Maiden Holmes (2020)

I rapporti interpersonali al centro

Già mi pare di sentirvi: Oh, no, un altro di quei drama dove la ragazza si traveste da uomo per vendicare la famiglia! Ed è proprio così, e la cosa sarà fonte di guai e risate, ma è solo una piccola parte di quello che è questa piccola perla di drama, ingiustamente sottovalutato.

Se vi piacciono crimini e misteri, indagini e scoperte, complotti e colpi di scena, non potete esimervi dal dare una possibilità a questa serie. Costumi e ambientazioni sono consoni alla storia, ma gli attori sono magnifici.

La coppia principale, ma anche le spalle, sono veramente belli e, soprattutto molto bravi. Ma questo sarebbe nulla, se non interpretassero personaggi di spessore. E invece, non possiamo fare a meno di amare, per esempio, il principe che cerca di convivere coi problemi causatigli dal suo shock post traumatico, nascondendosi dietro una falsa nomea di innocuo dongiovanni per sopravvivere agli intrighi di corte.

E’ una storia che narra sì anche l’evolversi di rapporti di coppia, ma che verte molto anche su legami fraterni, grandi amicizie e rapporti di fiducia reciproca. Nel frattempo, si svolge una vicenda ricca di suspense e copi di scena. La lunghezza è media, perciò non siamo costretti ad assistere a circonvolute e noiose vicende relative a personaggi poco interessanti che stanno lì solo per allungare il brodo. La storia procede relativamente spedita, tenendoci incollati alla sedia in un crescendo continuo fino al soddisfacente finale.

Una serie da guardare. Davvero.

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My favorite trashy romance.

This is the drama version of the perfect trashy romance to curl up in bed with on a rainy day. It is not overly ambitious in terms of plot and will not satisfy hard core fans of the detective genre but overall it is an unpretentious hidden gem that will bring you on a delightful romantic journey.

Our titular character Su Ci is a brilliant young investigator with a hidden identity as the daughter of a traitor. Her reason for existence is to unravel the conspiracy that led to her family's downfall and murder. In the middle of a case, she runs into Prince Qi who is traveling incognito. He is also trying uncover the traitor behind his army's crushing defeat and his consequent demotion. They fall like a ton of bricks for each other well before they figure out each other's hidden identities. They form a fast friendship with another couple they meet on their first case and team up to solve a number of cases that lead to the ultimate unraveling of a bigger political conspiracy and redress old injustices.

The main issue with this drama is aside from some really steamy romantic scenes, the various plot threads lack intensity. The main characters only superficially interact with the characters in the cases and the investigations seem to largely involve the four friends solving the case by talking to each other. As a result there is no build up of suspense and excitement in the gradual reveal of the cases. The overarching plot and main antagonist is known from the get go but is still better written than the short cases and at least there is a small twist at the end. Oh you didn't notice? Yups... that's what I mean... The main villain is well acted and it is a shame they left the only heavy face to face clash between him and our leads until the end. The whole point of revealing the villain early in the game is to let them face off a few times.

So why watch this? Because it is a lot of fun and even though it shows that it is a young cast, there is great rapport between them and both romances are very good. The OTP have boatloads of chemistry, they look gorgeous and fitting together and deliver many squeal-worthy moments - I mean who cares that it makes no sense that they retreat into a cave after an ambush when help is just around the corner? You have to embrace drama logic - they go to the cave because they can wow us with more hot kisses there, don't worry about whether it is safer to reunite with their friends and guards instead. They are written to be smart characters and they generally are when they are outmaneuvering their enemies or busting criminals. But there are also many times when heavy suspension of disbelief is required.

Newcomer Zhang Linghe really impresses in his debut performance here as Prince Qi and my sense is he is an actor to watch. The main relationship is (outside of one short lapse) very well written - mature, mutually supportive and I just love how Prince Qi is very amorous he does not hesitate to pounce on Su Qi at any opportunity.

I really enjoyed this drama and if I were to rate it on fun factor and romance alone it would be a 9.0 for me but all things considered, I think an 8.0 is appropriate.

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