Under the Skin Season 2 (2024)

Exploring the Mind of Shen Yi While Others Trail Behind

"I don't want to draw just their faces and personalities, I want to draw their hearts." That seemed what season 2 was aiming to portray. Delving deeper of SY's work and progressing as the genius sketch artist he really was. This was one of my more anticipated dramas of the year as season 1 was so strong. That said this season didn't deliver the same gravitas as the first one. You were literally exploring the mind of SY while the others just trail behind. Hopefully season 3 could tighten that up with a satisfying finale.

Pros: TJC as SY really went an extra mile in solving cases in this one. It was like he development a second personality or jumped into the mind of the killer. The compelling cases like the "abducted" kid and abusive father, the guy creating an alter to his sister at the bottom of the cliff by playing God essentially, the guy who created a play of bodies after his beloved died tragically. Also the last case how it started with the "serial killer" gene and grew into the final case about genetically engineering humans which goes against human nature and all laws of society. In all of these, we see SY's growth and letting go of past disappointments like the girl in the red dress that haunted his dreams for a long time after he ignored her when he felt something was off and a day later she was found dead in an alley.

The rest of the cast played well as support and their partnership was moving along from case to case. DC realized at the end that he had to be less rigid with SY as his ideology didn't fit SY and that's what seemed to drive SY towards FKY. Out of all of antagonists, FKY was the creepiest and he actually thought he could change SY to be like himself and drive a wedge between the two but that's not what happened. He only got temporary satisfaction as SY was onto him and he wouldn't let anything ruin his friendship with DC. I'm glad at the end it was SY who brought him down. The bureau gang was always nice to have around and even captain Liu from the regular bureau made a guest appearance for a bit which was nice. SY achieved his goal of painting the heart from the heart while also dispelling his own heart demon.

The cliff hanger was done very well. I couldn't help but notice the similarities of DC's stabbing that was done in a remote alley while he was on the phone to the one in season 1 of his mentor by some dude completely covered up. I think there's symbolism somewhere in there. Hopefully they will actually talk about that in season three. I'm a fan of those as long as we don't wait 3 plus years for season 3. But DC being stabbed and only feet from where SY was walking. The perp at this point could be a clone, doppelgänger, or even someone who had plastic surgery and genetic engineering by FKY to look like the SY from S1. I won't rule anything out.

Cons: As the title suggests, this season had our leads essentially running parallel investigations even if they were on the same cases. They were more separate than together and it seemed off. The rest of the bureau just seemed there not like season one's tight group like was depicted in their first picture. This season they felt more like just flailing on the sidelines. I wanted that connection between SY and DC that drew us to this duo in the beginning. And it was briefly shown in 28 when they finally brought FKY and his co-conspirators to justice. But I really felt DC was way too rigid and even almost jealous of literally anyone who became friends with SY unless it was their own little group. He also moved too stiffly and almost never smiled; it was like conducting an investigation or riding in a car with Oscar the grouch. They need to sand down those edges.

Also quite a few cases though important because they highlight the problems in society everywhere, were underwhelming. Like the first case of the contortionist obsessed fan who the idol essentially used to murder for him, the stalking case which exposed the guy supposedly caught in a love triangle but when in reality he was the one who was the ultimate player and both women got rid of him. Or of their hoarder coworker that had trauma from her grandmother so adopted that way of life. Or the girl who lied about her age to get the guy who assaulted her a bigger sentence and we had flashbacks of Captain Li. Another supposed love triangle where one poisoned the boyfriend and that contributed to his death later. Other cases were also very forgettable. There just wasn't as strong pull towards them. And there wasn't much breathing room in between cases where our group could do outside things or we see their lives or hanging out together as much as we did in the first season. That's how they grew as close as they did, through both work and otherwise. One thing just bled into another.

The writing needed to be tightened and not just let the body grow multiple heads going in different directions while headed to the same destination ultimately. I would have given this series an 8 but the extra .5 I gave for how well the last episode brought together and especially SY and DC having that heart to heart with both coming to their own realizations understanding each other on an even deeper level. The cliff hanger was also a nice touch since they weren't going to have a finale this season.

Would I recommend it? Yes, I would. But you have to watch season one or a lot won't make sense here. Despite the disconnect overall, the cases and the team's work was still what we wanted to see. A lot of the cases brought serious issues to light. Let's wait for season 3 together!

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It feels like they didn't expect to do a second season and used everything on the first

I think they gave everything interesting they could think of in the first season, that everything they were left with is a bit dry in comparison.

Script: It's not that it's bad, it's just that S1 was filled with explanation of how Shenyi does what he does, that in this S it's not that special or unique. He draws from blurry images or a covered face caught in security cameras and skulls but it doesn't feel as good as it felt in the S1.

I personally think they didn't do themselves justice with putting the first case as the first case. It's so beautifully written and done on the psychology of the characters and it's so complicated that you don't know who to root for. Even when you tell yourself the law is the law you keep wondering if it's fair. Also the murder method was so interesting and difficult to figure out. Everything after that falls short because of how good it was.

It feels a bit random at times even tho the cases are interesting. Like Li Han's story is so real and well written on the psychological part. I could see myself in her, being lost and afraid, but it felt out of place. We didn't get to see her a lot before so we didn't see any signs that her character is going through some things.

I'm wondering what they're gonna do with the girl in the red dress part of the plot and the weird stranger (Fang Kai Yi). If it gets messed up then I'll be disappointed cause Tan Jian Ci is a great actor and can deliver, guilt, losing oneself to ego and playing g0d, so well. We already saw a glimpse of it in one of his conversations with Du Cheng.

Acting is good:
I think Tan Jian Ci is a great actor. Really good in emotional scenes but just as good with sassy moments.

I hoped Jin Shi Jia will change a bit and have more charisma. He is good with the emotional parts but when it comes to giving orders or just standing there, he looks like a child that doesn't know what to do with his hands.

Zhu Jia Qi is great. All the product placements fell on his shoulders and he was so natural. He is so good in that role it feels like he is Jiang Feng.

Lu Yan Qi did so well with her story. Better than I expected.

Overall the acting is good. All supporting actors did well. All the guest ones did well.

Directing and Fight choreography is good.

Editing is a bit harsh on the eyes. Color grading-color correction is too bright when you look at windows at day time.

Overall, I'm satisfied with it. I didn't expect anything more cause I felt like it'll be hard to match S1. I might add to my review when the show is finished (English isn't my first language so sorry for any typos or grammar mistakes)

Edit. Tan Jian Ci was so creepy in the opera eps. The "why are you behind me" was so good. I really liked that ep

Edit 2.0. The entire girl in red dress was just so we know he has good intuition? Why didn't they use it more? The thing about the changing dna was interesting at the beginning but it feels so weird that they didn't think to connect the girl in the red dress to Fang Kai Yi instead of making him a mad scientist. I get what they wanted to say with the 'one uses his intelligence for evil doing (even tho it's with good intentions) while one is doing good' but their power dynamic doesn't make it seem like they're the same or similar. Shen Yi feels so weak compare to Fang Kai Yi.

And I'm sorry but the min Du Cheng said Shen Yi changed I was just like 🤨🤔🧐 Does he not remember Shen Yi almost drowning himself in order to get the vision of the woman? Shen Yi was always an oddball. He didn't change by wanting to learn more about the human behaviour. That's just who he always was. That's literally his job. To interpret the human behaviour of the artists through their art.

This season felt forced, lacking effort and the lazy writing at times just made me so disappointed...

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