that much more lovely in candlelight, though it’s satisfyingly detailed enough to enjoy in daytime scenes as well. In fact, although this is a much less Big Production drama than The Longest Day in Chang’an, they share much in the way of beautiful and thoughtful set lighting, and that is high praise because The Longest Day in Chang’an is one of the most stunning I’ve seen… ever.
The other thing that this drama does successfully is deliver on not one, not two, but three romances (not to mention two buddies and one failed suitor). Zuo Qing Ci and Su Yun Luo are the primary young lovers; he is the brilliant, medically trained (but, in a nod to Nirvana In Fire, seriously ill and fur-colored cape-wearing) young master with A Past. She is the young master thief with excellent neigong searching for ingredients to free her master from another type of poison. They’re young, they keep saving each other’s lives, and they’re in love, but they have Important Things to Do that are impediments. They part but cannot keep apart, so there is some lovely yearning time for this couple.
Couple number two is one of an older (30s?) mysterious leader of one of the Jianghu sects (he runs a NIF-like Lanya Hall/business managing information and more), Wen Si Yuan, and the oldest female disciple of the most important of the sects, 18-ish? Shen Man Qing. The flies in their ointment are her arranged marriage commitment to another sect’s (weasel) heir and his Secret Past (and his awareness that he is a little old for her).
Couple number three is the youngest one, a couple of cute kids who meet in times of conflict and whose families are on opposite sides (though not them, nope, not them). They’re Man Qing’s younger martial brother and the heir to their sect, Zheng Yang Palace, Yin Chang Ge.
Now one might think that having so many couples in a drama might bog it down a bit, but it’s really one of the more enjoyable things in this drama. When the story focuses on their joint and/or separate journeys the plot moves along briskly and the mostly very youthful cast more than delivers the emotional goods. I particularly enjoyed Zhang Yao’s lanky, intelligent Zuo Qing Ci; he must have been 21/22 during the filming, but for his relative youth he holds his own with more experienced actors. Nope, for me the show bogs down a bit with what one might call ‘an excess of plot.’ Here are the major arcs: Zuo Qing Ci’s birthright and connection to imperial palace intrigues (a plot to usurp the throne), Su Yun Luo’s and Wen Si Yuan’s connection to a power grab in the sects, and corresponding plots and attacks between sects driven by Zheng Yang Palace (home of Man Qing and Chang Ge). There’s also the little business of an invading army nibbling away at the border of the empire. Whew! Not gonna lie, I took advantage of the WeTV feature to play scenes at 1.5, even 2x speed during some of the more repetitive plotting sequences by the bad guys. (And what a nice feature that is! All streaming apps should off this feature; I can read fast, don’t even need to skip ahead!)
One thing is amusing: while most of the villains of the piece wear the typical black of their kind, take a look at this group shot (above) and their white/pastel robes. Now one might think that they’d be of the more noble and righteous character archetypes, but one would be (minor spoiler but acceptable because come on, look at their smug faces) wrong.
I also enjoyed the lovely relationships between Zuo Qing Ci and his servant/medical assistant/friend Bai Mo. Poor Bai Mo! Saddled with carrying this medicine kit cum instant market stall backpack most of his scenes, like some sort of porter, but truthfully, he’s charming and adds both humor and concern, reminding us that his master/friend is gravely, GRAVELY ill. Zhi Yun Peng (who was coincidentally a minor supporting character in The Longest Day in Chang’an) as Zhu Yan is initially a little less fleshed out as a character, but he swears an oath of friendship with Chang Ge that bolsters his position with the group to being more than the one with a hopeless (jealous) crush on Su Yun Luo.
All in all, this was a fairly satisfying way to start the new drama-viewing year. Will it be a favorite drama of the year? Probably not, but there’s a lot to like and it hit the spot, and I’ll look forward to seeing more work from the young cast in the future — and hopefully more works filmed with glorious candlelight!
Seo Kang-joon plays one of the 3 central protagonists; Kim Young-goon is a young police officer* with the unhappy past. He was the sole witness to his mother’s death at the hands of a murderer and for years he’s thought that person was his father, a top detective in the police force, suspected of corruption. His driving ambition is to discover the truth behind his mother’s death, his father’s presumed guilt, and the reasons why he cannot fully recall the traumatic events of that day.
Han Suk-kyu (who I’ve always admired in his films and drama work) is the veteran detective, Do Chi-kwang, formerly of Internal Affairs and before that a member of the same squad that was headed up by Young-goon’s father. As a result of causing some heartburn with HQ brass because he tried to take them down for corruption, he’s been tasked with a seemingly dead-end position as the director of an Anti-Corruption unit, with one assistant (who’s likely a spy), and soon the angry young man Young-goon.
The third protagonist is the troubled former prosecutor, Han Tae-joo, played by Kim Hyun-joo. She was the prosecutor for the murder case and worked with Young-goon to testify. Unsatisfied with the evidence, she’s prompted later to try new technologies to root out the truth and this leads to the string of violence that forms the basic plot that drives the story forward — there is indeed corruption and collusion in the police and prosecutorial offices and these three form an uneasy alliance in doggedly pursuing the truth, no matter the risks or costs.
This was a very satisfying drama to watch, even if the subject is murder and mayhem because I rarely knew exactly who was involved and who was trustworthy. Well, you knew that Kim Young-goon was trustworthy because this is his journey towards truth and justice (and he was a child when his mother was murdered), but you’d also know because Seo Kang-joon played his role so transparently. Anger looks very good on Seo Kang-joon, as does mistrust, and mistrust he does because Han Suk-kyu’s Do Chi-kwang is one complicated man, one who seems eminently pure and driven and noble and trustworthy… but may not be!
Equally motivated, equally canny, and equally given to pursuing her own agenda (which may or may not support the team’s), Han Tae-joo is a bundle of controlled PTSD nerves (with good cause). I can’t blame her for her seemingly double-dealing ways because they helped keep me and everyone else on our collective toes. Plus, I always applaud female characters who are well-written and complicated heroines of their own lives. She defends those who are loyal and takes down the rest. I could happily watch a sequel with her as the lead.
We Talk Dramas All Day 