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Bleak but very human
I am pretty new to iQiyi’s Light On / Suspense Theater series (the only other one I’ve watched is Born with Luck), so this might read differently if you’re a long-time fan and know what to expect going in. I’m guessing they all have this sort of gritty realistic feel. There are no dashing heroes or beautiful tales here, just an unglamorized view of the seedy underbelly of society.
Set in a cold and bleak industrial wasteland of a town, the characters of this show- criminals, thugs, police, civilians- are struggling to survive through honest and dishonest means. Yu Hong Stadium, for which the show is named, is a central location around which many events unfold. There is some mystery in what actually happened with the murders, though you kind of know who is involved in a bad way. But the show isn’t about solving the cases so much as it is about the people involved and their stories.
The show follows perps and likely perps around as protagonists, humanizing them and making you empathize with them. The characters do bad things, but I also felt sorry for them and could see that they have limited options. Liu Yang is probably the main one, and be prepared for a proper antihero- not the kind who does some wrong things but ultimately redeems himself, but an actual dark character who makes you worry more and more as the show goes on.
Splashes of dark humor notwithstanding, the show was overall a little too stressful and depressing for me. The description promises “warmth” and “flickers of hope”, but I didn’t really see it. The only subplot that kind of qualifies is the cop and her ad hoc family, but it’s not shown that much. I got a few such flickers here and there seeing characters act very real- eg when Hao Jie, who we all feel sorry for, yells at her ill mother (not very nice), or Chen Hong flips between being disrespectfully domineering and wishing she also has somebody who cares about her. It’s just very real, and made me think about how complicated people are. Nobody’s perfect, and somebody who does things you disagree with or even dislike can also still be somebody you empathize with and understand.
But still, at the end of the day, my main emotion was anxiety. I was worried for practically the entire show and didn’t know how I wanted things to turn out. I was so stressed that I actually flipped to the end to spoil it for myself (I have never done this before). I didn’t even like the ending, but I still decided to finish the show anyways, hoping the last third of it would give me closure. Which it did, actually. And maybe because I was already mentally prepared by then, but I thought the way it wraps up is quite well done.
The acting is, I thought, exceptionally good. I was impressed by almost everyone. I also like how they are styled to look more real than just pretty (eg chapped lips, obvious makeup only on characters who’d wear it, etc). The setting, although bleak, has plenty of detail that sets a real atmosphere. And I really like the music- this clearly isn’t a high-budget production with a huge OST, but that one song is played at all the right moments for emotional impact, earning it a spot on my playlist. The BGMs, which include remixes of famous classical pieces plus other pieces played with identifiable orchestral instruments, also do a really good job setting the atmosphere.
Overall, I think this is objectively a good show. The story, when I look back, is bleak but full of meaning. Execution, logic, writing, are all good. But it was too stressful for me... from the descriptions for other Light On shows, I suspect that focusing enough on criminals to humanize and make me care about them is not unusual for this series. But it gives me so much anxiety, I hesitate to watch more of them. I was going to give this a 7 or so, because it is a good show but I just can't say I enjoyed watching it. But then the ending left me with some feels so I knocked it up to 8.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I don’t know what qualifies as a happy ending for a show like this, but I will say this: by the time Liu Yang is caught, I was convinced that he reaped what he sowed. All his earlier murders I could kind of understand and feel sorry for (if nothing else, justice for the forest animals!), but that last one was really uncalled for and unforgiveable.
It is kind of fitting that he is caught by his sister. The people who are left at the end- his sister and her little family, Hao Jie, Chen Hong to some extent- mostly turn out ok and it is implied that they move on with their lives.
Set in a cold and bleak industrial wasteland of a town, the characters of this show- criminals, thugs, police, civilians- are struggling to survive through honest and dishonest means. Yu Hong Stadium, for which the show is named, is a central location around which many events unfold. There is some mystery in what actually happened with the murders, though you kind of know who is involved in a bad way. But the show isn’t about solving the cases so much as it is about the people involved and their stories.
The show follows perps and likely perps around as protagonists, humanizing them and making you empathize with them. The characters do bad things, but I also felt sorry for them and could see that they have limited options. Liu Yang is probably the main one, and be prepared for a proper antihero- not the kind who does some wrong things but ultimately redeems himself, but an actual dark character who makes you worry more and more as the show goes on.
Splashes of dark humor notwithstanding, the show was overall a little too stressful and depressing for me. The description promises “warmth” and “flickers of hope”, but I didn’t really see it. The only subplot that kind of qualifies is the cop and her ad hoc family, but it’s not shown that much. I got a few such flickers here and there seeing characters act very real- eg when Hao Jie, who we all feel sorry for, yells at her ill mother (not very nice), or Chen Hong flips between being disrespectfully domineering and wishing she also has somebody who cares about her. It’s just very real, and made me think about how complicated people are. Nobody’s perfect, and somebody who does things you disagree with or even dislike can also still be somebody you empathize with and understand.
But still, at the end of the day, my main emotion was anxiety. I was worried for practically the entire show and didn’t know how I wanted things to turn out. I was so stressed that I actually flipped to the end to spoil it for myself (I have never done this before). I didn’t even like the ending, but I still decided to finish the show anyways, hoping the last third of it would give me closure. Which it did, actually. And maybe because I was already mentally prepared by then, but I thought the way it wraps up is quite well done.
The acting is, I thought, exceptionally good. I was impressed by almost everyone. I also like how they are styled to look more real than just pretty (eg chapped lips, obvious makeup only on characters who’d wear it, etc). The setting, although bleak, has plenty of detail that sets a real atmosphere. And I really like the music- this clearly isn’t a high-budget production with a huge OST, but that one song is played at all the right moments for emotional impact, earning it a spot on my playlist. The BGMs, which include remixes of famous classical pieces plus other pieces played with identifiable orchestral instruments, also do a really good job setting the atmosphere.
Overall, I think this is objectively a good show. The story, when I look back, is bleak but full of meaning. Execution, logic, writing, are all good. But it was too stressful for me... from the descriptions for other Light On shows, I suspect that focusing enough on criminals to humanize and make me care about them is not unusual for this series. But it gives me so much anxiety, I hesitate to watch more of them. I was going to give this a 7 or so, because it is a good show but I just can't say I enjoyed watching it. But then the ending left me with some feels so I knocked it up to 8.
ENDING – READ AHEAD ONLY IF YOU WANT TO KNOW, CONTAINS SPOILERS
I don’t know what qualifies as a happy ending for a show like this, but I will say this: by the time Liu Yang is caught, I was convinced that he reaped what he sowed. All his earlier murders I could kind of understand and feel sorry for (if nothing else, justice for the forest animals!), but that last one was really uncalled for and unforgiveable.
It is kind of fitting that he is caught by his sister. The people who are left at the end- his sister and her little family, Hao Jie, Chen Hong to some extent- mostly turn out ok and it is implied that they move on with their lives.
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