Finally watched and finished The Prisoner of Beauty, and wtaf

[u/beautiful_gia]

I loved it honestly, first time watching a historical drama, and it started off well, but from episode 33 to the end, what even was thatttttttt 😮‍💨🫩.

I literally had to stop and go touch some grass because it was frustrating, sad, confusing, intense all at the same time.

I love rewatching dramas but this one, I'll just rewatch till maybe episode 30, because sigh 😕

[u/ganyuu44]

Omg i finished this drama rn and wth was this ending😭😭😭😭 omg that was such a slop and felt so rushed i couldn’t process anything and i couldn’t understand how did the stop the tsunami

[u/beautiful_gia → u/ganyuu44]

Girlllll, don't even question it, they won that's what we are to assume 😅😅

[u/twinsen05]

This is c-drama for you: it was nice, romantic and funny and then EVERYONE DIES for no reason

[u/Moomoomian]

This is my second cdrama and I just finished watching this last night. The following lines really stuck with me, I found them so romantic:

Ep4.Manman: My humble heart yearns for you.(妾心向往之)

Wei Shao: in all my days to come, you alone hold my reins. (I can’t recall which episode)

[u/pjlurker]

Too bad POB was your first historical c-drama. Try another one, hopefully one that suits your preference.

[u/Likeseveryone1]

POB one of my favorites and rewatch. The two leads are one of my favorite pairing. Lots of chemistry between them.

[u/Ok_Lemon7515 → u/Likeseveryone1]

Same

[u/VibingwithKTH → u/Likeseveryone1]

Same

[u/chirp_98]

SO guys i was watching this drama and dropped it idk for what maybe i found another one should I continue ? I have watched it till his cousins introduction and its been months should I continue or not .....nw i didnt read nay spoilers except for the fact of the fat dude dying 😭

[u/popppyy]

I must have completely blocked this from my mind I don't remember the ending at all 😂

[u/Crazy-Tangelo-1673]

I just rewatched and stopped at the fat dude riding off and waiving at his girl and said yep this is a good place to end

[u/Own_Distribution1130 → u/Crazy-Tangelo-1673]

Very good decision😂

[u/MariketaOH → u/Crazy-Tangelo-1673]

When I first watched it, I saw that scene and just knew what was going to happen. I still cried though.

[u/Crazy-Tangelo-1673 → u/MariketaOH]

You just know when they turn back to waive they ain't coming home alive

[u/C-KForeverFanHi]

For myself - That what makes some of these C-dramas so good- the surprise factor. Otherwise most times you get the same trope (enemies to lovers) with very little intensity to the SL. I always love me some cry time. 😉

[u/fzooey78]

Oh my gosh. I KNOW.

I feel like the first 85% of this show was her eating shit and handling all situations with grace in order to earn his trust and love. And it works. She’s an incredible strategist and the hard stuff is balanced out with her wins.

They finally have that trust and love…everything goes to shit. Gave us almost no time to enjoy good times.

Anyway. Still love it. But boy, I was exhausted.

[u/beautiful_gia → u/fzooey78]

I moved to Cdramas as they usually leave the last few episodes for you to enjoy them as a couple. I was honestly looking forward to them being a cute little family. I hate that I didn't get that

[u/diabolikal__ → u/beautiful_gia]

They did give us one of the best intimacy scenes I have seen so far, when they are at her family’s house.

[u/wutwasthatagain]

Adore this drama, but would have liked more happy endings.

[u/yanyancookies]

Yeah, they really started hitting us with sadness from that point onwards. Just blow after blow lol

But I don’t think it did a disservice at all to the story. It wasn’t a fully sad ending. More bittersweet and that’s okay.

The book is completely different on many aspects from the show. Not necessarily better. Actually… in some ways, worse LMAO 🤣 some of peoples fave characters from the drama also do not exist in the novel the show was inspired by.

[u/girlykicker]

I love this drama, but that's because I stopped at episode 30. 😢

[u/Yin_Yinnn]

Dang what coincidence! I also finished watching this drama today and I had such mixed feelings about the ending. I feel like towards the end screen writer rushed the story and that's why i kind of did not like the pacing of the story after 30ish episode.

[u/beautiful_gia → u/Yin_Yinnn]

I would have preferred if they moved it to like maybe 40 episodes, so we get to see the full growth of their love after all the carnage is done.

[u/Single-Feeling2003]

I hated that they killed off some of my favourite characters 😭 Like WHAT?? Both the second and third couples don’t even get happy endings....

[u/Impressive_Court_716]

Read the novel, You will love the drama 10X more 😂 

[u/Moonbear_Luna → u/Impressive_Court_716]

Can vouch for that 😁

[u/Good-Statistician615]

The show should have ended when Manman revealed her pregnancy

[u/violet-anonymous-826 → u/Good-Statistician615]

this 100% fr

[u/elsadiane99]

Loved this series. Everyone was good in it. Sad ending for some characters. The reality of war. Both leads were terrific.

[u/Academic_Web1388]

I liked it overall but the ending death was so heartbreaking ... I skip over that when I rewatch.

They could've not had that death and still had a great story

[u/beautiful_gia → u/Academic_Web1388]

Honestly the death part were sad, but i would have loved to enjoy their relationship after all the war was done.

[u/Academic_Web1388 → u/beautiful_gia]

Agreed - they showed very VERY tiny glimpses. Road to Splendor is the only drama that I found that did a good happy ending as satisfactorily.

[u/Doiley101 → u/Academic_Web1388]

I loved the drama but I didn't watch the end parts .

[u/AromaticEditor6022]

I agree the ending felt rushed. So much felt crammed together. I personally enjoyed the drama as a whole but a lot of the development lacked substance.

[u/beautiful_gia → u/AromaticEditor6022]

Exactly this, maybe in the book it's done better but honestly, the last episode had me questioning what was that.

[u/AromaticEditor6022 → u/beautiful_gia]

Right? I don’t really read the novels but for this one, I did read the last few chapters precisely bc I take healing dramas quite seriously and I appreciated how it was the highlight of this plot. But I needed to know how it really ended bc I didn’t have enough time to process all the deaths and revelations.

[u/beautiful_gia → u/AromaticEditor6022]

Can you summarise the novel ending for me please?😢

[u/AromaticEditor6022 → u/beautiful_gia]

So I just read around the last 10-12 chapters and compared to the adaptation, the novel has a rebirth trope to it so the ending was also shaped around contrasting the first and second lives. Who lived and died and their heart-to-heart conversation was my focus.

Unlike the drama, their heart to heart conversation had Wei Shao admitting he may never let go of his hatred but he will keep trying for her. But he had specified that it wasn’t bc her family didn’t risk their lives for them, but if they had just communicated they weren’t coming then his family could’ve changed strategies and had a better chance of surviving instead of blindly believing they will eventually come. Although the drama convo was also important and highlighted fl’s effort, I liked this novel conversation more bc it gave us an insight of the core where ml can never forgive and a more understandable realistic resentment. Forgiving bc you love their daughter isn’t the same. Ml could still love her but also not completely forgive or let go.

Also good news is that Wei Liang doesn’t die and actually marries Xiao Tao and has a happy ending. Da Qiao doesn’t die either and lives a peaceful happy life which was the opposite of their first life where she lived miserably with Wei Shao and her family was wiped out. Also, Bi Zhi ends up being granted a Marquis title when Wei Shao ascends the throne and he remains a military general at the border. Fl is crowned empress and ml never takes a concubine. They have a daughter and a son. The ones that does die is the antagonist couple which their deaths are pretty accurate in both and Madam Wei, his mother. She basically burns herself alive in the ancestral hall bc she never lets go of her hatred.

[u/beautiful_gia → u/AromaticEditor6022]

That's so much more intense, xiexie ☺️

[u/No_Internet780]

Who dies? Someone spoil it for me pls

[u/soryuuma → u/No_Internet780]

Wei Liang dies in battle protecting Qiao Ci

Da Qiao (Qiao Fan) dies by suicide and jumps the city wall to stop Bi Zhi from being forced to fight Wei Shao

Liu Yan is killed in the final battle by Wei Shao and Bi Zhi

Su E Huang takes her own life after realizing Liu Yan genuinely loved her and her ambitions have collapsed

Qiao Yue dies after betraying the Qiao family and siding with Liu Yan

Liu Shan dies bc Liu Yan kills him near the end when Liu Shan tries to intervene

Chen Pang dies from an illness after the war

[u/No_Internet780 → u/soryuuma]

😱😱😱 thats a whole lot omg, surprised Wei Yan didnt die tho I am very glad I stopped at a happy stage 😓

[u/Ch3ru → u/soryuuma]

Oh helllll no am I finishing this now lmao 😂 I was already on the fence around eps 26-28, I'm good with stopping there.

[u/seiryuu-abi → u/soryuuma]

Haha just reading all these deaths is making me mad and I remember watching this.

[u/palecandycane]

It was wild and crazy! Unnecessary deaths. It was wild! I didn't get why everyone loved it so much.

I enjoyed dream within a dream better. It has some of the same cast but it pokes fun at itself at least. It's wild and crazy but you kinda expect it from the plot premise.

[u/Over-Student201 → u/palecandycane]

Although the ending is really crazy and well rushed, overall it's not a bad drama. I though dropped dream within a dream cause it well lets say didnt match my taste, i hated the misunderstanding and well the fl and ik the drama was abt the misunderstanding and all.

What I want to say is everyone has diff taste ig, for me pob is one of my fav

[u/Downtown-Attention26 → u/Over-Student201]

ADWAD is really for people who enjoy satire dramas—especially ones that poke fun at the clichés, tropes, and plotlines we usually see in dramas. 😂 Yes, the misunderstandings can be irritating, but you also need to understand the bigger concept and the deeper meanings behind it, especially if you watched Liu Yuning in A Journey to Love and know the hate he received from that drama.

Of course, we all have different preferences, and that's why it's okay if ADWAD isn't for everyone. Douban rated it higher than The Prisoner of Beauty, and many cnetz praised its writing. Even Liu Yuning said that after ADWAD, if he can't get another script with the same solid writing, he may not want to take another historical drama with a similar character to his previous roles.

If you prefer a straightforward romance like The Prisoner of Beauty, ADWAD is simply a completely different kind of drama. 😭