1
1
labcat
This review may contain spoilers
It is tempting to give this drama a really high rating, and it certainly has immense potential. The stories are interesting if you do no think too much about plausibility and the roles of Lu Yao and Qiao Chusheng are really well performed.
The individual detective cases are fast-paced (largely) in a good way as a detective drama. Many of the cases get solved within 1-2 episodes. It is not the sort of whodunnit that is suspenseful in a way that invites the viewer to join in the guessing because some of the ways the murders/crimes are committed are so convoluted that the viewer is unlikely to predict them. The forensics and scientific explanations seem somewhat anachronistic for 1920s Shanghai, but I might be wrong. However, there are certainly anachronisms in the language used by the characters and in some references (e.g. the reference to Stockholm Syndrome) made by the characters. Nevertheless, if you don't expect really solid detective stories, the series is fairly good as drama. Another plus point is that there turns out to be a sort of link between the cases that is developed from the start.
The ending and final story seems overly rushed, with the murderer behaving so suspiciously from the start that viewers may assume that she can't possibly be the killer. I can't decide whether this is a stroke of genius or a poorly told story.
The performances of the male leads are really good and make up for a lot of the flaws of the series. In particular, Hu Yitian brings out the subtle changes in the character of the detective, Lu Yao, very well while giving an overall coherent portrayal of the character. Leon Zhang's character has less development but is nevertheless performed with nuance: his confidence and toughness, his sense of justice, his loyalty, his hidden vulnerability and world-weariness are conveyed, often without the need for dialogue to make these obvious.
The chemistry between the leads is good, but the series suffers from schizophrenic tendencies in the representation of the relationship between the main male characters. At its worst, the relationship between them can be construed as needless baiting of BL fans. This is because interactions, which would usually pave the way for the development of a romantic relationship, amount to nothing in particular. There are plenty of examples: when Qiao misunderstands Lu's request and gives him a hug, when Qiao puts his arms around Lu Yao when the latter is seated on a chair, when Lu comically jumps onto Qiao's back when he spots a chihuahua (a very frightening creature in his eyes), when Qiao gently wipes something off Lu's face, when Qiao looks almost forlornly at Lu in the last episode when Lu is leaving Shanghai with his wife. In the last episode, Qiao gives Lu a hug but does not hug his childhood friend (Lu's wife) even though she opens her arms to hug him.
We can probably be understanding and see that China's censorship laws do not allow BL. The homosexual desire could also be taken to be repressed and one-sided as Qiao has a greater tendency to behave tenderly towards Lu. However, is there really a need for such teasing when Qiao is ALSO portrayed as a someone who actually falls quite seriously in love with a woman in one of the cases? I do not mean to say that a series in which the two leading male characters are a romantic couple would necessarily be better. It's all a matter of execution. The straight relationship seems to pale in comparison to the suggestive bonds between the male characters, and if censorship rules must be followed, maybe the BL element should have been written out altogether (though to be fair, I heard that the series was conceived a few years ago, and at that time the censorship of BL had not really kicked in and there were popular BL series like Addicted from China, so maybe.) I also wouldn't really mind if the male-male romantic desire had simply been hinted at, but the inconsistency can be frustrating.
Perhaps the inconsistent BL-suggestive moments would not be so serious if the strength of the series had not relied so much on the portrayal of the two male characters. To make matters worse, the main female character seems to be a joke: she is a tabloid journalist who creates sensationalist headlines and misreports from time to time; her poor writing ability is also harped on again and again, but we are supposed to believe that she is a passionate journalist with principles and is somehow a respectable journalist too. There is an attempt to show the depth of her love for Lu (particularly in a scene when she tells Lu's ex that she does not know how to appreciate Lu), but such moments are few and far between.
In the end, the series is enjoyable but it also seems to be held back from being a classic. I have the nagging suspicion that the story would really shine had it been made in a more ideal world.
The individual detective cases are fast-paced (largely) in a good way as a detective drama. Many of the cases get solved within 1-2 episodes. It is not the sort of whodunnit that is suspenseful in a way that invites the viewer to join in the guessing because some of the ways the murders/crimes are committed are so convoluted that the viewer is unlikely to predict them. The forensics and scientific explanations seem somewhat anachronistic for 1920s Shanghai, but I might be wrong. However, there are certainly anachronisms in the language used by the characters and in some references (e.g. the reference to Stockholm Syndrome) made by the characters. Nevertheless, if you don't expect really solid detective stories, the series is fairly good as drama. Another plus point is that there turns out to be a sort of link between the cases that is developed from the start.
The ending and final story seems overly rushed, with the murderer behaving so suspiciously from the start that viewers may assume that she can't possibly be the killer. I can't decide whether this is a stroke of genius or a poorly told story.
The performances of the male leads are really good and make up for a lot of the flaws of the series. In particular, Hu Yitian brings out the subtle changes in the character of the detective, Lu Yao, very well while giving an overall coherent portrayal of the character. Leon Zhang's character has less development but is nevertheless performed with nuance: his confidence and toughness, his sense of justice, his loyalty, his hidden vulnerability and world-weariness are conveyed, often without the need for dialogue to make these obvious.
The chemistry between the leads is good, but the series suffers from schizophrenic tendencies in the representation of the relationship between the main male characters. At its worst, the relationship between them can be construed as needless baiting of BL fans. This is because interactions, which would usually pave the way for the development of a romantic relationship, amount to nothing in particular. There are plenty of examples: when Qiao misunderstands Lu's request and gives him a hug, when Qiao puts his arms around Lu Yao when the latter is seated on a chair, when Lu comically jumps onto Qiao's back when he spots a chihuahua (a very frightening creature in his eyes), when Qiao gently wipes something off Lu's face, when Qiao looks almost forlornly at Lu in the last episode when Lu is leaving Shanghai with his wife. In the last episode, Qiao gives Lu a hug but does not hug his childhood friend (Lu's wife) even though she opens her arms to hug him.
We can probably be understanding and see that China's censorship laws do not allow BL. The homosexual desire could also be taken to be repressed and one-sided as Qiao has a greater tendency to behave tenderly towards Lu. However, is there really a need for such teasing when Qiao is ALSO portrayed as a someone who actually falls quite seriously in love with a woman in one of the cases? I do not mean to say that a series in which the two leading male characters are a romantic couple would necessarily be better. It's all a matter of execution. The straight relationship seems to pale in comparison to the suggestive bonds between the male characters, and if censorship rules must be followed, maybe the BL element should have been written out altogether (though to be fair, I heard that the series was conceived a few years ago, and at that time the censorship of BL had not really kicked in and there were popular BL series like Addicted from China, so maybe.) I also wouldn't really mind if the male-male romantic desire had simply been hinted at, but the inconsistency can be frustrating.
Perhaps the inconsistent BL-suggestive moments would not be so serious if the strength of the series had not relied so much on the portrayal of the two male characters. To make matters worse, the main female character seems to be a joke: she is a tabloid journalist who creates sensationalist headlines and misreports from time to time; her poor writing ability is also harped on again and again, but we are supposed to believe that she is a passionate journalist with principles and is somehow a respectable journalist too. There is an attempt to show the depth of her love for Lu (particularly in a scene when she tells Lu's ex that she does not know how to appreciate Lu), but such moments are few and far between.
In the end, the series is enjoyable but it also seems to be held back from being a classic. I have the nagging suspicion that the story would really shine had it been made in a more ideal world.
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