Trace (2020)

overall a good crime/ mystery watch

this drama was surprisingly very well put together. i'm a sucker for crime solving police dramas, but usually the chinese ones i watch r a hit or miss. starting with the story, it's a well thought out storyline and the cases are solved quickly so u won't have to do much skipping. some of them r chilling tho. although there are some noticeable plot holes here and there, i found it pretty engaging. i rlly hated how they incorporated romance in the drama, especially at the end, i felt that they just used romance to tie the story together when all i wanted was their police squad to have a happy ending together. moving on to acting, the actors play their roles quite well and i rlly liked the cast !! i rlly ship the two hackers/ IP specialists they r so funny. music was very good too it fit the drama so well, erie but very beautiful. anyways it's a good watch for any crime solving drama lovers !!

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Some eye-rolling moments, but mostly very good!

Surprisingly well-done and very engaging (true, not procedurally accurate, with eye-rolling moments like the profiler and forensics team participating in active crime scenes) police investigation, solving multiple murder cases. Each case lasts 2 or 3 episodes, long enough to contain some nice twists and turns, and finally culminating in the resolution of a murder mystery that ML/FL were involved in when they studied overseas in London years ago. For most of the series, the vibe is akin to CSI /Criminal Minds /Detective Conan, where characters are basically competently-crafted cardboard to deliver plot.

Toward the final 3rd however, the cases encroach closer and closer to the team's personal lives, and FL and ML come alive as their own individual persons. The story then explores their mutual attraction, mistrust, and growing trust, as either one or the other become buried in plots to trap them by various psychopaths.

The cases are melodramatic and unrealistic, but the shows' atmosphere, storyline, fast-paced plotting with no lag nor filler, and chemistry amongst the actors, sell the whole thing and makes for a pretty addictive popcorn of a show. Recommended!

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Amazing plot, except...

I would say that I really enjoy this series. The cases were well-written and logical, except for the final case. I expected the showdown between Maggie and her stepfather would be a combat of wits, but the stepfather just confessed and then committed suicide by using a syringe filled with potassium cyanide. It was such an anticlimax. But besides that, the drama was engaging. The chemistry between Maggie and Jack (the main male character) was amazing, they discovered the truth behind each case and solved the misunderstanding between them step by step. In conclusion, I would highly recommend this for those who want to watch a high quality suspense, criminal drama with mature characters and logical plot that would give you goosebumps once you understand the cases.

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romance

I really like how all two main character interacts. The male despite falling in love with the female lead he still thinks she is the criminal. The criminals in some crimes all seems to be connected to the final crazy guy but it could be just the man is watching her. I really do hate the ending though because I like mystery but I also love romance and its really broad but love can be seen in there just the ending is creepy like most of the other mystery dramas it leaves with a drifter. Like it shows the serial killer kills him selves and it ends. But then it shows someone still writing the criminal post saying will the main characters really be together. It makes a feeling like there is a whole group or another mastermind behind it. What piss me off is that they couldn't show the main characters together even if they had to add another crime in the end to make it interesting at least they completed the mystery and new thing are starting but this one feels like the real criminal has not been found and they still can't be together. I do love it though and wish there will be a season 2. Really hate the feeling of not knowing if they will end together.

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sloppy ending for a well written drama

I had this on my watchlist for literally 2 years before finally watching, and I definitely don't regret doing so - though there's a few things I'm not too comfortable/happy with.
But, first, lets talk about what I really enjoyed! One thing quite unusual for this kind of chinese dramas: the dynamics within the police team and the positions of each member. Finally a team where the boss is actually a quite funny and chill guy, no strict hierarchy, many funny moments. Also, the FL (who was introduced to the team in the first Ep) didn't need to prove herself first before being accepted and liked (which is basically the case in every other drama like this). Generally , the drama was a quite well executed mix of serious and dark topics/scenes/stories and those lighthearted and funny little moments here and there.
The cases were all written pretty well, many original ideas I haven't seen in other dramas (just speaking of the cases themselves), also more detailed and deep (one case usually takes up 3-4 Eps, yet it's still fast paced enough, I never really felt the need to skip).
I didn't mind the romance part, and to be fair, they kept it quite on the low throughout the whole drama with it considering that it was already pretty obvious from the beginning that both will eventually start to fall for each other.
FL's character wasn't really likeable at first, but she really started to grow on me as she loosens up a lot with time. Also, her outfits were really really pretty!

---- little, but harmless spoiler about the ending ----
Well, I don't mind open endings, especially in those kind of detective dramas, but... here, it was really sloppy and felt really rushed, it seems like they were just trying to fit the whole thing into the last Ep when they could've just easily done one Ep more (judging from the storyline only, of course). It's definitely not that dramatic as I read in other reviews but yeah, they could've focused more on what and who was really important throughout the whole drama and not just the last 2,5 Eps...

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maybe i give it lowrate because a little absurd and no reconstruction for how the mysterious incident happen,

rate plus from me for no censor ,,very clear what they show about corpse,for me not very eww because i like to see clear scene than the blur one ,so i know what are they show and describe,not just a blur scene that we dont know and never being describe or show,, i know this just a tool so its nothing for me ,, maybe you can skip if you cant see a not blur bloody scene ,

still no sub eng when i watch it ,and i very need a chinese sub more that engsub because sometimes i cant hear that they said ,, the ML voice is very heavy ,, better watc with c sub so can use the word to translate it

i think i can watch it without engsub because the word i still know BUT! NOT GOING LONG! even they have engsub i dont think it will be correct because they have a lot of profesional ,or medical words and ML when explaining it ,is very fast and his voice is very heavy so sometimes i cant hear what he's saying, even though I understand what he means by searching in translator , I still can't arrange the plot of the murder, because most of the cases didnt have reconstruct pf the murders, only from the police investigator descriptions which can be considered guesswork


its about 10 or 11 differect case they solve in this drama,, in one case sometimes have more than one victim

case 1, tatto case
case 2 army case
case 3 game case
case 4 reporter case
case 5 dark date case
case 7 milk poison case
case 7 faraday case
case 8 mysterious food delivery
case 9 live murder case
case 10 &11 main case




the one reason i drop this drama before is because the duration just 35 minutes and the description is 45 minutes So where did the 10 minutes go? and i afraid of cut and shudenlly jumping scene ,but i try to watch it

in the first first eps not very jump scene ,,but they dont very show the reconstruct of the murder and a puzzle that made them ask a questions ,they not solve it , or not telling about it,,how the impossible process happened ,how they kidnapped how they do a lot of impossible act

and there is some scene of flashback that not showing before its a useless scene i think ,for that they just showing the scene for just a few second once with different clothes ,,, exmp, scene of xiaotong and maggie ,xiaotong said maggie have a habit to use nail polish before writing script ,and peel it off after it ,,i dont think i see this scene so i repeat watch from 1-33 for 2 or 3 times but still no see scene with the same clothes with xiaotong and meggie wear when that scene in flashback ,even though from ep 1-33 alot of clothes they wear repeating ,but just a fee second they wear a new clothes


and the scene of WDT propose to maggie look very shuddenly ,and also the scene of cctv the reporter and WDT,i dont think they are that close


CASES 1 ,TATTO

some of the scene is look very absurd ,even they just guess they never can guess the perfect form of tattoos that are rarely seen by those closest to them correctly ,detail until the wings become eyes

and how can they can directly connect the case with the place erase tatto?if they mention to search the place making tatto still reasonable,because the reporter said they should warn netizen to hide their tattoos, and must be a lot of people who want to get rid of tattoos because they are afraid of becoming the next victims and if they can't donit will cause panic and chaos in society ... and if Liaoyan concludes that victim 1 is related to the topic of tattoo removal because there is an intention to remove her tattoos, what about the third victim? ? she has no tattoos at all and only fake tattoos which means she never have intention of removing a tattoo that she never have
and from the interrogation, only victim 1 was the target, victims 2 and 3 just unlucky person



CASES 2
imposible for the tecnology for recovering the explode drone ,because the fragment will definitely be crushed everywhere


CASES 3

leaking of detail ,confusing ,i see they never explain about why the murder killing the first victim 2 hours after anesthesi


CASES 4

not showing the killer kill the victims

CASES 5 , dark date muder
the ice storage why can stain glow spot? , glowing liquid ,fingeprint , poison ,, its posible if ice storage have finger print and poison ,but liquid glow? from the conclusion the glow spot just a clue cant connect with the murder item , and the glow made by the victim so not the killer put it in victim body to marking him ,, if posible to stain glow liquid it should be another glow liqiud not the special one that the victim made by his own ,,maybe the only thing that the glow stain can connect to the killer process is,, the killer use uv laser to find the target with glow spot to kill him but its cant make the glow spot stain in the ice storage ,,because in the glass the victim use just a glow in the dark sticker that not contain any glow liquid made by the victim ,so its imposible the ice storage stain victim glow liqiud


case 6

ep 19 said wanglin teeth up teeth uper like steel stain ,and down teeth like paint stain ,but ep 20 the labor girl said upper teeth like paint and down teeth is steel stain dan silver ,, reverse




case 7 ep 22
before go in the crime scene ,, liao yan wear glove to help the girl out of the electric cage,but why when he check the body he not wear the glove and have time takeoff the glove? and wear it again when check the electric cage? ,, when introgation the one of people who connect the lamp to the cage ,he said if someone was electrocuted Even the electricity has been turned off, electricity is still in the human body ,, and he is forensic using glove to check a body is necessary


case 8

In eps 25 The kidnapper with number 1322052 3461 (2nd call) asking for ransom 500万 and also hostage voice (make sure she still alive

the 1st at 23.05 , call asking for for 300万 ransom ,, (unknown number)

## if two kidnapper asking for different ransom so the 1st call at 23.05 should be the 18620344633 ##

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in eps 26 ,6:48 the kidnnaper with number 186-2034-4633,very short ,and the 2nd call with same number ,her father offer with doubel ransom and hostage sound calling "papa" there ,

## if there is two kidnapper so 13220523461 and 18620344633 definitely are two different kidnappers , so why two number have hostage sound?##

======================================

and then the 3rd call (duration 10:50),with number 13220523461 ,asking him for quick collecting the ransom and asking for give the money in 1 hour (no hostage sound)

liaoyan asking xiaotong to check the 3rd call ,and she said its same with the very first call when 30 minute after they first time meet his father at 23.05,the kidnapper who asking for 300万

but in eps 25 the number 1322052 is the kidnaper who is calling when police meeting his father for 2nd times and the police found his daughter is kidnapping , a kidnapper asking for 500万 and there is her daughter sound too

so its invalid when liaoyan make a conclusion that said kidnaper with 500万 ransom is who have his daughter , because 2 number both have his daughter sound,and the ransom amount is not match

conclusion is
1. 132 number asking for 500万 when second meeting and her daughter sound here said make sure her is still alive

number 186, they offering for double ransom and her daughter sound too said "papa"

and the last 132 number asking him for quick collecting the money and give it in 1 hour ,, and xiaotong said this number is fit with the number asking for 300万 that fit with only 1 medium suitcase,, and this kidnapper calling yulengleng with "小丫头片子" same with misterius caller witness yulengleng crashing someone

its very clear in ep 25 that showing the number 132 is asking for 500万!


and in this case why a 15th years old boy still havent go home when midnight? and no reconstruction how the kidnapper kidnap the victim with no one know

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