Early Access: Unchained Love [China] E1-2, E3-4

E1-2. So.. the honest truth about my main reason for anticipating this show, is because Dylan Wang looked so fabulously badass in Show's trailers, that I couldn't pass up the chance to see him inhabit this role.

And, right off the bat, I'm just really, really pleased, that he's just as fabulous in the show, as he is in the trailers.

You know how there's always that potential disconnect, right, when trailers don't actually accurately reflect the show itself?

Well, so far so good; I feel like Show is serving up pretty much what I'd expected (or rather, hoped) it would serve up, based on its first trailer.

Which in itself feels like a bit of a coup, actually, since I hadn't been so sure, after Show released its second, "special" trailer, which was more comedic in bent.

For a hot second there, I started to doubt whether I would find this show watchable, despite my affinity for badass Dylan Wang. 😅

So far, there is a comedic side to our story, but there's more than enough intensity and badassery to balance it out, and right now, I feel like I could watch this whole thing, just to soak in the Dylan Wang badass awesome. 🤩

So let me just talk about that first, since that's obviously top of my mind, right now. 😁😅

It blow my mind how WELL Dylan Wang wears badassery, since he's so much more earnest and dorky in real life.

I love that even though he was also badass in Love Between Fairy and Devil, there's a distinct difference between his badassery there, and his badassery here. This way, it feels like I'm getting to see him explore his range, while still getting to enjoy him channel intensity and smolder, which, honestly, is how I like him best, on my screen. 🤩

If I had to narrow it down, I'd say that there's a distinct layer of fabulosity in the way he plays Xiao Duo.

Perhaps it's because Xiao Duo's supposed to be a eunuch (key word being "supposed," since we learn quite quickly, that he's faking it); there's a certain amount of coiffed flair that is part of Xiao Duo's intensity, which I really dig.

He's immaculately turned out, from top to toe; his eyebrows are on fleek, as they say (or do they still say that? 😅); his robes are beautiful, rich and intricate.

And above all, there's a languid, sardonic sort of air about him, and the vibe that comes through, at least to me, is that he has a lot of power, and is simply choosing not to use it against you - for the time being.

The thing that I find ironic about all this, is that Xiao Duo is supposed to be a eunuch, and in every drama that I've watched, eunuchs are mostly just there in the background, and if anything, they play a supporting role to the story, for either being very loyal, or very sly and crafty.

But even the sly and crafty ones appear to be harmless, most of the time.

So far, I think Xiao Duo is the first eunuch I've come across, who carries himself in such a regal, powerful manner.

Someone says of him, in episode, that he's even more like a master than a master, and I have to agree with that, right off the bat.

He's got an air about him like he owns the entire palace, even though he uses self-deprecating palace language, which dictates that he refer to himself as "slave" or "servant."

And, to add to that master of masters sort of air, it seems like Xiao Duo is very well apprised of what goes on in the palace, and is watching and managing it all, from a chess master sort of perspective.

I kinda love that irony, because on the one hand, he's saying that he's a slave or servant, but everything else about him screams power and intensity. 🤩

It's no wonder the Empress (Zeng Li, who played Shaoshang's mom in Love Like The Galaxy! 🤩) appears to be so drawn to Xiao Duo; I mean, I wouldn't be able to help myself either, in her shoes. 😅

I get that part of it is power play, and that there's politics involved, because the Empress is joining hands with the Prince of Nanyuan, who is on his way to the capital to act as regent, and Xiao Duo appears to want to kill the Prince of Nanyuan, as part of his revenge plan.

But, I feel like part of it, is also that the Empress is genuinely attracted to Xiao Duo, which some viewers find off-putting and quite gross, certainly, but which I feel like I can totally understand, because why wouldn't she be, y'know? 😅

Honestly, I feel more potential chemistry between Xiao Duo and the Empress, than between him and Yinlou, our actual female lead. 🙈

I came into this without a lot of expectations of the female lead, because I've seen so many comments floating around the interwebs, about how most people don't find Yukee Chen a very good actress.

And I think managing my expectations have helped, in the sense that I might not love the female lead and how she's being played so far, but I don't hate her.

So far, Yinlou appears to carry the more comedic tone of our story, and her general behavior is meant to lean unconventional and surprising, like how, when all the other concubines are crying that they don't want to be tribute ladies, Yinlou only muses that she's hungry, and should have paid the royal kitchen to give her more pickled cucumbers.

The line itself isn't that out of place in a drama, I suppose, but I do think that Yukee Chen's delivery of the line just lacks a little something; it's just not popping for me. It's not funny, and it's not coming alive for me either.

Likewise, the way she reads people and situations, specifically Xiao Duo and his rescue of her, from being a tribute lady, is supposed to be offbeat and therefore amusing and entertaining, I think.

It's not working for me, so far. 😅

What I'm doing is, I'm just filing away these scenes in my head as stuff that's supposed to be amusing, and then I just wait for Xiao Duo to next appear on my screen, to make it all better. 😅

Story-wise, we are clearly still in set-up mode, but the fragments of information that we get, are enough to help us piece together a semblance of a picture, in our heads.

We know that Xiao Duo's pretending to be a eunuch, so that he can get revenge for someone close to him (a brother?) who was wrongfully killed, and apparently by the Prince of Nanyuan.

We also know that because he's up against the Empress, he feels that he needs Yinlou, because as someone who belongs within the framework of the royal family, she would be an asset and resource that he'd be able to tap on.

It's not clear why Prince Fu is so keen to save Yinlou, that he would beg the favor of Xiao Duo, but the easy conclusion which would fit most dramas, is that he's secretly in love with her?

There's no evidence to back that up at the moment, so I might be completely wrong on that point. We'll have to see.

But, he cares enough about Yinlou to essentially give Xiao Duo a blank check, and say that he'll agree to anything that Xiao Duo might ask for, in return for saving Yinlou.

That's pretty darn reckless, I feel, especially when dealing with someone like Xiao Duo, who exudes danger and power with every breath.

That's the closest we've got, I think, in terms of evidence that Prince Fu is likely to be in love with Yinlou.

Also, I do think that Xiao Duo's estimation of Prince Fu's hidden shrewdness is likely spot-on.

While Prince Fu says that he's only a powerless prince whose interest lies solely in making lanterns, there are definitely signs that he's more shrewd than he appears, like the way he uses reverse psychology to get the guards to allow Xiao Duo's cart to enter his residence.

Xiao Duo makes a similar assessment of Yinlou's character and abilities, so we'll have to see if Yinlou's really as shrewd as Xiao Duo thinks.

As we close out episode 2, Yinlou's about to be put to the test, with the assignment that Xiao Duo gives her, to stall the Empress at Shangyin Palace, so that he will have enough time to steal Prince Rong away from Fengyi Palace.

And, I find myself nicely keen to see what happens next - while I get another good dose of badass Xiao Duo on my screen. 😁

E3-4. Well. I find that I'm having to adjust my viewing lens, for this show.

Which isn't necessarily a bad thing, in that, I generally go into a show without a fixed lens, and wait for Show to demonstrate to me what kind of creature it is, before I figure out a lens to best appreciate Show for what it wants to be.

In this case, however, I am slightly wistful, because Show's first trailer had been so stylishly badass, that I had hoped that that would be Show's general vibe as well.

Judging from this set of episodes, however, it's starting to look like that isn't quite the case.

While there are lashings of badassery in here, thanks to Xiao Duo being a powerful character, the vibe I'm getting, is that Show is more irreverent than I would have first guessed.

I wouldn't exactly call this a black comedy, coz I think that's a stretch, but Show does have a tendency to make light of serious things.

In our initial set of episodes, it was the hanging of the tribute ladies, and this set of episodes, it's the sudden accidental death of young Prince Rong.

I think that's just a thing, with this show, where it just is irreverent wherever and whenever it wants to be, and it's on us as viewers, to be flexible and just roll with it.

Certainly, the musical cues are very informative, in terms of indicating when Show is not taking things too seriously, and I feel like, depending on what kind of viewer you are, or perhaps depending on your mood, you might find this helpful - or annoying. 😅

The other thing that strikes me about Show's tone, that it's got rather casual, almost colloquial feels, sometimes, in terms of how a character speaks.

For example, Xiao Duo almost always speaks in measured, formal tones that I would expect of a palace setting sort of show.

But Yinlou, our female lead, almost always speaks in a more casual sort of manner. To quote Elaine, it almost sounds like she's a "market auntie" sometimes.

I find myself getting used to this, but I think it's important to expect it, otherwise, you might find this jarring.

In Singapore we have Singapore Colloquial English, casually referred to as Singlish, which we speak casually to friends and family, but generally not in formal settings.

In a manner of speaking, this show reminds of that kind of irreverent version of Shakespeare, like Romeo and Juliet in Singlish. 😅

Our cast is decked out in rich costumes and our setting is grand and our cinematography is polished and beautiful, but y'know, our characters just have a habit of delivering their lines in Singlish.

It's meant for entertainment and irony, so it's on purpose, rather than an inability of the cast to speak proper English.

I'm taking a similar approach to the more colloquial way in which our characters - Yinlou in particular - often speak, and it's helping.

Additionally, I'm having to dial back my expectations for Xiao Duo's badassery, because while he is given ample opportunity to display his intensity, there are also lashing of dork coming out from time to time.

I just.. hadn't been expecting that. Dylan Wang has proven in Love Between Fairy and Devil that he's perfectly capable of toggling both vibes in a single character, so he's doing fine. I just need to adjust my expectations around that little bit, is all.

Last but not least, in terms of expectations management, I came across some viewer chatter, that Show had to be heavily edited, before it was given the go-ahead to air.

This means that there are likely big pieces of narrative that have ended up on the editing room floor, for various reasons.

Therefore, if Xiao Duo suddenly starts falling for Yinlou and we feel like we haven't been given enough context for it, it's more than likely that some of that context had existed, but had been cut out of the final version, for reasons that we're not privy to.

I'm rather bummed by this, because in almost every instance, I would prefer to have the full story, rather than part of the story.

However, I'd rather know than not know, because now, if Show does display any weird lack of continuity in its storytelling, like in the last section of Love Like The Galaxy, I would at least know to give Show the benefit of the doubt.

In terms of the narrative highlights, this set of episodes, we are getting a sense that Yinlou is more shrewd and smart than she might first appear.

Not only does she manage to stall the Empress effectively, she's able to deduce the truth quite quickly, and in a pretty sharp manner, more than once, this set of episodes.

For example, when she realizes that Xiao Duo's moving Prince Rong, she is able to quickly figure out where Xiao Duo might be, with Prince Rong.

And when rumor has it that Xiao Duo had been the one to kill Prince Rong, Yinlou figures out quite quickly, that Xiao Duo couldn't be the one to have killed Prince Rong, because if that had been his intention, he would have approached it in a different manner.

I can believe that this little glimpse of understanding, where everyone else is assuming the worst of Xiao Duo, would cause Xiao Duo to start to see Yinlou in a different light.

And, in a moment in time where the world at large is looking at him as a cruel person, Yinlou is the only who's saying that he's a good person, and innocent of the crime he's being accused of.

We also see that the Empress only wants to beat down Xiao Duo insofar as to disarm and tame him, not to destroy him - because she wants him back by her side, as docile and cooperative as he'd used to be.

I actually find the Empress's feelings for and attitude towards Xiao Duo quite nicely complex; it's like she likes him, but she also hates him. That's definitely rather interesting.

I find Prince Fu's crush on Yinlou a lot less interesting, though I can buy the backstory somewhat, that because Yinlou had come to rescue him when he'd been young and frightened, he's glommed onto her as the love of his life.

That said, I'm confused as to how old these characters are supposed to be, because in the present, Prince Fu looks quite a bit older than Yinlou, but in the flashback, when he'd been a young boy, the Yinlou who'd come to save him appears to be older than him?

As we close out the episode, Yinlou's been kidnapped by order of the Empress, and Prince Fu is sent a false call for help from Yinlou, so that he'll try to save her, but be so overcome by the aphrodisiac incense burning in the room, that he'll have his way with her, and disqualify himself as Emperor-in-waiting.

Pfft. That is a wild and bizarre plan if I ever heard one. Like, what kind of guarantee is there, that he'd succumb to the incense?

However, my drama senses are pricking to say that it'll be Xiao Duo who comes to Yinlou's rescue, and that the incense will cause him to, er, temporarily put his guard down around Yinlou - let's see if I'm right!

Next episode notes will be out on: Thursday, 12 January 2023!

*This show will be covered on the VIP Early Access (US$15) Tier*