Uneven focus

Zhan Zhao has 2 identities – 1) Nan Xia 南侠 (Southern Hero) and 2) Imperial Guard of the 4th rank or 四品带刀护卫. The beginning of the drama leaned very heavily into his Nan Xia/Southern Hero identity and was the most captivating part of the show. The plot moved quickly between the various enemies with different weapons and backgrounds. There was a level of urgency and we raced to see how the heroes would face off against both time and their enemies. Zhan Zhao, with the help of Bai Yu Tang, were able to outwit their enemies with ease.

The problem is that the screenwriters never figured out how to effectively weave these two identities together. An Imperial Guard solves court cases and once the show pivots toward that identity, the Nan Xia persona essentially disappears. Action is replaced by heavy dialogue, and huge stretches of episodes are spent with characters sitting in rooms, discussing evidence, reminiscing about the past and talking through cases. You could watch a full episode and feel like nothing had actually moved forward.

The latter half compounds the pacing issues further by leaning too heavily into emotional beats. Characters who displayed real sharpness and wit early on, like Bai Yu Tang especially, are reduced to impulsive, emotional messes that Zhan Zhao has to manage and contain. It’s a jarring contrast to who they were at the start, and it makes the second half of the show feel like it’s starring different people. I wanted to shake Bai Yu Tang a lot to be like “you weren’t like this earlier!!”

Weak female lead both in casting and character

Casting: Man, Zhang Ruo Nan was miscast for this show. Huo Ling Long is supposed to be a young woman fresh out from escaping her home, sure, but Zhang Ruo Nan doesn’t bring any spark to her role. There is nothing captivating about her performance at all. In my view, her character should be like Huang Rong from Legend of the Condor Hero – spunky, naive, but with a heart of gold. Huo Long Long here? Zhang Ruo Nan is just going through the motions and is quite wooden most of the times. She is the weakest person on screen whenever she is in a scene, and that often times includes the antagonists. 

She is also not well placed in this martial arts focused show since her fighting is subpar compared to her male costars. (She is currently being ridiculed quite heavily online and her studio even had to release a video of her training martial arts to prove she can actually do the moves which then attracted even more negative comments). 

Character: Huo Ling Long as an individual character did not bring anything too unique or interesting. All of her renown is because she is of the Huo family and not necessarily because of any of her own accomplishments. She’s certainly growing and improving, but compared to Zhan Zhao and Bai Yu Tang? She’s leagues behind and therefore I’m left wondering, why is she even there? Her biggest assets are her connections and childhood friends. Not her martial arts skills or intellect. Almost all conflicts surrounding her are not because of her as an individual and her contributions, but because of her birth or the people around her. This makes her very ineffective as a team member.  

Chemistry: Lastly, Zhang Ruo Nan has very little chemistry with Yang Yang. Coming fresh off of the amazing chemistry from Ci Sha and Ren Min in A Splendid Match, Zhang Ruo Nan and Yang Yang feel entirely forced in this drama, even if the romance subtext isn’t strong. I would’ve preferred there to be no romance subtext at all, like how Huo Ling Long interacts with Bai Yu Tang, vs the extremely forced romantic subtext with Zhan Zhao. CPs or romances should make viewers believe the match is irreplaceable. Here? I don’t see why it’s the case for there to be a romance other than the script writing that the two people should be near each other and they’re the main leads. It was frustrating to say the least.