My Two Cents: Startling By Each Step

BEWARE

Because this drama has been out for many years and it is often talked about, I will be spoiling a lot of the drama in this post. If you do not want any spoilers, please do not read on.

Year: 2011

Episodes: 35

Definitely one of Mainland China's most beloved historical dramas, Startling By Each Step took China by storm when it was first released in 2011. This time travel drama along with Palace helped popularize the time travel genre. It was very popular for its unique, enticing plotline. All of my friends were obsessed, but no matter how many times I rewatched it, I could never make it past fifteen episodes. This drama has always been very important to me because it introduced me to my now favorite dynasty, the Qing dynasty, but I never could relate to my friends who obsessed over this drama. Recently, I decided to rewatch the drama on a whim and I completed it in less than three days. I am surprised to say that I actually enjoyed it a lot. Here are my thoughts and synopsis of this timeless classic.

Synopsis:

Zhang Xiao (Liu Shi Shi) is a 21st century woman who magically gets transported back in time into the Qing Dynasty. She is now Ma'ertai Ruoxi, the sister-in-law of the Yunsi, the eighth prince. She attempts to return back to her world, only to learn that it is impossible to do so. As a prince's sister-in-law, she lives in the palace and befriends Yunsi's brothers. Though wanting only to spend a peaceful life in an era she doesn't belong in, she finds herself sucked into a power struggle between the princes' battle to become the next emperor.

Characters:

Zhang Xiao/Ma'ertai Ruoxi (Liu Shi Shi) is from the 21st century but gets transported back in time due to an accident. She finds herself now inside Ma'ertai Ruoxi's, the daughter of a general and the eighth prince's sister-in-law, body. She tries to adapt to life in the Forbidden Palace, but her playful, fearless personality causes her to get into all sorts of trouble. Her personality does help her befriend the princes. She becomes entangled with them in all sorts of ways. Some are her best friends and others her lovers. She becomes the lead tea server and one of Emperor Kangxi's most trustworthy and beloved servants. Her knowledge of all of the princes' ultimate fate causes her to live every day with fear and stress. She is conflicted as to whether or not to attempt to save them and change history. 

Yinzhen or 4th Prince or Emperor Yongzheng (Nicky Wu) did not seem like a strong contender for the throne but his cleverness and patience resulted in his succession to Kangxi's throne. He tried to keep a low profile and only acted as the Crown Prince's supporter, never actually fighting for the throne. He is quiet, mysterious, and calculative. He fell in love with Ruoxi and loved her deeply, but due to his status as a prince, he could never publicly announce their relationship. 

Yunsi or 8th Prince (Kevin Cheng) is known to be a kind and fair man. He is one of the strongest contenders of the throne, with many princes and officials on his side. Along with 9th Prince, 10th Prince, and 14th Prince, they make up the Eighth Lord Party. The strong support he has proves to be a disadvantage as the emperor viewed this as a hunger to usurp the throne. His mother used to be a servant, which greatly affects his status among the princes. He hopes to be the next emperor to stop those who look down upon him and his mother. When he first saw, Ma'ertai Ruolan, it was love at first sight. He marries her as his second wife only to learn that she already had feelings for another man. He made it his mission to make her happy he failed to do so. His first wife, Gororo Minghui, is constantly jealous of his love for Ruolan. When Ruoxi moves in with them, he falls for her and hopes to get her approval to marry her. She makes him choose between her and the throne, which he ultimately chose the thrown and the two broke up. 

Yinti or 14th Prince (Lin Gengxin) and Ruoxi started off on rough terms but later became best friends. He disliked her because she played with Yunsi's feelings. Over the years, he has come to understand her more and they finally brushed aside all previous misunderstandings. He even falls for her. He ultimately marries her in order to help her escape all unhappiness in the Forbidden Palace. Initially, he was not a strong contender for the throne but over time, the Emperor saw his intelligence, brilliance in battle, and kindness, and prepared to make him the successor to his throne. 

Yinxiang or 13th Prince (Yuan Hong) is a free-spirited individual but sadly was born into the royal family. He does not want to partake in the battle for the thrown but reluctantly joined the race in order to support the 4th Prince. He is Ruoxi's best friend. They both share the same feelings of not belonging in the palace and the yearning for freedom. They share an unspoken chemistry and he is the only person who truly understands Ruoxi. He is definitely one of my favorite characters. He is truly the friend everyone hopes for. He is a very transparent person. He is not very hard to read and is very clear about his feelings.

Gororo Minghui (Shi Xiaoqun) is Yunsi's main/first wife. She comes from a prominent family and possesses great wit. She is a proud, intelligent lady whose only weakness is her love for Yunsi. Yunsi's true love was never her but he greatly respects her and vows that she will always be his one and only main wife. You might be wondering why I would mention her even though she is not one of the main characters. She has definitely grown on me. Initially, I despised her. She constantly tries to bully Yunsi's second wife, Ma'ertai Ruolan, and she looks down at everyone but was super fake when in front of Yunsi. As the drama progressed, I started to understand her. She just wants her husband's love. When the entire 8th Prince compound was in danger, though she wants to cry, sleep, and ignore everything, she puts the responsibility of running the family on herself and stays strong until the very end. I admire and respect her greatly.

Review:

I understand why it was so popular back then. When it first came out, time travel was not as popular so this idea of incorporating history and time travel was fairly unique. There are a lot of handsome actors making it like a reverse harem. This is a nicely written historical drama but also has some aspects of an idol drama. Watching it in 2018, I think of it as crazy good. It is still a great production but compared to productions like Nirvana In Fire where the dialogue, cinematography, acting, and the plotline is perfect down to the detail, it is hard for me to think of Startling By Each Step as anything extraordinary. I thoroughly enjoyed the drama but there were just a few things that bug me about the drama.

1. Ruoxi's indecisiveness and selfishness

She forces Yunsi to decide between her and the throne knowing the decision is as hard as parents asking their children to choose mom or dad. She justifies her actions by saying that this is because she knows that his hunger for the throne will return in his downfall. Some consider this love but all I see is selfishness. She just wants to protect herself. She is conflicted about whether to stay with her true love Yinsi or the future emperor. She claims she does not want to get hurt and does not want to start something with Yinsi if it won't last a lifetime. Honestly, if she truly loved him enough she would value every second with him instead of being afraid of the future. No matter how the drama tries to justify her actions, I think such actions are selfish. She also plays with a lot of guys in this drama. She makes it seem like she has feelings for them and then crushes their hearts when she rejects them. Her actions towards Gororo Mingyu, 10th Prince's wife, made the 10th Prince, other characters, and myself think that she likes the 10th Prince, only to learn that she only considers him a friend.

2. Sudden romance between Ruoxi and the 4th Prince

It was like the writer decided to make a sudden U-turn with Ruoxi's romance. One second she is loving the 8th Prince and the next, she "falls" for her once enemy, now lover 4th Prince. She used to dislike him and tried his best to run away from him but because he will be the future emperor, she suddenly realizes that she likes him?? I never truly understood their love. I did not understand when Ruoxi fell for 4th Prince. Their love was too sudden for me. 

3. The ending was so sad and tragic. Most of the characters ended up unhappy. I remember tears rolling down my face at 3am. Literally, every character suffered throughout the drama but almost none of them ended up happy.

Other than this, this drama was great.

1. I love the power struggle. I think it is excited and suspenseful.

2. I love a lot of the characters.

3. The idea that Ruoxi might be able to change history. I just think this concept is very interesting.

4. The acting was pretty good. Liu Shi Shi was a bit exaggerated in the beginning to act all playful but she improved so much as the drama went on.

5. The OSTs were amazing. Usually, Chinese dramas do not use OST to their maximum potential but this drama had amazing OSTs and they were used at the correct time.

6. I love the princes. My bias is definitely the 14th Prince and 13th Prince but I liked that there were lots of different personalities shown. Each contributed in their unique way.

7. I love Emperor Kangxi. The guy is truly a nice person. Usually, emperors strike terror to the people and are pretty unreasonable. Though Kangxi still strikes terror to the people, he is a very reasonable emperor. He is very good at reading people and knows who to trust. He treats Ruoxi as if she were his daughter, always thinking of the best for her. To be honest, I wished that Ruoxi listened to him and married 14th Prince. She might not be in love but at least she won't always be sad and will be well-protected and free.

To wrap this long summary/review up, I understand why this drama is a classic. This drama has a plot that was pretty unique at the time, has a great plot, and has great actors; however, this drama is above average for me. I think there are a lot of better productions that have really raised the standards of dramas for me. I will say that I still recommend every person to watch this drama. Even seven years later, I still really enjoyed it. I just wished that Ruoxi's love was a little more clear and logical. I am extremely biased because I do not like Ruoxi with the 4th Prince. Instead, I wish that she was with the 14th Prince or maybe even the 8th Prince. I also wish the ending could be happier and not so tragic.

Please comment down below your opinion of this drama. I would love to hear your interpretation of this production.