Lens of Obsession or Rationality
This will be a short review, as revealing too many details would take away the thrill and suspense. If you enjoy a well-crafted psychological drama, this one is definitely worth watching.I recommend it not only for its intriguing storytelling and the unexpected twists in every episode, but also for the fantastic acting and undeniable chemistry among the cast. If you’re familiar with Qin Jun Jie, you might recognize him from the underrated yet excellent drama Hero. Here, you’ll see several familiar faces from that series, and their natural chemistry truly elevates the show.
As the synopsis suggests, the story begins with an investigation into a missing ex-girlfriend, which slowly spirals into obsession as more suspicious clues emerge. The main lead, Yang Zheng Hui (aka Da Hui Hui), a full-time detective blogger, becomes entangled with Zeng Jie (played brilliantly by Wang Duo), his wife Bai Xiao Ling (Maggie Huang, who gives an equally compelling performance), the police officer Li De, and the lawyer Zhang Ye. I especially loved the friendship that developed between Da Hui Hui and Li De—it added warmth and depth amidst all the tension.
Kudos to Qin Jun Jie, Wang Duo, and Maggie Huang for their exceptional performances—especially Wang Duo, who shines as a complex, morally grey character.
The storytelling perspective is particularly well done: we begin through Da Hui Hui’s eyes, then shift to the perpetrator’s point of view, and finally reach a neutral perspective through Li De as the evidence unfolds. I noted that episode 15 felt like the author’s intended ending, but episode 16 adds a meaningful layer—showing how every crime leaves behind loopholes, and prompting us to question whether we analyze things rationally or through our own biases.
One of the strongest messages here is that revenge should never be taken into one’s own hands.
Another reason this drama stands out is its excellent direction and cinematography. The framing and camera angles heighten the intensity and tension of each scene, making the viewing experience even more captivating.
In short, this is a gripping psychological drama—intelligent, emotional, and beautifully executed. Highly recommended, just don’t fast forward and avoid skip watch as you will miss the details.
Was this review helpful to you?
2Eclectic cocktail that blends goofy comedy and deadly suspense
‒Short Unspoiled Review‒This is a drama with a distinct storytelling style that I've yet seen in crime dramas. It seamlessly blends a laidback, whimsical comedic style with a deadly criminal investigation. Given this odd combination, it's easy to botch the tenor and pacing, yet the director will keep you waltzing along to his unique style, while appreciating his idiosyncratic visual styling.
Unlike most psychological suspense stories, this maintains the suspense and cerebral speculation without making the experience feel too serious and weighty. As a result, this is an easy to watch, easy to binge drama, while still filled with intelligent twists.
The actors all did a solid job, while fitting into the slightly absurdist mood of the drama. Though compared to my other favorite entries like 'Interlaced Scenes', 'Beloved', 'The Bad Kids', and others, this lacks the same level of poignant characters and social commentary.
Ultimately I really appreciated the originality of the storytelling and cinematography. I hope more dramas will follow suit and more viewers (esp in China) will tune in to such shows. Without traffic actors and expensive sets, this show managed to deliver a gem on probably moderate budget.
--Category Ratings--
- Overall - 8.1 -> 8.5 MDL
- Plot - 8
- Theme / Concept / Impact - 8
- Acting - 8.2
- Visuals - 8.5
- Audio / Music - 8
- Rewatch - 7
- Cultural/Topical Accessibility - 8.5
- Subtitle quality - 8.5
Was this review helpful to you?
Enchanting and mentally stimulating artwork, great in every aspect
The first drama I've watched (and rewatched) from the first to the last second, intro and outro included. Excellent direction, pacing and balance between suspence and distension, care for details, lights, settings, camera frames...The plot is apparently simple: after discovering his ex is missing, an underdog (blogger with passion for investigations nicknamed Da Hui Hui) starts to suspect she was killed by a renowned ceramic artist and a rising young prof (Zeng Jie) with "tending to perfection" as his Leitmotiv. DHH befriends a policeman (Li De) who believes "only in evidence" and initially doubts his "logic behind truth" (which is also the name of DHH's blog-channel) but is intrigued by his sense for details and deduction methods based on clues, assumptions, leads and circumstantial reasoning. Their explicative dialogues are intermittently inserted in action scenes regarding mainly the life and the personality of the artist DHH intends to "debunk" and DHH's flashbacks regarding his ex. Gradually, DHH discovers that behind the well-cured image of a sophisticated artist "tending to perfection", self-confident and socially respectable person, ZJ is an insecure person, womanizer, social climber and money-grabber in an unhappy marriage with a rich woman who helps him to maintain the respectable image in public, but belittles him in private, triggering his terror of poverty and aggressivity. The life of this couple (and in particular the life of ZJ) is meticulously scrutinized and displayed through numerous flashbacks, containing incredible findings, twists and clues, steadily complicating the story, like drops of rain gradually enlarging the crater and flowing further on.
Fluid elements are omnipresent and aesthetically excellently employed: the rain scenes, the ocean light effects in DHH living room/studio, close shots of intoxicating liquids being poured in glasses... conveying the sense of slippery, of danger, of a vague dream and making us doubt of what we see. To pay his tuition, ZJ painted countless copies of Monet's "Sunrise, impression" - ofc. the choice of this painting wasn't casual: its unique haziness inhences the sensation that the reality we see is just a blury vision of what impressed us the most.
All scenes are perfectly lighted and staged, cured in details, often set as theatrical stages with all actors performing great. But there's ONE...
UNFORGETTABLE scene: ZJ's monologue, brilliantly delivered by Wang Duo, in the shed where he painted Monet's reproductions. Young and poor ZJ gets drunk for the first time. He has just won his first important award and heard that his hard-working father was celebrating it with his colleagues in a distant place where he worked. He buys a bottle of cheapest booze, returns to the shed, gets stoned seeing the sea from the painting pouring down and talking to himself, disjointly commenting who knows what (the painting, his poverty, his parents' unreasonable ambition?), creating the following couplets: "Harmony blending light with dust/ Dust blinding my vision /Vision blurred by arrogance". That's the moment in which we realize ZJ is a true artist, he is not just posing as one. Vulnerable, desperate and drunkly aware that recognition seeking will be his curse. A rare moment in which he is truly himself, not pretending. Smth truly memorable, a must watch scene.
The choice of music is not extensive but is good, in particular the melanchonic song in English.
Ofc., there were certain "blemish flaws" even in such a "tending to perfection" drama. The story covered a good part of ZJ's life but left certain "tiny holes" (why his parents were so ambitious, expecting from him to sacrifice everything and everybody, even them, for success? his inspirations and creativity remained blurred, as well as his relation with the older rich lady in a moment of his crucial characterial transformation...). The ending report of trial verdicts was totally unnecessary. Besides, one in particular, containing a HUGE legal error, got on my nerves. Hand-made reproductions of famous paintings ARE NOT ILLEGAL as long as the original work is in the public domain (and all Impressionists' works are sufficiently old to be in public domain), and can be legally copied, even for sale (ofc. as copies not as originals, selling them as originals would be a fraud). So, the sentence inflicted to the painting village was not only unnecessary but silly, laughable! Whoever added those sentences misinforming about the legality of this line of work should be fired if not sent to serve exactly the same punishment.
Was this review helpful to you?
This review may contain spoilers
Nobody is perfect as everybody has blemish flaws
Spoiler AlertThis drama started off when the ML, DH ,a amateur detective blogger, realized that his ex-girlfriend, LW, a livestreamer, was missing posts for nearly a year. He reported her as missing and subsequently befriended a police officer who became sort of investigative consultant for him. He discovered that ZJ, a gifted potter who was married to a disabled heiress BXL, was LW's married lover. He purposefully made friends with her and discovered the dubious circumstances that resulted in her disability a few years prior. He became increasingly worried about LW until one day he saw her out on the street. She gave him an airy, casual shrug in response to his question about why she had abruptly stopped, saying that she had severed her ties to her former life and was now content with her new way of living. Later BXL told him that LW was double- faced for she had initially hired her to seduce her husband to get evidence for divorce. But LW double-crossed her and got both husband and wife money hence able to live comfortably now. BXL, her plans in disarray ,planned and carried out killing off her gold-digger cheating husband.
The final time reversal twist at the last episode has a pleasing 2nd alternative ending. Drama all along had hinted that double-faced LW always appeared full of double hidden meanings. She appeared in the 2nd ending. From her 1st fake accidental meeting with ZJ which was planned by BXL to ZJ telling her his delight in breaking his masterpiece vase which he had long wanted to destroy because it had a blemish flaw. Nothing is perfect for there hidden flaws .BXL, was so full of hatred of being cheated of money and love that she wanted revenge but if she had accepted that she's not perfect even if she most popular girl in campus because of her looks and brain can get cheated by a gold-digger country boy. ZJ, that gold-digger cheating husband was a poor struggling artist until he met a rich and older divorcee who became his sugar mummy. Because she was a bored socialite she played Pygmalion , corrupting his values and fending his ego ,ambition and greed to become charming and cultured gold digger hence killing his 1st wife. Only in prison did he realized his 1st wife truly love him despite his flaw of impotency for all his girlfriends left him. He was always insecure and sometimes take it out on BXL. Only the 3rd couple, Tracy and her rough layabout boyfriend have happiness for she realized he loved her with her flaw of being a cripple; finding money for her expensive treatments and visiting daily bringing meals for her. Nobody is perfect as everybody has flaws including oneself and accepting that then life becomes happier .
Was this review helpful to you?
