Tian hei qing bi yan

The first 2 episode caught my attention, full of mystery and demanded attention. I enjoyed that. However, as episode 3 rolled around, the plot kind of lot traction and became bland--I believe the main reason is that the mystery that it created in the previous episodes dissipated. It felt like the writer sort of didn't know where he/she wanted to go.

The acting sometimes is over dramatic, the dialogue a bit stale and there are over use of the same flashback scenes that doesn't really build to the overall story.

It uses an interesting approach to how they handle written off characters and multi-layer flashbacks but sadly a wavering plot kind of made me lose interest.

If you're really bore, give this a shot--otherwise there are better shows out there.

We open to some truly creepy credits and then cut to HS kids on a camping trip. They're making a video time capsule. They've agreed to come back to the same cabin in 10 years and watch it together.

We toggle between the HS camping trip and the reunion, years later. They lay on the foreshadowing thickly. In the past, they played 'Mafia,' a game where the secret killer must be identified. They also play a prank on one friend with red paint and pose as if they were all attacked and murdered. It helps set the mood.

In current day, the group is surprised to see Hong Xiao Tong show up. She was so angry at them back then! Bai Xinyi (Blue Lan from The Best of Youth) hid Lan "Yi" Cong's cell phone, to give him some payback for all the jokes he's played. Later, at school, photos of Xiao Tong from that phone were posted all over the place. She ended up expelled. Yi , from a wealthy family, was merely instructed to reflect on his actions. Xinyi hasn't arrived yet. The group doesn't know where she is, but viewers know that her car broke down. She can't get cell reception. She flags a passing motorist.

CYEBID is a 2016 release that is rated 7.4 on MDL. It is 1 season consisting of 7 80-minute episodes. Per AI: "Taiwanese Q Series dramas are a collection of TV series produced by Q Place Creative Inc., with the aim of fostering world-class audiovisual production talent and innovative entertainment in Taiwan. These dramas, supported by the Republic of China (Taiwan) Ministry of Culture, are known for their high quality." Gotta disagree on this one. CYEBID is not good. If I was going to rate it on how much I like it it would be a "3". It has some good points, and I want to be fair, but I don't think this is worth watching once.

Some shows get away with having no likable or relatable characters, but that's a difficult hurdle that CYEBID fails to clear. The list of characters who are truly unlikable is long (Mrs. Fang, Liu Cheng "Fang", Yu "Hsiu" Huang, Yi), while the only somewhat likable ones are the cop and Li "Zi" Shuo. Xinyi seems likable, but she's murked in ep1.

Jian Man Shu (Gourmet Affairs, On Marriage) plays Xiao Tong. She was in a relationship with Yi (Trent Chen from HIStory3 & I've Walked Through the Love's Wilderness) in HS. He took the suggestive photos of her that were distributed all over school. That ended their relationship as well as her friendship with the gang. She blamed all of them for her embarrassment. Ironically, she's a model. She should have gotten over her pictures being distributed, by now. She clearly still dislikes her old bf, Yi, so she'snot over it yet. He clearly isn't over her.

Bryan Chang (My Bittersweet Taiwan, The Nipple Talk) is Lu Bai Cang. He's been with Fang (Bean Sun from Little Big Women & On Marriage) since HS. They're married now and he's a doctor. Yen Tsao (Lion Pride, The Last Thieves) is Zhou Ruo "Qing" who has his disagreements with Yi's family's construction business and their latest expansion plans. Sheng Ping (What the Hell Is Love, Go Go Squid!) plays Hsiu, but the role is horrible and it's very difficult to watch her weak and ever whining character. The 3 screenwriters are Lyra Fu (Detention, Man in Love), Wu Han Jie (Back to the Good Times, Q Series: A Boy Named Flora A), & Wang Kung Cheng. Director, Chen Yu Hsun, brought us My Missing Valentine & Zone Pro Site: The Moveable Feast.

Xinyi is LATE. They have dinner and decide to go up and get the time capsule, which is at the end of the mountain top trail. It's not there, though. During the hike it starts to rain a storm is brewing. After dinner is when they find Xinyi's car. Her wallet and luggage are there. She's not. The rain comes down pretty heavily - typhoon heavy and the storm resulted in mud slides that have cut them off from civilization for a few days.

The cabin where they're staying has a caretaker (Mrs. Fang, played by Tammy Darshana Lichtenberg from Wave Makers & Encore Martha). She constantly has a look of fear and pain on her face that is old before ep1 runs its course. It is so bad that it's almost comedic, and it is a black mark on the production. Her son (Shang Ho Huang from Endless Love plays Wang "Guang" Wei) is on the special needs scale. He's functional, physically, but when it comes to emotional IQ, social skills, and intelligence, he's behind. His facial expression looks scary, but the caretaker assures the kids that he's kind. In one strange incident, he grabs Xiao Tong's arm when she's walking by, and won't let go. She has to yell, and the others come upon the scene and separate them. Guang seems to have issues with pretty girls.

Then Zi (Jake Hsu from Shards of Her & HIStory3) finds Xinyi's body stuffed into a suitcase in the trash dump. 8 friends are now 7. The most suspicious character is Guang. He so obviously knows more than he's letting on. IRL, he'd likely be the killer, but this is a mystery. The viewer should be reluctant to latch onto the first possible suspect. After Yi ends up shot, they really want to get out of there. They attempt going through the old mineshaft, a dangerous thing to do, but staying seems dangerous too. What they encounter is a police officer who's heading 🆙 through the mineshaft. The rest of it had collapsed behind him, so they can't get out that way. The cop is Xinyi's bf. He hasn't been able to reach her and was getting frantic. When he learns what's been happening, he commences his investigation.

More people end up dead before we start to narrow down the suspects and learn more of past hurts and present desires. The plot is not terrible, but the overall production is frightfully average. It drags. Most of the acting is substandard, though the poor directing and editing have much to do with it. It's sad and empty feeling. They do a nice job with the sounds, especially when it comes to building dread. There's no scary thrills, though. It's just a big downer.

IMHO〰🖍

📣6 📝5.5 🎭5.5 🎨6 🎵/🔊7 🔚🤗2 ▪ 🌞2⚡5 😅1 😭5 😱4.7 😯3 🤢3.8 🤔 💤4

Age 16+ violence, gore, someone flips the bird; Rated 15+.

Re-📺? Should've skipped the first time

In order of ~lite & trite~ to ~heavy & serious~ you may also like:

⚡/😱/🚀 - C🇨🇳: The Kings avatar-7.9, Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Saber 9-Kung-fu!, The Untamed-8.6, Bloody Romance-7.3; K🇰🇷: K2 8; Private Lives 8.1; Sisyphus 8; Tunnel 8.1; Signal 8.6; The Man From Nowhere 8.9 Black 9; Squid Game 8.4; Kingdom 8.3; Sweet Home 8.4

🇹🇼My Taiwan Catalog ~ Age of Rebellion-9.5, Autumn's Concerto-7.2, Back to 1989-7.1, Black & White-6.8, The Fierce Wife-8 - worth sticking with, Inborn Pair-4.2, Love, Now-3.6, Love You-7, Office Girls-7, The Perfect Match-5.5 (ep 1-9=8,1-17=7.5,1-22=5.5) Two Fathers-7.5.

Good story about eight school friends from a hiking club who meet up at a B&B in a mountainous forest twice afterwards - the first time resulting in a misunderstanding and the second with a mystery involved. Everyone plays a pretty good part, except for the woman playing the owner of the B&B (with a weird son). The woman is so irritating - with a perpetual facial expression of distress and angst - that I had to forward through her parts; she's a total distraction for the movie. If it weren't for her, the show is pretty good and worth watching, and also has several interesting surprises thrown in.