EPISODE 24….guys I’m really scared

This show was my happy place for quite a while. If it doesn’t end happily, I AM GOING TO….i don’t know. Write an angry blog post, I guess.

So, Hua Rong is aimlessly wandering the streets of the city, in an unhappy daze. She walks past the Yun He doll seller and gets one for free for having bought the entire lot last time, heh. She stares at it blankly for a while before letting it just drop and shatter…uh oh….back in the empty theatre, she’s remembering how the play paired up Miss Tang and Hero Yun He, and sobbing some more…

WHAT IS WITH THIS DRAMA STOP IT IT’S THE LAST EPISODE NOOOOO now she’s at the bridge where they swore eternal love and she’s crying and getting rained on (I do have to say that the actress has a really good cry face) AND SHANG CHENG IS FOLLOWING HER AND WATCHING. SHEESH. TWIST THE KNIFE A LITTLE WILL YOU DRAMA? Oh, lol, he’s also carrying an umbrella. And tearing up.

And brings it, finally, over to her….stone-faced….wait, it was a bait and switch. The person who brings Hua Rong the umbrella is Wanwan! Mr. Jin and Tang Dad are there in the background, too, presumably in case HR tries to comit justifiable homicide. But now we switch back over to Chang Sheng, having a quiet moment by himself in the rain.

Wanwan and Mr. Jin are trying to coax HR into eating something. They’re also trying to convince her that Shang Cheng probably has a plan of some kind and is a reasonable person….she acquiesces to drink the medicine and lies down, just to make them go away. Annnnnd, that night…..someone creeps into her room…

….guess who….no, okay, look, this is ridiculous. You either have married Miss Tang or you haven’t, or you’re dying in two days or you’re not. MAKE UP YOUR MIND.

Anyhow, CS makes his presumably final farewell, and tucks her in and closes the curtains to the bed….and later, he’s standing outside brooding when Miss Tang arrives. She observes he’s feeling so lousy he might as well tell HR the truth. He doesn’t want her to try and find the treasure because she’s DEFINITELY going to move heaven and earth to save him if she can.

Miss Tang points out that there is also no way in hell Hua Rong will ever settle down and forget about him and be happy. She also points out that if it were her, she would stand by her man and cherish even just his memory and love him forever, as long as he didn’t, YOU KNOW, LIE TO HER ABOUT THINGS. But Shang Cheng has made up his mind.

GAH I DON”T LIKE THIS PLOTLINE!

So anyway, in the morning Wanwan and Mr. Jin come by…but Hua Rong has already sussed out that CS came by the night before, and dashes off to try and find him…..fast enough that she almost smacks into Miss Tang.

Miss Tang has had enough of this, and flat-out tells HR that the marriage was fake. THANK YOU MISS TANG. And also tells her the rest of the story. But, as SC predicted, HR immediately wants to find the treasure. Mr. Jin and Miss Tang are willing to help. Mr. Jin can get the one piece that his evil brother has, while Miss Tang has the piece formerly owned by SC.

OK! There is still half an episode left! I am happy now even though the sound is not working for some reason! Mr. Jin and HR are in the evil prince’s palace and spy out the hiding place! This can’t be a trap! There isn’t enough time for it to be a trap! Come on, show! COME ON!! OH NO!!!

THEY GOT CAUGHT! IT WAS BAIT! The evil prince is going to use our heroes to go ahead and find the treasure for him. First problem: how does this alleged map actually work? But HR figures out that it refers to the weird cave/tunnel they found in the previous episode. So, leaving Miss Tang and Wanwan behind, Mr. Jin (and Sidekick) and Hua Rong set out….wait, why don’t they just go straight back down to the tunnel, then?

So instead, they end up in a dilapidated temple and have to solve a riddle on the tablets before the local guardian god. At this point, the Bros show up. They have bad news…Shang Cheng is dead. Hua Rong doesn’t believe them.

I don’t believe them, either, really. But she’s still in the tearful denial stage when the evil prince kicks the door in and enters with a bunch of armed men. It was all a trick! That was why it was so suspiciously easy!

Mr. Jin confronts his brother: “Bro, stop doing evil things.” ….you know…that never works. Evil Prince Brother also has the nerve to say that it’s him who has been giving Mr. Jin many chances and that it’s Mr. Jin who never repented. EXCUSE ME?

Hua Rong and the Bros want to fight, but are taken with, um…contemptuous ease. Evil Prince swears that he will kill them with his own hands when he gets the treasure. So. Hm. Cut to th at night, with the soldiers doing soldierly things like drinking, laughing, and dancing around a bonfire, while our heroes are tied to a bunch of stakes and the bad guy is feasting and about to give an evil speech. I think I’ve seen this one before….

So Evil Prince comes by to gloat about his six chests of recovered treasure. Hua Rong spits in his face. GOOD GIRL! She glares at him! Did I ever mention that I really love this heroine? She has no desire to live now that her man is dead, but she assures the bad guy that he will suffer the penalty of sin! Evil Prince sneers and is going to cut her throat! The Bros try to call him off! He’s ready to do it!

WAIT WHAT WHY Yes I know this is awesome, clearly, but more importantly HOW THE HECK DID SHANG CHENG ACTUALLY GET INTO THE TREASURE CHEST TO BEGIN WITH?????

WAIT WHAT???? Where did all the other ninjas come from??? How did they….fit….in those chests…??

HR slaps SC! He lied to her AGAIN! He promises never, ever, to do it again. Yeah right, as if. (ANTIDOTE FIRST GUYS)

HAH, even the evil prince wants to know how he got into those freaking chests. So does Hua Rong.

(Boop!)

So, basically, he did go back to the tunnel–in force along with the rest of the pirate bros–and didn’t bother with all the riddles and passwords and counterweights thing. He’s a pirate. They blow s*it up. I love it. Also, he found the antidote. (Good).

Also, Smug Shang Cheng makes a surprise appearance. Hua Rong adds her complements! (“Thanks, wifey.”)…it’s not often that the heroes get to gloat, you know. I guess SC is enough of an antihero that he gets honorary points, though…lol.

Anyhow, SC is going to kill the Evil Prince to avenge his adopted father. FIGHT SCENE! Lol, Hua Rong and the Bros chime in to say that they support Shang Cheng! Fighting! LOOOOOL, the evil steward pipes up (with a knife at his neck), that he supports his prince! The prince ROLLS HIS EYES LOL.

FIGHT FIGHT FIGHT
Oh. Well that was anticlimactically quick.
(Poor Mr. Jin).

Shang Cheng gives his next order: don’t kill those who surrender, but do kill those who don’t. (everyone surrenders).

Anyhow, Shang Cheng has it pretty easy this time. Hua Rong is too happy he’s alive to give him proper hell for what he’s done. HUG!!

So! The companions are back aboard ship–Mr. Jin, Wanwan, the Bros, and our happy couple! They’re all invited to the wedding on, lol, Hua Rong Island. Blue Bro gets roasted for not having a girlfriend, heh. Meanwhile! A toast–to helping the needy with the money we found! YAYYYYYY!

Wait, is that it??

Oh, wait. He’s giving her the necklace back. (and kind of ruining it by telling her that she can’t take it off without his permission. PATRIARCHAL OPPRESSOR.)
But he also is proposing! Will she marry Qin Shang Cheng?

OH! SHE GIVES HIM THE WHITE JADES–IT’S THE DOWRY SHE PROMISED HIM! AWWWWW!!! And kisses him, completely voluntarily! THE END!

OK…..so.

That ending definitely could have been stronger. I think they really did go with the weakest possible plot line, there. But some things can’t be helped, like the way the hero has stick arms and no muscle tone, or that there’s virtually no fight scenes. For the most part, this was an intelligently-written, impeccably acted, fun, funny, romantic adventure fantasy. With really great chemistry between the leads, lovable characters and very little cliche.

Overall? I really, really like this show–and it made me happy.

Boop

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