Becky
North Pole
A mystery suspense story that has more twists than an ice cream twist
How good is the script in this drama? It is so good, even though the production quality is poor (and quite cheesy), even though the part-time actors could not hold up the acting (especially towards the end), this drama still gets a 8.1 at China's book and film rating site- Douban. And if I am to rate this drama on the story and script, and just on this aspect, I would rate it 15/10. Unfortunately we have to consider the other aspects of acting and production quality hence this is a 9/10 for me.
Unlike j and kdramas, cdramas seldom have a good and tight script. It does better at slice-of-life than in mystery suspense. Especially when there are battle of wits, it would usually lower the intelligence of the bad guys so it can show off how clever the leads are. And if there are plot twists, it only happens at the end of the drama, and usually just 1 or 2 plot twists. A few examples are Joy of Life, The Bad Kids, The Long Night. And these dramas, we would praise them for the scriptwriting, how well-written, how sincere is the production, etc.
The Record of Strange Things just blew all these out of the water. It show there are scriptwriters who can really put in the efforts to write a coherent, fast pace and intelligent script. A story where the leads and all characters have above average intelligence. No one has their intelligence watered down just so the story can reach a conclusion. And the battle of wits, especially in the 20+ eps are soooo goooood. Plot twists? There are so many in this drama I lost count! I remember at least 5 times that the story has fooled me! There was this ep, after I watched it, I decided to stop for that day, and post a comment online that it is understandable why the gang had made that mistake, that it is within normal human thinking not to check for that item..... Then I watched the next ep on the next day, and realized it was a trap setup by the gang. They haven't made a mistake at all..... Please note that I have said earlier, that the main cast are part-time actors, so it is not their great acting which fooled me, but the way the story was written that made me really believe that was true, I didn't smell a rat at all. And this is how it is, several times throughout, I would be "I think this is sus" but story shows me otherwise, then something else happens and I sus the same character again....
Yet I have been informed, this is still not the production team's best drama. Their best is the 3 seasons of Moral Peanuts, especially the season 3 which has a rating of 9.1 at douban. So yup, I should be starting at Moral Peanuts next.
It is quite sad that such a production team do not get the support it needs from investors. Because towards the end, the drama isn't as exciting, although story is still good and going strong, it felt like something is missing. Partly because of the acting, the actors could not express the urgency and desperation in the last arc. And partly because of poor production, the special efforts and venues that they use are too bare and maybe camera equipment too that made the last part suffered in storytelling. But overall, this would probably be the best drama of the year for me, if not at least 2nd or 3rd best. I highly recommend you check out this, if you don't mind the poorer production quality, the story is really fantastic, especially in the 20+ eps. Such fast pace and clever writing and art direction.
Unlike j and kdramas, cdramas seldom have a good and tight script. It does better at slice-of-life than in mystery suspense. Especially when there are battle of wits, it would usually lower the intelligence of the bad guys so it can show off how clever the leads are. And if there are plot twists, it only happens at the end of the drama, and usually just 1 or 2 plot twists. A few examples are Joy of Life, The Bad Kids, The Long Night. And these dramas, we would praise them for the scriptwriting, how well-written, how sincere is the production, etc.
The Record of Strange Things just blew all these out of the water. It show there are scriptwriters who can really put in the efforts to write a coherent, fast pace and intelligent script. A story where the leads and all characters have above average intelligence. No one has their intelligence watered down just so the story can reach a conclusion. And the battle of wits, especially in the 20+ eps are soooo goooood. Plot twists? There are so many in this drama I lost count! I remember at least 5 times that the story has fooled me! There was this ep, after I watched it, I decided to stop for that day, and post a comment online that it is understandable why the gang had made that mistake, that it is within normal human thinking not to check for that item..... Then I watched the next ep on the next day, and realized it was a trap setup by the gang. They haven't made a mistake at all..... Please note that I have said earlier, that the main cast are part-time actors, so it is not their great acting which fooled me, but the way the story was written that made me really believe that was true, I didn't smell a rat at all. And this is how it is, several times throughout, I would be "I think this is sus" but story shows me otherwise, then something else happens and I sus the same character again....
Yet I have been informed, this is still not the production team's best drama. Their best is the 3 seasons of Moral Peanuts, especially the season 3 which has a rating of 9.1 at douban. So yup, I should be starting at Moral Peanuts next.
It is quite sad that such a production team do not get the support it needs from investors. Because towards the end, the drama isn't as exciting, although story is still good and going strong, it felt like something is missing. Partly because of the acting, the actors could not express the urgency and desperation in the last arc. And partly because of poor production, the special efforts and venues that they use are too bare and maybe camera equipment too that made the last part suffered in storytelling. But overall, this would probably be the best drama of the year for me, if not at least 2nd or 3rd best. I highly recommend you check out this, if you don't mind the poorer production quality, the story is really fantastic, especially in the 20+ eps. Such fast pace and clever writing and art direction.
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