On the Scent (2022)

Micro drama delivers a surprisingly decent serial murder mystery

At barely an hour's length excluding credits, On the Scent is a surprisingly well-produced micro drama (relatively speaking) starring Leo Yang and Li Jia Jia. It tells a decent serial murder mystery through incredibly short arcs. Over the past year, many short-length productions have expanded from 2-3 minutes to about 10-15 minutes in length, making these extra short ones seem particularly unsatisfying and poorly made. These crumb-sized dramas can be riddled with extra choppy editing, a script full of plot holes and uneven storytelling. But as the story unfolded here, it was hard not to be a bit surprised by the relative quality, given the constraints.

This drama came out just before the "toxic Republican era anti-hero" trope dominated the mini-drama landscape in 2023, so you won't be seeing any aggressive MLs intimidating the FLs in a love-hate tale of revenge here. There is almost no romance at all - in fact, the most physical our two leads get is a comforting hand on the shoulder. Leo Yang and Li Jia Jia are nonetheless nicely paired, unravelling the mystery behind a series of murders together.

Like a number of the short-length dramas I watched back in 2022, On the Scent unnecessarily ends on last-second cliffhanger, and like those other dramas, I am not expecting a second season. In this case, however, I was not particularly bothered by the open ending, which did not detract from the overall drama. Not a bad watch for that five minute coffee/tea/water break!

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A Fresh Take on the Investigative Genre

I really enjoyed this. It is grouped under Supernatural Detective and Mystery under my mid-autumn recommendations: features that center around mysteries that the characters solve. Most of them have supernatural premises that have non-fiction explanations.

I thought it was a fresh take on the investigative genre. The art direction and cinematography were well done. I thought it elevated the story by making scenes visually striking and mysterious. And I loved the investigative team and how they gradually came together, with special attention to the leads and their support. All 26 episodes revolve around a central crime that becomes increasingly complex, layered with additional players and new developments—like a crime within a crime, with multiple culprits. Although it ends on a cliffhanger, I wasn’t mad about it—I just wish there were another season.

Note: While there are no explicit scenes or visual depictions, there is mention of SA, so a trigger warning is advised.

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