Jungshooky

He's apparently getting his own spin-off series: https://kisskh.at/773963-da-feng-da-geng-ren-zhi-shi-jian-wu-wo-zhe-ban-ren

So you can at least see the face of the actor who portrays him!

A little late, but their lips technically touched yes - if you want to consider that "kissing" but the sml essentially forced himself on her. It was entirely non-consensual on her part.

SML abuses his power and coerces the fl a lot in this drama (which is unfortunately pretty accurate for the time period), so if that's a hard pass for you, avoid this drama. I pulled through for Xu Kai but there were multiple times the sml (and most other men in this drama lets be honest) made me actually throw my couch pillows across the room in frustration and rage

Ah got it - thanks!

I haven't watched ALP yet (I plan to), but where in the timeline does this drama fall in comparison to ALP and TLI? Is this mostly a prequel? I'm just curious

Huh, I don't think I noticed that, but looking back on it you're right. If I felt the desire to go back and rewatch to look for those things, I would . . . but the rewatch value for this season in particular is quite low for me ^^'

Okay, one - you're the one who apparently thought this show was actually accurate as you said, "That's wat criminal profilers do exactly though." And I wanted to make sure you realized that no, this is not how profiling actually works in reality.

Two, do you seriously think I don't realize most of what happens in crime dramas is exaggerated and unrealistic? Crime/procedural shows are a favorite genre of mine, particularly with western/American shows. All of them are unrealistic in order to actually keep people interested. Gun fights, high speed chases, dramatic rescues, forensics that come back in less than 24 hrs, etc etc none of it is real and all a means to pack cases into 1-3 episodes. BUT, most shows still keep a foot in reality so to speak, which UtS2 has continuously and progressively failed to do starting in about episode 10.

When I am presented with a modern crime drama that takes place in reality (i.e., doesn't have a fantastical/preternatural flare - like Fringe or X-files), I have certain expectations that they will follow at least basic tenets of law enforcement protocol and have remotely believable characters. In my opinion, SY in s2 has become a caricature of himself from s1. He's too perfect, never wrong, and can essentially do no wrong - so even when he breaks protocol in the worst ways, he gets a pat on the head instead of the slap on the wrist he actually deserves. Even in fiction, this is laughably unrealistic

Three, you're allowed to like this season and I'm allowed to offer constructive criticism where it's due. Part of real life is learning to interact with and discuss topics with people who have different opinions. Don't like it? Don't engage when someone offers a differing opinion. It's not hard *shrug*

Yeah, the fact SY wasn't punished in any concrete way whatsoever for not only breaking protocol but putting himself in danger and also almost letting a suspect commit su*cide just is mind boggling and incredibly frustrating. I'm actually surprised that passed review given how much of a stick the CCP has up their butt about law/protocol.

I've actually put this show on indefinite hold and am watching a completely different type of k-drama as palate cleanser lol

Yeah switching out all of your OG creative team, particularly if the screenplay is original and not an adaptation is bold and risky decision. And in my opinion it was a bad decision.

I dare say the Chinese audience also agrees since the Doubon rating for this season (6.5 when I last checked) is more than a point lower than S1 (7.6 which is quite good for Doubon) say what you a want about Doubon but a score discrepancy that wide is not a fluke imo 🤷🏼‍♀️

Thanks!

I do want to clarify that it's really been since episodes 10-11 that I've started to continuously be annoyed by multiple things, and that the first 9 episodes were really well done in my opinion!

I was happy to see Li Han get some screen time/attention . . .but I also agree with @AmelieLucan that her hoarding could have been handled a little better. I've known several hoarders (my best friend is what we both call a "baby hoarder" and struggles with controlling that compulsion, and goes to therapy consistently), so believing that Li Han is cured after a pep talk with Shen Yi and maybe some off-screen/non-discussed self-work came across as shallow. I do give c-dramas leeway with these types of topics because they likely can't or won't delve into more substance (read: destigmatize seeking mental health care/therapy) due to CCP censorship and/or public sentiment I assume

As for other characters, including Du Cheng who is supposed to be a co-lead, they really haven't made much of an impact plotwise at all this season. Yan was barely in his own story arc as it focused mostly on his daughter, her ex-BFF, and again Shen Yi's 'analysis' of her behavior. I'm glad Jiang Feng got more screentime in that arc too, but again, he seemed more like a means to an end rather than getting any substantial development. While the team (independent from SY) has essentially come to the same conclusions as SY it's only because his 'intuition' pointed them in that direction and their contributions (to me) have come across as an after thought on the writers' part.

My main gripes with the script are with how SY's character is written and consequently, how the crime investigation/procedural aspect of the show is handled - and since this is a crime/mystery/procedural drama, I consider it a big deal. One of my biggest issues is that SY has too many "hats" so to speak. He's a genius artist (established in s1), but now in season 2 he's a genius criminal psychologist with a touch of forensic anthropologist, psychiatrist/therapist, and now with the opera case, if not legitimately insane an award-worthy actor. It's too much. He is also never wrong. Not once in this season (so far) has he been wrong about a suspect. Which, for fiction based supposedly in reality, is unbelievable and annoying. I haven't finished the season yet, so I may change my mind, but where I stand at episode 20, SY is written like a Gary Stu, and given how well he was written in S1, I'm disappointed. All this frustration stems from the fact that I really want to like this.

I have watched many crime dramas (western and Asian) and am familiar with this subgenre in which a show looks at crime through a novel lens. Other examples, mostly American, include Criminal Minds, Bones, Castle, Monk, Psych, NCIS, CSI etc etc all approach solving murder in a different, and honestly very unrealistic way . . . but for the most part, still stay grounded in some degree of reality. UtS2 has crossed that line in my opinion so I can't really take this seriously as a crime/cop drama any more

All that being said, while the screenwriters flubbed SY and the procedural aspect (again, this is my opinion), they and the guest actors have done a really good job with the characterizations of the people involved in each case, particularly the suspects. I've found myself much more engaged with and sympathetic to the actual crime suspects and those around them than the main cast of the show. The idol case and case with the blind boy were excellent, and I thought were written better than most cases from s1.

I want to explicitly state that I don't fault anyone else for liking this season - everyone looks for something different in the shows they watch. I have certain standards for different genres, and so far, this season has lost and continued to fail to meet them. But a lot of people in this comment section do like this drama, whether they're just here for TCJ or because they genuinely like the plot/script, it doesn't matter the motives as long as they find enjoyment in this.

I'm not trying to ruin anyone's like of this show or convince people to hate this - I just want to vent my personal frustration and have an actual meaningful discussion about a show - so I thank you for being level headed and being willing to debate with me about this in a respectful way. Trust me, that's a rare thing on this site

And I just realized how long this was - wow, sorry! I won't blame you if you didn't read all (or most of it ^^') It's rare to find someone willing to have an actual discussion and not just scream "HATER HATER" and block you, so I got ahead of myself XD

this has happened to me on my Roku app multiple times, and I did what @Kokuto mentioned and that works.

The subtitles will also start to lag really bad if you pause sometimes - and again, you have to leave the app and go back into to it to fix it

I really hope Viki picks this up but so far no news that they will T___T

Very true 🤣

The screenwriters are different? Ah, that explains it then. No wonder this entire season has felt a little off and “fan fic-y”

Imma try to finish this season (mostly because I’m almost at the end) but I’ll likely need to do 1 episode per day to preserve my sanity

And yes, the fact that SY apparently received no punishment (I didn’t see that he was forced to take a “vacation”) just annoyed me even more. In the real world, that would have gotten him fired. The least the writers could have done is do what every other crime drama does - indefinite desk duty (for like 2-3 episodes 😂)

Sorry to break it to you, but this is in no way how actual criminal profiling works. Actual profiling is rather unexciting. It's essentially a desk job involving a ton of research, data analysis, rational thinking, and actual rigorous training/education in psychology and criminology. It is very much not babbling like a lunatic in front of murder suspects.

If you don't believe me, look it up *shrug*

Maybe I know too much about actual criminal profiling that I just can't suspend the amount of disbelief needed to be okay with anything that's happened in the last several cases, particularly this opera one. The last 10 episodes have progressively felt more and more like one of those surreal AU fan fics, one in which the author is unilaterally obsessed with Shen Yi, gives 0 f*cks about any other characters, and feels the need to make SY both a paragon of criminal investigation who is 100% right all the time BUT also has an evil psychotic villain side lurking just beneath the surface. The amount of whiplash I have experienced - I've had to limit myself to 1-2 episodes at a time and take like a day break between. I've felt the need to rewatch episodes of Criminal Minds just to be brought back down to earth (and that's saying something because as much as I love Criminal Minds, it's definitely not accurate either, but substantially more so than this)

EDIT: I forgot to say, I have nothing against any of the actors. They have all done a great job with what they were given. Extra props to TJC for taking this absolute batshit cray script and running with it. He is very believably psychotic. The blame is entirely on the screenwriters -___-

I'm real sorry ya'll - I'm trying. Season 1 was so good, and this season started off pretty strong . . . but whatever hot mess I'm watching now is just too much extra and ridiculousness and not enough legit crime solving. Shen Yi's profiling monologue to the serial killer in episode 20 (aka a legit psychotic break) may just be the last straw to make me drop this, and I almost never drop dramas.

I'm putting the rest of my mini 'rant' under a spoiler, because I just need to vent my frustration somewhere. So, if you're like the majority of people on this site who seem to take personal offense anytime someone says something critical about something you like, I recommend skipping this comment. But also, friendly reminder - I'm only this frustrated because I loved s1 so much.

To be fair (and I haven't finished S2 yet - if I do at this point because this is getting beyond ridiculous to be perfectly honest), I'm literally watching Shen Yi have a psychotic break in episode 20 because he's "getting into the head of the murderer" in front of said murderer, in the murderer's own home, where SY just decided to venture to without a) letting ANYONE know where he was going or what he was doing, therefore b) having NO back up while confronting a serial killer, and c) essentially telling the murderer he's a major suspect to his face just to basically tell him "neener neener I understand your particular brand of cray cray"

So yeah, I think Du Cheng has AMPLE reason to doubt SY's judgement in this season and be a little pissy with him. Just saying ^^'

Wow just wow! I finally finished this after dragging my feet (I just didn't want it to end!)

Definitely one of my favorite dramas of 2024 and I'll be rewatching this one for sure (probably soon)!

10/10 <3

There are three Dukes - Ding, Ying, and Jing (confusing I know)

Duke of Ding - ML's uncle, who essentially raised him and was assassinated
Duke of Ying - ML's bio dad and verified POS
Duke of Jing - the family the FL was supposed to marry into, but her sister Ming took her place

Hope this helps!