AleksandraSucur

The first 4 eps look very promising.
I like Republican dramas, but after some good moments (usually the correct material hystorical settting) they regularly dissapoint with progressing of the storyline, espc. when the stories go towards Communist era.
Now we finally got one story set in "a Repubblican Communist era" that look thrilling and convincing.

oh, I get it now. Actually, the flow of water simbolizes a passage of time, rivers run long distances... "the water flows from far away" evokes smth poetic in English, too.
Tnx a lot

google translated the Chinese title as "The flowing water is far away" but I don't get the meaning at all...

The screenwriter and the director are the same person. Imo, he chose a super interesting historical events and setting, but,,, there are flows in how he developed, organised and directed the storytelling. I agree with your point: the focus is on the ML, this is the story of a "lonely hero" in terrible times, but he gave too much space and time to his journey (to maturity), while a bit neglecting the genre (political thriller) and the events that are the real interesting component of the drama.
"Mr Li" is a real historical figure, Li Shiqun (played by
Zhou Yi Wei), who started his career as a high communist official, then defected to KMT and later on defected to Wang Jingwei in Nanking (/Nanjing) collaborationist government, as a head of Tewu secret police, killed in Suzhou - it is still unclear who was behind his murder. This setting and fights among factions is what should represent the core suspence instead of dragging the plot hiding the identities of other important players in this game. At least he could have given us some hints

we can't figure him out bc: 1. we don't know what that Ding man has on him and Mr Li and 2. we have no clue who is N°8 Cell spy, it seems he himself never met this spy in person.
After one third of the drama, it's a high time to show us these two misterious persons (they may also be one person)

outdoor scenes, like GYZ escape from the execution ground and running through the streets, canals, jumping from the bridge, are shot in Suzhou, I think Gu Mansion and its surrounding is also there, although that typical architecture could have been recreated in Hengdian, too, as well as the restaurant and the boat restaurant, I don't know how many scenaries of this kind are there.
I think we get an idea of a water town, in Italy Suzhou is called "Chinese Venice", so they managed to convey that watery feeling, but overally they could have been more generous with in loco outdoor scenes.

I agree on this aspect and I like it, too.
The negative side of this good thing is the dragginess, almost all the scenes last too long, 80% can be watched in 1,5-2x speed.
I appreciate Suzhou setting as well, a bit of fresh air break after usual monotonous Hengdian spots... pity we don't see much of it, its typical folk music is not sufficient to convey the idea of its beauty and spirit.
Overall, the story is interesting but the direction is not brilliant at all

thank you! As always, you are so well informed and so good in our little MDL misteries' solving 😁👌😎

Actually, MDL doesn't update guesting actors whose roles are important for crime-solving. As I've caught up with the eps a week ago, I am certain that Song Ami wasn't indicated as "Taiyin sect leader" untill the case was solved and the updated viewer already knew the story behind.
It may be a spoiler for those who are behind with eps.

The drums, the cords and that epic suona climax in the end... wow, wow, wow

that's great! Tnx

Oh, this is nice, tnx a lot! ❤️

I strongly doubt the commander of Hanzhou Lu Si An protects such a place

I feel every case is better than the previous one, but it will be hard to beat "Drunk in Yunding" consisting of several intertwinned cases with practically everything in it: alcohol, beauties, collusion beteween business and officials, abductions, murders, rape, human trafficking, masquerade hunger games... it's a "sex, drugs and ... khm, sogdian whirls" 😎

Two days of break are too much 😭

I've heard that too (AvenueX) but I think the screenwriting still follows the novel, the viewers probably suggested what to improve from logical pov, what to keep what to drop, and if there are beasts in the original novel - not as just motives but as important elements of the singular cases - the scriptwriters can't do much about it.
Strangely, we have nobody here who read the novel to tell us how much the script follows the novel

I think we all feel the same, there may also be objective reasons for it: better visuals, better fight choreography, actors are more mature... even the storytelling is better, there are no weird illusion performances, cases are solved rationally and supernatural is kept on minimum.
The production got more money evidently and it is said the screenwriting was adapted following the suggestions of the fans.

I expect Yunding will be hearthbreaking: the actress playing dancer is specialized in roles of victims (she was Minglan's birth mother's maid unjustly accused for stealing, maid of Sima Yi's second wife in Advisors Alliance etc.)

Strangely, I can't find anyone here who read the novel...
So, you've supposed there will be S3 because of the post on Douban, right?

It seems so. Btw, have you read the novel?

😎😉