A Journey to Love (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: A Journey to Love (2023) - Wuxia meets politics as a princess, an assassin, and a squad of spies embark on mission impossible

This is 9/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:         9 Stars Plot:                       8 Stars Acting/cast:            9 Stars Couple chemistry:   8 stars Music:                    9 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

Based on an original screenplay, A Journey to Love (2023) is an engaging blend
of wuxia and politics.  The narrative centres around the journey of a delegation that embark on mission impossible: the rescue of their undeserving Emperor from the hands of a hostile State. Although they (and we) know it is essentially a suicide mission, there is so much thrilling heroics, hilarity, and hijinks along the way that it is impossible not to fall in love with the squad and to be invested in their story.  I found myself fervently hoping that their plot armour would hold forever and that they would all make it home.   

The English title of the drama is serviceable, but I much prefer the Chinese title, 一念關山 / 一念关山 "A Thought of Fortresses and Mountains". It is derived from "一念起關山", the penultimate line of Shen Yue 沈约's frontier poem 卻東西門行 / 却东西门行 "But the East West Gate" (which I have attempted a more detailed commentary + translation of 👉here).   

In brief, the line "一念起關山" expresses the poet's yearning for the fortresses and mountains that delineate and protect his country. Given the drama's themes, the choice of title is incredibly apt, poetically evoking the delegation's love of country and their desire to protect its frontiers, as well as their yearning to return home.  

Notably, A Journey to Love (2023) heralds the comeback of veteran actress Liu Shi Shi, as well as the first main male lead role for Liu Yu Ning in a costume drama. Their kickass power couple of deadly assassin Ren Ru Yi and Chief Ning Yuan Zhou blew me away with their awesomeness.  Liu Shi Shi is a delight to watch, especially in her mesmerisingly good fighting scenes, and although Liu Yu Ning's acting is a work in progress, I think he holds his own.  I fell for them, as well as for every member of the squad (especially Fang Yi Lun's Yu Shi Shan) like the proverbial ton of bricks.

Although I enjoyed this drama, it isn't without its flaws. A tendency to focus on characterisation at the expense of plot meant that midway through there was a marked decrease in momentum, and the rush to the ending could have been better conceived and executed. But overall, it is still a drama that scores a solid 9 from me, because there was just so much to love.

   

SPOILERS AHEADS

Plot: Your mission, should you choose to accept it... 

For a spoiler free synopsis, see mine 👉here.  

The story starts with a hell of a political dilemma: the Wu Emperor has been taken hostage by the An State and for his return, the An Emperor demands a hefty ransom brought to him by a Prince of Wu.  Naïve Princess Yang Ying (played by He Lan Dou) is more or less manipulated into volunteering for the task as 'Prince Li', and a delegation is assembled to undertake the dangerous mission of escorting her to retrieve the Wu Emperor.  

At its helm is Spymaster Ning Yuan Zhou (played by Liu Yu Ning), Chief of the Six Paths Hall 六道堂/Liu Dao Tang, and hailing from the Hell Path/地獄道 which specialises in assassination and espionage. Ning Yuan Zhou reluctantly takes on the job so he can secure the exoneration of fallen Heaven Path/天道 brothers who have been unjustly accused of treachery despite giving their all to protect the underserving Wu Emperor.  With Ning Yuan Zhou are his specially selected squad of spies, all of whom have a particular set of skills:

• 

  The Squad: Yuan Lu, Qian Zhao, Sun Lang, Yu Shi Shan

  Free-spirited gorgeous playboy Yu Shi Shan (played by Fang Yi Lun) of the Asura Path/阿修羅道 - specialising in bribery and seduction, and adept with crossbows. 

• Laconic commander of the imperial guards Qian Zhao (played by Wang Yi Zhe) of the Heaven Path/天道 - specialising in protection of the Wu royal family/nobility. Also a healer extraordinaire, who wields a heavy blade. 

• Animal loving Sun Lang (played by Li Huan), of the Human path/人道 - specialising in espionage and defence, with a bladed shield as his weapon of choice.

• Sunny natured youngster Yuan Lu (played by Chen You Wei), of the Hungry Ghost path/餓鬼道 - specialising in mechanisms of all descriptions such as hidden weapons, bombs, tracking devices etc.

When deadly assassin and former left envoy of An's Scarlet Guards Ren Ru Yi (played by Lui Shi Shi) joins the delegation at Ning Yuan Zhou's invitation, things get...interesting.  

She is there to mentor Yang Ying into a passable 'Prince Li' but has an agenda of her own (investigation of the An Empress' death for which she was framed and vengeance against the culprits). Incidentally, Ren Ru Yi also decides that Ning Yuan Zhou would make a good no-strings-attached sperm donor, to the latter's consternation, and the squad's hearty amusement😂 

But fighting back to back with an equal has a way of making love blossom, and before long Ren Ru Yi and Ning Yuan Zhou decide that an all-strings-attached relationship is very much on the cards. This, much to the delight of the chaotically nosy squad, who really could have a side hustle as matchmakers. Along the way, Princess Yang Ying also grows into her own under the tutelage of Ren Ru Yi and Ning Yuan Zhou.

But as the delegation gets closer to An, the dangers from every side mount, and they must take on impossible odds every step of the way to achieve mission impossible. And then Bei Pan, a more deadly external enemy emerges, threatening the annihilation of both Wu and An...

Strengths: Compelling characters + laugh-out-loud comedy + thrilling action scenes 

Where this drama excels is in its wonderful characterisation, laugh-out-loud comedy, and thrilling action scenes.  

Refreshingly, the main leads (Ning Yuan Zhou and Ren Ru Yi) are a seasoned older pairing, both at the height of their considerable powers.  Liu Yu Ning's Ning Yuan Zhou is almost too perfect to be true: a natural leader of men, respectful to women, almost invincible in martial arts, and with high IQ and EQ to boot. Liu Shi Shi's Ren Ru Yi is equally formidable - beautiful and deadly, she is the world's best assassin and so skilled in killing that she makes it look like an artform. In her hand, a leaf can be a lethal blade.

Together Ning Yuan Zhou and Ren Ru Yi are the ultimate power couple. The hilarity of their initial interactions aside, their romance is a mature one, in which tenderness, communication, and mutual respect are key characteristics, and issues like jealousy and differing life goals are dealt with and resolved together. 

I am all for this healthy ass-kicking power couple - may c-drama land give us more of this type of pairing! 

(As a quick aside, I just wish to note that the online trolling directed at Liu Yu Ning's looks in this drama baffled me. Ning Yuan Zhou is not meant to be a pretty boy and Liu Yu Ning has something much more compelling than idol boy looks - he has presence. While there is room for improvement in his acting - as evidenced, for example, in his portrayal of grief as compared to, say Fang Yi Lun, I still thought Liu Yu Ning was a great fit for Ning Yuan Zhou. I was especially impressed with the intensity he brought to scenes such as the emotionally charged confrontation with the Wu Emperor in episode 28 and the commitment he brought to the fighting scenes). 

Episode 21: "1,2,3,4,5,6,7..."😆

It is impossible not to fall in love with Ning Yuan Zhou's squad. As well as being deadly combatants, they are the most chaotic, hilarious, nosy band of brothers to have graced my screen with their laugh-out-loud antics in quiet some time 😆  

I loved them all. Never-quiet-clued-in-on-the-joke Sun Lang with his love for furry animals. Deadpan Qian Zhao who is clued-in-on-everything and has the best zingers (who can forget his epic "I have a report Sir.... 1,2,3,4,5,6,7" just to piss off Li Tong Guang by drawing attention to Yuan Zhou-Ru Yi coziness?😂). Then there's everyone's favourite little brother Yuan Lu, whose joie de vivre lights up the room and whose congenital heart condition had me worrying along with the squad.  And of course Yu Shi Shan... 

Ahhhh, Fang Yi Lun's Yu Shi Shan💓

Somehow this gorgeous popinjay of a playboy with a conscience sauntered onto the screen and into my heart. Feathered hairpins and all, he had me in stitches of laughter with his comic flair and sheer audacity one moment and moved to tears in the next. Such a compellingly written character - a loveable rogue with flaws, foibles, and commitment issues, but also a tower of strength in the face of despair, multi-faceted and nuanced.   

I always knew Fang Yi Lun could carry off tragedy, but who knew that he had such fantastic comic timing? I sincerely hope that Yu Shi Shan is a breakout character for him and that he has plenty of dramas in store for us.   

Two other characters also stood out for me.  

One was Zhang Tian Yang's Wu Emperor, who absolutely nailed the selfish deviousness of a feckless monarch, and somehow managed to convince me of the genuineness of his repentance in the final arc.  

He Lan Dou as Yang Ying/"Prince Li"

The other was He Lan Dou's Princess Yang Ying, who undergoes the most character growth in the drama. Her gradual transformation from being a timid "caged sparrow" who has little control over her destiny into an "eagle" that has the strength of character to take destiny into her hands was very well written and incredibly satisfying to watch. The script gives Yang Ying some of the most iconic scenes in the drama and to He Lan Dou's credit, she knocks every one of them out of the park.  Definitely a young actress to watch - her range is astounding.  

And then of course there are the fantastic fighting scenes that warrant more than one watch - gravity defying, nail bitingly good!  Hard to pick favorites given the wealth of material to choose from, but my best picks would be the epic team effort battle of the delegation vs Wu baddies (at episode 8) and the thrilling rescue of Wu Emperor complete with flying foxes (at episode 31).      

Weaknesses: plot, pacing, and a rush to the ending

Li Tong Guang's mummy issues

All of the above was so entertaining that I almost didn't realise that the script tended to focus on characterisation at the expense of plot until the mid-way point. 

The loss of momentum became marked, however, when delulu Li Tong Guang (played by Chang Hua Sen) meets the delegation roughly midway through the drama.  I got the feeling that the scriptwriter did not knew exactly what she wanted to do with this character, whose Oedipus complex fueled obsession with his shifu Ren Ru Yi was downright disturbing.  

But from episodes 17 onwards, way too much valuable drama time was expended on the tedium of Li Tong Guang repeatedly spinning out of control for his shifu in a way that didn't really gel with the other side of his Machiavellian nature - the highly ambitious schemer who wields charm like a weapon and has positioned himself to be the power behind the An throne.  

Between this, and an almost indulgent focus on the main leads' romance and relationship goal moments, the plot stagnated.  Even the addition of Ren Ru Yi's side quest to avenge the An Empress did not provide momentum, especially because this is largely reduced to a visual footnote in episode 27 at the expense of more romancing on rooftops.  

Interspersed with slower moments there are also some fantastic scenes in which Yang Ying navigates choppy political waters as 'Prince Li'. But the pace does not truly pick up until the epic rescue of the Wu Emperor in episode 31, which was really well done.  In my view, the drama peaks with that grand rescue and with Yang Ying playing the ultimate trump card by revealing her true gender and identity before the An Emperor at episode 33.

Thereafter, the script overcompensates for previous lack of plot with too much plot in a frenetic race to the ending. Honestly, everything and the kitchen sink were thrown into the mix in the last 7 episodes.  The Bei Pan enemies invasion, the An royal shenanigans, the deaths of multiple main characters, the assassination of the Wu Emperor and the ensuing Wu royal succession subplot...  The drama really ought to have cut some of the unnecessary subplots as they did not add to the drama (looking at you Wu succession subplot). The rushed last episodes really made me miss the pre 40 episode limit days of c-dramas.  

Chang Hua Sen as Li Tong Guang

I also think that the scriptwriter threw Li Tong Guang's character under the bus (again) in the final arc.  He had already come to terms with his obsession with his shifu at episode 34, recognising that he has lost the right to stand by her side when he "killed" her, but in episode 37, Li Tong Guang again regresses to full bat-crap craziness and abducts Ren Ru Yi with marriage in mind. This seemed completely unnecessary, and was clearly inserted in to allow for the hero-snatching-bride-away-at-the-altar trope. 

Then they made Li Tong Guang's rookie battle error and later impetuousness the reason for Yu Shi Shan's death, Ning Yuan Zhou's death, and consequently, Ren Ru Yi's death. I felt this was out of character as Li Tong Guang was clearly an experienced and capable general, capable of taking the leader of another nation hostage right from the get go. His marked decrease in intelligence in the last two episodes just didn't make sense and I got the feeling it was a plot device to arrive at the final deaths. 

Honestly, the entire final arc could have been better conceived - the outcome was fitting but the execution left a lot to be desired.

More thoughts on the ending and the non sequitur final minutes

Some viewers have recommended stopping at episode 34 to avoid having to confront the deaths of some of the drama's most wonderful characters.  

I personally could not leave the drama unfinished, but I have to say that episode 35 and onwards are not for the faint of heart as one by one, the beloved squad fall. 

I think it was written to wring maximum pain from audiences, and boy did that succeed with me. Especially because they inevitably played Liu Yun Ning's hauntingly beautiful song 別夢寒/"Don't let dreams grow cold" or his 奉上/"Offer" at each death and it was as if Chief Ning was singing the requiems for each of his fallen brothers. (Incidentally, I wonder if Liu Yun Ning may lose his reputation as the "Security guard of Love"/愛情保安 with these songs?)  

I was a sobbing mess when Qian Zhao and Sun Lang died in battle in episode 35, and seeing the squad's grief for their fallen comrade-in-arms made it hit so much harder. Especially Yu Shi Shan's bone deep anguish.  I thought I had no tears left, but when Yuan Lu ran his heart out to call for reinforcements and died in Yang Ying's arms in episode 36, I ugly cried again for what could have been for these two youngsters. When Yu Shi Shan sent Chu Yue to safety on horseback and put a blindfold over his bloodied eyes before running to meet the enemy in episode 39, I cried again. Damn it, Yu Shi Shan really did live up to his motto to drink the best wines, see the most beautiful girls, make the best friends, and fight the most glorious battles.

By the time Ning Yuan Zhou meets his death on the battlefield and Ren Ru Yi takes on a dangerous assassination with suicide in mind in episode 40, I had no tears left...💔 Once again, how apt is the Chinese title of this drama! Lines from 卻東西門行 "But the East West Gate":

樂去哀鏡滿,    When joy departs, melancholy enters fully, 
悲來壯心歇。  When sorrows come, the strong heart halts....

一念起關山,    A thought of fortresses and mountains,
千里顧丘窟。  A thousand miles to return back home.

To be honest, I am at peace with the ending in which none of the squad or the leads made it out alive.  It was, after all, a suicide mission that they were embarking on and warfare is cruel. A sad ending is not necessarily a bad ending and I can live with tragic endings if they are fitting.    

What I wasn't sold on was the last 5 minutes of episode 40 which felt like a complete non sequitur. We are shown Chu Yue, some 10 years later, looking at the field on which the final battle took place and she sees a handsome young child, who tells her he is called Ning Shi Shan and that he has a sister called Ren Lu, and he promises to take her to see his parents.  She then imagines, through tears, the squad and the leads on horseback, before she walks toward the field, hand in hand with the child.   

I know some viewers see this as confirmation that somehow Ning Yuan Zhou and Ren Ru Yi are alive, living in happy seclusion with their children after popping a magic pill and faking their deaths, but I don't really think this interpretation is logically possible.  Ning Yuan Zhou sustained mortal injuries on the battlefield, took of his identifying name badge, and apologised for breaking his promise to Ren Ru Yi that he would stay alive.  And in wuxia, 'magic' pills don't have the capacity to reverse certain death. As for Ren Ru Yi, she decided on a kamikaze assassination designed to give Wu and An a chance to defeat Bei Pan, but also because she said the world was too lonely without Ning Yuan Zhou in it. Mortal injuries aside, I also think it would have been completely out of character for Ning Yuan Zhou and Ren Ru Yi to fake their deaths and abandon Yang Ying and Li Tong Guang at that critical juncture of the war.   

For me, the most logical explanation is therefore that it was all in Chu Yue's imagination.  I wish they had not added the last 5 minutes though - it just seemed like a cop out, that the scriptwriter didn't have the gumption to nail her colours firmly to the mast regarding the fate of the leads. I would much have preferred the drama to end with the squad and leads riding carefree in our imaginations, reunited in death.  Or perhaps, with Yang Ying and Li Tong Guang, whom I would like to think were able to pick up the pieces and live lives worthy of those who died, of those who did not make it home.  

Final thoughts

🐼:  A Journey to Love (2023) is well worth the watch.  The drama excelled in its thrilling action scenes, laugh-out-loud comedy, and its rich characterisation of a cast of some truly unforgettable characters. The drama also effortlessly captured the depth of the comrade-in-arms bonds between the squad, which moved me to both laughter and tears.  

Where the drama faltered was in its tendency to focus on characterisation at the expense of plot, which meant that the momentum faltered midway. In the last quarter, the script then overcompensated with too many interwoven plots in a frenetic kitchen-sink-approach race to the ending, the last few minutes of which I found to be an unnecessary non sequitur. 

Regardless, there was so much to love in this drama. It really is one where the journey matters more than the destination.

9/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮