Rants and Weekly Raves (RAWR) #367
Anne: Well...my work life hasn't gotten any better...and the limited dramas that have captured my interests seem to be dwindling. I like the Mango short dramas, since they only take like 8-12 minutes each episode. I like them because they are short, and I don't need to focus for too long. I continue my streak of only talking about one (or two) drama per week. As always, if anyone has any interesting to share, I'm all ears.
Danger Zone
This is a crime drama out of Taiwan that is quite intense. I started this about a month ago, but didn't continue pass the first ten minutes because I was really deep into One and Only and Forever and Ever. But now that is over, I started this back up. And once I started, I couldn't stop. The good thing was that I waited and the first 12 episodes, which finishes the first major arc of the series, all aired. Otherwise, I would be waiting very impatiently for the two episodes that air each Friday. The story itself is at once intricate, complicated, but told quite well. (There are flaws in logic, but I'll get to those later.)
The show starts in a prison between these two inmates. The bully on the left and the model prisoner on the right.
And the roles they play in the unfolding story of the lawyer (prisoner 5710) who is accused of murdering a woman during an attempted rape.
And the 3 guards in the prison who bets on "happenings" in the prison. The guard on the right has put down a VERY large bet that Prison 5710 will win his case and proves his innocence. This is the primary motivating factor for why he brought in the young police detective, Ren Fei, to meet 5710.
Ren Fei (who is smoking hot) is a young, righteous, and hot-headed detective who is working with a very colorful team of more seasoned detectives.
Their leader is the one in the middle, Tan Chong Hui. The team is under enormous pressure to solve a serial murder case. At least 4 women's bodies, all cut up, were dumped in garbage bags. All with their lower abdomen missing. When Ren Fei went to the prison to interview the ex-boyfriend of the current victim, he was brought to meet 5710. It was here, that 5710 gave Ren Fei a few suggestions on directing the investigation.
Prisoner 5710 was a lawyer who was trying to find a missing person, his own client who was suing a hospital and the surgeon for the death of her husband on the operating table. 5710 found a close friend of his client's and discovered that the girls (flight attendants) were moonlighting as prostitutes. His client needed money to pay for her husband's surgery. On her last job, she met a dangerous man that hurt her back. The lawyer, in order to return a phone, goes to the close friend's apartment, where he finds the women dead, and he gets caught at the scene (here's one of the illogical parts, with what the police had...he would never gone so far as to be put in prison until trial). In order to get the police to help him locate his missing client, who can proves his innocence, he stuck a deal with Ren Fei and Chong Hui, that if he helps them solve the serial killer case, they would help him clear his name.
It sounds simple doesn't it? ... But there is more!
Ren Fei and his mom were in a sniper shooting at a Christmas festival 12 years ago. His mom died. His dad wasn't there because he was "working" (he might have been having an affair and the father-son relationship isn't good). His dad is the chief of police.
Chong Hui knows 5710. 5710 used to be a police man, who then became a lawyer. He isn't a favorite among the police force because of his vocal criticism of the police's laziness in solving crimes.
During this entire time, it is obvious that 5710 is being framed, more than once. And someone tried to kill him, at least twice in prison.
The entire first 12 episodes is the police trying to solve the serial murder case...which is also connected to 5710. (This is another major flaw in the drama... the near impossibility of what the killer was able to do defies all medical possibility. We can talk about it in detail in the comments.)
In the end, 5710 got his vindication, despite all efforts to frame him for a murder and discrediting him. And someone is clearing house to make sure no trace of these "efforts" is found.
The show is probably needlessly grotesque, so if you are squeamish about these things, I won't watch it. Or just FF through the scenes. All in all, I really like this.
Dear Diary
I started this based on SOSsy's recommendation last week. The translated title is odd, since I'm pretty sure the actual title in Chinese is "My Babylonian Lover", which is funnier, don't you think? The story setup isn't too unique (fictional characters come to life to turn their author's life into a zoo), but the show is laugh-out-loud funny.
It is also the first show that demonstrates how ridiculous and scary it is for a guy to pursue a woman in a single minded fashion. Not just the lead CP mind you. Let's not forget our 2nd ML, who is the richest person in the world and basically pursues his girl by throwing money at her. Understand that their "characteristics" were set up by a pair of 12 year old girls, so it is quite appropriate.
And one of the best running jokes of this drama is the Wu Mountain reference. If you have watched Avenue Q, she did a whole thing about Chinese poetry and the Wu Mountain euphemism.
So every time when Mei Ru thinks she's going to get "some"...
(In front of a bus probably wasn't a great spot to start thinking about such things.)
(But this one in the hot spring... smoking...)
They both get zapped onto Wu Mountain. And I know I'm slow, but it wasn't until that scene in the hot springs when I FINALLY got the joke. And yes, if I think back to when I was 12, when I read my first romance novel...I don't think I understood much of what was "described". Granted, romance novels certainly uses a lot of euphemisms, but they are not that hard to interpret. The Wu Mountain...yes, a 12 year old would take this literally.
Have a great week everyone!