"Lady & Liar" Heading Down the Crapper?

[kycoo]

As of episode 24, I was all on board with the currently airing Lady & Liar. I'd been anticipating this one since last January, and the first few episodes were pretty much right up my alley, with street magician Jiang Xin (Tang Yan) accidentally rescuing mafia boss Bai Zhengqing (Hawick Lau) from an assassination plot. He develops feelings for her, which she does not return because her heart belongs to a blind gentleman named Sheng Jiewen (Tony Yang). As such, she doesn't take it kindly when the White Wolf (as Bai Zhengqing is called) tries to force her to his side. YES. I AM ALL FOR THIS.

Then you throw in a birth-secret plot, and Jiang Xin discovers that she is actually the long-lost daughter of the Ye family, who has been searching for her for years. While traveling to meet her family, her train gets derailed and Jiang Xin falls into the ocean. Her necklace, the only thing identifying her as Ye Xin, the long-lost heiress, is stolen by the thief Du Xiaohan (Yang Rong), who goes on to usurp her figurative throne. Jiang Xin, on the other hand, washes up on shore with no memories of who she is, and Bai Zhengqing takes her in, claiming that she's his fiancee.

The whole mistaken identity storyline is actually plotted out very well, and I really enjoyed watching it unfold, especially the part where Sheng Jiewen returns from eye surgery abroad and is desperately searching for Jiang Xin, whom he can't recognize by face even when she's right in front of him. (It's Tony Yang, everyone. He can do no wrong.) I'm actually still anticipating the final reveal of how Jiang Xin is actually Ye Xin, despite the drama's attempts to drag out the melodrama.

At least, I was, until they released this new teaser over the weekend:

Click to view

To put it bluntly, THIS TEASER PISSES ME OFF. The beginning shows Jiang Xin (now recognized as Ye Xin, I think?) and Bai Zhengqing exchanging marriage vows. Seems like this should be a happy start, but later Jiang Xin says that she's only doing this to save the Ye family, while Bai Zhengqing says he wants to eat up the Ye family business (or something to that effect).

Why does this piss me off? It's soooo out of character for Bai Zhengqing. For 24 freaking episodes, the drama has hammered it into our heads that he is head over heels for Jiang Xin, and that he would do anything for her, even if she has no idea that he's behind all the special treatment that she receives. The drama intends for viewers to swoon over Bai Zhengqing and his unconditional love for Jiang Xin.



Does this forced marriage thing play into that? Hell no! Not to mention, he later tries to force himself on Jiang Xin on their wedding night (I bet nothing happens), and then he deliberately knocks over the cup of coffee she made him to show her that he doesn't want to drink it. What an asshole! Yeah, it's probably just an act on Bai Zhengqing's part, but acting like a douchebag, regardless of the circumstances, is always an automatic strike against a drama male lead in my eyes.

Maybe there's a way that Lady & Liar will spin this new plot development to make it more palatable, but I'm dreading this turn of events. Even worse, they seem to be angling for a Sheng Jiewen/Du Xiaohan secondary OTP, which is... really, guys? Even if Sheng Jiewen doesn't end up with Jiang Xin (I say "if"... we all know he doesn't stand a chance, even if he is Tony Yang... *sob*), there's no way he'd switch over to Du Xiaohan that fast. Although to be honest, I can totally relate to Du Xiaohan here -- if I met Sheng Jiewen, I'd be scheming how to get him romantically interested in me too. >_>

By the way, for the Tony Yang fans, I stumbled upon a Tony Yang YouTube channel, where they have a playlist of all the Tony Yang scenes in Lady & Liar. Woohoo! And yes, I realize I used "Tony Yang" three times in that first sentence. Is there something wrong with that?



Anyway, I'm totally railing against Lady & Liar, but I'm obviously still following it... What can I say, it's quite entertaining, even if recent episodes have been draggy. I blame my obsession on the pretty posters. And Tony Yang. >_>