My Roommate is a Detective (2020)

Comical detective combi duo (trio?) who will brighten your day

"My Roommate is a Detective" is a light-hearted and quick-pacing detective drama with great main lead chemistry. For me, it was the perfect drama to watch in this slight depression period.

What this drama has done very well:

♡ Excellent character design and acting:
Unlike many other detective dramas, the detective (aka Sherlock) in this drama is not this far than perfect. Lu Yao is socially awkward, cares only about himself, and has only eyes for money or food. And did I forget to mention that he is also a coward? But to complement his characteristical flaws, LY has an eye for details and is extremely intelligent. At the start, he sorely started cooperating with Qian Chu Sheng, the police officer, for money and self-satisfaction. However, LY realizes later that his work reveals the truth and provides justice to victims. That is when he starts to care for the people around him genuinely. LY develops a more mature personality and realizes that the purpose of his existence is no longer to only care about himself but also to fight for those he loves. What this drama has done very well is to focus on the dorky and shallow side of his character at first and slowly reveals the depth. LY gives me a feeling of finding him cute and funny at the start but later on liking him more after "knowing him better".
Many netizens say that Hu Yi Tian has had a breakthrough with acting as LY. I agree. I have only seen HYT playing Hua Wu Que in Handsome Siblings (2020). At that time, his acting skills did not impress me and I, in particular, did not get attached to him. But this time, HYT was able to become one with LY and expressed all the flaws and strengths of this character and their attached emotions exceptionally well. What also impressed me was that HYT's own personality is nothing like that of LY. I am looking forward to seeing more of HYT's future work.

But the drama's real highlight for me is the performance of Zhang Yun Lun. Between his character Qian Chu Sheng and LY's characters, LY has the more interesting personality. QCS (aka Watson) is the cooler and sporty womanizer, who grew from an ex-gangster to a police officer. A popular type of male lead character but not new nor difficult to act. But ZYL has made this character alive. He was able to show "love", "heartbreak", "care," and "concern" so vividly with his facial expressions that he genuinely moves my heart. I am especially in awe of ZYL's beautiful smile, such as when he laughs about the stupidity of Lu Yao or when the team successfully solved a case. What makes my heart jump is that he shows his "miracle smile" rather seldom due to the more serious nature of his character. Reading the live comments of the netizens during those scenes, I clearly was not the only one.
I have never seen ZYL's work before. Later I found out that he is the more mature actor who has starred in many dramas and movies but never really made it to the top. That explains why his acting is so natural and offers magnetic attraction. When MRiaD aired its last episode, ZYL published a personal letter to QCS, beautifully describing the inner emotional world of his character. In his letter, he expresses his empathy, knowing that QCS puts on a tough and player cover, chooses to live without attachment is because QCS is afraid of making others heart-broken should they lose him. In the world in which QCS lives, tomorrow is never certain. But it is Bai You Ning and LY who came into his life that he realized that there is another way of living, that he does not need to face the world alone anymore. It is such a marvelous letter, and it truly shows how much ZYL has researched his character and understands how he feels.

What needs to be highlighted is the excellent character design of all supporting "culprits", "victims," and other "suspects". Though most characters appear in no more than 1-2 episodes, all of them have a story, and the acting was superb. I felt sorrow and sympathy after hearing their stories. MRiaD showed a world that there is no clear line between white and black, good and bad. LY and QCS never preached after solving the cases but quietly hand over the culprit to the police with expressions of compassion.

♡ Beautiful chemistry between two male leads:
Both actors have an in-depth understanding of the psychological structure of their characters, and they work marvelously as partners. Though it is not a BL drama, they have a few extremely sweet moments together. It is very clear that their relationship is not simple. QCS quickly discovered the detective talent to LY and convinced him to work for him. Despite how selfish and improper LY often acts (e.g., stealing objects from the crime site or eat at a restaurant without picking up the bill), QCS would clean after him. These scenes always trigger fans to comment frantically: Awww, QCS is spoiling his wifey again! I soon noticed that those annoying expressions of QCS slowly evolve to smiles of acceptance. And this process is so sweet to watch. Whoever watches this show would agree with me that the couple QCS x LY is one of the best couples of 2020.

♡ Quick pacing of the story: The fast forward button is my best friend when it comes to watching draggy Chinese dramas. However, when it comes to MRisD, I have not used that button once. There are over 20 cases in that total of 36 episode drama. The quick revealing of the mystery is very satisfactory. After each case, the shows quickly introduces the next victim so that netizen comment with love: welcome the next "dying person" on stage! There is a rumor that the scriptwriter might be very famous in the past but has not been writing because of some personal scandal. It is not very certain who this person is, but it could be his protest to the Chinese drama industry to stop producing lengthy and poor written dramas.
I also need to mention how happy I am that this is the first republican era drama that I know of in which Japanese is NOT the evil behind everything! I am really tired of this type of one-sided bashing towards the Japanese, and this is the main reason why I tried to avoid republican era dramas as it gives me the strong flavor of propaganda by the Chinese party.

Now a few words on what this drama could have done better:

❤︎ Lack of realism in the cases: I have to say that many cases in this drama have the flavor of Detective Conan. To create more dramatic and higher satisfaction of case solving, the writer intentionally creates highly peculiar crimes (e.g., disappearing trains, bloodsucking vampires or self-flammable man, etc.). As a result, the process of conducting the crime had to be remarkably complicated. It is difficult to imagine that it would work in reality. Also, because the stories are high-pacing, there is not enough time to leave hints to create enough audience involvement. Besides looking at supporting characters' facial expressions to guess who the culprit might be, it is nearly impossible to guess the mechanisms. At the end of the series, similar to many detective dramas, it becomes clear that all cases are linked to each other and backed by a "big boss". This process felt very forced and not at all convincing to me. Those who often watch detective dramas with more thought-through cases and proper audience involvement might be disappointed here.
Overall I was not this happy with the ending. It felt abrupt, with LY's family playing a major role in it. I am not going to spoil anyone, so I would not go to detail here, but their motivation for their actions is not logical, and it was only written this way to create the dramatic for the ending.

❤︎ Questionable female lead character design: MRiaD has three main leads: LY, QCS, and the female lead Bai You Ning, played by Xiao Yan. She is the daughter of elderly Bai, the gang leader and boss of QCS. Because of her righteous character, she does not support his dad's business and becomes an independent reporter from a small newspaper who has a strong character. She is the roommate of LY in this drama. After watching a few episodes, it becomes obvious that this character was added after the script was written. Moreover, her character seemed to have been carved out from LY. Unlike the two male leads and many supporting characters, her character lacks depth and even shows conflicting behavior. Her actions are predictable and often not necessary to the main story. Ther is a strong assumption that originally, QCS was supposed to be LY's roommate (noticed that the drama never showed where QCS lives?!), but because of some commercial or political reasons, the makers decided to add a third female main lead.
Xiao Yan didn't do a bad job playing this BYN, and though her personality was not likable at the start, it added humor to the drama. Later one she underwent a positive character development, which made her presence more pleasant. I just wished that when producers and makers who make these types of decisions that decrease the quality of drama due to some odd reasons, they shall rethink again knowing that audience are not stupid.

Because of the last two points, I rate this drama as an eight. But overall, I really enjoyed and would recommend it to anyone who loves detective, comedy, brotherhood/two male leads/BL, and republican era dramas.

Leggi di Più

I loved how the cases usually took up more than one episode. It allows us to not be able to predict when the case will be over by the amount of time left in the episode.
I was hoping for more bromance between Lu Yao and Qiao.
The one thing that I hate about this drama is the main actress, Bai Youning. She is the most annoying person and always tries to get what she wants by bullying Lu Yao. I honestly do not see how he fell in love with her and got married in the end.
I was very curious at the end what was written on the paper he got on the boat at the very end.
The cases always had a mysterious twist to them which always pulled me in.

Leggi di Più

My roommate is a detective : the title tells almost all. The action takes place in Shangai during the chinese republic era, so the settings and wearings are quite beautiful. Solving crimes is the big part of this drama but what is more interesting is the main leads interactions and backgrounds. Caring interactions grow smoothly and joyfully with some very hilarious scenes between the 3 main characters. Who is really loving who ? Who is fooling who ? How family matters will interfere in everyone's life ? You'll have to guess and bet how things will turn out. And this is quite thrilling ! I was watching this drama for Hu Yi Tian (detective Lu Yao), but indeed Leon Zhang (police officer Qiao, previous top gangster) was much more amazing and looked quite charming wifh a golden heart !

Leggi di Più

Story (8.0 points)
I might be different from the others here who set a high standard for this drama, as I went into this drama basically without any expectation. I wanted to watch it because it has Leon Zhang and that's it. So, I was actually surprised (in a good way) about how this drama turned out to be
The mystery in this drama might not be top-notch, but I didn't watch it to see Oscar-winning deduction or mystery, so I'm actually very happy with each case. The case they presented actually fit with the era where the story is set. The mystery is not too complicated, quick to be solved, and some of the cases linger in my heart (like the case with the murdered Newspaper Editor)
I also don't mind the sudden romance. After all, since the beginning it's set that the two main characters (Lu Yao and Bai Youning) have something for each other. I think it started with camaraderie, partnership, friendship, and then turn into love. I think their progression is set out nicely and executed in a right way

Acting/Cast (8.5 points)
I give it 8.5 points for Leon Zhang's acting. He's so wonderful in this drama. His micro-expression make me happy. He could make it known with just a tilt of a head and some subtle expression on his face to know what he's feeling. It shows amazing acting capability and skill. For Hu Yi Tian, I'm not sure whether it's because I've seen him in Go Go Squid first, but I think that it's a pleasant change from his usual stoic (or dead-blank) expression. He's actually quite expressive and his chemistry with Leon Zhang is just wonderful to watch

Music (10 points)
I think that the music is the best and the most amazing I've ever heard for a drama ost in a long time. I'm addicted to the songs. I could listen to them whole day on repeat

Rewatch Value (7.0 points)
Because it's a mystery drama, once you know who did it, it might be hard to actually rewatch them again. That's why I set the rewatch value to 7 points only

Overall (8.0 points)
In overall, I'm satisfied with the drama. Not boring at all in my opinion. It's executed well and the cases also fit the setting and the era, which is also a pleasant surprise. The set and the clothes are also gorgeous

Leggi di Più

It is tempting to give this drama a really high rating, and it certainly has immense potential. The stories are interesting if you do no think too much about plausibility and the roles of Lu Yao and Qiao Chusheng are really well performed.

The individual detective cases are fast-paced (largely) in a good way as a detective drama. Many of the cases get solved within 1-2 episodes. It is not the sort of whodunnit that is suspenseful in a way that invites the viewer to join in the guessing because some of the ways the murders/crimes are committed are so convoluted that the viewer is unlikely to predict them. The forensics and scientific explanations seem somewhat anachronistic for 1920s Shanghai, but I might be wrong. However, there are certainly anachronisms in the language used by the characters and in some references (e.g. the reference to Stockholm Syndrome) made by the characters. Nevertheless, if you don't expect really solid detective stories, the series is fairly good as drama. Another plus point is that there turns out to be a sort of link between the cases that is developed from the start.

The ending and final story seems overly rushed, with the murderer behaving so suspiciously from the start that viewers may assume that she can't possibly be the killer. I can't decide whether this is a stroke of genius or a poorly told story.

The performances of the male leads are really good and make up for a lot of the flaws of the series. In particular, Hu Yitian brings out the subtle changes in the character of the detective, Lu Yao, very well while giving an overall coherent portrayal of the character. Leon Zhang's character has less development but is nevertheless performed with nuance: his confidence and toughness, his sense of justice, his loyalty, his hidden vulnerability and world-weariness are conveyed, often without the need for dialogue to make these obvious.

The chemistry between the leads is good, but the series suffers from schizophrenic tendencies in the representation of the relationship between the main male characters. At its worst, the relationship between them can be construed as needless baiting of BL fans. This is because interactions, which would usually pave the way for the development of a romantic relationship, amount to nothing in particular. There are plenty of examples: when Qiao misunderstands Lu's request and gives him a hug, when Qiao puts his arms around Lu Yao when the latter is seated on a chair, when Lu comically jumps onto Qiao's back when he spots a chihuahua (a very frightening creature in his eyes), when Qiao gently wipes something off Lu's face, when Qiao looks almost forlornly at Lu in the last episode when Lu is leaving Shanghai with his wife. In the last episode, Qiao gives Lu a hug but does not hug his childhood friend (Lu's wife) even though she opens her arms to hug him.

We can probably be understanding and see that China's censorship laws do not allow BL. The homosexual desire could also be taken to be repressed and one-sided as Qiao has a greater tendency to behave tenderly towards Lu. However, is there really a need for such teasing when Qiao is ALSO portrayed as a someone who actually falls quite seriously in love with a woman in one of the cases? I do not mean to say that a series in which the two leading male characters are a romantic couple would necessarily be better. It's all a matter of execution. The straight relationship seems to pale in comparison to the suggestive bonds between the male characters, and if censorship rules must be followed, maybe the BL element should have been written out altogether (though to be fair, I heard that the series was conceived a few years ago, and at that time the censorship of BL had not really kicked in and there were popular BL series like Addicted from China, so maybe.) I also wouldn't really mind if the male-male romantic desire had simply been hinted at, but the inconsistency can be frustrating.

Perhaps the inconsistent BL-suggestive moments would not be so serious if the strength of the series had not relied so much on the portrayal of the two male characters. To make matters worse, the main female character seems to be a joke: she is a tabloid journalist who creates sensationalist headlines and misreports from time to time; her poor writing ability is also harped on again and again, but we are supposed to believe that she is a passionate journalist with principles and is somehow a respectable journalist too. There is an attempt to show the depth of her love for Lu (particularly in a scene when she tells Lu's ex that she does not know how to appreciate Lu), but such moments are few and far between.

In the end, the series is enjoyable but it also seems to be held back from being a classic. I have the nagging suspicion that the story would really shine had it been made in a more ideal world.

Leggi di Più

A great mystery show

Overall this show is a great mystery show. I have watched it on Viki with the comments turned on, and boy did i enjoy both the show and the people's reactions to it.😂
The two male leads have crazy chemistry between them and both actors are just crazy talented and adorable! It's definitely the best Chinese show and the best Chinese actors I've seen so far!
As for the female lead... from my personal opinion and what i saw live with other people's comments, even though the actor was great, the character itself was annoying, and honestly, they could have given up on her character altogether in the show, as she contributed absolutely nothing to it. It was almost funny seeing all the hate comments on the screen when she came on it, and the romance towards the end was really forced and out of the blue😅
Anyway, the plot itself is really interesting and the flow of the story is great! It's both lighthearted and interesting and overall very enjoyable☺️
I really recommend watching it👍

Leggi di Più

Dropped

The drama is enjoyable. I liked the relationship between the two male leads. But the pattern of every episode, in the end, is repetitive. The horizontal plot is not very intriguing. And the characters do not grow, at all.
As many others have written, the female character is really annoying . And the romance one of the least plausible things in the whole story. There wasn't any chemistry between the two of them. Then. Bam! Love! No, thank you.
The thing I like about the drama is the setting and the costumes. That one is really well done.
The whole part with the Westerners speaking in English and then in Chinese if then in English again, often dubbed badly.... It's quite confusing though.

Leggi di Più

This series would be on top trending if it is a boys love series

I really like the story and the act is quite good. The series have several criminal cases which are interesting. But the most thing I interested is the caring of Qiao Chu Sheng for Yu Gong Zi, and the worst idea in the series is the love story between Yu Gong Zi and Bai You Ning. The old motif that the incredible man falling in love with a useless (it’s not that bad but compare to the others, that’s useless, I can’t use the other word for this description) girl is obsolete, many films have already got that. But this is my personal opinion. This movie is amazing, it makes people understand how a country can stand up and survive from colonization. It takes efforts, blood and sacrifices of many person, many hero to having the freedom. So people now who have the chance to learn, to build up the country, please try your best to learn to improve the quality of lives, to make your country a better place to live, to show the world the better version of you, the version with shining and intelligence that people would admire like Yu Gong Zi. Not dreaming about a love story where a useless girl and an incredible guy falling in love, that’s not help at all, what kind of films is it if it encourage people to stay useless and there will be love falling from the tree? And emphasizing again, this is my personal opinion, so if you have different opinions you can tell me about that under this review.

Leggi di Più

This is a detective story with a feel of Clive Cussler's Isaac Bell set in the Republican period when the relationship of the government and the underground society intertwined, and corruption was rampant.

I was initially intrigued by this drama because of some good reviews and its cast. But after 20 or so episodes in, I became weary of the repetitive cases, each more or less of the same format. Instead, I thoroughly enjoyed the relationship of the trio, Bai You Ning (Xiao Yan), Lu Yao (Hu Yitian) and Qiao Chu Sheng (Zhang Yunlong). After The Untamed, many viewers crave for BL or bromance themed stories. The Bai You Ning character in this drama becomes a spoiler and has been criticized by many viewers. This is rather unfair and unfortunate because Xiao Yan is a wonderful actor and her character a brilliant one. To me, she is the adult in the room, balancing out the 2 ingenious boys who can be crazy at times. 

Bai You Ning is independent, determined and clear minded, whereas Lu Yao cocky, silly and playful like a small child with a genius mind, and Qiao Chu Sheng is mature, patient and calm. Together, the scenes are funny, cute with constant bickering, teasing, hitting below the belt dialogues; they have fantastic chemistry together and the whole drama would not be complete without any one of them.  If we say men can be smart in every sense but naive when it comes to human relationship particularly with women, these two men embody everything in the statement; they are like elementary school boys. The amount of patience Qiao Chu shows towards Lu Yao is unlimited. Countless times Qiao Chu Sheng's blatant show of bromance, intentionally or unintentionally, sends viewers squealing. Like a walking encyclopedia, You Ning supplements the men with valuable information to help crack their cases rapidly. Most of the murder cases, seemingly cold blooded, are in fact for justifiable motives; the victims seem to deserve their deaths and justice is served.

Hu Yitian's acting has improved somewhat but occasionally I still find his facial expression either overact or unnatural. This is the first time I see him acting as a playful and flamboyant character, and he is doing a great job. Zhang Yunlong's acting is on the spot. Good looking and has the air of a commanding authority, Zhang makes a great Inspector Director. My favorite is Xiao Yan's acting. She has that sharp and yet mischievous demeanor, and she brings these qualities to her character.

If you don't mind too much about the similar repetitive murder cases, this is rather a fun watch especially with the relationship of the trio - they can really make you laugh out loud with constant bantering and bickering. 

Leggi di Più

First time I really really like the acting of Hu Yi Tian. Here his character is very different then his usual character. I think this is the first time i see that curling naughty eyes in Hu Yi Tian eyes.

But for the story itself quite boring actually. The cases is quite complicated, but somehow toward the ending the more bored I became. The romance between Bai You Ning & Lu Yao help me hang on to the drama. But I really like the twist in the plot in the end.

Really like the interaction between Bai You Ning & Lu Yao. Their feelings build slowly through admiration & friendship. Admire the loyalty of Qiao Chu Sheng to Bai Qi Li,. Like the friendship of our trio.

Overall this is one good detective drama that quite have everything actually, not only about the cases. They have a little bit politic, romance, friendship & of course good plot that still can surprise us in the end.

Leggi di Più