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Okay, not completely, but for a lot of the episodes, I hoped that Wen Peng would get his own side plot romantic storyline.
Alas, it was not meant to be, because he was an absolute calculating madman, and ohhhhh, I was here for it. The actor did brilliantly in his role. Though we went through several baddies, he was the ultimate one pulling all the strings and I loved how it wasn’t revealed for the longest time, but as a viewer, with his portrayal of unrequited love for Lu Yan, you could just feel something was off with his reactions, so I wasn’t altogether pearl clutching surprised when he was revealed.

I couldn’t help but feel for his backstory, his utter motivation for how he turned out. But what I still can’t fathom, my dark romance dude was a total head case, he orchestrated the most heinous things, but yet, still let his dad bully him, even as a full grown, powerful adult. My guy! Throw that bastard into a volcano or something! Be done with him for good.

As you can see from how my review started, Wen Peng was my favorite character from this drama. Every time he was on screen, my eyes were drawn to his performance.

I enjoyed the main leads, mostly. But Lu Yan had a massive case of the martyrs. Girl, sacrificing your own happiness, breaking up with the guy you love, not once but twice and in the same damn way, oooff, that got my back right up. Mostly because Lu Yan was not problematic in the general sense. She is actually my favorite type of female lead because she wasn’t chaotic or a shrieking shrew. I loved her quiet demeanor, but for decision-making in matters of the heart, this smart doctor had the same amount of brain cells as a squishy orange!

And that brings me to Jiang.
The man with the wealth of patience.
I certainly wouldn’t have chased Lu Yang again, not when she didn’t tell him why she’d broken up with him the way she did. Or when she did it a second time! Silly girl, you don’t break up with simps!
With all the leading men, I am usually in love within 4 eps, but I got no wow factor this time. For me, Wen Peng had the better acted scenes.

Jiang was a nice guy, but the actor didn’t quite sell me on him being a cop.
I don’t know what it was, but for me, he didn’t act, talk or even walk like a cop😂
If you love simps, then this is the simp for you!

While I always focus on romantic-centric dramas, the romance aspect of this was definitely a subplot, the crime being the center, and I actually enjoyed it. I read a long-running futuristic cop drama by JD Robb, it’s well into book 60s now. It’s about a female murder cop and the ex-con she falls for, and then he helps her with her cases. This show somehow reminded me of that book series, so I was super into the mystery aspect, even when it went off in all directions.
Though I will admit, I wanted more of the couple’s side, not just sprinkled here and there, and the show could have been tighter with fewer episodes.

Overall, a good watch.
Poor demented Wen Peng.
Think about it for a second: if he’d been given the lead role, still within his bad guy skin, how devoted he would have been! 😂😂😂