Storm Eye (2021)

Corporate espionage with a slice of life

Storm Eye is about a team of dedicated law enforcement officers tasked with investigating criminal activities relating to the potential theft of technological research undertaken by a leading tech company in Shuangqing City. This team, operating under the purview of the Ministry of State Security (MSS), is a collaboration between the provincial government and the National Security Bureau of Shuangqing City. The investigation is primarily focused on the sophisticated web of economic crime orchestrated by a secret criminal organisation with a connection to past transgressions and its current intention to steal proprietary technology from Dinghua Group.

This drama is a combo package with multiple genres incorporated into its premise. In addition to the overarching plot on criminal investigations, it contains side stories and character arcs revolving around slice-of-life aspects of family, romance, and office politics. The seriousness, thrills and suspense are balanced by the emotional scenes, introspective moments and some light-hearted ones too.

This 2019-produced drama features decent production values and a script that’s well above average. There are no discernible plot holes, clichéd plot devices or sudden inexplicable shifts in characterization conveniently added for dramatic effects. The story unfolds at what I would call “engagingly casual and unrushed” pace with a gradual development of the main characters, their backstories and relationship dynamics, where the depth of the plot and the portrayals of the characters are conveyed realistically and convincingly.

Some viewers may feel that the story progression is overly slow-burn and lacking in urgency, but I believe this is attributed to the build up of what would later be revealed as the convoluted grand scheme of the criminal operation. I personally think on the whole the key elements of the plot are relayed evenly over the course of 40 episodes, where the simmering tension throughout finally comes to a gripping climax amidst certain surprising turns of events.

To clear any misperception, it’s important to understand that despite the description offered by the synopsis and tags, this show is not about secret agents and evil villains frantically facing off with guns blazing. There are no outrageous stunts involving high-tech gadgets, parachuting off planes or slick martial arts moves. This isn’t the usual police procedural of cops going after robbers or murderers either. The action scenes are rather limited, it must be said.

This is a smartly depicted drama featuring corporate espionage with emphasis on intelligence gathering, surveillance procedures and undercover infiltrations. It’s worth mentioning the usage of the Sky-Eye system by the MSS involving satellite tracking technology as well as the urban network of CCTVs to apply visual and trait recognition as well as GPS monitoring for tracking potential suspects to aid in their investigations.

The protagonists are intelligent and resourceful while the antagonists are satisfyingly clever and ruthless adversaries with their own counter-intelligence capabilities and complex schemes. Both sides engage in a delicate game of cat and mouse involving much subterfuge and elaborate machinations culminating in an even contest where the battles are won as equally as they are lost in this drawn out war of attrition. The sensible and mature depiction of characters as being very human rather than the typical stereotype caricatures enables us to comprehend their motivations, actions, emotions and insecurities. The narrative is not just about the good guys versus the bad guys or simplifying everything to be either black or white but it is instead represented with a healthy dose of realism where individuals are morally layered with shades of grey and the concept of right or wrong is never perfectly defined.

The characters are very well conceived and realistically written, and comprises several interesting character and relationship dynamics. There are no illogical or exasperating characters while the interactions between the various characters are very organic and there is no dramatic angst anywhere near this show. These characters are brought to life by fine acting of the entire cast, notably a reunion of certain Eternal Love cast members. Another plus point is the fact that the main cast dubbed themselves for this drama. Zhang Bin Bin and Yang Mi lead the cast by portraying the MSS agents assigned to the case. Zhang Bin Bin’s Ma Shang is bright, cheerful and affable. He’s competent at what he does and is able to transition seamlessly into his role of an undercover agent. Yang Mi’s An Jing, on the other hand, is much more down to earth as the team leader of the Shuangqing City Bureau. Together they form a great partnership in work and in rekindling their past romance.

Two people that truly surprised me are Daisy Dai and Lawrence Wang Xiao. Daisy’s characterization of Miao Fei and Lawrence’s Cheng Lei are praiseworthy indeed and both of them demonstrated their impressive range through the development of their characters. The rest of the cast are equally compelling to watch. Wang Dong’s nuanced portrayal of Qiao Xi Chuan and Ning Xin’s Zhou Lian are intriguingly layered characters that I appreciated. Liu Rui Lin’s stoic and stone faced Du Meng takes a while to warm up to while Zhao Wei Lin played the single tropey but rather entertaining character in the show, in the role of the international hitman Bian Fu. I have to mention the veteran cast of actors who played the parents of the leads. Their experience shows and they are superb during the family-oriented slice of life moments which are genuinely heartfelt and convincing. I truly enjoyed all their scenes together and they even had some really amusing story arcs.

The show is far from perfect, however, and I do have major qualms concerning certain aspects. I feel that the inclusion of a tragedy involving a supporting character toward the end is quite unnecessary, and how it transpires is poorly executed. This relates to the choreography of the limited action sequences which, frankly speaking, is mediocre. Questions have to be raised as well on the authenticity of the procedure for making arrests.

The English-speaking segments, in particular the dubbing in general, isn’t great. The accent is quite laughable for the main villain who is the mastermind behind the entire scheme. The dubbing synchronisation for Wang Dong is quite poor but at least the spoken English is better. Zhao Wei Lin is part American so he sounds the most convincing while Lawrence and Daisy dubbed their own dialogues. The inconsistency in the dubbing, unfortunately, is quite obvious and is the one aspect that needs to be improved for future productions of C-dramas.

On the other hand, I’m quite pleased with the musical aspect for this show. The opening theme used for the title sequence is dramatic and martial-themed which fits with the premise of the story. Likewise the four tracks in total that are used with rather appropriately written lyrics. Track listing as follows:
Black Tea 平凡的样子 (电视剧《暴风眼》片尾曲) by Sun Xionglou 韩磊
Ellipsis" 省略号 by Jian Hongyi 简弘亦
Brave Enough 足够勇敢 by Tan Wei Wei 谭维维
It's All OK 都可以 没关系 by Jin Wen Qi 金玟岐

Despite encountering the few blips, I have thoroughly enjoyed Storm Eye particularly for the mature themes depicted and the engaging pace. I believe where the show excels is in the realistic portrayals of its characters and the direction of the story. If you’re looking for a drama with a sense of realism, compelling dynamics and evocative moments with an infusion of some suspense and tension, then consider giving this show a try.

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CSA (Crime Scene Analysts)

The series is an innovative cerebral type of drama ? on crime scene analysts, while on the job. There is an innovative element of storytelling in each scene in this white collar crime investigative enforcement series, as the mystery unravels on the the stoic portrayals of crime scene analysts (CSA). The drama depicts intuitive human side on corporate espionage on trade secrets and the capture of concealments on the inevitable villainous culprits thickening the plot lines. Unique drama ? Great Watch ?for those who prefer attentive watching of dialogues and the intently placed clues in each scene containing the episodic revelations.

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Another One That Started Well

It seems to be a trend lately where the dramas whether it be a K or C Drama, where it starts so well and then there are a few shakey parts along the way and then all of a sudden "bam" the screen writer goes way off and you are left thinking "what the hell just happened?" Storm Eye was definitely one of these. The premise of this drama was terrific and it was set to be a really engaging and exciting drama, but the screen writing went downhill which really spoiled what could have been a fantastic suspense thriller.

I managed to make it to EP 37 when the "Bam" happened although I did see the shakey bits before that and ploughed on hoping that it wouldn't get any worse. I am sorry to say it did. When a supposedly highly trained operative while holding a gun asks the perpetrator to come towards him and let him get so close that he gets stabbed in the neck by said perpetrator then you have to wonder "what the hell just happened?" In this same scene just prior to this incident Yang Mi who played another agent was beaten by this scientist in a fight, now bearing in mind she is also a hot shot government agent who was seen beating her colleagues in training at hand to hand. So after she is beaten and crawling on the ground in pain, her colleagues is supposed to come and save the day, but no he gets himself stabbed and killed by the same perpetrator. The online comments by the audience while I was watching this particular part were all saying the same thing "who does that?" "what sort of agent is that who gets the guy to come towards him, instead of telling him to lie on the ground". As an audience we have to believe what we are seeing is actually plausible. This whole scene was just not. Audiences today are not stupid and this is what writers are forgetting, we are far more sophisticated than they give us credit for. This scene was why I stopped watching because it was just too stupid.

Yang Mi is an actress that I have liked in many dramas but in my opinion this is one that she should never have done. This role did not suit her at all and I found her performance to be very awkward. Conversely Zhang Bin Bin did an extremely good job of his role.

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Terrific

This series was amazing and well played by characters!

I enjoyed the story line and how they worked together and teamworked while forming friendship and uncovered the truth of the incident that took place, prior to them meeting up.

The ML lead was well played and the interactions and his thought processes was really amazing, this series does give a bit of insight into what really goes with national security and the challenges they may face.

I salute them all, the bravery and the dangerous encounter.

The FL was played out and she carred out her character exceptionally, all in all this series was amazing.

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“Law and Order all around”

This series reminds me of the American dramas like NCIS, Law and Order, CSI etc.

No dubbing – Yay!!!! And the accents of the character were good, I am happy that not everyone spoke perfect English – that would have taken away from the characters.

Cast: fantastic across the board hands down. Congratulations! The cast measures up closely to what officers go through in their lives. Love, serve, and loose, but in all of this is their win, their win for The Country, for The People that They Serve. Many of us take this for granted in real life.

Story: Nicely written so that it flows smoothly and jive well throughout the series. This series grabs and keep your attention. What I like the most, is that it is realistic to a point. And the female lead holds her own and does not take back seat to none and the space is equally shared with the male lead.

“The sins of the parents fall upon the children”, I can’t remember the author, but the novel is The Dollhouse. The sins of Miao Lu’s father fall upon her and her sister. Miao is the quintessential daughter, who is caring and hard working and daddy’s girl, while her sister is childish, spoiled, and daddy’s little girl. Miao takes on the villains by using her brain to block her from completing their task for them and completing it at the same time without giving out information. However, their ploy does not stop their and pressures her more, she ends up going the police for help and becomes an integral part of the investigation. When Miao says that she learned how the dodge being followed on TV – that was no joke because many of us learn from TV Series and Movies of all sorts. Daisy Dai knocks Miao Fei’s character out of the park – hats off.

I respect you too much to tell you I love you but won’t step aside if some messes with our equation. That is Du Meng with An Jing. On the same team for years covering each other backs on different dangerous and non-dangerous missions alike. Du Meng is secretly head over heals for An Jing, his boss lady, but does not spurt it out until their equation is threatened by Ma Shang, And Jing’s ex-flame. Unfortunately, Du Meng is faced with certain situations not to his liking, but respects them. He respects the fact the An Jing only see him as a good friend and not lover, however he refuses to continue taking An Jing’s monetary contribution to his family for his mother’s medical care. But eventually works out a pay back plan with her. Du Meng is a true hero of this story because he did not let his personal feelings affect his job or his relationship with An Jing. Although he did not let any opportunity go to take a jab at Ma Shang. But nonetheless the worked together to solve the death of An Jing’s father’s case. And Du Meng saves An Jing and he dies making the arrest. Officers cannot always predict everything at every instance. Many traffic officers die the way Du Meng dies in this series. Sad but true. And yes, Wayne Liu as Du Meng was on point, everything in moderation.

I am home honey or at least so Ma Shang thought. Secretly working a case, he returns to his hometown to his unsuspecting parents of his actual career. When the home police officers are introduced to the Beijing Team, then Ma Shang and An Jing knows what each other do for a living. While Ma Shang has been hunting for his love, An Jing has been dealing with a heart ache of her own. They work the case together. Ma Shang works late and does not come home sometimes. Ma Shang’s partial secret comes to light when his father discovers that the really isn’t working late at the company. He thinks the worst of his son and even has a father and son conversation. This was hilarious and when Ma Shang’s father was tailing him – Oh my, funny. Ma Shang’s mother is no less – she had me rolling with laughter and then to see her subdue herself when she finds out that her son is an officer. The proudness and care for their son is obvious and so is them being sacred and worried for him. Ma Shang’s character is more of a profiler and character analyzer. The maturity of the character is evident when he leaves no stone unturn to find An Jing’s father’s killer and to find the crook in the current case, one in the same. Also, when he prioritizes with An Jing to solve the case first and then discuss their love. I like the very subtle romance in this series, it helps to give that realistic vibe. Vin Zhang does an excellent job.

I am no more and no less. An Jing is the head of her team, and she is an excellent leader and a determined officer from beginning to end. She commands her team with affirmative action and care at the same time. She is dedicated to her job and family. Not only is she an officer, but the caretaker of her mother to some extent. The so-called accident of her father was a devastating blow to both her and her mother. An Jing tackles the case head on working with her team and the team from Beijing. They suffer a great loss of Du Meng, and his death also became motivation to find the enemy no matter where they are hiding. After riding and chasing the waves, the finally get the villains only to have them taken away by the higher ups – as usual. Yang Mi as An Jing was exquisite. Yang Mi is boss of this series – she just rocked it!!!!!!

I only look innocent. Cheng Lei, who would have expected the quiet boy to be one of the bad boys. He played them all like they were just toys in his hands. Lawrence Wang nails Cheng Lei’s character to the T – I don’t think anyone else could have done a better job.

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One of the better Chinese dramas this year

Storm Eye has been an awaited drama for many fans of Yang Mi and Zhang Bin Bin. Let's be honest that it isn't the kind of genre one would watch without being a fan of the leads. I was waiting for this for the longest time and glad that I got to watch it- as most "awaited" ones never even premiere.

STORY/PLOT:
The idea of Storm Eye is cool. I like FBI/National Intelligence Agency kind of dramas- where the leads are cool and smart. There is always a thrill in chasing the bad guy and the main characters getting to act out interesting scenarios like spies/leading double lives. This drama is somehow different. It wasn't really thrilling- the bad guys were ok, the main plot of some technology being stolen from China was sort of meh (and highly ironic), the leads characters were just okay and so was the team. The interesting bad guy was awfully under-utilized and the real ones were sort of satirical.

WHAT WORKS:
The leads and the main cast- Yang Mi, Zhang Bin Bin, the guy who played Qiao Xiuchan(?) and Daisy Dai were wonderful in their roles. They really kept me interested and kept the story going. I would have to say Bin Bin did amazing and Daisy was just beautiful. Yang Mi's role was nice and suited her pretty well. Some plots of the story were fun and the violence or thriller side never got too overwhelming. Even the direction was pretty decent.

WHAT DIDN'T WORK:
The plot about the ores, company secrets and technology being on the threat of "getting stolen" was unconvincing. Most of it sounded make-belief and I wished the main "threat" itself was stronger. The bad guys were fun until they weren't and the pacing of the drama was very inconsistent. I also got tired of the Miao sisters getting deceived and crying all the time. Also, ironically I thought the Intelligence guys were pretty incompetent. All they did was theorize and depend on the surveillance guys and what I found funniest was them sucking at fights. Perhaps I am used to Hollywood, but this was just a mild version in comparison,

ROMANCE:
I liked the little touch of the romance. Yang Mi and Bin Bin have very good, believable chemistry and their interactions were fun. I didn't expect this at all so I won't complain about the lack of it.

ACTING:
Very decent. ZBB steals the show.

OVERALL:
I can see a lot of episodes were cut and some scenes often felt rushed / incomplete. I wished we dedicated more time to certain plots more than the others. The ending scene was okay but I felt like there was more scope and it even left things open for a Season 2. I will watch if they ever made it.

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Major spoilers!!!!!!!!!!!

Okay!!!!
I started this drama because it was a crime and detective genre and I love such dramas. It was also my first time watching Vin Zhang's drama. I was actually hooked from the first episode because there was suspense from the beginning and Yang Mi's character was also nice. I liked how optimistic Ma Shang was. He suited the serious female lead. The little touch of romance was nice. I am glad they did not try to add too much romance. The way they showed it in the drama was perfect.
And the Du Meng!!!!!!!! I loved him. The fact that they kiiled Du Meng was very strange. I know in such drama, one main character has to always die but this one was so unexpected. I was shocked. I realllyyyy liked him.
Miao Fei's character was actually really good. She was super clever and even when she suspected Ma Shang, she used her brain to control the situation and inform him and help the NSS. She could have been a great agent as well. I felt sorry for her though. I only saw her happy and laughing in the first few episodes and then I never saw her even smiling whole heartedly.
The ending was a very rushed. We kind of guessed Cheng Lei was the biggest suspect, but the way they revealed his identity was not well planned. Since he was the main evil, his storyline should have been shown in more detail. Even when Du Meng died, they didn't put light into this matter as much as they should have done. I understand the characters couldn't cry over him and leave their mission, but it felt a little emotionless to me. Only An Jing's feeling was portrayed properly.
Overall, I liked the drama, it was worth the time and tears...
Would love Vin Zhang and Yang Mi to work together again.

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Apology within!

First of all, I want to apologize to YangMi, Vin, and the other actors/actresses in this drama. I was not fair in my last rating. I won't give a full explanation as to why I had rated it so low during the time I watched it the first time. Just know I was under the duress of losing loved ones. I decided to watch it again, not only this one but the Negotiator as well. The storyline was great and it deserved better from me. I still really believe that YangMi does her best acting during historical dramas such as Eternal Love. She is one of my top Chinese actresses and always has been. I hope I am forgiven. Vin was so awesome in this and to see him in a different light was very uplifting for me. Everything else, the set, the production, the support actors, and the actresses all did a good job.

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Definitely not bad at all, a whole package of everything.

So I just finished the drama and i have to say, this was one of the most realistic ones I've ever seen. The pace was a little slow for me, i know, every moment of these 40 episodes were important in their own way, but if it was just 5 episodes less, it would've been so much better and pleasant to watch. The middle part of the show was a little bit boring to me, cuz there was just so much going on and there were so many characters that i couldn't even remember who was who sometimes. But this is the realistic part of this show. Cause in real life, these type of operations are like this (maybe?). You don't just form a squad and to some investigation and you're done. No. It's not like this at all in real life. Sometimes you may face constant failures, sometimes you get fed up - being in this for a long time. I have to say, the production team really did try to portray this as real as possible.

Now to the actors and characters, I like Yang Mi and Vin Zhang, having watched them in Eternal Love, Love O2O, Eternal Love Dream, Rattan, The Interpreter, etc.

I really liked Ma Shang. He was professional, serious when needed, funny, a good son, a good friend and a good agent. I won't write much about him, you guys get my point.

Now coming to An Jing, i really like dramas with strong female leads/characters and this drama gave me just that. She was a great leader, a really good friend and a responsible daughter. The moments when she used to motivate her subordinates was one of the scenes i liked.

Now coming to the supporting characters, the parents of Ma Shang were really cool and caring at the same time. I wish I had parents like them. An Jing's mom and his boyfriend were great too. The other two of the squad, Meng and Zi Xuan were great too. I was going to write something now, but i don't wanna spoil this drama for others. Just gonna say : I really really didn't expect it.

Shoutout to Miao Fei, Cheng Li, Xiao Li and Yang Xun. They were great supports.

The drama tried to show the real life of agents of NSS, how they have to hide things from their family, how they have to deal with their past, how success is never certain. This show was a whole package : it had the story of business world, national security, family, friendship, teamwork and a little bit of romance.

So the main question, did I like it? Not that much as it was too long for me. But is it a bad drama? Definitely not. Watch it if you're interested in these agent or business type of theme.

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Could've been better. But definitely not your ordinary spy drama.

I've been through a LONG drought of Yang Mi in drama land and Storm Eye's release this year just quenched it a lot. This has been anticipated by a lot of her and Zhang Binbin's fans albeit less expectations with the drama quality considering the genre and the production company involved.

First, I'll write about the good things I've observed in the drama:
1. It's different. It's a spy drama but the guns do not really appear until the latter part. There are not much stunts going on but they all did this as realistic as they could in terms of action.

2. It's also different in the sense of scope or on which area of "spy" they covered. This isn't narcotics or drugs but ores - minerals, rare resources, that are not often discussed or shown in contemporary police dramas. This could be the reason why some viewers might find it a bore, especially when we get into the technical parts.

3. The side characters' acting is pretty good. They really picked actors with good ranges and none of them stood out like a sore thumb (okay, maybe one or two but we love him/them nonetheless)

4. The CP is soooo shippable ♥ Yang Mi and Vin Zhang! We've loved them in Ten Miles and now they're FINALLY a couple. In all fairness, the way they sprinkled romance into the drama isn't so out of place. It's just about 30% of the show and yet it gives giggles and smiles. Lovely!

The not-so-good parts of the drama:

1. Come on, don't dress up like a SPY when you're doing missions undercover. Talk about alerting the enemy with all the actions/mannerisms they did.

2. There could've been a better script. RIGHT. The plot is pretty solid itself. They just went a bit off with how the script went for some important scenes and for most fillers. It becomes a bit predictable and unbelievable at some point. But still better than Memory Lost. LOL.

3. OST! How I wish they released proper OSTs for this one. Like, is this made in 2012? I kinda liked a more fitting OST for 2021, but if patriotism is the aim of the show, I kinda get it.

Too bad that this has been overshadowed by more trending works released during its run, but glad that it had pretty solid TV ratings in the mainland during its run. If you are a fan of Yang Mi, Vin Zhang, or any of the side characters, it's still a pretty good watch. Especially for those interested in these kinds of genre.

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All the spy stuff are good and fun to watch

All the spy stuff are good and fun to watch. But that's all there is, everything else is too dry and boring to be honest.

The beautiful and talented cast cannot save the show. Too many familiar faces that I like from other shows, so I had really high expectations with this one. But the romance is bland, so is the drama, there's nothing that made my heart sigh. And for a crime/suspense show, its lacks exciting fight scenes, no heart thumping moments.

This 40 episode show can easily be summarized. Young love lost and found after a decade. They get to know each other all over again while trying to save the world. The end.

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Endless potential but no action

This drama had endless potential given the cast, the atmosphere and genres of the story, but sadlly it didn't give what I expected from such a large-scale drama. It started out very promising and good, but since we are talking about an action/thriller/mystery/crime drama here, you'd expect a fair amount of suspense/action towards the end, which was almost completely left out here. The key word is: ACTION. I watched this drama zealously because I thought the espionage/monitoring/distance investigation part was just a lead-up to the great things in the end which is ACTION. And by that I mean physical action, and actually going out to catch the criminals. There was little to no action in this drama despite the extremely promising plot and genres. The whole story was just about the characters sitting in computer rooms trying to solve a case from afar.

The first thing that threw me off was when they didn't show how Bat was caught. He was presented as key character who will play an important role, but they finished him off in no time, without us even seeing how he was caught and not seeing a single scene from the interrogation of such a key character.

The next is Du Meng's death... Seriously, why? Such a great, likabe and important character was killed off in no time after just pointing a gun at one of the criminals. I felt like his death was unnecessary with the sole reason of the writers going by the logic that a sacrifice is needed in order to achive good. Furthermore, I was hoping for a real fight scene between two male characters and for Du Meng to beat Chang Lei in one to one combat, but no... Chang Lei thrusts a needle from his glasses (!) into Du Meng's neck like he's some James Bond or something, then runs away and Meng dies on the scene. That was pretty much the only action scene in the drama, and even that was poorly implemented.

Then let's talk about Jeffrey. He was presented as the one who stands behind everything, the main bad guy throughout the series, but when the story gets to a point where it's time to catch him, they don't show us anything besides how Ma Shang detects him on a MONITOR, but we get to see nothing from how they actually go after him, catch him, and interrogate him.

I was also hoping that they'd bring down Hermes, the source of all evil in the end too, but that didn't happen either. Still this is the most forgivable out of the points I mentioned because they dealt with the branch of the organisation that wanted to steal Dinghua's core technology that was what the plot centered around.

Overall, I'd like to emphasize again that this drama had infinite potential, but the lack of action ruined it. It is not worth watching 30-35 episodes of people sitting in computer rooms, be it on a yacht, a van or an office if there is no action in the last 5-10 or at least the last 3 episodes.

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