AleksandraSucur

I feel every case is better than the previous one, but it will be hard to beat "Drunk in Yunding" consisting of several intertwinned cases with practically everything in it: alcohol, beauties, collusion beteween business and officials, abductions, murders, rape, human trafficking, masquerade hunger games... it's a "sex, drugs and ... khm, sogdian whirls" 😎

Two days of break are too much 😭

I've heard that too (AvenueX) but I think the screenwriting still follows the novel, the viewers probably suggested what to improve from logical pov, what to keep what to drop, and if there are beasts in the original novel - not as just motives but as important elements of the singular cases - the scriptwriters can't do much about it.
Strangely, we have nobody here who read the novel to tell us how much the script follows the novel

I think we all feel the same, there may also be objective reasons for it: better visuals, better fight choreography, actors are more mature... even the storytelling is better, there are no weird illusion performances, cases are solved rationally and supernatural is kept on minimum.
The production got more money evidently and it is said the screenwriting was adapted following the suggestions of the fans.

I expect Yunding will be hearthbreaking: the actress playing dancer is specialized in roles of victims (she was Minglan's birth mother's maid unjustly accused for stealing, maid of Sima Yi's second wife in Advisors Alliance etc.)

Strangely, I can't find anyone here who read the novel...
So, you've supposed there will be S3 because of the post on Douban, right?

It seems so. Btw, have you read the novel?

😎😉

yeah, but fables with existing or legendary creatures are common parts of folk's narrative in cultures and civilisations all over the world, so I count them as a part of superstitous heritage of the entire humanity. It's just that C-productions of this genre (mix of gong'an+wuxia+mystery) tend to overexploit animal motives in order to emphasize hystorical context full off superstions and if there are many, these motives become repetitive and annoying.
They also tend to overuse illusionism (with no realistic explanation) preferably in scenes set in palace banquets or town feast, like in S1. This motif was avoided in S2, so lets hope the authors will figure out (maybe for S3, who knows) that beast-motives are unnecessary as well.

Tnx.
My brain was so busy recalling who may be "the hunter" who adopted a girl that it temporarily cancelled Song Ami from the story 😁
Luckily, we have each other on MDL to clear our doubts...

Tnx.
I've been thinking who could have been that hunter adoptive-father, so I've totally forgotten Song Ami 👌

No way

Folks, I hope you've all updated to the ep 22.
SWM to YT: "among the rebels was a 7-year old girl who escaped" and was able to ride that T-rhino. Later it was presumed "she was adopted by a hunter surnamed Song".
Then, both of them looked at each other and screamed: "Song"
This season hooked me so much, I've ff rewatched the entire S1 trying to figure out what they've figured out. Nothing. The only Song that appeared till now in both seasons was a side official in the alligator place where the leads met Yingtao for the first time...
Please, do you have better clues?

I don't like beasts, but I agree this season is even better

Totally agree with you: S2 can be enjoyed even if one hasn't seen S1. There's only one thing a person who has no knowledge of S1, and in particular of the special relationship between main leads, can find too odd and allienating: Su Wuming's snitching on Lu Lingfeng.

At ep 12, and I think we have a better season than season 1 (which I've liked)

me2, but the coroner is somehow better than the first case (which is fascinating because of the real hystorical context, nothing else)

You're right, I also like when characters in this genre have strong "personal traits"

The vibe is the same, people.

yup, but the acting is good, the actors deserve credits here. If not for their acting, I'd drop this drama probably after the first few eps.

I've taken into account the actors' level in this "reconstruction" - highly probably they were given the first scriptwriting (that's why I suppose the first script was fine) and took the roles. Actors contracts usually contain clauses implying plots "could be adjusted & expanded after the signature"