Notable Actors/Actresses
Wu Qian: Qian Nuo / Qiao Ya
Yang Le: Li Xu Yao
Dai Xu: Wei Yu Tai
Chinese Title
黑色燈塔
The Sweet: it’s official, I really like Wei Yu Tai! He signed up to be a substitute driver just in case Fan Jia Yi calls one when she’s drunk from meeting her clients.
[4th Case]
[Review] Black Lighthouse takes a typical case and gives you a curveball. Stereotype of ideal victims and criminals are broken. Who you think is the murderer might just be the victim and vice versa. Every victim and murderer will have their story. Even the (supposed) murderers are relatable; their motive for murder/suicide made me sympathize them. As someone who's not into procedural case dramas, this was interesting. The drama placed a lot of care into all the twists. It wasn't easy to predict which is why I kept watching.
Chinese Title
黑色燈塔
Network: MangoTV
This drama is case by case. Wu Qian's character is Qian Nuo who takes her sister's identity as Qiao Ya to be a newbie judge. Qiao Ya has a secret mission somewhere somehow that I currently know nothing of. She gets herself quite involved in each case. What really bothered me when I first started the drama was her involvement. I need a ELI5 on whether judges (intern or not) are allowed to investigate the truth behind each case. Doesn't it clearly affect the fairness of the trial? Especially when she reveals her findings to the judge preceding the case. Other than that detail, I don't really care how accurate everything else is. The cases are pretty interesting. They're not what they seem. There's a bit of romance (plus a secondary couple) but that's not the focus.
*There will be no green texts (other than here) because this is not a recap, it’s practically all my commentary.
Cases
[1st Case]
Type: Murder. Female is dead after she's killed by a man.
Commentary: The takeaway message is blood is thicker than water. Poor girl. And perhaps... poor guy?
[2nd Case]
Type: Rape.
Commentary: The highlight of this case was the interaction of the two new lawyers (Wei Yu Tai and Fan Jia Yi) for me. I get more CP feels from them than from Qiao Ya and Li Xu Yao. I really liked how their blind-dates with their respective partners unfolded. They ended up introducing their partners to each other. As for the case, my takeaway message is this: the presumption of girls being weak is dangerous. I don't particularly like it when drama focuses on these cases because it just makes it that much harder for real victims of rape. However, I like the emphasis on Fan Jia Yi's growth as a lawyer.
[3rd Case]
Type: Murder → Kidnap → Escape Room → Bomb → Sabotage
Type: Murder → Kidnap → Escape Room → Bomb → Sabotage
Commentary: Tbh, a little dramatic. It doesn’t have that thrill where I really believe someone will die. The police in the hospital bed wrapped from head to toe was funny. Off topic. There was this really creepy scene around the 6 minute mark where the suspect’s head moved closer to the camera. It looked like his head grew (like a balloon) because he was mostly stretching his neck while his shoulder stay put. Very scary. Back to the story. Mr. Han (the hospitalized guy) seems suspicious. I think he is involved with the murder unlike what he’s saying. The real Qiao Ya also shows up. To kill him? Or make him faint? And steals a pill bottle? Why?
The Sweet: it’s official, I really like Wei Yu Tai! He signed up to be a substitute driver just in case Fan Jia Yi calls one when she’s drunk from meeting her clients.
[4th Case]
Type: Cult
[5th Case - Part I]
[5th Case - Part I]
Type: Bully.
Commentary: Qiao Ya actually asks Wei Yu Tai to take on the case of a kid being bullied. I didn’t know you can take high school bullies to court. Sue for psychological damage? Anyways. Wei Yu Tai reminds her to look at his firm, he is a highly qualified (expensive) lawyer. The only time he accepts a case for pennies is when he can defend against Fan Jia Yi. Wei Yu Tai doesn’t take the case and so another VERY SUSPICIOUS lawyer does. I shook my head. I also shook my head when mom started to bribe other students and when the kid whipped himself to have more injuries. The lawsuit was bound to fail. A new lawyer takes the case. He doesn’t seem very capable at all especially when he stutters but once he talks law, all his stutters smoothens out. Unfortunately, the defendant’s lawyer is Wei Yu Tai. Although I know the bully is in the wrong but Wei Yu Tai’s defence is spotless. He persuaded me. I’m loving this actor.
The Real Qiao Ya: I thiiiiink she’s good but that’s based on my feelings rather than anything I see. Her boyfriend (Liang Jun Hao) stole a laptop from this company and because of that Wei Yu Tai lost his case and almost his career at this large law firm.
Commentary: Qiao Ya actually asks Wei Yu Tai to take on the case of a kid being bullied. I didn’t know you can take high school bullies to court. Sue for psychological damage? Anyways. Wei Yu Tai reminds her to look at his firm, he is a highly qualified (expensive) lawyer. The only time he accepts a case for pennies is when he can defend against Fan Jia Yi. Wei Yu Tai doesn’t take the case and so another VERY SUSPICIOUS lawyer does. I shook my head. I also shook my head when mom started to bribe other students and when the kid whipped himself to have more injuries. The lawsuit was bound to fail. A new lawyer takes the case. He doesn’t seem very capable at all especially when he stutters but once he talks law, all his stutters smoothens out. Unfortunately, the defendant’s lawyer is Wei Yu Tai. Although I know the bully is in the wrong but Wei Yu Tai’s defence is spotless. He persuaded me. I’m loving this actor.
The Real Qiao Ya: I thiiiiink she’s good but that’s based on my feelings rather than anything I see. Her boyfriend (Liang Jun Hao) stole a laptop from this company and because of that Wei Yu Tai lost his case and almost his career at this large law firm.
[5th Case - Part II]
Type: Murder. The bully kills the maid.
Commentary: The bully (Xu Tian He) who everyone hated becomes the murderer that everyone thinks he is. He's actually innocent but no one is willing to believe him. It's pretty obvious the bully is being sabotaged but Fan Jia Yi is once again blinded by her own perspective ("ideal victims" and "ideal criminals"). I don't really like Fan Jia Yi. The case did get a little twisty though. I was afraid the murderer would be this boy. Thankfully, it's not him. Personally, it feels good to have someone destroy this arrogant Xu family. That boy Xu Tian He gave Ge Li Fan was satisfying but not enough.
[6th Case]
Type: Murder. A filial son kills his mother.
Commentary: The mom tells the son, "You did the right thing, mom doesn't hate you." But the son hates himself. He feels guilty enough to take the murder as his own. Sad.
Romance
I’m not very into the main leads' romance. I’m more into Wei Yu Tai’s so this is a tiny index of his moments with Fan Jia Yi when I remembered to take notes.
[Ep13] Fan Jia Yi’s father and Wei Yu Tai team up to stalk Fan Jia Yi on her date and that’s how Wei Yu Tai meets his future father-in-law xD
[Ep16] Wei Yu Tai becomes a substitute driver just in case Fan Jia Yi ever needs one. SO sweet.
[Ep26] Wei Yu Tai is jealous and takes a case for free to show Fan Jia Yi that he is superior to Li Xu Yao. I love how Wei Yu Tai confronted the “criminal” just so he’d accept him as his lawyer. The lengths this guy will go for the girl he likes.
[Ep30] Wei Yu Tai’s confession to Fan Jia Yi is that he wants to be like her. She has qualities that he doesn’t. (Me: noooooo, stay the way you are! Please don’t change to be like her.). She finally accepts his confession.
Qiao Nuo and Xu Yao stare at each other at the end of the drama which means they’re probably together, I assume.
The Mystery of Qiao Ya
I will be honest. I wasn't paying that much attention. I may have missed a lot of details on this. I was waiting for a grander reveal. There wasn’t. The real Qiao Ya disappeared to work with Dad to reel in all the bad guys. Dad had left them to protect them. That’s it. Qiao Ya is essentially a minor character who’s main purpose is to get Qian Nuo into law.
“Black Lighthouse"
Why is the drama called Black Lighthouse? Qiao Nuo narrates that one night she came across a lighthouse. She couldn't see it in the dark but it's constantly there bringing light to the city just like judges bring truth in the court. Qiao Nuo vows to be this Black Lighthouse.
Remarks
[First Impression (Ep1-22)] First of all given how many episodes I watched already, this is not a first impression. Whatever. I was going to let this drama go but after a helpful reminder, I gave this drama another chance. Personally, I’m not a fan of case-y dramas. I watched so many of these growing up from TVB dramas I grew tired of them. Also, if I ever wanted to watch law/detective case-y dramas, I wouldn’t be watching Chinese dramas. I’m sorry if I offended anyone but that’s my stance. Despite my prejudice, Black Lighthouse has managed to keep me engaged even without other genres like thrill, suspense comedy, etc.
P.S. I think Qiao Ya is good. I never believed she was bad.
[Actors/Actresses] For My Sunshine fans, this is reunion between Wu Qian and Yang Le but I don't think these actors met on set for that drama though, heh. There was a bit of a generational gap.
I sometimes question who the male lead is. I honestly believe it’s Dai Xu’s character: Wei Yu Tai. Wei Yu Tai works hard and loves hard. This guy is so charismatic. He’s stealing all my attention. Dai Xu also left a strong impression in The Ordinary Glory with his short appearance. I look forward to seeing more of him.
[Review] Black Lighthouse takes a typical case and gives you a curveball. Stereotype of ideal victims and criminals are broken. Who you think is the murderer might just be the victim and vice versa. Every victim and murderer will have their story. Even the (supposed) murderers are relatable; their motive for murder/suicide made me sympathize them. As someone who's not into procedural case dramas, this was interesting. The drama placed a lot of care into all the twists. It wasn't easy to predict which is why I kept watching.
The overarching Qiao Ya/Qiao Nuo switcharoo was flat. If you’re going to watch this drama, watch it for the cases and not the twin business. Also, don’t watch this for the romance. It’s there but it doesn’t really matter that it’s there.
Collectively, the main leads didn’t leave a ton of impression on me. Even Wu Qian (Janice Wu). She did what she was supposed to but she didn’t make me love her. I’ve been dying to say this since the first episode: I hate her hair. Anyways. The one man who made his role shine was Dai Xu (Wei Yu Tai). He’s such a scene stealer. He brings so much charisma to his character and yet he remains so flawed and so human. I’m grateful this drama brought me to him.
No comments:
Post a Comment