Brief Story Line
In 1997, a young woman and her father mysteriously disappeared in the Yuan Liongli apartment complex in Weiyang city. Rookie detective Ran Fangxu (Dylan Wang - Guardians of the Dafeng TV series, Meteor Garden 2018 series etc) was partnered with He Yuangshang (Pan Yueming - All's Well, And's Well 2010, Day and Night TV series etc) to investigate the case. Though they were really incompatible at first, Ran and He did their best to try solving the disappearance which slowly unraveled as more than just a simple case.
The series was also set in 2015 where He was already retired and accompanied by Ran who came from Beijing during his break from teaching to resolve the 1997 case which seemed to have not been fully closed. Meanwhile He's daughter Xiaohe (Ren Min - Cry Me A Sad River, The Longest Promise TV series etc) was now an adult and also worked with the police. She later became part of task force investigating case that occurred in the same complex. Though reluctant, she was also helped by her father's experience.
So what was the connection between these two separate cases and what happened between the 18 years? You could find out in this series.
End of Brief Story Line
From the beginning, this series did not take too long for the original case to start. As usual I had various theories of how or what happened which later proved to be almost entirely wrong (only 1 fact which was correct, though I had lost faith in it after a while). Anyway during the first one third of the series, the story moved on between two timelines of the year 1997 and 2015 which were interesting as we caught glimpses of things in the future that made me so curious of what happened during those years. However once I reached a certain episode, it suddenly hit me that I might be in for a big surprise. And then Bam! just like that we were given a huge mind blowing shock. From that moment on, the story suddenly felt different, darker and somehow sadder.
During the second third part of the series, we were shown few different cases which made us admired the intelligence of Detective Fan plus his growing bond and relationship with Detective He and his young daughter. Amazingly this part somehow did not feel like filler cause they were able to connect to the 1997 case. There were even brief romance which I liked to watch as it felt soft & sweet and not .the passionate or full of affection-showing kind which would make this a romantic drama. The best part though was the final third of the series which once again gave me another shock. Afterwards there were multile twists to what really happened which even made me doubt what the truth was. During this part I could not help feel that the case was really tragic which proved to be right. But I was really satisfied of how it concluded, even if it was heart breaking. There was also one episode in the middle that was so sad that I could not hold my tears.
I liked this series not only because of the depth of the mystery and the multiple twists but also their attention to details. There were so many little things that made me believed it was really the year 1997 like the old computers, use of pager, the model of mobile phones and even movie poster. Even things like the paper that looked yellow or worn out books in 2015. Another thing that I truly admired was the acting. Pan Yueming was just brilliant when he portrayed the older version cause he did not only looked old but his appearance and body movement was so convincing like we were really watching old people. The make up department did great job in that area, though their choose of wig was terrible (there were at least 2 people whose wigs were too obvious). However it was a small thing compared to the many positives. Dylan Wang and Ren Min too were able to compliment Pan Yueming, though personally he was the best.
There were a lot of additional support cast which would be too many if I write here. So I am just going to name a few who were important such as Jiang Peiyao (You Are My Hero TV series, The River etc) as Ran's love interest and tenant of Unit 415 Qiao Suqing, Song Xiao Yingzi (Destiny of Love TV series etc) as the disappearing woman Xu Meng, Chen Xi Xu (The Dark Romance TV series etc) as GM of cement factory Song Qingsong and Jiang Qilin (The Legend of Jade Sword etc) as his deputy Wu Shanglong, Lu Zheng (The Epoch of Miyu TV series etc) as property manager of Yuan Longli complex in 1997 Qian Dajun, Zhao Hu (Our Times TV series etc) as Police officer Qu Dahai and several others in lesser capacity. Btw I could not find anything it was based on during the opening or closing credit scene. The 28 episodes series were directed by Wang Zhi (director of TV series like Flight to You, You Are My Glory etc).
Overall I enjoyed this series a lot. There were so many things that I liked especially the multi layered case, the shocking revelations, the drama of Ran Fangxu's relentless drive to find out the truth supported by He Yuanhang's easy going & practical personality plus their bond, even the brief romance. The series also had plenty of emotional scenes, tragedy and few humorous & lighter moments during the earlier part of year 1997 which made it a quite complete mystery drama series. I also admired the seemingly unrelated scenes which were only explained subsequently their significance. So if you are in the mood for such series, I think you would enjoy it just like I did. However if you are more interested in a fast paced with plenty of action and shorter duration, then this might not be to your liking. I myself was satisfied and was delighted to have watched this series.
Mike's movie moments rating: 4.25 out of 5 stars
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