If you watch the first several episodes of "Love Me If You Dare" you will encounter an interesting (though perhaps not terribly innovative) mystery series. A brilliant forensic psychologist named Bo takes on a lovely assistant named Jenny Yao and over the backdrop of murder mysteries they come to care for one another. The mysteries are interesting and the romance cute and quirky. I liked the notion that for all of his intellect and sophisticated polish, Simon Bo really has no idea what he's doing romance-wise. And I also liked how Jenny Yao was shown to be more than his match when it came to verbal sparring (I loved how in one scene she quietly but fiercely rips him up one side and down the other.) It's a great series...until episode 14 begins.
And from there it goes downhill. How can I convey the convoluted, twisty-upon-twisty mess that are the final episodes? Three (maybe four) serial killers, American characters with a perfect understanding of Mandarin, profiling, hidden cameras and tracking devices, talking cars, Bo a fugitive, Jenny kidnapped by the psychotic killer, hypnotism, dissociative identity disorder, etc. Etc. Etc. There are so many layers that that the narrative collapses under its own weight.
The only thing that makes it at all palatable are the performances by Wallace Huo and Sichan Ma. Sadly, the trajectory of their relationship is lost in the mess surrounding a psychotic mastermind killer but they're always a pleasure to watch when on the screen. And kudos to Luyi Yang for his portrayal of the sinister Xie Han. His appearance is banal and he's quite soft spoken but conveys incredible menace and danger nonetheless. His reaction to what Jenny believes to be her final message to Simon is fascinating in terms of the character. Xie Han is moved emotionally but not enough for redemption. It's a real shame that the character is ultimately sidelined by a crazy plot twist that had me rolling my eyes. Stick with Episodes 1 through 13...you won't regret it.
And from there it goes downhill. How can I convey the convoluted, twisty-upon-twisty mess that are the final episodes? Three (maybe four) serial killers, American characters with a perfect understanding of Mandarin, profiling, hidden cameras and tracking devices, talking cars, Bo a fugitive, Jenny kidnapped by the psychotic killer, hypnotism, dissociative identity disorder, etc. Etc. Etc. There are so many layers that that the narrative collapses under its own weight.
The only thing that makes it at all palatable are the performances by Wallace Huo and Sichan Ma. Sadly, the trajectory of their relationship is lost in the mess surrounding a psychotic mastermind killer but they're always a pleasure to watch when on the screen. And kudos to Luyi Yang for his portrayal of the sinister Xie Han. His appearance is banal and he's quite soft spoken but conveys incredible menace and danger nonetheless. His reaction to what Jenny believes to be her final message to Simon is fascinating in terms of the character. Xie Han is moved emotionally but not enough for redemption. It's a real shame that the character is ultimately sidelined by a crazy plot twist that had me rolling my eyes. Stick with Episodes 1 through 13...you won't regret it.
