This review may contain spoilers
Compassion in the Darkness
This is just a supplement of what have been reviewed by others, so please read other reviews if you want to understand the drama completely. This review is also about my different takes on point-of-views of some commenters.
GENRES:
- Horror: What horror? Although if you are, like me, rarely watch horror shows there are plenty of creepy scenes throughout the drama to scare you. Especially the first story "The Cat Food" that was filmed with the setting of a real famous haunted building in Hong Kong. There is also a Halloween event in the drama. Honestly, there are more ghosts and vengeful spirits in dramas like the Korean Goblin, Hotel De Luna, Mystic Popup Bar, or the Thai horrors with real evil spirits. Here I counted only two friendly visits from deceased spirits who meant well. The make-to-believe horror scenes are thanks to the Director Ju Xing Mao who have directed horror dramas, like the Ferryman series. FYI, the Director actually acted as Big Senior in this drama. How someone who loves making horror shows can actually be comical is beyond my comprehension, lol.
- Detective/Investigation: This not in the genre list, but I think this is more like it. Though our protagonist Li Jia thinks that he himself may have schizophrenia, I think mostly Li Jia is the sanest of many psychotic characters in the drama. His pure curiosity, deductive reasoning, and sleuthing skill kick in first in many cases.
- Psychological: The prominent theme is Compassion in this drama, with many recurrences in several characters and almost every case. Li Jia is definitely a compassionate person. As someone who is tortured by the past, he understand what others with mental incapabilities go thru. Strangers (like Shi Cheng in the admission event) and so-called villains in many cases can see Li Jia's compassion throught the drama.
Interestingly, the misunderstanding/misconception of general people against the victims of psychological issues are represented by his friends' initial reactions:
- Cha Cha who is steely and practical will be ignorant/indifferent and say: I already have too much on my plate, who care of others?
- Shi Cheng who is impulsive and emotional will be scared/run away and say: Don't understand them, they are scary. Better not cross their paths.
- Romance: Watchers who purely fans of horror/mystery/action/crime genres won't like romance included here. However, since this drama is not based on any action novel/comic where there are two male leads only, the original script is written with romance between ML and FL in it, as seen throughout the drama. The memory of seeing Cha Cha at the first time when she was skateboarding next to his bus, flashing back on Li Jia's mind while he's fighting a villain in the water. Thus, the first impression counts. Also, his monologue after the first case ends, when he and Cha Cha say goodbye to each other, most likely is recorded in his journal. Lastly, the ending scene (literally after the ending credit finishes) also shows his subconscious affection towards Cha Cha.
CHARACTERIZATION:
- Cha Cha: Anyone who read this review and haven't watched the drama yet will be curious about the FL. Cha Cha is a very good actress and you'll know in "Red Velvet" in the middle drama why (I'm talking about the characterization, not Cherry Ngan). A chameleon in fashion: short hair in one scene, long hair in another scene; feminine dress in one scene, baggy overall in another scene. Eccentric, a colorful character, a rainbow for Li Jia
- Xiao Xi: What to say? This guy makes girls fall for without him saying anything (you'll know why when you watch the drama, lol). Even someone says she'll marry him when she grew up! All feelings shown through Xiao Xi's facial expressions. Though audience don't hear him talk much, at least hear the actor who played Xiao Xi (Feng Jian Yu) sang the ending theme of the drama.
FRIENDSHIP:
Some complains about long "Heterochromia" subplot, but that segment actually shows the building of relationships: romance between Li Jia and Cha Cha, bromance between Li Jia and Shi Cheng, friendship between Li Jia, Shi Cheng, Cha Cha, and the introduction of Xiao Xi and his sidekicks. It's a fundamental subplot than just solving psych cases.
SETTING:
Hong Kong. Thanks to the executive producer Zhao Zeen (赵泽恩)who planned the filming with real landmarks of Hong Kong backdrops. As someone who watch lots of Cdramas but rarely HKdramas, this real setting is a nice treat.
SEQUEL:
Though personally I would like a sequel (someone needs to fix Li Jia!), I'm not really count on it for the following reasons:
1. As a mystery/horror/psychology show, an open ending is quite common not only in life performance but also in written fiction.
2. China (generally Chinese drama production companies) is known as making open ended dramas. There are older dramas with open endings that never heard sequels be made.
3. China sucks in making sequels. If there will be, it may be completely different story not connnected with prequel, change of main characters, or the story flops.
4. The production cost. In an interview, the executive producer Zhao Zeen (赵泽恩) stated that filming in Hong Kong cost 3x than Mainland and Chinese crew had to obtain working visas. If sequel happens, probably the scenario will be based in China that may change the storyline and/or actor/actress
Above all, it took me 2 days binging 26 episodes, 1/3 on the first day and 2/3 on the second day. In the middle of the night watching scary scenes. The suspense and thriller really got me!
GENRES:
- Horror: What horror? Although if you are, like me, rarely watch horror shows there are plenty of creepy scenes throughout the drama to scare you. Especially the first story "The Cat Food" that was filmed with the setting of a real famous haunted building in Hong Kong. There is also a Halloween event in the drama. Honestly, there are more ghosts and vengeful spirits in dramas like the Korean Goblin, Hotel De Luna, Mystic Popup Bar, or the Thai horrors with real evil spirits. Here I counted only two friendly visits from deceased spirits who meant well. The make-to-believe horror scenes are thanks to the Director Ju Xing Mao who have directed horror dramas, like the Ferryman series. FYI, the Director actually acted as Big Senior in this drama. How someone who loves making horror shows can actually be comical is beyond my comprehension, lol.
- Detective/Investigation: This not in the genre list, but I think this is more like it. Though our protagonist Li Jia thinks that he himself may have schizophrenia, I think mostly Li Jia is the sanest of many psychotic characters in the drama. His pure curiosity, deductive reasoning, and sleuthing skill kick in first in many cases.
- Psychological: The prominent theme is Compassion in this drama, with many recurrences in several characters and almost every case. Li Jia is definitely a compassionate person. As someone who is tortured by the past, he understand what others with mental incapabilities go thru. Strangers (like Shi Cheng in the admission event) and so-called villains in many cases can see Li Jia's compassion throught the drama.
Interestingly, the misunderstanding/misconception of general people against the victims of psychological issues are represented by his friends' initial reactions:
- Cha Cha who is steely and practical will be ignorant/indifferent and say: I already have too much on my plate, who care of others?
- Shi Cheng who is impulsive and emotional will be scared/run away and say: Don't understand them, they are scary. Better not cross their paths.
- Romance: Watchers who purely fans of horror/mystery/action/crime genres won't like romance included here. However, since this drama is not based on any action novel/comic where there are two male leads only, the original script is written with romance between ML and FL in it, as seen throughout the drama. The memory of seeing Cha Cha at the first time when she was skateboarding next to his bus, flashing back on Li Jia's mind while he's fighting a villain in the water. Thus, the first impression counts. Also, his monologue after the first case ends, when he and Cha Cha say goodbye to each other, most likely is recorded in his journal. Lastly, the ending scene (literally after the ending credit finishes) also shows his subconscious affection towards Cha Cha.
CHARACTERIZATION:
- Cha Cha: Anyone who read this review and haven't watched the drama yet will be curious about the FL. Cha Cha is a very good actress and you'll know in "Red Velvet" in the middle drama why (I'm talking about the characterization, not Cherry Ngan). A chameleon in fashion: short hair in one scene, long hair in another scene; feminine dress in one scene, baggy overall in another scene. Eccentric, a colorful character, a rainbow for Li Jia
- Xiao Xi: What to say? This guy makes girls fall for without him saying anything (you'll know why when you watch the drama, lol). Even someone says she'll marry him when she grew up! All feelings shown through Xiao Xi's facial expressions. Though audience don't hear him talk much, at least hear the actor who played Xiao Xi (Feng Jian Yu) sang the ending theme of the drama.
FRIENDSHIP:
Some complains about long "Heterochromia" subplot, but that segment actually shows the building of relationships: romance between Li Jia and Cha Cha, bromance between Li Jia and Shi Cheng, friendship between Li Jia, Shi Cheng, Cha Cha, and the introduction of Xiao Xi and his sidekicks. It's a fundamental subplot than just solving psych cases.
SETTING:
Hong Kong. Thanks to the executive producer Zhao Zeen (赵泽恩)who planned the filming with real landmarks of Hong Kong backdrops. As someone who watch lots of Cdramas but rarely HKdramas, this real setting is a nice treat.
SEQUEL:
Though personally I would like a sequel (someone needs to fix Li Jia!), I'm not really count on it for the following reasons:
1. As a mystery/horror/psychology show, an open ending is quite common not only in life performance but also in written fiction.
2. China (generally Chinese drama production companies) is known as making open ended dramas. There are older dramas with open endings that never heard sequels be made.
3. China sucks in making sequels. If there will be, it may be completely different story not connnected with prequel, change of main characters, or the story flops.
4. The production cost. In an interview, the executive producer Zhao Zeen (赵泽恩) stated that filming in Hong Kong cost 3x than Mainland and Chinese crew had to obtain working visas. If sequel happens, probably the scenario will be based in China that may change the storyline and/or actor/actress
Above all, it took me 2 days binging 26 episodes, 1/3 on the first day and 2/3 on the second day. In the middle of the night watching scary scenes. The suspense and thriller really got me!
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