Standard Cases, Slow Pacing: Dropped Halfway
This is a drop review—commentary on the first half of the season.I love investigative dramas and watch quite a few of them, and I’m also a big fan of Li Fei—I’ve seen almost all of his costume dramas, including some of his earliest work. Unfortunately, this one just isn’t a win for me. I find the stories fairly plain and, at times, slow-moving. I was only pulled in when Jueming’s origins were hinted, and across the first 15 episodes, I was only moved for about five minutes near the end of one case. If you watch a lot of investigative dramas, the cases here feel pretty standard, and I haven’t found anything that really sets them apart. I also think this drama struggles with pacing, which might have worked better for me if the episodes were shorter.
The character portrayals didn’t quite work for me either. While Li Fei delivers a strong and natural role, I think the script often limits him, and I find that some of the dialogue comes across as unintentionally awkward rather than funny. Likewise, despite standout performances in other dramas—He Hongshan in Ruyi's Royal Love in the Palace and The Glory, and Lu Xingyu in Xuan-Yuan Sword: Han Cloud and Legend of Yunxi—I thought their roles here feel somewhat artificial and unconvincing to me.
Now that I’m a few episodes past the halfway point—a stage where I usually stop and reevaluate whether I want to continue a watch—I’ve decided to drop it here.
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A Case-Driven Drama That Didn’t Fully Work for Me
I’m sorry, folks—this drama just wasn’t for me. I dropped it at episode 10. There were several reasons it didn’t work.While I appreciated that Ju Jingyi expanded her range by taking on a villainous role, I was disappointed when she slipped back into her usual character portrayals. And although Liu Xueyi delivered a strong performance, I felt the chemistry between the leads was mismatched, and the storyline itself was difficult to connect with. On the positive side, this was the first time Li Geyang caught my attention, and I thoroughly enjoyed his screen presence. He brought his character to life with charisma and nuance, layering various traits and moods effortlessly and naturally.
Overall, I liked the narrative framework that wove individual cases into a larger storyline, but ultimately, the execution didn’t quite land for me—it just wasn’t my cup of tea.
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