Miss Truth (2020)

Miss Truth of the Art of Death.

I was excited by this drama because the backstory sounds like a Chinese version of a favorite mystery series "Mistress of the Art of Death" which is also about a medieval female crime solving coroner who teams up with a sexy man to solve cases. Like Miss Truth, the novel is about a strong and smart woman, ahead of her time in both forensic knowledge and life attitude. I was both disappointed and relieved that this drama does not dive into the forensic aspects of the cases with the chillingly thrilling gruesome detail of my beloved novels. Indeed all of the gory props are almost cartoonishly fake and any macarbe detail is rather cursorily handled. While set in Tang dynasty, the story-line barely acknowledges the main historical characters and events of the day. Nonetheless it is a short and very enjoyable watch that really stands out in its repudiation of common tropes. 

The drama is about a talented and adventurous young lady coroner's journey of self discovery. As she helps solve cases, unearths Marquis Sui's legendary pearl and unveils a grand conspiracy; she also finds herself and discovers the truth of her heart's desires. The drama starts with a bang by establishing Ran Yan's credentials as a brilliant forensic analyst as she is extorted to solve a murder by the criminal underworld in exchange for her shifu's gambling debts. This tosses her right into the crosshairs of both Xiao Song, a nobleman and the emperor's trusted investigator and fixer and Su Fu, a mysterious assassin who saves her life. They are both tasked by different masters to recover Marquis Sui's pearl, which is part of a larger conspiracy that is the drama's overarching plot. The drama maintains an exciting pace, with danger and intrigue lurking around every corner and builds to a strong finish on a high note with a surprise reveal. I was only able to identify the ultimate mastermind by elimination; there were not enough clues or hints along the way to figure out their identity or motives.

As a big fan of strong, smart female characters, I was baffled by how difficult I found it initially to like newbie Zhou Jieqiong's Ran Yan. She is almost immediately and recklessly infatuated with the thrillingly inscrutable Su Fu and is unquestioning of his motives. Yet this sharp tongued vixen is distrustful of and lashes out inexplicably and ungratefully at Xiao Song, who appreciates her talents immediately and employs her as his coroner. This gives her the means to escape an unwanted marriage arranged by her indifferent father and cliche evil stepmother and half-sister. She snidely calls him a merman in a tone that implies fish face or worse, dead fish and bristles when he affectionately refers to her as his foxy lady. Nonetheless they companionably squable their way through a number of well constructed cases and become a likable and effective crime solving team. While Ran Yan is the titular character, veteran actor Toby Lee's Xiao Song is the sleuth that puts all of the clues together and truly anchors all of the cases and the drama. His character was well written and masterfully portrayed - between his teasing banter, merciless goading, stern rebukes and unyielding support he managed the prickly Ran Yan perfectly. While he arguably cut her too much slack, he knows exactly how to get under her skin. He is no doormat either and knows when enough is enough. The surrounding characters are cleverly and realistically written in a way that reacts to the other characters' flaws; for example I could totally relate to the shrewd and loyal Bai Yin's dislike and ranchor toward Ran Yan for treating his master Xiao Song so poorly.

For once, I actually enjoyed the dreaded love triangle in this drama, something I normally have zero patience for. Initially I didn't like Ran Yan so I didn't really care if she made a bad decision. Ultimately she is a resilient, strong willed character who knows her own mind, is not just defined by love and can roll with the punches so there is no tragically wrong choice for her. It is completely in character for her to break all the rules, throw caution to the wind and indulge in a dangerous, exciting and most unsuitable man - something hopefully every woman gets to do at least once in a lifetime! So does she stay with the one who loves her or go back to the one she loves? All I will say is that the triangle was fittingly, somewhat poignantly and DECISIVELY resolved. She totally manned up and picked the one with the nicest chest (a purely subjective but well researched opinion)!

While I never got to like Ran Yan (she is deliberately written to be really not that nice) and didn't emphatize with her, I reluctantly admired and respected her. This drama really showed me, someone who pounds on the table for strong female leads, that I may have been more socialized to like and accept the conventional c-drama female lead than I would like to admit.

I think all things considered (production value was not that high) this drama should be a 7.5-8.0 but I gave it a 8.0 for being so different in the best of ways in terms of avoiding most (not all) cliches, very smartly written and unconventional characters, hot male leads, exciting pace and cases and ending at the climax.

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Sherlock Holmes, Criminal Minds, Forensic Files - All in One

What an interesting drama this is. All the main leads are new to me, so I watched it not for them. After the first episode, I realized it's a love triangle. Normally in other dramas, love triangles usually give weaker or less liked 3rd characters. In this case, it's hard not to like either of the main male characters. In fact I was pretty torn in the beginning because I found both male characters desirable and attractive in their own ways.

This drama is a combination of Sherlock Holmes with Criminal Minds and Forensic Files. As a forensic expert, Ran Yan (played by Zhou Jie Qiong) is a daring, unpretentious girl who is always determined to find the truth. Unlike most girls of her time, she has no qualm touching dead bodies and slicing them up. Even the men around her are sickened by the sights and many cannot even stay on. I love this character so much. Though she has flaws, she is courageous, kind and upstanding, without the annoying noisiness and self-righteousness of many main female characters in other dramas.

When Ran Yan first meets the man who has saved her and falls in love with him, I fell in love with the man she loves too. Su Fu (played by Tim Pei) is cold and mysterious. How his cold heart is eventually melted by Ran Yan's warmth and kindness, and in the end falling madly in love with her is really a fun journey to watch.

Of course the main story revolves around the two main characters, Ran Yan and Xiao Song (played by Toby Lee). I absolutely love the dynamics between them, how they toy with each other and hang each other out to dry. The constant bickering and bargaining are really fun to watch. Each gives the other nickname that becomes part of the character; Xiao Song calls Ran Yan, "Fox", whereas Ran Yan calls him, "Human Fish". The addressing seems to stick for each other till the end of the show. I love watching the look on Xiao Song's face when he's seething with jealousy over Su Fu. Seeing how a powerful figure of his stature fighting for the love of a woman and getting jealous over her is very amusing, and Toby Lee has performed this role perfectly with his piercing eyes. Together with Ran Yan, they work as one, melting two minds together. They reconstruct crime scenes, figure out motives of killings, put the jigsaw puzzles together; their chemistry is simply enviable. Though there were some misunderstandings between the two, it's quickly dispelled without making the pair losing their love and care for each other.

Overall, this drama improves significantly after the first half. I didn't find major plot holes and significant flaws apart from some of the poor acting by peripheral characters like over exaggerated death scenes, obvious fake props (supposedly solid stone door that shifts when forced against), etc. Editing could be rough for some episodes. As for most Chinese dramas, the attention to details is still lacking. I wish the production team treats viewers with more intelligence. All this poor editing leaves tons of errors for all to see. Some logic is really bad and makes one rolls one's eyes.

Having said that, the acting of the three main leads is very good, despite this is the first major drama for Zhou Jie Qiong. Her performance is marvelous. The details of scenes that required further explanations are cleverly done in black/white flashbacks without breaking the flow of the story. It makes the story very easy to understand and follow. The twists and turns make the whole thing interesting and compel me to follow it faithfully for weeks.

Yes, a great drama to watch. Don't miss this one!

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