Flying Swords of Dragon Gate (2018)

"The more secrets you know, the sooner you will die"

Flying Swords of Dragon Gate Inn was a weirdly addictive drama despite uneven storytelling and even more uneven acting. If you are looking for a drama centered around the famous Dragon Gate Inn, look elsewhere. This inn might as well have been named the Flamingo Palm Tree Inn as little as the mythology of the inn played into the story. If, like me, you see where Nie Yuan is listed as a main character, prepare to be disappointed. His Zhao Huai An was a supporting character who occasionally lent emotional and martial arts support. This was primarily a palace drama and a case of missing royal twins who grew up to be the princess and crown prince. The only trouble was, only one person knew how to identify them and he wasn’t talking.

There will be slight spoilers from the first few episodes in the next *two paragraphs* to follow because the synopsis is not what this drama is about, if you want to avoid them, please skip down to general comments:

*The emperor’s consort Lady Lan bears him twins while he is away. The jealous empress manages to steal the girl baby while Dr. Feng quickly takes the boy child and gives him to General Yu who hands the baby off to Zhao for safe keeping. The eunuch and close ally to the empress, Wan Yu Lou, accidentally kills Lady Lan. The emperor returns to find Lady Lan dead and only a deformed daughter that he orders to be killed. Wan and the empress work to cover up their vile deeds with Wan agreeing to secretly adopt the baby princess. The two are determined to find the missing crown prince as well.

*Twenty years later Hu Zhong Yu is one of Zhao’s disciples, though Zhao isn’t around much. Hu also vowed to protect the young master of the Ma clan, Ma Tian You. When the Wanma Hall is destroyed and the young master goes missing Hu goes in search of him. During this time, he rebuilds the Dragon Gate Inn with the help of the Xia princess Bu Lu Du and tomb raider Gu Shao Tang. Later, Hu sees Tian You entering the palace grounds and follows him. Dressed as a eunuch Hu ends up serving the Western Depot under You Jia and his second in command Yu Hua Tian, a no-nonsense warrior who unknowingly to You is one of the adopted daughters of the evil Eastern Depot commander, Wan Yu Lou. Hu and Yu find themselves going from adversaries to allies as they struggle to survive the dangerous politics of the palace driven by an incompetent emperor and a treacherous Eunuch Wan.

This drama focused on the relationship between Hu Zhong Yu and Yu Hua Tian. The two actors had a nice chemistry together and were fun to watch. The other dominant stories involved Wan and his “daughters” and how he used them to gain power and advantages over his enemies. Zhou Huai An and Jin Xian Gyu showed up to guide the patriotic rebels against Wan and to give sage advice. Two of the most annoying characters to ever set foot in Dramaland were the princess Bu Lu Du and tomb raider Gu Shao Tang. They bickered non-stop and fought over Zhong Yu for 38 ½ episodes. They were childish and downright dangerous to have as allies. With the exception of Yu and Jin as the drama progressed, most of the female characters were not shown in a positive light. Thankfully, Yu, for the most part, was a thoroughly competent warrior and character. She protected those she loved and was unafraid to stand up to evil. On a side note, I was happy to see old kung fu movie star, David Chiang, in the role of Dr. Feng.

While there were scenes at the Dragon Gate Inn, they were few and far between. Most of the action took place at the palace. The “Who’s your daddy?” storylines gave a slightly different angle to the usual fight for the throne trope. It also changed relationship dynamics when people thought they knew who the royal children were and caused heartache as well. The censors could be felt when characters awkwardly declared that love was only between a man and a woman. This sentiment was largely overshadowed as one of Wan’s daughters deeply loved Yu thinking Yu was a male eunuch. Hu fell in love with Yu thinking the same thing. Both still loved Yu when “he” was revealed to be a woman. Love was love regardless of gender which felt like a bold step for a Cdrama. Flying Swords of Dragon Gate Inn could be campy and fun, dark and emotional, with terribly uneven acting and annoying characters, but it was also hard to stop watching.

27 May 2024

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