Shen Du (2026)

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 am only pulled in when Jueming’s origins are 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 is delivering 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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