CV_58
This review may contain spoilers
The feeling of being put between a rock and a hard place
Okay, so I found this drama in Desire Catcher's recommendation lists, and I thought the premise is quite intriguing given its genre for a suspense thriller drama. To be honest, I'm not supposed to watch any dramas until In Between airs because I've got a lot of tasks going on right now (monthly quiz and so on). However, because of this interesting premise, I was tempted to jump back to the drama world and here we go to the review...
The story tells about Luo Jian and Zhuang Wenjie who cooperate with each other to solve numerous cases linked to a mysterious mastermind. Actually, we are supposed to have an enemies-to-partners trope given the leads' identity - one is an experienced yet lowkey detective while the other one is a genius aka straight-A student who comes from a family of thieves for 3 generations (big whoop, right?). So, as we dig more into the plot, we are told that Zhuang Wenjie unintentionally involves himself in a painting robbery case, claiming that it is his late mother's most favorite painting. At first, he and Detective Luo don't seem to have a good start, but later on, he begins to acknowledge Detective Luo as his life mentor. Somehow, the villains happen to discover of Zhuang Wenjie's existence and make him their puppet because of his very special identity as Zhuang Yaobai's son (his father was one of the best thieves back before he married Wenjie's mother). Caught amidst the conflict between the police and the thieves, Wenjie has to make a choice for himself - to uphold the justice and law or to unravel the conspiracy behind his father's death 10 years ago.
In the beginning, the plot hooks me from the get-go, and I immediately binged up to 10 episodes. However, the plot starts to go downhill after Ding Shenghuo (one of Zhuang Yaobai's acquaintance) is arrested. The remaining villains are bland for me including Monsieur, the ultimate villain behind all of these crimes. I skipped nearly all of the scenes while trying to piece up everything by envisaging here and there. Also, the writer seemed to have toned down Wenjie's character by making him into a super freaking dumb boy. Come on dude, you shouldn't listen to those thieves' words and just stay still just like how Detective Luo tells him to do - he even doesn't know that he's in cahoots with Monsieur himself, who claims to be his father's senior. Born into a family of thieves has granted him a sense of vigilant and alertness, but why don't you use it in front of Monsieur and instead treat everything as if nothing happened at all (if you just listened to Detective Luo, things wouldn't do haywire, and your life probably wouldn't be in danger since the police is handling the case)? However, I must say that he's good when it comes to deception, better than me of course (it's shown when he keeps making excuses and lies to his friends).
Zhang Yi steals the show's limelight and showcases his acting talent seamlessly as the kind yet wise Detective Luo whereas Karry Wang of TFBOYS is still overshadowed by Zhang Yi's character despite him having more significance and depth. The supporting characters have done their parts well and I'm surprised to see that Fan Shiran is also participating in this drama (still can't get over her toxic character in Dashing Youth lol).
I don't pay much attention to the songs and BGMs so it is a pass to me.
Overall, an eight out of ten. If you're a fan of suspense thriller drama with complicated characters, give it a go. But I do have to warn you that the second half may not be as captivating as the first one. Good luck and happy watching!
The story tells about Luo Jian and Zhuang Wenjie who cooperate with each other to solve numerous cases linked to a mysterious mastermind. Actually, we are supposed to have an enemies-to-partners trope given the leads' identity - one is an experienced yet lowkey detective while the other one is a genius aka straight-A student who comes from a family of thieves for 3 generations (big whoop, right?). So, as we dig more into the plot, we are told that Zhuang Wenjie unintentionally involves himself in a painting robbery case, claiming that it is his late mother's most favorite painting. At first, he and Detective Luo don't seem to have a good start, but later on, he begins to acknowledge Detective Luo as his life mentor. Somehow, the villains happen to discover of Zhuang Wenjie's existence and make him their puppet because of his very special identity as Zhuang Yaobai's son (his father was one of the best thieves back before he married Wenjie's mother). Caught amidst the conflict between the police and the thieves, Wenjie has to make a choice for himself - to uphold the justice and law or to unravel the conspiracy behind his father's death 10 years ago.
In the beginning, the plot hooks me from the get-go, and I immediately binged up to 10 episodes. However, the plot starts to go downhill after Ding Shenghuo (one of Zhuang Yaobai's acquaintance) is arrested. The remaining villains are bland for me including Monsieur, the ultimate villain behind all of these crimes. I skipped nearly all of the scenes while trying to piece up everything by envisaging here and there. Also, the writer seemed to have toned down Wenjie's character by making him into a super freaking dumb boy. Come on dude, you shouldn't listen to those thieves' words and just stay still just like how Detective Luo tells him to do - he even doesn't know that he's in cahoots with Monsieur himself, who claims to be his father's senior. Born into a family of thieves has granted him a sense of vigilant and alertness, but why don't you use it in front of Monsieur and instead treat everything as if nothing happened at all (if you just listened to Detective Luo, things wouldn't do haywire, and your life probably wouldn't be in danger since the police is handling the case)? However, I must say that he's good when it comes to deception, better than me of course (it's shown when he keeps making excuses and lies to his friends).
Zhang Yi steals the show's limelight and showcases his acting talent seamlessly as the kind yet wise Detective Luo whereas Karry Wang of TFBOYS is still overshadowed by Zhang Yi's character despite him having more significance and depth. The supporting characters have done their parts well and I'm surprised to see that Fan Shiran is also participating in this drama (still can't get over her toxic character in Dashing Youth lol).
I don't pay much attention to the songs and BGMs so it is a pass to me.
Overall, an eight out of ten. If you're a fan of suspense thriller drama with complicated characters, give it a go. But I do have to warn you that the second half may not be as captivating as the first one. Good luck and happy watching!
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