First off, I loved this show! I've started watching c-dramas (and movies) in an effort to improve my Mandarin, and crime thrillers are one of my favorite genres.
I have some questions about this show, though.
1) The big reveal of the show is that Lin Yiyang was the true mastermind behind the murders, not "Xie Han." But in episode 16, "Xie Han" put Bo Jinyan to the choice of saving either Lin Yiyang or Li Xueran, but not both. Bo chose to save Lin, deducing that "Xie Han" expected him to try to save the noble Li, and that the outcome would be double failure: Li wouldn't be in the other room, and Lin would be killed. However, since we now know (at the end) that Lin was the true mastermind, what was going on here? What would have happened if Bo had gone to save Li? "Xie Han"'s plan called for Lin to be "killed" so as to break Bo's morale. Would Lin have gotten out of the explosive vest, left, and remote-detonated it? But surely the police would search for human remains for DNA testing.
2) At the end, Bo confronts Lin and gets Lin to admit his plan, which is overheard through the listening device. The FBI and Fu Ziyi rush in to arrest Bo. However, Sam turns out to have been brainwashed and sculpted by Lin. We saw how long and complex of a process this took with Li Xueran. How and when did Lin have a chance to do this with Sam without Sam's absence being noticed?
3) Finally, I liked Li Xueran a lot: he was noble, courageous, and impeccable in how he dealt with Jian Yao. But I felt a little cheated that he survived the events of episode 20. The opening set piece in that episode 20 was AMAZING. Li Xueran appeared to die a hero's death, overcoming the brainwashing to do his best to try to save Jian. Now, I realize he was in a hospital, so the absolute best place to be if you want a chance to survive multiple gunshot wounds. Still, he had the self-inflicted shoulderwound, two shots to the torse, and one to the leg. (Fu's survival is easier to accept because he took only one shot to the back.)
