My Supernatural Power (2020)

A few interesting cases, but the quality is inconsistent

There are a few interesting aspects of the series, but it can't really seem to make up its mind what it wants to be.

As a detective show, the series does offer us a few fairly interesting cases at the start. However, it soon seems to go off track and becomes unnecessarily focused on the romance subplots, practically changing the genre for quite a few episodes. (One particularly unnecessary romance element is the part about the female lead's classmate having a crush on her. He would function better in the series simply as her best friend.) The romance parts may not appeal to fans who are here for the crime or mystery elements. Yet, if you are into the romance genre, do be forewarned that at least one of the romance subplots is twisted back into the crime story focus, though the maneuver does not seem
necessary.

In the last few episodes, there are also moments of sentimentality that do not really work well. The last episode, for instance, seems like an unnecessary and draggy addendum that is thrown in almost as if the writers realized that there are some loose ends. Unfortunately, it may instead serve as a reminder that there are some plot holes. For instance, if the drug that the villains are trying to develop works so well in the female lead, they have actually found a safe version of the drug many years back. Why the need to continue experimenting with versions of the drug that are less effective and cause deaths? (The side effects of the drug, as experienced by the female lead, are quite a small price to pay for having severe diseases like Alzheimer's cured.)

There are some glimpses of good acting and characterization, however.

The actor, Zhong Kai, gives an effectively understated performance as the main villain in the show, Gu Shi Qing. I guess it is partly thanks to the direction, but he does exude a slightly mysterious air from the start that makes one wonder if he is really the good person he makes himself out to be. It doesn't come as much of a surprise that he is the villain, but I don't think it is intended to be surprising. The character, who is pretending to be a good-willed philanthropist, is played well by Zhong. Before Gu becomes the obvious villain, we may wonder if he has simply unwittingly inherited some shady business. Zhong has to play the part of a cunning hypocrite who is good at beguiling others but still give a hint of having something to hide, and he does it well.

Another character that I find interesting is Xu Zhe, who basically transforms from the good-looking romantic lead of a lighthearted idol drama into a darker character. I like the way his character is conflicted and eventually finds his conscience, but the writing mars what could have been an interesting character. It is a little too over-the-top when he turns violent and almost kills the woman he loves. Overall, he clearly isn't such a violent person and has qualms about what he is doing. He also finds his conscience a tad too abruptly. We could have seen the inner conflict in him more before he finally makes up his mind to go against the main villain.

Of the three romantic couples in the show, the one given the least attention (Ruyu and Zisheng) is actually the only one I like in the end. The couple provides some humorous moments in the series but this isn't excessively done or cloying. In fact, they only become a couple in the last episode although it is clear that Zisheng likes Ruyu from the start. The story of the main couple isn't as moving or interesting as it could have been. In fact, given the youth of the female lead (she isn't even eighteen at the start of the series), things can be awkward, especially when the male lead and Gu Shi Qing seem to be rivals in love at one point. Though age difference isn't an issue in consensual relationships, having grown-up men (one of whom has been sponsoring her from the time she was a kid) vying for the love of an underaged girl seems a little inappropriate. )Especially with the female lead saying things like she wants the male lead to wait for her to grow up.)

This reminds me of how the ages of the characters don't seem to make sense. At one point, one of Gu Shi Qing's employees is depicted as something of an old fogey who is in a high position because he is one of the contemporaries of Shi Qing's father. When the same guy is killed, it is revealed that this old man is of the grand old age of 42! Wow. Perhaps Shi Qing's father started fathering kids and being a scientist even before he reached puberty, but then he also already looks middle-aged 18 years back. (So did the 42-year-old man who is killed--he doesn't seem to be in his 20s during the flashbacks to the time the experiments were conducted 18 years ago.) And seriously, a 42-year-old man isn't exactly an old fogey who is soon to be retired, especially if we remember that Gu Shi Qing, the son of someone from the generation of the 42-year-old, is played by a 40-year-old actor.

Also: if (as mentioned in Episode 25), the female lead has had an experiment done on her 18 years ago when she was a child. Maybe I haven't followed the story closely enough, but it doesn't seem like years has passed since her eighteenth birthday in an earlier episode and she wasn't a newborn baby when experiments were done on her.

Despite several weaknesses, there are some interesting crime cases in the series. But if you skip some parts, you probably won't miss much either. Whether you like crime/mystery dramas or romantic dramas, there are probably better choices.

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