Snowy Night: Timeless Love or its (better) alternate title Seven Nights of Snow features constant, unending scenery of snowy landscapes against which this beautiful story of grief and regret is set. Some of the snow scenes were shot on location and some were recreated - yes the CGI can be a bit underwhelming, and the premise of the male lead returning to the Apothecary Valley while retaining terrible injuries during the course of eight years may sound uninspiring. Yet, underneath this repetitive facade lies a poignant and reflective tale of grief, love and sacrifice.

There's the seemingly cold medical-doctor Xue Ziye and the equally cold Apothecary Valley. Our male lead Huo Zhanbai is the righteous and kindhearted (to a fault) seventh brother of the Sword Sect. Appearances can be deceiving -as the eight years roll by we learn that Xue Ziye is neither cold nor lustful. Huo Zhanbai's task over the eight years is a meaningless one - finding herbs that will serve no real purpose apart from giving him a reason to live. His grief outweighs the pain he suffers from searching for the herbs - so he would suffer physically then lose hope altogether.  Sometimes one needs only one reason to live. Xue Ziye's shifu later on points out that a lie saved three lives. For Xue Ziye, her own reasons to survive was the hope of reviving her old childhood friend - in order to do so she herself finds meaning in several meaningless tasks - rootless water, rootless plants - all of which can hardly manifest into anything. Huo Zhanbai's path to self-redemption is itself meaningless as there is nothing to redeem. His self-sacrificing kindness overshadows everyone else in the beginning half of the show only to be surpassed by Xue Ziye acts of self-sacrifice in the last few episodes. 

Both these characters, in their silent ways, find companionship in each other and heal from their wounds. Perhaps the most poignant scenes are the ones where the two of them sit together sipping wine. Sometimes they stare at the moon, sometimes they wait for the epiphyllum to bloom. That was one of the most telling moments on the show: the beauty of a certain moment - watching flowers bloom. No physicality could surpass the silence of beauty. These were the slow moments on the show that I thoroughly enjoyed. In an age where one needs to slow down - these moments were meditative, poetic and meaningful. Sometimes the greatest meaning lies in the little things and it's those little things that make up the big things.   

By no means is this a happy show - many of its characters suffer incessantly and in different ways. Mingjie, Miao Feng and Miao Shui are also victims in some way or another. I enjoyed the way the stories of all these characters was revealed during the course of the show. Miao Feng's true personality is revealed much later and he makes for another very interesting character. The bonds that the characters share was another highlight of the show. The silent unspoken love between Huo Zhanbai and Xue Ziye. The bonds between Xue Ziye and Miao Feng which were heartbreaking towards the end. The love between Xue Ziye and Mingjie which reached its peak in episode 29 with the beautiful scene where both actors gave an outstanding and heart wrenching performance. There were other bonds too - mother and son, lost siblings, shifu and her students - each wrought by boundless sacrifice. 

Yes this is a tragedy but it is by far one of the most beautiful tragedies I've watched recently. It is never dark or gruesome and perhaps never too complex in its plots. Instead its complexity lies in human relationships and emotions, where silence outweighs the noises of the world, where love, kindness and sacrifice is unforgotten and where hope can be found even in the greatest sadness.