The ancient costume suspense revenge drama "The Palm" combines suspense, revenge, power struggle, female orientation and other elements. It tells the story of a female doctor Ye Ping'an (played by Liu Shishi) who forms an alliance with other victims for revenge in order to find out the truth of the censor case.

Poster of Palm

At first glance, "Palm" has some potential to become a hit, with its "5% innovation" and "culmination of all" elements, creating a good gimmick.

Unlike the "perfect victim" in conventional revenge dramas, Ye Ping'an is burdened with a dual identity. As an orphan whose family was brutally exterminated in the censor's case, she is a victim of power struggle; looking back at the source of the tragedy, when she was young, she was used by bad guys because of her ignorance and became an "accomplice" in deceiving young girls, and was actually the perpetrator.

As a child, Ye Pingan was used and became an "accomplice"

When she grew up, Ye Pingan changed her name and hid in the market as a psychiatrist. The mistakes she made back then haunted her like a nightmare. Her revenge was not only to seek justice for her deceased relatives, but also to redeem her own soul. The complex motivation setting makes Ye Pingan different from the single-motivated protagonists in traditional revenge dramas. She is more painful, more complex, and more three-dimensional.

Ye Ping'an's "profession" setting is also relatively novel. She is a female doctor who is good at treating the heart, similar to a modern psychologist. This becomes a powerful weapon for her revenge. The modern psychology principles are grafted into the ancient context, and the traditional autopsy investigation is turned to the psychological game of "attacking the heart first", which adds a certain mystery to the plot and also allows Ye Ping'an to show unique wisdom and strategy in the process of revenge.

Ye Ping'an (played by Liu Shishi)

Ye Pingan is not fighting alone. She and other female characters such as Lu Danxin (Xuan Lu), Cai Lian (Ding Jie), and Ni Shang (Zhang Yuxi) form a community of destiny because of the censor case, forming a sophisticated revenge network: some are responsible for intelligence gathering, some are responsible for military support, and some are wandering around the entertainment industry to collect clues...

"Avengers"

"The Palm" thus abandons the "female competition" routine of previous female revenge dramas and constructs a collective narrative of "Female Avengers Alliance", which coincides with the current aesthetic trend of women towards "female mutual assistance".

The female narrative is dominant, and the setting of the male protagonist needs to strike a good balance, neither becoming a "sidekick male protagonist" nor "stealing the main role". The character setting of the male protagonist Yuan Shaocheng (played by Dou Xiao) in "Palm" is somewhat memorable.

Yuan Shaocheng (played by Dou Xiao)

Yuan Shaocheng was born in a pariah area. The tragic death of his parents filled him with hatred for power, but he also longed to have power to escape the fate of being despised and at the mercy of others. Yuan Shaocheng's contradictory attitude towards power prompted him to pursue power by any means, while struggling with his hatred for power and his inner conscience.

When the male and female protagonists are both people who do great things and have eight hundred thoughts per person, there are fewer sweet love scenes between them. The few formal confrontations are the collision of wisdom and ambition, mutual testing, mutual checks and balances, love and hate, which is more tense. The subsequent cooperation is also based more on interests and mutual use.

Ye Ping'an relies on self-help instead of waiting for Yuan Shaocheng's help

Not only that, although "Palm" is fictional, it is obviously "imitation of the Tang Dynasty". The female emperor in the play is Wu Zetian, and a huge and complex power struggle framework is constructed from this. The play shows the open and secret struggles in the court through a series of events such as the murder of Zheng Yuan and the disappearance of military pay. Ye Ping'an uses the contradictions between various forces to cleverly lay out in the chess game of power and gradually uncovers the truth of the censor case that year, and is also involved in a deeper power struggle. This adds a sense of heaviness and historical heritage to the plot. If handled well, it may also achieve a certain historical reflection and criticism like "Detective Di Renjie" and "Tang Dynasty Weird Stories".

The Emperor (played by Chen Jin)

So far, it can be said that "Palm" is excellent and attractive in terms of "outline" or "concept". There are many costume suspense dramas or female revenge dramas on the market. "Palm" has made a slight distinction in various settings, which can bring a sense of familiarity to the audience without falling into clichés.

But judging by the broadcast data, "Palm" is really average (for example, after 10 episodes, Yunhe's market share was 5.2%), and it could have been better. In the final analysis, the various concepts of this drama are good, but the implementation is not good enough.

As a drama about female revenge, Ye Ping'an's motives and means of revenge constitute the underlying logic of the drama and support the entire ups and downs of the story structure, but this logic is not solid.

Although Ye Ping'an's complex revenge motivation adds depth to the character, her motivation is not clear enough in the early stage of the plot. When watching the first few episodes, the audience is not clear about why Ye Ping'an is so obsessed with revenge, and her specific connection with the censor's case that year, but only hinted at through some scattered clues and memories. The vague treatment makes it difficult for the audience to quickly establish emotional resonance with the character as the plot progresses, causing confusion and alienation with the plot, affecting the enthusiasm for chasing the drama. When the truth of the censor's case was explained through flashbacks at the end of the fifth episode, some viewers had lost the best time for emotional substitution. "Palm" seems stingy and clumsy in presenting traumatic memories.

The screenwriter also gave Ye Pingan a nearly omniscient and omnipotent ability. Her revenge method of "attacking the heart first" is very novel, but it is too "golden finger" in the play.

Chen Jin's acting skills endowed the empress with majesty, but the empress's character in the play really has no sense of mystery at all. Instead, she is like the emperor played by the male lead in ancient idol dramas, who revolves around the female lead at every turn.

"Palm" uses high-energy reversals as a plot selling point, but many reversals are only revealed through simple flashbacks or a few lines of dialogue from the characters. For example, Ye Ping'an was coerced by a maid in the government mansion (disguised by Lu Danxin), and suddenly the maid put down the knife, and the two began to tell the truth. It turned out that everything was arranged by Ye Ping'an. The whole reversal process was completed only through dialogue and PPT-style flashbacks... This treatment method makes people feel like watching a script-killing script, lacking the vividness and appeal that film and television narratives should have.

More importantly, the "golden finger" brings high-energy reversals, but also brings many logical flaws. Faced with the complex court situation, shrewd dignitaries and various emergencies, Ye Ping'an can accurately predict and perfectly respond to almost everything in advance, making the story development lack rationality and credibility.

Can't study logic

"Palm" constructs an extremely attractive drama concept with its unique female revenge framework, novel character settings, high-energy reversal plots, and power struggle frameworks in the Tang Dynasty. A good concept or setting is only the basis for success. It is also necessary to carefully polish the plot, pay attention to details and logic, and transform the concept into a wonderful film and television work through a solid script. The director has tried his best, and the script of "Palm" is indeed not strong enough.