The Case Solver 拆案 (2020) Head-scratching Cliffhangers

 

Frankly, I'm not sure what to make of the ending of a number of C dramas especially the shorter ones which are notorious for their cliffhanger endings even when no subsequent seasons are scheduled or forthcoming. It's a marketing ploy undoubtedly but if everyone does the same thing and if there's no set date for a sequel then all this ends up tainting the viewing experience rather than leave audiences wanting more. Some of us are still waiting for the resolution of Detective L's cliffhanger ending which is nowhere in sight. That was far more annoying because we remain clueless about the good guys' prospects of surviving the Big Bad's last ditch attempt to get away. But I'm going to pretend that The Case Solver ends in Episode 24 at around 21:33 with the main character's promotion. The rest of the finale is white noise and irrelevant filler.

It did take me two episodes to warm up to this one and to the male lead. However, somewhere around the halfway mark, I came to like the male lead who is more or less cut according to the Sherlock Holmes mould and started digging around for other productions that actor Jason Gu Jiacheng has been attached to. For an idol actor, I would say he's actually not bad. Gu Yuan, a newly appointed chief detective at the French concession, has a first-class intellect and handily has knowledge of feng shui (geomancy) applicable mostly to the first episode. Gu Yuan's promotion comes to the disappointment of chief aspirant, Kang Yicheng (Su Xiaoding), also the only child of Chamber of Commerce head, Kang Shaoqing. The quick-witted Gu Yuan, is well aware that Yicheng's biggest asset isn't his brains or his brawn but his connections especially when important inquiries have to be made pertaining to active cases. Gu Yuan humours Yicheng by indulging him in a faux rivalry now and again but it doesn't take long for these two essentially good-natured men to become friends. 

A series of events purporting to be paranormal mishaps capture the imagination of Shanghai's populace. Gu Yuan is tasked on each occasion to get to the bottom of things. Of course he doesn't believe in ghosts, demons or the living dead. It's a no-brainer from the start that flesh and blood are the real perpetrators behind these seemingly inexplicable phenomenon as he gets embroiled with gangsters, corpse thieves, illusionists, pimps and prostitutes. It is the seedy side of Shanghai under the veneer of respectability. The show often feels like a cross between Psych-Hunter and My Roommate is a Detective although I find the female leads in this much more likeable.

Gu Yuan is also ably supported by the local medical examiner, Che Suwei who eschews the stereotypical typical female lead by being unscreechy, cool-headed, competent and reliable. The show hints that the two might have feelings for each other although the primary romance is between Kang Yicheng and his verbal sparring partner Cao Qingmeng, a reporter also with important family connections. She does her best to whip up public fervour by sensationalizing the criminal misadventures and occasionally she manages to bring vital clues to the table.

Each episode is roughly about half an hour long and each case is solved within 4 episodes. The low budget web drama an easy watch and not a bad way to while away 12 hours if you're a fan of whodunits. I don't think it's too much of a stretch to make comparisons with Scooby-Doo. It falls loosely along similar lines. And it makes the same sorts of gags as well. 

And remember to stop the video at 21:33 towards the end of the last episode.

Awaken (2020) and The Uncanny Counter (2020) Superhero Stories: A Study in Difference

 I've been on the verge of dropping Awaken at least once but because of the subject matter and the presence of Nam Goongmin in it, I've hung on by the slenderest of thread. He's always fun to watch (no matter the production's quality) and the character he plays here has consistently been the most fleshed out (thanks in large part to him I expect). I have no doubt he took on this role because Do Jung-woo is potentially a great character -- a Loganesque superhero of a type. NGM with his history playing antiheroes, is undoubtedly the right actor to slip into those shoes. 

While that's the case, the script thus far (we have reached the halfway mark at the time of writing) is to my mind, weak. Floating in the ether that is Awaken are some really good ideas. If you've read my previous post on this, you know that I've always maintained this. The origins of the White Night Foundation and the subject of experimentation on humans if handled well, makes for a great story. It won't be anything startling original but putting a Korean flavour to it would be something worth exploring. I wouldn't go so far as to say I have a love-hate relationship with but I am disappointed that most of the characters especially the ones supposedly on the side of "right" aren't very well written. There's been a bit of controversy about the women and how they feature as romantic interests or not. But to me that has always been more symptomatic of the wobbly script. I don't think the show knows what to focus on or to keep the main thing the main thing. To be frank, I don't know if Gong Hye-won is even a necessary character at this point except as a possible romantic interest or to create a conflict of interest for Jung-woo. All of that might make for compelling viewing if the writing could convince me that it's needed in this drama.

I'm unabashedly fond of crazy sci-fi. I've been watching crazy sci-fi long before I started watching Korean dramas. So it wasn't especially hard for me to see where the show was going with the White Night Village practically from Episode 1. I wasn't a hundred percent certain at the time but I felt that I was in the ballpark. True enough the parts of the show that I'm most attentive too concerns the ominous cabal known as The Foundation which was formed to finance experiments on children. To what end? Just to create a miracle drug? To find the key to longevity? Or something far more sinister... along the lines of Dark Angel or The Pretender perhaps. 

The Foundation appears to be mysterious assortment of the wealthy and powerful. All male... as far as we've seen. But the chief scientist from when Jung-woo was living in White Night was a woman. Her absence in the present is conspicuous. The present cohort that make up the Foundation seem to me (at least) to have their own individual agendas. I don't think that they're one united group. The chap who is the president's chief secretary... who has recently been in the spotlight lately... seems to have his own angle that probably involves a member of his family.

I suspect most of us are in general agreement with Jung-woo that the Foundation and what it represents is an abomination. The moral and ethical implications alone are just mind boggling. I think by now we have a decent grasp of who Jung-woo, Jamie and Jae-woong are. The 3 Js as it so happens. Things were done to them perhaps even while they were in test-tubes. They were unique in that they survived. Two of them even managed to get away. Our curiosity is piqued: why did the rest die and why did they not only survive but become Korean versions of the X-men? I am supposing (presumptuously perhaps) that this is the part of the show that we're all really responding to because it is the most consistently coherent part of the drama. 

In the morass of multiple moving parts including a serial killer case, politics and corruption, there is a superhero story that's gradually emerging. On the surface the show purports to be a police procedural although that doesn't fit comfortably. On some level that gives Jung-woo a context to do what he does and an excuse for some kind of romance between Jung-woo and Hye-won. Which I'm not a fan of mainly because the actors don't have that kind of chemistry for me. 

In comparison we have The Uncanny Counter. It's clear even with the most cursory analysis,  that the drama doesn't do anything startlingly original. To be fair, it doesn't pretend to. I can certainly see the comparisons with Mystic Pop-up Bar and perhaps even Missing: The Other Side. Two examples from this year's offerings. However, despite all of that, the show does what it does remarkably well. It is a reminder that though originality can be an asset, it is only an asset in the right hands. It's also a reminder that it's far more important to take care of the fundamentals... like storytelling, casting, character development and relationship building etc... and get them right before reaching for gimmickry and suspense for suspense sake.

Right off the bat we know exactly what the drama is. The intro says it all. It's unabashedly a superhero team-up story with fantasy elements. It starts off fairly predictable, formulaic even... following a superhero origins story almost to a T. Yet it is now breaking rating records for OCN. So predictability isn't necessarily a screen-writing sin. Neither does it represent a minus for engagement or widespread appeal.

What the show does well and often that's where others fall down is that it gets the balance right. It's the secret sauce. The show doesn't fall into the trap of meandering and giving more than it needs to because it knows exactly what it wants to be. The best part is that the show gives me exactly what I want even when I didn't know I needed it. It also strikes the right note with its comedic and emotional moments. 

First and foremost, the women are done right here. And I don't mean that they are trained in martial arts and can go toe-to-toe with the baddies and strut their stuff. While that's great and wonderful on some level, what's even better is that they are well-fleshed out, have strength of character and their nurturing instincts remain intact. Perhaps it's just me and the kind of shows I've been watching lately but I have less and less patience for wacky, over-the-top female leads who use disproportionate violence, as a way of playing one upmanship with the male leads. Some of that may be played for laughs... don't know... but I'm finding it tiresome. In contrast, I love how Ha-na is written and portrayed as an older sister figure. She's an angry girl but there are other dimensions to her. I also especially love what Yeom Hye-ran is doing with Mae-ok. She's a take-charge, motherly character who can bare her teeth when that's called for. They both feel real. Not like caricatures. I have similar sentiments about Detective Kim Jeong-yeong. She's weathered many storms in the police department and she hasn't backed down from her principles. These are strong, smart women because they've endured much and been true to themselves without trying to be like men. Or trying to prove something for that matter.

Next, the cast chemistry is super good when you consider how diverse they are and the age differences. They've got a great group of actors that interact so well together especially as each of them mentors So Mun in their own way. Jo Byung-gu is himself a rising star but he knows how to be part of an ensemble without the need for overacting on his part. Even though there's apparently supposed to be no romance between Mun and Ha-na, the chemistry between them is good enough if the showrunners are keen to take their relationship to a different level at a different time. The show itself knows romance isn't needed the usual jokes are made about it. But there's no denying the chemistry between the pair.

And of course Mun himself is a great character. As I've said before Mun was standing up to school bullies and baddies well-before he had superpowers or had two working legs. He already had a hero's heart like Steve Rogers aka Captain America. What he needs to learn is to control his emotions, become stronger and choose his battles carefully but he has always been a good-hearted, gutsy kid who accords respect to his elders. Everything that the show does with him contributes in some way to his development and the overall storyline. 

Finally the integration of all the moving parts appears seamless. Everything fits together really well. Sure, the gallery of rogues here aren't anything we haven't seen before, neither is the corruption angle ground-breaking stuff. There's even a serial murderer on the loose here. But it's so far well incorporated into the demon-hunting side of things and the characters' own individual trajectory. No one is wasted or is extraneous in the storytelling. 

This is not to denigrate the achievement of Uncanny Counter because it should be given credit for its disciplined, tight plotting while managing to connect the audience with the characters and key character moments. It does just about everything right with the material because it never tries to pretend it is anything more or less than what it is.

Personally I think Awaken could have taken a simpler approach. The mystery within a mystery technique used to indifferent effect was supposed to create suspense and signal a darker tone but all that ended up feeling fillery because it was never the actual goal. The whole thing about using children as experimental subjects is already a dark subject with its own story potential with all kinds of political reverberations. Maybe it should have been a 12-episode drama. But then a good drama about the Foundation and its shady dealings could easily provide material for a 16-episode drama.

Sweet Home (2020) Another Christmas Carol *Major Spoilers*

Last afternoon-evening I completed the remaining episodes of Sweet Home after returning home from a Christmas gathering with family. I'd been saving them for when I'd be done with the festivities. I then went to My Drama List to record my final score and to see what others have been saying about it. The current rating is relatively high but there are some particularly those who are fans of the webtoon that seem disgruntled with the execution of the last 3 episodes especially when I was personally most gripped, most moved. I found the entire experience deeply immersive to the point that I was shedding tears which I don't do very often. Moreover, for me at least, the show's primary preoccupations all seem to come together in that relentless, brutal third act.

As someone who hasn't read the webtoon and has no intention of doing so, the reason why the drama works for me despite all the gore, is because it's fundamentally about the nature of group dynamics in a dystopian universe. To me the monsters are the window dressing, not the meat of the drama despite the damage they inflict. Here even the definition of "monster" is conspicuously called into the question so that's our cue to how to see the show. It follows that we're meant to see them as a catalyst for a very human story that is played out in such an extreme scenario.

I'm someone who not only celebrates Christmas but takes it very seriously. It isn't just a tradition or religion but it defines my view of the world and hopefully, how I live my life. Whether I watch dramas or read books or gather with people, the Christmas worldview determines how I see the narrative, the characters and the storytelling. I'm not sentimental about Christmas but I hold to the core sentiments of Christmas going back to its biblical roots. Goodwill and peace to all mankind means something to me but it doesn't begin at the seat of governmental power but in the human heart.

Why talk about all this in an analysis of a K drama that markets itself as a horror drama? Because it's obvious to me that this horror drama deals with the big questions of life in visceral fashion. The group dynamics in a post-apocalyptic world is a fitting context to explore metaphysical questions. And what's also suggestive is that there's a Christian man in the middle of it, trying to make sense of God's will in it and his own place in such an environment. In the Christian tradition, the belief is that human beings are made in the image of God. That's where the value of humanity lies... in the very act of the creation and giving of life by a transcendent being.

While it might feel like I'm sermonizing, there's no running away from it as the newly formed community of survivors debate over what they should do with Cha Hyun-so as he continues to battle complete monsterization and stay in that middle mutated state. No one understands monsterization entirely. Not even the military experiments have yielded definitive results. There is some indication that greed might be a key variable. But some never turn completely although they gain... what might be called superhuman abilities. I have my own views on monsterization but the ambiguity is intriguing.

A later addition into the casting mix calls it "evolution" echoing Eric Lehnsherr aka Magneto from the X-men universe. According to him, they are the new breed of humans rising from the ashes from the monster apocalypse. They have superseded the "old model" and have become the new human perhaps even master race. This view holds to idea that power determines superiority. It's natural selection... survival of the fittest writ large.

That is the debate that the show has with itself all throughout as the existing survivors in Green Home play out their fears, stress responses and own deep-seated beliefs. In a chaotic situation why do we appreciate it when a leader rises up and takes charge bringing order when everyone is in a state of panic? Is it purely a survival instinct? If so, where does that come from. Moreover, the characters constantly teeters on the edge of barbarity and yet time and time again, something pulls them back into some semblance of civility. Is it only self-interest? Certainly it's not the case for all. The mob mentality especially in those early days has a habit of rearing its ugly head threatening to split people apart into factions. Yet by the end of the drama, the small band of bedraggled survivors learn to be some kind of community... as they witness the very best and the very worst of human behaviour: greed, selfishness, cowardice on the one side and self-sacrifice, generosity, courage on the other. Despite the flawed nature of humans, they can be redeemed when touched by something much bigger than themselves. 

I was given a Mere Christianity journal for Christmas which contained quotes from the original book from C.S. Lewis. Because that's how my brain works, I immediately connected some of them with the themes of Sweet Home.

"Nowadays, when we talk of the "laws of nature" we usually mean things like gravitation, or hereditary, or the laws of chemistry. But when older thinkers called the Law of Right and Wrong "the law of Nature", they really meant the Law of Human Nature. The idea was just that, just as all bodies are governed by the law of gravitation, and organisms by biological laws, so the creature called man also had his law -- with this great difference, that a body could not choose whether it obeyed the law of gravitation or not, but a man could choose either to obey the Law of Human Nature or to disobey it."

"Think of a country where people were admired for running away in battle, or where a man felt proud of double-crossing all the people who had been kindest to him. You might just as well try to imagine a country where two and two made five. Men have differed as regards what people you ought to be unselfish to -- whether it was only your own family, or your fellow countrymen, or everyone. But they have always agreed that you ought not to put yourself first. Selfishness has never been admired."

[...]

"But the most remarkable thing is this. Whenever you find a man who says he does not believe in a real Right or Wrong, you will find the same man going back on this a moment later. He may break his promise to you, but if you try breaking one to him he will be complaining "It's not fair" before you can say Jack Robinson. "

Whatever else Sweet Home is to other people and it is visually spectacular undoubtedly, it is a deeply philosophical presentation. Despite all the madness, the violence and the tragedies that ensue, the moral universe is  obvious. It's clear what behaviours are "good" and "bad". What's more... it assumes we know and agree about what they are. Kindness, empathy and protecting the vulnerable are valuable qualities despite the fact that the environment doesn't reward such behaviour all the time. Judging from the outcomes... it isn't the strongest or the best necessarily that end up at the back of the truck but those for whom the strongest and the best gave their lives for. That outcome eschews natural selection... whatever that means. If anything the magic happens when people act against their own survival impulses and self-interest for the sake of the community. The Christian Bible has a word for this... it's grace.

Peace on earth and goodwill to all men... most would agree with this sentiment. But why... that is the question that needs to be answered by every heart. Nothing should be assumed.

Psych-Hunter (2020) *Non-spoiler Review*

Without giving anything of substance away, this is one of those dramas that I thoroughly enjoyed from start to finish for what it appeared to be but the resolution completely transformed my perspective and understanding of what it was. Initially from the brief synopsis that I'd read, I was given the impression that this was an X-Files style drama dealing with paranormal activities but it turned out actually to be an old-fashioned detective drama in which Agatha Christie meets Sherlock Holmes meets Salvador Dali. It's a great production and boasts an assortment of colourful characters from the leads down to the supporting acts. The Republican era backdrop works exceedingly well particularly as the costumes, props and sets reflect the early Agatha Christie period perfectly. Christie's first Poirot novel, The Mysterious Affair At Styles was published after the first world war. 

In many ways this drama works somewhat like a Sherlock Holmes story or a series of Sherlock Holmes stories. The role of Holmes and Watson alternates between two characters, Jiang Shuo and Qin Yiheng. At the start of the show, we are introduced to Jiang Shou (Neo Hou) who is found by his mentor Bu Yan. Jiang Shou has lost his memories but he has a really handy skill that allows him to make a living, he can read minds. Or I should say, he can transport himself into a person's subconscious and find out things about them. It's an asset in any investigation of a crime especially when the suspect or witness is unusually recalcitrant. Jiang Shuo and his shifu Bu Yan live in a compound with a troupe of entertainers. Their living quarters is one of the show's key set pieces and their companions often become embroiled in Jiang Shuo's investigations. The other half of this partnership is the cool-headed psychiatrist Qin Yiheng, who is played by Liu Dongqin who is no stranger to playing sleuths or doctors. I like him better here than in the second iteration of the Dr Qin Medical Examiner franchise. As a psychiatrist specializing in reading micro-expressions, Yiheng is quickly drawn to Jiang Shuo as they both travel/teleport into the psyche of individuals. Of the two of them he is normally the more calm and astute investigator. Yiheng has more of an interest solving crimes than getting involved with the family business despite the emotional arm-pulling by his brother. He is also the second son of a local business magnate which is an important part of his identity throughout the show because it involves the mysterious disappearance of his father.

Inadvertently entangled with them is the local warlord's daughter Yuan Muqing (Bambi Zhu) who "moonlights" as a local constable while officially being enrolled in a private girls' school. It's not long before she and Jiang Shuo develop romantic feelings for each other. It's not a romance that I needed but it wasn't one that I was averse to. Compared to other crime shows, she's actually one of the better unnecessary female love interests. They don't bicker much thankfully and yes... she does get clingy (even that makes sense) but as a whole she does have her uses. 

Another regular feature of the show is the official head cop, Bai Kai who is a taciturn but respected leader. Jiang Shuo nicknames him "bai kai shui" which means plain water. Yes, on the surface he seems to be a bit of a colourless character at first and the butt of some of the show's humour but as the show develops he becomes the greatest supporter of the unofficial detectives. He is effectively Inspector Lestrade without the ego.

The format of the show sees our detectives chasing clues provided by an enigmatic figure known as Liu Zhi. Liu Zhi is, in essence, the story's Moriarty figure. He is the consummate shadowy puppetmaster, lurking in the background pulling strings and using individuals who hold grievances to commit crimes all around the city. The master criminal wants a piece of Jiang Shuo for reasons not known initially and he uses these cases or "games", as he calls them to draw the latter into a web of conspiracy and corruption. 

By far, my favourite part of the show (apart from the individual case arcs all wonderfully integrated in the bigger storyline) would be the developing friendship between the two men. From the time when they first meet to the last, their loyalty to each other and camaraderie is pleasing. Their personalities complement each other well as they learn to work together in life-threatening situations. 

The male leads especially are rather good in their respective roles but as a whole the entire cast are very well put together to give an immersive experience.

Early on I mentioned Salvador Dali and this is why. When the two men teleport into a person's psyche, the art design of those sets are a delightful mix of surrealism, a little expressionism and art deco. I love the thought and the effort given to that aspect of the drama. Each set was intriguing always keeping the viewer on their toes wondering what's round the corner. There was one case that featured clocks ... and I'm obsessed with timepieces anyway... and the visuals for that one was especially stunning in my mind. 

There's no doubt that it's a clever show and the conclusion made me think just that little bit more about the whole thing than I otherwise would have. It's a drama that I wouldn't mind revisiting down the track just to see what new things I missed the first time around.

Sweet Home (2020) After 6 Episodes *Some spoilers*

 

Although this isn't a show that I would necessarily recommend while in polite company, I'm finding it immensely watchable and addictive. But for me it would strictly be a daytime affair because the images of violence are quite visceral and down time would be needed after. Despite the horror tag, most of the relentless gore and monsterization occurs in the early episodes. The amount of blood spilt in those early episodes... the first two or three, I'd say... would be the envy of any blood bank. Nose-bleeding is one of the signs of "infection" and there's plenty of that going around.All that said, this isn't a drama about monsters although there are some hideous looking creatures prowling around the Green House apartment block looking for prey. Monsters are the catalyst for this particular story that is ultimately about people -- what do people do to survive, how do they behave during a major crisis when all the creature comforts or even the basic necessities of life that they've taken for granted suddenly become luxury items.

Apparently the end of the world has come in the form of monsterization. Human beings are mysteriously turning into insatiable grotesque creatures of different shapes and sizes. There's even one that reminds me of the gremlins from an old 1980s film of the same name. It's reminiscent of a gargoyle but much taller. For me the creatures seem to be depictions of phobias writ large and there's some indication that there's a connection between emotions and the monsterization process. But surprisingly I do enjoy what the show does with them even while I experience some revulsion. When the gargoyle-type monster gets the top of his head sliced off, he stumbles around complaining that he can't see because his eyes are no longer attached to the rest of him. His hearing is still intact however thanks to his large ears. Perhaps it's my twisted sense of humour showing forth, but there's something bleakly funny about it. 

There are many instances of defying viewer expectations at work here. One of my favourite characters is a devout Bible-quoting Christian. He is polite, kind and straight-laced. He wears nerdy glasses. The bass guitar playing Ji-su shows her discomfiture with his God talk when they share lift space. She can't away from him fast enough. But when disaster hits their building and the monsters run amok, he becomes this heroic, katana-wielding defender of the vulnerable. They become allies in the fight. He's a great character and one I identify with most especially because he brings a lovely spiritual dimension to the whole thing.

Lee Jin-uk, for whom I largely ventured into uncharted territory, plays an angry, gangster-like figure whose reasons for being at Green House isn't quite clear at first. He seems particularly fixated with one of the residents. To everyone's initial bewilderment he seems doggedly intent on doing serious damage to this man who seems to be friendly and generous. The uglification of Lee Jin-uk is on point. His mentally and physically scarred character Sang-wook has a gruff, dark presence that sets the tone for the moral landscape of the drama. And despite what one is led to think initially, this show is profoundly preoccupied with morality. Of course we can always debate about whether the gorefest is needed to tell the story.

As for the rest of the cast, there are plenty of familiar faces in the ensemble that take centre-stage at various points in the narrative. At times the show does feel like a high end theatre production with different set pieces as the actors gather in key places to voice their concerns, dilemmas and debate them. In such moments when conflict amongst the occupants are at its highest, the themes of the plot coalesce nicely. 

In light of the Covid issue that has dominated the global landscape, the drama is exceedingly topical. Everyone has an opinion about the monsterization. Everyone thinks that they hold the moral high ground on what should be done in a crisis because their survival is the primary endgame.  Fear although a powerful survival impulse in humans, is not necessarily the best driver for decision making in extraordinary circumstances. Fearmongers can and often do step in and take advantage of the situation for whatever agenda that seems right to them. The scenario begs many questions: Is dying really the worst thing that can happen to anyone? For some reason... perhaps due to improved medical health care... the general consensus seems to be heading in that direction. How much of your freedom and the freedoms of others are you willing to trade to be safe? Can human beings flourish in a risk-averse world? Those are same sorts of questions that have come up during the last 8-9 months while the world waits for a saviour in the form of a vaccine.

The debates and issues are played in how the main character (Song Kang) is located in the drama and how he's perceived by all the others as his arc develops. Is he really a danger to them? Or are they more of a danger to him and to each other as a result of the choices that they make? The answers seem superficially simple but they open the proverbial can of ethical worms.

It's actually a well-made show ...  not really that different from a disaster film when boiled to its essence. But only if you can stomach the gore of the early episodes.

Awaken (2020) Early Impressions

 

To be honest when I started this, I wasn't immediately impressed. I had hoped to be, looking at the early teasers and trailers. The first couple of episodes felt clunky and most of the characters uni-dimensional. But I made the decision to persist last week mainly of Namgoong Min who is reliably brilliant and the crumbs of a decent thriller in the offing. Of course it remains to be seen if this show is worth pursuing in the long run purely based on his presence in it. Also the possibility that he would be in the middle of a love triangle made me roll my eyes. Every so often I worry about what that would do to the women in the show.

While I still think that this show has pacing issues and cliche characters, I did like Episode 3 more than the first two. I thought there were a number of good things about it. It certainly helped me understand why the so-called "Special" team feels so not-very-special-lacklustre. Because quite frankly, the show isn't really about Jung-woo's investigative team and any kind of sensational investigation that they do (like we're accustomed to with OCN dramas). The rookie, the computer guy and the bad-tempered female team member...  are in actual fact, props for JW's real storyline. I'm hoping desperately against hope that they're not pairing JW off with Hye-won not only because I'm not feeling the actress but their chemistry gives off another kind of vibe... and it's not romantic. If there's any romance to be had... I don't need it, mind you... I'd rather JW end up with Jamie. While I wouldn't go so far as to say that Hye-won's infatuation and jealousy is nauseating, it's not something that I'm enjoying or I believe does anything to enhance the plot or the character. If anything, her infatuation is more of dead weight to the movement of the show.

 

I'm glad the show didn't waste our time in confirming that JW is a survivor of White Night village. It was always a no-brainer. He was looking for people he had fragmentary memories of. He always suspected that the White Night village angle had something to do with the serial deaths. I think he always knew who Jamie was from the facial composite he drew and sent to his mysterious connection. Her mysophobia or OCD tendencies were telling. Probably a traumatic consequence from her time at White Night.

It is still the case that Namgoong Min is doing most of heavy lifting here although I am gradually warming up to Lee Chung-ah's Jamie. Also fortunate, I think, is that the White Night story seems to be kicking into gear in a way that could be potentially far more compelling than the first 2 episodes indicated. It feels too that my initial theories weren't far off the mark. Experiments of some sort were occurring. Personally, I don't think it was just about some "wonder" drug either. If the kids rebelled and set fire to the place, I imagine something much more terrible was actually going on. Perhaps my idea of Dark Angel wasn't that far off the mark. At least I think the communal childcare has some parallels with Mantacore.

Read the rest here at Janghaven Forums.

The Uncanny Counter (2020) Initial Reaction

This is a superhero drama I really didn't know I needed. And I'm happy to say... it's brimming with potential. What a title... an obvious nod to The X-Men. And why not? I'm also thinking part Grimm (US tv show) part Sun Wu Kong. Let's throw Mystic Pop-up Bar into the mix. Whatever it reminds me of, it is super super good.

Two episodes in it gives me Spiderman vibes. (I could make a joke about Spidey Senses tingling but I won't) No surprise why. A high school kid living with his grandparents suddenly finds himself bestowed with extraordinary strength and power in order to fight demons. The moment the intro came on I had an inkling that the other teenager that lives with me would like this... an unabashed fan of My Hero Academia... and she does! The first thing she did afterwards was to go hunting for the webtoon. She also made the comment that this is good possibly because it is based on a webtoon. Perhaps. Or maybe because the cartoonist has a hand in the writing of this.

I'm glad to say that the drama grabbed me right from the intro. Which seldom happens. But everything about the first couple of episodes was pitch-perfect. The world-building, the set-up, introduction to the team... is absolutely on the money. The kid playing So Mun looked familiar and so I looked him up... and of course... he's the assistant operations manager from Hot Stove League. The boyishness is effortless and he fits the role to a T. The important thing is that he is convincing as the titular character as he navigates his life in school with the incessant bullying as well as the secret trips out with the demon-hunting team.

Yes, why uncanny counter? In this universe a "counter" is someone who battles evil spirits who have possessed murderous humans. Counters are born when individuals in a coma are saved from the brink of death. They have three times the strength of an ordinary human being but it seems that Mun might even exceed that. Hence, "uncanny". Like every superhero, he too has a sob story. When he was 11, seven years earlier, his parents died when a truck of doom headed straight for their car. Mum and Dad were cops so yes... it's all very suspicious. Before their deaths they received a call from another cop warning them and insisting that they had to survive. That detective died while fending off grotesque looking attackers. 

Mun is left crippled in one leg after the collision which sees him hobbling around with a walking stick. A good student academically, he is also a talented artist and is developing his own superhero manga with his longtime friends. Grandma has developed dementia and can be a handful while he helps Grandpa manage her at home. 

It seems that Mun has inherited his parents' sense of civic responsibility and is a kind-hearted lad. Even before he gets his powers, he already has all the qualities of a superhero. He is polite, considerate, fiercely protective of his friends, stands up to bullies and is drawn towards the vulnerable and the underdog. He cares and is willing to put his money where his mouth is. In the introductory arc to the character, confronts the school's biggest bullies (two are sons of politicians) even while he has no idea of what he's capable of. The kid has plenty of pluck. On top of that he also demonstrates good detective instincts. Not sure if that's genetic.

There is a lot to like about this show. Aside from the male lead, the female leads from Team Counters are great too. I love the fact that an ahjumma can be a badass superhero as well as a mentor is heartwarming and gratifying. It's a great team with varying skill sets that they've put together and while they're strict about training Mun, they're delightful as individuals and supportive of him. 

One more thing: Love the red cheesy tracksuits. They're memorable, to say the least. ;)

To Love (2020) For Which I Rave...

This drama is all kinds of superb. I'm not normally one for hyperboles and I can't guarantee this won't go south towards the end but honestly this has the potential to be one of the best C dramas I've ever seen. Considering I'm notorious for dropping C dramas or FF through them, that does say something. C dramas even with highly regarded actors can't always be relied on to deliver the goods so I keep my expectations low despite the hype and keep an open mind. But this one has really sucked me in and I've fallen hard for it. Honestly I haven't felt that way about very many C dramas in months. If this show can avoid the middle-drag and the third act pitfalls or at the very least survive them relatively unscathed, I will be a very very satisfied customer.

Yes, it helps greatly that it's a contemporary crime show that manages to incorporate romance in a way that is both clever and engaging. I've watched quite a few mainland detective dramas in the last few years and while the cases are often intriguing, the romance seldom is. Sometimes it's the chemistry between the leads that's sorely missing. There are the rare exceptions like When a Snail Falls in Love where everything more or less comes together.  This is another one of them. In this drama the romance is absolutely integral to the show in a way that many that I've seen aren't. It's clearly no appendage. It's key to understanding motives and rationales for events that transpire. What's even better is that the chemistry between the leads is fantastic. Whether you're a fan of either is irrelevant because they are both very good and convincing in their roles here.

 

The show also has plenty of twists and turns that keep the viewer on their toes. Like the interrogator, there are moments where you wonder if Yan Jin is on the level about everything.

Ji Xiao'ou is a lovely, kind cafe owner who through a series of circumstances gets involved with Zhan Yu as soon as she becomes acquainted with his hard luck story. Soon he goes to work for her at the cafe as a server and live musician. What she doesn't know is that the narcotics cops have their eye on him as a person of interest in their investigations into a powerful drug ring. They believe he might be a drug dealer known as KK. Xiao'ou first meets Yan Jin at a night club that she gets dragged off to by her friend. He thinks she's a honey trap and she think he's a first class jerk and lecher. As she's now about 30, Xiao'ou is under pressure from her mother to get married but what she really wants to do is build up her cafe and make it into a success.

 

Yan Jin who is a well-to-do restaurateur,  is a former narcotics detective who has gone undercover using his present status to take down a drug ring. He is cavalier, funny, glib, charming and seems to be ridiculously good at everything. As one former colleague says, "He's outstanding. He succeeds in everything he sets out to do." To keep on eye on Zhan Yu, Yan Jin spends a lot of his time at the cafe attempting to ingratiate himself with Xiao'ou. She's unimpressed at first and suspects him of ulterior motives but soon discovers the truth of what the ex-colleague says. There's nothing he can't do and he's not modest about it either. As expected he charms the socks off her in no time.

Read more about it on Janghaven Forums.

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.