I saw the iffy reviews and didn't expect much, but from the beginning the cinematography caught my eye. The camera lingered on personal details that revealed character, for example in the very beginning, the insouciant heroine sitting on the back of a wagon, kicking her feet as she and her family are forced to leave their village and move in with their grander relatives.

The family dynamics are one of the best parts of this drama, as are the ceremonies through the year. And the look, of course.

Where the story fell down, for me, was in the arc of the central romance: the writer kept going back to the irritating trope of having the two characters NOT TALK TO EACH other, creating the inevitable misunderstandings and dramatic emotional fallout, though I admit that each resolution was very sweet, and some of them quite clever. But too many times the confrontational scene would end with them glaring at each other, leaving me shouting the obvious next line that any human being would be quick to offer to someone they cared about, beginning with, "This is what really happened . . ."

So the climactic arc, which otherwise is very effective, wobbles because our hero, once again, doesn't tell the heroine why he's giving her the cold shoulder when he should know by now she's quite capable of faking right along with him. I kept thinking that if the writer had only had them communicate and then work together to solve all the outside difficulties, it would have been a very powerful drama with endless rewatch capability.

That said, the actors did the best they could, and all were terrific. Zhan Zhi's growth arc was particularly delightful, but the real heart of the drama, for me, was the utterly understated, but exquisitely acted love story on the part of Zhong Zi Yan. It's one-sided. Our prince only sees his devoted best buddy, but we know from the time Menggu tries to speak loving words to him and he listens with a calm patience that makes it clear that no woman is ever going to win him--and his eyes stray to Hanchen--that his devotion belongs solely to him. So his death was a huge heartbreak, and nearly overshadowed the (rushed) happy ending.

I think that this drama was best when the focus was not on the central couple with their constant bickering and lack of communication. The elder generation were all terrific, their stories involving. Hanchen's friends were great (and another standout short arc was the acting of the Shen pair: the growing up and final heroic stature of the brother, and the emotional fallout of defeat on the part of Princess Rong). Oh, and Congwen's quiet arc--that was another standout.

If I do rewatch it, for the marvelous cinematography, the music which suited the flow so well and underscored the complexity of the emotions, I would skim through all the stupid non-communicative arguments between hero and heroine, and watch for everybody else.