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...
Andrew, a celebrated gay novelist, is married to Pauline. Their marriage is going through rough patch and Pauline has taken to alcohol. Andrew, meanwhile dealing with wrier's block, goes around paying gay hookers to suck him off but is still struggling. One day he sees a guy murdering someone and drinking their blood. He runs for his life but the killer soon catches him and kidnaps him. His name is Eddie and is a psychotic serial killer. After a few days of torture and sexual activities, Andrew convinces Eddie to let him go and that he will write a novel based on his life. For next one hour we see Eddie and Andrew meeting, getting into all kinds of sexual deviances, including killing people and getting off on their blood. While writing his novel, Andrew realizes that he also has this sinister side and Eddie slowly starts to fall in love with him. They are clearly bad for one another and Eddie begs him to not finish novel because he knows that Andrew will leave after that. Andre is also struggling with his feelings since he has also unwittingly become a serial killer. One day when he had enough, he commits suicide. Later Eddie shows up and asks his wife Pauline to finish the novel. Pauline has known about Eddie but not the details. Eddie also tells her that Andrew didn't commit suicide but Eddie killed him. She eventually finishes the novel, kills Eddie and becomes a famous writer.
Yes, the story had novelty and in the right hands could have become a nice flashy thriller, but let's start with acting. Within the first 5 minutes, Pauline was getting on my nerves. As an alcoholic wife, suspecting and showing at her husband all the time, She was horrible. Such bad acting that you would laugh and she shouts in almost half of her scenes and the next minute just calms down. Editing is also a serious problem. When it comes to Eddie and Andrew, there is no explanation needed why they get attracted to one another , but you have to hand it to the actors who offer full-frontal nudity and graphic scenes of unsimulated sex - with some sinister kink and a little bloodshed thrown in for good, horrific measure. There is a lot you will including erections and what not. They do add to the story because you see that both the guys are somehow getting more and more involved with one another despite the evil side that they both have. The ending was a bit of surprise as well, with Pauline eventually getting the benefit of it all. Honestly, if this was done right, this could have been so much better. As actors, Andrew and Eddie are not better than Pauline. They are just slightly better. Watch this strange sexual love story of serial killers at your own risk. (4/10)
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