Republican Myth Busters
2020 has been a prolific year for the detective investigation genre, with countless dramas produced. This is particularly so with C-dramas and especially set in the Republican era. We had Tientsin Mystic 2, Psych-Hunter, Miss S, Detective, My Roommate is a Detective, and Dream Detective. Including dramas set in other eras, we also had Ancient Detective, Insect Detective, Maiden Holmes, and My Supernatural Power, among others and with generally varying levels of complexity, seriousness and romance / bromance fluffiness. Not that I’m complaining and fans of this genre shouldn’t either – it’s time to rejoice for this (over)abundant supply of mystery dramas to be savoured.The Case Solver, also known as Cracking Case (拆案), is adapted from the novel Twelve Strange Cases (十二奇案) by suspense novelist Feng Yu (封与). This detective investigation drama is set in the Republican era about Detective Fang Gu Yuan and forensic doctor Che Su Wei, both of the Shanghai French Concession Central Patrol, as they team up to solve criminal cases shrouded in mystery and the paranormal. Alongside them are loyal and supportive sidekicks in the form of Deputy Detective Kang Yi Chen and investigative reporter Cao Qing Luo.
Although this show shares similarities with other supernaturally-themed detective dramas by infusing cases with superstitions, mythology and Feng Shui geomancy, the approach taken here is to debunk those myths by seeking logical and scientific explanations instead of relying on supernatural means to solve those mysteries. The one thing that does somewhat surprise me is the violent nature of the crimes being committed. Some of the cases almost remind me of SVU (Special Victims Unit). There are in total seven cases spread over 24 episodes that our dynamic duo encounter, for which I shall give the following crude (but spoiler-free) description:
Case 1 – Feng Shui ghost killer
Case 2 – Water monkey and the pocket watch murders
Case 3 – Imperial Qing princess
Case 4 – Corpse-stealing ghost
Case 5 – Assassination attempts
Case 6 – Horror magic show
Case 7 - Movie set murder
Principal photography fully took place at Hengdian World Studios, where the show displays reasonable production quality. As expected of a Republican drama, we have the elegant settings of the era, beautiful cheongsam for the ladies, smartly tailored suits for the men. An interesting point of note is the French-themed uniform of the Shanghai French Concession Central Patrol – very unique and different from the usual warlord outfits and soldier uniforms. The CGI looks decent whenever it is used and overall cinematography, including framing of panoramic as well as indoor shots, is generally done well. The story progresses at a manageable and engaging pace with minimal fillers, and the action sequences are very well executed.
There is minimal to none as far as underlying romantic theme is concerned as the focus of the story is on the investigations and friendship between the 2 leads and with their two friends. There is also more than a hint of bromance between Fang Gu Yuan and Kang Yi Chen. The characters are generally well written, with a clever but somewhat troubled ML, an intelligent and low-profile FL, along with supporting characters that come across as endearing rather than exasperating for a pleasant change.
Gu Jia Cheng’s Fang Gu Yuan is convincing and relatable. The actor conveys the right balance of coolness and warmth, but his character is one with a very pensive and stoic disposition. Gu Jia Cheng seems to have this expression nailed on, and it reminds me of his Prince Jing Ling in The Song of Glory. This role suits him perfectly.
Dong Xuan is a versatile actress who possesses exceptional range in delivering a variety of roles. Her portrayal of the down to earth Che Su Wei is understated, nuanced and very controlled or even restrained. She didn’t let loose here as she did in Legend of Fei or Together.
I truly enjoyed the music in this drama, particularly the BGM score and the OST featuring the ending theme, The Dream Stealer (偷梦人) performed beautifully and almost sorrowfully by Fu Hao (付豪).
Overall, The Case Solver is a short and engaging detective investigation drama that isn’t overly complex, doesn’t take itself too seriously and certainly doesn’t attempt to be too many things that other dramas are usually guilty of. There are many opinions by viewers about the ending, but it’s probably nothing unexpected at this point in C-dramas of this nature. This is by no means the best that this genre has to offer, but it is definitely not bad at all. It does the basics well with a nicely-written plot, pleasant set of characters, and sufficient amount of mystery, thrills as well as action. A solid production that’s worth a watch.
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Satisfactory but not all that satisfying
There seems to be a trend of detective dramas set in the Chinese Republican era recently (Detective L, My Roommate is a Detective). Perhaps the setting allows some circumvention of censorship to some extent--it's probably easier to get away with portraying the police or some policemen somewhat negatively in a made-in-China series since it represents a bygone era not under the current political regime.The Case Solver is a somewhat decent addition, but it is hard to sing praises of it. The series can roughly be divided into six main cases, with links between a couple of them. About half the cases involve some fake supernatural occurrences, and perhaps this could have been a feature of the series though I guess making it a feature would not really allow the historical context to be fully exploited.
What we end up with is a few rather implausible cases, some with a better story than others. The weakest story is probably the one involving a magician who uses hypnosis. The main revelation is a little too predictable and the crimes committed are simply quite impossible to execute with the supposed methods. If you do not care too much about plausibility, most of the stories are interesting enough.
The final case is clearly meant to be the most exciting, but it is also one of the more erratic ones. To be fair, the last episode does not end up being as rushed as expected, but the turn of events does not really fit the rest of the series. Furthermore, the dialogue sometimes seems a little too silly (like the male leads wishing each other a happy new year after the villain gets his just desserts--it just seems silly coming after the spate of violence that have resulted in the deaths of a loved one).
Sometimes interesting characters and relationships may compensate for flawed stories, but this series doesn't shine in the characterization department either. The romance between the second male lead and a female reporter isn't very interesting or touching. Although they clearly like each other, they spend most of the time bickering with or teasing each other. There is a hint of potential romance between the first male lead and the forensics pathologist, but there is no development.
The bromance between the two male leads is better handled--they become closer progressively. Although the first male lead seems like a somewhat cold person, he clearly cares a lot about the second male lead, putting a coat over him when he gets drunk and shedding tears when he has to point a gun at him and arrest him.
There also seems to be a missing back story about the first male lead and his teacher (who happens to be the father of the forensics pathologist). It also remains unclear how the first male lead has sustained an injury that gives him frequent headaches. The acupuncturist who is able to relieve his pain is an intriguing character, but nothing much is revealed about her.
The series does turn out okay, but it isn't really outstanding in any particular way.
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Multiple cases
multiple cases ,, the story is finished, but there is still an unclear identity, and the character secret has not been divided, plus at the end of the episode there is a new story openingso just hope season 2 will air soon ,, if there is, if not in a year maybe it's better not to exist because, the story will be forgotten
The story is interesting ,, unfortunately when solving the case there is no reconstruction so it is not clear which one happened first and which story is true, and the opening of the case does not seem very useful or has nothing to do with the main case itself,maybe its better if the opening doesnt exist,,, and the way of investigation is not very clear, when investigating the case didnt know what report they read, or what they do, then shudenly have a result or suspect，，hmm STILL WATCHABLE
Questions
-what happen with guyuan head's bullet?
-who is the acupuncture master?
-the last story beginning
Case 1,, So does the mistress know that the child in Nuanchun's womb is a youmeng child? Or does she know it's her husband's child? And in fact, if there is no scare part with a doll, the person who is poisoned will die, in my opinion it is just a useless act, if you want to disguise it as a haunted house you can just show the ghost to others, no need to scare the person to die quickly, especially scare them when the time to die
Case 2,, at the beginning they suspected the water monkey because the one who died earlier could not swim ,, but they suspected those who died earlier as deliverymen for smuggling goods? Is that connected? , I don't know what was gu yuan do or he read but shuddenly he suspect wang haitao change name to wangchengbo, and until the end it was not clear the smuggling case ,the dead person was the person who wanted to be smuggled or the delivery person, and why were the last 2 people killed?
Case 3,, there is no sign that they are investigating tailor nong, but shuddenly forensics che have the result
Case 4 and 5, don't know where to get the hint then combining the cat case with the corpse kidnapping case and if still continue so that the purpose of miss du to kill all the cats? ,,, Guyuan says he suspects Sihongfei? even though there is no sign that they are related at all, ridiculous! And they lost track of the sihongfei, but guyuan said that he immediately followed the duruoning? And ruoning and xiaoping face look alike? If this was all their plan, why would sihongfei study at a corpse seller ?! does that make sense ?! it doesn't make sense, too forceful! And! The last! Kang yi chen said when catch uncle mute and sihong fei, they didnt say anything! But from who! Guyuan know if the real xiaoping didnt die?!
Case 7 does this make sense? Just because of frequent gang fights, kangshaoqing planning a fake death of wengmei ? And isn't wengmei's goal to make Kang shaoqing think she's really dead? So what got her exposed? why in the stomach substitute There have residues of fertility drugs? What that kangshaoqing and changhai talking about?!
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