In Blossom or 花间令/Huā Jiān Lìng (The Flower Order) is a mystery romance with fantasy elements. I checked this out because of Liu Xueyi, an under appreciated actor who is just as good an antagonist as he is a protagonist. Despite some flaws and controversy, this sleeper hit won Liu Xueyi high praise for his good looks and compelling acting.

Yang Caiwei is a scarred, inauspicious undertaker shunned by citizens of the sinful city of Heyang. She finds herself embroiled in a murder case with the new magistrate Pan Yue, the most handsome gentleman in the capital. As it turns out, before misfortune befell her family, she was engaged to Pan Yue and he seems determined to honor their betrothal. On their wedding day, she is switched by the witch Shangguan Zhi using dark magic. She finds herself in Shangguan Zhi's body right before "Yang Caiwei" is murdered and suspects Pan Yue of doing the deed! Assuming Shangguan Zhi's identity, she investigates her own murder by working for Pan Yue at the yamen in the hope of finding evidence of his complicity. Body swapping is the only fantasy aspect and it is readily accepted without that much disbelief by the characters in this story.

This production drew early criticism because Zheng Hehuizi guest starred as Yang Caiwei for two episodes and impressed viewers with how she interpreted the role. Her Yang Caiwei is a solemn character; a child whose world was shattered overnight and endured nine years of hardship. She finds meaning in following her shifu's footsteps as a coroner, obtaining justice for victims of foul play. This characterization of Yang Caiwei makes sense to me but unfortunately, there was no meeting of the minds in how the role should be portrayed. Although Ju Jingyi delivers an adequate performance, her depiction lacks depth and gravitas. Her Yang Caiwei is literally only Shangguan Zhi; a happy, pampered young lady who never suffered a day in her life. She is so un-serious as a coroner I just scoffed at her autopsies. Still, she didn't quite ruin the show for me as she is so pretty and charismatic I always have a soft spot for her. I just sigh for the opportunity missed because Yang Caiwei is one of the better written female roles and Liu Xueyi is a fantastic actor to be paired up with. She could have impressed enough with a more layered performance to break her out of her usual typecasting but sadly she did not approach this role thoughtfully enough.

While I watched this for the suspense plot, both romances are nicely written. Liu Xueyi and Ju Jingyi look so gorgeous as a couple that their visuals alone deflect many flaws. To me, Pan Yue’s early obsession with Yang Caiwei was not healthy or well founded but I enjoyed how he fell for her against his better instincts thinking she was the detestable Shangguan Zhi. I never faulted Pan Yue for taking so long to figure out she was Yang Caiwei because both actresses failed to show me of they are the same girl. I like how Zhuo Lanjiang is written to be as capable and powerful in his own way as Pan Yue. He is a credible love rival that does not descend into delusional archetypes. But I wasn't that invested in his romance either.

After the big letdown of Youku's big budget Judge Dee's Mystery, this much more modest production satisfied my craving for a good mystery. The cases, beginning with Yang Caiwei's own murder hooked me from the get go. I enjoyed how each case pulls at threads to reveal links initially to the four major clans of Heyang and ultimately a far wider conspiracy that goes back many years. This familiar formula used in many other investigative series is quite well executed. Despite small plot holes, the focus on the human tragedy aspect of these side cases made me either empathize with the victims or at times even the perpetrators. This is something both Judge Dee's Mystery and Mysterious Lotus Casebook failed to do. The main villain is neither too obvious nor revealed too early, which was my biggest gripe with Mysterious Lotus Casebook. This one does well in keeping us guessing right up till the end. However, this is achieved by concealing information from the viewer instead of hiding all the clues in plain sight.

The narrative hiccups in the final arc back at the capital. It seems like a different writer took over. The villain is revealed shortly after they show up onscreen instead of building suspense for a bit. The final villain is not that smart and only gains an upper hand because two hitherto smart characters are thrown under the bus and exercised their free will in unintelligent ways. It always makes me angry to see good characters get undeserved outcomes so I am not happy with how this ends. Good characters were literally wasted just to squeeze some tears from the audience. Instead of ending on a big reveal, it just descends into melodrama. The chilling ending epilogue however is well done but to avoid spoilers I will elaborate on that below. All things considered, this is still an enjoyable watch. I would have rated it 8.0/10 were it not for the ending. My final rating is 7.5/10.0.









ENDING SPOILER COMMENTS

The ending epilogue is a nice chilling way to end regardless of whether Season 2 gets the go ahead. If there is no Season 2, it suggests that #1 is some kind of arch nemesis of Pan Yue, like Moriarty to Holmes who is still out there; that organizations like The Flower Order are not that easy to wipe out. Note there are actually 9 tokens in total in the end scene.

If there is a Season 2, the mastermind is either someone we already met or someone that has not yet appeared onscreen. Recall #2 only shows up in the final arc so this writer does not play fair with the audience. In that case, it is not useful to speculate further. If however, the mastermind is someone we already met, I think it is most likely Shangguan Lan. It is evident from the plain cyan sleeves that it is a man and while the cloth is rich, there is no elaborate embroidery on the sleeve like the nobles and high officials like Pan Yue and Minister Pan wear. The Shangguan family keeps a private army and they have the vast resources and network to be behind this kind of clandestine organization. They also have links to witch doctors and dark magic, which is how Shangguan Zhi swapped bodies with Yang Caiwei. So it would not be surprising that they worship pagan gods like the ram god. I initially ruled out Shangguan Lan due to his age, but he could have inherited the token from his father.

There is also a possibility the mastermind is a woman because the Chinese title is The Flower Order. In that case, it could either be The Empress or Qingdi, who now pretty much controls Heyang after Pan Yue effectively eliminated all her rivals for her.







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