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TDRAMA REVIEW: Danger Zone S1 (2021)

I just have one thing to say VIC CHOU IS BACK IN TDRAMALAND!! It has been WAY TOO LONG! WHAT A WAY TO COME BACK TOO! Danger Zone Season 1 is a wild ride from start to finish. I am getting my review of this drama out RIGHT WHEN SEASON 2 PREMIERES THIS WEEK! Maybe this will help you decide to binge Season 1 so you can watch Season 2. I am sure you will not regret it ESPECIALLY if crime dramas are your thing.

*Now as per usual with any review I write, I will not be including any spoilers in this review.*


A QUICK SYNOPSIS OF DANGER ZONE Season 1 - A unsolved serial case stumps the police. This forces the police to work with a criminal that is in prison. Working together to solve one crime uncovers more secrets and a greater crisis to overcome.


Overall, THIS IS A FANTASTIC CRIME DRAMA! Taiwan really has stepped up their game in recent years with crime dramas and it shows with Danger Zone. It definitely was not a perfect drama and has some flaws BUT lots of good aspects as well. You will not be disappointed if you check this drama out, by ANY MEANS!

WHAT I LOVED ABOUT THIS DRAMA

THE ACTING - Since I am familiar with some of the actors/actresses in this drama I knew that we would get some good acting in this drama. I mean I clicked play on this drama because of Vic Chou who is a FANTASTIC and very talented actor. I wasn't familiar with some of these actors/actresses in this drama such as Berant Zhu BUT I AM NOW! He is a newer actor but very talented so I will be keeping my eye on him FOR SURE! The actors were able to show all kinds of emotions and scenes in this drama. I think it also just proved how important this drama was to all of them because you can tell they all cared about this production by just how good they all were in this drama.


THE STORY - This drama may seem like a straight forward crime drama ESPECIALLY with the synopsis I gave you in this post. To an extent, it is exactly that. It is an exciting and engaging crime story. What this drama excels at is that it isn't just one crime that will be investigated in this drama. There are other story lines and crimes that come up in the process of the initial investigation of this serial killer case. Everything to an extent becomes connected. Season 1 is really the investigation of this serial killer case. Season 2 will be more personal for the characters and will hit closer to home. We wouldn't have the crimes and investigations of Season 2 if Season 1 did not progress how it did. To discover how the writers wrote the story for Season 1 and see it play out always fascinates me because the writers have to think of everything and lay out all the parts that will become connected and woven together to form one story. They have to think out when to reveal all the clues and where to place everything while establishing characters and write meaningful characters that the audience connects with. The goal is for the audience to want to click play on the next episodes RIGHT AWAY! DANGER ZONE DID THIS WONDERFULLY! The acting also played a part in the audience connecting with these characters as well.


THE PRODUCTION - The quality of this drama stands out overall. The production is high and it pays off. I loved the color grading of this drama because it really played into where the characters were, location wise. The scenes in the prison used colors to give off one emotion and seemed to portray what Vic Chou's character was thinking and feeling. The color grading and choices for the scenes for when his character was revisiting and reexamining the crime scenes in his head were unique and an interesting choice to me. I even pointed out in a tweet in my watch thread for this drama because it caught my eye.


THE OSTS - Quick shoutout to the OSTs of this drama. I ALWAYS LOVE OSTS OF CRIME DRAMAS! For me, they always are unique because they are your typical OSTs that people expect with dramas. I always like seeing what dramas do with their crime OSTS, especially with the instrumentals. Danger Zone had some WONDERFUL OSTs that I need in my playlists NOW!

WHAT COULD HAVE BEEN BETTER

THE COPS - So, I am not saying that I am a genius or anything. I don't always figure everything out when it comes to crime dramas. I watch a lot of crime dramas because it is my favorite genre. I like to play along and try and beat the cops to solving the crime. Sometimes I am successful with some parts of the crime and other times I am completely wrong. There are definitely tropes when it comes to crime dramas. One trope is Bad cops. You can't have a cop figure out everything in episode 2 because you wouldn't have a drama then. You might need bad cops to make another character look smarter. SOME OF THE COPS IN THIS DRAMA DROVE ME CRAZY! There was just some clues and conclusions that I figured out like 3 episodes before the cops did so I had to wait for them to get there. Some clues and conclusions the cops should have known before the drama even started or came to that conclusion in episode 1. Some of the cops also got information but never told anyone else. I mean one cop really should be fired because it came up in this drama that he botched a previous investigation because of his own personal opinions and just brushed someone off which caused the offender to commit a crime against more victims. He did the same thing with the current crime being investigated in Season 1. THE COPS IN THIS DRAMA JUST DROVE ME NUTS to the point where I was yelling at my screen MULTIPLE TIMES!


THE GORE/DETAIL - Now this didn't bother me but just a warning, if you can't handle gore or detailed crime scenes, this drama might not be for you. We got some really detailed autopsies. Some of the crimes portrayed in this drama were quite graphic and the drama showed most of it on the screen. On one hand, I got to hand it to the production to not shying away from things but I also have to warn people because some scenes were hard to watch.


SEASON 2 - There is DEFINITELY a need for Season 2 after the end of this drama. Good news, WE ARE GETTING A SEASON 2 THIS WEEK! This drama ends on a cliffhanger and there is no hiding it. This is not the type of drama where you think oh well that ending works, I guess. NO, YOU NEED A SEASON 2! THANK GOD IT STARTS THIS WEEK BECAUSE THAT ENDING OF SEASON 1 WAS CRAZY!!🤯


Rating: 9/10 (Streaming on iQIYI now)

If you are curious about my reaction to the drama IN REAL TIME - here is my tweets/watch thread for the drama

AND THAT IS MY REVIEW OF DANGER ZONE S1!!


Did you watch Danger Zone Season 1?

What did you think of the drama?

If you did, ARE YOU READY FOR SEASON 2!? I definitely will be watching Season 2 and will be writing a review as well.

Is it on your list to watch?

Will you watch this drama now after reading my review?


LET ME KNOW ON TWITTER OR INSTAGRAM OR IN THE COMMENTS BELOW! WE NOW ALSO HAVE A DISCORD SO TALK TO US ON THERE AS WELL!?

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