This review may contain spoilers
Let go of the past or drown in it
I decided to watch because of Dou Xiao (Shawn Dou) being in a leading role. He is a really talented actor that I first came to know from his amazing role in Princess Agents as Yan Xun gege. However unfortunately he has previously had several roles in dramas that were not really super good, the plots and directing were not excellent, he deserved better. Lately he has been having much better roles that allow the viewers to see his skills and talent (The Lichi Road, small role, but still awesome; Kill My Sins, lead role, very good). After watching this drama I am happy he got yet another role and drama that allowed him to show off and to stretch his scope. This was first of his roles I have watched where he plays the bad guy. I felt a bit uneasy seeing him in such a role, but soon enough he swept me away with incredible acting and impeccable interpretation of his role. He manages to make the viewer understand him and even care about him, feel the heart ache for him, even though he is at the same time extremely evil. This is something that only an excellent actor or actress can achieve.I am also happy to have gotten to know a new Chinese actor through this drama, Duan Yi Hong, who plays the other male lead. He immediately became a favorite actor, absolutely genius acting. He really brings to life his character with all the little details he shows, characteristics and habits of his that make his role feel so realistic and geniously explain what it is like for him to be this weird criminal study genius who can understand the minds of the criminals and easily notice things others miss and this way catch the criminals who otherwise would slip through the police's fingers. Very pleasant to watch him acting, and his relationship with his ex-wife was just the cherry on the cake for me, the couple that were divorced but yet still loved each other and kept being drawn back to each other in the middle of all the investigation and dangers without being annoying or stealing away from the main plot.
I noticed some comments in the comment section saying viewers were confused by the plot and found it difficult to understand. I myself had no such problems, maybe because I've watched so many crime dramas and movies before, so I find it easy to follow even a complicated case depicted in a crime drama. I would recommend watching this in one go or almost in one go, maybe within a couple of days, so the plot stays fresh in your mind and it is easier to remember and keep in mind what happened, so as to not get confused. This does require using those brain cells in your head, you need to pay attention and follow closely to form a full perspective of what's going on. It's not really a lazy half hearted watch while at the same time doing something else or a drama where you can just skip scenes and still easily follow the plot.
SPOILER ALERT, DO NOT CONTINUE IF YOU DO NOT WISH TO KNOW THE PLOT!
Here come spoilers, so if anyone finds it difficult to follow the plot, one can read this and better understand:
Back in the day a boy called Xu Jing Zhi got kidnapped and given a new name, Lu Yuan, as he was sold to a family that already had a younger boy named Lu Ran. They encountered bad things, but kept each other company and had a brotherly connection. Lu Ran's mother was a kidnapped lady herself, and had gotten pregnant with Lu Ran after being molested by her kidnapper, who was also Lu Ran's father. With such a beginning, Lu Ran did not experience love at home. His father was an evil criminal, his mother hated him because of how he got concieved, him being a constant reminder to her of her sufferings. After some time had passed, the intelligent boy Xu Jing Zhi (aka Lu Yuan) found a way to escape. Unfortunately he could not manage to save Lu Ran and take him with him but was forced to leave him in that disfunctional family, as he himself was rescued and brought back to his family.
Xu Jing Zhi had done everything he could to help catch the human traffickers, drawing their faces for the police. He kept coming to the police station trying to ask for help for Lu Ran, but other than Lu Ran's father, the human traffickers were not caught, and Lu Ran's nightmare continued. As his father was in prison, Lu Ran then grew up with his mother who took out all her anger and resentment on him torturing him psychologically and emotionally.
Xu Jing Zhi, affected by his kidnapping experience as a child, grew up into a very intelligent man and applied to the police academy ending up being a detective. He kept in touch with Lu Ran, trying to teach him and guide him. Unfortunately Lu Ran had grown in such a crooked environment that despite of Xu Jing Zhi's care he started to become twisted already at a young age. While Xu Jing Zhi was interested in crimes from the perspective of catching criminals and preventing crime, Lu Ran took interest in his "older brother's" Xu Jing Zhi's notes and studies about crimes as a way to learn how to commit perfect crimes.
One time as a young boy Lu Ran realises his mother's hatred towards him has gotten to the point that she actually wants him gone for good by trying to poison him to death. The viewers never find out if this suspicion of Lu Ran's was true or if it was the product of his tortured twisted mind, however, it was real for him. Something then happens that leads to Lu Ran's mother's death. Xu Jing Zhi is called to the scene by Lu Ran. With his intelligence he notices small little hints and details that something is off but he is unable to piece the truth together because of his personal attachement to Lu Ran. The case becomes his obsession for years, leading even to his divorce from his detective wife, as his own mental health started to suffer and he began to see paralysingly disabilitating nightmares, even when awake. Lu Ran picks up on the fact that Xu Jing Zhi saw something about the death of his mother that didn't fit the official explanation, and finally decides to go abroad to study to get away from him.
While abroad, Lu Ran's mind keeps getting more twisted, as he realizes he is good at noticing people with dark secrets and desires and manipulating them into doing what he wants them to do. From the university he finds a suicidal student, and manipulates him into allowing him to switch identities with him after he has switched the data of their DNA's with each other. The official story is Lu Ran has died abroad even though it was the suicidal student Zhuang Ming Cheng, and after finishing his studies, the one who returns to China is now called Zhuang Ming Cheng, even though he is actually Lu Ran.
Obsessed with his past, unable to escape the cage in his mind, Zhuang Ming Cheng aka Lu Ran begans hunting down everyone who he wants to pay for his sufferings. He often seems to be a good samaritan, helping other suffering people, even rescuing sometimes someone, but everything he ever does is motivated by his incredibly strong need for revenge. In his mind, Xu Jing Zhi is a brother to him, someone he needs and loves, the only one who ever cared about him and the only one who ever made him feel safe, but also someone he blames for leaving him behind, feeling that he should be punished for abandoning him. He doesn't understand love, only obsession, and he finds ways to get close to Xu Jing Zhi and following him around, as if playing a game with him.
Zhuang Ming Cheng (Lu Ran) orchestrates elaborate crimes through manipulating other people to work for him. Xu Jing Zhi returns to the police force to help with the peculiar cases with his keen insight. Xu Jing Zhi follows the trail left behind by Zhuang Ming Cheng, who uncovers the evidence of the crimes committed by the human traffickers leading the police to catch them, and for a while it almost seems like he is helping the police and doing good deeds. That illusion does not last long, as he intentionally leads Xu Jing Zhi to uncover his real identity, wanting to pull him into his world of revenge with him and give him his acceptance despite of the choices he has made. He longs for Xu Jing Zhi's unconditional family love but when he can not get it due to Xu Jing Zhi having a conscience and rejecting him (telling him he is not his brother), Zhuang Ming Cheng finally snaps and attacks Xu Jing Zhi, and then later kills someone innocent as collateral damage, abandoning entirely any and all concepts of right and wrong. He tries to push Xu Jing Zhi into choosing between him and his ex-wife, and the confrontation escalates until finally Xu Jing Zhi finds a way to get through to him.
The story highlights the need of caring loving adults in the lives of young children to help them grow right and prevent their minds from being broken. At first, it seems that Xu Jing Zhi and Lu Ran experienced the same bad thing happening to them as children, but later one realises that Lu Ran went through much worse than Xu Jing Zhi ever did, starting from his identity being the product of a sexual assault and the target of his mother's bitter hatred, all the way to Xu Jing Zhi getting rescued and taken away from the nightmare whereas Lu Ran felt completely abandoned even by the one person who promised to be there for him. Xu Jing Zhi himself later mentions, that he had thought perhaps Lu Ran could come around and let go of his past just like he had until he realized that Lu Ran never had the opportunities and the good adults around him to allow him to be pulled out of the darkness.
The story also asks the question, whether Lu Ran really ever even had a choice, or if he was inevitable going to end up becoming the criminal master mind that he became. He constantly drowns into his past sufferings, unable to move on, stuck in the injustices and self-destructing his own life. Despite of the horrific incidents happening, Xu Jing Zhi manages to find a way out of his nightmares and back to his beloved wife. Finally, it seems like everyone else also eventually finds some sort of peace, as the criminals are brought to justice and punished for what they did. However, whether it was revenge or letting go of the past that more effectively brought the victims closure remains unclear.
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