The Killing of Three Thousand Crows (2020)

I always feel like somebody's watching me.

I struggle to contain my anger at the monumental disappointment this drama turned into because it could have been a huge hit. I am so irritated I need to get it off my chest with a spoiler heavy review, something I really dislike doing. I think I figured out the confusing ending that I explain below. Do not read this if you don't want to be spoiled.

The story is a very simple, poignant enchanted fairy tale. Fu Jiuyun (Zheng Yecheng) is an immortal who falls for a mortal with an indomitable spirit in a magical painting his shifu left him and stalks her across ten incarnations over a thousand years. In her incarnation as Yanyan, a Li princess, she is destined to marry her childhood sweetheart and live a happy life. Jiuyun cannot stay away from her and in the guise of a dissipated genius artist Gongziqi gifts her a magical painting of a peach blossom tree and a magical song that she performs for her mother's birthday celebration. Note that the painting and song are key in the ending interpretation. The dance is truly captivating and if nothing else, just watch that. At this point I was addicted and fully invested in both leads.

An ambitious neighboring prince makes a deal with demon forces, invades her kingdom, massacres her family and enslaves her people. A devastated Yanyan vows vengeance and embarks on a quest to obtain a magical lamp that can absorb the demon forces and free her people. She assumes the appearance of her maid Ah Man (note the name) and calls herself Qinchuan. This is where they replace the actress Jiang Yiyi with the more well known Zhao Lusi. First mistake - it was not just confusing throughout but I had to get over the first actress whom I liked and get invested in the female lead all over again. The switch worked at first because Lusi is a really funny actress and her antics with Jiuyun, Xiao Bai and Er Meng were entertaining. However, the couple's interactions fell short of the seamless transition from humor to intimacy that was so well done in Under the Power. As a result, Jiuyun initially comes across one of those oily old dudes that misbehaves with young girls. While their chemistry eventually "clicked", Lusi's initial indifference made Jiuyun's overtures seem unwelcome to the point of harassment.

Just when their romance takes off, the show separates them and shifts into the revenge plot. This is where Qinchuan becomes all bravado and no brain - she has no credible plan and has to be rescued multiple times. She works with Er Meng and Xiao Bai; Jiuyun only bails her out from afar. The show peaks too early with the take-down of most of the bad guys and then digresses further into the super boring second couple. I suggest skipping all of their scenes in the middle. They could have easily cut 6-10 episodes to avoid the fatal loss of momentum in the storytelling. Then Jiuyun decides to help Qinchuan fulfill her mission even though it means a certain end for him. He is the wick of the lamp that once lit, eventually burns out.

Once the tone shifts away from largely comedic, Lusi struggles to get into the moment in action and emotional scenes. She is not versatile and is mostly just excellent at comedy. Her performance was flat through most of the second part of the show and only saved by some of the steamier romantic scenes with Jiuyun. By then, I had enough and just wanted it to end. Zheng Yecheng's performance on the other hand was consistently stellar - he really carried the show. Apart from being smoking hot (I can watch him all day), his interpretation of the hard core romantic good guy that disguises himself as a world weary, cynical, indifferent and dissipated immortal was spot on. His eyes shine with unshed tears at all the right moments and as he protects Qin Chuan from the truth of what she asks of him.

The ending is confusing and to me it is quite sad in a Butterfly Lovers kind of way (major spoiler):

Qinchuan realizes that Jiuyun is not coming back ; even Meishan admits that his soul has scattered. She completes her ritual with the lamp - she had already bonded with it earlier on. She wakes up as child Yanyan who dreams an old man (her shifu?) tells her that she gets a fresh start. I think the lamp takes them all back in time for a do over. She grows up and intuitively makes way for Zichen to fall in love with Xuanzhu. Her maid is no longer Ah Man but a Xiao Cui. She has more sad dreams where Jiuyun tells her that she will soon forget him. As the time loop starts to replay her mother's birthday she forgets how to play the song Jiuyun/Gongziqi wrote for her and the pipa disappears into the painting. In this new life, Yanyan will marry Er Meng and their kingdoms will be at peace. She never becomes Qinchuan so eventually Qinchuan and Jiuyun's relationship also gets erased or never happens. Jiuyun snatches the last bits of her memory of Qinchuan and escapes into the magic painting with Qinchuan and the pipa. It is the only place where they can be together but they may be just shadows or memories of who they were. I initially thought she was sucked into the lamp where Jiuyun creates an alternative world for her but if that were the case, he wouldn't have to put her into the painting. This is where they should have used both actresses to make it more clear by leaving Yanyan behind while Qinchuan goes into the painting with Jiuyun. It makes me feel a bit better to imagine that Qinchuan and Jiuyun cultivate together in the painting and after thousands of years both become immortals that live happily ever after. The novel ending is different, more straightforward and much happier - essentially Jiuyun eventually reappears and they are together.

Despite the poor execution and confusing ending, it is still a beautiful fairy tale with some gorgeous scenes and amazing moments that is worth watching. Best be liberal with the fast forward button through the middle parts. My low rating reflects the poor execution that prevented this from being an unforgettable and addictive love story.

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I'll start off by saying that I love Zhao Lusi and she's the main reason I started watching. ZYC is also a hottie, so that made the series on my watch list for sure. However, I was actually quite disappointed by the storyline and editing, so this actually landed on my skip list after finishing.

Con#1: While other people were upset about Zhao Lusi's impersonation, I was actually upset about the first girl that took over Zhao Lusi's limelight. When I realized it was deliberate, I was more appeased, but the sudden character change felt jarring. The transition wasn't smooth, which brings me to:

Con #2: Terrible, terrible editing for this drama. I heard the production for this series was expensive, but they couldn't have invested a bit more money post-production to string the storyline better? Everything felt like it JUST occurred out of the blue and there's no rhyme or reason behind it.

Con #3: Much too creepy acting from ZYC. A lot of fans might think the way he spoke and acted was just flirty, but I actually found it very cringey. Nevermind the stalking for over 1000+ years, nevermind the random walk-in to her bedroom in the middle of the night, nevermind the deliberate teasing and touching of her when she was trying to get the lamp, nevermind any and all of that. Just the way he said her name made me cringe so hard...it felt too intimate.

Con #4: Second Prince Er Lang. Dude they really selected a good actor to play dumb. They did so well that I couldn't register him as the 2nd Prince when he revealed his identity. It was always Er Lang ?. And while he had the princely stature, he just didn't have the gravita to carry such a role. I felt the First Prince (his brother) was hot though lol and although he's punier in comparison, he was convincing.

Con #5: So many freaking plotholes. The ending sucked. There was zero explanation about it. Somehow things always manage to conveniently occur or appear when it's critically needed. Things just HAPPENED. No leadup to why.

Con #6: There was little to no character growth for any of the characters, with exception to Xuan Zhu. She was very consistent throughout the drama and in the end, although she made the ultimate sacrifice, she's aware of herself enough that point to know that it wasn't all altruistic. I enjoyed that. She was true to herself and took action to do what she wanted.

The con list is somewhat long , but I'm sure there's more.

The only pros with this drama is that it started Zhao Lusi, ZYC, Dai Yun Fan and Molly Wang to make a very watchable cast. The rest is utterly forgettable.

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