randomshowenthusiast

I really enjoyed this drama, yes it has its weakness (e.g. the dumbing down charas for the plot) but it was overall enjoyable & found family & bromance and nice mix of humor and action. also kudos for the ciber security PSA aspect of the show

Random but I really was fascinated that we got a chara like Ma Ping, he was out there being a sneaky &efficient criminal while also being a loving dad & husband and sometimes I felt like rooting for him, like damnit the writers got me invested in his chara/family XD

This story of prejudice & resentment is a beautiful production considering that it's 'just' a mini-drama I really liked the cinematography/music/costumes/stage setting.
The actors did well with what they were given and the charas had potential.

I esp liked the FL chara she had some of that 'naive sunshine baby-girl' trope I overall don't like if it's a 1-dimensional chara, but it was well balanced by her moments of inner strenght & even a bit of physical bad-ass moves.
I also appreciated that FL & ML had a balanced relationship, both showing their emotions & trying to do all they can for their love.

Sadly the drama fell short a bit towards the end when they didn't quite manage to give all charas the proper development and at some points it felt like they had to cut something or didn't know how to incorporate the twists they wanted to add into the pacing of the drama.
I don't know if 1-2 more epis overall would've saved the drama from the disjointed story-telling feeling towards the end or if it was a misstep from the writers...

Either way I appreciated quite a few things about this mini-drama (among them the found family aspects), it just makes me a bit sad to see the plot stumbling in the last story-parts because this had the potential to be one of the best mini-dramas ...

My brain was finally in the right mood to check this show out and I absolutely fell in love with it and binged it.

If you’re looking for a clean-cut police procedural drama or a ‘keeping you on your toes Who did it’ mystery: this show is probably NOT for you ^^

I can barely articulate it but this show is more like the art & art-lectures it uses:
evoking emotions & thoughts & inspiration & exploring the human condition.

The ‘who did it’ is often presented early on in obv clues for the viewer, because while the police team work on solving the case, it’s not the main focus the show explores through its' themes and charas:

It’s more a WHY and how we might relate to it or what thoughts/feelings is it evoking and the cinematography adds to it.
This also reflects in the 2 main charas, they’ve met through a traumatic experience and the show explores their emotions and developing relationship through little moments and aspects that absolutely made me love to see their growth.

This is not even a ‘is it friendship or romantic ship or secret 3. thing’ (even tho they’re def fun to ship) to me it’s just the pure joy of little moments when it made me smile to see the growing trust despite regrets/guilt/anger…

I also appreciate how the women are written in this show, even the one that comes closest to the ‘clueless baby-girl’ stereotype is not just there to fawn over the guys but to be a specialized member of the team.

I esp. enjoyed how nuanced Shen Yi was written and I’m really hyped for the coming 2. season hoping we’ll get more about his story, but I also fear a bit if the 2. season can hold up to s1 XD
I just hope they continue along the ‘exploring the human condition’ facets of s1 and build on the foundation they set for the bromance and overall team, then I’ll happily watch more of Under The Skin :)


btw potential triggers:
this show does explore darker themes so it’s up to each individual when to watch this show and as a softie I teared up a lot, but it’s also not as depressing as I feared, it has a lot of warm moments sprinkled in :)

Thank you so much for your reply!! :D

ok that's sadly what I was expected to hear considering how they switched up his personality for this plot, so atm I didn't continue XD

I'll try to skip/fastforward through it one day when my current watch list is emptier Ig because I did like the other charas ^^

I also disliked the imbalance between the plot-lines in the later half of the season.
Idk what had to be cut/changed, but it felt really off to not hear anything about Xiaoge & Liu Sang (& Hei-ye) for months of the storyline and totally split them to a point where it felt like we're pretending they don't exist anymore which makes 0 sense esp in Wu Xie's situation

(you can explain some of it with them being used to be on long expeditions and Wu Xie trying to distance himself from everyone to not bring anyone pain with his death sure, but otoh would they really go without any contact & for this long in his situation? I mean Pangzi is right there not letting Wu Xie get away with trying to shove everyone away and would the rest of the expedition team really not try to stay in contact... )
I wish they had balanced the storyline with scenes of the expedition team, would have made the end of the season more interesting for me ^^

I really liked the actors and charas for this adaptation wayyy more than I expected to before starting this :3 (tho it's surprisingly dark compared to UN haha).

I def preferred the first half of the season tho ^^
the last half could've been good (Pangzi deserves some chara exploration and romance I'm fine with that) but the plot was handled so poorly it got me into an 'ok I will make it through this to get to s2' mindset instead of enjoying the rest of the season ...

I read a comment that they had to cut a lot in the later half and that might be part of the reason, but overall just too much made me roll my eyes towards the end and Piaopiao deserved way better than being written this 'stupid'...

Had it in my YT recs and so glad I gave it a chance, it's absolutely beautiful!
The cinematography and flow of the story are mesmerizing, it really has such a wonderful dreamy vibe to it :)
wish this could be picked up as a longer format drama, but otoh it's probably such an atmospheric gem because it's short form, the type of story telling would need to be adapted for a longer drama XD
but hope the actors & director will be in longer formats in the future :)

I srsly can not believe that the break-up trope was handled this badly after he was literally all 'we'll always be there for each other...I would fight for our love' etc

Likung turned into one of the biggest liars & assholes in just 1 episode and I really wanted to throw him out in epi 11 with his 'I did it for him' BS
seriously 0 ZERO!! communication, just one-sidedly deciding a break-up, being entitled to make decisions for the other person (gotta love the 'did ot for him' excuse BS)

and while Shou was the one with a broken heart & broken trust out of nowhere he also had to deal with everyone having an opinion on it AND he was the one taking Likung back right away without any proper processing of the hurt feelings and communication about the BS that has happened thanks to Likung?!?!?!

ok, taking a deep breath...
I fast forwarded their wedding and only watched the 2nd couple, because honestly I just couldn't be bothered with the 1st couple anymore after that BS...

I Really liked this drama...and then epi 10 happened and I nearly didn't finish it :/
I liked both couples overall, I liked the daily life aspect and the pondering about what love means for everyone including the divorce couples.
I appreciated that the charas were working adults and even a parent.
It's overall a cozy & fluffy watch :)

BUT I can not forgive the stupid writing towards the end and the chara that made an absolutely ridiculous decision, rant below XD

we already know from The blood of Youth that Baili has/had a romantic partner ^^ we can still enjoy bromances and friendships ^^

It still feels like a brain-hickup that I'll see one of my KPop kiddos in my most anticipated CDrama lol.
also stumbled upon the trailer for his 2. upcoming costume CDrama and it looks great, excited for him :)

I've never Seen a perfect Show and it's about personal taste, but I really like this drama.
It doesn't take itself too Seriously and has a mix between Investigation + family Drama + minor Fantasy aspects + sillyness at times (but also some serious conversations).
I also like that it's a larger cast and the Side charas have their time for their storylines :)

I rlly struggle with 'familiar faces' had to look up that he played Wang Yan in League Of Nobleman :D

I've just stumbled upon a trailer and the visuals are really intriguing and it's nice to see some actors I like in this :)
(I'm just crossing all my fingers & toes that the plot will be well written plsssss)

yes it was awesome to finally see some understanding between the siblings :)
Ruoqian is honestly becoming one of my fav charas in this because they've written him quite interestingly imo with a 'too good to be true'-vibe and giving little hints that could go in either direction for his chara to keep us guessing XD

ok honestly I had to laugh at Nanxing and the bandit, he's such a mess & def not the right way to show interest -_- but in another universe without Xinbai and tone downed asshole behavior I could see Nanxing & bandit happening cause they're similar with their 'caring for people but with added little schemes' aspects XD
considering the preview they kinda will be allys but also consider killing each other lol gotta be fun (like early stage with Bielie) XD
I also had to smile at the random accidental murder, I like the silly apsects of the show, they don't take themselves too seriously while still also having deeper moments ^^

we've already reached epi 30 :') will enjoy the sillyness and revealed schemes at court, but already kinda sad it will be over soon ^^

I enjoyed the light-hearted epis today and it's good Suoluo has found an outlet so she doesn't just stew in supressed anger like she did at the beginning of the show XD
but I'm really curious how the journey for her and Ruoqian will be considering the politics surrounding her, even if/when she falls for him it's not easy for them...
Overall I enjoy that this show also highlights the side-charas and fleshes them out more :)

Xinbai and Nanxing are so adorkable, I love them :3
these 2 epis were SO good, just made my day catching up with the show :)
I really like the charas and their interactions whether it was more serious or absolutely ridiculous, for my taste the show has found a good balance atm and I hope it continues on like that :)

It's a slow burn and they'll have to develope an honest interest in each other first, in the earlier epis it's mor of a 'team-up for a case' and only later on they fall for each other and they're portraying that really well at current epis (~ epi 20) :)

and I'm happy we're finally getting the Xinbai & Bieli team-up I was hoping for hehe
their investigation will def be an uphill battle, the involved nobles/businessmen seem to be on their toes mostly, which will keep it high stakes
Bieli & Saier are such a good match!! :)

I liked that we got a moment of truce between Suoluo and Xinbai, her whole 'I will ruin my brother's life' mood was making me expect that she would be willing to make a grave mistake before a 'redemption' arc, but now I hope it won't have to go that far and they'll sort their relationship out
we'll get some Suoluo & Ruoqian tomorrow, looking forward to it, if I remember correctly he doesn't know her official title yet...