a very light mystery show that does not demand very much from its audience and places an emphasis on character development. if you're looking for a logical, clinical mystery thriller, don't watch this haha (instead maybe watch the bad kids!).

i first watched this for gao weiguang and expected to skip through it until i saw his parts (the way i had for fuyao...i skipped 12 whole episodes at one point lol), but i actually ended up loving the entire cast and i look forward to following their work in the future.

the writing itself isn't terrible. i think the main and supporting characters had interesting developments.
ma yili as su wenli really carried the show on her shoulders. ppl say she overacts as su wenli but i personally don't think so. she was so much fun, and her character was so likable. she doesn't fall into the tropes many leading women fall under--the tragic, the airhead, the mary sue with 0 personality... she feels so real. if you don't like her at first sight then you should drop the show haha. because it's really all about her! her hopes and dreams and happiness and flamboyance and of course the people she loves.

her relationship with gao weiguang's character luo-tanzhang was very mature. there aren't cliche misunderstandings or maudlin arguments that devolve into cry screaming or excessive drama. they are both older people, and luo-tanzhang is a subdued character to balance out su wenli's radiant energy. they are simply two capable, ambitious people who love each other. what i love about this show is that you can't exactly pinpoint when they start seriously dating. nothing is ever said outright. but suddenly they're being vulnerable to each other and other characters start expecting to see them together whenever there's a crime...it's so refreshing. i really would recommend this show to someone who really wants a breath of fresh air romance-wise or if they can't vibe with trope-filled and dramatic romances.

support characters are given their own developments as well. i believe taozi is an incredible example of this. she was one of my favorite support roles! she's beautiful first off, and her character changes so dramatically from a shy and timid girl to a confident and capable young woman. it's so subtle but it's so amazing!

above all neither su wenli or taozi experience traumatic gendered violence that often happens in dramas with women leads. there is a pretty annoying case regarding an ex-lover on su wenli's side that i think was written lazily and made su wenli uncharacteristically frail for two episodes but that's the only thing i can think of. the writing often veers from such poignant character development and careful treatment of certain subjects (the arc that dealt with sex work handled it with such grace that it caught me off-guard; i was ready for the worst!) to absolute ass. the ex-lover arc is one example of this as i said before, as well as the treatment of a nonbinary character in a later arc (referred to as a 'hermaphrodite' in my eng subs -__-) and the writing of someone with mental disabilities (this was especially egregious...what'd they say to the actor? 'act like you have developmental issues'????) really made me wonder if the show fired their writers and rehired them or something. those setbacks are one of the main reasons why i wouldn't wholeheartedly recommend this show to anyone.

for me, however, the acting, the characters, and the overall production (which was kind of cheap LOL but it wasn't too bad!) outweighed the fairly large flaws for me. i don't know if this will be the same thing for others. but i really do urge you to check this out if you're looking for something different. do keep in mind that some cases involve child abuse and sexual assault and may heavily imply these instances through flashbacks onscreen.