Link Click (2024)

"Don't meddle with the past, don't question the future."

As we all know very well, June and July are the busiest month for c-drama industry because it is SUMMER HOLIDAY! Speaking of summer holiday, the three kingdoms aka Tencent, IQIYI, and Youku repeatedly release high-profile shows to spoil us watcher. Tencent bombarded with 'Lost You Forever Season 2', 'As Beautiful as You,' and 'The Legend of Heroes' (the latter got pulled back, though). IQIYI only dropped 'Follow Your Heart' and 'Her Fantastic Adventures', both of which are not doing really well in the charts. Lastly, Youku splashed out 'The Double' and a hit-or-miss 'The Princess Royal'.

Well, I don’t watch those shows and choose the less-known 'Link Click from a less-known platform Bilibili instead. At first glance, I thought it is just a typical low-budget show, but hell no! From the ingenious script, captivating storyline, aesthetic shots, mesmerizing backgrounds, to the multi-faceted characters, everything is executed flawlessly! The writer does a good job in exploring human’s complicated emotions which adds a depth of layer in the story. There is mixed portion of comedy, bromance, and thriller, all of which are balanced well. Another wonderful aspect is no cliché – I find the scenes particularly realistic and it’s really hard to detect a single cliché, which is a very rare aspect in c-drama world.

The story revolves around the trio (Cheng Xiaoshi, Lu Guang, Qiao Ling) who operated ‘Time Photo Studio’. In fact, it was just a normal photo studio – however, what made it special was their supernatural power. Cheng Xiaoshi had the power to enter the photo and transform into the person who took the picture while Lu Guang was in charge of monitoring Cheng Xiaoshi's actions and made sure that Cheng Xiaoshi didn’t make any big changes to the events that were occurring in the photo. Qiao Ling might not share their extraordinary ability, but she was able to gather information through her job as a presenter in a talk show company ‘Ling Ting Ta Shuo’.

Spanning over 24 episodes, the trio traversed into 7 different cases. Though the cases were not related to each other, each case provided a shred of clues about Lu Guang’s mysterious origin and his relationship with Master Xita. Each case is written as meticulous as possible while also allowing the watchers to feel the characters’ pain and growth. Each episode spans around 50 minutes something, but it’s not draggy, anyway.

I must say that the acting from every actor is SUPERB! I especially like Jiang Long – he has improved much since 'Tiger & Crane', and he captures the essence of Cheng Xiaoshi’s very well. Whenever he laughs or cries, I can feel him and badly want to join too. Bi Wenjun also improves since 'Warm on a Cold Night' and 'I Am Nobody', but is still outshone by his co-star. I feel that he has been typecasted in every drama, always playing the cold and aloof character, I wish I could see him in a brighter and cheerful role once (by the way, this is his second drama that I watch in a row, with the latter being the ongoing ‘Treasures Around’). Bu Guanjin surprisingly plays the fiercely loyal and supportive sister Qiao Ling in an outstanding way. Qiao Ling is not someone who can be fooled easily (this happens when Cheng Xiaoshi and Lu Guang attempt several feeble lies to cover up their power), and she is no damsel-in-distress, which is why I label her as one of the strong female leads. Special mention to all of the cameos for grasping the core of their characters! And Dr. He Xu is an amazing villain too - you can never predict whether he is a friend or a foe (those motor racing scenes are great! He's just too awesome to be resisted).

I particularly like the ending OST – it is such a rare thing to hear a rock-themed OST in c-drama. BGMs and other OSTs are nice too.

Kudos to the production team and the entire assemble of casts for creating such a wonderful masterpiece. Don’t forget to rate the show if you’ve completed it because it deserves more than 7.9. Good luck and happy watching!!

These are the main core of the cases in case you want to be spoiled:
1. Sheng Chunzao's shameful scandal in prying over his employees' privacy
2. Chen Xiao's traumatic past
3. Shuang Hai and Zheng Zhong's complicated brotherhood
4. Liu Ye's being accused as a lecher and Sang Ning's hallucination anomaly
5. Zhou Xiaobai's expulsion from the opera house and the missing umbrella
6. Master Xita's cause of death
7. He Xu's treachery and the obsession of his sister.

Note:
For those who learn and speak Chinese, this is a good chance to put your Chinese language skills to use since the subs are horrible or you're too impatient to wait for better subs. I watch this by relying on the Chinese subs and it's not that difficult, although I admit that I don't a character or two.

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Face the sun

Link Click is the little drama that punches way above its weight class. It is probably my favourite drama of 2024 so far, narrowly edging out other strong offerings like Joy of Life 2 and The Legend of Shen Li. Considering its relatively low budget and niche genre, that is no easy feat. What really makes it stand out is the quality screenplay that weaves the dazzling array of themes and elements into a cohesive whole. Easy banter flows seamlessly into subtle gestures of vulnerability; classic literature references permeate key points of suspense and catharsis.

The exact rules and mechanisms of the supernatural is unimportant as it is mainly used as a vehicle for episodic storytelling. Almost all the stories are incredibly poignant, with themes ranging from despair and regret to forgiveness and courage. In this aspect I would compare Link Click to Reset (2022) and the Taiwanese drama Oh No! Here Comes Trouble (2023).

SYNOPSIS

Lu Guang seeks out Cheng Xiao Shi, a gamer kid with a hero complex, as his new partner. Together they would form a duo called 时光代理人 ("Time Agent"), capable of returning to the moment a photograph was taken. Initially armed only with the cardinal rule to never alter critical events for fear of destroying the world, Cheng Xiao Shi begins exploring this new power. The Time Agents take on a series of cases that will test their individual wits, their budding friendship, and their moral resolve.

In terms of acting, Jiang Long as Cheng Xiao Shi and Bu Guan Jin as Qiao Ling does most of the emotional heavy lifting. Bi Wen Jun is decent, but the rest of the cast is just too good. Each instance of body swapping was executed to perfection, and every side character in the past and present lived and breathed to their own inner light.

It is plain to see that, much like the character Liu Ye would have done, this drama was crafted with deep compassion, and with a keen eye for the magical amongst the mundane.

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