IMO, the mystery itself and characters are not what you come to for this show. Instead, it's the setting, which the production design does a killer job to immerse you in, taking you authentically to multiple time periods of 东北 in Chinese history. The characters are rather impenetrable, icy, and alien. There's no fun interaction between characters. But, the lack of connection and attachment is also a point of the show in demonstrating the effect of trauma, Chinese history, and economic recession in impeding communication, empathy, warmth, and close ties. The show is bleak, nihilist, and oh so noir.
I loved that the show had movie length episodes, which were necessary for maintaining the captivating atmosphere. I hope mysteries with variable episode lengths can survive amidst the industry- and market-driven pressure to produce Douyin-oriented shorts.
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One of the best Chinese dramas ever made. Rich characters, mystery, setting, and social commentary.
Phenomenal 东北 noir that is worth pairing with "Why Try to Change Me Now?" released in the same year for watching. Both are shows illustrating the long-term effects of trauma and manufacturing recession in Northern China and fractured familial dynamics. 漫长的季节 has a lot more humor and slice of life elements than "Why Try to Change Me Now?" along with a more dynamic mystery and engaging characters in exchange for "Why Try to Change Me Now" having a more immersive, alien, and nihilistic atmosphere. Both are tragic shows, but 漫长的季节 is a little more humanist, hopeful, and warm, whereas "Why Try to Change Me Now" is bleaker and more hopeless, which is why IMO this pairing is so complementary.Xin Shuang and his creative team showed much creative growth going from "The Bad Kids," already a great series, to this. I look forward to seeing what he does next and hope he is able to find an avenue to unleash his creativity amidst the unfortunate market drive for Douyin/TikTok-suited shorts to be cranked out.
PS, fantastic soundtrack, sound supervision, and sound design. You can tell Xin Shuang was formerly a rock musician by career. My one sound complaint is that they should have used boom poles more, because the mics embedded in actors' clothing (admittedly better for natural acting) recorded quite muffled dialog at times.
Awful awful English subtitle translation on Prime and Youtube (same subs) full of mistranslation and even misassignment of pronouns, you are warned.
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