The Knockout

It has a good story, but its slow narrative completely ruins the viewing experience. After watching 27 episodes, I gave up as the show felt like it was dragging on for too long. The only saving grace for me were the episodes from 10-15, which I could listen to as background noise while doing housework. However, this is not the ideal way to enjoy a TV show.

The acting skills of Zhang Songwen and Zhang Yi are the best part of the show. Unfortunately, the writer's draggy storytelling means that they spend 60% of their time performing pointless scenes. This takes away from their excellent acting skills and makes the show less enjoyable to watch.

Lastly, Wu Gang's acting in the show is also a major letdown. His delivery of lines is painful to watch and I wouldn't recommend him as an actor in any film or television.

Overall, while the show has a good story, the slow narrative and poor acting performance makes it a difficult watch. I would not recommend this show to anyone who wants to enjoy an engaging and well-paced TV series.

I have to say that this TV drama is one of the best Chinese ones I have ever watched. The topic is about anti-corruption in China, which is rare in this field and attractive to audiences. Its rhythm is suitable and the plots are much realer. It shows the crises about trusting and the efforts on the way to anti-corruption under such a corruptive and dull social environment. When everyone can not be trusted and even determined to hurt you, the courage to stick on fighting is quite valuable. Pretty-designed sharp and wonderful words in communication, and thoughtful decisions they made, all reflect how awful the gangsterdom is and how hard the work is. After watching, I considered about the connection and conflicts between Gao Qiqiang and An Xin, which lets me think of their fates, and also understand the importance to work step by step and stay true to my original self.

The drama spans more than 20 years and focuses on how hard-working and talented opportunists rise from the bottom of the Chinese social pyramid. The first 3/4 is very exciting, but the last 1/4 is a bit slow, thus I rated this drama a 9 instead of 10.

The acting of Zhang SongWen (who plays Gao Qiqiang) is incredible. He is a ruthless mafia boss but also a warm, loving father, husband, and brother. He handled the two faces very well. The scenes where he protects his family, showing warmth and strong humanity, really moved me.

The supporting actress Gao Ye (who plays Chen Shu Ting) is also very eye-catching. Her portrayal of the tiger mother is very realistic!

The plot is compact and exciting, that reflects the determination of the government to deal with the problem of official corruption. "Kuang biao" not only restores the clothes, but also the mobile phones and vehicles used by the protagonists. This is a rare phenomenon in early TV dramas. However, the play "Kuang biao" has well balanced this point. It has not only completed the important task of education, but also made the play happy to fly. In the past, I was very curious that China's online Shuangwen has gone to the world, not only can cure depression, but also can help foreign youth detoxify. Why can't such a powerful Shuangwen model be transplanted into TV dramas?

If so, why?

I can't even concentrate on watching the drama, the camera moves a lot and unnecessarily. They used a lot of handheld camera, and felt like without steady camera. The angle of shooting, the framing, the movement of characters are just terrible. I wondered if it was done on purpose, so I tried to watch 2 episodes but I just couldn't finish the 2nd one. I just felt dizzy watching it. I trust the story was excellent as many many people had said, but I wouldn't be able to find out myself. Acting-wise, yes OK, but I still can't sit still to watch it.

One more thing, if the story is good, cast is good, why not invest a bit more in hiring better crew? Editing wasn't good either, it's just sloppy, and no one ever mentioned this on the internet, I really wonder why. Maybe it's just me...