Watch this.
I read the reviews before watching this. I've used this site many times before choosing my next drama. I ALMOST passed on this one and that would have been tragic. Anyone not rating this above an 8 clearly missed the point. The story is brilliant. Yes, it twists around on itself more than once. Classic "who is the villain" that loops like a snake eating it's tail. This had the potential to be redundant but they did it smart. At no point was it tedious because the clues they left you were so carefully placed, it was fun to play along. There was just enough romance to make those who prefer the strong romantic elements of the guy getting the girl, giddy happy. I'm one of those. I love it when the guy gets the girl. I was not disappointed.The biggest aspect of this drama... a story that finally let the characters be who they are. I love that about Asian story telling. I'm an American and I loathe the way we treat our characters. We write these wonderful heroes and fantastic heroines... then we destroy them. Even if we let them win the day, the damage is done. Nothing is more American than watching the hero fail and fall but to rise again. We can't believe it unless there is some flaw or fault to overcome before earning the title of savior. It's almost like we can't allow anyone to be that good. It's never made sense to me and usually just pisses me off.
I absolutely LOVED that the ML was allowed to be as good as he thinks he is. As good as he's appeared to be throughout. No tricks. No slights. No candidly written plot devices where he has to remember who he is. He does what he says and says what he does. He's the hero who just really is. Just as much, the FL didn't waver. She made a choice, early, and stuck with it. I had more respect for her and cherished how steadfast she was. She was the perfect match for him, for that very reason. She believes him. In him. Without question. An earlier review said the ML lost himself and became someone else after falling for the FL. I disagree. Completely. I'm not sure how anyone watched this and didn't see the same drive and brilliance in him... but with more focus. The writing and the actor balanced it well and it was believable that he went from confused and awkward and weird to acting like someone who actually cares. He made a choice. And within the parameters of his character, he did the expected. He analyzed the situation, came to a conclusion, and acted accordingly. The entire series is him doing just that. Why would anyone need him to continue to struggle when he was clearly smart enough not to.
I applaud the tension building, the plot transitions, and the carefully crafted elements that came together in the end. I don't want to spoil anything, I loved every moment of this story. The only cons... because nothing is perfect... some of the side actors were, umm, new. Small hiccups in dialogue and the accents on supposedly American players will fool no one. Also, they did rely a bit on behind the scenes activity. Bringing it out after the climax of the moment as a flashback. It didn't take away, so much, but it did hollow out the moment enough that I noticed. I trimmed a single point for this.
Over all, I give this a 9 because the main cast was wonderful. The story was smart and enjoyable and tense and all the things I needed it to be coming from years of watching every American crime drama that has ever aired. This held it's own. The romance was spot on being cute at times, sweet at others, and completely without guise. I finally made an account on this site just to review this one. I recommend this. Highly. I loved every second of it.
Was this review helpful to you?
Perfect blend of mystery & suspense & romance
Usually mystery and suspense dramas have little romance or don’t put the proper time and energy into the romance for it to touch the audience. And romance dramas often try to incorporate mystery and suspense into the storyline but fail miserably because so much focus is put on the romance. But this drama somehow fuses both mystery & suspense and romance seamlessly into an intoxicating drama you will binge watch.The male lead is a genius criminal profiler that can take one look at a crime scene and tell you all about the person that perpetrated the crime including his personality and lifestyle. He specializes in catching serial killers so he needs to stay focused with no distractions so further deaths can be prevented. But despite his high IQ he has problems interacting with others due to his low EQ. So when the female lead steps in as his assistant to help deal with people and handle all of the small tasks for him, they find that they work really well together. Watching the male lead learn so much about himself and grow as a character was touching. And I loved how the female lead was strong, smart, and loyal instead of the silly and dumb female leads we often see. There are some really great side characters that you’ll love like the male leads best friend and their great bromance. Or the female leads childhood friend whose loyalty is so touching. Then there’s the bad guys that are just so great in their acting with their over the top crazy evil villains they portray so well that I just can’t even put it into words. I was really impressed with the acting in this drama.
The storyline and suspense in this drama will not disappoint you. There are so many twists and turns you will never guess who is good and who is bad and who is behind it all till the very end. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. So it was nice when the sweet romantic moments would periodically pop up and slow things down so I could relax a bit. There are some nice kisses, hugs, and touching scenes between the leads. You could feel their chemistry and their romance was very endearing.
The one thing that might put off some would be the grisly crime scenes and murders. When the male lead is figuring out what happened at a crime scene he often imagines himself as the criminal and re-enacts the crime in his head. So we often see these re-enactments which are gruesome and detailed. It didn’t really bother me but it might bother you so be forewarned.
Overall this is an amazing drama that seamlessly fuses two genres together into one cohesive and addicting show that’s hard to stop watching. If there were less blood, gore, violence and disturbing crime scene footage I would have given it ten stars. But if you’re okay with that type of stuff then this is the drama for you. It has a unique storyline, excellent acting, a good romance, and lots of character growth. I don’t often rewatch shows but I had to go back and enjoy this one again.
Was this review helpful to you?
Was this review helpful to you?
I've want to watch this drama for quite sometime, but just like what i've expected, i must prepare my heart for all the intense & anticipation in this drama. Right now i've fed up & bored enough for watch all the romance drama, so this why i decided to watch this drama.
The ending of this drama far beyond what i expected. But what a perfect ending for this drama. Very good & interesting drama for you who looked for something different. But prepare your heart & mind, because this drama will sometimes make u question about ur insanity.
The only lack in this drama is: the language. When they're in U.S. it just like everyone automatically speak or at least understand chinese... Yeah the foreigner reply with english, but when the main cast speak they still speak in mandarin. What a perfect world where everyone understand ur language... ^_^
Was this review helpful to you?
2 different TV shows
After completing the drama I have very mixed opinions. The story is about a brilliant criminal psychologist and the just out of college assistant that he hires. The two work together to solves cases which evolve into one giant case. That is all I will say on the story for those planning on watching.First the acting is fantastic, well at least Wallace Huo, who was just incredible as the main character playing a wide range of emotions throughout. I gave the acting a high rating because of him and what I consider the other 2 leads or his inner circle. The issue is that the "american" actors were terrible and I have no idea what the accent was they were speaking with.
Now for the critique. I absolutely loved the first half of the show. The main character was interesting and his interactions with his assistant and his bff where funny and really well done. The cases were interesting but what kept you going was the relationship of the 3 - Bo Jinyan, his assistant and love interest Jian Yao, and his best friend Fu Zi. Once it morphed the larger case it was less about the characters and more about the big bad person. While I watched and was semi-interested for the last like 8 episodes, I missed the first part of the show which had humor and characters. Bo Jinyan became something different as he became involved in the case and his interactions with his assistant / girlfriend was almost non-existent.
Although, I did laughed out loud at how badly the FBI was portrayed - I mean using a towel to wipe up blood does not remove DNA traces, and I am not sure I liked the implication of the last scene. So there was some humor in the last story arch - it just wasn't;t supposed to be funny,
So overall a 7.5 - first 15 or so episodes were great and I would re-watch, the second half was just ok.
Was this review helpful to you?
10 out of 10 recommend
Wow! If you like a show that will keep you on the edge of your seats with suspense, this is the show for you. Its a crime drama with a sprinkle of romance, what a perfect combination. A criminal profiler and his assistant grows closer as they solve cases that may or not be all linked. It’s a suspenseful show, but it does have some comedic moments to break the tension. The chemistry between Wallace Huo and Sandra Ma is like fireworks, and I know they had done another project after this one as well. This show I do recommend.I watched this on Amazon Prime and subtitles are available.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Just watch the first 13-14 episodes and then drop it!
Based on the 8.4 MDL rating, I think this drama is extremely overrated. I mean sure the first 15 episodes were pretty good, a solid 8/10. As a procedural crime drama it was not the best thing I have ever seen, but up to ep15 it was at least decent. "Case of the week" is a nice well proven format and it was nice to see the crew working on different cases, they got the Sherlock-Watson thing down to a T.The cdrama romance was fine too up to that point, totally my cup of tea. The triangle was handled well too, it was not too bothersome. There were all kinds of fun, cute and fluffy things. Up to that turning point the balance of romance and crime was about 50-50, they maintained a nice balance there..
Following episode 14-15 the total amount of romance that happens in the drama amounts to about 15 minutes. There is no breakup or anything like that, the OTP just doesn't interact with one another. I could swallow that with some difficulty, I am capable of enjoying pure crime dramas, I loved The Mentalist for example. Unfortunately the crime related story in the last 10 episodes is just completely silly. I'm sensing that the (script?)writer was trying to go for some kind of Death Note thing. First battle with L & then battle with L2 and lo and behold L2 is.. However the execution is terrible, these people are supposed to be highly intelligent waging a sophisticated battle of wits, instead the clue solving feels really arbitrary. Let's not even talk about the weird stereotypical foreign actors and their monotone super strange dubbed voice. (or how Chinese people talk to Americans in this show)
I gotta give it to the production crew though it's rare to see something like this on Chinese TV. I'm extremely surprised the censors let this go on air like this. People get shot, cut and just there is quite a bit of aggression overall. I thought cdramas like this one cannot be made.
If you have not seen this yet, my recommendation is to just watch the first 13-14 episodes (up until they get together) and then maybe watch the last 8-10 minutes of the final episode and after that if you are still not satisfied just read the webnovel, it has a much nicer ending, with many nice things that were omitted from the drama.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Outstanding & Worthy ReWatch
This was beyond my expectation. I generally follow more current dramas, but reading the reviews stimulated my interest. This drama kept me on my toes had good twist with happy ending. If I didn't know it had a happy ending, I would had avoided watching. Wallace Huo & Sandra Ma were spectacular & believable. Love to see more of them cast together. A Very Good Looking Main & Supporting Cast. The 2nd & 3rd romantic couples had good potential. Would like to see a sequel to the 3 couples & a happy romance for the detective. This drama covered mystery crime, romance, & the right touch of humorous one liners.Lastly, the songs set the viewers into the right temple.
Definitely Worth ReWatching. Kudos to the Writers, Producers, Directors, Filming Crew, Cast Members, & All Associated With The Making Of This Drama! Thank You!
Was this review helpful to you?
I'm someone who prefers shorter reviews which help me decide straight away whether to watch a show or not, so I'm aiming to keep this short and simple!
Disclaimer: I'm a sucker for romances, especially the high school settings. So watching a very intense crime-mystery focused show was something different, but enjoyable.
In one sentence;
Love Me If You Dare was overall a very interesting story, it kept me wanting to know more with it's immersive writing and storyline, I couldn't help binging this show in just a few days :0
I found the first half of the series (till ep ~15) really great, in these cases I was guessing along with our main character, Jian Yao, and trying to solve the mysteries. However, after these smaller cases were over, that's when I found that everything started to slightly change? The explanations were slightly far fetched for me, and they continued to use this //one// certain twist just one too many times!! By the time I sensed a change in the series (it really wasn't a huuge change!), I just continued the drama more for the sake of finishing it and wanted to know the ending. The romance was fluffy, I found it incredibly awkward and cringey (in a good way xD), but this romance aspect is less focused on after this midway point as well.
Acting: Wallace Huo was really stunning really haha, it was my first time watching a drama with him! Sandra Ma was a bit hmmm soft spoken for me? It might be her character, but for me it fell a bit on the weak, crying character, especially evident in the second half. I wish she continued to display her courageous and smart thinking throughout the rest of the series. The actors Andrew Lin (Yi Zu) and Wang Kai (Xun Ran) were the best!
Music: Nothing special sadly :/ Not memorable for me. The opening song sounds like your usual dramatic, crime show music.
Fav charas: Fu Zi Yu and Li Xun Ran!! They deserve more love <3
Recommendation: Yep go for it! With a solid rating of 7.5/10, I'd recommend this based on my overall interest and good writing of this show.
Was this review helpful to you?
Highly recommended Chinese Thriller/Mystery series
I'm happy that i trusted the MDL's recommendation and i got to see this series. This is one of the Thriller/crime/mystery series that can make you fully awake at night because you wanted to solve the case before you close your eyes. Some of the scenes are mind blowing and the psychological analysis really made sense.I love the suspense and the the twists in the story. The actors have a really good chemistry, not only the leads but same with the support.
Just an advise of you will watch this series and you have fear of gruesome death and blood, you have to think twice. Other than that it's worth watching!
Was this review helpful to you?
As for Jenny's character she is too pretty and too little naive but their chemistry and comfort is mind blowing... Usually such characters over shadowed by the male lead but she filled her character with different shades... Her love friendship and her past experience made her strong... She smiled acted naughty and all shy but when it comes to compatibility she is no less than her partner... She solved cases and figured out the things which other can't even think...
The unique car idea is lovely and I wish to have a friend who gift me such an amazing Audi....
Good luck guys... If you get to know about killer come to share with me... Let's see where and how you caught him...
Was this review helpful to you?
Well paced script with unique twists; crime, action and romance
Wow! I’ve binged this after coincidentally coming across this show, although I do think it went a bit “downwards” towards the end.Although the “genius, cold on the outside” ML character is quite typical, the acting and storytelling is very good.
I find the production to be well made in most aspects.
Even if it is a mix of different familiar plots from various movies and shows, the script is well paced and with unique twists. There are some weaknesses in the story, and some things leaves questions. Like what on earth does his friend do for a living, since it appears he can do whatever he wants. And without giving away a spoiler, ML did mention a crucial point about the perps abilities that it felt like they all forgot or overlooked later.
As for the FL character, she kind of disappeared/weakened a bit. I wish they had let her have a stronger presence, although the story revolved more around ML as it went on.
I watched this on Viki, and it was annoying that the subtitle credit popped up WAY too often, and there are some translations (English) that are misspelled and others that appeared to be a bit poorly translated.
Was this review helpful to you?
