Missing Persons Review

The bus to Chong Qing brings six strangers together. After an accident, they are the lone survivors. This story follows the salvation of each character. why it had to be them, and what there purpose is. 

Notable Actors/Actresses
Chen Hao Yu: Li Qiao

Chen Xiao Yun: Lu Min

Liu Chang: Zou Zhi Ming

Lv Yu Lai: Chen Jian

Zhang Zhi Lu: Tao Zi You

Chinese Title
失踪人口

Genres: Contemporary, No Romance, Suspense

Network: Youku

Year: 2020
Episodes: 12

Review

Warning: Spoilers ahead. I tried to keep it minimal for the initial characters but as you read on they will become more spoiler-y. There will be no more warnings beyond this point. 

[Characters]

Li Qiao. She’s a singer. When she first got on the bus, the man next to her suspiciously asks her whether she’s been in a car accident. The eerie thing is she has. In the car accident, her ex-boyfriend died. It is also because of the car accident she has boarded this bus. 

Tao Zi You (Da You). He's a thief. When he first boarded on the bus, he recognized Li Qiao. That’s because he was in/directly responsible for the car accident when Li Qiao’s ex-boyfriend died.. Seeing her, he quickly uses his backpack to cover his face as he makes his way to an empty seat on the bus. Li Qiao doesn’t recognize him though. 

Liu Chang Qing. He’s the one who knows both Singer Li and Tao Zi You were in the same car accident. He also knows every survivor’s name when they were all supposed to be strangers. It’s also through him we’re made aware of a satellite taking off on television. Every survivor had watched this piece of news. Throughout the drama, these news repeats and repeats but it's purpose remains a mystery. 

Zou Zhi Ming. He’s a police officer. He wants to be in the crime unit but because he failed to capture a notorious criminal he’s denied the opportunity. Unable to drop the case, he continues to search for the criminal on his own and that is why he boarded the bus. There’s a recurring theme song in this drama: Red River Valley. It’s sung by Singer Li, the singer. Zou Zhi Ming’s wife also teaches her students this song every time. It’s a song about a loved one leaving. Thus Zou Zhi Ming has to go to work that he hates and come back home to listen to his wife teaching his students this piece every time. He’s practically at his wits end. The song is a smart foreshadowing that he’s going to leave her (or she had already left him) and be stranded in the river valley. 

Lu Min. She’s a doctor. She is the second most interesting character. At first, she’s doing her regular thing and trying to save the rest of the passengers. However when she sees her reflection, she becomes very concerned. She’s on this bus to investigate about her lover’s disappearance. 

Ma Hong Xin. He is a reporter. He “called” the police and tells the rest of the survivors to remain in their spot in order to be saved. When everyone’s looking for firewood, he ditches the group and heads upward. That’s when the flood takes the group by surprise. The five other survivors rush to the highest platform they can reach. The reporter is never seen again. 

Chen Jian. He is a resident of the river valley. He is the most interesting character to me. He tells everyone he is in the year 2014 but the rest of survivors are certain they’re in 2015. Singer Li is the most suspicious of him because she’s seen him on TV when his father cried about Chen Jian passing away. Thus she’s certain that this man in front of her should have been dead at least a year ago. 

Zhang Guang Bei. He is a veteran. He was originally in a wheelchair unable to walk or care for himself but when he watched the satellite being launched on TV, he can suddenly stand and walk. He arrived late to the river valley. He was supposed to be one of the six "survivors" to arrive on the bus but someone unwanted had taken his place. A truck driver picks him up and it's actually Doctor Lu's ex-lover! Once Zhang Guang Bei arrives, he deciphers the Morse code behind the horns of the cave. It's warning everyone to stay far away from the cave so that they can see each other in their next lives. It's too late though. Chen Jian has already led everyone inside. 

Xu Wei Hong. He is Doctor Lu's lover. He disappeared many years ago but did he really? 

[The Story: the shocking and the interesting]

The timely floodwater. The floodwater occurs every twelve hours. It's still a mystery why this river valley operates this way. It's interesting to note that "floodwater" in Chinese is called "Hong Shui" where "Hong" sounds like "Red" in Chinese. It's not a coincidence that the song that keeps repeating in the drama is also called "Red River" Valley. 

Liu Chang Qing drowns. After Liu Chang Qin revealed he knew Da You was involved in Singer Li's car accident, Da You ditches him and swims to the top of the bus deck to join the other. Liu Chang Qing can't swim and drowns. 

• Unrelated but interesting is that Da You never ever ditches his backpack. It's the thief-ness running in his blood.  

Ma Hong Xin (Reporter Ma) dies. His death is pretty shocking. He was the unwanted person who did not belong among the six survivors. His frenemy dragged and drugged him on the bus. The frenemy was afraid Veteran Zhang figured out he drugged Reporter Ma so he stole the veteran's ticket to prevent him from boarding the bus. When he woke up after being drugged, he searched his frenemy's dead body. That's when his phone rang. He was told by a stranger to lie to them that the police will be arriving while receiving separate instructions to head upstream. Therefore he never called the police. The man who called him was trying to isolate him to kill him. Reporter Ma tried to run away by using the flash on his camera to distract him. Ma Reporter fails but he does manage to capture a picture of the killer before his death. 

Lu Min (Doctor Lu) had committed suicide but instead of dying she turned youthful. I'm positive she died before boarding the bus but somehow she didn't die. She committed suicide because her ex-husband just won't leave her alone. It's creepy. She's physically abused by her ex-husband but at the same time she's tormenting herself by loving a man who betrayed her and disappeared (Xu Wei Hong). Her life is just sad. However, after the bus accident, Doctur Lu had turned youthful. She who should be in her 50's is now in her 20's. Only Chen Jian recognizes her and knows she's aged backwards. He also knows about the 826 Bureau that she's looking for. He directs her to the cave. 

Reporter Ma was murdered by Chen Jian. Chen Jian knows the secret to the river valley and the cave. Every time the survivors called the police, the phone calls were always redirected to him. There was never any police involvement. He was the one who separated Reporter Ma  from everyone else and killed him. Da You saw the picture of Chen Jian in Reporter Ma's camera therefore he knows Chen Jian is the murderer. However, Chen Jian knocks him unconscious, preventing him from exposing the truth. 

Chen Jian dies twice (?). Chen Jian died the first time because his father didn't save him. It was sad. He loved his father so much only to be betrayed by him. His father never even raised him. His father had hated him for lying but in the very end it’s his father’s lies that have disappointed him the most. It is questionable if Chen Jian actually died here though because he could have just been like the others and had fallen into the river valley without dying. Throughout the drama, he's very suspicious (especially to Singer Li), but his intentions were to save the other four (or five) survivors. Singer Li never trusted him and shoots him with a gun. Chen Jian falls into the water, bleeding from the wound, but he tells the others to hurry and save Doctor Lu instead. He is never seen again. 

It's not the first time Singer Li has killed. She let her ex-boyfriend die. Although Da You had caused the car accident, Singer Li never called the ambulance in time to save her ex-boyfriend. She still loves him but he's no longer the man she used to know. She rather him die than live a wrong life. 

Liu Chang Qing didn't drown and die. Firstly, he appeared in front of Da You before Da You fainted from the nosebleed/pneumonia. Liu Chang Qing warns him to not enter the cave. But it's too late. He's fainted. Doctor Lu has already dashed into the cave. Secondly, it is possible Liu Chang Qing was revived after being sucked by water. Throughout the drama it felt like the water was alive or there was something alive inside. 

The cave is the entrance to 826 Bureau. It’s forever winter here. Interesting to note is that the day of the bus accident is also August 26. 826 Bureau connects Doctor Liu, Xu Wei Hong, and Zhang Guang Bei. It also connects to Liu Chang Qing. His father was the scientist involved in the research of a mutated blood sample. It's so confusing, I don't know how to explain this. All I'm certain is that Liu Chang Qing knew of the cave's secret and the reason why the six of them have gathered. His purpose was to prevent them from entering the cave. 

The six survivors have mutated blood. Perhaps it is their mutated blood that has drawn them together. This blood probably allows them to be revived once they undergo extreme cold temperatures. This is probably why Liu Chang Qing who was floating in the ice water was able to open his eyes and be revived at the very last second of the drama. 

Xu Wei Hong is alive. He is still youthful. He is the one who summoned everyone to the cave. Is he good? Is he evil? I have no idea. Chen Jian is working with him to bring all the survivors to this 826 Bureau. Xu Wei Hong is also the truck driver who drove Veteran Zhang to the river valley. This also means he knows how to exit the cave. He saved Doctor Lu when she almost died. It's revealed in the end that prior to the six survivors arriving to the river valley, he had already drawn portraits of all of them. 

The gravestones of Doctor Liu's colleagues all have the same surnames as the four of the six survivors. Li Qiao, Chen Jian, Zou Zhi Ming, and Tao Zi You were fated to arrive to the cave. Oddly, under the tomb, there is no corpse. 

[The Unexplained] Simply put, I don't get the ending. I don't get the purpose of this drama. I have no idea what I watched. 

• What is up with the satellite? 
• What is up with the 826 Bureau?
• What is up with Liu Chang Qing and what does he know?
• Are the six survivors human? I'm certain two of them have died and revived: Doctor Lu, Liu Chang Qing. I have no idea how Doctor Lu revived. The next person that probably will revive is Chen Jian. He fell into the water just like how Liu Chang Qing drowned. Xu Wei Hong could probably revive him.
• Do they actually have mutated blood or were they born that way? 
• What is Xu Wei Hong's purpose? Why is he forever youthful? Is he still mute? There's so many questions about him I don't even know where to start or what I need to know. 
• Why is Doctor Lu youthful? How did she revive? It doesn't make sense how she's alive. She never underwent extreme cold temperature. 
• How are Singer Li and Da You's past related to all the other characters? Veteran Zhang is connected to Doctor Lu because of 826 Bureau. Doctor Lu is connected to Police Officer Zou because her ex-husband ran over the criminal he was catching. This criminal then met Chen Jian and his father. But where does Singer Li and Da You come into this? I must have missed something. 
• Why don’t the gravestones have all the survivors surnames? What is the relationship between their surnames? Are they related? Are they reborn? 
• Why does Veteran Zhang's father look the same as Chen Jian? Why!

[Rating Explained] Right before the ending became apparent I was settled on giving this at least a 4/5. This drama left way more questions than answers. As the remaining minutes dwindled down in the last episode not a single answer was given on what the heck is going on. For the entire drama, the suspense kept escalating. If I were to only judge the suspense factor in this drama, it easily earns a 5/5. The drama kept building up with shocking unpredictable details and then did a complete nose dive. It's like someone started telling me a story of there was once a cat in a well who ate a dragon that was actually its mother and then meets a rabbit who's scientifically mutated and is actually not a rabbit, and this well is not a well. The End. Do you get the story? I don’t.

Rating: 2/5 ♡