The Penalty Zone (2020)

Fifty shades of grey.

I expected this to be just another undercover narcotics cop drama. Which it is -  but still it hooked me from the very first episode. A sudden explosion sends Gan Tianlei (Ou Hao) into an 8 year coma in the middle of a decade long deep undercover mission to infiltrate the Ceasar drug organization. When he wakes up, he has no memory of his teenage daughter and her mother and only retains shadowy images of the events leading up to his accident. As his memory returns in snatches, he grapples with where his true loyalties lie and whether he had crossed over to the dark side. Ou Hao really shines in this role - he is heartbroken, moved, bewildered,  cunning, disingenuous, inscrutable, conflicted and enraged at all the right moments. His fight scenes were also really gripping and jam packed with raw, powerful fist-slugging and high impact kick action.

The main characters in this drama are extremely well written - they are multi-faceted, imperfect and complex such that the lines between protagonist and antagonist are frequently blurry. In particular the reluctant chemistry between Gan Tianlei and Che Lizi  as they encircle each other warily at times as allies and at times in combat is the best, most fascinating portrayal of the conflict between black and white and the fifty shades of grey in between. The drama throws them into moments where they are stressed into revealing themselves and their true priorities in the split second choices that they make. Both actors Ou Hao and Xu Hongjie are nuanced and compelling in the way they articulate themselves; theirs is the best frenemy bromance I watched in 2020. The entire ensemble cast delivers a very strong performance in terms of the rapport of the anti-narcotics force and the depth, length and endurance of their relationships and loyalties to one another. The collegial humour and comradeship pulls you in with sketches that are equal parts funny, cynical, nostalgic, light and dark and makes vivid what anchors Gan Tianlei as he walks the line between dark and light.

For about three quarters of the drama, the pacing is excellent and transitions seamlessly between suspense, action, comedy, tragedy with a few good twists and reveals mixed in at all the right moments. Then the drama peaks in an epic showdown between the remnants of the Ceasar group and the Tan family that had succeeded them as drug kingpins. And that is where the drama could have and should have ended on a high note. Up until then, my rating was an 8.0 with an eye towards 8.5. But in the final arc, it seems another writer took over. The mad scientist Lu Mingxiong is another decently written grey character but falls far short in comparison to Gan Tianlei and Che Lizi and the dynamic becomes more like two's company, three's a crowd. His relationship with Gan Xiaoyuan was so oily even the drama admits as much. It is clearly intended to set the stage for another season that sees Gan Tianlei, the ultimate undercover cop go after an international drug ring. I really didn't enjoy the final short arc that felt long, which is why this ends up an 7.5 for me. That said, Ou Hao has really impresses with his acting in this and in The Eight. I believe he is the best up and coming actor I came across in 2020.

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