AlohaX

Disappointment

Started the series with high expectations given the synopsis and that Ji Sung is part of the cast. While the first half of the series was not without flaws, I believed there was an attempt to build up suspense (albeit slowly), which would be fine with me if the story built up well. Unfortunately, in the second half of the series, some characters seemed to display behaviour that seemed contrary to how they were written at the start, and developments became increasingly unbelievable.

For example, some characters seem to always escape the detection of the security despite acting in an overt manner, or how characters armed with pistols seemed to prefer hand-to-hand combat despite being in life-threatening conditions. This would lead one to wonder how these gaps would be closed as the story passes (hint: it does not).

We reach the rock bottom of the series in the finale, where the ending failed to address any of these plot holes and successfully created more questions on how a good 16 hours was wasted to watch this series. Like what some of the other reviewers pointed out, the acting fails to rescue the disastrous plot.

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Anything but Radiant

The literal translation of the Chinese title is a "Radiant City". However, this is anything but radiant. Most of the characters did not display much depth, with this being particularly obvious with the main antagonist. One would expect a better display of wit and scheming for that role, and yet what was shown was largely his/her tantrums and demands on surrounding people to deliver what s/he wants regardless of the process. It is also illogical as to how there seemed to be a near complete lack of evidence to convict the antagonist on his/her wrongdoings throughout the series.

There also seemed to be a lack of a proper character to the antagonist who can outwit him/her, and certain actions by characters in the show did not have much logic to it except to fulfil some instant gratification. While it was pleasant to see some long-time artistes in this show, it is disheartening to know that they're wasted on this script.

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