Impressive cinematography mixed well with a compelling noir storyline – iQiyi’s first prison-themed Taiwanese drama is a must-watch for crime-thriller enthusiasts!
Both two seasons of Danger Zone garnered high praises. Particularly, the series’ central premise, morality and justice, incites contemplation in viewers. Moreover, Director David Chuang effectively adapted Qian Yu Zhi Cheng’s novel “The Pursuer.” Likewise, he and the whole production team successfully conveyed the different faces of the unimaginable crimes, horrendous injustices, and vicious violence lurking in this world.
The first and second seasons have a total of 24 episodes. A fair warning to all who have not seen the series yet —this is not for the faint-hearted.
- Main Casts: Vic Chou | Berant Zhu | Christopher Lee
- Supporting Casts: Sandrine Pinna | Teresa Daley | Tseng Jing Hua
- Thrilling/Addictive Meter:
- Overall Rating:
- Rewatch Value:
- Dramas of Similar Vibes: Detective Ke Chen | Crimson River | Evil Minds
Nathan Llantos watched Danger Zone on iQiyi
Danger Zone Quick Plot Recap
Danger Zone Season One Walkthrough
The story revolves around the desperate race against time of the Changrong Police officers and their struggles with heaps of crime reports on their tables yet having insufficient leads to solve the cases.
Their lives spiral into chaos as they unfold one terrible finding after the other, only to reach a dead-end on their investigations. In detail, Liang Yan Dong (Vic Chou), a psychological profiling expert, was imprisoned after reporting a violent homicide. The narrative started unveiling its premise because of this fateful incident.
While in prison, He heard of the news about an investigation on the serial dismemberment killings that the Changrong Police Department is conducting. Yan Dong took the opportunity to strike a bargain when the police visited the Donglin jail.
After exhibiting his innate talent in deducing and profiling, he offers his help to police captain Chong-hui Tang (Christopher Lee) and novice cop Fei Ran (Berant Zhu) in return for helping him clear his name. However, the start of his cooperation in the recent unsolved disembodied killings sets off a chain of even more deadly crises and riddles.
One by one, the members of the Police Investigation Bureau get entangled in treacherous operations to catch the culprits. For every crisis solved, a new clue is obtained to end once and for all a heinous crime sequence.
Lian Yan-dong and Fei Ran are forced to take unconventional measures. Eventually, they all rely on the connections they can get. Moreover, while awaiting his trial’s verdict, Yan Dong’s life is endangered inside the Donglin prison jail.
Danger Zone Season Two Events
Following the occurrences of the first season, the relentless search for the real murderer and its accomplices is still on. His life was again targeted even before he stepped out of Donglin jail, despite closing the original case of sexual assault and homicide. Furthermore, a new deputy chief will join the ensemble of the Changrong District Police Precinct.
Yang Lulu (Sandrine Pinna) has a calm and firm demeanor and excels at evaluating and observing situations. She is tenacious and dedicated to her cases. Subsequently, the more they decode the mystery, the more gruesome the truth they find becomes.
What is more, key figures in all incidents, including the “Fang Keqian Case” and the “Organ Transplant Case,”—two seemingly unrelated cases, conceal a massive conspiracy.
Danger Zone Peak Points
Brilliant Cinematography
Among the numerous Asian dramas of this genre, this series stood out in terms of cinematography, production, and set design. In fact, the unnerving bloodbaths and frightening, grotesque props and prosthetics are impeccable. Indeed, in terms of inducing fear and suspense, this series will not disappoint viewers.
While watching this, you might find yourself with fast heart rates and breaking cold sweats. Hands down to the production team and the good directorial decisions made for the cinematography. You can expect a vivid glimpse of how dangerous convicted prisoners live in jail and the intricate and complex process of crime-solving in the investigation bureau.
Bold Take On Crime Dramas
Apart from Danger Zone‘s remarkable cast, the series also takes pride in how it explores issues such as serious sexual assault, abortion and headless female bodies, and illegal organ harvesting. The production team presented all of these concepts boldly. Specifically, all the scenes tackling these issues are graphically gored, menacing and convincing if not accurate.
Moreover, this compelling, fast-paced psychological crime thriller delves into the dark side of justice. Different ideologies are embodied by the characters portraying victims and suspects.
For that reason, you will see a lot of scenes emphasizing some twisted logic. Mainly, the series aims to convey the message that in most gruesome cases of vengeance, the cause of paving the road to hell is ironically good intentions.
Danger Zone Series Musings
Vic Chou’s Versatility
Vic Chou aged like fine wine. He has proven his caliber in acting in all of his past character portrayals. And after years of hiatus, this is his first time in a prison-themed suspense drama.
Moreover, he claimed on the premiere press conference and interviews that he has been waiting for this opportunity to play a character like this. And after getting the role, he was superb in internalizing his character, Liang Yan Dong.
And not only was he a great actor individually, but he proved to be a good team player, exuding charisma and chemistry with the other characters. It felt natural and refreshing to see him act as Liang Yan Dong. Best of all, he did all the stunts of the main character himself.
Scrutinizing The Series’ Loose Ends
Unfortunately, the relationships and dynamics of the members of the investigation bureau are lacking to make viewers care for the “good guys” and feel drawn into their quest. Seemingly, for Liang Yandong to appear incredibly smart, the cops in this show have been streamlined a little too much.
Another thing is that the villains of the story here are revealed very early on, unlike what we are used to with dramas of this genre. What is more, their motivations aren’t particularly compelling or well explained. Nonetheless, there are enough other interesting characters to keep the viewers interested.
Specifically, it is questionable, anti-climatic, and utterly wrong how the build-up for the ultimate villain “Watchman” went down the drain. First of all, I disagree with how Tseng Jing Hua portrayed a dissociative identity disorder (DID) character.
Tseng Jing Hua did give his best in his acting as an unhinged serial killer. But honestly, his character is weak and unconvincing. In fact, they did a horrible job representing this mental condition. And to be frank, they did not even give a justifiable reason—instead, it ended up antagonizing this mental health condition, thus not breaking away from the current stigma.
The Series’ Redeeming Factors
Nevertheless, the plot is relatively tight and equipped with plenty of good twists. Although it may be true that there are noticeable flaws in the story, the narrative moves at such a quick pace and is rich in action. Consequently, it is surprisingly amazing even if you won’t have ample time to dwell on some instances.
Furthermore, this series takes great pride in displaying its technical proficiency in creating comprehensive, vivid, if not pornographic brutal scenarios. The bottom line is, with a few tweaks in the screenplay and a more accurate representation of mental health conditions, Danger Zone can set a standard for suspense-crime Asian dramas.
Witness Vic Zhou and the Changrong Investigation Bureau catch the culprits and define true justice.
Danger Zone seasons 1&2 are available for streaming on iQiyi.
“Danger Zone Chapter II: The Silver Lining” Decks Premiere Date
Photos/Videos: iQiyi
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