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Review: Medical Examiner Dr. Qin (法醫秦明) (2016)
This was a really fun drama! The cases were a little gorey due to the main characters being forensic scientists, but it's balanced with the humourous and light-hearted interactions between our three main characters.
The draw was definitely the acting from our three main leads. They pulled off the dynamic that a lot of Cdramas can't do because they always try to jam in a romantic subplot or they push the characters into archetypes without reflecting on their relationships with each other.
Spoilers.
Story
The cases were alright. They were mostly logical. There were times when it seemed like our characters came by information too quickly, but I felt it was acceptable because Qin Ming and Li Dabao are supposed to be forensic scientists, and aren't meant to be doing what the police investigators (Lin Tao & co) should be doing.
That being said, for forensic scientists, Qin Ming and Li Dabao definitely did more than what was required of them, as they would do a lot of interviewing and such.
As expected, the season was wrapped up with one case that was personallyr elated to Qin Ming. It wasn't super strong, but it was good enough. There were two episodes that focused on Qin Ming investigating his past, and in those two episodes, we didn't see Dabao or Lin Tao at all. Not that those episodes were trash, but this show shines when our characters are interacting. The final villain wasn't someone particularly special. In addition, that serial killer plotline wasn't really resolved in a particularly satisfying way. But overall I guess it was still okay if viewed as just a normal case.
As mentioned, I really enjoyed the interactions between our main trio. They are all based on character archetypes, but I think the writers prioritized their relationships and friendships with one another over sticking to those archetypes.
Production
EXCELLENT ACTING! This show would NOT have been the same without Zhang Ruoyun, Jiao Junyan, and Li Xian. All of them were TERRIFIC in their roles without coming across as try hards. The writing probably helped them as well, but they injected a lot of personality into their characters, in particular in the characters' interactions. Dabao and Lin Tao's joking around gave me so much joy and I think only Jiao Junyan and Li Xian couldn't pulled that off.
Characters
Qin Ming
Qin Ming was a typical cold scientist. He was strict and cared for his craft above all. He was also very tortured by his past.
Over the course of the show, however, we definitely saw him soften up. He was already acquainted with Lin Tao. I was so surprised that time Lin Tao asked to watch soccer at his place, and Qin Ming said that "old rules applied" which meant watching on mute. This implied that Qin Ming had allowed Lin Tao to watch soccer at his place before so dare I say that Qin Ming treated Lin Tao as a friend??
Qin Ming and Li Dabao did have a rocky relationship in the first episode because of his misogynistic views of whether women belong in the autopsy room, and they were clearly making things difficult for one another. But very soon after he started warming up to her because he saw that she was hardworking and smart and indeed very helpful. And by the end of the show, he found that Li Dabao was a friend that he wanted to fight for.
There was that very mini plot about Dabao speculating about his sexuality and honestly, I'm surprised that it was handled the way that it was? (I'm not mad, just surprised, and not in the bad way) After Qin Ming made Dabao a skirt-suit, she was like "I thought he was *euphemism for gay*, turns out he's *euphemism for bisexual* and I was like "is this allowed?" It was probaby allowed because a euphemism was used. It also added to the fact that what's between Qin Ming and Dabao was probably not romantic. Men and women can still have meaningful platonic friendships!!!
Funnily enough, I felt that Qin Ming was the least interesting of the three main characters, probably because his character stuck to a character archetype the most (the cold scientist). Still well-acted and well-presented though.
Li Dabao
Li Dabao was a quirky lil gal. When we first met her, she was dressed in a very dapper suit, driving her funky little car. She was very spunky and fierce.
As we got to know her, we found that she was indeed very smart and serious when it mattered. But she also knew when it was time to chill or make light of a humourous situation. Overall, a very well-adjusted person.
I was mostly okay with how Dabao's gender was handled. Most of the time, she dressed in unisex fashion and would be addressed as a woman. There was that one time where she wore that skirt-suit to work and that policeman was shocked. Sort of wish that didn't happen, because clearly Dabao was having fun, but at least the gag wasn't stretched out. Early on, Lin Tao had askd Dabao about addressing her as Bao-ge, and Dabao seemed okay with it, so from then on, a lot of the cops referred to her as Bao-ge as well, despite it being a masculine term. I guess it helped her find camaraderie in an otherwise all-male police force. As long as she likes it.
Dabao was such a fun character. She was smart, she was reasonable, she was easygoing, and she was compassionate. Jiao Junyan did such an amazing job, I love her <3
Lin Tao
Lin Tao was the cop of the trio. A lot of the time, when Qin Ming and Dabao were explaining things to him, it was actually for the audience members' benefit. Not that I minded.
Lin Tao was used to Qin Ming's shenaniganery already, and now that Dabao was here, there was one more person to tease him with. Like Li Dabao, Lin Tao was serious when it came to cases, and chill when it came to his personal life.
I thought that something would have come out of the online relationship Lin Tao had with his baobao, that maybe she would have been a suspicious person in a case or something, but I guess that never materialized.
Lin Tao's character was technically necessary from a plot standpoint because a lot of the work done in advancing a case should have been carried out by him and not the forensic scientists. But the three were presented as mostly equal partners of a task force trio.
Li Xian brought his charm to this character, which I very much appreciated.
Overall
This was such a fun crime drama. It's been a while since I watched a crime Cdrama that was this lighthearted, but was also very well acted and well put together. It's a pity that the second season had an entirely different cast because I really think it wouldn't be the same. In any case, this drama was AMAZING! Highly recommend it!
The draw was definitely the acting from our three main leads. They pulled off the dynamic that a lot of Cdramas can't do because they always try to jam in a romantic subplot or they push the characters into archetypes without reflecting on their relationships with each other.
Spoilers.
Story
The cases were alright. They were mostly logical. There were times when it seemed like our characters came by information too quickly, but I felt it was acceptable because Qin Ming and Li Dabao are supposed to be forensic scientists, and aren't meant to be doing what the police investigators (Lin Tao & co) should be doing.
That being said, for forensic scientists, Qin Ming and Li Dabao definitely did more than what was required of them, as they would do a lot of interviewing and such.
As expected, the season was wrapped up with one case that was personallyr elated to Qin Ming. It wasn't super strong, but it was good enough. There were two episodes that focused on Qin Ming investigating his past, and in those two episodes, we didn't see Dabao or Lin Tao at all. Not that those episodes were trash, but this show shines when our characters are interacting. The final villain wasn't someone particularly special. In addition, that serial killer plotline wasn't really resolved in a particularly satisfying way. But overall I guess it was still okay if viewed as just a normal case.
As mentioned, I really enjoyed the interactions between our main trio. They are all based on character archetypes, but I think the writers prioritized their relationships and friendships with one another over sticking to those archetypes.
Production
EXCELLENT ACTING! This show would NOT have been the same without Zhang Ruoyun, Jiao Junyan, and Li Xian. All of them were TERRIFIC in their roles without coming across as try hards. The writing probably helped them as well, but they injected a lot of personality into their characters, in particular in the characters' interactions. Dabao and Lin Tao's joking around gave me so much joy and I think only Jiao Junyan and Li Xian couldn't pulled that off.
Characters
Qin Ming
Qin Ming was a typical cold scientist. He was strict and cared for his craft above all. He was also very tortured by his past.
Over the course of the show, however, we definitely saw him soften up. He was already acquainted with Lin Tao. I was so surprised that time Lin Tao asked to watch soccer at his place, and Qin Ming said that "old rules applied" which meant watching on mute. This implied that Qin Ming had allowed Lin Tao to watch soccer at his place before so dare I say that Qin Ming treated Lin Tao as a friend??
Qin Ming and Li Dabao did have a rocky relationship in the first episode because of his misogynistic views of whether women belong in the autopsy room, and they were clearly making things difficult for one another. But very soon after he started warming up to her because he saw that she was hardworking and smart and indeed very helpful. And by the end of the show, he found that Li Dabao was a friend that he wanted to fight for.
There was that very mini plot about Dabao speculating about his sexuality and honestly, I'm surprised that it was handled the way that it was? (I'm not mad, just surprised, and not in the bad way) After Qin Ming made Dabao a skirt-suit, she was like "I thought he was *euphemism for gay*, turns out he's *euphemism for bisexual* and I was like "is this allowed?" It was probaby allowed because a euphemism was used. It also added to the fact that what's between Qin Ming and Dabao was probably not romantic. Men and women can still have meaningful platonic friendships!!!
Funnily enough, I felt that Qin Ming was the least interesting of the three main characters, probably because his character stuck to a character archetype the most (the cold scientist). Still well-acted and well-presented though.
Li Dabao
Li Dabao was a quirky lil gal. When we first met her, she was dressed in a very dapper suit, driving her funky little car. She was very spunky and fierce.
As we got to know her, we found that she was indeed very smart and serious when it mattered. But she also knew when it was time to chill or make light of a humourous situation. Overall, a very well-adjusted person.
I was mostly okay with how Dabao's gender was handled. Most of the time, she dressed in unisex fashion and would be addressed as a woman. There was that one time where she wore that skirt-suit to work and that policeman was shocked. Sort of wish that didn't happen, because clearly Dabao was having fun, but at least the gag wasn't stretched out. Early on, Lin Tao had askd Dabao about addressing her as Bao-ge, and Dabao seemed okay with it, so from then on, a lot of the cops referred to her as Bao-ge as well, despite it being a masculine term. I guess it helped her find camaraderie in an otherwise all-male police force. As long as she likes it.
Dabao was such a fun character. She was smart, she was reasonable, she was easygoing, and she was compassionate. Jiao Junyan did such an amazing job, I love her <3
Lin Tao
Lin Tao was the cop of the trio. A lot of the time, when Qin Ming and Dabao were explaining things to him, it was actually for the audience members' benefit. Not that I minded.
Lin Tao was used to Qin Ming's shenaniganery already, and now that Dabao was here, there was one more person to tease him with. Like Li Dabao, Lin Tao was serious when it came to cases, and chill when it came to his personal life.
I thought that something would have come out of the online relationship Lin Tao had with his baobao, that maybe she would have been a suspicious person in a case or something, but I guess that never materialized.
Lin Tao's character was technically necessary from a plot standpoint because a lot of the work done in advancing a case should have been carried out by him and not the forensic scientists. But the three were presented as mostly equal partners of a task force trio.
Li Xian brought his charm to this character, which I very much appreciated.
Overall
This was such a fun crime drama. It's been a while since I watched a crime Cdrama that was this lighthearted, but was also very well acted and well put together. It's a pity that the second season had an entirely different cast because I really think it wouldn't be the same. In any case, this drama was AMAZING! Highly recommend it!