Hi Bye Mama (2020) Thoughts about Episodes 1-5

There's certainly a lot to like about this drama. The cast, the dominant narrative, the production values and aspects of the world building. The visual storytelling is certainly exquisite. It's wonderful the way the showrunners piece together the past and the present so seamlessly with the use of changing colour palette. It's gorgeous. No doubt a testament to the continued advancements in SK production techniques.

To be honest, when it comes down to the nitty gritty in plot I don't know how I really feel about this drama. I know I want to like it but there are aspects of it that don't sit well with me. While it's nice to look at and the acting is stellar on every front, I have mixed feelings about how the subject matter is handled. Frankly... and I'm sorry about comparing everything to Chocolate... I think Chocolate did it a smidge better albeit coming from a different angle. Possibly because tonally it was much more consistent. The underlying message in both seems to me to be essentially the same... life is too short to have regrets or hold grudges. Prioritize your loved ones. Put your house in order, resolve all unfinished business before it's too late. Because one never knows when the end is nigh. Learn to grieve. Learn to move on. It's certainly a message worth repeating because we humans are terrible at dealing with death and loss.

The problem for me first of all is the reason why Yu-ri has been given 49 days to "find her place". The show insists on making the endgame to this a big mystery to YR... at least so far. (Although I'm not sure it is really all that much of a mystery) As a result everything feels to me to be in limbo while YR is groping around aimlessly running away from fellow ghosties who have a ton of unresolved emotional baggage. I really feel for Gang-hwa because he is still absolutely in love with Yu-ri. He's never moved on emotionally. Sure, he remarried probably for Seo Woo's sake but for the past 5 years he's been waiting for YR to come back to life. That's how it feels like to me. And he's utterly terrified of losing her again. Hence we have this artificial love triangle at play because YR thinks that she's interrupting a happy newly formed married when absolutely everyone is wallowing in misery in some form another. Maybe she's been so focused on SW these past few years that she hasn't noticed GH or Min-jeong's anguish in what seems to be a loveless union. The facade of playing happy families hasn't helped GH move on much. He soldiered on for Seo Woo's sake but he has done nothing for himself. Prior to her resurfacing, he hadn't stopped grieving. In fact, we discover that he attempted suicide at least once but was forced by his stoic MIL to pull himself together and get his act together.

I'm not sure if this is deliberate on the part of the showrunners but making the endgame a mystery is double-edged sword. YR thinks she's just here for a short time to sort out things with SW. It doesn't seem to occur to her that SW isn't the only one struggling. The problem too is that her presence is giving GH hope. But she doesn't necessarily want to give him false hope so she's keeping her distance. When I look at him and his reactions I see a man who desperately wants the love of his life back where she belongs. He wants to hug her and kiss her like the way she embraces their daughter. Unfortunately he can't because everyone is being considerate and inconsiderate of Min-jeong. Poor woman has been playing second fiddle to YR right from the start. A substitute mother for SW but never the wife and certainly not the lover.

I also don't particularly like the fact that YR is keeping vital information from her loved ones. That's the part I'm most uneasy and frustrated about. It's a strategy on the part of the show to create a push and pull that doesn't really need to be there. That's in part why the subplot comes across as being fillery rather than integral. I don't understand why YR is wasting so much time complaining about the other ghosts when she could be spending more time with the people she loves. Except that she spends several episodes dodging them.

Can I say how much I adore Lee Kyu Hyung in this? I love seeing him in a completely different context from Prison Playbook and Life. He can always be relied upon to bring his A game to each project and it's fantastic to see his star rising because he is genuine acting powerhouse. There are traits of those other characters that he has brought to this role but he is also clearly differentiating Gang-hwa from his previous outings, playing out his emotions as a grieving husband and father. My only complaint with regards to him is that we don't see enough of him. 

My guess is that since everyone related to YR is weighed down in perpetual grief that they're gunning for a happy ending. I can't be sure of course. 

 But it feels like they're setting up a scenario whereby they can justify a reunion where YR returns to GH, SW and the rest of the extended family. A kind of back-to-front It's A Wonderful Life scenario. On top of that the unhappy MJ has already initiated the paperwork for an imminent divorce long before YR returned.

Frankly I don't feel that the Ghost World subplot integrates well with the main one. For all we know it could be another drama entirely. For one reason or another I'm not interested in what happens to these ghosts especially when they're largely used as comic relief presently. The set-up was good but the integration not so much. Now that YR has returned to the land of the living interacting with people from her former life, the divide seems more conspicuous. That said the arc featuring the childcare kid ghost worked because that had direct connection with her family issues.

Forest (2020) Episodes 13 and 14

It is quite regrettable that the show took such a long time to become this good because all the nonsensical stuff at the start must have put a lot of people off. It is unusual in Kdramaland because in most instances, it's the first half that's better than the second. These last 4 episodes have been very decent because the show has ditched a lot of the slapstick, tampered the nuttiness and taking itself far more seriously. And so it should. At its very core the show is dealing with some serious stuff. What Taesung has done and is doing to the villagers is wicked and criminal. People have died because of their wanton greed. In fact, people are still dying.

On hindsight, I really wish that they hadn't made so much of a mystery of KSH's trauma. It would probably have made him a much more relatable character from the start. His amnesia was a plot device and it didn't gel with everything else about him in a way that made sense. That said however, it is good that the drama maintained some degree of consistency with regard to his greed, his need to accumulate wealth and be the top dog, as it were. There are consequences as there should be. This puts him at odds with JYJ... which it should because she is a ethically driven, altruistic physician and her worldview clashes with his. She wants to help people and save them. His way of thinking is to mitigate a bad situation and salvage what benefits he can. Hers is to expose the corruption and stop the entire operation because there can be no middle ground in such a situation. The human cost outweighs any potential financial benefits.

I have no doubt that the show wants to present him as a kind of antihero. The materialistic corporate shark that will ultimately take down the behemoth that is Taesung. It won't be the law enforcement officials or the authorities (because most of them are up to the necks in doggy poo) but the former insider who does it all. We all know he could have blown the lid off the whole thing when JYJ was in custody but instead he chose to leverage whatever information he had to save her and to reap benefits for himself. His default position is to manoeuver and manipulate his way out of things. He isn't a good guy by any existing moral standards but he is a devious one... and he is the man for the job because he can manoeuver his way through. Using a thief to catch a thief as it were.

Redemption for KSH is in the horizon... The inner tug-of-war has already begun especially with the way JYJ has framed this dilemma. "It's me or the money." Essentially that's what it is.  So she's not appealing to him on the basis of his better self or appeal to his moral code... that probably doesn't exist at the moment. What she's certain though is that he really does actually like her a lot. So, she does what she always does, tries to save him. And she does it by appealing to his desire for her. In effect what we have is a battle... not for his soul necessarily... but a battle for love to triumph over greed. They're still working within the limits territory of self-interest but hey, it's a start.

Apparently bad guys can really fall in love. JYJ seems to believe it. I think it's possible too. KSH isn't going to transform into Mother Teresa overnight or maybe ever.  But love can slowly guide him on the right path if the one who loves can prioritize the one who is loved over all other desires.

Miss Truth (2020): Episodes 27-32 (2)

It's obvious to me that the show is trying to make Su Fu a kind of tragic character or tortured soul to elicit sympathy because his trajectory means that ultimately he can't be with the female lead. The son of a concubine... so of lower status, somewhat despised perhaps and then trains as an assassin and then embroils himself with rebellious elements working against the throne. With a CV like that I can't imagine that any man in his right mind would think that he would make a good husband for a woman unless he's using her as his cover story. But that's probably it... he isn't in his right mind now that the drugs are taking firm control over him. I suppose he thought he was doing his bit to protect RY when he became a willing puppet for the chief of the secret organization but who's going to protect him from himself? I can't help feeling that the more the show is trying to sell him as some kind of viable alternative to XS because he really loves RY, the less I'm inclined to buy into that idea. I don't think that there are any alternatives. XS is the man for her. SF is a distraction but more importantly he presents imminent danger to everything she holds dear.

The rapidity with which she friendzones him begs the question as to whether she was really in love with him in the first place. I have my doubts of course. I tend to believe that it was pity that brought them together. After all she still pities him on some level. She mistook that for love and realised it in time. I don't think it's because he deceived her per se although he did. Or used her. Which he also did. It's more the fact that she realised she had entered into an illusory romance when all the signs were there that things were not as simple as she had wished. Their common background or past experiences did not necessarily mean a common future or common goals. RY tends to be somewhat self-righteous and not a little arrogant relying on her own ability to make correct judgments when in reality there are bigger things at play that she's not made aware of.

There are remnants of the previous Sui dynasty who are discontent with the current regime... although why that is, isn't entirely clear to me at this point in time. The general populace don't seem to be doing too badly as a whole to warrant a change of regime. It could be that well they don't care much for the Li family and they're purely Sui loyalists. So it behooves them to start a war... a coup de tat so that the old regime be reinstated with no thought to causing death and destruction to the masses.

RY's journey to finding true love parallels the cases that she and XS have taken on together. The shadow puppet display she performed with Wan Lu to jog his memory confirms that. It's a tacit acknowledgment of their special relationship and how she can't achieve the detective gig without him. He seemed moved by the gesture but still it's not enough for him to be forthcoming and so he maintains his distance because ultimately he wants her love and devotion not a continuation of their quid pro quo relationship. Also, he's well aware that his enemies are only too eager to use her as a means to get to him and his mission so his decision to remain aloof to her entreaties have a twofold purpose.

As for the beating she took for meeting up with the bag man, that was undoubtedly painful but probably not as painful for her as being ignored and misunderstood by XS which is for me a far more satisfying state of affairs between them because now the shoe is in the other foot.  It's eminently fascinating that the cases that they've undertaken together have paralleled  to some degree her journey to "finding true love". All of the cases have been analogous or have telegraphed their somewhat tumultuous relationship. They are morality tales of missed opportunities, obsession and lost love.  In the case of the erotomaniac serial killer, the show attempts to draw a comparison between the situations faced by the couples. At least RY herself is aware of the comparison when she chastises the hostage taker for his foolish pinings. There is bitterness and despair in her words. She had hoped that XS' love was big enough to cover her sins but alas it was an illusory promise.  Before the man she was really in love with, it was an indirect confession tinged with resentment and regret. It is tacit acknowledgment that now she has indeed found true love only to have lost it. All she can do now is live with the pain.

At first XS thinks she is referring to SF as seen in the stern glare he shoots the other man with while she monologues. But when he goes home and reflects on her words, he wonders if he's misunderstood her relationship with SF and by extension himself.  From his conversation with his surprisingly progressive father, it's clear that he still cares a great deal but he can't repeatedly allow himself to be in the position of being betrayed because he thinks that she is in love with another man. He has always respected her freedom to choose and he also has to be careful because of the larger political matters that are at stake especially if SF is persistently using her as a conduit to him. He can't be sure of her if she's trying to keep both sides happy. What's really interesting to me is that for her, she thinks she's lost his love whereas for him he believes that he's never had hers in the first place (largely because of all the contradictory signals that she sends out).

I can't judge her too harshly because of her inexperience in such matters and her world was small until she invaded his world unceremoniously. But she is learning a really important lesson here. She can't take XS for granted even if he is ultimately true to her despite the appearance of rejection. Even if she doesn't want to, she has to draw the line and be clear about who it is she preferences. Everyone wants certainty, XS does too. He needs it for all kinds of reasons not just emotional ones. It's not easy for him because he is also a servant of the state as much as he is the man who loves her.

Miss Truth (2020): Episodes 27-32 (1)

If there were any doubts left as to who is the Boss in this show, I think these recent episodes would have removed them entirely.  Even if Xiao Song seemed to be on the outer on this occasion due to his estrangement from Ran Yan, his presence was both missed and felt. While the others did well on their own and were able to come up with some of the goods rather quickly, it became clear that XS was sorely needed to tie up loose ends and wrap things up. All the circumstantial evidence easily pointed to one individual but no one could speak to the motive. Enter XS to save the day and he finds method to the perpetrator's madness.

The show also drew a deliberate contrast between how the head of Da Li Si does things and how XS does things regarding criminal investigations. Indeed Lord Sun has his own agenda but he is also an arrogant man who has an image to protect. XS is consistently meticulous and gets right down to the bottom of things. He cares deeply about the truth. For him justice is really the endgame. It isn't just about dealing with political fallout or personally proving his credibility. Clearly he doesn't need to prove anything because he already has an established reputation for solving crimes.

Of course XS doesn't stay out of it completely throughout. On the surface he seems indifferent and even actively hostile towards RY but he's poking around behind the scenes and lending a hand discreetly where possible. It also gives him a good excuse to investigate those who show a keen interest in the Marquis of Sui's pearl while they're busy chasing a serial murderer linked to a woman who likes dragonflies. It is noteworthy to add that XS is a world class detective because he takes every piece of evidence seriously.

More than being a reputed criminologist, XS demonstrates excellent leadership skills. One of his greatest strengths is his ability to appreciate talent and use people well. Only he would even consider managing this motley crew that he has unofficially cobbled together. Take the case of Sang Chen who is a veritable scaredy cat. A very gifted scaredy cat nonetheless. Most people would quickly find him trying but XS was able to see past all that and employ him to tasks eminently suited to his abilities. Of course it doesn't escape his notice that he is also crushing on Ran Yan but XS can put that aside for the big picture. Speaking of the big picture, he also knows how to work with Su Fu when he has to even with all the mistrust and baggage that exists between them.

If there's a scene that encapsulates the kind of man XS is and what he's all about it would have to be the final showdown between the erotomaniac serial killer and our sleuths (Episode 31). When the culprit who is holding Ran Yan hostage, realises that he's been tricked, he attempts to retaliate by whipping out a dagger. XS's first instinct is to lurch forward and grab the offending dagger with his bare hands to prevent it being used on RY. It seems to me that his default mode is to protect RY disregarding even his own safety. A trait that he has shown repeatedly throughout the drama. He releases her from her bonds and his first comment to her is "Are you alright?" in a gentle tone of voice he reserves only for her. Despite putting on a good show of being thoroughly angry and wanting to keep his distance from her, at the end of the day, his love for her perpetually trumps disappointment and suspicion. He can't help himself. 

Xiao Song is a larger than life creature who is big on the truth and loves greatly. It must be hard on him to have to reconcile these apparently contradictory positions. I don't think they're especially contradictory categorically but for him having to deal with his repeated disappointments with RY, it must appear to be. It is ironic that for a man who can see through criminal motives and seemingly read the minds of men at a pinch, the woman he loves is a perpetual puzzle to him. The fault doesn't lie with him but the nature of their ever evolving relationship which is fraught with complexities made more difficult by her history with her former betrothed who is a persistent presence. Who wants to be a continual sap for a woman who has her eye directed elsewhere? It must be a blow to an intelligent man that despite all his best efforts and correct assessments of RY's change of heart, he can never be certain of her loyalty.

To his credit he doesn't actively act against SF because he is a perceived rival for RY's affections. XS is much better and far more intelligent than that. I don't even think that XS really tries to win her heart in the traditional sense. He does what he does for her because of who he is... of the good he wants for her. All of it comes from that place of love he has for her. I wouldn't say that he does things for her necessarily to turn her heart towards him. It is true though that he wants her heart unequivocally. And what self-respecting man wouldn't?  I doubt that he's willing to share especially with a man who's background and activities are highly suspect to begin with. 

In defence of RY, I think underneath all that bravado she is a good sort of girl. She's a softie for a hard luck story despite the arrogance and posturing. She wants to help everybody and insists on not taking sides. Some of that comes from being a physician of sorts. I can understand the impulse on some level because there are bigger political forces at work that she's quite unaware of. On top of that she is in the middle of a tug-of-war between two men who happen to be in rival camps. Despite her natural intelligence, she doesn't have all the tools to navigate this tumultuous triangular relationship with clarity. Her inability to draw the line in the sand could also possibly be attributed to the fact that she does genuinely feel sorry for SF.

Moreover, she doesn't completely understand XS and how he operates. I'm always struck by how well everyone can see through his actions and see the obvious signs of blossoming romance at play but for one reason or another she is fraught with uncertainty. Is it really a case of once bitten, twice shy? I appreciate her cousin, Ran Yunsheng, for standing in XS' corner and cheering him on the sidelines. He is a much needed sounding board. My conclusion is that her world so far has been small, very black and white, believing that what one sees is always what the truth is. 

It's not the first time that I'm surprised and a little impressed about how broadminded XS' family is about his relationship with her. An obvious contrast with her own upbringing. Despite everything and even though they don't entirely approve of her, they really care about what he likes or wants. Perhaps this broadmindedness translates into his own meritocratic attitude towards her and her abilities. I was thinking when XS was in conversation with his father and stepmother at different times about how much they respect his choices and want to encourage him in them because they actually respect him. It's harder to be sure about the uncle's wife because she has her own agenda but she does seem to be genuinely fond of him. Dad at least seems wise enough to grasp what it is that Song'er sees in this arrogant upstart that goes against conventional proprietary for a family of their status. 

Su Fu has never been for me an obviously bad guy. I wouldn't even consider him an antihero because he is so obviously developed as a foil for the leads. He has his difficulties and yet he has made certain choices which means his trajectory ends up being at odds with RY's. I don't doubt that for him RY is a ray of sunshine in his very bleak existence. Is it just the drugs talking because I'm not clear on why he changed his mind about letting her go. Now he's becoming increasingly possessive and dangerously so.

Miss Truth (2020): Episodes 21-26

One of the first things that happen to RY when she arrives in Chang'an is stumble unwittingly into a homicide. Someone's cleverly inserted human skeletal remains into a faux jade screen and making it bleed. It causes quite a stir and as we expect, the case is given to Xiao Song. He knows quite well who is the best woman for the job of extracting the bone from the screen but seems to believe that she would have nothing to do with him if asked properly. So he does a convoluted thing of tricking her into doing the job for free. Of course there's also the matter that his rival in love has also made his way to the metropolis under a new identity. This raises all kinds of red flags for the suspicious Xiao Song who already has his hands full trying to keep his lady love's attention focused on him.

For a while I wasn't sure whether those two would end up together or that I necessarily needed them together as a couple but after Episode 22, when they are finally working so well together and are so much in sync during the deductions that it would be an absolute tragedy if they didn't end up together. 

It was so funny and so sweet when Xiao Song, broke protocol, volunteered to be her assistant at the autopsy. He knew exactly what to do, setting up her tools etc and he even deftly applied the deodorizers on her cleft palate. I can see why the head of the Board of Punishments, Lord Lu was looking faintly amused by their antics. It did look like they were flirting and I just adored how they replayed their quid pro quo relationship quietly during the set-up. 

It is obvious that neither Xiao Song or Ran Yan is sure what the lady wants. He hopes desperately that she's come to Chang'an because of him. I think it's clear that she does. At the very least she thinks that solving crimes with him has become her calling. But after being burnt by the ex-fiance, she's leery of being so open with her feelings or committing herself so soon to another man. She was given multiple opportunities to divorce XS but she hesitates each time. She could have not gone to Chang'an but she did after being expressly invited to join him there. Then she goes beyond the call of duty to try and sneak into the head of the Ministry of Justice's office to look at documents related to the case. She would most likely have been caught except for the timely intervention of her suitors. When Xiao Song tells her he should punish her for sneaking in and stealing documents, she is adamant that she was only helping him. Then there is the incident with the in-laws. On one side of her mouth she claims she was forced into marrying XS but as soon as the in-laws talk about dissolving the marriage, she protests and insists on being acknowledged as wife #3. Her rationale to him is that she wants to help him investigate the deaths of his late wives because he helped her previously... presumably in her mother's case.

Things get dicey on the home front so XS sends RY back to her cousin's place for her safety. She's really quite miffed and vents at the restaurant about the gender of the goose. Her cousin knows that she's angry about XS taking her home and tells her that things haven't been good at the Xiao household. In response she shows up at the brothel in the middle of a sting declaring to the prostitutes that XS is her man, brandishing a knife in menacing fashion. This makes XS a very happy man and he is quick, as usual, to adapt to the situation. My thesis is that even while she had opportunities to keep away from XS, she kept running back to him. She used the convenient excuse each time that she wanted to help him solve cases to stay at his side. Moreover, each time any one mentioned any of his late wives, she would... as the idiom goes... "be eating vinegar"... get very jealous.

There is a clear shift in her paradigm of operation but she is reluctant to comply with the reality of her own mind. I think XS senses it and asks her to stay... implying that he really wants them to consummate their relationship because he thinks... rightly... that he has finally won her heart. 

Of course, Su Fu interjects himself into the situation and his intervention to get her to cough up the Marquis of Sui's pearl by manipulating her compassionate side leads to the most serious rift between XS and her yet.

This show has resonances of classic Agatha Christie. Even while Xiao Song is on the hunt for the pearl which is inspiring carnage of the first order, the majority of cases so far seem to be about lost love of some kind... something that was an integral part of the Christie oeuvre. Except for the tomb raider murders, the crimes that our romancing detectives stumble onto are cautionary tales of obsession, love triangles and not being able to let go. There's no room for subtlety of any kind evidently. 

Apparently they knew about dissociative personality disorder even in those days. Surprising that people were so broadminded and they didn't think to bring in the priests to exorcise her etc. (Perhaps they did at some point) Ironic though that the man the lady at the centre of it all loved so desperately and couldn't let go off was a bit of a loser that bailed at the first sign of trouble. And the seemingly dodgy husband was the one who really cared for her and kept her secret for all that time.

This is one of the things I love about this drama. It moves. Everything moves. Cases close in record time after our team do their thing. Let's chalk it up to the fact that I've been burnt by C dramas far too many times but I really didn't expect the pearl to be found until Episode 34 at least. But here we are in Episode 26, it's in Xiao Song's hot hands. (And he does have really nice hands) So yeah, the pearl is real and if legend holds true, the owner has access to incredible wealth to do some serious damage.

So what was XS doing in Suzhou then? After all, the pearl was literally in his own backyard. Seems like a waste of time then to have made the trip. Well, not entirely. He had to find the lambskin too and he was under orders to gather clues about the pearl's whereabouts given to him by the Big Man himself. But in reality... going to Suzhou was narratively about him finding another wife. A wife. The third wife. The wife to end all wives. Or rather the wife to end all need for any more wives. Hopefully. Let's hope he's third time lucky. 

XS seems to have a hard time hanging on to women... poor fellow. It's the curse of the pearl being so close to home. I remember when he and RY were trapped in that stuffy ancient tomb waiting to be rescued. He cracked a knowing smile when she said that the death of his two wives probably had nothing to do with misfortune etc. There had to be some earthly explanation for at least one of them. I think he knew then... that she was the one. They were on the same page. He'd met his soulmate. 

Apparently all that love and affection he showered on Wife #2 was all a smokescreen. She was after something and he always knew it. Dear fellow... never lets me down. 

 And RY threw a jealous tantrum all for nothing. 

Miss Truth (2020) : Week 2

The latest and newest 6 episodes have definitely cemented my newfound fervour for this drama and for young Toby who plays Xiao Song. I'm even warming up to Zhou Jie Song who is the titular character. I've gone a bit fanatical and watched the last 6 at least twice already. For some unknown reason it just hits all the right notes with me.  It's not perfect of course. Editing continues to be a problem in C dramas although this is certainly not the worst I've experience. But the OST is actually reasonably good.

I've come to realise in the last couple of years of watching C dramas that often the gems are really to be found amongst those that feature lesser or unknown actors. Maybe it behooves the production team to rely less on star power and more on the writing and storytelling to do the heavy lifting. It's not as if the lesser known actors are talentless either but they're not the primary drawcard I expect.

I don't usually have a problem coming up with the "who" of the whodunnits here but I enjoy finding out the "whys" and the "whats". I'm also somewhat amused that they even managed to insert a serial killing case into the mix anachronistically explained with modern profiling tools.  I refer specifically to the third case that seems to be tied to a traditional Snow Witch folklore.

Because our leads are adamant that there are no supernatural elements involved in this case, we can certainly expect a Scooby Doo outcome at the end of it all. Here our killer or killers seem to have a deep-seated psychological hatred for men and women who are having extra-marital affairs.

As for the progression of the main romance, I'm largely content with how things are progressing. It's probably less common that the FL doesn't fall head over heels with the ML first but it isn't something that never happens either . As someone who isn't normally enamoured with love triangles, this one is actually tolerable and surprisingly well-integrated into the storyline. It doesn't come across as some unnecessary appendage for the most part. It also makes sense why Ran Yan isn't head over heels with Xiao Song because with their respective personalities, they're bound to clash hard at the start. He wants something from her, she drives a hard bargain so he pushes her buttons to make her give in, she does grudgingly. All the makings of a beautiful romance.  Truth be told, she didn't learn to be a coroner just to sit around and twiddle her thumbs. So he understands something about her that she doesn't realise about herself. Still Su Fu is her knight in shining armour future fiance with a sob story so the lonely girl in her is swept off her feet.

Of course I'm not a fan of the screechy step-sister (who could be) who has her eye on Xiao Song as potential husband material. She may have succeeded in getting her hooks into him but Ran Yan's efforts to trigger her is always a guaranteed laugh. Humour also comes from Cui Sang, the genius scholar that's crushing on RY. His plan of being stuck with her in the forest came to naught. Not a contender for suitor, I don't think.  Of course there's the banter between the leads that brightens up the bleakness around them... although lately he seems less inclined because his feelings for her have undoubtedly changed. Their nicknames for each other may have started as teasing and mutual insult but it's gradually becoming more about endearment and intimacy.

One of the surprising things is that Xiao Song confesses so early and then retracts by saying that he tricked her. Avoiding a loss of face? I don't think so. I suppose he did it partly to test the waters and he thinks he knows that RY is in love with SF... at least it's the obvious conclusion to come to. So he retreats. I doubt he's given up completely. Not that he really can if he's drawn to her like a moth to a flame.

It is telling that both men are not properly understood by RY. Given her background and age, it's not surprising. She has an anti-authoritarian streak from being mistreated by her own family so there's a prejudice there and she presumes that what you see is what you get. I also think that she doesn't quite know who she is or what she wants. Although she claims that the Merman puts her in jeopardy, the reality is that she relishes risk-taking. That he knows all too well. Why else would she deal in corpses and go after leads? She's never played it safe even as a child so why start now?

Despite how the odds are stacked against him right now, I still root for Xiao Song to get the girl. Ultimately he's a brilliant nerd that wants to play detective and she's a good fit for him. The other half, in fact.  While he may toy with her at times, he cares for her much more than she realises. Given time, I think she will realise fully that he is someone she can't do without, given his passion and hers.

Miss Truth (2020) : Initial Impressions

It's always a pleasure to find a drama where the leads are intelligent people and that's including the 2ML who has his own agenda. For me, this is the sort of detective drama that when done well surpasses everything else that come out of Cdrama land. The potential is there for that to happen but a lot rests on the writing which is so far pretty good. That said, I didn't think that the Ran Yan character really needed to be that impertinent towards Xiao Song right from Day 1 but it is one of those tropes that seems par for the course especially the show is determined to have the leads at odds in this early phase.

Xiao Song's strategy of course is to toy with her as would befit someone of his foresight and shrewdness as well as an innate self-confidence that comes from being certain of his abilities. Clearly he is a good judge of people and talent among his myriad of skills. On top of that he is rather open-minded for his time, engaging a feisty woman to be his personal forensic pathologists because he knows her skills are extraordinary. His nickname for her is on point: hu li... she can sniff out the details and from what I gather, foxes grip their prey with their canines until they're dead or disemboweled. He seldom takes offence at her outbursts (I imagine it's because he's generally in a superior bargaining position but also he's amused by her antics) and her bark is usually worse than her bite. He's the kind of male character that I relish watching. Not overly garrulous, not overly aloof but sharp and somewhat mischievous. While he toys with the FL, he doesn't feel the need to denigrate her. And that... I really really like. Plus his logical and pragmatic side also seems to override any egotistical tendencies which I also find very attractive. Her nickname for him is Xiao Ren Yu... Fishman Xiao or Merman Xiao because they have a meet cute in a steaming hot bath. All that to say is that her first impression of him is not a joyous one.

Unlike what she thinks initially, he isn't a heartless man even if he pushes her buttons to micro manage her recalcitrance. Her prejudice clouds her judgment somewhat but that gradually softens over time when she realises that he's not just a big shot official throwing his weight around. She's a good partner-in-crime for him not just to cover the forensic pathology side of things but as they deliberate over the cases. Like a Watson to his Holmes.  

Ran Yan's relationship with Su Fu, the 2ML is surprisingly less cliche. He has been set up to be a possible contender in that it is possible she could ride off with him at the end except for the fact that he's involved in some deep dark plot against the throne. He is a sword-carrying, walking bag of angst and, on some level he really does care about her. 

Whether he cares enough to abandon his role in the conspiracy that he's a part of, that remains to be seen. But she is crushing on him at this point so he does seem to be the frontrunner in this love triangle. At the very least she is responding to his gentle nature although his overt threats to kill her doesn't seem to be an impediment to them forming an attachment.

 That said, I can't see why Xiao Song can't be with Ran Yan at the finishing line even if he's handicapped by the fact that Ran Yan is already betrothed to Su Fu and that he's been very "unlucky" with marriage... being twice widowered already. The resolution of all that will be interesting to watch.

As she notes, it might not be anything to do with how his stars are aligned but that might be an explanation much closer to home. That is a telling statement and perhaps there's an avenue that will be explored down the track in the context of the investigations. It's evident that he cares about her beyond the bounds of business and work. The hu li nickname is becoming increasingly a term of endearment especially now that he's given her a jade fox to commemorate their successful working relationship. 

I also like the inclusion of the scholar character as a member of the team. A little bit on the timid side but has a useful skill set as well. Apparently he has picturing ability which should come in handy again.

The cases are nicely constructed and deconstructed by our detectives. This is the sort of thing I wanted more of in Under the Power. They are complex enough to be intriguing but not overly convoluted that they're dragged out unreasonably. The template is something I'm happy to buy into. Individual cases with an overarching storyline that functions separately. Any of that could change of course... but seeing that it's a 36 episode drama, I'm fairly confident we won't be bogged down by too many non-criminal related subplots.