{year}=2025{episode}=EP.14{type}=TV{ongoing}
Plot Summary
Go East begins with a new and interesting workplace comedy about the Sifang Pavilion 四方馆, an institution that received guests and envoys from the four directions 四方/sìfāng in the Tang Dynasty. The Sifang Pavilion is essentially the Ministry of Foreign Affairs. They handle diplomatic matters from visa issuance, trade facilitation, handling diplomatic cases to negotiating treaties. Yuan Mo is loosely attached to the Sifang Pavilion and assists foreign guests at the city gate, under the watchful eye of Director Ye Deshui. He is a smart man who is responsible for wine, snakes, and bird brains, but he lacks ambition and responsibility. Alas, he spots a strange bird named Ashu at the gate and makes the mistake of his life by stopping her. She invades his personal space, poisons him, bullies him, besieges him, helps herself to his hard-earned money, and turns his life upside down. This poor man is so lonely and isolated that he’s been living it up his whole life. As it turns out, the Man in White, the ruthless leader of the Faceless Assassins, is after her. To help her, Yuan Mo is recruited to the right role at Sifang Pavilion, where he proves himself by solving some tough diplomatic problems.
Ashu was a character that didn’t work for me from the start. She first appeared as an entitled bully who blamed the unhappy Yuan Mo for all of her problems, made unreasonable demands, and didn’t give a damn. She didn’t look away when her servants openly disrespected her, and never apologized or felt remorse. She put herself in danger time and time again with her noble folly and half-baked schemes that put everyone who was supposed to save her in danger. This is a beast that tramples on the male lead and lacks intelligence and survival instincts, it’s a miracle she didn’t die long ago. I never really connected to Zhou Yiran’s role, and her performance as Ashu was so lame and wonderful that I didn’t root for her. Her pathetic and repetitive crying scenes brought tears to my eyes. Sure, these scenes were exaggerated for comedic effect, but her erratic facial expressions made her seem mean instead of loving or funny. None of the female characters were written in a way that was admirable. Yuchi Hua is also a termagant and a cliché gender bender, a character whose only contribution is a token muscle. But at least she softened up and she showed that she truly respected and cared for Wang Kunwu. This is the latest in a series of disturbing episodes where female characters get a free pass for their toxic behavior towards male characters who are almost always playful and playful. When is there ever a balanced relationship where men and women just get along well?
The only thing that saved this drama for me was Tan Jianci’s incredibly funny and moving performance as Yuan Mo. This was a refreshing role for him, and his comedic timing and expressions were spot on. The character himself wasn’t well written either. He fell for Ashu way too quickly, and I’m still wondering why. He let her get to him, and he was a smart guy, but in the end, he just applied himself to her. The difference between Tan Jianci and Zhou Yiran is that he made me love his flaws, a little lazy, badly injured, Yuan Mo flaws and all; a character who seemed to have no desire to live at all until he had to find himself a villain with a brain the size of a watermelon seed. (Why didn’t I live thousands of years ago so he could find me instead?) Although they looked cute together, the chemistry between them seemed more friendly than passionate, so as a couple, they didn’t really change me. All that wasted Tan Jianci kissing scene! But I enjoyed the intimacy between the two lovers and the wider Sifang Pavilion group and the hilarious rivalry between the Eastern and Western courts. Ye Deshui was the MVP for me. He provided many golden comedic moments, just like Yuan Mo did, and I loved the hilarious way he ran Sifang Pavilion and smoothed over domestic and foreign conflicts.
The plot of the series started off well, as I was very interested in the foreign connections of the story. The first two cases were interesting and tense, and the satire kept me invested in the group. After that, the romance started to take center stage, and the reconciliation between the lovers, who I didn’t really care for, wasn’t funny enough to keep me engaged. That’s also when the big plot holes gradually appeared, and it snowballed into a cliffhanger by the end. Along the way, the tone of the story shifted from being silly and funny to one where the writer killed off good characters with diplomatic impunity. There was only one good twist in the whole plot, which was the rescue of Princess Yanle. The identity of the princess is too clear that you would not expect. Likewise, they often act as an actor who is as prominent as the star.
