Chinese Drama 2023
Justice In The Dark (The Abyss) – Chinese Drama Review & Summary
Light The Darkness
- Genre: Thriller, Mystery, Action
- Release Date: 18 February 2023
- Origin: China
- Cdrama: 30 Episodes
Cast
- Zhang Xin Cheng as Pei Shu
- Fu Xin Bo as Luo Wen Zhou
- Zhao Zhi Wei as Xiao Hai Yang
- Liu Yi Hang as Tao Zhe
- Xiao Yu as Lang Qiao
- Jeremy Zuo as Wei Wen Xuan
- Jiang Long as Zhang Dong Lan
- Pang Han Chen as Zhou Hong Chuan
- Ding Hai Peng as Du Yu Liang
- Geng Jia Wei as Xiao Wu
Snippets
- 17 February 2023: To broadcast soon on Youku.
- 25 February 2023: I read something on Twitter that was rather disconcerting. Apparently, this drama is stopped. Whether permanent, I don’t know. Hope, it. is just nonsense gossip.
- 16 Marc 2023: I read on Twitter that this drama may resume on 18 March 2023. Stay tuned.
- 23 April 2023: When are you coming back?
- 22 February 2025: Rumoured to resume broadcast on 7 March 2025
Episode 1
The first episode is really interesting if rather confusing.
Anyway, if I understand the translation correctly, there was a rare kind of meteor shower which affected 1.3 percent of the population. The effect was making them lacking in empathy. Zero Empathy which meant they are incapable of love, and void of understanding others. They are sociopaths and therefore they often resort to crimes as they don’t have boundaries.
Pei Shu is a certified sociopath. But he sees a therapist for his issues. Despite it, he often imagines what would happen to a person if he meets other sociopaths. He was thinking about this when he was looking at a delivery guy going about his business.
The next day, Luo Wen Zhou, the head of SID was made aware of a murder of a delivery guy. This case was interesting to Wenzhou and his team because it looks like a work of a serial killer. It has all the marks of a habitual killer. This was already the fourth murder in a month.
Pei Shu saw the news and went to the scene of the crime and saw Wen Zhou and his team. He then followed them all the way to the station but Wen Zhou would not speak to him.
It seems they have a back story. When Wen Zhou was just a young policeman, he found a boy, Pei Shuy, burying a chaffinch after he squeezed it to death in the palm of his hand.
Episode 2
Pei Shu went to the police station because he somehow got dragged into the murder investigation of the delivery guy. Pei Shu, however, had a solid alibi. He can name all the people he saw becuse he has a remarkable memory for faces. Pei Shu also said that Zhang Dong Lan was not the murderer either as he was just a through and through womaniser and had no time to murder and then dump a body.
Lang Qiao asked Tao Zhe why Wenzhou seemed to have bad feelings towards Pei Zhu.
Tao Zhe explained that something happened 7 years ago. Young Pei Zhu was shocked to find the hanging body of his mother in the foyer of their mansion. It was deemed a suicide but Pei Zhu was convinced it was a murder done by his father who has zero empathy.
No matter how much Wenzhou tried to convince Pei Zhu, the boy won’t change what he believed. Wenzhou then realised that Pei Zhu has a talent for crime.
By the way, Pei Zhu’s father was now in a vegetative condition after an accident three years ago.
Episode 3
This is an exciting episode.
Pei Shu was in their old mansion when he started dreaming about his father and mother. His mother was asking him for help while his father reminded him that they were different from others. He told Pei Shu that his mother is just a pet.
Anyway, he went again to his psychiatrist who was rather surprised why he was still attending when he is healthier than most people plus the fact that he refuses to divulge his trauma. He just said that he was going to study for his master’s and his subject will be himself.
Pei Shu ended up at the police station again. He was waiting for Zhang Dong Lan who was being released.
Wen Zhou saw him and went to Pei Shu. Zhang Dong Lan was exhilarated from being released but the mother of Zimo the delivery guy turned up and demanded some answers. She looked so pathetically sad that even Pei Shu, who was supposed to have zero empathy felt sorry for her.
Anyway, they assured her that they are really working hard to solve the case.
Later on, Tao Zhe declined to go to dinner with Pei Shu and Wenzhou because he has a blind date. Immediately Pei Shu felt sad because Tao Zhe who he sees as a real brother will have a family of his own.
Wenzhou and Pei Shu went to dinner. Again, Wenzhou realised how Tao Zhe had spoiled Pei Shu
Pei Shu is so persnickety with his food, he can’t eat that, he can’t eat this, he can eat shrimp but such a bother to peel.
Wenzhou started peeling him shrimp but he got an SOS call from Chen Zhen, a brother of a victim who worked in a drinking establishment.
Wenzhou went to where the bar to look for Chen Zhen. At the reception, he was asked to select his hostess from a brochure.
This episode became rather controversial for real because one of the photos on their brochure of beautiful hostesses was accidentally replicated by the art team from a photo of Rose of Blackpink. 🤣🤣🤣
Anyway, Wenzhou demanded to get Linda.
He was given Linda who was ready with intel but she had to be secretive about it as they were being monitored.
The boss of the club was suspicious that the customer with Linda was a policeman. He was worried that they will be in trouble but then one of his guards came running in to say that they had accidentally killed Chen Zhen. The boss felt he no longer have a choice but to kill Wenzhou. But Wenshou was such a good fighter and managed to get him and Linda out of the building.
However, there were just too many thugs coming after them. But then Pei Zhu turned up in his car.
Episode 4
The Mother of the dead delivery guy was manipulated to commit suicide. Pei Shu knew that this was going to happen. They found her on top of one of the buildings in a busy area which Pei Shu said was what the manipulator wanted for maximum attention.
Pei Shu contacted the mother using the billboard. He told her that the real killer of her son had not been caught yet. So she can’t join her son just yet,
The mother had a change of heart and was trying to get back into a safer place on the rooftop but the iron bar gave way and she was left hanging. But a very tired Wenzhou got her back after climbing on foot the 12 (or was it 22 floors?) of the building. The manipulator had made the elevator malfunction.
But the manipulator was caught and he was…,.
Episode 5
Zhou Hongchan, the serial killer. He was a lawyer. He killed the delivery guy because of a misunderstanding. He thought that the delivery guy will continue to blackmail him as they both came from the same village where Zhou Hongchan’s family was burnt to death and Hongchan might have done it. He was worried that the delivery guy was going to gossip that he was from a lowly background which was detrimental to his career as a high-powered lawyer.
It was later explained to him that the delivery guy was one of the nicest guys. He borrowed money from Hongchan and not blackmailed him. The money was for the hospitalisation of his mother. The guy worked day and night to say money to pay Hongchan back.
Episode 6
It was Shi Nan’s 7th death anniversary. Pei Shu found out that it was Wenzhou who had been leaving flowers at his mother’s grave.
I am loving the bromance between Pei Shu and Wenzhou. It was so unexpected and refreshing to see how Wenzhou would push Pei Shu when he tries to look cool or sophisticated and then call him a kid.
Wenzhou told Pei Shu that Tao Zhe’s apartment has been renovated so there was a housewarming party. He invited Pei Shu.
During the party, Pei Shu was late so Wenzhou and Tao Zhe went to meet him downstairs. Both Lifts of the building were not working and Pei Zhu had a big box for Tao Zhe as a house warming gift.
Tao Zhe was so happy to see the woman from his blind date. He found out that she lives in the same building with her family and niece who was with her.,
He invited the woman and the niece to his apartment while Wenzhou ended up carrying the box by himself.
Members of the team were at the party and they got talking about cold cases when they found Wenzhou and Tao Zhe’s master’s notebook that Tao Zhe has.
The power went off. Pei Shu volunteered to go and pay the bill. The little girl opted to go with him.
One of the cold cases was child abduction. Concurrently, Pei Shu felt someone was watching them.
When Pei Shu and the girl got back, Wenzhou was looking at the girl’s flower skirt as the girls who were abducted had flower skirts as a commonality.
Pei Shu was surprised to know that all those years Wenzhou had been caring for him silently. He thought it was Tao Zhe who gave him the PSP but it was actually Wenzhou.
I can totally recommend this drama. Well acted and scripted. Very atmospheric.
Episode 7
There was a child abduction near where Pei Su with his friends was drag racing.
Pei Su met an accident and was taken to the hospital. Wenzhou found out about it and raced to the hospital in distress.
Episode 8
Wenzhou was so relieved that Pei Su was ok, he can’t help laughing
He took Pei Su to his house with a cake as it was Pei Su’s birthday. The awkward celebration was interrupted by a call from Tao Zhe who reported that young Chenzhen had disappeared.
Chenzhen was the niece of Tao Zhe’s blind date.
Chenzhen was kidnapped by another older girl. They found where Chenzhen was taken.
Pei Zhu used psychology to make the kidnapper surrender. He sort of told her that they believe it was not her the mastermind but only made to do it.