10
16
This review may contain spoilers
A Decent Watch - Came for WXY, Stayed for… Well, Mostly WXY
Shadow Detective was a decent effort, and the show was carried almost entirely by WXY’s performance. He was easily the strongest part of the drama for me—not only because of his effortless good looks and charisma, but because he keeps expanding his acting range as he takes on more projects. This was his first attempt at a Republican-era drama, and he showed that he has the star quality to headline more shows in this genre. He looked especially sharp in his three-piece suits as Inspector Guan Cen.
For a show with a low budget, the costumes were good. The men looked dapper in their suits and mandarin-collar outfits, and the ladies were lovely in their qipaos and Western-style clothing of the era. The sets were also fine and the props looked authentic to that era. The OST, on the other hand, was not memorable.
Since this is a shorter-length web series, I can forgive the plot shortcuts and inevitable holes, but the main storyline was much too predictable. It honestly felt like the director and writer wanted viewers to identify the villains early. Whenever a character who ultimately turned out to be bad appeared, the camera lingered, the lighting shifted, and ominous music kicked in. By episode 19, every one of my guesses—including the final villain’s identity—was correct simply because the show was not subtle about handing out clues.
On the flip side, there were also cases where the culprits came out of nowhere with little or no buildup. Not surprisingly, I liked those more. Even though viewers didn’t get any chance to guess, at least the writers injected some unpredictability into the story. What kept me watching was mostly WXY and the police investigation aspect. I wanted to see how they would catch the villains, and that part stayed engaging.
One memorable antagonist was a villain who smiled through everything and seemed almost impossible to defeat. He reminded me a bit of Jaws, a James Bond villain —minus the metal teeth, but with the same “you can’t kill me” vibe. It took an impressive amount of plot armor for our leads to finally bring him down.
The dynamic between Guan Cen (ML) and Du Ling Feng (SML) was one of the highlights. They had great chemistry, and I wish the show had given them more scenes solving cases together. Their teamwork—half serious detective work, half comedic bickering—deserved a lot more screen time. Dong, Dr. Ding, and Chief Huo also added their own flavor and kept things entertaining. If we could get a spin-off, I would want one focusing on the ML and SML’s bromance while they take down bad guys.
As for the FL, Lu Yi Zhen… most of her scenes had me rolling my eyes hard. I don’t think the character was written or portrayed very well. The actress seemed to interpret “tough” as “abrasive” at first, and “looking intelligent or serious” as keeping a constant, frowning, constipated look. The FL may be smart, but the show kept putting her in situations that made her look incompetent in the field. More than once for each of the following: she got drugged, dragged away (because she can only act tough with the ML), exposed while spying, and generally needed to be rescued multiple times—usually by the ML or SML. One bad guy even had to give her a break by literally handing her a clue because she couldn’t get it on her own.
The good news is that the character (not necessarily the acting) did improve in the last four episodes, and she ended the show on a better note for me.
Overall, despite the predictability and an FL who didn’t quite land for me, I would still recommend the drama—especially if you’re here for WXY. He made the watch worthwhile.
For a show with a low budget, the costumes were good. The men looked dapper in their suits and mandarin-collar outfits, and the ladies were lovely in their qipaos and Western-style clothing of the era. The sets were also fine and the props looked authentic to that era. The OST, on the other hand, was not memorable.
Since this is a shorter-length web series, I can forgive the plot shortcuts and inevitable holes, but the main storyline was much too predictable. It honestly felt like the director and writer wanted viewers to identify the villains early. Whenever a character who ultimately turned out to be bad appeared, the camera lingered, the lighting shifted, and ominous music kicked in. By episode 19, every one of my guesses—including the final villain’s identity—was correct simply because the show was not subtle about handing out clues.
On the flip side, there were also cases where the culprits came out of nowhere with little or no buildup. Not surprisingly, I liked those more. Even though viewers didn’t get any chance to guess, at least the writers injected some unpredictability into the story. What kept me watching was mostly WXY and the police investigation aspect. I wanted to see how they would catch the villains, and that part stayed engaging.
One memorable antagonist was a villain who smiled through everything and seemed almost impossible to defeat. He reminded me a bit of Jaws, a James Bond villain —minus the metal teeth, but with the same “you can’t kill me” vibe. It took an impressive amount of plot armor for our leads to finally bring him down.
The dynamic between Guan Cen (ML) and Du Ling Feng (SML) was one of the highlights. They had great chemistry, and I wish the show had given them more scenes solving cases together. Their teamwork—half serious detective work, half comedic bickering—deserved a lot more screen time. Dong, Dr. Ding, and Chief Huo also added their own flavor and kept things entertaining. If we could get a spin-off, I would want one focusing on the ML and SML’s bromance while they take down bad guys.
As for the FL, Lu Yi Zhen… most of her scenes had me rolling my eyes hard. I don’t think the character was written or portrayed very well. The actress seemed to interpret “tough” as “abrasive” at first, and “looking intelligent or serious” as keeping a constant, frowning, constipated look. The FL may be smart, but the show kept putting her in situations that made her look incompetent in the field. More than once for each of the following: she got drugged, dragged away (because she can only act tough with the ML), exposed while spying, and generally needed to be rescued multiple times—usually by the ML or SML. One bad guy even had to give her a break by literally handing her a clue because she couldn’t get it on her own.
The good news is that the character (not necessarily the acting) did improve in the last four episodes, and she ended the show on a better note for me.
Overall, despite the predictability and an FL who didn’t quite land for me, I would still recommend the drama—especially if you’re here for WXY. He made the watch worthwhile.
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