Kill My Sins (2025) 掌心
Summary: Ye Ping An Ft Liu Shi Shi who is a wandering doctor who has a negative moniker of being a witch doctor. She is someone who is skillful at manipulation which causes people to avoid her. Yuan Shao Cheng ft Dou Xiao is a member of Da Li Si or the Court of Judicature Review. Because of his low birth, even though he has many skills, he cannot earn respect for his skills. He yearns for power and is focused on capturing opportunities to rise to the top.
At this time, a murder occurred in Luo Yang. An official died gruesomely in his home. Before he died, he summoned Ye Ping An to help him with a heart condition and she was the only witness at the scene of the crime. Yuan Shao Cheng is tasked with solving the case. Despite oddities, he decides to try to pin the death on Ye Ping An as a scapegoat in order to climb the ranks. What will happen to Ye Ping An? That is what we will find out in this case.
Airing Date: Feb 7, 2025
Platform: Youku
Episodes: 30
Initial Rating 7/10 [15 episodes] – A thrilling drama that moves at breakneck pace with uniquely flawed characters. Though there are important messages in the show, execution could be improved, particularly with pacing.
Final Rating: 6.5/10 – A show with thought provoking, introspective themes and impressive antagonists but execution fell flat in creating a cohesive story. There was so much potential in this more mature story of guilt, revenge, and power that the drama didn’t quite reach.
ye ping an 叶平安 Liu Shi Shi 刘诗诗
Doctor specializing in the "heart". In this context, psychological conditions.
yuan shao cheng 元少城 Dou Xiao 窦骁
An official in the Court of Judicature Review. Eager to climb the ranks of power to save his people.
wu an kang 伍安康 zheng ye cheng 郑业成
Accomplished General. Friend of Yuan Shao Cheng. Loyal to the Emperor.
lu dan xin 陆丹心 xuan lu 宣路
Friend of Ping An. Focused on seeking revenge.
Plot Summary
Set in a fictional world, but essentially the Zhou Dynasty during Emperor Wu Ze Tian’s reign (time in between the Tang Dynasty). Ye Ping An is a doctor specializing in heart problems. However, she is seen as a witch doctor and many people are afraid of her.
She is asked to see a government official and provide a cure for his heart condition. But after she arrives at the property, she is falsely accused in his sudden murder. Yuan Shao Cheng, a member of the Court of Judicature (Da Li Si), is tasked with solving the crime. He is intent on using Ye Ping An as a scapegoat in order to climb the ranks.
The case and Ye Ping An herself attract the attention of the Emperor, a woman. The Emperor instructs Ye Ping An to solve the case and clear her name. Little does the Emperor and Yuan Shao Cheng know, all of this was part of a carefully crafted plan by Ye Ping An, who, has a tragic backstory.
Initial Thoughts
This is Liu Shi Shi’s return to the small screen after 2023’s A Journey To Love. That was a decent hit for her on iQiYi. This drama is airing on Youku and is presented to audiences after the Spring Festival/Lunar New Year holidays. Unfortunately, it’s not attracting nearly the same number of audiences as A Journey to Love. It’s currently only at 9000 on Youku’s popularity index and on Ku Yun, is taking only 5% market share for online views. It is squarely outside the top 5 for dramas people are watching.
Dou Xiao and Liu Shi Shi are actors I’ve followed for many years and ones I quite like. I really want to like this show and am actively chasing it, but it’s not a standout for me. Online commentary is relatively positive and there are certainly good components to the show but the execution isn’t hitting the mark which I’ll elaborate on below.
Broadly speaking, this show is perfectly adequate. My qualms with the show are more about execution but it’s still thrilling and engaging to watch. There perhaps hasn’t been much marketing on the show hence the lower ratings, or, folks are too focused on being back at work.
This is a more mature show with heavy and dark themes. It is not romantic fluff so take that as you will when deciding on what kind of show to watch.
What I'm Enjoying
Ye Ping An as a unique and flawed heroine – I won’t spoil it here but watch through the first 6 episodes to get the answer as to why she is unique. Unlike many other dramas, Ye Ping An does not have a bubbly personality, nor is she purely cold and ruthless. Instead, she is quite multi-layered and her experiences help explains why she has an aura of self sabotage. She’s not afraid of death, nor afraid of pain and torture. Interestingly, notice that she often has nightmares but is able to sleep better when she is in prison. The reason for the english title “Kill My Sins” becomes clear when we learn more about her background.
Female Emperor – The drama is clearly set with the Tang Dynasty backdrop. Perhaps to get past censors, the drama ultimately decided to be set in a fictional world. We still have the “Li” family and the “Wu” family as we did in the Tang dynasty but here, I think it’s the Feng Dynasty. In English and in the Mandarin pronunciations, they sound the same but the characters are different. However, we know full well that the Female Emperor points to Wu Ze Tian, the only female Emperor in Chinese history, and the Li Family points to the Li family that ruled during the Tang dynasty. This Female Emperor played by the delightful Chen Jin emanates power and authority. We immediately get a sense that she is a skilled politician and is the ultimate chess player. Everyone, including Ye Ping An, are her pieces. This is thrilling and refreshing to watch.
One scene that stands out in particular, a foreign kingdom comes to ask for a diplomatic marriage. Generally, princesses are sent off to marry a prince or king to a foreign land. The Empress questions why can’t a prince be married off for this alliance. Who said that only women have to be married far away? Good question.
Open dialogue on sexual abuse and victim blaming – The core plot for Ye Ping An is to seek revenge for the women who were victimized and sexually abused. These poor women were branded after their ordeal by their abusers and society cast them out for being “impure”. This drama focuses heavily on this type of negative commentary, how society would blame the victims of their plight while allowing the perpetrators to run free. This may be uncomfortable topics for some but it definitely is a societal commentary that is relevant today.
Open dialogue on trauma and mental health needs- Mental health is certainly being discussed more in the States but this show brings it to the forefront in this Chinese historical thriller. In Chinese, Ye Ping An is a “heart doctor”, but rather than be a cardiovascular specialist, she is more akin to a mental health professional. She aims to treat patients by looking into their heart, often times identifying the trauma that is causing pain in the patient’s life. I’m hoping this helps prompt folks who have suffered similar trauma or simply need mental health help to seek it. This drama at least highlights the importance of how this type of help can alleviate pain that is not physical.
What's Not Working
The drama moves at a breakneck pace, which doesn’t always work – There are plenty of juicy twists and turns in just the first few episodes. While thoroughly entertaining at many of the subverted expectations, you cannot think too deeply about the various twists because then plot holes start appearing. I want to believe that Ye Ping An is exceptionally cunning, but many of her plots from how the drama edited the episodes seem…too easy because we move so quickly through them. I find myself wondering if Ye Ping An’s ideas truly could happen and have to suspend belief for many of her activities.
Where the drama does better is in the slower paced scenes, particularly with Ye Ping An. In those scenes, we see her motivation for actions and can be better drawn into her next steps and those around her. I wish we could marinate a little more in the different activities that happen. Currently, it is a brow furrowing watch.
Dou Xiao’s wooden countenance – Sadly, Dou Xiao’s performance here is heavily improved by the voice dub who is bringing out a lot more emotion than what Dou Xiao is portraying on screen. There is certainly a mismatch from what the voice is emoting vs his face which is bringing me out of the immersion.
Forced attraction – Perhaps I’m coming off of the slower relationship build from Flourished Peony, Yuan Shao Cheng and Ye Ping An’s even mild attraction seems a little forced. Not sure if certain scenes were cut, but some of the 3rd party conversations around their interactions being more than platonic felt rushed. We know they’re the main couple, but I would have enjoyed them continuing to use each other only for another 5-10 episodes without any hints of romance.
Final Thoughts - Mild Spoilers Ahead
Ratings wise, this drama was a dud – Sadly, despite the star power of Liu Shi Shi, this drama did not make a splash with viewers. Perhaps of the more depressing themes heavily portrayed in the drama, it never caught on with audiences. That is unfortunate because I thought many of the conversations that were had in this show are important. 1) Addressing trauma, 2) normalizing mental health improvement, 3) breaking social norms of gender roles for power. Other themes that were not AS unique are 1) eliminating pariah status simply based on birth, 2) dissolving power from the aristocracy and oligarchy, 3) keeping a pure heart to do the right thing is often difficult at court but still important.
...But there’s many interesting historical learnings. Many reforms enacted in this drama, really did happen under Emperor Wu Ze Tian’s reign, which should lead folks to continue to read more about this impressive woman in history. The only female Emperor in Chinese history and one who, despite being of the Wu family, ultimately opted to return power to the Li family after her death. Reforms to the Imperial Entrance exam were also key reforms under her reign.
Impressive Antagonists: Hai Yi Ping I thought was a fantastic foil to Ye Ping An. We are introduced to him as a kind and caring official but in reality, he is cunning and scheming. A man who took one step astray and found himself on the wrong path altogether. I feel like Hai Yi Ping’s actor, Huang Hai Bing is enjoying mixing up the roles he takes because as a young, handsome leading man, he was generally the “righteous” character. It definitely threw me off a bit to find out he was NOT the kind leader people thought he was. I found him to be much more interesting than many of the other villains of the show but that’s not to say the other villains weren’t good. Hai Yi Ping was just more impressive.
I also did quite enjoy the last big boss. I thought that person had grand ambitions and the courage to seek that power. The character wasn’t my favorite since the story line was almost a little shoehorned in for the last 5 episodes, but that’s not to say this character wasn’t a thought provoking person. They didn’t let normal societal constraints confine this person’s ambition and drive.
However, there was wasted potential: I don’t think the drama knew what to do with Zheng Ye Cheng’s Wu An Kang. Zheng Ye Cheng is always a treat to watch on screen as a general or a righteous type character but he shows up in like episode 9 and then pops up when the plot needs him to investigate salt. There’s little growth from him or interactions with other key characters of the show. He’s the staple “good” guy and friends with the main characters. I really wish he had more to do but the drama just relegated him to the side and brought him forward as needed. It’s quite unfortunate.
Overall, I enjoyed this drama for it’s differentiating subject matter. It had the guts to make people uncomfortable and truly upend stereotypes and tropes. I just wish there was more cohesion to it.