Basically they start out being all edgy and dark and I was thinking hell yes, till a couple of episodes and then the so called narcissistic male lead starts acting all cute and funny, like what? Instead of being a crime mystery drama with a romance sub plot it turned into a romance drama with a crime sub plot. I kept watching because the male lead is just gorgeous and I was really intrigued by the crime plot and already invested.
And then things got worse when the show became super misogynistic, and the hero kept spouting lines like 'women are like this, men are that' wtf? All the stereotypes of males and females that the civilized society has tried to make obsolete, started showing up and the fact that he treats her like a servant and an all around maid while being shitty and borderline abusive. Look, there are some dramas like lakorns that show slap and kiss but treat it like a fetish and it's for guilty pleasure. No one is supposed to take those seriously and despite being slap and kiss most of those lakorns like Hua Jai Sila don't treat female characters like this, and still break stereotypes and show a hero who is not misogynistic.
The problem with a show like Love Me If You Dare is that it is supposed to be taken seriously. Like even if you're trying to portray the male lead with faults that's fine, but it's not just him! His best friend and even the main female lead constantly spout this kind of nonsense. And I even ignored it hoping there would be a growth in that respect, but the very last couple episodes still had bs dialog like 'women are whiny'
And the love story was really juvenile. I mean there were times when a serious crime is going on and these are murders okay, and the two leads were joking around and being cute! There is a way to do humor in dark situations and dark humor but this is not that kind of mature content. Everything is just kind of shallow including the characters so when the female lead starts crying it feels forced, not to mention, you're also reminded by some male character that she's crying because she's a woman lol I'm not joking!
But credit goes to the camera work and the story arc with the actual villain was done pretty well, and definitely what kept me watching.
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It was so intense and had me glued to the screen the whole time. I like watching detective/crime stuff and I must say this is one of my favourite dramas of such! Wallace Huo made a solid performance and I found his character very interesting.
I would really recommend this drama if you like crimes, detectives, mystery, murder and the like as it is quite intriguing and exciting.
I would definitely watch this drama again!
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This review may contain spoilers
This drama is a masterpiece. It has everything a excellent (crime) drama needs. The Storyline, the characters, the music in thrilling scenes.Story: A criminal psychologist gets a new assistant and together they solve complicated murder cases. But this is the superficial storyline. From episode to episode it gets deeper and deeper until the point, where we know that there is one person who is creating all of this (indirectly). This drama is a mix of crime, thriller and romance (and because the main character is a criminal psychologist, there is also psychology). The story is exciting until the end. I wish there will be a second season, because there is something I can't get over v.v.
Acting: Before I watched the drama I didn't know any Actor or Actress. My last Chinese drama was 'Loving, never forgetting' with Jerry Yan (I watched it last year, I think). I thought there wasn't another chinese drama who would good enough to watch more of them. But 'Love me if you dare' is the reason why I am a fan of Wallace Huo.
So I will begin with Wallace Huo. He plays the male main character Bo Jinyan, who lives alone in a mysterious house. From beginning he is very special and mysterious, because we don't know much about him and his behaviour doesn't help us. Wallace Huo plays the role excellent. After the first two episodes I had to search his profile, because of other dramas and movies he acts in. I mean, he must be an excellent actor to play this role. I can't write too much about his character because I don't want to spoiler, but his mysterious acting is a masterpiece.
Sandra Ma acts as Jian Yao, the new assistant, who wants to be like her father, who was a police officer. She is smart, but thanks to Jinyan she gets into angry situations. At the beginning she should translate for Jinyan, who has to solve a difficult case. But after they solved the case, somehow she gets entangled with him again. Sandra Ma plays the role excellent. I like her role, because she isn't very naive like many other female characters in asian dramas.
Wang Kai acts as her best friend who likes her more than that. So at first sight he is the typical second male lead. But he is different from most of the second leads, because he wants his best friend to be happy. Wang Kai acts very natural. I like him.
Also I liked the acting of Andrew Yin (played the best friend of Jinyan) and Edward Zhang (played the villian Xie Han). Both of themhad there scenes which gave them the spotlight. Edward more, Andrew lesser. The other supporting Actors were good, but I don't think they have to be mentiones all.
The chemistry between the two leads Wallace Huo and Sandra Ma was very good. They are lovely together and even though Jinyan is emotional more like a stone than a human, I loved him when he talked to Jian Yao.
Music: The music suits the drama theme, but sometimes I think it was very short (maybe it was only my feeling). The ending song is my favourite of this drama.
Overall: 'love me if you dare' is worth watching. I would highly recommend it, because it is not a 0815 Drama. There is not too much romance, but also not too little. There are not many dramas, which could comprise both genres. Mostly there is something missing or it is too much romance.
I hope there will be more dramas like this in the future and not only in China, but also in Korea. (I know there are some in Korea, but they are...different and not very good -.-).
Also I am looking forward to Wallace Huo's other dramas and movies *-*.
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Mind blowing, keeps you on the edge
If you love Crime, mystery and some thriller... this would be a nice watch. It is not long winded, a mere 24 episode long series. I would say this show is stunning, mind blowing, keeps you on the edge, suspension, thriller all in one mix. Both the male and female lead did a very good job, especially the male lead..... But I would say, overall the entire casts and crew really did a remarkable job bringing this series to life. Especially the psychotic casts. They are down right creepy and eerie. Great performance on that part!It is definitely a watch, even if it is only for once, to watch this thriller and crime series unfold. The songs are also very nicely paired to this show.
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The plot-line is pretty good, but they really should have stuck to the book this series was allegedly adapted from (the whole villain controlling villain thing got taken too far, got a bit draggy) but the ending leaves room for a season 2, so I'm excited and on board for it. I don't want to give anything away, but it's short enough that the draggy-ness of the series doesn't get annoying.
Since Wallace Huo is in this, it's pretty hard for me to notice other cast members - and I'm a straight guy. The man's incredible - minus the whole speaking Chinese to Americans and having them all understand perfectly bit. I will say that the female lead is a bit awkward at times, though.
The music choice can be cute at times - to demarcate the couple cute "eyebleach" moments scattered throughout the series to get your mind off the gruesome killings that happened just a couple minutes ago. Thriller/Psychological themes are also on point, when appropriate.
I wouldn't really rewatch it, since after watching it once the "whodunnit" kind of goes away, and the intrigue is gone. But absolutely worth watching, the first time.
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Watch this.
I read the reviews before watching this. I've used this site many times before choosing my next drama. I ALMOST passed on this one and that would have been tragic. Anyone not rating this above an 8 clearly missed the point. The story is brilliant. Yes, it twists around on itself more than once. Classic "who is the villain" that loops like a snake eating it's tail. This had the potential to be redundant but they did it smart. At no point was it tedious because the clues they left you were so carefully placed, it was fun to play along. There was just enough romance to make those who prefer the strong romantic elements of the guy getting the girl, giddy happy. I'm one of those. I love it when the guy gets the girl. I was not disappointed.The biggest aspect of this drama... a story that finally let the characters be who they are. I love that about Asian story telling. I'm an American and I loathe the way we treat our characters. We write these wonderful heroes and fantastic heroines... then we destroy them. Even if we let them win the day, the damage is done. Nothing is more American than watching the hero fail and fall but to rise again. We can't believe it unless there is some flaw or fault to overcome before earning the title of savior. It's almost like we can't allow anyone to be that good. It's never made sense to me and usually just pisses me off.
I absolutely LOVED that the ML was allowed to be as good as he thinks he is. As good as he's appeared to be throughout. No tricks. No slights. No candidly written plot devices where he has to remember who he is. He does what he says and says what he does. He's the hero who just really is. Just as much, the FL didn't waver. She made a choice, early, and stuck with it. I had more respect for her and cherished how steadfast she was. She was the perfect match for him, for that very reason. She believes him. In him. Without question. An earlier review said the ML lost himself and became someone else after falling for the FL. I disagree. Completely. I'm not sure how anyone watched this and didn't see the same drive and brilliance in him... but with more focus. The writing and the actor balanced it well and it was believable that he went from confused and awkward and weird to acting like someone who actually cares. He made a choice. And within the parameters of his character, he did the expected. He analyzed the situation, came to a conclusion, and acted accordingly. The entire series is him doing just that. Why would anyone need him to continue to struggle when he was clearly smart enough not to.
I applaud the tension building, the plot transitions, and the carefully crafted elements that came together in the end. I don't want to spoil anything, I loved every moment of this story. The only cons... because nothing is perfect... some of the side actors were, umm, new. Small hiccups in dialogue and the accents on supposedly American players will fool no one. Also, they did rely a bit on behind the scenes activity. Bringing it out after the climax of the moment as a flashback. It didn't take away, so much, but it did hollow out the moment enough that I noticed. I trimmed a single point for this.
Over all, I give this a 9 because the main cast was wonderful. The story was smart and enjoyable and tense and all the things I needed it to be coming from years of watching every American crime drama that has ever aired. This held it's own. The romance was spot on being cute at times, sweet at others, and completely without guise. I finally made an account on this site just to review this one. I recommend this. Highly. I loved every second of it.
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Perfect blend of mystery & suspense & romance
Usually mystery and suspense dramas have little romance or don’t put the proper time and energy into the romance for it to touch the audience. And romance dramas often try to incorporate mystery and suspense into the storyline but fail miserably because so much focus is put on the romance. But this drama somehow fuses both mystery & suspense and romance seamlessly into an intoxicating drama you will binge watch.The male lead is a genius criminal profiler that can take one look at a crime scene and tell you all about the person that perpetrated the crime including his personality and lifestyle. He specializes in catching serial killers so he needs to stay focused with no distractions so further deaths can be prevented. But despite his high IQ he has problems interacting with others due to his low EQ. So when the female lead steps in as his assistant to help deal with people and handle all of the small tasks for him, they find that they work really well together. Watching the male lead learn so much about himself and grow as a character was touching. And I loved how the female lead was strong, smart, and loyal instead of the silly and dumb female leads we often see. There are some really great side characters that you’ll love like the male leads best friend and their great bromance. Or the female leads childhood friend whose loyalty is so touching. Then there’s the bad guys that are just so great in their acting with their over the top crazy evil villains they portray so well that I just can’t even put it into words. I was really impressed with the acting in this drama.
The storyline and suspense in this drama will not disappoint you. There are so many twists and turns you will never guess who is good and who is bad and who is behind it all till the very end. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. So it was nice when the sweet romantic moments would periodically pop up and slow things down so I could relax a bit. There are some nice kisses, hugs, and touching scenes between the leads. You could feel their chemistry and their romance was very endearing.
The one thing that might put off some would be the grisly crime scenes and murders. When the male lead is figuring out what happened at a crime scene he often imagines himself as the criminal and re-enacts the crime in his head. So we often see these re-enactments which are gruesome and detailed. It didn’t really bother me but it might bother you so be forewarned.
Overall this is an amazing drama that seamlessly fuses two genres together into one cohesive and addicting show that’s hard to stop watching. If there were less blood, gore, violence and disturbing crime scene footage I would have given it ten stars. But if you’re okay with that type of stuff then this is the drama for you. It has a unique storyline, excellent acting, a good romance, and lots of character growth. I don’t often rewatch shows but I had to go back and enjoy this one again.
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I've want to watch this drama for quite sometime, but just like what i've expected, i must prepare my heart for all the intense & anticipation in this drama. Right now i've fed up & bored enough for watch all the romance drama, so this why i decided to watch this drama.
The ending of this drama far beyond what i expected. But what a perfect ending for this drama. Very good & interesting drama for you who looked for something different. But prepare your heart & mind, because this drama will sometimes make u question about ur insanity.
The only lack in this drama is: the language. When they're in U.S. it just like everyone automatically speak or at least understand chinese... Yeah the foreigner reply with english, but when the main cast speak they still speak in mandarin. What a perfect world where everyone understand ur language... ^_^
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2 different TV shows
After completing the drama I have very mixed opinions. The story is about a brilliant criminal psychologist and the just out of college assistant that he hires. The two work together to solves cases which evolve into one giant case. That is all I will say on the story for those planning on watching.First the acting is fantastic, well at least Wallace Huo, who was just incredible as the main character playing a wide range of emotions throughout. I gave the acting a high rating because of him and what I consider the other 2 leads or his inner circle. The issue is that the "american" actors were terrible and I have no idea what the accent was they were speaking with.
Now for the critique. I absolutely loved the first half of the show. The main character was interesting and his interactions with his assistant and his bff where funny and really well done. The cases were interesting but what kept you going was the relationship of the 3 - Bo Jinyan, his assistant and love interest Jian Yao, and his best friend Fu Zi. Once it morphed the larger case it was less about the characters and more about the big bad person. While I watched and was semi-interested for the last like 8 episodes, I missed the first part of the show which had humor and characters. Bo Jinyan became something different as he became involved in the case and his interactions with his assistant / girlfriend was almost non-existent.
Although, I did laughed out loud at how badly the FBI was portrayed - I mean using a towel to wipe up blood does not remove DNA traces, and I am not sure I liked the implication of the last scene. So there was some humor in the last story arch - it just wasn't;t supposed to be funny,
So overall a 7.5 - first 15 or so episodes were great and I would re-watch, the second half was just ok.
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10 out of 10 recommend
Wow! If you like a show that will keep you on the edge of your seats with suspense, this is the show for you. Its a crime drama with a sprinkle of romance, what a perfect combination. A criminal profiler and his assistant grows closer as they solve cases that may or not be all linked. It’s a suspenseful show, but it does have some comedic moments to break the tension. The chemistry between Wallace Huo and Sandra Ma is like fireworks, and I know they had done another project after this one as well. This show I do recommend.I watched this on Amazon Prime and subtitles are available.
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