Investigation and Revenge C-drama The Wanted Detective with Wang Xing Yue and Xiang Han Zhi Ends Placid Run with an Oddly Addictive How-Dun-It Element
This week iQiyi wrapped the run for The Wanted Detective, by all measure of heat and viewership metrics on the platform and beyond a total dud. This wasn’t a big budget or big name drama so being underwhelming won’t garner any articles about it, but I want to write about it because it’s the only drama I’ve finished from start to end this summer. And I watched it despite seeing and feeling that it’s not very good, so the dichotomy feels especially jarring. Normally when something isn’t good I just drop, but I was hooked on the underlying mystery of who the main antagonist Ye Sha (or Night Terror) was and how this person pulled off a series of increasingly implausible murders and mayhem. I was also hooked by male lead Wang Xing Yue, honestly the best actor of his generation (the early 20’s guys) and he HARD CARRIED this entire drama. He was the only one acting well and his character of the top detective Xiao Bei Ming was the only brains of the entire squad. Female lead Xiang Han Zhi was so mid it’s such a shame because their set up as older brother-older sister disciples who grew up together, fell in love, got married and then all hell broke loose was soooooo ripe for angst and simmering longing. But the writing and her acting gave none of that and the romance was a non-entity in this drama where the whole thing hung on just seeing each crime unfold and the detectives figuring it out afterwards. As I watched I would keep muttering “this is so stupid” but I couldn’t stop lol and honestly didn’t want to. The drama is actually a gripping and fast-paced watch as a CSI in period China take so if you’re curious watch it for that and you may also find it strangely addicting.
Her acting was really something in Love of Divine Tree…Even if I waited so long for that darned script I was so disappointed in whole thing because loveline was quite the focus and her ‘acting’ made everything worse.
After that seeing she got another lead with WXY I was quite surprised.Wonder how she got lead roles so fast with her ‘talent’…
I completely agree with you.
Specifically about what you said regarding Wang Xing Yue, he truly is the best actor of his generation. At only 23 years old, he has plenty of time to improve, make smart choices, and build a remarkable career.
Unfortunately, his boss, Yu Zheng, has a history of damaging the careers of actors under his management. I really hope he breaks that pattern and doesn’t harm WXY’s career.
I wish Yu Zheng and WXY’s team would focus on non-idol dramas and significantly fewer idol variety shows, steering him toward a more serious and acclaimed career path.
Completely agree 💯 on all counts !! Not finished but still watching for WXY + the final reveal
Although I dropped this drama after ep 10 or so, like other comments above, I completely agreed with Koala’s critique of the acting. WXY indeed is the best C actor among his generation. Even though all his dramas following the breakout hit the Double were meh, I’m still rooting for him to be huge on the top at some point. I hope his agency doesn’t squander his talent on pedestrian projects. As to XHZ, I don’t think she’s there yet ready for FL roles. She was fine as a supporting actress and even likeable. But she just doesn’t have enough craft yet to convince me with strong presence as a heroine.
I agree that WXY is quite impressive for his age, and may I add that he sports the best looking wavy hair style, most guys just look sissy especially those xian xia ones.
You are right. I remember there were some waves in HYT’s hair in Blossom In Adversity, and I thought why would anyone put curls in the ML’s hair. WXY pulls this off quite well compared to most others.
Agree very much with you about what a waste they didn’t fulfill the angst promise! Julia can fish angst and so can wxy… But I’m guessing they either avoided angst deliberately to focus on the mystery cases, or that Jfemale lead role was always meant to be a beard… That they were cousins bl and zhuge and male lead are the main romance pairing since they got at least a bit of as angst and then flirting!
I am sure of something after watching Calming Waves : YuZheng hit the jackpot with Wang Xing Yue. For me that boy singlehandedly makes the chinese dramaland industry less boring. Imagine having in your agency an actor who not only is male lead material but who can also act and who is only 23. Boy was acting against those veterans like nobody’s business. And by all account his voice acting is no joke. It was an okay drama and probably one of the rare chinese drama that ended on a higher note than its beginning. And from what I have heard this is a low budget drama (an A-level project) which ended up making a lot of profits for the production house and the plateform Iqiyi (54 companies ads in total during its running). It got upgraded to an S-level drama on Yuhne. As Cnetz say the production team of “The Wanted detective” will always have to be grateful to Wang Xing Yue. My only wish for Wang Xing Yue is for him to never forget his roots and keeps on honing his skills while giving it all.
His next drama is a modern crime drama dealing with thecdrug trafficking subject starring veteran Wang Qian who played one of the villains in “Bleach”. Hopefully Wang Xing Yue makes the best out of that experience.
I started this drama because of him and it sounding ok on paper. Dropped it after 3 episodes, for a variety of reasons, not related to him. MIGHT go back,now, in part because of what people have said here but mainly because of him, he is standout great!
Have to disagree with some things in this drama review. The Wanted Detective isn’t badly written or stupid, quite the opposite. It’s addictive, because it is well written, nicely shot and directed, and the acting is solid. It is one of the rare Cdramas that improves as it goes along and sticks the ending. It’s also unusual in that it is an ensemble drama, where the ML and FL lead an investigation TEAM, where each member gets the spotlight and have important roles to play. There’s no doubt that WXY is charismatic, but everyone does well in their roles, and I was introduced to new actors to watch for. Deng Kai was great as a peacock of a frenenemy, and the rest of the team were smart, especially in their fields, but of course, not as brilliantly deductive and perceptive as WXY’s character. People drag the FL, because apparently that’s what you do if you like the ML, and the FL isn’t acting like a lovesick teenager about him.
Most people complaining about the drama is because they want it to be something it is not — a romance drama, or the melodramatic angst that Koala wanted. They are also complaining about things that were actually clues or characterization or narrative decisions that play into the overall plot and mystery. It all pays off. If you are looking for a mystery with a team of investigators, with a hint of the macabre, then I recommend it.
I agree with you.
The second half was much better than the first and the ending is truely an ending and it’s very satisfactory one at that. This drama isn’t bad at all—it’s somewhere between decent and good. It didn’t disappoint me since I didn’t have high expectations to begin with, just like I usually don’t for Chinese dramas, which always end up disappointing when I hope for better.