Tang Dynasty Occult Mysteries (2026)

Not bad for a shallow watch

This show doesn’t really qualify as a short drama, but sometimes it feels like one. The pace is quite fast. I think this is both good and bad- the cases are all rather short (a couple episodes, maybe) so you get quick gratification in finding out whodunit. Add to that the way the cases all feed one into the other, and the show is particularly easy to binge.

On the flip side, though, the case-solving is rather rushed- that’s how they can solve so many, so quickly. Rather than walking us through each case properly, the investigative team simply uncovers a few clues and then “deduces” a full-blown elaborate story. It’s a mystery to me how they got there. So in the end, this is a crime show that doesn’t really show crime solving. Instead I think the focus is on the stories that are uncovered.

A side effect of breezing through so many cases is that there are a lot of characters for the amount of story. Sometimes by the time the mystery is solved, I was still trying to figure out who is who. This is fine for characters who disappear, but a lot of the cases are interlocked, so many characters become relevant again and then you’re sitting there trying to remember who they are. Characters need more development to make an impression.

If you can look past all that, and all the other random plot holes, I did find the actual stories behind the cases to be pretty good. Interesting and often touching. Many cases have some element of the fantastical (similar to Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty). It would almost be a spoiler to reveal whether the supernatural is actually real in the show, so I won’t say more.

The detective team grew on me. It’s great to see a father-son relationship; father-aged characters rarely get main roles and I really enjoyed his interactions with everyone. There is also a budding romance which is not done too well, like you can see the signs here and there but they are subtle, and then when they suddenly get together it’s rather abrupt. But romance is not a huge part of this show and I was fine with it.

The FL herself is bright, cheery, and outgoing. I found her quite likeable but a bit anachronistic, which the show glosses over. At the beginning, a lot of her expressions and reactions seem exaggerated in an attempt at comedy- it’s not really my style of humor, but I still liked the lighthearted vibe. For better or worse, the comedy dies down as the show goes on.

The FL does her best to be useful, but the character who actually comes up with all the magical deductions is Jueming, the ML (or one of?). He is fairly likeable (and has some sort of super nose!), but mostly I just wanted him to tell me what happened. Overall I liked the team but I wasn’t in love with the characters, and I don’t think it’s a particularly character-driven story.

I do like that this show isn’t afraid to let “good” people do “bad” things. Even people on the protagonists’ side can do wrong things or have prejudiced ideas. There are also some pretty good plot twists and reveals. So the various cases, along with the central mystery (Jueming figuring out what happened to his family), kept me interested.

My main complaint is probably that some things are handled in ways I simply don’t agree with. I couldn’t help feeling that many of these tragedies only happened because society and the law have failed the common people. The characters don’t seem to recognize this or have much empathy. Of course, our modern values are different (eg our opinion of how much a life is worth) and it’s better for a show to stay true to its setting. But my favorite shows still acknowledge my modern values, maybe with some sympathetic character recognizing where the blame truly lies. The closest this show comes is refuting the idea that somebody is predestined to crime via birthright, which seems pretty basic to me.

Acting-wise, I think everyone did ok. Some of the show felt overacted, but it might just be the fast pace pushing too many dramatic scenes too close together without enough “normal” scenes in between.

The production seems decent for a smaller drama. The sets and costumes are nice, there are plenty of extras, and even the props look real which I find is important for these murder shows. This show does have a style of acting out hypotheses, memories, and descriptions whether they are correct or not, and sometimes it’s hard to tell what’s past, present, or imaginary. So this led to a little confusion, but it’s not too bad.

The music is alright- the BGM is used well to set the mood and includes some nice orchestral pieces. I thought the OST is ok but I didn’t love it, though that might be because it mostly only plays during recap scenes (flashing memories, which the show seems to use to say goodbye to characters) and I am not a fan of those, as I would rather watch more story.

Overall I think this show is not bad for a shallow binge watch and can be finished in decent time, especially if you watch it sped up. The stories are decent but don’t expect much from the case solving, or to particularly fall in love with any characters or ideas.

ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS





The show’s ending seems to be a setup for another season. Jueming is shown walking off with the FL, discussing the next mystery he wants to tackle. Of course, the leads do manage to first resolve the big case of the show and bring the ultimate villain to justice- it turns out to just be another corruption case, which is not that interesting but at least easy on my emotions.

The show actually dares to (probably?) kill off one of the main characters. But we don’t see any follow-up or confirmation of this, or Jinglan and Jueming’s reactions. As a standalone ending it would be pretty unsatisfying with loose ends, but my guess is they want to do a S2.

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Standard Cases, Slow Pacing: Dropped Halfway

This is a drop review—commentary on the first half of the season.

I love investigative dramas and watch quite a few of them, and I’m also a big fan of Li Fei—I’ve seen almost all of his costume dramas, including some of his earliest work. Unfortunately, this one just isn’t a win for me. I find the stories fairly plain and, at times, slow-moving. I was only pulled in when Jueming’s origins were hinted, and across the first 15 episodes, I was only moved for about five minutes near the end of one case. If you watch a lot of investigative dramas, the cases here feel pretty standard, and I haven’t found anything that really sets them apart. I also think this drama struggles with pacing, which might have worked better for me if the episodes were shorter.

The character portrayals didn’t quite work for me either. While Li Fei delivers a strong and natural role, I think the script often limits him, and I find that some of the dialogue comes across as unintentionally awkward rather than funny. Likewise, despite standout performances in other dramas—He Hongshan in Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace and The Glory, and Lu Xingyu in Xuan-Yuan Sword: Han Cloud and Legend of Yunxi—I thought their roles here feel somewhat artificial and unconvincing to me.

Now that I’m a few episodes past the halfway point—a stage where I usually stop and reevaluate whether I want to continue a watch—I’ve decided to drop it here.

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