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The Cdrama version of a Hallmark Christmas movie
This show is pretty much your run-of-the-mill historical romance. The premise, characters, and plot are all very typical. But, nothing across the board is done that well. It’s also not quite the fun and lighthearted romp I thought it would be- there is some comedy, but it’s not really a focus, and I was kind of disappointed it wasn’t more funny.
At the same time, this is a show that won’t hurt you. It won’t make you sad, angry, or stressed. It’s just kind of sweet and feel-good, like fluff fluff fluff. Sometimes it’s nice to just turn off your brain and watch something that follows a tried and true formula- maybe not the best version of that formula, but good enough.
The show has a band of friends solving cases, which is usually fun, and the show does try to give them personalities and roles. But honestly, I was not too attached to any of the characters, good or bad. Their relationships are also all pretty straightforward. There are three romances, and this is the kind of show where nobody gets a moment for growth or reflection. Whenever anyone has an emotional moment, their love interest will just happen to show up.
Actually nothing- relationships, characters, plot- is that deep in this show. My overall emotional engagement was quite low.
The cases themselves are mildly interesting, moving along fast enough that you don’t get too bored. The show covers decent ground in 20 min x 24 episodes by not wasting too much time. It’s actually even shorter than it looks- the grand mystery is pretty much solved by episode 21, with a reveal that makes embarrassingly little sense. After that come 3-4 episodes of cute romcom fluff, with half of each episode devoted to fluffy vignettes that seemed like they chronologically occurred during the body of the show.
For acting, I’ve seen Ding Jiawen in various supporting roles before, mostly playing more young / innocent characters. From this show’s poster, I was excited to see him be silly again (I loved him in Love Beyond the Grave), but it turns out this is a stern and serious role. Well, I am happy to see him in different kinds of roles, but I think the others suit him better. Across the board I thought the acting was only ok. Maybe something between the production, acting, and script, but sometimes I felt like I was watching a high school play, it just felt very... acted out.
The styling is also really bad. The costumes are actually pretty creative and color coordinated, but they don’t look that good on the actors, and the hair and makeup are some of the worst I’ve ever seen. Everybody looks worse than they need to.
For the music, the OST is mostly cheery pop songs, though they don’t play that much. I actually like cheery pop songs and they’re not bad, but it contributed even more to the feeling that there isn’t much to this show except sticky sweetness. For the BGM, I mostly didn’t notice it, except once in awhile I heard really faint piano music that sounded like noise.
Overall, the best analog I can think of for this show is a Hallmark Christmas movie. It’s not that special, engaging, or even well-done, but sometimes this sort of feel-good brainless thing is just what you need. Not bad when you want a show that won’t keep you up binging or thinking about it.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
This ending is strange. I do like it when a show gives us special fluff stories after the conflict is concluded, but this many episodes of it is kind of strange. Even more, there is a cliffhanger stuck in the middle of the last episode.
Actually the whole mystery threw me in for a loop. By episode 18 or 19 I thought it was so obvious- they’d given way too many clues. Then it turned out to be some other random guy, though not fully explained. Then in the last episode, they’re like, no no PSYCH it was him all along, AND BYE!
At the same time, this is a show that won’t hurt you. It won’t make you sad, angry, or stressed. It’s just kind of sweet and feel-good, like fluff fluff fluff. Sometimes it’s nice to just turn off your brain and watch something that follows a tried and true formula- maybe not the best version of that formula, but good enough.
The show has a band of friends solving cases, which is usually fun, and the show does try to give them personalities and roles. But honestly, I was not too attached to any of the characters, good or bad. Their relationships are also all pretty straightforward. There are three romances, and this is the kind of show where nobody gets a moment for growth or reflection. Whenever anyone has an emotional moment, their love interest will just happen to show up.
Actually nothing- relationships, characters, plot- is that deep in this show. My overall emotional engagement was quite low.
The cases themselves are mildly interesting, moving along fast enough that you don’t get too bored. The show covers decent ground in 20 min x 24 episodes by not wasting too much time. It’s actually even shorter than it looks- the grand mystery is pretty much solved by episode 21, with a reveal that makes embarrassingly little sense. After that come 3-4 episodes of cute romcom fluff, with half of each episode devoted to fluffy vignettes that seemed like they chronologically occurred during the body of the show.
For acting, I’ve seen Ding Jiawen in various supporting roles before, mostly playing more young / innocent characters. From this show’s poster, I was excited to see him be silly again (I loved him in Love Beyond the Grave), but it turns out this is a stern and serious role. Well, I am happy to see him in different kinds of roles, but I think the others suit him better. Across the board I thought the acting was only ok. Maybe something between the production, acting, and script, but sometimes I felt like I was watching a high school play, it just felt very... acted out.
The styling is also really bad. The costumes are actually pretty creative and color coordinated, but they don’t look that good on the actors, and the hair and makeup are some of the worst I’ve ever seen. Everybody looks worse than they need to.
For the music, the OST is mostly cheery pop songs, though they don’t play that much. I actually like cheery pop songs and they’re not bad, but it contributed even more to the feeling that there isn’t much to this show except sticky sweetness. For the BGM, I mostly didn’t notice it, except once in awhile I heard really faint piano music that sounded like noise.
Overall, the best analog I can think of for this show is a Hallmark Christmas movie. It’s not that special, engaging, or even well-done, but sometimes this sort of feel-good brainless thing is just what you need. Not bad when you want a show that won’t keep you up binging or thinking about it.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
This ending is strange. I do like it when a show gives us special fluff stories after the conflict is concluded, but this many episodes of it is kind of strange. Even more, there is a cliffhanger stuck in the middle of the last episode.
Actually the whole mystery threw me in for a loop. By episode 18 or 19 I thought it was so obvious- they’d given way too many clues. Then it turned out to be some other random guy, though not fully explained. Then in the last episode, they’re like, no no PSYCH it was him all along, AND BYE!
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