Reel Tastes & Travels – a light dose of entertainment to wake you up

The Apothecary Diaries is based on a Japanese light novel series set in a fictional realm inspired by imperial China. It tells the adventures of a young woman, Maomao, training as an apothecary, who ends up in the royal palace and how she unwillingly becomes enmeshed in the affairs of the rear palace and eventually even the kingdom itself.  

The first episode, aptly titled ‘Maomao’ serves an introduction to the series. The beginning can come off a bit disjointed as it jumps from scene to scene, introducing viewers to different key players with the briefest of hints of future dynamics and plot points. By necessity there is a fair bit of exposition to introduce new viewers to the rear palace and the rules that govern it. It may not be the most captivating start to a series and the primary plot of the episode gets resolved a bit fast, but it does a good job of moving the story along quickly to prevent boredom. And having read ahead, the plots definitely get more intricate, the characters more fleshed out and the reader (or viewer in this case) more drawn in.

Maomao is an immensely practical protagonist with a strong sense of self and a wry sense of humour. The plot is set into motion by Maomao being kidnapped from her village and sold into servitude at the palace. Instead of bemoaning her fate, she accepts that there is not much she can do and vows to keep her head down and serve out her 2 year servitude quietly till she can return home. Unlike other palace set dramas, this is not the story of a young girl’s meteoric rise through the harem ranks. Maomao has no interest in advancement, a rarity in the rear palace, although that doesn’t meant a lack of intrigue (both inside and outside the palace).

We are also soon introduced the second protagonist of the series – a eunuch Jinshi who manages the rear palace and makes waves due to his good looks (a fact he is aware of and uses to his advantage when required). This takes us to the main plot of the first episode, a mysterious illness affecting both the royal children, a 3 month old prince, and 6 month old Princess Lingli, as well as the prince’s mother who is one of the top ranking consorts of the emperor. There is talk of a curse since the emperor’s 3 previous children had also passed away from a mysterious illness.

Maomao however is practical as ever and dismisses talk of curses. She is intrigued by the puzzle posed by the illness and soon arrives at the cause thanks to her background as an apothecary. Thinking to avoid notice, she leaves anonymous advice to the two palaces affected by the illness, although this backfires and ends up bringing her to the notice of Jinshi and resulting in her being ‘promoted’ to the palace of one of the consorts. The episode ends on a seemingly unrelated note with a soldier poisoned, although undoubtedly this will tie back to Maomao and Jinshi somehow in the next episode.

Overall first impressions

I tried this series on a whim when it popped up on my Netflix recommendations and got sucked into the rich world that it portrayed. I was captivated by the stoic Maomao (the diametric opposite of a damsel in distress stereotype) and by the capable Jinshi who alternates between being frustrated and intrigued by Maomao who is so unlike anyone else in the rear palace. While the first episode is a bit simplistic, the story gets more complex as the series progresses and I was genuinely disappointed to reach the end of season 1 and realize I have to wait some more to see what happens next to Maomao and Jinshi.