Catch the Ghost (2019) Early Impressions

The title is rather misleading and no, it's not a fantasy. The ghost here refers to a mysterious serial killer that haunts the subway system in Seoul. 

Riding on the Kim Seon-ho fever that's sweeping the Asian drama-watching world, I decided to take a look at this show because on paper it's right up my alley. For the most part, it's not a bad police procedural really on the proviso that you can stomach the female lead's over-the-top antics especially in the early part of the drama. Her recklessness as someone who has lost a loved one is understandable on some level and it does make her a more sympathetic cop... with more of a human touch than her peers. But does she have to be that all or nothing kind of character? It's exhausting watching her work and it takes a man who has the patience of Job to deal with her with a fine touch. That man is Ko Ji-seok. In the short time that she partners with him, he gets beaten, attacked, hosed down, stabbed at and not to mention a whole host of illegal activities she manages to drag him into because she cannot say "no" to a hard luck victim story.

In a way I get it. She means well. She's narrowly focused on catching baddies because she's driven. Driven by the fact that she lost her autistic sister in the subway tunnels. Driven by a lot of guilt that she hadn't been a better sister. Her passion for the downtrodden is admirable and really, I suppose it's what leads Ji-seok to fall for her despite the trouble she heaps on him. But one can't help feeling that the show seems to be condoning her recklessness because her instincts are usually right. What's more, despite everything Ji-seok is attracted to that overzealous need to rescue every soul that they come across. No doubt he sees something of himself in her. Plus the fact he was on track to be the region's top detective. He gave up a stellar career in criminal investigations to begin with. The subway gig pays the bills but lacks the excitement he secretly craves. Still it's his bread and butter. Honestly the stuff she gets up to could cause him to lose his job. Already he's already been penalized with a pay cut for not keeping her in line.

Kim Seon-ho as expected is very good in this. The man's a star and the total package. He's at home with comedy but skillfully runs the entire gamut of emotions where needed. He nails every emotion perfectly. When he smiles, the room lights up like it's Christmas. He plays the long-suffering Ji-seok and suffer is the operative word here. He's the man who cleans up after Yoo Ryung. On top of all that his mother is in some kind of facility as a dementia patient so all his energy and resources go into prioritizing her care. At the end of the day he is a kind-hearted soul. And entirely the brains behind solving the cases.

Moon Geun-young does what she can in this rather thankless role. She's a seasoned performer undoubtedly. As police partners, the pair do well enough in that crazy 80s television fashion. But as romantic ones... not so much. I don't think they have that kind of chemistry. Still, it's not a deal breaker and their interactions are fun. It's clear that they both like each other through the performances but there's little UST on display.

I guess that they felt they had to have a love polygon. Sigh. Don't know why. Sigh. But Ji-seok's ex, Ma Ri can't let go. Plus Woo-hyuk, Ma Ri's new partner, is keen on Ryung to the point that he's risking all kinds of things helping her find her sister in the tunnels. I'm really not a fan of Ma Ri. She has too much to prove and jealousy is not a great motivator for a lead investigator. To my mind, she's too emotional to be in that sort of leadership role. It's disappointing really. Too many nutty female characters.

What I really like about the show is the subway angle. It's unique in terms of crime shows. It's a rare insight into the petty and more serious crimes that occur in that space. I'm also enjoying meeting the men and women who work and live in and around that environment. I didn't realise that 8 million people use the subway every day in Seoul and it's such an integral part of life there. 

The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion (2020) A General Review *Spoilers*

Recently in a podcast that I shared with drama-watching friends, I speculated that a happily-ever-after was in sight. Well, true to form we did get a happy ending although it wasn't entirely the happy ending I had hoped for. In terms of C drama endings it wasn't the best or worst and unlike The Legend of Yunxi, there's little doubt in my mind that the main characters managed to stay alive, after thwarting the plans of the show's so-called primary antagonist. It's not the completely satisfying happy ending that I hoped for (because that would require another episode or two at the very least to tie up everything properly and not the rushed manner that we saw) but the finale did reflect some of the show's big themes. It was also obvious to me in the final episodes that much was lost from removing 8 episodes and nowhere was that clearer than in the last one.

Overall this was a moderately light, entertaining watch with a much greater emphasis on romance than palace politics or martial arts elements. Consequently there would be pros and cons to that. I had rather enjoyed the superhero elements and the intense palace machinations from Yunxi which was largely absent from this. When all is said and done, this drama chose to put its focus on family dynamics and marriage. Ruyi Pavilion at its core is about family and the presence of Ruyi Lou, the intelligence network, reinforces that fact along with the rest of the narrative. The moral of the story it seems is that families aren't born but forged and maintained when trust and affection can blossom in fertile ground.

Of course that's not to say that there were no bleak moments in the show or that the leads were in a constant state of marital bliss until the final act. Far from it. The wedding night sequences in Episode 20 and 21 bears testimony to that. Married life for them is seldom a bed of roses (which is a fairly accurate depiction of the institution) and there were plenty of lessons for the main pairing to take on board as they learn to be family through the little things and the big ones. Moreover Episode 36 was a painful watch as a lack of knowledge and trust turned one against the other because of the machinations of others.

It bears repeating that one of the perennial highlights of the drama is the chemistry of the leads Zhang Zhehan and Ju Jingyi. No doubt the show capitalizes on that as it should because it has to be the show's biggest selling point. Their interactions seem so uniquely organic and effortless. From their acerbic bickering to sweet moments of marital intimacy, they fit hand in glove. Moreover, their visuals as a romantic pairing really does seem like a match made in heaven. It's a collaboration that I believe, should be routinely exploited.

The role of fate in the movements of the leads persist all throughout the drama. If falling in love and marriage are inevitable to some degree, how can they hope to course correct? Or if the dreams are merely warnings, then perhaps they are a call to action. A call to the leads perhaps to be proactively agents of their short and precarious existence. Like the Yunxi couple, they might be living on borrowed time or they are urged on by unseen powers acting via the night-time premonitions to spur them to fight for their long-term survival.

It does seem to me that whatever the foreboding dreams are meant to be, some things are fixed. Under any circumstances, it seems that Xu Jin and Fu Rong are meant to be husband and wife. They're inevitably drawn to each other. But what's different seems to be the terms on which the marriage is conducted. Being the primary and only consort is a bone of contention and the role of the Duchess of Xinhe, Cui Wan, in their lives appears to be another. The threat of her coming between the two of them might on some level be real is not really a serious one.

Ultimately whatever external threats come their way from third parties or the demands of other commitments or obligations, the biggest threat to their union comes from their own insecurities about each other... whether or not they allow external factors to keep them apart in the long run. They will be tried and sorely tested. Will their love for each other be strong enough to overcome the obligatory slings and arrows aimed their way?

For me, the most impressive figure in all of this is the indomitable Xu Jin or Prince Su in a more expressive performance by Zhang Zhehan. Episode 31, a veritable tribute to the character, demonstrates his inhuman perseverance and husband's steadfastness. It represents to me all that is noble and true about the character. There is a poignant and memorable moment at Qing Feng stockade when he takes his final stand against his numerous opponents, his face stained by streaks of blood and his body completely wearied by his overnight exertions to ensure that the woman he loves gets away safely. That scene completely encapsulates the measure of the man. Time and time again he proves himself to be the heroic archetype who has tirelessly overcome obstacles from within and without, all in the name of love and duty. He shows himself to be the master of his own fate whatever else the premonitions seem to be saying to him. The question foremost in his mind is this... is he really destined for a premature demise as has been seemingly foreseen by Fu Rong.

Despite his incredible feats of bravery, Xu Jin is entirely flesh and blood. The show reminds us all too often that despite the unflappable exterior he puts on show, the pain of being misunderstood and psychologically hurt cuts deeper than the sword of any enemy. Twice we see him drowning his sorrows in alcohol when the woman he believes should know better doubts him.  

A little less convincing although a fun and bold character nevertheless is Fu Rong. She is undoubtedly a good-hearted but inveterate busybody who despite her "middle class" upbringing is driven to interfere in matters outside of her skill set. Much of the drama sees her stumbling into one dangerous misadventure after another and needing to be rescued. Luckily for her, the people around her can see her good intentions which often means that she gets away with a slap on the wrist. While she has a naturally mischievous streak, she isn't mischievous for the its own sake. Having bad dreams about what appears to be possible future events can do that to a person who doesn't always know what to make of them. Besides her instincts are often correct. Except when they aren't.

At the back of their minds, the leads are mindful of the perils that are ever around them. It does appear that this might be a source of the recurring instances of mistrust after the first wedding night that rear its ugly head. In trying to protect each other they play the old but tiresome game of noble idiocy with the usual frustrations arising out of a needless push and pull.

It's hard to say who is the primary villain of the piece. At first glance it seemed to be the third prince and Xu Jin's half brother Xu Mao or Prince Cheng. Together with his mother, Consort Duan and his uncle, Marquis of Xindu their greed sees them embroiled in a whole host of illegal activities from Day 1. As par for the course others are pulled into their web with the help of intel brokered by Ruyi Pavilion and purposeful meddling by the vengeful Prince An, Xu Ping the emperor's half brother. The trio of Mother, Son and Uncle are mainly an avaricious lot. They love having stuff and holding on to it. Their reason for targeting Xu Jin comes from the fact that they see him as an obstacle to accumulating more wealth. But Prince An (Xu Ping) is of a different ilk. He enjoys the life of a leisured carefree scholar who wants revenge and sets his sights squarely on Xu Jin. 

About a decade earlier, it was said that Xu Jin knocked over a candle in a temple, started a huge fire and people died. Xu Ping's mother, Consort Dowager Wen who was at that location at the time apparently dies in the fire. Prior to that superstitions regarding the consort who had heterochromia iridum were rife and so attempts were made to keep her out of public eye. Mother and son were separated from a young age. All contact was lost. Xu Ping is made to believe that his mother died in the temple fire although he is suspicious about the circumstances under which it occurred so he directs his ire largely against Xu Jin and to the emperor to a lesser extent.

Both Xu Ping's rationale and strategy for revenge makes little sense even to the most casual observer. From start to finish his scheming remains entirely unconvincing. The joke seems largely on him at every turn except that he does do real damage to innocent bystanders and to the woman he claims to care about the most since his mother's demise. Fu Rong inadvertently bears the brunt of many of his machinations especially because of her association with Xu Jin. His hatred  of Xu Jin, by any definition, by any stretch of the imagination seems irrational. It is a blind rage with little understanding of the man or any source of proportion. His scheming is in large part opportunistic. As I've said elsewhere Xu Ping is a one-note manipulator that takes the whole notion of "kill with a borrowed knife" 借刀殺人 to its extreme. The great benefit of deploying this strategy is that he is able to conceal himself and his intentions to everyone for the longest time. Thus retaining the emperor's trust to the bitter end. He reflexively piggybacks on the other people's connivances and while that has some short-term benefits he constantly falls short of his goals. The reality is that riding on the back of other people's conspiracies means a high level of risk and unpredictability. Xu Ping can't be sure to any great extent that things will go his way if he is relying on players and other types of variables that he has no direct control over. People can easily change their minds at the last minute for all kinds of reasons especially if they have no attachment or loyalty to the unknown/unseen so-called mastermind. To the extent that he succeeds, he does so because he is a most unlikely suspect and has the trust of the highest in the land, it surely isn't because he is an especially proficient puppet master working from behind the scenes.

Frankly I think Xu Ping gets off rather lightly for his part in all the mayhem he stirs up. I couldn't but laugh when the Consort Dowager shows up at the end to inform him that she's been alive the entire time. He's certainly no Prince Hamlet (nor was he meant to be) ;) but the biggest laughing stock in the whole of Dayu for beginning with all the wrong assumptions and not cluing in on things a lot quicker. If he had any kind of conscience or half a brain in the first place, he would have twigged in the aftermath of Episode 31 that Xu Jin is not the villain he believed him to be. But I suppose he saw what he wanted to see and once he was on the road to damnation there was no going back. It's a pity that he was not a more likeable character. Even if crossed over to the dark side early on it would have been better if he had been a more fleshed out sympathetic villain. Just being a bestie to Fu Rong didn't help me warm up to him in the slightest, it only made him more two-faced, more sinister in my eyes.

In my view the drama suffers somewhat from trying a little too hard to sprinkle Legend of Yunxi nods all throughout and doing reversals with tropes that the latter did. It did seem to put restraints on what this script was able to achieve on its own merits. I realise that on some level it is a tacit acknowledgment of the reunion factor inherent in the casting and the tragic outcomes of its predecessor that weren't embraced by fans. No doubt it's an attempt also to address some of those issues and give clarity to how the two dramas are doing completely different things. 

When the show plays to its strength, it is hilarious and heartwarming. The burden of comedy isn't just on a select few to carry all throughout. Many if not most of the characters find themselves in situations that elicit more than a few laughs. Sometimes even when they're not trying to be funny... like Xu Ping. There's  humour to be found also in some of the plots such as when Xu Jin pre-emptively keeps a shortlist of candidates for a primary consort. Or when the irritating and noisy Duchess Xinhe pretends to be blind while staying in the Su household. The duchess is certainly no match for the man and woman of the house and the results are hilarious. 

For said duchess, the show is at pains to give her a nice send off (into the arms of a man who likes her for who she is) despite the fact that she's not an especially well-liked character to begin with. I never entirely warmed up to her personally even if she provided plenty of mirthful moments. What it wants to say perhaps that is that she's not a lost cause and despite the tantrum throwing, there's hope for her yet. As long as she's able to let go and move on.

While I liked the other romance that was given full development in concert with the characters' personal arcs, I don't think comparisons are necessary. The pairing there are a different kettle of fish to begin with and there's no concerted, relentless attack on either of them from any adversary. Their role is to support the leads as a loving family should. I'm super fond of Wu Baiqi's arc in particular as he gets adopted into the larger Xu Jin fold first as a subordinate, then a helper and soon afterwards as a younger brother.

Xu Jin's relationship with his mother and his eventual closeness with his younger birth brother was sadly underdeveloped. In a cast of thousands, sacrifices like that I suppose had to be made. Nevertheless it was still deeply moving to witness that gradual bridging between mother and son who were practically strangers at the start and were able to have the kind of relationship she must have craved to have with him over the years of his absence.

To conclude, there's a lot to like about this show and in a year where I haven't liked that many C dramas, this is one that I was able to finish. Certainly I wanted more from it especially in that final act when there was so much cramming going on but overall this was a highly entertaining series that probably has something for everyone.

Kairos (2020) Early Impressions Episodes 1-6

The show is aptly named in just about every respect. It fills a gaping wound left behind by Alice and it is a drama that sees its protagonists taking advantage of precious time to prevent tragedy at every turn.

Although the first episode didn't really impress me that much with all the overmuch histrionics, the subsequent episodes have. The best thing so far about this show is that it has kept the temporal mechanics simple and consistent while paying close attention to the storytelling in how the two timelines affect each other. It behaves in large part like Signal and has taken up all the best things about its predecessors while putting its own stamp on the product. Of course there's still the danger of the whole thing going off the beaten track and derailing... but I'm hopeful because MBC did give us the wonderful 365: Repeat the Year earlier in the year. Like Signal, this involves a combination of technology and the supernatural. The technology is wonderfully exploited here although the timing of these two people finding each other might well be beyond any kind of operational or conventional science. Fate is likely to be the connective tissue as it often is in these sorts of drama dealing with time distortions. Changing time, as we've seen in previous productions, is a double-edge sword but the biggest drawback is that one never knows what other dangers lurk around the corner even if one mishap has been averted.

In a discussion I had with a drama buddy on Janghaven Forums, I said that I believed Signal to be science fiction in the broader sense and the same I would think, apply to Kairos as well. I posited a "ghost in the machine" thesis first on Janghaven. Not so much in the philosophical mind-body dualistic debate but much more literally. The "ghost" here is perhaps the deceased father -- it's his phone number that the two protagonists connect over -- his soul or wandering spirit has invaded the technology and for some reason at a given minute of the 24-hour day, the number is activated and the two timelines connect briefly to exchange notes. I appreciate how the benefits of the smartphone technology are exploited in different scenarios by both parties as they deal with the limitations of access they have with each other. There's even a moment when a text message seen by a friend who happens to have Han Ae-ri's (Lee Se-young) phone is crucial to saving her life. So far the show is consistent in the way the temporal mechanics allow for changes made in the earlier timeline to affect the future one via the information the male lead gives to the female lead.

Initially I was concerned about how they were going to maintain the momentum for the slated 16 episodes but a recent twist and ensuing revelations have provided a much broader picture and deeper web of deception than the initial set-up alluded to. It's clear that human evil manifests itself not just among the levers of power in Big Business but also much closer to home. Kim Seo-jin (Shin Sung-rok) isn't just a dad and a husband who has lost his family overnight, he is also a victim of all manner deceit that goes back into his youthful past. As much as this may be about second chances offered by the window into the past, this too is a fable about cosmic justice and the apparent supernatural intervention is meant to call attention to serious evil-doing and injustices. Murder for some is all in a day's work.

It was business as usual until Seo-jin's life was turned upside down by his daughter's disappearance. But there are indication that something was already rotten in Denmark for some time. The cracks in his relationships with his wife, his daughter and colleagues as well as the pill popping point to a man in dire need of being rescued. Despite the trappings of success, (or perhaps because of it) he was blindly on the fast track to corporate glory while missing all the signs that things at home were far from satisfactory.

Of course the bad guys here can't be too complacent even if presently they're a step or two ahead of the quick-witted, shrewd Seo-jin. Their conspiracies are formed on shifting sand and probably not as much trust as they like to pretend that they have. But it does feel like Seo-jin is very much on his own in his timeline trying to navigate precarious waters with people he thought he knew well. One wrong move could mean the end for him or Ae-ri. 

I'm trying hard to stay away from spoilers because this is a show worth watching. So far. Especially if you, like me, have a penchant for nail-biting, edge-of-the-seat thrillers. There's plenty to look forward to each week and I enjoy the twists and unexpected turns taken by the drama. 

Insect Detective (2020) Early raves and a rant

I have been known to enjoy crime dramas from Mainland China located in contemporary settings. I've watched a fair few in the past 12 months. Most of which are good. But for some reason the showrunners feel the need to include romance in all of them even when the chemistry isn't there to make it convincing. Is it some kind of requirement for the 24 episode format? Some sort filler perhaps because the cases themselves don't lend themselves to such a stringent requirement?

Those are the kinds of questions that preoccupy me as I chew through the storyline of Insect Detective. As a police procedural, it's actually very good. The cases that I've seen so far are, in my opinion, well thought out and scripted. There's a high degree of complexity in how the crimes are conceived and played out. The ensemble cast works well and the titular character, Jing Tian, a quirky if obsessed entomologist is nicely incorporated into the doings of the team comprising of the squad leader, a female coroner, a research cum computer expert and a couple of other detectives who do most of the leg work of chasing down suspects and clues. His expertise is well-used and not overdone to the point that he completely overshadows all the other specialists. Not part of the team but an integral part of the storyline is surgeon Wen Bai who figures as a person from Jing Tian's past. From their first encounter, the two hit it off like a house on fire. Or should I say... like lifelong friends. They have plenty in common and the Boston Red Sox is at the top of the list. Which in China, is rare. Much of their interactions see them bonding over baseball. But it does seem like Wen Bai knows a lot more about Jing Tian than he lets on. While Jing Tian helps the local cops with separate cases using his expertise with creepy crawlies, his primary preoccupation with crime is his mother's untimely death many years earlier.

Unfortunately I'm not feeling the romance that the show seems to be pulling for. It's not exactly front and centre but I'm getting more of a sibling vibe between coroner Jin Ling and Jing Tian rather than true love. So there's a clash between my perception and the show's intentions at least from where Jin Ling is situated. In all likelihood it's the kid that's playing Jing Tian who does come across as a man-child. A precocious one no doubt but his child-like ways don't seem to be a good fit for the obviously older and more worldly Jin Ling. What compounds that perception is the fact that the relationship or bromance between Jing Tian and Wen Bai is really good and seems to be focal point of the show's emotional arc. 

Overall, it's a really good show that does an excellent job with the ensemble cast and the plotting. The juggling act so far is confident and remarkably cohesive. A pity about the lack of subs. Hopefully someone will be able to get to subbing it soon.  

Search (2020) A review and some thoughts

The weekend saw the wrap up of OCN's latest crime offering set in the DMZ (demilitarized zone between North and South Korea). I'd only been following it for three weeks after I'd noticed some chatter about it around the web. All in all, it was a relatively short series (10 episodes) that I found much to enjoy. 

As with most of the network's productions, this one grabbed me almost immediately. I was quickly reminded of 1980s and 90s blockbusters like Predator or Alien although this drama certainly doesn't have the same kind of budget to match. A mysterious and dangerous threat has emerged in the DMZ and a team comprising of military specialists is tasked with finding answers and eliminating the threat with the use of force. If I were asked to give this show a label, I would probably struggle to give a short answer. It is certainly a crime show in the broader sense. A crime was committed. Crimes continue to be committed. Like many K dramas there is also a corruption angle to this... of course. Then there are times especially the earlier episodes, when it has the feel of a schlocky sci-fi horror. When I mentioned  that this had sci-fi elements, to a fellow K drama viewer from Janghaven, she was surprised. I don't want to give too much away obviously because if you have a stomach for things that go bump in the dark, this is quite a fun watch provided you don't think too hard. But yes, I would add sci-fi to the mix because the unknown threat has much more in common with the X-men than with 1917 if we're thinking along military lines.

Jang Dong-yoon plays a cocky military dog handler, Yoon Dong-jin. Expecting to be discharge in a matter of weeks, he is co-opted to be part of the search team because he is the man with the search dog. Complicating things for him is the appearance of a former flame Son Ye-rim (Krystal) who is a member of the military's research arm. Their relationship is fairly typical of two drama exs who didn't go their separate ways in amicable fashion. When the two aren't flashing heavy artillery around large stretches of forest or abandoned buildings, acerbic bickering with indirect references to their checkered past fall from their lips like second nature. Obviously there's really no time for romance in a scenario like this but it's clear that these two still harbour feelings for each other. Romance here is largely relegated to the sidelines.

Helming the team is Capt Song Min-kyu who is an ambitious career officer who eagerly jumps at the chance at redeeming himself and gaining a promotion in this classified mission. His second-in-command is Lt Lee Joon-sung, who is his opposite in almost every way. The two knock heads repeatedly regarding how the mission should be conducted. Joon-sung prioritizes the welfare of the team over successful, speedy completion. However, it should be said as well that Joon-sung also has other reasons for being on this team. Other members include Joo Moon-cheol (the drones and tech guy) and Park Ki-hyung, the sniper.

As if the team hasn't got enough to worry about, political interference rears its ugly head all the way from Seoul in the form of a presidential candidate with his own agenda. Let's face it, it wouldn't be a Korean drama without corrupt politicians with hair-raising secrets. The current mission seems to be tied up with an incident that occurred in the DMZ in 1997 that included a couple of North Korean defectors and their one-year-old daughter. The show opens with a N. Korean scientist seeking asylum in the south. Not long afterwards her pursuers catch up to her and threatens to create a fracas. The leader of the South Korean contingent agrees to let her go for safety's sake. In the heat of the moment, someone pulls the trigger and all hell breaks loose. As the story unfolds it becomes increasingly obvious that this fiasco has long-term reverberations that touch the team members and the neighbouring village.

Meanwhile the doings of the military operation arouses the curiosity of DMZ museum guide and leader of the local community, Kim Da-jung (Moon Jeong-hee). As a former soldier, her keen military senses tells her that there's something afoot and that the so-called mine disposal team is not really looking for mines or wild dogs. Soon, she, her daughter and the rest of the village are inadvertently drawn into the inexplicably odd occurrences around town.

As a whole, I found the show entertaining as well as exciting in parts even if the plot does hinge on some implausibilities. And I don't mean the sci-fi side of things either. When a camcorder that's been exposed to the elements for the last 23 years finally surfaces at just the right moment for an expose... we're not really talking about science but miracles. Or fate. While it's definitely good advertising for the recorder's manufacturer, it might be a stretch of incredulity for some.

I do think that the first half of the drama is the superior half. Not that the second half is bad but it does get weighed down by multiple agendas and emotional arcs. I certainly think that they have their place but the show does rely heavily on the notion of fated encounters and cosmic justice. Moreover, the show seems to have something to say about fathers and sons. There are varying paternal dynamics at play here. Some healthy, some much less so. But the show rejects the notion that all necessarily follow in their father's footsteps even if a father's influence on his son is palpable even from a distance. 

I'm not a particular fan of any of the actors although I recognized Jang Dong-yoon from A Poem a Day and Krystal from Prison Playbook. The acting's not bad for the most part and certainly adequate to the task. The actor who plays Lee Joon-sung (Lee Hyun-wook) caught my eye and I hope to see more of him down the track. While it's not a deal breaker for me, I liked seeing comparable female roles in a rather dominated cast. 

The Blooms at Ruyi Pavilion (2020) Initial Impressions

This recent offering from mainland China is the first so-called historical drama since Ancient Detective that I haven't felt the slightest urge to drop after the obligatory first act. It's one that I've been looking forward to probably since the end of last year and 18 episodes on, it's delivering. The production boasts not only the reunion of leads Ju Jingyi and Zhang Zhehan from the Legend of Yunxi (2018) fame but also much of the cast and all of the crew from that surprise hit. It has a good balance of the comedic and the serious. If the show somehow... and even miraculously manages to maintain its momentum right to the end, it will be a better show than its predecessor. Already I feel it's addictive pull... something I haven't experienced for some time now.

Ruyi Pavilion is not a sequel of the Legend of Yunxi and has a completely different storyline. While it has a smattering of wuxia elements, it isn't an outright jianghu story. While it dabbles with premonitions as a plot device, it's not defined by the fantasy tag. There are elements of a palace drama with the usual kinds of power struggles and court intrigue. The story begins with a bump on the head and bad dreams. The female lead Fu Rong on a kite extraction expedition falls to the ground and begins to see visions during her slumber of possible future events. Being the good-hearted and conniving sort, she attempts to find ways and means to prevent various incidents from happening well aware that nobody will ever believe that she has the selective power of foresight. She is also privy to events related to Xu Jin, the emperor's fourth son, Prince Su and if the premonitions are to be believed, it bodes an ill-fated connection. Fu Rong is the second daughter of a local magistrate and is the glib troublemaker of her family. 

Around the time they meet, Xu Jin has just returned to the capital from his military duties at the border. As a child, he allegedly caused an incident among the royals which sealed his reputation as a jinx. He is summoned back to the palace to answer for his actions because he summarily executed the Superintendent of the Imperial Guards for his part in a conspiracy to siphon off military rations. As a result he becomes the target of a series of assassination attempts. To investigate the matter further, the emperor installs him as the latest commander of the Imperial Guards warning him to be circumspect and judicious at all times. 

Much of the early part of the show sees Fu Rong trying to avoid Xu Jin because of their ill-fated connection but hilariously enough as she stumbles into one thing after another they inevitably cross swords... of the verbal kind at least. She's a bit of a busybody but means well and he's an official investigator who takes his job seriously. They were always destined to cross paths. Whether guided by greater cosmic forces or by character all attempts by her to avoid him are rendered futile by her choices and circumstances.

As was the case with Yunxi, this drama features a love polygon of sorts. Unlike Yunxi, the love polygon here is pretty meh because the "other man" is really not the exactly the stuff of dreams. (On the contrary, he seems to be the stuff of nightmares) Xu Ping is Prince An, the emperor's younger brother and he maintains a dual identity as an enigmatic scholar who holds rockstar status in the capital. He's an old childhood buddy of Fu Rong's and he's always liked her. During an arts event organised by him they meet briefly and although he recognises her, she doesn't recognise him at first. Xu Ping initially seems like a suave, leisured scholar but he too is plotting against Xu Jin and the emperor because he has mummy issues. A decade earlier, Xu Jin was sent to the temple to recite sutras and pray only to accidentally kick over a candle and set fire to the place which resulted in the death of Xu Ping's mother. Xu Ping believes, as I do, that there was more to it than meets the eye but the emperor is being tight-lipped about the matter.

I don't think it's that much of a spoiler to say that many of the plots directed towards Xu Jin come from the third prince, Xu Mao who is your run-of-the-mill avaricious, ambitious royal who is aided and abetted by his uncle the Marquis of Xindu. His cousin and the marquis' older son is Wu Baiqi who after a serious falling out with his dad years earlier joined the Imperial Guards. When Xu Ping begins piggybacking on his nephew's schemes, it's when things started to get horribly nasty.

Brokering these various parties, is the legendary Ruyi Pavilion an outfit that deals in intelligence to those who can pay for it. The owner has accumulated secrets over the years and when the time is ripe she sends out what is essentially relevant blackmail material to get things moving.

While the scheming of the show isn't exactly in the calibre of Nirvana in Fire, it does have some semblance of gravity and plausibility. There are genuine stakes and consequences to people committing political mistakes. After Maiden Holmes I've come to realise that I can't watch rom coms masquerading as palace dramas. I don't have the stomach for it. It's fine to have humour and romance but when the male lead who should know better starts making amateurish mistakes or acts like he's living in the 21st century, I can't help feeling that I'm too old to be wasting time on those even if the chemistry is off the charts. Plot is king.

For me Ruyi Pavilion gets it right for the most part. The romance, I have to say, is well done. The humour usually lands well. Of course Ju Jingyi and Zhang Zhehan's natural chemistry has become iconic thanks to Yunxi but thankfully the show doesn't rely on that in its storytelling. Their dynamic for the most part is different from their previous collaboration largely because Zhang Zhehan's character, Xu Jing is cut from a somewhat different cloth. While he may be aloof as it befits a man of his station, he is capable of being companionable and speaking his mind. He also has an unexpectedly boyishly mischievous streak which surfaces mostly when with interacting with Fu Rong. Kudos to Zhang Zhehan for a well-rounded performance which has me grinning from ear to ear.

I'm also enjoying the romance between Fu Rong's sister, Fu Xuan and Wu Baiqi. It's not really a competition as to which is better. Not for me at least. They're both well done and feed into the bigger storyline organically. There's also the added bonus of character development for all concerned driven by the romance. Wu Baiqi needs to pull up his socks and Fu Xuan could loosen her corset a tad.

Both these male leads in my book are very swoony in the sense that they know exactly what they want and go for it. They're generally smart about it and they don't push too hard too soon. But they strike while the iron is hot. They do understand who these women are and may even revel in the challenge so they come across as worthy suitors. On some level I would like Xu Ping to be a better rival for Xu Jin of course but he's a hard character to root for. I never really thought I would suffer pangs of second male lead syndrome to begin with but there's really nothing to see here at all. It's obvious on her side that it's all just chummy. A clever thing the show does early on is to show how very little they have in common. She spends a short stint at his studio running errands and is completely bored out of her mind. She has no scholarly bent whatsoever although under her teacher's tutelage, she is growing as a jewellery designer. There's no doubting though that she's drawn to danger like a moth to a flame because she is an inveterate busybody.

To be honest, I kept my expectations low at the start but the show has done better than I expected and aside from a couple of niggly things, it's giving me hope. At the end of the day, it's a C drama.... one can never be too sure until the big bad croaks. But we're certainly hoping for a happily-ever-after for the leads.

Alice (2020) What was it in the end?

The post consists of spoilers from the entire series. Read at your own risk. :D

Now perhaps that I'm in a calmer state of mind, it's a good time to take stock my feelings about this show.

First of all I should say that despite the nonsensical ending that we got it wasn't a terrible show. It was, at the end of the day, however, a waste of a fascinating concept and a stellar cast. The end result was ambitious mediocrity leading to more questions than answers. Looking back, the first six episodes were really good television... not just good sci-fi. In the early days I had high hopes for it as it seemed like the production team was determined to get it right with its high production values, intriguing storyline and terrific cast of characters. The set-up was genuinely good.

I should have cottoned on to the fact that something was a bit fishy in Denmark when the show's claims that it was dealing with parallel universes turned out to be a mischaracterization. Tae-yi's initial movements suggested that she'd created an alternate timeline. But then the presence of Alice and time travel tourism pointed to a causal loop in operation. However when Jin-gyeom comes face to face with Professor Tae-yi, his mother's doppelganger and their relationship develops ambiguously with romantic overtones... we're told she's not really his mother because we're dealing with parallel universes here. She's just someone who happened to look exactly like his mother from another world with the same birthday, Yoon Tae-yi the creator of time travel. Not long afterwards, Jin-gyeom gets his first taste of time travelling, heading straight for the year that mother died. Despite foreknowledge, he is helpless to stop it. This scenario is later repeated in varying forms which points to time looping. 

Okay let's for argument's sake that we concede that the show is playfully deploying different time travel devices satirically throughout the drama's run. Can't be any harm in that surely? Well, that depends. Are we dealing with an episodic drama with multiple storylines (like Star Trek or Stargate) or one single complete arc. If the show is what I believed it to be then no, it doesn't work... it's inherently problematic. Doing a time travel smorgasbord not only means that there can be no clarity about the actual relationship dynamics. Picking and choosing tropes like taking items off the local convenience store will inevitably see a clash of logic and rule breaking. These tropes don't mesh well together. For example if Professor Tae-yi is from an alternate timeline that Mother Tae-yi created she might be said to be a different person. But it doesn't explain how or why the Alice crew are operating if that's the case. Why are they in that timeline, not in the one that Min-hyuk and Tae-yi came from originally? Are there different Alices in different timelines? This also has implications for the so-called "romance". If we're dealing with a causal loop then Professor Tae-yi is merely Mother Tae-yi's younger self then as the show doles out the rom com cliches when they play house the relationship between Prof Tae-yi and Jin-gyeom has incestutous overtones. If however, they are all operating on a different timeline, the professor might be a different self. Whether that makes a romantic relationship more "acceptable" between them, is up for debate. What compounds the unclarity is the fact that there are people who are travelling back and changing the past in the early days who haven't created new timelines... at least not that we can see. Future selves go back to the past and change the past but they're unaffected seemingly. Hence the show doesn't grapple (like Train does) with the logical complexity of any time travel trope.

There are other reverberations resulting from Jin-gyeom's growing bond with Prof Tae-yi. Even if she's a different soul or self, the oedipal ramifications can't be so easily dismissed. His "attraction" to her is that she looks like mother. So when he plays house with her... and unbeknownst to her as well... he is reenacting his regrets concerning his mother sort of like playing with a doll when you can't have the baby. To the writer's credit, that very point is highlighted later on when she sees a photo of mother. But that is not exactly the best foundation for any romantic relationship. To be liked for you might be not who you actually are. I've said this in an earlier post so I'm sounding like a broken record. I have little doubt that they went for t the alternate timeline approach so that they could have this kind of dynamic between the top billed actors without the ick... except that they never... it seemed to me... resolved the optics of the situation to the satisfaction of most viewers. 

For me personally what went wrong was two-fold. Firstly, the focus on message over messaging. It feels now that despite my early hopes, that they weren't' careful about the time travel side of things. Despite the use of scientific jargon, the show glossed over the implications of using language like parallel universe rather than alternate timeline. For me those are two entirely different mechanisms at play. Then we had Jin-gyeom trying to stop his mother from being murdered which look a bit like causal looping or time looping (Groundhog Day). That was very confusing. And then finally the introduction of Old Jin-gyeom which was intriguing, arbitrary and possibly quite nonsensical. It seemed to be a kind of a deus ex machina to explain the Teacher death cult but his presence at the 11th hour throws up even more questions while sidestepping any answers. For a powerful figure he seemed rather impotent in the end. Their showdown was a non-event. I was led to believe that Jin-gyeom was a one-time only phenomenon because of what Tae-yi did in 1992 so if Old JG was a much more powerful experienced version of young Jin-gyeom, why didn't he act sooner rather  than wait till his younger self become more attuned with his abilities. If there's no grandfather paradox, why not kill off JG or take control of him before he became a cop? If he had to be introduced, it should have been much earlier.

Secondly the need to put Jin-gyeom and Tae-yi front and centre of the storyline railroaded the storyline. I understand that they are the top billed actors but did they have to be in a relationship with romantic overtones? But Hospital Playlist proved that you can have a hugely popular loveline between a main character and a supporting one with a large ensemble cast. In fact many were very supportive of a JG and Do-yeon outcome. Most of us were labouring under the impression that this show was about the ensemble cast. Now, it could be that was always the story they wanted to tell. Mother and son. A woman who looked like mother. The pair are drawn to each other. Perhaps it even bodes romance for them. So why bother with the crime, thriller aspect at the start, setting a particular tone for the rest of the show. Why introduce a cast of characters who barely get used in the second half of the show when they have skill sets that aren't utilized properly to solve the mysteries. To be honest, I didn't find their relationship particularly compelling. It was fraught with too much baggage from the start. My preference would have been to focus on the history of Alice and the crime aspect of the show. It's not to say that Joo-won or Kim Hee-sun aren't great actors because they are but I thought that Kim Hee-sun particularly was badly served once the time travelling started. After a while, her entire arc felt repetitive and she was doing what I thought other people should be doing instead. This is where I think, the writer's inexperience shows.

If there was one thing that the show got right from start to finish, it was the stuff about families.  I just wish it had stuck to the importance of families and kept things tidy in that regard in order to focus more on the crime-time travelling aspects. I loved JG's surrogate families more than TY's family because they were so much better developed and incorporated. It's lamentable how underutilized Do-yeon, Detective Kim and Min-hyuk became in the second half. It's my biggest disappoint with the show and in the hands of a more seasoned writer, I think this would have been better handled. 

What I wrote elsewhere about the ending...

I don't have any objections to happy endings but this is ridiculous. This wasn't a happy ending... this was the show forcibly reminding us who the leads of the drama are at the cost of storytelling. Park Jin-gyeom... someone who apparently shouldn't have existed and with memories of Yoon Tae-yi... is now an architect in 2020 doing restorations of historic homes because apparently he just fell from the sky and inserted himself into the populace behaving like a well-adjusted human being. Where does he come from? Who are his parents? What's he doing in 2020? Why does he have memories of TY? Are they gunning for a second season? If they are, you can be sure, I won't be signing up for it. 

 

So what is the show saying... that this Park Jin-gyeom who fell from the sky and this Prof Yoon Tae-yi have a completely clean slate and they can find their happily-ever-after in each other? There's nothing icky right... except there is. Because he has memories of her. She has memories of him too. He's not a completely different guy. Unless he's suffering quantum entanglement issues too. But he shouldn't right... because the door's been closed on time travel and everything's has been reset. No wonder everybody's confused. It flies in the face of the show's own claims about what's going on.

 

So why was Tae-yi running around the place like a headless chicken demanding to know where Detective Park Jin-gyeom was. That was utterly silly. Shouldn't she have twigged by the time she got to the police station that a reset had occurred? You know, the reset that she and Mother Tae-yi talked about two three episodes ago. Kim Hee-sun is a great actress but I've shaken my head at the things they've made her do as Prof Yoon Tae-yi. They obviously wanted to give her a bigger role when the actual story didn't warrant it. They had a great ensemble cast... and they wasted the talent pool. 

 

It's not hard to see why they wanted Tae-yi to retain her memories prior to the reset... because oh no... we can't have her trying to get time travel up and running again. But the problem with that is the show never tells us what the agency behind everything is. She was very dead the last time we looked. Did God or the universe give her that kind of insight? If the show was going for an esoteric answer then it should have said so much earlier. Rather than have Seok O-won muttering something about the mysteries of the universe. Sheesh... what a cop out. 

 

I keep wondering what went wrong with the show. The bottom line for me is that they went for the message without taking care of the messaging. They consistently broke their own rules. Out of the mouth of one person they talk about alternate universes, then from another it's parallel dimensions... if that wasn't confusing enough... we have Groundhog Day on steroids with no sense of who's who. "You can't stop my death. Mea culpa." Okay lady... we got it the third time. And then when the two JGs squabble over mother's love, she turns the weapon on herself. Why did she run from the drone in the first place?

 

The last episode didn't really tell us anything particularly insightful that we didn't already work out five episodes ago. Time travel is bad. It is corrupting. The past can't be fixed (or shouldn't). Hold on to your memories and move on. Live in the present. Mother's love is the greatest. But the themes shouldn't come at the expense of fundamental things like consistent storytelling.

Can I in all honesty say that the actors saved it for me? I don't know. They all did a good job with what they were given. Joo-won is always a trooper but there was something in the way his arc panned out that dampened my enthusiasm even for the different Jin-gyeoms that made their appearance. Same with Kim Hee-sun. Towards the end it seemed like they were just doing things called for by the script. And don't get me started on what happened to Do-yeon.

If there was any character that I really rooted for all throughout, it would be Min-hyuk. It could have been Kwak Si-yang or it could be the way he was written... or both but he was a character with genuine complexity despite having comparatively little screen time. towards the end. He was not just a presence but someone who had a story that rose above the cliche and stereotype. 

Again, I stress it wasn't the worst K drama ever and I am fully aware that time travel is always a tough nut to crack. But it seems to me that focused simplicity is always best in these instances. The disappointment comes from the fact that there was so much potential unfulfilled. After a while it started to feel like there were two or three dramas trying to find its voice in the cacophony.