53
195
8
PeachBlossomGoddess
Hong Kong
Murder He Wrote.
After an injury related leave of absence, veteran detective Jiang Guangming teams up with rookie Shi Luo to tie up a few perplexing loose ends in a murder case. Shi Luo is a crime fiction junkie and notices that the crime scene is disturbingly similar to one described in Gu Jiming's debut hit novel Black Rain. Is it a bizarre Murder He Wrote type of coincidence or is the author somehow complicit? The plot thickens when they discover Gu Jiming is not the only writer with links to the victim or the crime scene. The list of suspects grows as they delve deeper into the incestuous and cut throat literary world of aspiring and established writers and their messy personal lives.
The murder mystery is riveting from the onset as the search for a missing dog becomes a hunt for a missing witness. As they hone in on the main antagonist, the narrative morphs into a police procedural and a terrifying, gut wrenching exploration of man's quest for relevance. For Zhenzhen and Guangming it is about being in control; for Jiming and Tang Xun it was about writing that memorable first and last novel. All too easily, they slip down the path of moral decay in their pursuit of what matters to them. Even though I was fascinated by this dark and cynical treatise on human nature and how toxic relationships can get, I didn't like or root for any of the characters in this story.
I always regarded Tong Dawei as an overrated actor but I was floored by his compelling portrayal of the pitiful, conflicted and ultimately selfish character that is Gu Jiming. I also was surprised by his dark chemistry with Su Zhenzhen and how they fed off each other. While I appreciate the attempt to flesh out Guangming's character and to somehow connect her marital problems to the case, I was bored by her relationship arc. Despite Ma Yili's fantastic acting, the great cop terrible wife plot-line is unoriginal and went on for too long; often disrupting the flow and pacing of the main narrative. The final two episodes are quite anti-climatic but its still overall an excellent suspense thriller. This could have been a much tighter and more engrossing watch had they cut it down to 10-12 episodes. I rate this an excellent 8.0/10.0.
The murder mystery is riveting from the onset as the search for a missing dog becomes a hunt for a missing witness. As they hone in on the main antagonist, the narrative morphs into a police procedural and a terrifying, gut wrenching exploration of man's quest for relevance. For Zhenzhen and Guangming it is about being in control; for Jiming and Tang Xun it was about writing that memorable first and last novel. All too easily, they slip down the path of moral decay in their pursuit of what matters to them. Even though I was fascinated by this dark and cynical treatise on human nature and how toxic relationships can get, I didn't like or root for any of the characters in this story.
I always regarded Tong Dawei as an overrated actor but I was floored by his compelling portrayal of the pitiful, conflicted and ultimately selfish character that is Gu Jiming. I also was surprised by his dark chemistry with Su Zhenzhen and how they fed off each other. While I appreciate the attempt to flesh out Guangming's character and to somehow connect her marital problems to the case, I was bored by her relationship arc. Despite Ma Yili's fantastic acting, the great cop terrible wife plot-line is unoriginal and went on for too long; often disrupting the flow and pacing of the main narrative. The final two episodes are quite anti-climatic but its still overall an excellent suspense thriller. This could have been a much tighter and more engrossing watch had they cut it down to 10-12 episodes. I rate this an excellent 8.0/10.0.
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