When this series was first announced back in 2020, I was very much looking forward to it because I have done a lot of research on anti-narcotics units internationally and though knowing this was fiction, wanted to see how they would be portrayed in China. At the time Wang Yibo was the only actor I knew and wanted to see how he'd handle this type of tough genre. Sadly, neither came close to delivering the goods. 8 reviews later and this was sadly underwhelming and lackluster. Let's begin with the pros as usual.
Pros: Favorite character was WZF, though he had a very chaotic start where you didn't know whether he was coming or going and he had few scenes in earlier episodes. However, when you finally understood what he was doing and why as well as how hard it had been for every inch he made forward (especially when he had the snot beat out of him practically every episode), you were rooting for him. Plus this year, I finally saw his actor in something where he did very well which peaked my interest once this dropped and he delivered despite the odds. Director Lin came in second as a man who could go from furious to placating in a blink of an eye. Loved how he was both a father figure to all of his underlings and still maintained his professionalism. YL didn't seem like much but as the series progressed, her emotional acting was very well executed. I had seen the actress in a drama earlier this year where she just didn't fit (for me at least) as an antagonist but here she did a really great job and her raw portrayals were palpable.
The main antagonists once you got a grip on who the leaders or mid leaders were rather reminded me of the old Italian mob La Cosa Nostra. That "family" came above else and no matter what, you don't rat out family and you don't kill them or see them harmed. Even though the Marilyn Manson lookalike and WH were ready to kill others to save themselves from the other's family, they would do anything to bail each other out. Very rarely did the antagonists get that much screen time in other dramas, but for them at least it served a purpose that you understood their bonds and loyalty.
Other favorite characters included poor YY, Anran, plus all the other helper cops and complicated LK. The sets were a believable jungle and the OSTs matched the theme and genre of the series. The fight scenes were well executed and that ending operation was nice though wish they didn't jam it into the last 15-20 minutes.
Cons: The plot ran amok for over half of the episodes, the editing was uneven and felt like some weirdo deja vu. The amount of foot soldier drug dealers and who they ultimately answered to was very hard to keep up with. There was zilch chemistry between CY and YL as bf/gf and they essentially felt like siblings the entire series even at the end when he told her he loved her twice. Felt completely empty and devoid of anything that would seem like a relationship. There was also almost no real connection between the leads. We know what the story was but it was just not happening with their interactions; the "trust me/tell me everything you know" talking in circles got old quick. It felt like there were missing links somewhere between them. The first of the two major drug busting operations essentially looked like a rocket launch sans rocket; just too much.
Didn't believe the character of CY at all; he spent the first 10 episodes essentially yelling his lines and afterwards there was very little emotion, not in his eyes or tone inflection. His face was literally like a stone even when he frowned. He smiled so rarely that it seemed like almost an afterthought. That crying scene everyone was talking about, looked super forced on his part but Director Lin sitting next to him just captured the agony of that scene with his tears. I wanted to cry with CY in that scene but I didn't feel it from him, YL and Director Lin on the other hand were gut wrenching on all sides.
The main villain was under everyone's noses the entire time it was so obvious it was ridiculous. Neither him nor the woman who I thought he treated as a daughter until he kissed her (eww) and her macho guy plus the other big bads were relatively lackluster as villains as they just were arrogant, twitchy eyed, or just walked stiffly; impression that I got was like "if I don't blink and walk in a robotic manner, I'm super evil." Just missed the mark; he was no John Gotti.
The ending....which one? The is he dead or not one? That just zooms out and then roll credits or the 3.5 minute one that was randomly added by the show's Weibo page as an extra with CY and WZY fighting bad guys together in some carnival funhouse-like atmosphere a year later and running around haphazardly while making "funny faces" throwing colored dust on the chasing bad guys while people are tripping and chickens and feathers are flying everywhere. Glad he survived, but that was one weird and totally from a different genre and series "happy ending". I've got no other words for it other then a hot mess.
Would I recommend it? No, I wouldn't and I'm sad to say that because I wanted this to be good. Though I know actor fans will watch anyways and that's fine plus action is good where you can get it, the messy and schizophrenic plot (special no thanks to those 8 reviews) is just not worth it.
Pros: Favorite character was WZF, though he had a very chaotic start where you didn't know whether he was coming or going and he had few scenes in earlier episodes. However, when you finally understood what he was doing and why as well as how hard it had been for every inch he made forward (especially when he had the snot beat out of him practically every episode), you were rooting for him. Plus this year, I finally saw his actor in something where he did very well which peaked my interest once this dropped and he delivered despite the odds. Director Lin came in second as a man who could go from furious to placating in a blink of an eye. Loved how he was both a father figure to all of his underlings and still maintained his professionalism. YL didn't seem like much but as the series progressed, her emotional acting was very well executed. I had seen the actress in a drama earlier this year where she just didn't fit (for me at least) as an antagonist but here she did a really great job and her raw portrayals were palpable.
The main antagonists once you got a grip on who the leaders or mid leaders were rather reminded me of the old Italian mob La Cosa Nostra. That "family" came above else and no matter what, you don't rat out family and you don't kill them or see them harmed. Even though the Marilyn Manson lookalike and WH were ready to kill others to save themselves from the other's family, they would do anything to bail each other out. Very rarely did the antagonists get that much screen time in other dramas, but for them at least it served a purpose that you understood their bonds and loyalty.
Other favorite characters included poor YY, Anran, plus all the other helper cops and complicated LK. The sets were a believable jungle and the OSTs matched the theme and genre of the series. The fight scenes were well executed and that ending operation was nice though wish they didn't jam it into the last 15-20 minutes.
Cons: The plot ran amok for over half of the episodes, the editing was uneven and felt like some weirdo deja vu. The amount of foot soldier drug dealers and who they ultimately answered to was very hard to keep up with. There was zilch chemistry between CY and YL as bf/gf and they essentially felt like siblings the entire series even at the end when he told her he loved her twice. Felt completely empty and devoid of anything that would seem like a relationship. There was also almost no real connection between the leads. We know what the story was but it was just not happening with their interactions; the "trust me/tell me everything you know" talking in circles got old quick. It felt like there were missing links somewhere between them. The first of the two major drug busting operations essentially looked like a rocket launch sans rocket; just too much.
Didn't believe the character of CY at all; he spent the first 10 episodes essentially yelling his lines and afterwards there was very little emotion, not in his eyes or tone inflection. His face was literally like a stone even when he frowned. He smiled so rarely that it seemed like almost an afterthought. That crying scene everyone was talking about, looked super forced on his part but Director Lin sitting next to him just captured the agony of that scene with his tears. I wanted to cry with CY in that scene but I didn't feel it from him, YL and Director Lin on the other hand were gut wrenching on all sides.
The main villain was under everyone's noses the entire time it was so obvious it was ridiculous. Neither him nor the woman who I thought he treated as a daughter until he kissed her (eww) and her macho guy plus the other big bads were relatively lackluster as villains as they just were arrogant, twitchy eyed, or just walked stiffly; impression that I got was like "if I don't blink and walk in a robotic manner, I'm super evil." Just missed the mark; he was no John Gotti.
The ending....which one? The is he dead or not one? That just zooms out and then roll credits or the 3.5 minute one that was randomly added by the show's Weibo page as an extra with CY and WZY fighting bad guys together in some carnival funhouse-like atmosphere a year later and running around haphazardly while making "funny faces" throwing colored dust on the chasing bad guys while people are tripping and chickens and feathers are flying everywhere. Glad he survived, but that was one weird and totally from a different genre and series "happy ending". I've got no other words for it other then a hot mess.
Would I recommend it? No, I wouldn't and I'm sad to say that because I wanted this to be good. Though I know actor fans will watch anyways and that's fine plus action is good where you can get it, the messy and schizophrenic plot (special no thanks to those 8 reviews) is just not worth it.
