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Under the Skin chinese drama review
Completed
Under the Skin
8 people found this review helpful
by labcat
Mar 21, 2022
20 of 20 episodes seen
Completed 1
Overall 8.5
Story 8.0
Acting/Cast 9.0
Music 8.0
Rewatch Value 8.5
This review may contain spoilers

Often implausible, but interesting and has nicely developed main characters

As a mystery/detective series, the cases in the story are intriguing enough. However, the way the cases are solved is often too far-fetched. The skills of Shen Yi, an artist turned cop, are better placed in a series featuring someone with supernatural powers. And while the biggest case of the series (the one case that, by convention, we are introduced to at the start and only gets solved right at the end) does get very interesting, the way the case is solved seems a little too implausible (and it's not because of Shen Yi's skills, which we have probably gotten used to by the end of the series).

Still, there is plenty to love about this series. The acting is good. The portrayal of the changes in the relationship between Shen Yi and Du Cheng is excellent, making them characters whom we feel for. They have pretty solid back stories that are related to the mystery cases and shape their respective characters. The friendship is nicely developed without pandering to fans who want to see bromance, and this may be a good thing too. We see how Du Cheng is at first hostile towards Shen Yi, how he begins to recognize Shen Yi's abilities, his increasing concern for Shen Yi, his protectiveness towards the artist who barely knows how to use a gun, and his genuine acceptance that Shen Yi should not be blamed for an incident causing a senior policeman to die years ago. Even before Du Cheng says it directly, we can see that he regards Shen Yi as a friend and a colleague he looks up to. And eventually he uses the term "buddies".

If you are really demanding in terms of the plausibility of the cases and how the are solved when it comes to detective stories. I won't really say this is highly recommended. But if you can suspend a bit of disbelief and take it that Shen Yi's abilities are so extraordinary that they border on being superpowers, this is actually a very enjoyable series.
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