AleksandraSucur

It looks like it was an easy matchmaking job for the authors:

1. cp are two self-confident dudes to the level of being stupid. FL is overly rush with difficulties to learn things and compromise, ML thinks too highly of himself but is unable to catch a huge difference in a character of the girl-supposed-to-have-saved-him or to see giant hints who was exactly that girl (the one who lived in the forest where he was harmed, named her workshop "Green Light" they've seen as children or who can produce sounds he can hear, despite his deafness).
2. ambitious couple. SML aspiring to be successor to the throne, SFL to become minister of music
3. completely incomprehensible match: an annoying, aggresive, childish and not particularly normal 3rd FL chasing the only relatively normal guy of this story. At least, till this point...

The story is a crap (no wonder the scriptwriter wasn't even mentioned in the "cast" section, she or he is probably ashamed to reveal her/himself), but nice visuals and music can keep me watching while doing other things...

great choice of the backgroundmusic, love that 😁👌

I've loved that detail in the story, and how it was used to "quit the smoking" 😁
It may be some kind of mocking from the authors, but, hey, Hitler was a total vegetarian... A good diet habit doesn't mean you are not a criminal

yeah, let's hope it will last

yes, that's the vibe I've got too, my only hope is that this pace continues till the end.
I loved this writer's WoF, too, an amazing drama with such an interesting plot and so much inspired by true historical events and persons (another rarity in C-dramaland!), but how he concluded the story was... well. disapponting, at least for me.
Maybe this one will have better closure, someone above correctly pointed out how relatable is LSB character, certainly more than Wei Ruolai in WoF, and we have this dangerous anthrax story in the background, which is certainly more thrilling than central banking issues. 😁

I agree with you about the proper character introducing, a great skill of this scriptwriter we've seen in his other dramas - such a rare skill in C-dramaland... Not turning the ML into a communist, ie. depicting him as "a non-ideological", is also a characteristic pattern for a protagonist this scriptwriter usually follows: Wang Yibo's Wei Ruolai in WoF is also such a person, but I think the scriptwriter keeps this pattern for white-washing purposes, as to emphasise the "inclusiveness" of the CP ruling, their appreciation of experts, the CP's main role (and main goal) as "protectors of the people" and not dogmatic, an image which is so popular today... but the reality of that time was very different. And it is normal it was different, because the whole world was put in some sort of dogmatic setting, it was impossible to escape from it by "just doing properly your own job".
After the WWII, the Civil War between KMT and CCP continued and this war (similar to civil wars in some other countries, like Greece) served for the final definition of ideological outmarking between the world influenced by the USA & Soviet ideologies.

So far (ep 7), the cast is truly well selected. Chen Zheyuan is born for the "good-but-naughty" roles, directing seems fine, too, I see one of two directors is a specialist for martial art directing, so we can reasonably expect a lot of action, the other is good in mise-en-scene, my only worry is the scriptwriting. The writer is the same of The War of Faith, which was almost perfect in the first 2/3rds but dissapointing in the last third. He is certainly well attracted towards and well versed in the history of Shanghai, especially of Min Guo period and I personally don't mind (any ideological) white-washing if the story-telling holds while flowing steadily towards a closure (because dramas are meant to be art creations, not historical documentaries), but because of WoF, I fear a bit for the closure of this story.

The first 4 eps look very promising.
I like Republican dramas, but after some good moments (usually the correct material hystorical settting) they regularly dissapoint with progressing of the storyline, espc. when the stories go towards Communist era.
Now we finally got one story set in "a Repubblican Communist era" that look thrilling and convincing.

oh, I get it now. Actually, the flow of water simbolizes a passage of time, rivers run long distances... "the water flows from far away" evokes smth poetic in English, too.
Tnx a lot

google translated the Chinese title as "The flowing water is far away" but I don't get the meaning at all...

The screenwriter and the director are the same person. Imo, he chose a super interesting historical events and setting, but,,, there are flows in how he developed, organised and directed the storytelling. I agree with your point: the focus is on the ML, this is the story of a "lonely hero" in terrible times, but he gave too much space and time to his journey (to maturity), while a bit neglecting the genre (political thriller) and the events that are the real interesting component of the drama.
"Mr Li" is a real historical figure, Li Shiqun (played by
Zhou Yi Wei), who started his career as a high communist official, then defected to KMT and later on defected to Wang Jingwei in Nanking (/Nanjing) collaborationist government, as a head of Tewu secret police, killed in Suzhou - it is still unclear who was behind his murder. This setting and fights among factions is what should represent the core suspence instead of dragging the plot hiding the identities of other important players in this game. At least he could have given us some hints

we can't figure him out bc: 1. we don't know what that Ding man has on him and Mr Li and 2. we have no clue who is N°8 Cell spy, it seems he himself never met this spy in person.
After one third of the drama, it's a high time to show us these two misterious persons (they may also be one person)

outdoor scenes, like GYZ escape from the execution ground and running through the streets, canals, jumping from the bridge, are shot in Suzhou, I think Gu Mansion and its surrounding is also there, although that typical architecture could have been recreated in Hengdian, too, as well as the restaurant and the boat restaurant, I don't know how many scenaries of this kind are there.
I think we get an idea of a water town, in Italy Suzhou is called "Chinese Venice", so they managed to convey that watery feeling, but overally they could have been more generous with in loco outdoor scenes.

I agree on this aspect and I like it, too.
The negative side of this good thing is the dragginess, almost all the scenes last too long, 80% can be watched in 1,5-2x speed.
I appreciate Suzhou setting as well, a bit of fresh air break after usual monotonous Hengdian spots... pity we don't see much of it, its typical folk music is not sufficient to convey the idea of its beauty and spirit.
Overall, the story is interesting but the direction is not brilliant at all

thank you! As always, you are so well informed and so good in our little MDL misteries' solving 😁👌😎

Actually, MDL doesn't update guesting actors whose roles are important for crime-solving. As I've caught up with the eps a week ago, I am certain that Song Ami wasn't indicated as "Taiyin sect leader" untill the case was solved and the updated viewer already knew the story behind.
It may be a spoiler for those who are behind with eps.

The drums, the cords and that epic suona climax in the end... wow, wow, wow

that's great! Tnx

Oh, this is nice, tnx a lot! ❤️

I strongly doubt the commander of Hanzhou Lu Si An protects such a place