DramaAjumma

You can watch it with Eng subs here...
https://productiveprocrastination.site/
The subbing is still ongoing. Don't forget to leave a message to thank the subber for doing this on her own time.

Thank you so much for your kind words. Very much appreciated.

After rewatching I've changed my mind about the romance and the love triangle. The love triangle was absolutely integral to the Bad Guy plot and its resolution. This may be one of the better uses of a love triangle I've seen. Or let's just call it the reverse harem and include Sang Chen into the mix. I'm not usually a fan of love triangles but this one was decently employed within the limits of the genre.

If anyone's interested in my ramblings about the subject, I've blogged about it here: shorturl.at/epFN2

Sure. Conan is a popular J manga/anime boy detective. It was a really long running series. Too long IMO. His real identity was Kudo Shinichi, a high school sleuth but he shrunk into a size of a kid. His girlfriend of sorts is Ran who was something of a judo badass. They had a Lois and Superman type relationship. Only a handful of people know that Conan is really Shinichi. One of his trademark gestures when he was deep in thought was a chin stroke.

To think that the push and pull went on just about forever...

This C drama which wasn't even on my radar has become something of an addiction. I wouldn't say that it's the best made considering the contenders in the Dec-Feb 2020 period but it's one that I hung out for week after week and rewatched episodes. It contained old school detective (British Golden Age) and classic wuxia elements, having resonances of Gu Long -- a combination that I find quite irresistible.

There's no doubt that Toby Lee as Xiao Song is a big part of the attraction. I just adore him in the role. He gives a beautifully nuanced performance. I'm curious about why he was cast but I've been wondering since the start because he reminds me of the Sidney Paget's illustrations for Sherlock Holmes in the Strand magazine: the shape of the face, the nose, the chin etc. He also reminds me of three of my favourite SHs -- Basil Rathbone, Jeremy Brett and Benedict Cumberbatch in some fashion. In an interview, TL mentioned that XS was the Conan of the Tang dynasty, hence the chin stroke I imagine. :D It may also explains why the female lead is called Ran Yan. :P

While I didn't think romance was absolutely necessary, I did enjoy it because it was done largely in the context of the sleuthing. It wasn't this clumsy appenditure that it often can be in crime shows. XS and RY's bickering romance was played out at the autopsy table or when going after the bad guy. Take one of my favourite scenes from Ep 22 when he became her assistant for a brief moment. Everyone looks on shocked, amused or askance when he dabs sesame oil on her and sets up her fish incense holder. On top of that, they multi-task and negotiate the price for her services.

I also liked that the show stuck to its guns. I like that it was a crime show from start to finish. I absolutely detest the new trend in turning everything into a weepy melodrama in the last phase of the drama. There was a little bit of that but it never lasts long in this drama because the baddies keep everyone on their toes.

In an era where xianxia reigns supreme, it's lovely to have dramas like Miss Truth and Handsome Siblings for those of us who grew up in the 80s watching classic wuxia dramas.

That's the impression I got as well.

Back hug, front hug, ground hug... Toby Lee's the man. ;)

I keep thinking to myself that if RY doesn't want him, there must be a long line of women who do. Her persistent hesitation to strike while the iron is hot boggles the mind.
He is the single best thing about the show.

LOL... I wish... Don't think the husband would approve though.

Much has been spoken about the beating that RY took. That was undoubtedly painful but probably not as painful for her as being ignored and misunderstood by XS which is for me a far more satisfying state of affairs between them because now the shoe is in the other foot. It's eminently fascinating that the cases that they've undertaken together have paralleled to some degree her journey to "finding true love". All of the cases have been analogous or have telegraphed their somewhat tumultuous relationship. They are morality tales of missed opportunities, obsession and lost love. In the case of the erotomaniac serial killer, the show attempts to draw a comparison between the situations faced by the couples. At least RY herself is aware of the comparison when she pontificates to the hostage taker. There is bitterness and despair in her words. She had hoped that XS' love was big enough to cover her sins but alas it was an illusion. So she thinks. It was an indirect confession tinged with bitter regret and pain. She acknowledges now that she knows what it means to love and experience all its facets.

Initially XS thinks she is referring to SF as seen in the glare he gives the other man while she monologues. But when he goes home and reflects on her words, he wonders if he's misunderstood her relationship with SF and by extension himself. From his conversation with his dad, it's clear that he still cares a great deal but he can't repeatedly allow himself to be in the position of being betrayed because he thinks that she is in love with another man. He has always respected her freedom to choose and he also has to be careful because of the larger political matters that are at stake especially if SF is persistently using her as a conduit to him. He can't be sure of her if she's trying to keep both sides happy. What's really interesting to me is that for her, she thinks she's lost his love whereas for him he believes that he's never had hers in the first place (largely because of all the contradictory signals that she sends out).

To me, she's young and inexperienced in the matters of the heart which is why I don't judge her too harshly. I have a daughter about that age. But she is learning a really important lesson here. She can't take XS for granted even if he is ultimately true to her despite appearances to the contrary. Even if she doesn't want to, she has to draw the line and be clear about who she preferences. Everyone wants certainty, XS does too. He needs it for all kinds of reasons not just emotional ones. At the end of the day with the prospect of bad stuff happening, she does have to take a side.

P.S. Toby Li gives great back hugs. (Just wanted to put it out there)

Episode 23.

I don't mind her now but I've always thought that her arrogance was part of her character journey. I certainly wouldn't blame her for all the bad things that result from the drama or for using XS as if it were her default modus operandi. This is a detective drama after all. There are a lot of people with diverse agendas doing bad things to achieve their ends. She's probably the least agenda driven person in the show.

Judging from what she's been trying to tell XS, I'd say that the pearl is still in that tooth-bone. She was going back to XS to tell him that she'd tricked the bag man. By then he'd been whipped and then he was forced to beat her.

Interesting how we all see things so differently but I don't agree with that assessment at all. I don't think it's borne out by the show itself. In fact, I think it's the opposite. RY tends to get dragged into things more often than not by circumstances and even by the two men. I will say though that with regards to XS that she doesn't always know her own heart or mind but to say that she betrays him many times is an exaggeration at best. In the last few episodes, she only went to him when she had nowhere else to turn especially when she was backed into a corner by the head of Da Li Si.

RY and XS started off having a professional quid pro quo relationship and then he fell for her first. She never intended to get emotionally entangled with him much less be drawn into a love triangle. It was XS who married her volitionally but that wasn't her original intention. Whether or not she was in love with SF in the first place I think is up for grabs now but she was certainly motivated by pity for his background... which resonated with hers.

Of course I don't say that she made the right choices all of the time but I will say that she often did the best she could under trying circumstances. Her relationship with the two men is a complex one certainly but I don't think she sets out to use anyone. Clearly she doesn't always know what is going on in the bigger picture to make the best choice.

I thought it was telling that during the final tussle with the erotomaniac artist, that XS’ instinct was to protect RY by grabbing the dagger with his bare hand and SF’s is to kill the culprit. Spoke volumes about the two men and how they see their place in the world.

Bai Yi and Sang Chen should get their comedic show on the road. I think I've lost count as to the number of times Sang Chen has done his fainting shtick.

I don't think she needs to make up her mind as much as she needs to know her mind and go with it. ;)

As I've said elsewhere, SF is something akin to a double or triple agent with multiple identities. He has connections in the royal court but he is also working for those conspiring against the throne. At least in terms of wanting to find Marquis Shui's Pearl. That's reasonably clear. As far as XS is concerned, he is a suspicious character with dubious origins but he's happy to use him when it suits and he knows that SF would never do anything to hurt RY... physically at least. That's what makes XS such a great and amazing character IMO. He is intelligent enough and logical enough to compartmentalize in this way. I often think that if these two were not serving different masters and weren't rivals in love, they could be great friends. The show is pretty clever in showing how well they work together.

XS also understands ultimately SF isn't really his biggest obstacle, it is RY's heart that he has to win. Of course he gets jealous but he doesn't actively work against SF to win the girl because ultimately it's her choice. And if she doesn't go to him willingly, well... she won't be happy and at the end of the day, he won't be happy either especially knowing that there's this elephant in the room of their relationship.

I'd agree that SF has been very intrusive in the latest episodes which has certainly added to her confusion about who/what she wants. Undoubtedly he's terrified of losing her. But if he thinks he owns her, well, he will be sorely disappointed. Honestly I don't know how she will react when she finds out that he killed her sister. They didn't get on and YM plotted against her but killing her... I'm not sure that will go down too well. There's a darkness to him that I don't think she can live with.

Let's hope that she has a few tricks up her sleeve.