Kekeke...his character is of a weak man. He has no backbone. He is ok if everything is normal and ok. Even if…
Absolutely. Agreed. That's my point exactly. He's not weak as much as someone who prioritizes family. To me it's not necessarily a weakness. But obviously to Changge it is. He doesn't have the luxury to do whatever he wants because of his family. That was how he was manipulated.
Kekeke...his character is of a weak man. He has no backbone. He is ok if everything is normal and ok. Even if…
I don't think he's weak as much as he has different priorities and he was raised in a particular way consistent with a man of his background. He was brought up in a sheltered environment to obey rules, to respect authority unquestioningly. He is completely tethered to the system. That's why he's easy to manipulate with the threat of family extermination. It's the same with Hao Du. Why the inhuman persistence in pursuing Changge? It's about his relationship with his adoptive father, the obligation he feels towards him and the brainwashing into being a human automaton. He has had to prove himself in other ways and was raised to be a running dog at the beck and call of his adoptive father.
It's so obvious to me in Episode 12 that the show doesn't want Shuyu to find Leyan. This is what I object to -- denigrating a character in order to push forward the narrative in a particular direction.
I do like this show a lot but if there's one criticism I have of it it's the writing of Wei Shuyu. It's rather heavy-handed to my mind. I'm fine that he is not fated to be with either of his childhood female friends because of circumstances and personal choices but to have him miss the boat just about every time... I dunno it feels rather over-the -top and obvious. I'm hoping for more balance and a multi-faceted exploration.
Episodes 9-12 were fantastic. 10-12 were especially engrossing. For the first time, Changge was not narrowly focused on her big revenge and trying to talk others into helping her but focusing on the problems on hand with wit. Hallelujah! I really felt this time that all the praise showered on her was actually deserved. I felt a little nostalgic even. It was almost like watching Nirvana in Fire with all that talk of tactics and strategy. Asile Sun was also great although he seemed to take a backseat to Changge's moment in the spotlight. He observed, waited, bided his time and learnt from the other team's mistakes before committing himself to an all out offensive.
I honestly adore this OTP. I admit to being very partial to these sorts of pairings where both parties are fairly even in intelligence and have complementary skill sets. I am so looking forward to when they become a team. Whether these two will dethrone my favourite duo from You Are My Hero remains to be seen. It is the case that I always prefer romances where the male lead falls for the female lead first. Where he does all the running around to prove himself... there's something that feels right about that. :D
As someone who has been a fan of this right from the first episode, it gladdens the heart to see so much love for it especially because it's a show that has no romance in it as a selling point. It certainly proves that something with a good script, good direction and top class performances can bring in viewers and gain popular acclaim. What this show really has working for it is consistency which seems to be the holy grail of Asian dramas for one reason or another.
At its core the drama is not a whodunit in the classical sense. It was never primarily about who murdered whom. That part was fairly obvious from the early days even with the odd misdirect. The show made no big secret about the villain(s) of the piece. What makes this show a work of art to my mind is how it explores evil, guilt and shame as it impacts individuals in a community. It's a fantastic work of human psychology as it relates to crime and dysfunction. Is it on par with Crime and Punishment? For me... I think I would hate to live on the difference.
It's no coincidence that most of the key players in this drama are law enforcement officers because what is under jeopardy here is the rule of law. The rule of law exists to restrain every member of a community from the highest to the lowest. However when it is undermined, as it is shown here, chaos and disunity ensues. Any individual who thinks that he/she is above the law sets into motion the deterioration of law and order institutions, commonly called corruption. It has a contaminating effect. Like a toxic sludge gradually seeping its way into the drinking water and causing widespread sickness.
On hindsight (and the final moments of the final episode adds weight to this claim) Han Ju-won is the son of two fathers who are competing for his growing consciousness. He is the son of the tyrannical father (Han Gi-hwan) who threatens to consume him and the surrogate son of the troubled trickster (Lee Dong-sik) who challenges his thinking. The show in part is about Ju-won's journey to find his true self as he wrestles with the impact that both men have on his conscience. It is a contest of wills that leads Ju-won to self-revelation and freedom.
As much as this is about the impact of crime, it is also about family. Families come in all shapes and sizes of course but when there's dysfunction, individuals naturally gravitate elsewhere to find a sense of belonging. That's certainly the case here with the men and women of the Manyang police gather together in Jae-yi's butchery for a meal. For them it is a home away from home.
While it's too early for me to say that this is one of the year's best, it is to my mind the only one of the current crop of K drama that really took hold of me and gave me something to look forward to each week.
Had the potential to be great maybe even better than the original and previous adaptations. But the final act was draggy nonsensical and made just about everyone especially the female lead look like first class fools. What an utter waste of good chemistry on some ridiculous push and pull that showed little understanding of what was going on with the original.
I started on this journey from Day 1 because of Cho Seung-woo who is terrific in this. There are good ideas here and I don't even think the time travel mechanics was difficult to get a handle on. But really the storytelling is a let down. It isn't all bad but this fixation with non-linear storytelling that's presently dominating Kdramaland would have been better utilized on another project. Trimming this down to 12 or 14 eps wouldn't have hurt because the pacing coupled with the heavy use of flashbacks probably didn't help. It seems to be the case when they shooting for a happily-ever-after, things get wobbly at the end.
This was one of the year's pleasant surprises as it wasn't on my radar but gave it a go because of Sandra Ma. This show has also made me a fan of Bai Jingting.
Xing Kelei and Mi Ka have got to be one of my favourite romantic pairings. First of all it's certainly an interesting take on the love at first sight trope. The compatibility factor is high and unusually functional but what's really great is how openly they like and admire each other. Most issues are resolved reasonably quickly through good communication. The highlight for me is how the show combines their skill sets in various emergency rescue situations and realistically explores the difficulties couples in demanding professions have to navigate.
All in all it was great fun. I have no regrets jumping on this bandwagon.
There's a lot to like about this show. The pacing is good and I'm pleasantly surprised at the political complexity that goes on behind the scenes. I wasn't expecting much in that regard to be frank. I'm especially impressed with the veterans who bring gravitas and credibility to the entire project. I started watching this in part because of Wu Lei who was adorable in the first Nirvana in Fire but I can't get over how he's transformed himself into such a strapping young man. He certainly looks the part. For me this is also Dilraba at her best and whatever she does here her seems to work. What's also surprising is the chemistry between the leads despite the age gap. I'm eager to see more.
As far as the revenge drive is concerned, it feels unconvincing and more like a mere plot device to get an anachronistic figure like Changge out of Chang'an, off having all kinds of adventures and finding true love. The problem I have with Changge is that she does what she does because the script tells her to. She's shrewd when she has to be and then loses it at the right time to create necessary drama to drive the plot. Her intelligence and emotional swings seem to be plot driven rather than based on character. I notice this in particular with her dynamic with Wei Shuyu. To me it's also not entirely clear is it's part of her modus operandi to harden herself against old friends one minute when she's bitterly complaining about them the next.
To some degree it's not a huge problem because the show is quite entertaining and Changge is a kind of heroic archetype on a hero's journey. So on some level we all know what we're signing up for.
I can only imagine that the hype for Leyan and Hao Du comes from the fact that they are familiar romantic stereotypes -- that of the tsundere male thawing because of the Candy Girl.
Please watch it on Netflix because it is important that they and the broadcaster know how much the show is beloved. A good way to encourage better quality dramas without romance to be made.
since this show only revolves around one case with a few extra mysteries here and there, I'd recommend avoiding…
I'm a bit of a Dostoevsky fan too and there are things about this show that reminds me of the Brothers Karamazov as well as Crime and Punishment. It could be one of the reasons why I'm so attached to the drama.
It's in one of those scenes where Jeong-jae explains what happened that night. He was pulling his phone out of his pocket to call his mother and that's when it fell out.
Why does Jaehi work with the cops?Why is juwon so bent on DS? Why does he think himself clever when all he does…
Look it's obvious you don't like the drama as is judging from your exaggerated "critique" and you haven't really been paying attention to many of the finer points because of your obvious negative bias. Not sure why you're putting yourself through so much misery. But hey, it's your time to waste.
4 
It's so obvious to me in Episode 12 that the show doesn't want Shuyu to find Leyan. This is what I object to -- denigrating a character in order to push forward the narrative in a particular direction.
Thank you for taking the time to respond.
Asile Sun was also great although he seemed to take a backseat to Changge's moment in the spotlight. He observed, waited, bided his time and learnt from the other team's mistakes before committing himself to an all out offensive.
I honestly adore this OTP. I admit to being very partial to these sorts of pairings where both parties are fairly even in intelligence and have complementary skill sets. I am so looking forward to when they become a team. Whether these two will dethrone my favourite duo from You Are My Hero remains to be seen. It is the case that I always prefer romances where the male lead falls for the female lead first. Where he does all the running around to prove himself... there's something that feels right about that. :D
At its core the drama is not a whodunit in the classical sense. It was never primarily about who murdered whom. That part was fairly obvious from the early days even with the odd misdirect. The show made no big secret about the villain(s) of the piece. What makes this show a work of art to my mind is how it explores evil, guilt and shame as it impacts individuals in a community. It's a fantastic work of human psychology as it relates to crime and dysfunction. Is it on par with Crime and Punishment? For me... I think I would hate to live on the difference.
It's no coincidence that most of the key players in this drama are law enforcement officers because what is under jeopardy here is the rule of law. The rule of law exists to restrain every member of a community from the highest to the lowest. However when it is undermined, as it is shown here, chaos and disunity ensues. Any individual who thinks that he/she is above the law sets into motion the deterioration of law and order institutions, commonly called corruption. It has a contaminating effect. Like a toxic sludge gradually seeping its way into the drinking water and causing widespread sickness.
On hindsight (and the final moments of the final episode adds weight to this claim) Han Ju-won is the son of two fathers who are competing for his growing consciousness. He is the son of the tyrannical father (Han Gi-hwan) who threatens to consume him and the surrogate son of the troubled trickster (Lee Dong-sik) who challenges his thinking. The show in part is about Ju-won's journey to find his true self as he wrestles with the impact that both men have on his conscience. It is a contest of wills that leads Ju-won to self-revelation and freedom.
As much as this is about the impact of crime, it is also about family. Families come in all shapes and sizes of course but when there's dysfunction, individuals naturally gravitate elsewhere to find a sense of belonging. That's certainly the case here with the men and women of the Manyang police gather together in Jae-yi's butchery for a meal. For them it is a home away from home.
While it's too early for me to say that this is one of the year's best, it is to my mind the only one of the current crop of K drama that really took hold of me and gave me something to look forward to each week.
It seems to be the case when they shooting for a happily-ever-after, things get wobbly at the end.
Xing Kelei and Mi Ka have got to be one of my favourite romantic pairings. First of all it's certainly an interesting take on the love at first sight trope. The compatibility factor is high and unusually functional but what's really great is how openly they like and admire each other. Most issues are resolved reasonably quickly through good communication. The highlight for me is how the show combines their skill sets in various emergency rescue situations and realistically explores the difficulties couples in demanding professions have to navigate.
All in all it was great fun. I have no regrets jumping on this bandwagon.
As far as the revenge drive is concerned, it feels unconvincing and more like a mere plot device to get an anachronistic figure like Changge out of Chang'an, off having all kinds of adventures and finding true love. The problem I have with Changge is that she does what she does because the script tells her to. She's shrewd when she has to be and then loses it at the right time to create necessary drama to drive the plot. Her intelligence and emotional swings seem to be plot driven rather than based on character. I notice this in particular with her dynamic with Wei Shuyu. To me it's also not entirely clear is it's part of her modus operandi to harden herself against old friends one minute when she's bitterly complaining about them the next.
To some degree it's not a huge problem because the show is quite entertaining and Changge is a kind of heroic archetype on a hero's journey. So on some level we all know what we're signing up for.
I can only imagine that the hype for Leyan and Hao Du comes from the fact that they are familiar romantic stereotypes -- that of the tsundere male thawing because of the Candy Girl.