Published on December 15, 2021| No. 2719
Entering December, the TV screens are colorful, and major platform blockbuster dramas have been launched to sprint at the end of the year.
In this big drama competition near the New Year, the atypical suspense drama "Also Ordinary", which was broadcast simultaneously on Oriental Satellite TV and Baishi TV on December 6, occupied an important place.
As a new power video platform that has been making efforts in the past two years, BesTV TV has achieved pure TV dramas without ads and without membership when watching.
"Also Ordinary" is directed by Han Bowen, supervised by Gao Qunshu, and starring Zheng Kai, Zhang Guoguo, Lin Feng and Lü Liang. The series tells the story of the two sides of the murder case about breaking the situation and making decisions.
The reason why "Also Ordinary" is an atypical suspense drama is because the whole drama has taken two story lines, one is a serial murder case, and the first episode exposes the murderer, and then the audience can watch the entire drama from the perspective of God; the other is the Li Qian fell from the building 27 years ago, which is a traditional detective story line, and the butterfly effect caused by this unjust, false and wrongly decided case of that year was unexpected.
Two suspenseful story lines are intertwined, and two time and space intersect. However, the real landing point of the plot is to expose the true relationship between the four main characters of Ji Fan, Ji Tingshan, Ji Ping, and Xiao Jianguo. Each of the main characters has an ulterior motive "dark history" in which they put a mask on themselves in their lives. The confrontation of human nature and the bondage of family affection are the real core of the series.
The title of "Also Ordinary" seems to have a deep meaning, and the lead actor Zheng Kai explained: "The meaning of the first weight is that the names of the two brothers in the play, Ji Ping and Ji Fan, each took a word. Another meaning is a passage commonly used in the play: "Ordinary life is not ordinary, mortals are extraordinary". It means that a person's life, no matter how much glory is left in the world, will eventually return to the ordinary. This is also the main pursuit of "Also Ordinary" outside the suspense.
At the beginning of the broadcast of "Also Ordinary", there were some different voices in the network public opinion, believing that the opening rhythm was not fast enough and the threshold for substitution was high. This is not fair to a suspense drama that does not pursue the spectacle of crime.
While laying out the complex character relationships, "Also Ordinary" has been constantly speeding up in rhythm, and each episode will have thrilling twists. For suspense dramas that focus on complex emotions and human nature games, we may wish to be more patient.
Unpredictable plot development, digging deep into the black and white sides of human nature. This time, the suspense brought by "Also Ordinary" is very different from the traditional police drama on the TV screen.
Anti-routine suspense narrative
Subway, morning rush hour, homicides. Who would have thought that the first two elements of daily life that people overlook can be linked to crime.
As a suspense drama, the most prominent feature of "Also Ordinary" is the anti-routine. At the beginning of the series, Wang Bombing, a "subway murder case" occurs bizarrely, and the audience witnesses the case from the perspective of criminal police officer Ji Fan (Zheng Kai).
Who would have thought? In the crowded morning rush subway, the murderer can actually design a meticulous crime and retreat. At the scene of the crime, Ji Fan analyzed the murderer's modus operandi and criminal psychology according to clues, and his extraordinary logical thinking ability was shocking.
However, the murderer did not intend to give Ji Fan time to further analyze the case, and then there were "exhibition hall cement corpse cases" and "pet shop burning cases" and other horrific cases, and the methods became more and more bizarre. The victims of the serial murder case are deeply related to a local Li Qian fell from the building 27 years ago, and the hidden feelings in it are unfathomable.
In terms of the design of the murder, "Also Ordinary" is unique enough. Because these cases and modus operas are unheard of in past suspense dramas. The murderer even used anti-tracking, architecture, anatomy and other professional knowledge to commit crimes in public and openly challenge the police.
Before the audience was given the opportunity to guess the murderer, the drama had already explained the black hand behind the scenes and completely reversed the routine.
As long as you have watched the first 4 episodes, the identity of Ji Ping (played by Lin Feng) and Ji Tingshan (played by Zhang Guoguo) as the black hand of the father and son has been exposed to the audience, and the previous serial murder case was the joint work of the father and son. Next, it depends on how they deal with the police task force led by Ji Fan.
The black hand behind the scenes has been exposed, and the audience has the perspective of God and can more clearly see the battle between the good and evil sides. But the suspense of the plot has not diminished in the slightest, because there are still too many unsolved mysteries in the case. Even the true identities and relationships of the three Ji fathers and sons are hidden in various secrets.
The two cases that "Also Ordinary" focuses on — the fall of a building and a serial murder case — also involve security guards, female workers, postmen, forensic doctors and other related personnel.
The relationship between the case and the characters is intricate, but in the presentation of the plot, it is clear and orderly. The audience will not be bothered by multiple character relationship lines, and the orderly and staggered character relationship is also the performance of the rigorous narrative of the suspense drama.
The real story of the series originates from the Li Qian falling from the building 27 years ago, and the play accurately restores the environmental atmosphere of the 1990s and fully presents the causes and consequences of this case.
Security guard Mo Wenhua was listed as a suspect in Li Qian's falling from the building, and the whole village felt that Mo Wenhua was the murderer, including Li Qian's mother. People's words are terrible, and Mo Wenhua and his wife finally committed suicide. Their younger brother Mo Wensheng fled a foreign country in hatred, changed his name to Ji Tingshan 27 years later, and began a plan of revenge.
Such a plot setting is like a grass snake gray line, with thousands of miles. The two murders, which were originally far apart, were inextricably linked. At the same time, it also allows Mo Wen to promote the evil part of human nature, with an infinite reason for amplification.
Watching this show is like riding a roller coaster, and the reversal is always unexpected. For example, in Episode 1, the deceased of the subway murder is named Lin Yong, but the person who killed him looks exactly like Lin Yong, and the murderer actually used transfiguration. In episode 7, Xu Dazhi turned himself in and confessed that he was an accomplice in Li Qian's case, but as the investigation deepened, he simply said what he had done.
Reversals are everywhere, and "Also Ordinary" brings immersive suspense from beginning to end. For the audience watching this drama, the author would like to say, don't try to guess the ending, or honestly follow the protagonist to find a breakthrough in the case.
A puzzle set up by two-faced people
There is a meticulous suspense plot, of course, the need for a wonderful interpretation of the characters. "Also Ordinary" is also unusual in terms of character building, almost every important character has "two faces", and the dark prehistory has created their hidden side behind people, which is a challenge to the black and white of human nature.
The richest man, Ji Tingshan, the strongest two-faced man in the play. On the one hand, he must face the public as a successful entrepreneur, and on the other hand, he must direct his son Ji Ping to do evil as a conspirator. This evil is not for no reason, but the traumatic distortion caused by the destruction of his family many years ago.
Ji Ping, the son of a rich family, passively became a two-faced person. The former is the group owner, and the latter is a fierce killer, proficient in criminal investigation technology and criminal psychology. When Li Qian fell to the building 27 years ago, he was a swaddling baby. This character mainly reflects the evil of Ji Tingshan, and almost all of Ji Ping's actions are imposed by Ji Tingshan.
Police officer Xiao Jianguo hides his heart for his son. On the surface, he is a strict deputy director, but inside he is a heartbroken father who has been searching for his son for 27 years. People remain shrewd and capable in front of them, but behind them try to hide their precursors of Alzheimer's disease. The lost family affection is the biggest secret in Xiao Jianguo's heart, and he himself is also an important witness to Li Qian's case 27 years ago.
Former forensic doctor Rao Ying (Lu Ling), on the surface, is an amiable pet store manager, but inside he is tortured by his conscience because of his mistakes. Rao Ying's credulity to others brought Li Qian's case in the wrong direction, but she did not admit her mistake to the organization, and the truth of Li Qian's case was covered up for 27 years. Mistakes don't disappear because of your avoidance, they just wait for the opportunity to come more violently.
The two-faced human setting is the ultimate embodiment of human nature, and the main characters are also good and evil, which is also one of the highlights of "Also Ordinary". Even if Ji Tingshan and Ji Ping have committed many evil deeds, they still have residual humanity in their bodies; although Xiao Jianguo and Rao Ying are kind in nature, they will also keep the clues of the case secret because of selfishness. Behind the two faces, in fact, is the confrontation of human nature.
The most fragile link in human nature is family affection. In the process of watching the first dozen episodes of "Also Ordinary", it is obvious that this drama has put the narrative focus on family affection, and relatively diluted the romantic expression of the love line.
Although Ji Fan in the play has some chemical reaction with his colleague Xiong Zhennan (played by Dani), the feelings of the two have not yet had time to sublimate, and they are suddenly extinguished by various sudden cases.
On the family line, the focus is naturally around the three fathers and sons of the Ji family. As the plot unfolds, we can know that Ji Tingshan is not the biological father of Ji Ping and Ji Fan, but the father and son have lived together for 27 years, and the deep feelings are overflowing.
In particular, the brotherly love between Ji Ping and Ji Fan, the mutual care of each other when they were young, and the mutual care after adulthood, this kind of family affection has been engraved in the bones. Because of this, when Ji Fan found out that his brother was the murderer, the pain was indescribable.
Even a big villain like Ji Tingshan is full of family affection in his heart. Although he regards Ji Ping as a knife to kill people, he will also show his reluctance to Ji Ping, and he often thinks of the warm scene of father and son eating together. Family affection will undoubtedly become an important breakthrough in Ji Tingshan's body.
In the relationship between other characters in the play, the description of family affection is also divided into three points, which plays a vital role in shaping the characters and promoting the plot. For example, Rao Ying cares for her daughter Zhao Qingyan (Tang Mengjia), although she cares for her in every way, she also hides hidden feelings. Because her daughter has also become a forensic doctor, she vaguely feels that her mistakes will be corrected by her daughter; and Xiao Jianguo's concern for his missing son, after he found his son, he urged him to change his ways, so that the plot also began to take a turn.
Among human emotions, family affection is the most common but also the most difficult to give up. For the shaping of characters in crime, "Also Ordinary" captures this core point.
Immersive suspense in front of and behind the scenes
The most obvious feeling of watching "Also Ordinary" is that the sense of film is strong. The tone, mirror movement, and editing of the series have a strong sense of atmosphere and narrative.
At the beginning, the scene of the subway chasing the murderer can be seen in the skill. From Ji Fan rushing to the platform 360 ° to find the murderer, to successfully finding the murderer, followed by a fierce chase scene, the whole competition is completed in one go, so that the audience has a sense of immersion in the theater.
The film texture of "Also Ordinary" also comes from the powerful behind-the-scenes team. Executive producer Gao Qunshu is famous in the industry for the movies "Tokyo Trial" and "The Sound of the Wind", he is good at creating a tense suspense atmosphere, and the dispatched confrontation scenes are still and deep and there is no lack of tension, which is fully demonstrated in "Also Ordinary".
Director Han Bowen is a graduate of the Shanghai Theater Academy and has directed works such as "Golden Armor Warrior" and "Endless Day". Although he is young, his sharpness and ideas can be seen in "Also Ordinary".
The factory chase scene in Episode 10 is particularly powerful. Ji Fan pretends to be a prisoner to lead out the culprit, and the police and bandits chase fiercely in the abandoned factory. This scene makes full use of the complex and changeable factory interior and limited lighting to create a sense of tension that surrounds danger.
Although Ji Ping, the black hand behind the scenes, is quick, the police soldiers' siege and interception in several ways also makes him panic. This scene not only involves close combat, but also the design of action scenes such as parkour and shooting, with sharp editing techniques, achieving a cinematic action scene.
The cooperation between the front and the back of the scenes can achieve a good drama. Zheng Kai, the lead actor, is also one of the producers of "Also Ordinary".
Zheng Kai highlights the sunny handsomeness of the character Ji Fan in appearance, and highlights the character's super high IQ and reasoning ability on the inside. Self-confidence, bravery, jealousy and hatred are the images of Ji Fan's debut.
But as the case progressed, his closest relatives were involved in the murder. Ji Fan inevitably fell into a painful and self-blamed stage. Ji Fan has to face too many life blows and human torture, and the temperament and mental state of the characters have changed greatly before and after. Accurately grasping the psychological changes of the characters is a major feature of Zheng Kai's performance this time.
The role of Ji Tingshan is also a new attempt for the old drama bone Zhang Guoguo. The biggest feature of Zhang Guoli's performance is that there is no trace, and it is easy to switch between good and evil.
He grasped one thing, that is, playing a bad guy can not be 100% bad, he always gives the character a conscience of the character. For example, in the face of the enemy Xiao Jianguo, he still agreed to let their father and son meet each other, no matter what the purpose, but in the end there was a little good glimmer. The complexity of human nature is brilliantly presented in Zhang Guoguo's performance.
Ji Ping, played by Lin Feng, also wears a mask of humanity to live every day. In Lin Feng's performance, the sadness of the character can be clearly felt. At first, Lin Feng's firm and poisonous gaze made people's hearts jump. The knife gradually has a thought, he begins to self-examine and doubt, the pain of the character and the wandering of the eyes, all show that his heart is tormented.
The episode has just been broadcast more than halfway through, the fate of the characters has begun to turn, and the plot will usher in major waves. How will all contradictions and conflicts related to human nature, family affection, and justice be resolved in the end? Let's go on with the drama.
【Text/Cui Ting】