Kill Me Love Me (春花焰) is another Wu Jin Yan drama within a short time period in the second half of 2024. It has also gotten some good reviews for yet another historical drama with a revenge theme. I guess we will never get bored of them as long as the story is well-executed with a good script. Of course, the co-star matters too and Liu Xue Yi matches up well to Wu Jin Yan for the most part here. However, this drama is a bit disappointing to me overall after a good start and my Kill Me Love Me review will have more discussions on this below.
My rating: 7.5/10
Episodes: 32
Type: Historical Romance
Aired: October 2024
Images Credit: Douban Movie
The Cast Of Kill Me Love Me
- Liu Xue Yi as Murong Jing He
- Wu Jin Yan as Mei Lin
- Bi Wen Jun as Yue Qin
- Zhao Xiao Tang as Yin Luo Mei
- Baron Chen as Murong Xuan Lie
- Huang Ri Ying as Zi Gu
- Jiang Kai as Murong Qian
- Jill Hsu as Concubine Yin
- Gao Jun Hai as Zhang Yin
- Hou Chang Rong as King of Xiyan
Main Characters
Murong Jing He
Jing He is a prince of Great Yan. He used to be the General of Weibei Army but has since become a cripple. He is also a fallen prince who has been banished. Jing He appears as a cruel lunatic who is wasting his time away. But he is actually a determined and shrewd man who is on a mission to right a wrong. His assistant is Qing Yan while his late mother is Empress Dejia.
Mei Lin
Mei Lin is an assassin of a secretive organization called Shadow Works. She is a tough lady with a very strong spirit of perseverance. Mei Lin is from Qingzhou and has lost both her parents in a fire set by an army during a war. She is looking for revenge but will never harm the innocent.
Supporting Characters
Yue Qin
Yue Qin is a prince from Xiyan but held as a hostage in Great Yan. He is a gentleman with great chess skills. He also has a good relationship with the Emperor of Great Yan and is the ruler’s regular chess partner. Yue Qin is acquainted with Mei Lin from the past and has feelings for her. His assistant is Shu Mo.
Yin Luo Mei
Luo Mei is also known as General Yin. She leads her family’s Pingnan Army and prefers to be a general to defend Great Yan than to be married. Luo Mei is straightforward and principled. She is a childhood friend of both Jing He and the Crown Prince but has feelings for the former.
Murong Xuan Lie
Xuan Lie is the Crown Prince of Great Yan. He is a shrewd and cold-blooded man with an ambition to be the next Emperor. He is Jing He’s half-brother and his late mother was only a concubine who died young. Xuan Lie was then brought up by Empress Dejia. He has been in love with Luo Mei for a long time but the feeling is unrequited. Xuan Lie is assisted by Wang Quan.
Zi Gu
Zi Gu is a princess from Xiyan and Yue Qin’s younger sister. She is a carefree, innocent, and pure-hearted person but is forced to marry the Emperor of Great Yan in a peace deal.
Murong Qian
Murong Qian is the Emperor of Great Yan. He is also the Crown Prince and Jing He’s father. The Emperor is assisted by his chief eunuch, Liu Zhong.
Concubine Yin
Concubine Yin is a concubine of the Emperor of Great Yan. She is also Luo Mei’s aunt. Concubine Yin is eager for Luo Mei to marry the Crown Prince to secure the Yin family’s position.
Zhang Yin
Zhang Yin is the Minister of Defence of Great Yan. He is the Crown Prince’s lapdog who has risen up the ranks by helping the Crown Prince to carry out all his dirty deeds.
King of Xiyan
The King of Xiyan is Yue Qin’s father. He is a superstitious man who wants to achieve immortality and takes prayers and omens seriously. Zhu Shun is Xiyan’s High Priestess who advises the King.
Synopsis
Mei Lin is a native of Qingzhou which is a town bordering Great Yan and Xiyan. 10 years ago, a war between the 2 states saw Qingzhou being recaptured by the Weibei Army of Great Yan. After the victory, the town was burnt down and Mei Lin’s parents died in the fire. Jing He, a prince of Great Yan and the General of Weibei Army was deemed responsible for ordering the massacre after the recapture to punish the Qingzhou residents.
Hence, Mei Lin wants revenge against Jing He and trains herself to be a skilled assassin under a secretive outfit called Shadow Works. At the same time, Jing He pretends to be a lunatic cripple to bide his time to gain revenge against the Crown Prince who had framed him for the massacre in a power struggle to be the heir. 10 years later, Jing He returns to the capital and Mei Lin is carrying out her mission for Shadow Works. When she learns that Jing He is not the real culprit but the Crown Prince is, she teams up with Jing He since they share the same target.
As time passes, Mei Lin and Jing He fall in love with each other. But unbeknownst to Mei Lin, Jing He is the man behind Shadow Works who has orchestrated her revenge plan including compelling her to consume a poison to ensure she carried out her mission.
Kill Me Love Me Ending & Recap (Spoilers Alert!)
Kill Me Love Me has a sad ending. After successfully defending Qingzhou against the Xiyan army led by the pro-war General Ming Ju, the 2 states sign a peace treaty. General Ming Ju is killed by Jing He after Luo Mei manages to get reinforcements from elsewhere in Episode 31. But her subordinate is killed and Luo Mei is blinded in one eye in the process. Qing Yan also dies in the battle with Xiyan to defend Qingzhou. He sacrifices his life to blow up the enemy camp and to ensure Jing He lives when they are surrounded by Xiyan soldiers. Big Guy Wei is also killed in the war.
Mei Lin collapses after the victory as the poison weakens her heart in Episode 40. She has kept it from Jing He so as not to distract him during the war with Xiyan. She is given a month to live. Mei Lin and Jing He have their wedding and she dies soon after. Before she dies, she tells Jing He to live well. The ones that are still alive miss their spouses who have gone as the Emperor and Luo Mei yearn for Zi Gu and the Crown Prince respectively. Zi Gu has died in Episode 29 due to massive bleeding brought on by miscarriage.
A few years later, the Emperor abdicates and Jing He becomes the new ruler. Jing He rules for 10 years and brings much prosperity to Great Yan. He has neither a harem nor heir and appoints a nephew to succeed him. Jing He dies in Qingzhou while yearning for his beloved Mei Lin. The drama ends with a happy imagination of how they could have met if the Qingzhou fire didn’t happen.
When Did The Leads Get Together?
Jing He and Mei Lin get together as a couple in Episode 18. This is after they have survived a dangerous situation together due to the Crown Prince’s action to have them killed. They end up hiding in a village for a while and pretend to be a married couple in front of the villagers. Jing He confesses to Mei Lin that she is his ideal woman and she admits that she likes him too as they become a real couple.
Is There Any Love Triangle?
Luo Mei has feelings for Jing He but knows his heart lies with Mei Lin instead. Her feelings for Jing He makes her reluctant to accept the Crown Prince’s pursuit. As such, she turns down the Crown Prince in Episode 9 and 11. Luo Mei tells Jing He that she wants him to be her choice of a husband in Episode 13 but he rejects her due to his growing feelings for Mei Lin. Jing He also pretends to frolic with Mei Lin to deter Luo Mei. Luo Mei finally gives in and agrees to marry the Crown Prince due to his relentless pursuit in Episode 18 and they get betrothed in Episode 19.
Yue Qin is also in love with Mei Lin all along but has never confessed his feelings. He also doesn’t want to force her to stay with him but would rather she does it on her own free will. He makes her his Crown Princess to ensure her safety during the power struggle between Jing He and the Crown Prince. Mei Lin willingly takes up the pretend role in Episode 23 to repay the favor. She also doesn’t want to cause him problem as he has obtained his father’s approval for the marriage by convincing him that Mei Lin is god’s chosen one based on their beliefs.
In Episode 27, Yue Qin has prepared a divorce letter to give Mei Lin a choice of whether to stay or go as her poison is close to being completely detoxified. But when he loses the ingredient for the detoxification due to internal rivalry, he is forced to use the blood of Mei Lin’s friend to lengthen Mei Lin’s life in a blood transfusion. Their relationship breaks down when Mei Lin learns what he has done.
Is There A Breakup?
Jing He breaks up with Mei Lin in Episode 22. He is planning to storm the palace which is under the control of the Crown Prince to save his father who has been poisoned. As the chance of success is slim, he pushes her away by telling her that he is the master of Shadow Works. Hence, he is just using her to achieve his aims. Mei Lin knows Jing He is doing it for her own safety a little while later. Jing He and Yue Qin have agreed to a deal to keep Mei Lin safe by taking her to Xiyan. Yue Qin will make Mei Lin his Crown Princess in an arrangement to ensure her safety.
Jing He and Mei Lin meet again in Qingzhou in Episode 25 when both states are working together to establish trade relations. He apologizes to her but she insists that he doesn’t owe her anything anymore. Their relationship has already broken down and they should move on where Mei Lin is concerned.
Mei Lin reconciles with Jing He in Episode 30 after he jumped off the cliff after her when she wanted to escape from enemy soldiers. Her heart has already softened by then after she found out that Jing He has used his own body to test antidotes for her poison in Episode 29.
What Happens To The Crown Prince?
Jing He informs his father that the Crown Prince was the mastermind behind the Qingzhou massacre in Episode 19. This is after he has obtained a written confession from the Crown Prince’s ex-strategist who had helped the latter to plan the massacre. However, the Emperor suddenly collapses during the session in Episode 20 due to the Crown Prince’s poisoning. The Crown Prince shrewdly made used of Concubine Yin in the poisoning saga which forces her to stand on his side to avoid being implicated. This will also ensure Luo Mei will remain with him to protect her aunt should she wavers in her loyalty towards him.
Luo Mei learns about the Crown Prince’s crimes from Jing He in Episode 21. By then, the Crown Prince has captured Liu Zhong who was helping Jing He to detoxify the Emperor. She witnesses the Crown Prince torturing Liu Zhong. But instead of saving Liu Zhong, she kills him instead. Luo Mei feels conflicted and is angry with the Crown Prince for what he had done. However, she still chooses to support him as she not only needs to protect her aunt, but has also fallen for him.
In Episode 23, Jing He storms the palace to try to save his father. He almost dies in the process and is saved by the timely arrival of Luo Mei who finally decides to do what is right despite her love for the Crown Prince. The Emperor awakens and the Crown Prince is arrested. The Crown Prince is executed via poisoned wine. Luo Mei marries him before he dies in his cell. She is stripped of her military command and sent to a new posting outside of the capital for helping the Crown Prince.
Kill Me Love Me Review – Another Revenge Drama
Kill Me Love Me is another revenge drama but is divided into 2 arcs. The revenge portion runs for 23 episodes before the story switches to another setting and a power struggle in a neighboring state. Unlike Love Of Nirvana, the villain in Kill Me Love Me is made clear very early on. There is no mystery as to who should bear responsibility for a past crime which had been laid on the shoulders of our innocent hero. Hence, the story for the first 2 dozen episodes revolves around the protagonists trying to get evidence to prove the bad guy did it.
The meat of the story comes from the moves by the protagonists to obtain the evidence and the countermoves by the antagonist to stop them. It is not a very strategic drama like Joy Of Life S2 though whereby the moves is like a chess game. This one is much simpler with an open rivalry. You are just watching 2 brothers challenging each other to be the ultimate winner.
Once that part is done with, we will move on to the second arc that has more of the second male lead’s story. This is another power tussle involving the second male lead and a pro-war general but condensed into a few short episodes. After all, things have to move fast here as there are only 9 episodes left to go and we also have the romance to take care of.
Poor Second Arc
Personally, the second arc seems detached from the first although the scriptwriters try to tie the 2 up through the romance. The story starts off as a revenge mission which you would expect to last until the final episode. But this is not how the story is written. When the revenge part is resolved, you are left wondering what else is there for the viewers. There is no strong foundation to the second arc and the drama could well have ended after the first. The final fight with the revenge target does seem like a perfect point for a climax as well.
To make matters worse, the second male lead is written to be a rather bland character. There is little room for him to shine and show his leadership as the Crown Prince when he is given more screen time in the second arc. The female lead gets entangled with him in some way which is not too convincing. Some parts are also skimmed through as the drama moves towards the end.
It is really a pity when the drama actually starts off rather well. It is very easy to get hooked in the first episode itself. This is largely due to the male lead’s character which will leave you mesmerized. Unfortunately, the script just couldn’t sustain that intensity and darkness.
Inconsistent Character Traits
When Kill Me Love Me begins, the male protagonist appears as a lunatic. He is supposed to be depressive with a cruel streak. He is also the master of an underground assassins outfit. But this mysterious persona is quickly stripped away after a few episodes in unlike the darkness of the male character seen in Story Of Kunning Palace. You can argue that it is all a pretense to fool his enemies but the transformation from a cold and revengeful prince to a love struck one takes away that intrigue that has been crafted at the very beginning. Basically, his dark side vanishes completely rather quickly when it actually suits his personality given his experience.
As for the female protagonist, she is supposed to be a tough assassin who wants her revenge too. But the story doesn’t do justice to her character when she is shut out of the action against her will in the final battle with the man who caused her parents’ deaths. This reduces the satisfaction to me when you watch the villain being defeated.
On top of that, the second female lead’s pivot from the male lead to his brother is just weird. She has a strong sense of right and wrong. Thus, to reduce her to someone who would overlook a huge crime, fall deeply for the perpetrator, and continue to yearn for him is hardly convincing. As a result, all these inconsistencies in the characters’ traits just erodes the drama’s potential and grip on the viewers. Fortunately, the performance of the leads help to pull back viewers’ attention.
Good Chemistry
Liu Xue Yi and Wu Jin Yan make a pretty good pairing in Kill Me Love Me. They have good chemistry between them with the intensity and sexual attraction being obvious right from the beginning. Unfortunately, the script quickly changes them to an ordinary couple and there is even a domestic kind of sweetness for a few episodes at one stage. That chemistry would have been perfect for a darker tone of sexual tension but that plug is pulled too soon in my opinion.
Nevertheless, both the actors did their part well with their brilliant acting. Liu Xue Yi’s portrayal of a dark anti-hero in the beginning will certainly leave an impression on viewers. Wu Jin Yan gives her character a very tough persona which is what is needed in the story. I guess this is nothing new to her as she also acted as a tough lady seeking vengeance in The Double.
Together, they look like a compatible pair that you would root for. This is also partly why viewers might want to stay till the end for Kill Me Love Me. This is a couple that can make you cry as their connection on-screen can be strongly felt as you watch them together.
My Verdict – An Okay Watch
Kill Me Love Me doesn’t have that great a script but it is still largely watchable because of the leads. Its potential is somewhat wasted as a result. There is no mystery or plot twists to enthrall viewers. Everything is very straightforward. What you are watching is just 2 people trying to get proof to bring down their revenge target who happens to be a powerful royal figure. It is a typical revenge-cum-power struggle palace drama.
However, it does have a great hook at the start to bring you into the story with a bad boy hero and a tough assassin heroine. The first few episodes should be able to hold your interest. This may slowly fizzle out as the story progresses and the intensity weakens. By the time the first arc is over, the second arc might feel like a waste of time. But the main couple will still give you a certain level of motivation to carry on and complete the drama. You may not like the ending though although you can anticipate it with the set-up leading to the final episode.
For this review of Kill Me Love Me, I would rate it 7.5/10. Watch it for the leads and their chemistry but don’t raise your expectations too high for the plot. There is nothing new about it with a cliche villain and the usual romance.
Leave a Reply