The Wanted Detective

From Badass to Brain-Dead: FL Ruins The Wanted Detective

I came to this drama with expectations. WXY has a solid track record as a male lead, and I was especially excited to see the female lead again after her impressive role as Mu Xingge in Love of the Divine Tree where she was intelligent, sharp, protective, and a total badass. But here? She’s been reduced to the most brainless, irrational character I’ve seen in a while.

She’s known the ML since childhood, but the moment her father dies, she jumps to the dumbest conclusion ever: blames him for murder just because he was there when it happened. That’s it. No evidence, no logic, just vibes. Then fast forward three years, they meet again and what does she do? Poisons him. Yes, poisons her own husband. Why? Because she doesn’t want him to escape. And sure, she intended to use a poison that would only block his martial arts… but.. She “accidentally” gave him a fatal poison with no antidote. Like, girl, are you hearing yourself? What kind of twisted logic is that? Poisoning the man you supposedly still care about? I’m sorry, but this FL isn’t just flawed, she’s straight-up idiotic.

Watching her alone was enough to make me want to throw the whole drama in the bin. The writing made zero sense, her actions were painfully stupid, and the fact that the ML still chased after her, begging for forgiveness for something he didn’t even do? That just made it worse. He deserves better. We all do.

This drama is an insult to intelligence. Hard pass.

**LET ME BE CLEAR: I’m not hating on the actress herself. She’s undeniably talented and has already proven her acting skills especially in LoTDT, where she nailed the role. But in The Wanted Detective? The character she plays is absolute garbage. The personality, the decisions, the logic (or complete lack of it) are just plain stupid. It’s honestly frustrating to watch someone who’s clearly capable as an actress be given such a poorly written, brain-dead role.

Great actress, trash character. Period.

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Too Many Twists, Not Enough Sense

The Wanted Detective starts off fast-paced, which initially made it a bit hard for me to follow — especially with the English translations. As the story progressed, it became increasingly messy and illogical. New clues and twists were thrown in rapidly, making it feel like someone was just adding layers for the sake of complexity rather than coherence. The result was a confusing and overly complicated plot that never quite found its footing.

For my taste, it was also a bit too violent and borderline horror in tone, which didn’t help my enjoyment.

That said, the actors are truly talented. Both leads, only 23 years old, have great potential. I had seen them previously in The Double and Love of the DivineTree, where I thought they shined. Unfortunately, in this drama, I felt their talent was wasted and maybe badly directed.

I couldn’t connect with either the female or male lead characters — they felt unlikable and underdeveloped. I would love to see the male lead in other fantasy or costume dramas, especially something with an "enemies to lovers" dynamic.

Production quality was decent, however, by episode 6, I found myself bored, frustrated, and completely disconnected from the plot, so I decided to drop it.

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Lots of Detectiving (not a real word ?)

Really enjoyed the ML and his friendships, would have enjoyed more of that.

The detective part was on point and lots of dun to watch and try and figure out as the stories evolved.

Only downside was the FL. She seems more to be playing the role of a servant rather than a lead role. Her posture is also not the greatest. Her neck cranes forward a lot and isn’t in alignmnet with her spine, her centre wasn’t strong during this filimjng. There are many short FLs in C dramas, but I never really noticed their height however I did in this and I feel it’s because she just didn’t have any real acting strength in this series. The second, third and fourth female leads were far stronger and more intersting especially the 2nd FL, she could have easily taken the lead role in this.

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Too Boring with Super Annoying FL

I picked this up to fill in my time as I wait for Shadow Love to release all its episodes. I first saw Wang Xingyue in The Double and he was not bad there. Thought i’d give this a try. Turned out it is not my cup of tea. The pacing is too slow, storyline is messy and not intriguing enough, and the FL just annoyed me to bits.

For somebody who grew up with her childhood sweetheart, a fellow disciple who later became her husband, brought up in super elite investigative household, the FL was too damn quick to fall for the framing and blame him for her father’s death. Like don’t you know him enough to suspect that he might have been framed? Did all the evidence including of previous murders really point to his direction other than him being the only survivor at a crime scene with a panic look and inability to speak? And you’d really think had he really been the culprit behind those serial murders, he would serve himself on a silver platter for you to slaughter after conveniently escaping the crime scene, laying low for three years and committing 3 murders again that he can easily walk away from? For real girl? I couldnt stand her illogical, incoherent bearing so am dropping this. I have seen much brighter and sound minded FLs so I couldnt relate to her character that supposed to be a brilliant detective here. I mean come on, she was groomed to be a super detective by the king of detectives, and that is all you can show us of her potential? Of all people, i thought she would be the one who would have assumed that her husband was framed. But noooo. She jumped at him on attack mode at the very first sight! She was so damn cruel to him that I couldnt help to feel sympathy for ML. And to think they’d probably reconcile later is even more frustrating. I know I wouldnt get back with somebody who joins the witchhunt as I got framed, when she of all people shouldve known me better than everyone else, sparing the benefits of a doubt for my sake. Extremely disappointing cuz i was expecting a smart FL. So yeah, not my cup of tea. Moving on to the next drama until Shadow Love completes releasing its episodes.

On a side note, the cast did a really good job in that 4 episodes that I saw. Thats the only redeeming quality that kept my rating from dropping below 4. Good job for the cast but honestly, I’d rather spare myself from getting annoyed and angry with the misunderstanding.

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What a masterpiece!.. until episode 3

Initially, I was really excited to watch this series. I mean, Wang Xing Yue acting as a detective sounded too good to be true. As for Julia Xiang, I was quite excited to watch her again after her fabulous work in 'Love of the Divine Tree '. Safe to say I had high hopes for this drama.

Episodes 1-2 were interesting.. I could see the buildup of the drama and the potential. The acting was good, and the story was direct and smooth. Though the sudden acquisition of the ML being 'Yesha' really took me by surprise. I totally did not expect the blame to shift towards the detective who tried solving the case. Episode 3 totally drowned my expectations. The FL kept the same expression on her face throughout, and the story started to degrade. The ML suddenly appeared out of nowhere after 3 years to face the female lead with 'some' clues. I am talking about the same ML that boasted about solving the case in 3 days. ML is probably the only reason why my ratings aren't lower; his acting made up for a lot of parts. The scene where the FL 'accidentally' poisoned him felt like a rush. Something so serious happened to the ML, and it was taken quite lightly. It was as if she barely felt any remorse. To think that the FL technically married the ML, yet again.. Her doubtful stoic expressions fell short of my expectations.

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Excruciatingly Boring!!!

All I can say is this drama is just too boring to continue watching after 3rd episode. And I agree with others that the idea the FL poisoned her husband the ML right away is purely idiotic and the poison ends up being uncurable like what the heck!!! If she truly believes he killed her father then why not just kill him right away, why bother poisoning him for what??!! What is the writer's logic is this? Also it looks like there is absolutely NO chemistry between the FL and ML. All in all the story line is just boring and dumb, not worth wasting my time to watch 36 episodes of pure boredom!

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Not watchable after 2nd episode

People said that if you don't watch the entire story, you can't give review. I disagree. Well, this is NOT a review of the whole story. JUST the first 3 episodes (I didn't lie - all the information is marked according to kisskh specs) that turned me off regardless of the fact that I like both actors/actress.
I don't randomly sample dramas. I don't watch dramas with actors that I don't like and then give negative reviews. For example, I am not watching the current Immortal Ascension and Sword Rose. I already know I will not like them so I won't even try.

Please don't challenge my review otherwise you will be blocked because I don't have to time to argue. Let's face it: it's just a drama. It's not your life or anything so important that we have to spend time defend the drama.

Reason why I dropped this story:

The framing around the story is ridiculous:
Ep 3: FL said, "only reason I let you live is to hear your story"
Ok so why did she harm him before giving him a chance to explain? She is supposed to have grown up in an investigative home, understands how investigation works, loved him for a long time, understand him so well, etc ...

And what's so annoying is the doctor giving the "wrong" poison. Very contrived!

She didn't give him the benefit of the doubt...
Then as soon as he tells her the real story, she says I don't believe you.
He even said, there should be at least 1 person, who can believe his story -well he's right! rolling eyes!

I feel like this is a rewrite of THE SMILING, PROUD WANDERER when the ML who loves the master's daughter is framed. In this case, the framing is believable. She's not in love with him and believes her new boyfriend!

When the FL acted so illogically, I don't think I can change my perspective to believe that they have chemistry and love each other. Not convincing. Watching 20 more episodes will not convince me that they chemistry.

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what the heck is this writing

i cannot get passed the fact that the FL & ML knew each other since their childhood, got married, found out something was iffy with the sudden death of the people, learned her dad was hiding something which both of them figure out and when tragedy strike and her dad got killed she immediately believe he killed her father. i understand you want to blame someone but for you to act like this person is the most vile human being and not stop and think maybe it was a setup just irks me. Like don’t you know him enough to suspect that he might have been framed? You are a detective so i am sure you have witnessed many cases of people being framed and wronged.
Your dad approved of you both and treated him like his son so i feel hung up on the fact that they made it seems like they don't have history together, so everything feels very fake and not believable to me.
I am really sad and disappointed as i was so excited to watch WXY in this type of drama, i like his acting but haven't had luck with enjoying the stories in his dramas

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Purely Dissappointed: Worst FL, her terrible acting outshined all other good aspects about this show

I had high hopes for this series. But it’s just lame and illogical. The pace of the series is also boring. Three episodes in and the hilight isn’t about the case but only about how stupid FL can be.

The writer really did ruin this show and its characters. FM is wasted. Waste of production and other crews. For ML, even tho his logic for caring after the girl who has zero trust in him doesn’t make sense. The actor did a good job on portraying complex emotions however it wasn’t enough for him along to carry the show. ML and FL have no chemistry. Basically FL failed to bring her character to life. She has only one emotion on her face and that is blank. Other supporting actors did an ok job. Deng Kai’s screen presence is strong here. He often steels the attention whenever he appears on screen.

Production is good. Good lighting and scenery. Music somehow doesn’t complement the script.

Watching this show is equal to watching a fight between Wang Xingyue to carry this show and watching Julia Xiang kill it considering the other aspects are moderate. She is just there to say her lines like a puppet and her damage is so strong that it’s painful to keep watching for the sake of the crime solving progress.

All in all, the storyline and unsuitable lead actress really complement each other to make this worse than it should’ve been. Rather than forcing someone into the role it’s better to choose someone else who can carry it.

Story wise, it’s worth watching towards the end considering all the twists and turns of the case. All you have to do is endure the first half of the series to experience the fun part towards the end

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Fast-paced Investigation/Mystery series with a rather dark tone

PLOT: The ML, a brilliant investigator, is to marry the FL, daughter of his mentor (head of Secret Agency 1). However, on the wedding day, five high-ranking officials (including the FL's father) are horrifically killed, and the ML is accused of these murders. He disappears for three years. A series of murders continues. When the ML returns, he faces the FL's distrust, but gradually gains her trust again and the trust of her partners (coroner, friends, etc.).

+++ the ML (Wang Xing Yue), handsome, charismatic, and moving.
+++ Very good actors, convincing, endearing, bringing to life some rather gray characters (they all have heavy pasts :)
+++ Excellent OSTs, incredibly creepy
+++ Lively and effective direction, with great effects, framing, lighting, sets, etc.

### Quite a convoluted storyline, deliberately gory
### Very little room for romance (suggested, only one kiss)
### Quite a few plot holes and some coincidences are a bit too obvious.

=> Good historical investigation/mystery series.
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Série rythmée Investigation / Mystère au ton assez sombre

PLOT: Le ML, enquêteur de génie, doit épouser la FL, fille de son mentor (chef de l'Agence secrète 1). Cpdt, le jour du mariage, 5 gds officiels (dont le père de la FL) sont tués d'1 façon atroce, et le ML est accusé de ces meurtres. Il disparait pdt 3 ans. Des séries de meurtres continuent. Qd le ML revient, il affronte la méfiance de la FL, mais gagne peu à peu sa confiance et celle de partenaires (coroner, amie, etc.).

+++ le ML (Wang Xing Yue), beau, charismatique, émouvant.
+++ Très bons acteurs, convaincants, attachants, donnant vie à des personnages plutôt gris (ils ont tous de lourdes valises :)
+++ Excellentes OSTs, flippantes à souhait
+++ Réalis° vive et efficace, avec greats effects, cadrages, lumières, décors, ...

### Storyline assez tortueuse, volontairement sanglante
### Très peu de place pr la romance (suggérée, 1 seul kiss)
### Pas mal de plotholes et coïncidences un peu trop évidentes.

=> Bonne série historique d'investigation / Mystère.

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Unexpectedly good

At first i was skeptical of how this shows turns out. How i dislike FL at first for even though i like strong FL, i hate unreasonable women the most, and i find ZKY as a rival for ML is a menace.

But as the story progresses, FL gotten even smarter, ZKY looks aggresive, yet i finally notice his subtle admiration to ML’s ability (although ZKY is also smart). I like ZKY character development so much that he might be the character i like the most throughout this series. I have no other reason to held my dislike on this series anymore.

Character development for all the leads and supports in this series is so great, although the mystery solving is laced with fantasy aspects, it all fit to answers all the questions. Of course nothing could be called perfect, but i have to say the delivery for this series is almost there.

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