Caitlin Vicencio

This show is just beautiful. Chinese dramas generally seem to have many more episodes per season than their American counterparts. Getting through this show can be kind of grueling- 70 episodes - but worth it. The sets, costumes, cinematography are all gorgeous, and who ever did the subtitling was great. Game of Thrones has nothing on how many subplots are going on in this story. There are a lot of characters and their diverging loyalties to keep track of. The performance from the actors is absolutely outstanding. I totally fell in love with the main characters- Ning Yi and Feng Jiwei- and their pretty tumultuous relationship. I finished the series last night- like other reviewers, I'm pretty devastated about the ending. I know it's just a story, and not all stories have happy endings, but I can't believe she jumped off of a cliff. I know one of the catalysts was the old emperor telling her that she and Ning Yi would end up the same way he and Ning Yi's mother had, hating each other. But the old emperor had stolen Yale (Ning Yis mom) from her home and forced her to stay with him, where Ning Yi always gave Feng Jiwei a choice. They could have found ways to move forward. Ugh, and her playing their song on that clay flute before she took the dive. My heart! I can't. I hope they make another season either where it turns out she didn't die (not likely- she fell backwards off of a mountain range - but hey, Ning Yi DID say raccoons have 9 lives, maybe it is a theme), or where they've reincarnated into a better situation and get to be together. Fingers crossed, Netflix.