Anne: Happy Tuesday everyone! Well…my week has been a whirlwind of work and craziness that will probably continue into next year. It was definitely never a good idea to set up a meeting with a client first thing on Monday morning. After this week’s meeting, where we hadn’t even finished discussing the agenda, I needed a drink. I had to schedule another time later this week in hopes we could finish. Sigh…at least the end of the year is approaching, and despite everything I still have to do…like completing my written feedback for my team, the forced vacation will at least slow down some things. Isn’t that a bit sad? I really need a cure for my workaholic disease.
Anyway… remember last week when I reviewed some of my favorite dramas of the year, and I said that if nothing unusual happens, then this year ended with a short list of dramas that caught my attention. Well… let’s talk about my current obsession…
Bloom
It was certainly a surprise at the end of the year. And the reason I started this is really stupid, the English title. I was wondering…why is there a THIRD drama with the word Blossom in the title? (And I don’t even know WHY? The Chinese title has nothing to do with the word.) Now, I liked the other two dramas, so I thought I should try this one. The synopsis of the drama did not indicate that it was a revival drama. Imagine how confused I was when the first episode started with Song Mo and Dou Zhao quickly going to a tragic end (both are “sickly”). Song Mo kills the crown prince, who tells him he is seeking revenge on the wrong person. In this chaos, Dou Zhao discovers that her husband is having an affair with his half-sister. Rightly upset, she decides to divorce her husband. In her escape, she meets Song Mo. (I really like the way they made the white streaks in her hair.)
With them at their end was a young monk named Ji Yong, who gave a “book” to Dou Zhao and opened a sort of “door” that pushed them back into the past.
Now imagine how excited I was that this was another revival drama!!! One of my favorites. However… it seems that only the FL has retained the memory of the past life.
When they return to the past… Dou Zhao wakes up in the same place where she died, with Ji Yong by her side, telling her that she was immersed in her book and knocked herself out.
In her childhood, with the experiences of her last life, she refused to count on a man for her future. She made sure to involve her new mother-in-law in an attempt to “hurt” her and was able to get taken away by her grandmother. This life, she has chosen to make herself as self-sufficient as possible, even going so far as to ensure that all the women she employs learn enough martial arts to protect themselves. The first thing she tried to do was prevent her mother’s death, but despite her best efforts, she was unable to change her mother’s fate. There was a great scene (at least from my point of view), where she is at the river and asks the “author” of her book why nothing has really changed despite all his efforts to change the events. The passing “author” tells him that his attempts are simply throwing stones into a flowing river. No matter how big the rock is, the only thing it does is create ripples in the river. But this never changes the course of the river. If she truly wants to change her destiny, she must become powerful enough to move a mountain. This is the only way to change the course of the river.
Over the next few episodes, up to 10, each of which I watched, told the story of Song Mo and how he became the feared general he became in his last life. It was great to see his relationship with his maternal uncle, the Duke whose death was the major influence in his past life that caused him to doubt everything he believed in.
In this life, Ji Yong, the young monk from before, became her childhood friend and grew up with her. The two men find themselves in the town where she grew up with her grandmother, while Song Mo eliminates the pirates plaguing the region. While his uncle is “called back” to the capital, Song Mo saves his uncle’s only child and, during his journey, he ends up at Dou Zhao’s house. This triggers an interesting “hostage” situation between our two protagonists. Song Mo is good at reading people. But Dou Zhao is better at navigating judicial politics.
As her stepmother and uncle plot to marry her off to the man from her past life, she actively tries to escape. Along the way, Song Mo’s uncle always ends up being tortured to death and sentenced. At this lowest point in his life, which is the end of episode 10, is the turning point of his life. The episode ends with Dou Zhao, who was “liberated” from the fight, turning back and (most likely) getting the support he needed to stop him from going down the same path as before.
I’m completely addicted! I love it!
All right. That’s where I left off this week. On the other hand, there is a short drama on iQiyi titled The night is still young…I have a feeling this thing is going to end in tragedy. It’s another rebirth drama, but in this one, FL never realized that everything she “knew” wasn’t the truth. And that the enemy she thought was responsible for the death of her family is actually the person who loved her the most.
Hope everyone is having a good week!