I've always had kind of a love hate relationship with Chinese historical BLs. Some are genuinely excellent, but then there are others that cram in so much plot that keeping track of all the layers of betrayal and scheming gets exhausting, and I end up checking out mentally. Part of the issue is also just how much content is out there in this space, so something really has to stand out to keep me hooked. In this case, the production value is genuinely impressive, top tier stuff, but story wise, I just couldn't bring myself to actually care about these characters. There's a ton of political scheming and backstage manipulation running throughout. Somewhere in the middle of all that chaos, a hostage ends up falling for his own Prince Charming. The show runs eight episodes, each around 50 to 60 minutes long. After spending three years guarding the border, Fifth Prince Yin Qi gets called back to the capital because of a secret letter, only to end up walking straight into a deadly...
The story is straight forward. Ryan, a man in his 30's works from home mostly and has a roommate. He is consumed by loneliness, living an uneventful life with a dull job that just about passes the time. Ryan is secretly struggling with his sexuality and finding comfort in online encounters with men, usually on video and never in person. At a birthday party for his friend Brad, Ryan meets Brad’s boyfriend Sam and the two hit it off. Ryan and Brad quickly become close and before either of them realizes it, they start having an affair. The next half hour is about how they plan to meet at various times, various places and just enjoying this feeling. Along the same time, Ryan is also kinda flirting with a girl Maya who has a crush on him. One day after they had sex and Sam quietly leaves, Ryan believes that his roommate has figured out and that he will tell everyone. This completely freaks out Ryan who doesn't want anyone to know about him possibly being gay or bi and asks Sam to breakup. But by now Sam is very much into Ryan and instead he breaks up with his boyfriend. Sadly, Ryan is too much of a coward to make any decision and he makes it very clear to Sam that they cannot have anymore going forward.
Once the film starts, it becomes clearly very quickly that Ryan is in denial about his sexuality, hiding his wants and desires from the small group of friends he has. But reaching this point takes forever, almost an hour, where all we see is a bit of mundane life f Ryan and his friends in the dead of winter where they either have house parties or watch movies. Like it happens in most affairs, neither side thinks of the eventual consequences. Things just happen. For Ryan, he’s doing the unthinkable to someone who is supposed to be a friend, and for Sam he’s finding comfort in Ryan’s 'straight' arms because he’s unhappy with his relationship with Brad. The further the relationship progresses, the more Ryan is worried that people will find out whereas Sam is happy to continue their affair, regardless of any consequences that may occur down the line. The two actors have a great chemistry though, and you find yourself rooting for their relationship even though you know what they are doing is wrong. The problem with the film is that it takes forever to reach across the point that it is trying to make. More than half time, all you are doing is watching people do stuff. Ryan is definitely drama. Unsure of what he wants from himself, he does break many hearts including Sam, the girl Maya and another girl from their friend circle who he sleeps with despite being warned by his roommate. There were so many ways the movie could have ended, and the way it did just seemed like what happens when you live an unfulfilled life. It is not bad, but the film could have been so much more. (5.5/10)
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