Sheng Suan | Recap and Review

A Republican espionage drama where a man and a woman try to seduce each other. 

Notable Actors/Actresses

Su Qing: Cai Meng

Liu Yun Long: Tang Fei
Chinese Title
勝算

The Odds of Winning

Genres: Republican, Slight Romance, Suspense

Year: 2020
Episodes: 21/40

Recap Grade: C
First Impression: 2.6/5

[Dropped]

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Mini Recaps

[Story (Ep1-6)]

Both Cai Meng and Tang Fei are Japanese military officials with her rank being higher than his. Tang Fei is suspected to be a spy working for the Chinese Communist Party. He narrowly escapes death punishment. It’s Cai Meng who suspiciously saves him then sabotages him and then saves him again. 

[Ep7] Tang Fei infiltrated the department he wanted but his comrade dies in front of him. The comrade sacrificed for his country and for Tang Fei to keep his identity hidden. Fu Yuan now believes him or so that's what he wants Tang Fei to believe. He also wants Tang Fei to like Cai Meng so that he can let his guard down in front of her. Why does Fu Yuan trust Cai Meng so much? 

[Ep8] Cai Meng is starting to put her moves on Tang Fei, she's always smiling at him. 

[Ep9] Cai Meng doesn't have Fu Yuan's complete trust either. Fu Yuan wants both of them to date each other so that he can spy on both their motives. So this is the show's excuse of giving us romance? Alright, lol. 

Tang Fei is suspected of betraying the Chinese Communist Party. He’s kidnapped by his own comrades. 

[Ep10] There’s a mole in the Chinese Communist Party. Tang Fei is one step above those who are investigating him and reverse investigates them. As a result, one of the higher ups (which I wonder why he's white and not Chinese) punish those who kidnapped Tang Fei. One of them is exterminated but the other one, Tang Fei wants to save: Sun Xi Yuan. Tang Fei doesn't want anymore of his comrades dead. The mole is still floating about though. 

Funny scene: Tang Fei's subordinates destroying his watch, smashing it to smithereens because it made them worry about their boss. 

[Ep15] Qin De Long is suspected as a Chinese spy. He is but he escapes suspicion. The Japanese military have caught on that the real Wa Ji Mu didn’t die. Therefore, Tang Fei’s suspicion increases once again. By the way the real Wa Ji Mu is Tang Fei himself. 

[Ep16] Cai Meng coolly rides the horse but accidentally falls off. Tang Fei heroically saves her. His coolness makes Cai Meng suspicious of him. One minute he's cowardly, the other minute he's heroic. Just which one is the real him? The heroic one. 

Tang Fei is actually calm that the Japanese know Wa Ji Mu is alive because that gives his team a chance to locate the mole. 

[Ep17] Tang Fei hides a note in a wine bottle cork for Sun Xi Yuan to deliver. He purposely lets him see how he's writing the note. As for the romance, Cai Meng seems to be falling prey to her own love game. She's actually jealous when she thought Tang Fei was with another woman. I really like Su Qing's acting. 

[Ep18] Qin De Long and Sun Xi Yuan are whipped and electrocuted by the Japanese military officials. The scene between Qin De Long and Tang Fei makes my heart squeeze a little when Tang Fei acts like he can care less about his teammate being whipped to death. Will Qin De Long give in? Or is he the mole and that's why Tang Fei is so cold? 

[Ep19] The higher ups are forcing Tang Fei to speed up the death of Qin De Long and Sun Xi Yuan to keep his identity a secret. Tang Fei doesn't want his comrades to sacrifice although he knows that's the safest route. 

[Ep20] Sun Xi Yuan is willing to sacrifice for Tang Fei because he’s more important. Qin De Long is the same. I’m sorry for every doubting these two men.  Qin De Long takes everything upon himself and admits he’s the traitor. There goes another comrade. He smiles even when he’s shot to death. Omg. Can I really continue watching this drama? So brutal. 

[Ep21] Sun Xi Yuan is injected with a near-fatal drug for pure torture. No matter what, this guy stays loyal but he accidentally leaks out he knows about Wa Ji Mu. 

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Remarks

[First Impression (Ep1-8)] I’m not usually into Republican dramas that lean towards Chinese propaganda but I like this. So far it’s focusing purely on espionage. Primarily I started watching this because I like Su Qing. I continued watching this because the story was engaging. I enjoy watching Tang Fei cleverly overcome the suspicions on him. I also find Cai Meng’s identity dubious. It won’t be surprising if she turns out to be his alley. For now I‘m looking forward to how these two will try to outsmart each other while pretending to "date" each other. 

[Actors/Actresses] I like Su Qing’s calm demeanour. She’s got that stability in her voice and actions. I love it when she has a serious expression on but shows just enough emotion with a glint in her eyes or a slight movement in the corner of her lips. I like Liu Yun Long’s cowardly appearance when he’s the clever spy. He has a stutter but it’s not overdone, it’s just enough to hear it but still gives the effect that he’s less than acute. I love the silent power struggle between Su Qing’s and Liu Yun Long’s character.  

[Dropped] Sheng Suan was never my type of drama. I tried it for Su Qing. I thought she was amazing here but I’ll have to drop it. It gets a tiny too brutal for me and at the end of the day I’m just not into these dramas. I feel a little bad I couldn’t hold out to see Su Qing (Cai Meng) and Tang Fei team up, assuming they do work together. I briskly read the reviews for this and it should be a happy ending.