Miss S has its own unique identity, and yes, I think it's better than Miss Fisher.
I have watched many of the Miss Fisher's Mysteries - still haven't seen Crypt of Tears yet, so I can echo some other reviewers. While these do initially follow the basic profiles of the characters and some of the plots, the shows come off as a totally different experience for me, especially from a cultural sense. Like anyone who covers a good song, Miss S is successful in making this show its own enjoyable take.
I'm trying to avoid having to do a spoiler tag, so here goes. What did I enjoy most about the show?
1) Su Wenli is so likeable from the very beginning. I honestly think her some of her best scenes in the whole show are her interactions with Su Yun (Li Ya Zhen). Her emotion just pours through the screen sometimes. Plus, Yili Ma is just a classic beauty, looking gorgeous in every outfit and I admit I had a little bit of a crush going on.
2) The best character arc for me is Tao Zi's. She may be my favorite. Her transformation over time is just more satisfying than Dot's arc, as well as her relationship with Xiao An.
3) I have greatly enjoyed the relationship between Inspector Luo and Miss Su, much more than 'Phrack'.
4) The show doesn't take itself too seriously. I mean, there are plenty of serious moments, but the humor, though sometimes a little on the nose, just works so well.
5) I thought the acting was great. By the end of these 30 episodes, everyone seemed to have found their stride.
The only reason I didn't give it a 10 was mostly because of the production value:
1) some of the small inconsistencies with localization on the subtitles (especially when it came to describing medical conditions). Fortunately the context of the show gave no problems in identifying the afflictions or conditions of certain characters. And I don't mind subtitles anyway.
2) Props at times were a little anachronistic. Wenli browses through a PATRICIA CORNWELL book while in Inspector Luo's office. A unicycle at the cirus has a modern knobby BMX type tire on it. Little things like that.
3) Some of the set pieces were a bit on the cheap side (the jail, the walls of the sauna room in Episode 2). A couple of times I thought a wall might fall over.
Some viewers may not be used to the way the script delivers each story with its approach to dialogue, whereby there are often times when in a conversation one character may rephrase and repeat what another one just said a minute or so before. Also, people may not be used to how characters speak another character's name to express concern over their emotional condition. If Wenli was upset and crying, instead of saying "Wenli, I'm really sorry about your sister," the other character will just say "Wenli..." or perhaps use their full name. I watch a lot of shows from Japan, Korea, and China, so I'm used to this.
I really really liked that HBO didn't release a dubbed version. So much is lost in a dub. Although the 70s and 80s Shaw Brothers kung fu movies have a certain nostalgia about them with the sometimes terrible dubs, my experience has always leaned towards the slightly unfavorable. Miss S would have had a totally different atmosphere and loss of enjoyment without being able to hear the emotion and tone of the native Mandarin (and some Cantonese here and there).
If you like fun murder mysteries that have occasional crazy twists where you do find yourself maybe second-guessing what you had right from the beginning then you'll love Miss S. Kudos to HBO for bringing this to America.
I'm trying to avoid having to do a spoiler tag, so here goes. What did I enjoy most about the show?
1) Su Wenli is so likeable from the very beginning. I honestly think her some of her best scenes in the whole show are her interactions with Su Yun (Li Ya Zhen). Her emotion just pours through the screen sometimes. Plus, Yili Ma is just a classic beauty, looking gorgeous in every outfit and I admit I had a little bit of a crush going on.
2) The best character arc for me is Tao Zi's. She may be my favorite. Her transformation over time is just more satisfying than Dot's arc, as well as her relationship with Xiao An.
3) I have greatly enjoyed the relationship between Inspector Luo and Miss Su, much more than 'Phrack'.
4) The show doesn't take itself too seriously. I mean, there are plenty of serious moments, but the humor, though sometimes a little on the nose, just works so well.
5) I thought the acting was great. By the end of these 30 episodes, everyone seemed to have found their stride.
The only reason I didn't give it a 10 was mostly because of the production value:
1) some of the small inconsistencies with localization on the subtitles (especially when it came to describing medical conditions). Fortunately the context of the show gave no problems in identifying the afflictions or conditions of certain characters. And I don't mind subtitles anyway.
2) Props at times were a little anachronistic. Wenli browses through a PATRICIA CORNWELL book while in Inspector Luo's office. A unicycle at the cirus has a modern knobby BMX type tire on it. Little things like that.
3) Some of the set pieces were a bit on the cheap side (the jail, the walls of the sauna room in Episode 2). A couple of times I thought a wall might fall over.
Some viewers may not be used to the way the script delivers each story with its approach to dialogue, whereby there are often times when in a conversation one character may rephrase and repeat what another one just said a minute or so before. Also, people may not be used to how characters speak another character's name to express concern over their emotional condition. If Wenli was upset and crying, instead of saying "Wenli, I'm really sorry about your sister," the other character will just say "Wenli..." or perhaps use their full name. I watch a lot of shows from Japan, Korea, and China, so I'm used to this.
I really really liked that HBO didn't release a dubbed version. So much is lost in a dub. Although the 70s and 80s Shaw Brothers kung fu movies have a certain nostalgia about them with the sometimes terrible dubs, my experience has always leaned towards the slightly unfavorable. Miss S would have had a totally different atmosphere and loss of enjoyment without being able to hear the emotion and tone of the native Mandarin (and some Cantonese here and there).
If you like fun murder mysteries that have occasional crazy twists where you do find yourself maybe second-guessing what you had right from the beginning then you'll love Miss S. Kudos to HBO for bringing this to America.
- bmward-83027
- Sep 11, 2022