Imperfect Victim (2023)

Just Say No.

This is not an easy drama to watch. It shines an unflinching spotlight on the unchecked, oppressive soft power of the uber rich and how society and by extension the legal system holds victims to an impossible standard of perfection. The narrative opens with a married, high powered CEO Cheng Gong caught in flagrante delicto with his assistant Zhao Xun, after an inebriated night of corporate entertainment. The media is at the scene and a full blown scandal ensues with dire consequences for both parties. Cheng Gong's team of fixers led by his relentless public relations executive Li Yi and a sharp lawyer Lin Kan swoop in immediately to understand and contain the situation.

As the facts emerge, it becomes clear that Cheng Gong and Zhao Xun remember the night very differently and the situation devolves quickly into "he said she said". Zhao Xun is a mass of contradictions who struggles to understand her own version of the truth, which obviously does not square with Cheng Gong's. Both parties are victims that are damaged by the fallout and they each believe in their own version of the truth, which the drama explores in a very balanced way. The key question is does silence mean consent? This should be straightforward - she can just say no. She could have and should have done just that. Lin Yun delivers a heartbreakingly convincing articulation of just how difficult, near impossible it is for someone in Zhao Xun's position to do that in the face of the massively uneven power dynamics between herself and Cheng Gong. Her downfall was foreshadowed long before her failure to speak up at the point of no return. She was doomed from the moment he saw her, wanted her and tempted her with fast advancement, the material trappings of wealth and the heady mix of the power of the executive suite. She was complicit and she loathed herself for it. Yet I felt real sorry for her and I understood why she felt wronged. While most praise Zhou Xun's portrayal of Lin Kan, for me Lin Yun as Zhao Xun was the outstanding performance. She made me deeply empathise with this young, flawed, inconsistent, movingly vulnerable and imperfectly human character that struggles to find her voice.

Even though Liu Yijun always delivers, he takes it to the next level with his mesmerising portrayal of a sociopathic like Cheng Gong who believes that everyone has a price and how ruthlessly and manipulatively he wields his power to get his way. His sense of entitlement, utter lack of self awareness and inability to grasp how disconnected he is from common humanity and decency is scary and pathetic. As for Zhou Xun, her Lin Kan is a shark with a bottom line. Her skilled probing questions delivered with a sharp, liquid and searching gaze and her calm, dispassionate and and incisive legal analysis enunciated in her deep, rich and deliberate voice is superb. Her mature, confident beauty and elegant and nuanced empathic line delivery has taken viewers by storm. Only a phenomenal veteran cast like this can deliver such convincing, multi-faceted and realistic portrayals.

The drama's strongest arc is the opening - it made me very sad and very, very angry at pretty much every main character. This kind of story however is difficult to end in a good and realistic way. I think this would be a better if it were shorter as the drama's core message that women need to find their voice and that an imperfect victim is still a victim hits home early on. I didn't think Lin Kan's "Me Too" arc is necessary and it doesn't quite come off the right way how a stronger character succumbs to the same temptations yet manages to emerge largely unscathed albeit scarred nonetheless. I also don't like how Lin Kan is written overall notwithstanding Zhou Xun's charismatic acting. It would have been better if Lin Kan chose sides early in the game and was pitted against Li Yi or her mentor early on rather than making her all things to all people. This results in too many conflicts of interest that are just glossed over. Despite her alleged bottom line, Lin Kan appears unscrupulous in how close she gets to Zhao Xun. It is also not realistic that Zhao Xun never seeks her own legal advice. Finally, the way Lin Kan prevails using information she obtained while acting for the other side is just plain wrong and practically impossible.

The drama literally and figuratively goes off a cliff in a way that makes the last third of it a less convincing watch. It doesn't make sense that a smart and manipulative character like Cheng Gong continues to go persecute Zhao Xun after she becomes so wretched and pitiful. It is just a contrived way to force an ending message that in China, even imperfect victims can find their voice via the justice system. My biggest issue with the story however is that the worst, most vile character is a woman who enabled Cheng Gong and victimised Zhao Xun just as much if not more. She shows no remorse and there are no true consequences for her. This aspect of the ending deeply disappointed me; I needed to see her confronted and at least punched in the face! Despite her superb visual composition style, storytelling wise Yang Yang proves once again her inability to wrap up the narrative while she is ahead. Nonetheless, the first half or so of this drama tackles some heartbreaking and controversial issues masterfully and is worthy of an 8.5. Unfortunately the writing doesn't hold up and it nosedives into an 8.0 towards the end and that is my overall rating. It is still worth watching when you are in the mood for a thought provoking drama that closely resembles a recent real case with all around amazing acting.

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The grey areas, handled with care

“What are you more afraid of? More than people harming your body?”

“Afraid of the end of everything. Afraid of losing the future. Afraid of losing the present. Afraid of losing a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. Afraid of confronting.”

The story started simply with the police receiving a report of a rape case happening between a CEO of multinational company and his subordinate. The CEO suavely said it’s mutual relationship, while the lady just seemed shock and unable to affirm anything.

What’s interesting is the approach and direction the Imperfect Victim took to unravel this case through the perspective of Lin Kan, who is the defence lawyer of the CEO, Mr. Cheng. It took a very very long time to figure Lin Kan’s true stance. On one hand, we know she will competently, and perhaps, flawlessly defend her client’s case as a professional lawyer. On the other hand, we remain unsure and intrigued on her next steps as it seems like she empathised, more than any other, with Zhao Xun as a woman herself. I appreciated the dynamics between Lin Kan and Zhao Xun. The kind words and silent understanding that Lin Kan offered when dealing with Zhao Xun. It might not too idealistic, I loved how the former was able to do it in ways that protected both her professional integrity and the latter, despite being the opposing parties.

What really caught my surprise was that I enjoyed how the show patiently and tactfully showed the psychological journey of Zhao Xun go through, as the imperfect victim in this case, from silence to speaking out, from self shaming to facing it, from stepping up to doubting to giving up to accepting herself.

It also tactfully showed the discussions from multiple parties - at the police level on how they deal with cases like this, the honest view of how both genders would interpret the situations, the relationship dynamics between the CEO with his wife and mistress, as well as the impact of seemingly harmless comments by the public and coworkers.

I am not one that seek for dramas that deals with such heavy social topics, but Imperfect Victim did perfectly capture the dilemma that many modern women face in the workplace - on compromise, on tolerance, on numbing, on consent, on support and on asserting.

The visual storytelling, camera angles, story directing and actors / actresses are done well. I can’t imagine how this story will turn with a less capable production team and cast.

This is not a show for everybody, but it is made with everybody in mind, including the men despite being a women-centric show. For a show that deals with such complex social issue - sexual harassment and perceived consent - it somehow manage to bring out the multi perspectives and interpretations tactfully and carefully.

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Important lessons from the imperfect victim

I've read a few reviews where the reviewer blames the victims of poor choices. This drama is for the mature audience with an open mind and a open heart. As the title suggests "imperfect victim" is just that. The young victim made all the wrong choices but that doesn't mean she deserved to be assaulted. Victims of sexual harassment, sexual assault, and/or rape often face society prosecution in addition to dealing with legal hurdles. Even in the U.S. the stats of % of women that are sexually harassed, assaulted, raped are staggering. Although this subject is rather heavy, the drama does contain a lot of good information worth knowing.

Cast:
FL lawyer - Amazing! I love her acting & her character.
FL Victim - I think she improved a lot as an actress but could be better.
ML the accused - He's one of my favorite veteran actors.
Strong supporting cast all around, my favorite being FL lawyer's side kick, the female cop & the ex security guard.

The drama introduces the FL lawyer entering a dinner party responding to a guest pressuring her to drink: "I will only have one drink. Anyone that expects more than 1 drink I will leave." She's confident, successful & powerful.

Separately the victim, who's young & beautiful. She's timid and one night got pressured into drinking till she passes out leading to a night of unfortunate events. Later on she's judged as the gold digger and a party girl because she was drinking with powerful old men. She didn't say "No" therefore she was "fine" with it even if all her body language clearly shows she detested all that was going on.

There are going to be lots of frustrating scenes but it's also realistic and maybe it can bring more awareness on social norms that need to be changed & on laws that need to be improved upon.

Well done drama with a very good cast on a topic that's often overlooked. Probably not going to be a popular drama but I think it would be beneficial especially for women to watch this.

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An eye-catching title in a thought-provoking drama

Cdrama seldom has legal drama, which is one of my favorite genres, and this drama is an underrated gem. It is a multifaceted public service drama full of subtle messages cleverly woven without ramming them down viewers' throats. There are life skills and legal points on rape, domestic violence, and child custody for abused wives. It's enlightening and engaging, with an excellent script and an equally excellent performance from its cast.
Spoilers alert.
The theme was sex assault in terms of life skills.
The plot evolves around a rape report and three main characters: the victim, the perpetrator, and the lawyer.
ZhouXun played the cool, calm, collected, ethical, and elite lawyer whose client is the perpetrator, a playboy tycoon. A role acted flawlessly by Liu Yi Jun as the elegant, eloquent, enigmatic, and egotistical boss. Jelly Lin was the conflicted, complicated, confusing, and imperfectly imperfect victim who kept changing her testimony.
The story started with a scene of a woman, petrified and terrified, sitting in a bathtub while below the apartment, a man was anxiously waiting. He had earlier seen her sleeping on a couch at a drinking banquet. He watched helplessly, waited, and waited. He didn't attempt to call the police anonymously; somebody else did. Juxtaposed was another scene of another drinking banquet,where the lawyer was facing a threatening and belligerent client when her assistant barged into the room, acting drunk to force the client into drinking with him. Thus, the lawyer could escape safely. It is a study of the enormous difference between people who have or do not have life skills of critical assessment, critical thinking, and creative thinking on the spot in critical situations.
___The core of the story started with a rape report by an anonymous third party. The police came, and investigations were started. The victim and perpetrator statements were recorded. It was revealed that the victim did not refuse and did not resist. No utterance of "No, stop, I don’t want "and similar spoken words to that effect The operative words here were REFUSAL and RESISTED for the legal system to operate to help victims. Without those SPOKEN words, it’s misconstrued as consent,  thus becoming a daunting onus for the victim to prove otherwise. If one does not help oneself first, nobody can, not even the law.
A major stumbling block was the victim's lack of life skills in critical thinking in critical situations. At the banquet, she had to lie down as she was too dizzy. That was the way out of that room, by making the excuse that she wanted to vomit and then making a getaway. The second chance was when she regained consciousness; she should have said no and wanted to go home as she was too tired, but quickly escaped. He could not chase after her as he was in a bathrobe. Her creative thinking on the spot was weak and feeble.
The most relevant and salient points were conveyed and woven into the arguments between the female policewoman and her male supervisors, the interrogations of the victim, and testimonies from co-workers and other employees of the company.
The perpetrator had baited her with a quick promotion to a high-paying job mere months after hiring her, which others took years to achieve. This provokes greed and ego in her and in others with jealousy, envy, and unfairness. A job that entailed working with the boss alone at night Most people would conjure up the dangerous conjecture of having an affair with the boss. A job that necessitated going to parties, functions, and drinking banquets. This aroused negative connotations of a suspicious girlfriend rather than a lowly assistant. She also accepted gifts of branded and expensive clothes, bags, and shoes. This awakens her avarice and triggers her vanity. For others, it’s substantiated evidence that she was having an affair with the boss. The living accommodation provided was a luxurious apartment, which her roommate took years to achieve as a top merit worker. Acquiescence and accepting them meant the victim was pliable to touching, hand-holding, or, in short, sexual harassment. Red flags were everywhere. Her life skills in critical assessment were practically nil.
Another limitation was her weak interpersonal skills, for she made no attempts to make friends with co-workers or the bodyguard who saved her from sexual harassment from their boss. Another of her downsides was her poor cultivation of friends, resulting in a lack of friends to help her. During one of the interrogation sessions, she admitted she had misgivings about that promotion. She lacked friends to support or refute those apprehensions and provide emotional and mental support. Friends to discuss and share doubts, fears, insecurities, and problems. To exchange views and experiences to widen and broaden perspectives, thereby enhancing problem-solving skills with a logical, analytical mindset. Friendship cannot be underestimated, as it's essential for everyone to make, keep, and have friends.
In an eye-opening scene after a talk with the lawyer, the victim finally plucked up the courage to change her testimony. At the end, the lawyer had to give up her license to change sides to fight for the victim as a friend. It's an unexpected, unbelievable, and unrealistic twist. It is the writer's way of saying; it’s tantamount to an impossible mission for a lawyer to win a case for an imperfect victim when circumstantial and substituted evidence were against her. Once a bait is taken, it becomes the fault of the victim. The legal system is too weak to handle such cases. Only a friend with knowledge of the law can win a defamation suit.
To summarize, it is preferable to avoid and prevent work-related pitfalls by learning and practicing some life skills. Otherwise, one may be crippled for life.  

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IMPERFECT Approaching Perfect (Spoilers will be few and mild)

I was lucky enough to enter the world of Chinese dramas via RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE IN THE PALACE, a show that has compelled me to watch 12 more series. I was so impressed with Zhou Xun I'll watch anything with her in it, and she's here in IMPERFECT. (I even saw her IMPERFECT LOVE show as well.)

This IMPERFECT also features another Ruyi alumni, Dong Jie -- who I'm beginning to respect as a truly great actress. In Ruyi she had to play a very cold and distant character, which she pulled off brilliantly, but was utterly unlikable. Here viewers might say she plays the same, but I found her far more sympathetic in this series. Her sad yet beautiful face constantly spoke to me of a woman that could have had lifelong love but instead made a very bad choice.

Frankly the entire cast is terrific, even amongst the smallest of roles. My only disappointment was with Police Captain Yan Ming, who wasn't convincing as a cop. She is very pretty and her that was kind of distracting. I've seen THE DISAPPEARING CHILD and that lady cop seemed so real that I was disappointed not to see her type cast here. Understand Elaine Zhong is otherwise fine here, and again she is in an otherwise perfect ensemble.

Our villain Cheng is portrayed beyond perfect by Liu Yi Jun. I'm new to this actor and his ability to make such a despicable person sympathetic goes football fields past Dong Jie. He is terrific in his completely lack of awareness of how horrible he is, which is why you can't help but feel for him a little now and again and kinda a little bit always.

Also new to me is lead actress Jelly Lin, who portrays the title of this series. Her character is as compelling as perplexing. Often you want to hug her but sometimes you want to slap her, which is painfully ironic considering the series them of appropriate actions upon a young lady like this. But despite the irony these feelings run real because her character Zhoa Xun makes you want to pull your hair out during the first two thirds of the series.

This paragraph will run mildly spoiler-ish in giving away the victim's main flaw. I'll talk around it by saying she behaves like almost all 'kids' her age. When you get them on a topic that makes them uncomfortable, they won't say it makes them uncomfortable. Instead they go silent, off topic, or just behave oddly. Because they're really still half children, aren't they? That is how a child reacts when you accuse them of having their fingers in the cookie jar.

The point of this series is to indicate that victims of rape and sexual harassment can't be expected to be perfect victims. The series plainly states that when you have an older man with power over a young person it is very difficult for the 'girl' to react and respond proactively enough to impress the Court system she wasn't complicit.

What drove me a little crazy is this discussion of the victim kind was always with respect to her adulthood. What I just did two paragraphs up I wish the series had said over and over again: the victim was so young she was basically still a child, and you can't expect adult behavior from a child. It's THAT simple. It is this innocence and lack of adult experience the likes of Cheng count on and prey upon.

That idea was never said in such words but hammered upon with Lin Kan's lawyer story. (By the way, who was the genius that cast Zhou Xun but named our victim Zhoa Xun? That would be like naming Harrison Ford's STAR WARS character 'Mark Hemill".) Anyway, as usual, Zhou Xun was TERRIFIC as our lawyer character. I love Zhou Xun only like one other legendary actress, Bette Davis. This means that no matter the age of either actress or the project -- it's must see.

I was, at first, a little surprised when this production didn't use Zhou Xun to play her younger self. They did so in RUYI and really pulled it off. Her size and figure can easily pass for a college kid. But I said at first because, at second glance, the face of Zhou Xun is evolving. Filmed in her late 40's there is nuisance of age. I'm not talking about wrinkles and such that special effects could hide in flashbacks. I'm talking about her lovely eyes that speak of this woman's journey.

It was for this reason I understood her central role in this series. Zhou Xun is what lives in between a Jelly Lin and and Dong Jie. (I just learned this statement doesn't make real sense since Dong Jie is 6 years younger than Zhou Xun, but it's Xun's youthful features the suggest the opposite.) Still -- our lawyer Lin Kan is attempting to rescue herself before it's too late and she turns into a Dong Jie, if you will.

Great credit needs to be given both to the female writers (Gao Xuan and Ren Bao Ru) for creating this vivid world where all these actors get to shine. Where the depressing subject matter dissuades viewership the writing and direction and cast DEMAND a viewing. This is probably the best series I've seen yet, tying with RUYI'S ROYAL LOVE in quality.

The series was not perfect, though. (Dare I say it was 'imperfect'?) Luckily the problems can be counted on one hand --

1. I found almost all the songs to be 'fake' somehow. As if someone insisted they be inserted and so they came off as an awkward after thought. Plus I've heard better songs. The closing credits song in Zhou Xun's IMPERFECT LOVE is incredible, if you need a point of comparison. (Go catch that on YouTube or wherever now.) I almost always listen to the opening and closing songs of these shows with a big smile, but for the first time every I found them skippable. This is extra weird since some even had my native language (English)in them.

2. I don't mind lighthearted funny scenes, but towards the end of the story they were no longer needed but inserted anyway. The inclusion of these overlong 'smirky' scenes took away desperately needed time to --

3. -- resolve a few more storylines. The boy that loved Jelly Lin? He was seen in the last episode but only as a prop. To have him there at the court but not let him speak to the victim or her parents was a missed opportunity. The same for the security guard, who not only should have said something after the trial but have his victim friend by his side. It honestly felt like the series was padding a little to get to the last two episodes, and once there, they realized they needed more time... but didn't have it.

4. Call me an Old Softie but I wanted Lin Kan's assistant (Zhou Cheng Ao) to be somehow back with Lin Kan at story's end. But not as her love interest or employee. Instead I wanted a scene where he was doting on the victim at Lin Kan's home, implying that at some point these two might be a couple. But no hurry.

I've come to learn no Chinese series is perfect. I had a string of series that were disappointing and one was so terrible it had to be abandoned. IMPERFECT VICTIM won me back over... because it is near perfect.

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Strong start, weak in the middle onwards

This was an interesting watch that shed some light on the MeToo movement. Here are some good and bad things I like about this drama; I like that it has a good and strong start that allows viewers to see that what you see is not what you think. Our protagonist is the "imperfect victim" ZS. She is the young 25-year-old Sr.Assistant to the antagonist, Boss Chen Gong. ZS got her position because the boss likes her, he woo her and chase after her because she is a beautiful girl. With that said, she does everything with him; accompanying him to company dinner hangouts and drinking with men. She is young, naive, and inexperienced. This is by no means saying that she is stupid because she is not. Chen Gong is powerful, rich and is the boss at the company that ZS works at; he likes her beauty and promoted her to Senior Office Assistant (which is a position that usually takes about 5 years to get to), but for ZS it only took her 3 months after being an intern at the company; she was promoted through her connection with the boss and plus he likes her. He gifted her good luxury brands, like clothes, a company suite, and purses. Throughout the drama, ZS is unapprehensive about being alone with Chen Gong. On the night of the r***; she drank heavily at the company dinner and got drunk. Chen Gong took her home and laid her on his bed; she even told her she wants to go back to her house. He ignored her words, and instead took her back to his place. On that night, Chen Gong's bodyguard follows them and makes an anonymous call to the police that ZS is being raped. Police arrived at the scene and the drama begins from there.

At the very beginning, ZS is in a complicated mess and contradict herself between her visions of truths. I like how the drama is good at showing that not one version is the truth, and also good at showing literally what is the "Imperfect Victim," and its meaning in the drama. As the plot unfolds, ZS became a victim of her voice and treading the line of her words against his (Chen Gong's words). To sum it up, I like how the drama starts off strong, with good acting, and the ending song was nice too.

LinKai played by the actress was good and her delivery lines were amazing!!! She definitely knows her craft since she's a veteran actress. Chen Gong is also played by a veteran actor and he played it well. The captain policewoman was amazing!!! Basically, all the older actors played great here. ZS played by Jelly did a good job too. I saw her in one drama, and here she really improves her acting. I also like KangHui and YinZhang.

What I didn't really like is that this drama was longer than it needs to be; because it was draggy from the middle to the end. In some episodes, it seems like filler, and the plot was slowly moving along. I think YinZhang's gf plot was too long to tell; although I can see why it's in there. Other than the drama being too long, overall it was good. 7.7/10.

Definitely watch this drama with an open eye, and trust the process.

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It's great to see a drama that deal with sexual harassment in China. Excellent acting and story.

"Imperfect Victim" is a story about a sexual harassment case that leads to a rape case, further leading to a big corporation, its employees, and different people like lawyers/prosecutors.

It stars Zhou Xun as Lin Kan, Liu Yi Jun as Cheng Gong, and Jelly Lin as Zhao Xun. I enjoyed the drama and was frustrated by episodes 1-15 because the imperfect victim did not speak up about being sexually harassed and/or even raped.

The lawyer was not helping Zhao Xun initially because she was defending Cheng Gong; in the latter half of the drama, she leaned toward Zhao Xun and another domestically violated woman whose lover was a whistleblower. He witnessed the sexual harassment that Zhao Xun endured under the control of Cheng Gong.

The entire ensemble acted excellently, particularly Elaine Zhong, who played Detective Yan Ming. She believes in the victim Zhao Xun, whom no one else did.

This drama must be filmed during the Covid Pandemic 2020 because everyone wears masks. Zhao Yun's courage helped Lin Kan face up to her sexual harassment past and works to defend women in sexual harassment and domestic violent cases.

I really enjoy this drama and give it an 8.5 rating. Highly recommended.

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Waste of time

I was captured by the title and felt that since the WeToo and MeToo movements
are so current, I thought it will a challenging series to watch.

To my disappointment the series is so draggy from the start til ep 21 but at the end
it did not give any more interesting development of so call the "rape" case. On the other
and I find the domestic case more interesting to follow.

Recently i find most cDrama are so draggy and takes a long time to make the point.
Hope there will be more interesting subject matters in the second half of the year.

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Bad ending

Great beginning and middle but last 3/4 was so draggy. Just dragged and dragged.

This could easily just be 16 or 20 episodes at the most.

Great acting. Great tension and music.

But the ending... How in the world did they decide on that ending? That young woman decided to go through with reporting it to the police instead of forever living in a life of luxury with her parents and what did she get in the end?

She became a cripple. The courts awarded her 1 yuan. She lost all her friends and her reputation for smeared. Her parents lost all face and reputation. The lawyer who helped her lost her license.

It is a joke. If anyone thought this was better than option 1, they are nuts. It was simply 10 minutes of bad sex at a hotel. And somehow because of that idiotic boy who is a idealistic moron with zero real world experience and gets her to somehow think that 10 minutes of bad sex can never be erased and forgotten and she deserves some justice for it. And as soon as things turn to shit, that same idealistic moron turns and hides behind his parents blanket.

Someone should really have knocked some sense into that young woman. She received all those gifts and so many chances to not even be put into this situation and so many chances to have a good life with her parents despite everything and somehow she was made to think that 10 minutes of bad sex is the most important event in her life.

If the CEO was an absolute monster or pure evil, then YES! Do everything to bury him. But he seems like a rich arrogant powerful bastard like many male leads in C dramas and I don't think he is a predator by any means and he got some wrong signals from her and is an asshole. But nowhere near evil or predator and he is someone that warranted to make a deal with and he gave her a real offer.

To me, everyone who did the most damages got off with no repercussions. The dad who physically assaulted her with huge slap. The idiotic boy who screwed up her life with idealistic bad advice. The police woman who wouldn't just let case go despite no real evidence. The body guard who called the media to make life hell for them when he could have just called the police. The PR woman who released her identity to social media. The gossipers in their building who tried to KILL them with bricks through their window. These people did so much worse than the main male lead. So much worse than 10 minutes of bad sex.

I guess maybe it is the real world.

Maybe the show is letting us know that we should be careful of idealistic morons and take the deal if it's a good deal!

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