Recently, I watched three TV series from the 2000s. They are "Da Jiang Dong Qu," "Jue Dui Quan Li," and "Gao Wei Du Zhan Li." During this period, I also watched a movie called "Wo Bu Shi Pan Jinlian."
The overall quality of the first two series is also very high, but there are some shortcomings in certain areas. "Gao Wei Du Zhan Li" took me a day and a night to finish. The 30 episodes were almost without any filler, completely immersing me in that high-latitude province.
After watching these three series, I still wanted to find similar shows to watch, but after watching several, I couldn't find any satisfying ones. So I decided to write something during this time. In recent years, "Ren Min De Ming Yi" has received good reviews. It is similar in genre to these series, but in my personal opinion, the depth of the issues it explores and the richness of the characters are still not on par with these series that have been around for twenty years.
"Da Jiang Dong Qu" focuses on the transformation of two cadres. Both of them are city-level cadres who have made great contributions to urban construction and development. One of them indulges in his own achievements as a form of "self-reward," while the other compensates a friend who has waited for him for ten years by accepting some "startup funds" for a new family.
"Jue Dui Quan Li" discusses the duality of work when cadres have "absolute power." On one hand, in the face of difficulties in reform and development, when it is difficult to reach a conclusive result, having absolute power benefits oneself in implementing their own governing philosophy and policies. On the other hand, even if a cadre strictly restrains themselves after obtaining absolute power, they cannot avoid having their power "borrowed" by people around them.
"Gao Wei Du Zhan Li" uses the shell of a crime investigation drama to explore the issue of how to evaluate the "meritorious" who have made mistakes. It raises a very politically incorrect viewpoint that the masses also bear responsibility in the process of cadre corruption. The character of Wang Zhifei, a detective in the series, reminds me of Huang Jingyu in "Po Bing Xing Dong." Perhaps this is the way such characters should be portrayed.
On the other hand, there is an interesting phenomenon in these three series. The image of the "third party" appears in all of them. However, in that era, this type of image was not judged with much value, and these images did not make people feel repulsed. Of course, this is just an observation. From the perspective of core values, it wouldn't be a bad thing to portray these images as annoying. In "Gao Wei Du Zhan Li," the two families that are prominently depicted have a therapeutic effect on my fear of marriage. The arguments formed by considering each other in the marriage are not so repulsive.