This review may contain spoilers
Groundhog Day Meets Speed
In a nutshell, Reset is Groundhog Day meets Speed. If you've seen those movies, you know exactly what I'm talking about. It's a high-stakes suspense action thriller with sci-fi/fantasy elements. It's one of the most highly rated C-dramas to date and for good reason. It has a great cast and very compelling main characters. I must say my favorite is Officer Zhang. I actually like the actor, he's one of their better veteran actors. It has pretty good writing for the most part albeit some parts leave things to be desired. It has a decent enough pacing with edge of your seat type of tension.
But, and this is a big BUT, I personally don't think it deserves its almost perfect rating and accolades. First of all, 15-episodes is way too long for a story that can be told in just 12-13 episodes tops. If they had made the episodes 1-hour long, 10 episodes would suffice. The story is seriously not that complex to have that kind of length. By the 10th reset or so, I was bored. You can only endure so much repetition of the “same” predicament over and over again. They have to figure out how to diffuse the bomb without killing others or themselves and this goes on until the very last episode. It drove me nuts!
Yes, I know it's already short for a C-drama with most series spanning 30-40 episodes. But because of this, there are filler episodes and a lot of fluff that the series could do without. There's one particular episode that shouldn't have existed because it doesn't add much to the story imho. Some might say that it's part of Xiao Heyun's character development. Okay, I'll give them that. He learns firsthand that violence is not the answer. But do they show him creating non-violent video games later on? No, they don't. So what's the purpose of him getting his hands bloody and feeling remorse for having killed someone? He didn't kill her anyway as things always reset if they don't achieve their mission. That woman ended up in prison and still very much alive. So what was the purpose of that episode of him feeling like utter trash and them being chased by the police like criminals on the loose? Nothing. It achieved nothing but prolong the series. Perhaps, some would argue that it was a way for the viewers to get to know him a little by showing a little character background. That could've been achieved in just a few scenes or so, not one whole episode. Besides, we know next to nothing about Li Shiqing's background, and yet it didn't matter because we got to know who she is based on her actions and how she handles the situation. We already know that the experience has changed Xiao Heyun. He went from zero to hero trying to defend Li Shiqing. We know who he is. So really, there's no need for that episode. This is precisely why I don't normally watch modern non-costume C-dramas, they are ridiculously overstretched. I don't have the time nor the patience to sit through 30 episodes of couples fighting over manufactured conflicts and being all lovey-dovey after all has been resolved just so they can reach their quota of episodes.
Also, I might have missed this so if there's anyone who can explain this to me, I'd appreciate it. Based on what I've seen and understood, they never really explained why Xiao Heyun was experiencing a physical break down the more time resets. He just mentioned that it was affecting his health because he had reached his limit and time had stopped moving up with every new reset. So what? Li Shiqing didn't feel any side effects from that. Why was she fine and he wasn't? It doesn't add up. This is my beef with many sci-fi/fantasy C-dramas and novels/manhua, some have logical explanations but some don't. They are not consistent. I would've been more likely to accept things as they were if they had simply employed magical realism and not explained some things logically. It's like you're just supposed to suspend your disbelief when they can't offer a logical explanation for a phenomenon or conflict they've inserted. They could've made them both susceptible to side effects of the reset but written Li Shiqing to be more physically fit than Xiao Heyun so she is able to handle the effects better.
To be honest, I was somewhat disappointed with some of the writing in this. While I do appreciate that they took the time to build up the minor characters as they are needed to help the mains execute their plan, I don't like the fact that they gave very little importance to the other passengers like the old woman and the bungee jumping guy. They were part of the whole and had roles to play in the endgame. But they were treated as fodder. I expected so much more from this drama as it is highly rated, but it could've been a lot better than what it was. I am normally more critical of series that are critically well-received because my expectations are considerably higher than usual.
Overall, it's a good drama, I can't say that it isn't. I would still recommend it to anyone who likes this type of genre. However, I would've enjoyed it more if it had better writing and fewer episodes.
But, and this is a big BUT, I personally don't think it deserves its almost perfect rating and accolades. First of all, 15-episodes is way too long for a story that can be told in just 12-13 episodes tops. If they had made the episodes 1-hour long, 10 episodes would suffice. The story is seriously not that complex to have that kind of length. By the 10th reset or so, I was bored. You can only endure so much repetition of the “same” predicament over and over again. They have to figure out how to diffuse the bomb without killing others or themselves and this goes on until the very last episode. It drove me nuts!
Yes, I know it's already short for a C-drama with most series spanning 30-40 episodes. But because of this, there are filler episodes and a lot of fluff that the series could do without. There's one particular episode that shouldn't have existed because it doesn't add much to the story imho. Some might say that it's part of Xiao Heyun's character development. Okay, I'll give them that. He learns firsthand that violence is not the answer. But do they show him creating non-violent video games later on? No, they don't. So what's the purpose of him getting his hands bloody and feeling remorse for having killed someone? He didn't kill her anyway as things always reset if they don't achieve their mission. That woman ended up in prison and still very much alive. So what was the purpose of that episode of him feeling like utter trash and them being chased by the police like criminals on the loose? Nothing. It achieved nothing but prolong the series. Perhaps, some would argue that it was a way for the viewers to get to know him a little by showing a little character background. That could've been achieved in just a few scenes or so, not one whole episode. Besides, we know next to nothing about Li Shiqing's background, and yet it didn't matter because we got to know who she is based on her actions and how she handles the situation. We already know that the experience has changed Xiao Heyun. He went from zero to hero trying to defend Li Shiqing. We know who he is. So really, there's no need for that episode. This is precisely why I don't normally watch modern non-costume C-dramas, they are ridiculously overstretched. I don't have the time nor the patience to sit through 30 episodes of couples fighting over manufactured conflicts and being all lovey-dovey after all has been resolved just so they can reach their quota of episodes.
Also, I might have missed this so if there's anyone who can explain this to me, I'd appreciate it. Based on what I've seen and understood, they never really explained why Xiao Heyun was experiencing a physical break down the more time resets. He just mentioned that it was affecting his health because he had reached his limit and time had stopped moving up with every new reset. So what? Li Shiqing didn't feel any side effects from that. Why was she fine and he wasn't? It doesn't add up. This is my beef with many sci-fi/fantasy C-dramas and novels/manhua, some have logical explanations but some don't. They are not consistent. I would've been more likely to accept things as they were if they had simply employed magical realism and not explained some things logically. It's like you're just supposed to suspend your disbelief when they can't offer a logical explanation for a phenomenon or conflict they've inserted. They could've made them both susceptible to side effects of the reset but written Li Shiqing to be more physically fit than Xiao Heyun so she is able to handle the effects better.
To be honest, I was somewhat disappointed with some of the writing in this. While I do appreciate that they took the time to build up the minor characters as they are needed to help the mains execute their plan, I don't like the fact that they gave very little importance to the other passengers like the old woman and the bungee jumping guy. They were part of the whole and had roles to play in the endgame. But they were treated as fodder. I expected so much more from this drama as it is highly rated, but it could've been a lot better than what it was. I am normally more critical of series that are critically well-received because my expectations are considerably higher than usual.
Overall, it's a good drama, I can't say that it isn't. I would still recommend it to anyone who likes this type of genre. However, I would've enjoyed it more if it had better writing and fewer episodes.
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