Honey, Don't Run Away (2020)

Misleading title: should be CSI in ancient china

This drama started out as a rom-com but ended up being more of a procedural drama. As a procedural drama, think CSI set in ancient China, it had great pacing and interesting subplots that connect to the bigger plot.

What I didn’t like was that the title of the drama and the promos are misleading as I was expecting to see more of the romance between the leads than the crime solving part. Here’s the breakdown of the drama:

90% solving crime/main plot
5% trying to save lead girl
5% romance.

The 2nd lead prince had more romantic scenes than the main lead but you are still lead to believe that the girl likes the male lead.

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I think this is a pretty good short drama. This drama shortens everything into 12 episodes, making it seem less dragged out. Time does skip around in this episode without really telling the audience. This does cause some weirdness and confusion especially when the 9th prince, Ziran, says, "they've been friends for a while now." If this drama has 10 or 20 more episodes, then that statement is more believable. But when he says they are close friends, 10 episodes into the drama, I can't really believe that statement.

The characters have good stories and I think the casts are pretty good at acting. The female lead, Xiaotang, is super funny and believable since she only has one more year to live. She is living the "yolo" life and doing what she wants in order to stay happy. The 9th prince also lives the same, because he is a prince. But there is honestly not much about his character. He is just the muscle guy whenever a fight has started or he is just the second male lead that, apparently, all stories need. He is just there to try and take the female lead from the male lead, Jinyan. Jinyan is the classic, no emotion but secretly cares for the female lead, character. I think his character is "okay" since he is just smart and cunning.

The romance and the crime investigation feels choppy sometimes. They just don't mesh together well, since the drama is so short, and one does seem to overtake another. The crime investigation is way more compelling than the romance. The main point on the romance is Xiaotang needing to marry so her family can have an heir to continue the line. But the criminal investigation part of the drama is fascinating on so many levels: reasons to kill, patterns, personalities on the killers, ways of murder, Xiaotang's father, Ziran's mother, etc. The criminal investigation just spreads out and connects to so many parts of the drama, thus making it the most important aspect of the drama. Although there is magic in the story, it does not really play a big part in the drama other than showing that the female and male lead is not "destined" for each other.

The drama is definitely not as high quality as some of the other dramas, but it is a good short drama to watch if people want to have something on the side to watch. They really need more work when filming this drama. There are times when the camera just shakes nonstop, totally disturbing me while I watch. Other than that one bad thing, the drama is comedic and interesting, since the audience gets to see how two characters who are not "fated" to be with each other deal with all the murders that surround them.

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