Drew H

The first half of season one is filled to the brim with political intrigue, suspense, and betrayal. The characters are colourful, deep, and the actors bring them to life. The music, costumes, and set bring a legitimacy and historical feeling. The latter half has all of those same things...but the clever and twisted plot line becomes a repetitive series of “frame jobs and poisonings”. The strong female characters are reduced to stereotypical and frankly “dated” unhinged love obsessed villains, counter to the female empowerment movement we are so familiar with in today’s movies/tv shows. As a side complaint, I got somewhat tired of how the show uses “blood coming from the mouth” as a universal sign of injury/death. Like. Were you stabbed in the black? Blood comes out your mouth. Poisoned? Bloody mouth, sick with the flu? Bloody mouth. Knocked over by bamboo pole? Bloody mouth. Papercut? Bloody mouth. Overall though - Definitely worth watching (and bingeing).