I'm starting to lose patience with these big, high production shows that prove to be nothing more than celebrity vehicles. So much so that I'll not bother with a detailed critique. If I have to sit through 40 episodes I'm going to have expectations. A long show calls for complexity and depth, and while Pearl Girl has the backdrop for these elements, the show itself basically doesn't rise much above this: a single arc of a love triangle, introduced early, following the 3 characters as they run into each other from town to town. The main couple discovers their briefly touched upon pasts are intertwined as they both get caught up in a whirlwind of revenge and the show then devolves into an endless bloodbath. By the half way point, I suddenly realize there's no real 2nd or 3rd F/M leads or arcs. The only significant secondary arc follows the embattled cross-dressing daugther of a competing merchant family, who is a villainous opponent but unfortunately not that smart. In the 2nd half of the show the ML who was so dominant in the beginning then takes a head-scratching back seat to the FL, until he literally fades away. Sloppy editing left loose ends as well.

I think Zhao Lusi's career has been so much on fire for the last 2 years, to the point where I feel she is now over exposed. Her acting skill is limited, as is Liu YuNing's, and it's not interesting to watch them try to fulfill the same roles, the same way, over and over.

In looking back overall, the show had some entertaining moments but I basically sat through to the finish only out of curiousity for the ending.