The Long Night
A slow-burn crime cdrama, part of the Light On series. Cinematic production, a very fine central cast, and a story that tugs at your heartstrings. It was terrific in many ways. The story was crackable, in that you could figure out who did what, and – vaguely – how, and even why, in fact. But the build up to the “why” was at the core of the story, and that was held together by the topnotch performances by everyone. 

It was very different in flavour from The Bad Kids, the other fine show in the series that I would recommend, so I don’t think a comparison is really fair. TBK was more violent, had more energy (well, the cast was much younger!), and was much more morally grey. I also found it much more disturbing overall. In contrast, TLN was more dark with not much gore (although it had one or two graphic scenes that I’m surprised passed the censor), and more about the emotional journey of a few good men who are fighting for the truth, rather than the crime itself. 

One of the most perfectly crafted scenes was when Bai Yu’s character breaks down after he realises he has lost his wallet. If you’ve watched the rest of the show, you have been a part of the build up to this point, and it’s impossible not to feel the same weight of the emotions that him and his comrades in that scene feel at that point. It’s a scene that I will remember for a long time.

The show was not without its flaws, though. There was unsubtle propaganda and on occasion, it was overly melodramatic, which the genre doesn’t ordinarily warrant. And as usual, the women were all shortchanged. It started out well for some of the female characters, but it became about the men quickly enough.  But the pros far outweighed the cons in this one. 

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