Warning: spoilers ahead
It is not often that I watch non-TVB Chinese drama but I find myself following what I thought was a mainland serial, Infernal Lover. I thought it was weird that an idol drama guy (Mike He) was in a show with a largely mainland Chinese cast. I found out later that the show was by a Taiwanese and planned as an idol drama! Clever idea, I thought, idol drama in a historical setting (Republican period). In what sounds like quite a story in itself, due to problems with the original female lead and other stuff, they had to re-cast the cast, re-do parts of the story and re-film some of the scenes. And so it looks like what it does now. (Doesn't the other male lead look like Sammul Chan?)
As with Royal Embroidery Workshop, I was fascinated by the (female) costumes and sets, and, really, not by the acting. I find mainland acting rather stage-y and staged. Mike He's style is so different. Plus, he had this modern floppy hair look while all the other (forgettable) males had hair suited to the era. I wonder if the actors complained about the injustice, ha ha. He is okay as Feng Yi, but just okay. He is good at looking cool and suave but for deeper stuff, such as internal conflicts and masking the intensity of his (character's) true emotions, which I have seen people like Kang Ji Hwan, Bowie Lam and Wong Hei do really successfully, I'd give him maybe 65%. Though I think he did it better than Joe Cheng in It Started With A Kiss, and they both were miles better than Ryu Jin (similar character to Feng Yi - a 'mole' consorting with the enemy as part of the plan) in Capital Scandal.
His Feng Yi and Hua Er were cute as a couple but I wish they had better chemistry. Also, the second female lead Xiao Xue (second from left in the poster, acted by Wang Li Kun) is much prettier and more natural, I think.
(this is not his death scene but an earlier one where he took a bullet for her)
I am sure Mike He's fans would not agree with my rating of his acting and I am also sure the ending was heartbreaking for them. I checked out what happened in the end and was surprised that Feng Yi dies. When does idol drama ever end in death or injustice? I am not sure what the big idea is but it is kind of crappy that he has to die. Among the revolutionaries, he makes the biggest sacrifices and puts in the greatest effort, and the baddies are all gone by then, so why does he have to die? Plus, although everyone knows that he would do anything for Hua Er, he never quite had the chance to tell her what she waited almost the whole show to hear, what it pained him so much to have to keep hidden in his heart, and finally they have their chance and she is waiting for him at the train station, and he has to die? Well and truly crappy.
I like the soundtrack quite a bit, especially the song 石头的外衣, which is such an apt and sad Feng Yi song. It also reflects the uncertainty and pain of the era and the beautifully romantic scenes that were rather few in number, I suspect because of the re-casting and re-filming.
This is not the best of shows but I am watching it because it beats watching Style or 娘家 and it comes on just once a week, which makes for very, very slow progress but it's about all the time I have for any serial.
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