Under the Cover (2025)

A trip to Crime-Island

A fantastic start! The first half completely blew me away. I’m not used to dramas like this from China, so it was a very pleasant surprise.

The story hooked me immediately and kept me on the edge of my seat for about two-thirds of the series:

Han Chuan, our cop main lead, is looking for his missing sister and ends up shipped off to an island to work. The work, of course, is illegal: there are scammers, trafficers and other scum. He pretends to be one of their kind as to not get dicovered, and secretly searches for his sister and also tries to contact his collegues outside. The drama shows some graphic violence, but only like 3-5 scenes, the rest is pretty much safe to watch, even for the weak-hearted, I'd say.

The acting of the cast ranges from decent to unexpectly outstanding, especially from the ML. Hei Ze was able to show his talent and potential. I was impressed, to say the least. The cast in general was a good choice.

Another strong point was the cinematography. I find those darker, messier and greenish-colored settings so very enchanting tbh. Also, the building and the rooms were really well done. The music was always fitting and supporting the vibe.

There were a few plot points I didn't quite buy tho. Like the handwave at the car b0mb scene or the lucky numbers of the telephone scam. I can't believe the crime-bosses didn't get suspicious of that. Even if they had no proof or didn't know what it means, I definitely would smell something fishy. But okay, I overlook that and believe they had no clue. For the sake of the story development!

I really loved the characters. Our male lead is calm, kind, righteous, courageous, and smart—a true drama hero. I also really liked the cook and four-eyes, two characters who are not what they look like at first.

But my favorite character, sadly, was the wolf in sheeps clothing: Sang Tuo. 💔 It was obvious from the very start that he is the main villain. I mean, look at the poster image, lol. Two people, looking in different directions with different coloring and expressions on their faces. One has to be stupid not to know. So his reveal was neither a real twist nor shocking. Another big hint was when he suddenly pulled out drxgs from his pocket. No one questioned where he got them from. xD Maybe they had other things on their mind at that point, but it was just so obvious.

I loved the relationship between Sang Tuo and Han Chuan. They started as comrades, with Sang Tuo helping ML in this harsh environment, calling him "ge". I know Sang Tuo probably really did like Han Chuan in his own way. That's why he tried so hard to control him to keep him by his side. But even he had to realize Han Chuan would never become like him and would always stand with the law. And sadly, Sang Tuo was equally stubborn and would never turn himself in, as we saw.

And then there were the last 10 episodes or so, which I found rather annoying. For most of the drama, the victims barely got any screen time, but suddenly Sang Tuo’s last scam victims got two whole episodes dedicated to themselves. For what? You might guess by now: To get to our emotions. To show just how bad Sang Tuo is and how pitiful (justified) the victims were. To highlight how horrible those scams can be and what they do to people. It was all to convince us that there was no other way: Sang Tuo had to d!e. I knew it by then already, but I still hoped they would make him redeem himself in prison. But nope.

But hey, that's what you get when you fall in love with the villain: only pain and sadness. lol.

What I found ridiculous was the last scene: the cops happily smiling and then a cut to the chinese flag, lol. Yeah yeah, I get it.^^

All in all, this drama was short but had incredible quality. It was an easy and highly entertaining watch for me. Just I was disappointed with the ending, but I am not surprised since it's China. Believe me, if the ending would have been different, I would have rated this even higher. ..

If you can live with this kind of ending, then I definitely 💯% recommend everyone to watch this little gem. If you are looking for a bromance, then this might not be it, but the drama is very interesting, so still give it a chance if you like the crime-genre.

Leia Mais

A wild ride but not for the faint hearted

I've watched up to episode 18 and it's been a wild ride. Not my usual genre as I usually prefer more light hearted action but I'm on the edge of my seat. The main characters are easy to root for and very easy on the eyes. The good and bad guys are clearly defined but with the way the story unfolds I often distrust everyone before they prove themselves.

Avoid if you can't handle raw violence and seeing the dark side of society but the story is compelling and I can't wait for the rest of the episodes to air.

Disappointed I started it while it was still on air.

Leia Mais