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Review: The Disguiser (僞裝者) (2015)
Okay, alright. I am finally finished this Cdrama. I would say that overall, it was worth watching. Admittedly, I did not pay much attention to the story, so don't ask me the fine details, but the acting alone was enough to keep me intrigued. In fact, the acting was the main draw and my favourite aspect of this drama.
I would recommend this drama, but only to people who are more understanding of Chinese dramas and how they handle political content, particularly pertaining to the Republican Era.
Spoilers.
Story
So like I said, I didn't pay a lot of close attention to the story. There was espionaging, which was fun and kept me intrigued. But most Republican Era Chinese dramas have more or less the same few themes that get shuffled around from character to character, so I wasn't expecting a story that focused on the characters, but on the politics.
Despite that, the story still managed to interest me for the most part. There was a lot of building up of relationships during the middle that dragged a tiny bit, but it wasn't unbearable. I think the story became more intriguing towards the end, when the characters were finally using their connections to put things into action.
In my opinion, the story focusing on Ming Lou and Ming Cheng, and even Ming Jing were more interesting than the story surrounding Ming Tai. Ming Tai was the hero, but his story was a bit too much of a hero fantasy in my opinion. I think it would've been better for the story to start with him already an agent of the KMT, and to show his training as a flashback. Otherwise, it was far too rushed to be reasonable. In addition, his romantic subplots were a bit unnecessary, especially because I found problems with Yu Manli and Cheng Jinyun's writing.
But overall, the story offered more than I was expecting. When I first saw that this was a Republican Era story, I was just expecting straight up politics, and forgot that Cdrama is all about strategizing, and this show did do its part in delivering. The espionage wasn't much about keeping secrets, but rather how each of the characters used their tools to keep themselves safe. I can confidently say so far this is the Republican Era drama I've seen with the best story.
Production
Acting
I will never stop raving about the acting in this show because it is what kept me watching. Yes, the story ended up being alright, but without the cast, I may not have watched this show at all, nor would I have continued past maybe the first 6-7 episodes. All of the members of the Ming family put on great performances.
Characters
Ming Tai
Technically, Ming Tai is our hero. He was a happy-go-lucky young master who had no expectations thrust upon him, but to study at the University of Hong Kong. He was recruited by the KMT, and the first quarter or so of the show covered his training to becoming a highly adept agent. Again, I thought this should've been handled in flashbacks instead, as I found it a bit hard to believe that he could become so adept in such a short period of time.
Ming Tai tended to be the action man, carrying out missions, etc. I say he was a hero fantasy because he got to do a lot of the "cool" dirty work.
Ming Tai was also the only one who had a romantic subplot, first with Yu Manli, and then with Cheng Jinyun. I didn't love the romantic subplots because I didn't find Yu Manli or Cheng Jinyun that charismatic, so their romantic moments kind of fell flat for me.
Ultimately, Ming Tai was sent away after the standoff at the train station, where he'll probably lay low with Jinyun.
Ming Tai was actually my least favourite of the Ming sibling character. Again, the hero fantasy just didn't appeal to me. I didn't find his character realistic as he was rather emotional and impulsive and yet we're supposed to believe that he was a highly trusted agent.
Ming Lou
Ming Lou was a government officer who was actually part of the CCP. Throughout the series, he was calm and calculating. He kept a lot of secrets from all of his family members, mostly only trusting Ming Cheng. This caused rifts between him and both of his siblings as he hid his identity from them.
I think Ming Lou was portrayed as a true patriot. To him, nothing came before the country. He temporarily ruined his familial relationships to ensure his political strategies went according to plan, and he even took advantage of his romantic relationships.
Ming Lou didn't really go through much character development. Rather, the show was about him putting in action his plan to overthrow the Japanese forces in Shanghai at the time. (That's how I interpreted it, but then again, I was half paying attention so correct me if I'm wrong)
Ming Jing
Ming Jing was my favourite character in the entire show. On the surface, she was a nagging older sister, but she is only that way out of necessity. As the eldest of 2.5 brothers (Ming Cheng is the half), she has to be an authority at home. But we know that she is also a sentimental person. She is authoritative with her brothers because she cares for them and just wants them to be safe and well.
I wasn't really clear what Ming Jing's job was, but I think she was basically a businesswoman. Anyway, she was also secretly working for the CCP, and Ming Lou ended up being a superior.
Ming Jing was extremely upset that all three brothers were hiding their political identities from her, probably because she was worried for their safety. But she got over it real quick because she realized that they had more pressing matters.
In the end, Ming Jing died to protect Tengtian Fangzheng from shooting Ming Lou. She urged Ming Tai to leave Shanghai for his own safety, and their parting was a tearful one :(
Ming Cheng
Ming Cheng was Ming Lou's assistant. I think he was adopted into the family as a youngster, but in the capacity of a ward and not as a child of the family. So formally he is not a son of the Ming family but they treat him like a brother anyway.
Ming Cheng did a lot of the dirty work on Ming Lou's behalf. He built relationships with Nantian Yangzi and Liang Zhongchun. At times he had to pretend that he hated Ming Lou in order to forge these relationships. But throughout it all, Ming Cheng was loyal to Ming Lou.
Still a great character. I love that he's adept, but not perfect. He still slips up, but he thinks fast and tries to patch up what he can. Maybe my second favourite Ming sibling after Ming Jing lol.
Yu Manli
I have a problem with this character. From the beginning she was shown as super cool and aloof. No one could get close to her because she was too good and probably had some mystery that probably made her more prickly.
After that scene where the academy had that dance, all of a sudden, Yu Manli and Ming Tai were bffs? I know that scene was supposed to establish mutual respect between Manli and Ming Tai, but I'm sorry, I cannot buy that. It was far too abrupt and again furthers my thoughts that a flashback would've been more appropriate. It would've been easier to show them building respect for each other over time in a flashback than the actual drama which showed their training in real time.
By the time Ming Tai graduated, Yu Manli's tragic backstory was revealed, and she had fallen in love with Ming Tai. From this point on, Yu Manli's character just went down the gutter.
She did a 180 from cool aloof assassin to bumbling girl. She'd become rather impulsive, wanting to shoot and kill her adoptive father on sight. Wang Tianfeng eventually captured him and gave her an opportunity to kill him so that she could get over her past, but she didn't.
Yu Manli's character just stopped being of any substance. She would easily be compromised by her emotions, which is not what makes her a bad person, but it's hard to believe that she hadn't learned to stop her emotions from clouding her judgment while in training. Such a waste for Song Yi.
In the end, Yu Manli died because Wang Tianfeng had betrayed his students and teammates.
Cheng Jinyun
I also admittedly had a problem with Cheng Jinyun, though a bit less than Yu Manli. When we met Cheng Jinyun, she was trying to pass as a Japanese girl boarding a train, and got stuck with some questions. Ming Tai came to help her. Over the next little while, they'd keep bumping into each other and that's how their relationship developed.
It just so happened that Cheng Jinyun and Ming Tai were being matchmade and it worked out perfectly since they already had feelings for each other.
My issue with Cheng Jinyun was the same as my issue with Yu Manli. Yu Manli was first portrayed as a very competent agent and became incompetent. Cheng Jinyun was first shown to be less than competent but we later found out that she was quite a competent agent. The writing just wasn't consistent with these women, not enough for me to take them seriously.
I actually thought that Cheng Jinyun was going to be a one-off character because I didn't find her actress very charismatic. So colour me surprised when she kept coming back again and again. She grew on me, but the more I thought about her character, the more I realized some things didn't add up with how she progressed.
In the end, she continued helping out Ming Tai, and they fled Shanghai as a wedded couple.
Wang Manchun
Wang Manchun was one of the villains. What was interesting was that she was truly in love with Ming Lou. Some of the other folks theorized that her political dealings were only to help her get closer with Ming Lou (who was also posing as someone who was on good terms with the Japanese). Wang Manchun was a pretty cruel and cutthroat officer.
Wang Manchun hated Ming Jing in particular because she disapproved of Wang Manchun and Ming Lou getting married, and that was why Wang Manchun hated her so much. When Ming Lou's relationships with his sister were at its worst, Wang Manchun tried to take advantage of that to convince Ming Lou that it was them against the world.
Wang Manchun ultimately realized that Ming Lou was using her all along. In addition, Liang Zhongchun had been aided by Ming Cheng to sabotage her efforts. Wang Manchun tried to take Ming Jing hostage but was ultimately shot and killed when the entire Ming family showed up to defend their sister.
Still an interesting character though. I wouldn't have expected Wang Ou to portray this kind of cruel character, but I definitely think she helped make the character interesting.
Wang Tianfeng
Wang Tianfeng was a KMT officer who recruited Ming Tai and I guess one of his commanding officers. But Ming Tai joined the CCP later and I don't really remember what became of their working relationship.
In the end, Wang Tianfeng surrendered to the Japanese and betrayed Yu Manli and Guo Qiyun, sending them to their deaths.
An issue I had with Wang Tianfeng was his relationship with Ming Tai. Towards the end, Ming Tai was really heartbroken over Wang Tianfeng's defection, particularly because he respected Wang Tianfeng so much as a mentor. But throughout the show, I never got the sense that Ming Tai respected him. Like with Ming Tai's relationship with Yu Manli, a flashback would been able to better show an accumulation of respect over time.
Liang Zhongchun
Liang Zhongchun was another officer in the same department as Wang Manchun (76th Department?). They were in competition with each other, just your typical career rivalry. Ming Cheng was working with Liang Zhongchun, helping him cover up his affair, and leaking information to him.
In the end, Liang Zhongchun did help to take down Wang Manchun, but also at his own expense, as his mistress was killed by her. Tengtian Fangzheng also realized that Liang Zhongchun had been doing some stuff behind his back and got rid of him at the end of the show.
Uncle Li
Uncle Li was a friend of the Communists, and was later revealed to be Ming Tai's biological father. He was kindly, and acted as a secret carer when Ming Tai had to go into hiding.
Aunt Gui
Aunt Gui was a housekeeper with the Ming family. She was also Ming Cheng's abusive mother. Ming Cheng was extremely apprehensive about her returning to the Ming family, but relented. It was later revealed that Ming Cheng was not Aunt Gui's biological son like she thought he was, and that was why she had become so abusive. Ming Cheng pretended to grow closer to her, but I don't think he ever gave their relationship a real shot, and especially not because Ming Lou and Ming Cheng already had suspicions against her as a spy.
Aunt Gui worked as a spy for Wang Manchun, and later reported to Tengtian Fangzheng. I'm not exactly clear why Aunt Gui hated the Ming family so much, but she had expressed this when she was speaking with Wang Manchun. She revealed the possibility of Ming Tai not being dead after his supposed execution, but she died after being found out by Ming Tai and Ming Cheng.
Guo Qiyun
Another KMT agent, who worked under Wang Tianfeng and with Ming Tai and Yu Manli. He also died when Wang Tianfeng surrendered.
Nantian Yangzi
She was a Japanese officer. Ming Cheng had been building a professionally beneficial relationship with her. She met her death when she had been lured into a building by Ming Lou and Ming Cheng, and Ming Tai and Yu Manli were given the order to kill her.
Tengtian Fangzheng
After Nantian Yangzi died, Tentian Fangzheng became the Japanese officer in charge. However, the feeling I got was that he was a higher authority. Nevertheless, his position in terms of the story didn't change. He was the villain that needed to be gotten rid of. He was trying to trap Ming Tai into revealing himself, which he did, but he was ultimately cornered by the three Ming brothers. He was shot dead, but not before he fatally shot Ming Jing.
Themes
Politics
The biggest theme of this show was the anti-Japanese sentiment, which is generally the case with Republican Era dramas. I might even venture to say that this was the only theme. At many parts of the show, it was made clear that patriotism came before family, and that is also what happened at the end. Ming Jing gave her life to protect her brothers, Ming Tai had to be pushed away so that he could continue to serve as an agent of his country, and Ming Lou and Ming Cheng continued carrying out business the way they always did, coolly and calmly.
Overall
Again, while I enjoyed this show, I would struggle to recommend it to anybody who was not familiar with Chinese dramas, especially because Communism has such a negative reputation in the west. In addition, as you may have read in my review, there were several issues I found with the writing. Not big enough to stop me from watching, but not small enough to be overlooked. But for those who I would recommend it to, I would still highlight the acting over the story.
I would recommend this drama, but only to people who are more understanding of Chinese dramas and how they handle political content, particularly pertaining to the Republican Era.
Spoilers.
Story
So like I said, I didn't pay a lot of close attention to the story. There was espionaging, which was fun and kept me intrigued. But most Republican Era Chinese dramas have more or less the same few themes that get shuffled around from character to character, so I wasn't expecting a story that focused on the characters, but on the politics.
Despite that, the story still managed to interest me for the most part. There was a lot of building up of relationships during the middle that dragged a tiny bit, but it wasn't unbearable. I think the story became more intriguing towards the end, when the characters were finally using their connections to put things into action.
In my opinion, the story focusing on Ming Lou and Ming Cheng, and even Ming Jing were more interesting than the story surrounding Ming Tai. Ming Tai was the hero, but his story was a bit too much of a hero fantasy in my opinion. I think it would've been better for the story to start with him already an agent of the KMT, and to show his training as a flashback. Otherwise, it was far too rushed to be reasonable. In addition, his romantic subplots were a bit unnecessary, especially because I found problems with Yu Manli and Cheng Jinyun's writing.
But overall, the story offered more than I was expecting. When I first saw that this was a Republican Era story, I was just expecting straight up politics, and forgot that Cdrama is all about strategizing, and this show did do its part in delivering. The espionage wasn't much about keeping secrets, but rather how each of the characters used their tools to keep themselves safe. I can confidently say so far this is the Republican Era drama I've seen with the best story.
Production
Acting
I will never stop raving about the acting in this show because it is what kept me watching. Yes, the story ended up being alright, but without the cast, I may not have watched this show at all, nor would I have continued past maybe the first 6-7 episodes. All of the members of the Ming family put on great performances.
Characters
Ming Tai
Technically, Ming Tai is our hero. He was a happy-go-lucky young master who had no expectations thrust upon him, but to study at the University of Hong Kong. He was recruited by the KMT, and the first quarter or so of the show covered his training to becoming a highly adept agent. Again, I thought this should've been handled in flashbacks instead, as I found it a bit hard to believe that he could become so adept in such a short period of time.
Ming Tai tended to be the action man, carrying out missions, etc. I say he was a hero fantasy because he got to do a lot of the "cool" dirty work.
Ming Tai was also the only one who had a romantic subplot, first with Yu Manli, and then with Cheng Jinyun. I didn't love the romantic subplots because I didn't find Yu Manli or Cheng Jinyun that charismatic, so their romantic moments kind of fell flat for me.
Ultimately, Ming Tai was sent away after the standoff at the train station, where he'll probably lay low with Jinyun.
Ming Tai was actually my least favourite of the Ming sibling character. Again, the hero fantasy just didn't appeal to me. I didn't find his character realistic as he was rather emotional and impulsive and yet we're supposed to believe that he was a highly trusted agent.
Ming Lou
Ming Lou was a government officer who was actually part of the CCP. Throughout the series, he was calm and calculating. He kept a lot of secrets from all of his family members, mostly only trusting Ming Cheng. This caused rifts between him and both of his siblings as he hid his identity from them.
I think Ming Lou was portrayed as a true patriot. To him, nothing came before the country. He temporarily ruined his familial relationships to ensure his political strategies went according to plan, and he even took advantage of his romantic relationships.
Ming Lou didn't really go through much character development. Rather, the show was about him putting in action his plan to overthrow the Japanese forces in Shanghai at the time. (That's how I interpreted it, but then again, I was half paying attention so correct me if I'm wrong)
Ming Jing
Ming Jing was my favourite character in the entire show. On the surface, she was a nagging older sister, but she is only that way out of necessity. As the eldest of 2.5 brothers (Ming Cheng is the half), she has to be an authority at home. But we know that she is also a sentimental person. She is authoritative with her brothers because she cares for them and just wants them to be safe and well.
I wasn't really clear what Ming Jing's job was, but I think she was basically a businesswoman. Anyway, she was also secretly working for the CCP, and Ming Lou ended up being a superior.
Ming Jing was extremely upset that all three brothers were hiding their political identities from her, probably because she was worried for their safety. But she got over it real quick because she realized that they had more pressing matters.
In the end, Ming Jing died to protect Tengtian Fangzheng from shooting Ming Lou. She urged Ming Tai to leave Shanghai for his own safety, and their parting was a tearful one :(
Ming Cheng
Ming Cheng was Ming Lou's assistant. I think he was adopted into the family as a youngster, but in the capacity of a ward and not as a child of the family. So formally he is not a son of the Ming family but they treat him like a brother anyway.
Ming Cheng did a lot of the dirty work on Ming Lou's behalf. He built relationships with Nantian Yangzi and Liang Zhongchun. At times he had to pretend that he hated Ming Lou in order to forge these relationships. But throughout it all, Ming Cheng was loyal to Ming Lou.
Still a great character. I love that he's adept, but not perfect. He still slips up, but he thinks fast and tries to patch up what he can. Maybe my second favourite Ming sibling after Ming Jing lol.
Yu Manli
I have a problem with this character. From the beginning she was shown as super cool and aloof. No one could get close to her because she was too good and probably had some mystery that probably made her more prickly.
After that scene where the academy had that dance, all of a sudden, Yu Manli and Ming Tai were bffs? I know that scene was supposed to establish mutual respect between Manli and Ming Tai, but I'm sorry, I cannot buy that. It was far too abrupt and again furthers my thoughts that a flashback would've been more appropriate. It would've been easier to show them building respect for each other over time in a flashback than the actual drama which showed their training in real time.
By the time Ming Tai graduated, Yu Manli's tragic backstory was revealed, and she had fallen in love with Ming Tai. From this point on, Yu Manli's character just went down the gutter.
She did a 180 from cool aloof assassin to bumbling girl. She'd become rather impulsive, wanting to shoot and kill her adoptive father on sight. Wang Tianfeng eventually captured him and gave her an opportunity to kill him so that she could get over her past, but she didn't.
Yu Manli's character just stopped being of any substance. She would easily be compromised by her emotions, which is not what makes her a bad person, but it's hard to believe that she hadn't learned to stop her emotions from clouding her judgment while in training. Such a waste for Song Yi.
In the end, Yu Manli died because Wang Tianfeng had betrayed his students and teammates.
Cheng Jinyun
I also admittedly had a problem with Cheng Jinyun, though a bit less than Yu Manli. When we met Cheng Jinyun, she was trying to pass as a Japanese girl boarding a train, and got stuck with some questions. Ming Tai came to help her. Over the next little while, they'd keep bumping into each other and that's how their relationship developed.
It just so happened that Cheng Jinyun and Ming Tai were being matchmade and it worked out perfectly since they already had feelings for each other.
My issue with Cheng Jinyun was the same as my issue with Yu Manli. Yu Manli was first portrayed as a very competent agent and became incompetent. Cheng Jinyun was first shown to be less than competent but we later found out that she was quite a competent agent. The writing just wasn't consistent with these women, not enough for me to take them seriously.
I actually thought that Cheng Jinyun was going to be a one-off character because I didn't find her actress very charismatic. So colour me surprised when she kept coming back again and again. She grew on me, but the more I thought about her character, the more I realized some things didn't add up with how she progressed.
In the end, she continued helping out Ming Tai, and they fled Shanghai as a wedded couple.
Wang Manchun
Wang Manchun was one of the villains. What was interesting was that she was truly in love with Ming Lou. Some of the other folks theorized that her political dealings were only to help her get closer with Ming Lou (who was also posing as someone who was on good terms with the Japanese). Wang Manchun was a pretty cruel and cutthroat officer.
Wang Manchun hated Ming Jing in particular because she disapproved of Wang Manchun and Ming Lou getting married, and that was why Wang Manchun hated her so much. When Ming Lou's relationships with his sister were at its worst, Wang Manchun tried to take advantage of that to convince Ming Lou that it was them against the world.
Wang Manchun ultimately realized that Ming Lou was using her all along. In addition, Liang Zhongchun had been aided by Ming Cheng to sabotage her efforts. Wang Manchun tried to take Ming Jing hostage but was ultimately shot and killed when the entire Ming family showed up to defend their sister.
Still an interesting character though. I wouldn't have expected Wang Ou to portray this kind of cruel character, but I definitely think she helped make the character interesting.
Wang Tianfeng
Wang Tianfeng was a KMT officer who recruited Ming Tai and I guess one of his commanding officers. But Ming Tai joined the CCP later and I don't really remember what became of their working relationship.
In the end, Wang Tianfeng surrendered to the Japanese and betrayed Yu Manli and Guo Qiyun, sending them to their deaths.
An issue I had with Wang Tianfeng was his relationship with Ming Tai. Towards the end, Ming Tai was really heartbroken over Wang Tianfeng's defection, particularly because he respected Wang Tianfeng so much as a mentor. But throughout the show, I never got the sense that Ming Tai respected him. Like with Ming Tai's relationship with Yu Manli, a flashback would been able to better show an accumulation of respect over time.
Liang Zhongchun
Liang Zhongchun was another officer in the same department as Wang Manchun (76th Department?). They were in competition with each other, just your typical career rivalry. Ming Cheng was working with Liang Zhongchun, helping him cover up his affair, and leaking information to him.
In the end, Liang Zhongchun did help to take down Wang Manchun, but also at his own expense, as his mistress was killed by her. Tengtian Fangzheng also realized that Liang Zhongchun had been doing some stuff behind his back and got rid of him at the end of the show.
Uncle Li
Uncle Li was a friend of the Communists, and was later revealed to be Ming Tai's biological father. He was kindly, and acted as a secret carer when Ming Tai had to go into hiding.
Aunt Gui
Aunt Gui was a housekeeper with the Ming family. She was also Ming Cheng's abusive mother. Ming Cheng was extremely apprehensive about her returning to the Ming family, but relented. It was later revealed that Ming Cheng was not Aunt Gui's biological son like she thought he was, and that was why she had become so abusive. Ming Cheng pretended to grow closer to her, but I don't think he ever gave their relationship a real shot, and especially not because Ming Lou and Ming Cheng already had suspicions against her as a spy.
Aunt Gui worked as a spy for Wang Manchun, and later reported to Tengtian Fangzheng. I'm not exactly clear why Aunt Gui hated the Ming family so much, but she had expressed this when she was speaking with Wang Manchun. She revealed the possibility of Ming Tai not being dead after his supposed execution, but she died after being found out by Ming Tai and Ming Cheng.
Guo Qiyun
Another KMT agent, who worked under Wang Tianfeng and with Ming Tai and Yu Manli. He also died when Wang Tianfeng surrendered.
Nantian Yangzi
She was a Japanese officer. Ming Cheng had been building a professionally beneficial relationship with her. She met her death when she had been lured into a building by Ming Lou and Ming Cheng, and Ming Tai and Yu Manli were given the order to kill her.
Tengtian Fangzheng
After Nantian Yangzi died, Tentian Fangzheng became the Japanese officer in charge. However, the feeling I got was that he was a higher authority. Nevertheless, his position in terms of the story didn't change. He was the villain that needed to be gotten rid of. He was trying to trap Ming Tai into revealing himself, which he did, but he was ultimately cornered by the three Ming brothers. He was shot dead, but not before he fatally shot Ming Jing.
Themes
Politics
The biggest theme of this show was the anti-Japanese sentiment, which is generally the case with Republican Era dramas. I might even venture to say that this was the only theme. At many parts of the show, it was made clear that patriotism came before family, and that is also what happened at the end. Ming Jing gave her life to protect her brothers, Ming Tai had to be pushed away so that he could continue to serve as an agent of his country, and Ming Lou and Ming Cheng continued carrying out business the way they always did, coolly and calmly.
Overall
Again, while I enjoyed this show, I would struggle to recommend it to anybody who was not familiar with Chinese dramas, especially because Communism has such a negative reputation in the west. In addition, as you may have read in my review, there were several issues I found with the writing. Not big enough to stop me from watching, but not small enough to be overlooked. But for those who I would recommend it to, I would still highlight the acting over the story.