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Review: Miss S (旗袍美探) (2020)
What a fun show! Miss S was a procedural crime show, hardly anything new, but what set it apart was the wholesome atmosphere it built with its characters. As well, our main sleuth was not a police detective, which is something we don't see a whole lot in Cdramaland.
I would definitely recommend this drama. It was a lot of fun, and the characters are adorable.
Spoilers.
Story
Like with most procedural crime show, this show covered various crimes; and is tradition, there was an overarching crime that was related to the protagonist personally, which was resolved by the end of the drama.
Our main character, Su Wenli, was not affiliated with the police, which is something we don't see a whole lot in procedural crime Cdramas now. The gimmick in this drama was that Su Wenli would always run into crime wherever she went, so she always had a different angle on the crime compared to what a supposedly neutral detective would.
This drama was based on Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, and from what I've seen, it follows that Australian TV show very closely. As for the original Phyrne Fisher books, I have not read them, so I cannot say how much was changed and adapted. I personally thought the mysteries in Miss S were fine. There were some that were more intriguing than others, which is completely normal.
There were also parts of the drama where the writing was not great, mostly relating to the character writing. In other words, sometimes the writers would sacrifice the characters for the sake of the plot, which I didn't love, because this drama shone with its unique characters.
But overall, I still had a good impression of the writing. A lot of stuff that happened in this drama would not fly in real life, but this drama is supposed to be slightly whimsical. And the found family aspect of this drama, with all of the characters coming together to care for one another was very lovely.
Production
The production was average Cdrama quality. It wasn't the best, but it was good enough. It felt most "Cdrama" when it came to the sets, as clearly this drama was shot on a set that felt a little too pristine to be actual Republican Era architecture.
The acting was pretty good, particularly from Ma Yili, who plays the clever and kind but nosy and dramatic Su Wenli. The drama would not be the same if it were not her, so I really have to applaud her for that. All of the other actors around her just had to be competent, and she would spice things up with her own charm.
Considering the Chinese name for this drama was "Qipao Pretty Detective," I of course paid attention to the costumes. I don't think the costumes were historically accurate, but I at least found them cute.
Characters
Su Wenli
Su Wenli was crucial to this drama. Without her, this drama would be entirely diferent. Su Wenli was clever; of course, she would need to be in order to be a detective. She was kind, which brought her lots of friends and a good social support network. She was nosy, which would explain how she would come upon evidence that the police did not catch. And she was dramatic, which made her fun, but was also a useful skill in gathering information. But she was never any of these traits in isolation. She was a comabination of these traits.
The fact that Su Wenli was an older lady was nice too. We have an oversaturation of young naive girls as our main characters, and she was a breath of fresh air. She was mature, but she didn't lose her sense of fun. She enjoyed a hedonistic life, but was very sympathetic to others, even those whom she didn't share traits with.
The only times where I cringed at her writing was whenever Su Wenli was sure that certain people could not be the culprit. This happened in the newspaper agency case, for example, when Su Wenli was sure that her teacher couldn't be the culprit, just based on personality. This was terribly inconvenient for Luo Qiuheng, who was just doing his job, and if the teacher was not the culprit, he needed the evidence to clear her. It was just out of character for Su Wenli not to see rationally that way.
Su Wenli had a little sister, Su Wenfei, who'd disappeared when she was a child. She was kidnapped by a man named Ding Rushan, who was imprisoned. There was an overarching conflict between Wenli and Ding Rushan. Wenli was determined to keep Ding Rushan in jail, while Ding Rushan wanted to get out. We later found out that he was targeting her all along, and we find out why.
In the end, Su Wenli technically got closure, even if it was in the form of grief. Never knowing what happened to Wenfei always ate at her. Even though it wasn't great to hear that her sister was dead, at least she now knew that she was, and the culprit would never hurt other people ever again.
Wenli's courtship with Luo Qiuheng was also very nice, very mature and grownup. We don't see a lot of relationships like that in Cdramas. Right from the beginning, we saw that Wenli was extremely flirty, which is new, and I enjoyed it. A lot of flirty characters in Cdramas are painted as villains, whereas Wenli is just flirting for the fun of it. She flirts with Qiuheng because it's fun to mess with him and to see him flustered, and Wenli never goes too far anyway.
And what I just realized was that they don't end up married in this show. They remain colleagues who happen to be romantically interested in each other. Throughout the show, Wenli has stressed that she likes her freedom, and she feels that she can't do that as Luo Qiuheng's wife. And Luo Qiuheng respects that she want her freedom and doesn't want to be married to him but still likes him. It's very grown up and stable.
Su Wenli was a wonderful character, such a breath of fresh air.
Luo Qiuheng
Luo Qiuheng was generally a serious man. He appreciated that Wenli was very clever, but her lack of adherence to rules and procedures was very grating to him, a figure who was meant to enforce those rules and procedures.
I think he was attracted to Wenli because of cleverness, but also because she was mature without losing her sense of fun. She understands him, and she knows that she crosses the line when it comes to procedures, but she'll never cross the line when it comes to feelings and emotions.
Luo Qiuheng became part of the little found family at Su Wenli's manor, becoming familiar with Wenli's posse and caring for Suyun. It's was very sweet how he understood that these people were dear to Su Wenli and he treated them accordingly.
At the end of the drama, Qiuheng and Wenli kissed, which made them an official couple, I guess. Luo Qiuheng was called to a case, which he told Wenli not to come to, and drove away, but he came back, knowing that they work best when together :3
Xiao Taozi
Taozi was a domestic worker that we met in the very first case. After it was revealed that her own employer was the culprit, Taozi came to work for Su Wenli.
I really appreciated Wenli and Taozi's relationship, particularly because Wenli did not act like a saviour. She gave Taozi gifts and put her up in a fancy room, but she also expected Taozi to accomplish things on her own, and relied on her to be a worker. Wenli told Taozi that she was her employee, not jut a servant/slave, and that she was earning a wage.
Over the course of the drama, we saw Taozi grow more and more confident, and that was probably helped by Wenli giving her more and more important tasks. By the end of the drama, it was Taozi (and Xiao'an) who came to rescue Wenli, Qiuheng, and Suyun.
Taozi and Xiao'an's relationship was also quite cute too. It was more traditional than Wenli and Qiuheng's relationship in that Taozi and Xiao'an were nowhere near as flirty, but they showed care towards one another in a way that made sense between the two of them. I liked that Wenli never pressured Taozi to act like her, to be more flirty or to dress like her, etc. She let Taozi grow in a way that was comfortable to her.
Taozi was also very well acted. Her actress did a terrific job.
Shen Xiao'an
Xiao'an was a police officer, and Luo Qiuheng's main sidekick. At first, he was sort of a fumbling sidekick, but over time, we saw that he was competent in his own ways. We saw that he would start to notice certain details when looking for clues; he wasn't the smartest, but he tried to be understanding and kind.
Like Taozi, Xiao'an was a very different person from his mentor (Luo Qiuheng), but he too grew into himself. Over time, he became a more understanding person, a kinder person, a more caring person.
And it was with his direction that he and Taozi managed to save Wenli, Qiuheng, and Suyun.
Lao Song
Lao Song was one of the drivers whom we met in the first episode. He was a former soldier, and kind of a "tough guy" I suppose.
Very early on in the drama, there was conlict between him and Xiao Tan, who was going to be married to Qiaomei. Qiaomei said that Xiao Tan would quit his job and they would become farmers. Lao Song felt betrayed that his bro would leave him. Technically this conflict was never explicitly resolved, but I think we can assume that they would stay as partners in crime.
One of the cases was related to Lao Song, where his two buddies from the military were killed, and he was next. I thought it was quite interesting because we got a closer look at Lao Song as a character, and it also showed us that Wenli valued Lao Song and Xiao Tan was friends as well as trustworthy helpers.
Xiao Tan
Xiao Tan was the other half of our driver duo. After the first case, he'd struck up a romance with Qiaomei. Qiaomei said that there was some land in her family, and that after she and Xiao Tan married, they'd move there to become farmers.
There was a whole mini arc about Lao Song hiring some guys to be his replacement and Xiao Tan being annoyed. This conflict was resolved by Xiao Tan rashly going into a gambling den and nearly getting beat up but Lao Song coming to his rescue. After that, they were back to normal lol.
The funny thing is that Qiaomei barely showed up for most of the drama, so I don't even know if she and Xiao Tan ended up getting married. All I know is that Xiao Tan and Lao Song continue to be inseparable, and even if Qiaomei marries Xiao Tan, she would be able to break up the bros.
Xiang Shu
Xiang Shu was the butler of Wenli's home. He did a lot of the cooking and other errand work, and he also served as a mentor figure, particularly to Taozi. It was very sweet when she would talk to him about her personal life and relationship troubles, and Xiang Shu would assure her that things didn't have to be as difficult and hard as she thought they were.
Suyun
Suyun was a girl from the orphanage that Wenli had sort-of adopted. Initially, I think Wenli had adopted Suyun. But when her birth mother came around, Suyun officially returned to her mother, but would still hang out with Su Wenli and the household at times.
Wenli had a weakness for little girls because she lost her own sister when she was a little girl. So she was very sensitive about keeping Suyun safe. She cared for other young girls too, but Suyun was special because at one point, Suyun was hers to take care of.
Towards the end of the drama, Ding Rushan was targeting Suyun, though that was really his attempt to get Wenli's attention.
Liu Ruqing
Ruqing was Wenli's friend who was a doctor. She only popped in and out of the drama from time to time, but she was different in that she was used to Wenli's shenanigans lol.
Ding Rushan
Ding Rushan was the man who had kidnapped Su Wenfei and presumably killed her, though for a short while I had wondered whether he had kept her alive.
Basically, Ding Rushan was a professor who had a daughter. His daughter had died. Meanwhile, he'd come across some old scripture that basically said that if he could find a girl with the same birthday as his daughter, he could use her blood to revive her.
Ding Rushan had kidnapped a girl, but she had escaped with the help of one of Ding Rushan's former students. However, then, Ding Rushan had kidnapped Su Wenfei and then killed her. Wenli said that her father had mistakenly written her birthday on Wenfei's birth certificate, so Ding Rushan had thought that Wenfei had the same birthday as his daughter, but in reality, it was Wenli who had the same birthday.
Ding Rushan was caught and put in prison, and near the beginning of the drama, he was trying to get out. Wenli was determined not to let him get out, so he devised his own plan to escape. Meanwhile, his name would often pop up in certain crimes that Wenli was working on, perhaps on purpose.
Ding Rushan faked his death to escape prison. He attempted to kidnap Suyun at Wenli's manor, but it didn't work because Xiang Shu had appeared at just the right time. Instead, Ding Rushan poisoned the milk deliver to Wenli's home and that was how he took Suyun.
Later on, we found out that Ding Rushan, with the help of two of his former students, helped him gather artifacts and commit other crimes in order for him to complete his ritual to revive his daughter. It didn't work in the end, and he died in a scuffle with Luo Qiuheng.
Themes
Feminism
Feminism did seem to be a big theme in this drama, not in the sense of Wenli being a girlboss, but in the sense that women should be allowed to pursue things just as men are. Of course, Wenli was a big example of how women didn't have to get married and have kids to have a fulfilling life. And Taozi herself was finding a path where she could marry Xiao'an but also continue working for Wenli.
But I also really appreciated that in many of the cases, we saw women in various struggles they faced, whether it was the courtesans struggling to make ends meet, or the maid at Wenli's aunt's house who didn't want to live in poverty with an abusive alcoholic father and would rather live as a mistress. There was Wenli's friend who hated having to act like a perfect wife to her husband whom she deemed incompetent, and there was the woman at the circus who had to play a humiliating role to earn money. There was the jazz singer who ran away from her husband in an arranged married, and there was the bookstore shopkeeper who was in love with a man who was already betrothed to someone else. All these women had their own struggles and I really appreciate that whether they were criminals or not, Wenli recognized the struggles they faced, and why those struggles pushed them to do the things that they did.
I think this was possible partially because Wenli was not a cop, so while she had a case to solve, she did not have to be super cold about it. Wenli is a kind person, and she was always sympathetic to those in need.
Overall
Great show! Very entertaining, engaging mystery, well-written and compelling characters, and excellent cast. I loved it!
I would definitely recommend this drama. It was a lot of fun, and the characters are adorable.
Spoilers.
Story
Like with most procedural crime show, this show covered various crimes; and is tradition, there was an overarching crime that was related to the protagonist personally, which was resolved by the end of the drama.
Our main character, Su Wenli, was not affiliated with the police, which is something we don't see a whole lot in procedural crime Cdramas now. The gimmick in this drama was that Su Wenli would always run into crime wherever she went, so she always had a different angle on the crime compared to what a supposedly neutral detective would.
This drama was based on Miss Fisher's Murder Mysteries, and from what I've seen, it follows that Australian TV show very closely. As for the original Phyrne Fisher books, I have not read them, so I cannot say how much was changed and adapted. I personally thought the mysteries in Miss S were fine. There were some that were more intriguing than others, which is completely normal.
There were also parts of the drama where the writing was not great, mostly relating to the character writing. In other words, sometimes the writers would sacrifice the characters for the sake of the plot, which I didn't love, because this drama shone with its unique characters.
But overall, I still had a good impression of the writing. A lot of stuff that happened in this drama would not fly in real life, but this drama is supposed to be slightly whimsical. And the found family aspect of this drama, with all of the characters coming together to care for one another was very lovely.
Production
The production was average Cdrama quality. It wasn't the best, but it was good enough. It felt most "Cdrama" when it came to the sets, as clearly this drama was shot on a set that felt a little too pristine to be actual Republican Era architecture.
The acting was pretty good, particularly from Ma Yili, who plays the clever and kind but nosy and dramatic Su Wenli. The drama would not be the same if it were not her, so I really have to applaud her for that. All of the other actors around her just had to be competent, and she would spice things up with her own charm.
Considering the Chinese name for this drama was "Qipao Pretty Detective," I of course paid attention to the costumes. I don't think the costumes were historically accurate, but I at least found them cute.
Characters
Su Wenli
Su Wenli was crucial to this drama. Without her, this drama would be entirely diferent. Su Wenli was clever; of course, she would need to be in order to be a detective. She was kind, which brought her lots of friends and a good social support network. She was nosy, which would explain how she would come upon evidence that the police did not catch. And she was dramatic, which made her fun, but was also a useful skill in gathering information. But she was never any of these traits in isolation. She was a comabination of these traits.
The fact that Su Wenli was an older lady was nice too. We have an oversaturation of young naive girls as our main characters, and she was a breath of fresh air. She was mature, but she didn't lose her sense of fun. She enjoyed a hedonistic life, but was very sympathetic to others, even those whom she didn't share traits with.
The only times where I cringed at her writing was whenever Su Wenli was sure that certain people could not be the culprit. This happened in the newspaper agency case, for example, when Su Wenli was sure that her teacher couldn't be the culprit, just based on personality. This was terribly inconvenient for Luo Qiuheng, who was just doing his job, and if the teacher was not the culprit, he needed the evidence to clear her. It was just out of character for Su Wenli not to see rationally that way.
Su Wenli had a little sister, Su Wenfei, who'd disappeared when she was a child. She was kidnapped by a man named Ding Rushan, who was imprisoned. There was an overarching conflict between Wenli and Ding Rushan. Wenli was determined to keep Ding Rushan in jail, while Ding Rushan wanted to get out. We later found out that he was targeting her all along, and we find out why.
In the end, Su Wenli technically got closure, even if it was in the form of grief. Never knowing what happened to Wenfei always ate at her. Even though it wasn't great to hear that her sister was dead, at least she now knew that she was, and the culprit would never hurt other people ever again.
Wenli's courtship with Luo Qiuheng was also very nice, very mature and grownup. We don't see a lot of relationships like that in Cdramas. Right from the beginning, we saw that Wenli was extremely flirty, which is new, and I enjoyed it. A lot of flirty characters in Cdramas are painted as villains, whereas Wenli is just flirting for the fun of it. She flirts with Qiuheng because it's fun to mess with him and to see him flustered, and Wenli never goes too far anyway.
And what I just realized was that they don't end up married in this show. They remain colleagues who happen to be romantically interested in each other. Throughout the show, Wenli has stressed that she likes her freedom, and she feels that she can't do that as Luo Qiuheng's wife. And Luo Qiuheng respects that she want her freedom and doesn't want to be married to him but still likes him. It's very grown up and stable.
Su Wenli was a wonderful character, such a breath of fresh air.
Luo Qiuheng
Luo Qiuheng was generally a serious man. He appreciated that Wenli was very clever, but her lack of adherence to rules and procedures was very grating to him, a figure who was meant to enforce those rules and procedures.
I think he was attracted to Wenli because of cleverness, but also because she was mature without losing her sense of fun. She understands him, and she knows that she crosses the line when it comes to procedures, but she'll never cross the line when it comes to feelings and emotions.
Luo Qiuheng became part of the little found family at Su Wenli's manor, becoming familiar with Wenli's posse and caring for Suyun. It's was very sweet how he understood that these people were dear to Su Wenli and he treated them accordingly.
At the end of the drama, Qiuheng and Wenli kissed, which made them an official couple, I guess. Luo Qiuheng was called to a case, which he told Wenli not to come to, and drove away, but he came back, knowing that they work best when together :3
Xiao Taozi
Taozi was a domestic worker that we met in the very first case. After it was revealed that her own employer was the culprit, Taozi came to work for Su Wenli.
I really appreciated Wenli and Taozi's relationship, particularly because Wenli did not act like a saviour. She gave Taozi gifts and put her up in a fancy room, but she also expected Taozi to accomplish things on her own, and relied on her to be a worker. Wenli told Taozi that she was her employee, not jut a servant/slave, and that she was earning a wage.
Over the course of the drama, we saw Taozi grow more and more confident, and that was probably helped by Wenli giving her more and more important tasks. By the end of the drama, it was Taozi (and Xiao'an) who came to rescue Wenli, Qiuheng, and Suyun.
Taozi and Xiao'an's relationship was also quite cute too. It was more traditional than Wenli and Qiuheng's relationship in that Taozi and Xiao'an were nowhere near as flirty, but they showed care towards one another in a way that made sense between the two of them. I liked that Wenli never pressured Taozi to act like her, to be more flirty or to dress like her, etc. She let Taozi grow in a way that was comfortable to her.
Taozi was also very well acted. Her actress did a terrific job.
Shen Xiao'an
Xiao'an was a police officer, and Luo Qiuheng's main sidekick. At first, he was sort of a fumbling sidekick, but over time, we saw that he was competent in his own ways. We saw that he would start to notice certain details when looking for clues; he wasn't the smartest, but he tried to be understanding and kind.
Like Taozi, Xiao'an was a very different person from his mentor (Luo Qiuheng), but he too grew into himself. Over time, he became a more understanding person, a kinder person, a more caring person.
And it was with his direction that he and Taozi managed to save Wenli, Qiuheng, and Suyun.
Lao Song
Lao Song was one of the drivers whom we met in the first episode. He was a former soldier, and kind of a "tough guy" I suppose.
Very early on in the drama, there was conlict between him and Xiao Tan, who was going to be married to Qiaomei. Qiaomei said that Xiao Tan would quit his job and they would become farmers. Lao Song felt betrayed that his bro would leave him. Technically this conflict was never explicitly resolved, but I think we can assume that they would stay as partners in crime.
One of the cases was related to Lao Song, where his two buddies from the military were killed, and he was next. I thought it was quite interesting because we got a closer look at Lao Song as a character, and it also showed us that Wenli valued Lao Song and Xiao Tan was friends as well as trustworthy helpers.
Xiao Tan
Xiao Tan was the other half of our driver duo. After the first case, he'd struck up a romance with Qiaomei. Qiaomei said that there was some land in her family, and that after she and Xiao Tan married, they'd move there to become farmers.
There was a whole mini arc about Lao Song hiring some guys to be his replacement and Xiao Tan being annoyed. This conflict was resolved by Xiao Tan rashly going into a gambling den and nearly getting beat up but Lao Song coming to his rescue. After that, they were back to normal lol.
The funny thing is that Qiaomei barely showed up for most of the drama, so I don't even know if she and Xiao Tan ended up getting married. All I know is that Xiao Tan and Lao Song continue to be inseparable, and even if Qiaomei marries Xiao Tan, she would be able to break up the bros.
Xiang Shu
Xiang Shu was the butler of Wenli's home. He did a lot of the cooking and other errand work, and he also served as a mentor figure, particularly to Taozi. It was very sweet when she would talk to him about her personal life and relationship troubles, and Xiang Shu would assure her that things didn't have to be as difficult and hard as she thought they were.
Suyun
Suyun was a girl from the orphanage that Wenli had sort-of adopted. Initially, I think Wenli had adopted Suyun. But when her birth mother came around, Suyun officially returned to her mother, but would still hang out with Su Wenli and the household at times.
Wenli had a weakness for little girls because she lost her own sister when she was a little girl. So she was very sensitive about keeping Suyun safe. She cared for other young girls too, but Suyun was special because at one point, Suyun was hers to take care of.
Towards the end of the drama, Ding Rushan was targeting Suyun, though that was really his attempt to get Wenli's attention.
Liu Ruqing
Ruqing was Wenli's friend who was a doctor. She only popped in and out of the drama from time to time, but she was different in that she was used to Wenli's shenanigans lol.
Ding Rushan
Ding Rushan was the man who had kidnapped Su Wenfei and presumably killed her, though for a short while I had wondered whether he had kept her alive.
Basically, Ding Rushan was a professor who had a daughter. His daughter had died. Meanwhile, he'd come across some old scripture that basically said that if he could find a girl with the same birthday as his daughter, he could use her blood to revive her.
Ding Rushan had kidnapped a girl, but she had escaped with the help of one of Ding Rushan's former students. However, then, Ding Rushan had kidnapped Su Wenfei and then killed her. Wenli said that her father had mistakenly written her birthday on Wenfei's birth certificate, so Ding Rushan had thought that Wenfei had the same birthday as his daughter, but in reality, it was Wenli who had the same birthday.
Ding Rushan was caught and put in prison, and near the beginning of the drama, he was trying to get out. Wenli was determined not to let him get out, so he devised his own plan to escape. Meanwhile, his name would often pop up in certain crimes that Wenli was working on, perhaps on purpose.
Ding Rushan faked his death to escape prison. He attempted to kidnap Suyun at Wenli's manor, but it didn't work because Xiang Shu had appeared at just the right time. Instead, Ding Rushan poisoned the milk deliver to Wenli's home and that was how he took Suyun.
Later on, we found out that Ding Rushan, with the help of two of his former students, helped him gather artifacts and commit other crimes in order for him to complete his ritual to revive his daughter. It didn't work in the end, and he died in a scuffle with Luo Qiuheng.
Themes
Feminism
Feminism did seem to be a big theme in this drama, not in the sense of Wenli being a girlboss, but in the sense that women should be allowed to pursue things just as men are. Of course, Wenli was a big example of how women didn't have to get married and have kids to have a fulfilling life. And Taozi herself was finding a path where she could marry Xiao'an but also continue working for Wenli.
But I also really appreciated that in many of the cases, we saw women in various struggles they faced, whether it was the courtesans struggling to make ends meet, or the maid at Wenli's aunt's house who didn't want to live in poverty with an abusive alcoholic father and would rather live as a mistress. There was Wenli's friend who hated having to act like a perfect wife to her husband whom she deemed incompetent, and there was the woman at the circus who had to play a humiliating role to earn money. There was the jazz singer who ran away from her husband in an arranged married, and there was the bookstore shopkeeper who was in love with a man who was already betrothed to someone else. All these women had their own struggles and I really appreciate that whether they were criminals or not, Wenli recognized the struggles they faced, and why those struggles pushed them to do the things that they did.
I think this was possible partially because Wenli was not a cop, so while she had a case to solve, she did not have to be super cold about it. Wenli is a kind person, and she was always sympathetic to those in need.
Overall
Great show! Very entertaining, engaging mystery, well-written and compelling characters, and excellent cast. I loved it!