Initial Thoughts

Lost You Forever Season 1 was one of THE biggest dramas last year. It even garnered a magnolia award nomination for Yang Zi.  Season 1 really catapulted the careers of Deng Wei and Tan Jian Ci and to a lesser extent, Zhang Wan Yi and Wang Hong Yi. New fans were lapping up the couples pairing between the male actors and Yang Zi. When season 1 ended, there was significant anticipation for when season 2 would air and even up until the actual airing of season 2, more than 9million people hit “waiting to watch” to show their “support” for the drama.

Unfortunately, Season 2 has come in a bit below expectations, which perhaps is hard beat given the exceptionally high performance of season 1. Some fans were expecting Season 2 to beat the popularity and viewership stats of Joy of Life Season 2 but that has definitely not happened. On Tencent’s popularity index, the drama did breach 30,000 but after 3+ days of airing. Contrast that with Joy of Life Season 2 breaching 31,000 in the first day of airing and The Legend of Shen Li breaching 30,000 in 28 hours. Season 1 actually breached 30,000 by its second day of airing. Furthermore, there is skepticism online as to whether or not Tencent rigged the numbers to breach that 30,000 threshold for season 2 because the drama was stubbornly not climbing on that index. However, that is not to say that this is not another win for Yang Zi. Her 3rd drama this year to breach 10,000 or 30,000 on various platforms

The lower popularity ratings do match my view of the drama. It’s very odd since season 1 and season 2 were filmed at the same time and just not aired consecutively, but the quality seems to be a sharp step down from season 1. 

My main qualms are that season 2’s tone is much more depressed right off the bat and the focus is now on the romantic relationship with Xiao Yao. 

Initial Rants

• Cang Xuan – GIVE UP ALREADY. Dude, you know full well that once you became King/Emperor, you could not give everything up to be with Xiao Yao. That is your “destiny”. Your bloodline dictated what you can and cannot do for power to protect the ones you love. He knows it, his grandfather knows it, Xiao Yao knows it, WE know it. But what does he do? Continue to pine for Xiao Yao consistently even though he’s married numerous other women. This type of pining was maybe attractive for a few episodes but it has become constant. He cannot give Xiao Yao what she wants but does not reign his affections in. Even their grandpa can’t stand it and has Cang Xuan knocked out when he tries to confess or tries to change the subject with Cang Xuan multiple times. 
• Xiao Yao – Girl, seriously? It’s been how many years since you broke up with Tu Shan Jing? You are one of THE most prestigious women in the realm. Cousin to the King of Xi Yan, daughter to the King of Hao Ling and you can’t find someone other than Tu Shan Jing to fall in love with? While I understand it is challenging but she seems to refuse to step out of her funk.  Also, her conversation with A Nian next to the water before her wedding with Feng Long really irked me. She says she’s waiting for fate. If something happens, that’s fate, If nothing happens, that’s also fate. But guess what, she’s waiting her for OTHER people to change her life. She literally could have said no, I don’t want to marry Feng Long and that would have been fine. Instead, she was pining and yearning for someone like Xiang Liu to whisk her away. Where’s your autonomy as one of the most powerful women in the land?
• Random location and time jumps – in these first episodes, we jump from Chen Rong mountain, to Hao Ling, to Qing Shui town, to Qing Qiu back to Chen Rong Mountain. Xiao Yao says bye to one group of people and meets another only to say good bye to those people literally 5 minutes later. Sometimes days go by, other times it’s 3 years. It is exceptionally hard to keep track of where people are at all times and all sense of traveling or time goes out the window which undermines the impact of actions in the show. 

But…it’s not all bad

• Familiar faces and great acting (mostly) – despite my dislike for Cang Xuan’s incessant pining now, I cannot deny how great Zhang Wan Yi’s acting is. Same thing for Tan Jian Ci. It’s always a treat to have these very handsome  men with actual acting abilities on screen! Yang Zi’s acting remains consistent but Deng Wei…still needs to step up.  The set design, costumes and hairstyles are still top notch 
  

Final Thoughts [Spoiler Warning]

Funnily enough, I closed out my review of season 1 saying that I almost didn’t want to watch season 2 because  Season 1 wrapped at a great spot and I now feel like a GENIUS. Because, guess what? Season 2 was a let down.

On douban, the season 2 initially got a 6.8 rating which then tumbled to 6.1. The viewership numbers are much weaker for season 2 than season 1 and the general aura is more negative. Unfortunately, there’s been a lot of videos panning Yang Zi on social media with millions of views where they attack both Xiao Yao’s actions within the drama and also Yang Zi’s focus on portraying the most beautiful woman in the land. There’s been some joint marketing by the team but given the negativity around season 2, the marketing pales in comparison with what we saw last year. 

I do find this 180 turn in popularity rather amusing given just how popular season 1 was and Yang Zi earning that best actress nomination for the Magnolia Awards.  

Let’s talk about it.

• Xiang Liu/Tan Jian Ci – In a league of his own: He didn’t have as much screen time but he was exceptionally effective whenever we saw him. Particularly into the ending, he was the driving force to keep me watching. Tan Jian Ci did such a great job portraying the conflicted Xiang Liu that clearly cares for Xiao Yao but has his own values that he cannot abandon. Part of me thinks he was too stubborn in holding his values to the Chi Chen army. There were multiple times throughout season 2 where people asked him whether or not it was worth it to hold out because he DOES have an alternative. But he stuck with his adoptive father. His sacrifices for Xiao Yao and his adoptive father are significant and, as is stated in the drama, he did right to everyone except for himself.
• Xiao Yao/Jing: There’s been quite a bit of online backlash to Xiao Yao’s storyline this season where her happiness relied heavily on the existence of Jing. The idea is that she is one of the most powerful and prestigious women in the land but she is not taking ownership of her own happiness or destiny, or using her role to help others. She did make impact with her medical journals and documentation, but perhaps she could have done more. There are contrasts of her actions vs the actions of her parents, particularly her mother who sacrificed herself in battle but did leave an orphaned Xiao Yao. Many comments I’ve seen said that she could have totally declared herself emperor and then taken all of these men in as part of her harem. Hahaha. Someone should write that fanfiction because I think that would have been a more interesting storyline. As for Jing…he felt very ineffective in this season so much so that I don’t even want to say much more. 
• A Nian’s growth: From a spoiled little girl to an understanding and mature young woman, I do want to commend A Nian for how far she’s come. She, and most women in this drama, falls into the trap of being exceptionally stubborn in who they like but she recognizes she has a more important role to play being the Princess of Hao Ling. We see her take up significantly more responsibility to be worthy of her title, a welcome growth trajectory. 

Given that everything is wrapped up now, here are my final favoritism “rankings” for the men in the drama.  

1. Xiang Liu
2. Cang Xuan
3. Feng Long
4. Jing

Let me know what you think!

Karen