When I think about dramas that I wish didn't exist on this material plane, I'm a Pet at Dali Temple comes to mind. I chose to watch this after enjoying Gia Ge's exceptional performance as a cat-human in Make a Wish. I'd also just finished a surprisingly successful streak of pastel-filtered sweet romances (they're not usually my thing, I have trouble paying attention once everyone gets cozy), so I thought this would fill that void nicely.

But, boy oh boy, was I unprepared for the misogyny! While I love the enemies-to-lovers "bickering couple" trope, it doesn't work if it's entirely one-sided, as it is here: the male lead frequently and persistently berates the girl he professes to love. In a toxic cycle, Qing Mo Yan withholds pertinent information from Ru Xiao Lan, which makes her deeply unaware of herself and the world around her, then punishes or yells at her when she inevitably acts out of ignorance. She isn't given any narrative space to mature because he's insistent on keeping her in the dark and treating her like a child.

And as if the verbal abuse wasn't repulsive enough, there's also the noticeable age gap in characterization and performance, between manly Xu Kai Cheng and girlish Hu Yi Xuan. Unsurprisingly, the character of Xiao Lan is underwritten and cliche, since she's supposed to be mischievous, carefree, and juvenile in her blind kindness, like every other female lead in a fantasy C-drama. Meanwhile, Mo Yan is mature, responsible, and measured in his trust in others, like any normal grown adult. This giant difference in personality and experience might've been reduced, had the actors generated any persuasive chemistry, but they don't. Without any sensuality or sense of deepening emotional intimacy, their romance takes on a creepy sterile quality, making them seem more like father/daughter or brother/sister. None of this is helped by their aesthetics. Although Xu Kai Cheng and Hu Yi Xuan are actually only four years apart in age, he looks far older while she appears far younger.

The ending, which I won't spoil, puts the rotten cherry on top of the disgusting sundae, further proving that this show thinks its creepy father/daughter dynamic is part of its appeal.

After watching this and A Well-Intended Love, until it became a horror movie, I'm left scratching my head at Xu Kai Cheng's choice in projects. Does he look for sexist scripts or do they just find him? I've heard the rumors about his struggles with honesty and fidelity in his personal life, but you'd think that would be an even bigger reason to steer away from projects that gleefully demean women, or...not.