Suspense drama becomes one of nation's highest-rated TV series
Fan Wei (left) and Qin Hao, who star in The Long Season, drive a shared taxi in the series. (LU PING / CHINA DAILY)
A week after the final episode of the suspense drama The Long Season aired on Tencent Video, about 450,000 viewers gave it a score of 9.4 out of 10 on the popular review site Douban, making it one of the highest-rated Chinese TV series.
The show is true to life, as it portrays aging, has twists of fate and mirrors changes in society.
The 12-episode series, starring Fan Wei, Qin Hao and Chen Minghao, premiered on Tencent Video's X Theater on April 22, and has since then topped the platform's hot search list.
The show has been discussed more than half a million times on Sina Weibo, and when the last three episodes were released, the hashtag "The Long Season Masterpiece" was among the platform's top searches for three consecutive days.
The plot for the The Long Season centers on the fictional industrial city of Hualin in northeastern China, where the Hualin Steel Plant used to be the pride of the city and its main industry. Wang Xiang, the leading character, was a train driver at the company, before he retired and became a taxi driver.
A poster advertises The Long Season. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
In 2016, Wang helped his brother-in-law Gong Biao resolve a case of car registration fraud, but unexpectedly discovered clues related to his own son Wang Yang's "accidental death" 18 years ago. Wang Xiang, Gong and retired police officer Ma Desheng reunite to uncover the truth of the past.
The story follows the three seniors as they track down the culprit, during which they also reflect on their own lives and the changing times around them.
At the start of the series, the authentic northeastern accents of the main characters, along with various playful jokes, created a great deal of humor.
The Long Season is the second TV series directed by Xin Shuang. Three years ago, his debut series The Bad Kids received a score of 8.8 out of 10 on Douban, and has since become a classic work among domestic suspense dramas.
Xin said the use of warm colors to present The Long Season is designed to portray a positive feeling, adding, "The people in the northeast I know are usually cheerful and optimistic, and this type of character is unique in crime films."
The story of The Long Season is set in 1997, 1998 and 2016, and Xin uses visual language to convey time transitions, rather than relying on explicit timelines.
He feels that one of the project's charms is its timelines, and if the show had been presented in chronological order, it would not have resulted in the same viewing experience.
Scenes from The Long Season. The suspense drama depicts life in the fictional industrial city of Hualin in northeastern China in 1997, 1998 and 2016. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Music praised
The Long Season has also been praised for its music, which is seamlessly woven into the narrative. Xin, who was guitarist for the band Joyside, teamed up with composer Ding Ke again after their work on The Bad Kids to fit more than 10 highly energetic pieces of music into the series.
The songs that feature in the closing credits are mostly from independent and rock music bands, but classical music was also chosen, including The Blue Danube, which is used at the end of the tenth episode to give viewers a sense of novelty and contrast.
The opening part of a poem penned by Wang Yang in the series, which was written in real life by Ban Yu, a writer from Shenyang, Liaoning province, contains these lines:
Snap your fingers, he said,
Let's create a resonant snap.
Distant things will be shattered,
People in front of us are still unaware.
Xin feels that the poem explains the relationship between the story's timelines, with each affecting the others.
The murder case in the series serves as an "entry point" for audiences to examine the life values and beliefs of those living in the times the show is set in, Xin said, adding that this is the most important aspect of the series, as it gives people an insight into the society and culture of years gone by.
In the past two years, more young writers from the northeast have emerged, offering popular literary works mostly set at the end of the 20th century. Many of their contributions have been adapted into TV series and films.
Liang Hong, professor at Renmin University of China's School of Liberal Arts, has long paid attention to the new generation of writers from the northeast.
"The cultural and social landscape of the 1990s undoubtedly had a profound impact on literature. Social transformations always bring about new societal statuses and human developments," Liang said in an interview with Lifeweek Magazine.
Scenes from The Long Season. The suspense drama depicts life in the fictional industrial city of Hualin in northeastern China in 1997, 1998 and 2016. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
She thinks the writers' works showcase a certain resilience and self-deprecating spirit of survival, and that they excel at portraying the interconnectedness of daily life and the inner workings of the human psyche.
The script for The Long Season was co-written by Yu Xiaoqian, Pan Yiran and Chen Ji. Pan and Chen also worked with Xin on The Bad Kids. In the past two years, they have both read popular stories about the northeast and watched TV works adapted from them.
Chen said the numerous comments shared by people from the northeast on short-video platforms such as Douyin and Kuaishou gave him inspiration about local residents' daily lives.
Pan said Xin decided to depict a "golden view" of the northeast in The Long Season, so the original darker story written by Yu was changed into the final plotline presented to audiences.
Before the show premiered, Pan wondered if audiences would warm to the story, as it is told from the perspective of three elderly men, which is rare for a Chinese TV series. However, the enthusiastic response dispelled her concerns, and the exceptionally high rating on Douban surprised her.
She thinks one reason for the show's success is that many young audiences, such as those born in the 1990s and 2000s, were often raised by their grandparents, so they have an emotional connection with the elderly.
"In the storyline for the series, we included issues related to empty nesters (seniors whose family members have left home), care for the elderly, and the love lives of seniors. I believe that viewers naturally have emotions related to these topics, making it easy to arouse empathy," Pan said.
"The fragility of elderly people is often concealed, as they can be very stubborn. However, when their vulnerability is exposed, it becomes especially touching and evokes a sense of sympathy."
Scenes from The Long Season. The suspense drama depicts life in the fictional industrial city of Hualin in northeastern China in 1997, 1998 and 2016. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
One of the most popular scenes in the series features three seniors dancing and singing together in a karaoke room.
Pan thinks this is also an example of the spiritual power of people from the northeast, who use humor as a weapon to combat whatever kind of difficulty they face.
When Yu wrote the initial script in 2018, he based Wang Xiang's character on Fan Wei, the actor.
"This story originated from a father-son relationship set in northern China in the late 1990s. From this starting point, the plot developed and expanded into a full story," Yu said.
"Wang Xiang's character embodies the image of many fathers in northern China. He has his strengths and weaknesses. He has a humorous side, as well as being timid and ready to compromise. He is strict and not good at expressing his love, which are common traits."
In the series, Wang Xiang has two sons. In 1998, when his first son dies at the age of 18, he adopts a newborn. Yu uses the ways in which Wang Xiang treats his sons to represent the different father-son relationship.
"Since 2000, Chinese society has undergone significant development, particularly in terms of economic achievements. The handling of interpersonal relationships has also changed a lot," Yu said.
"The most crucial and straightforward point of the series is that Wang Xiang has learned to express himself. His love for both sons is the same, but the way he expresses it is different."
Scenes from The Long Season. The suspense drama depicts life in the fictional industrial city of Hualin in northeastern China in 1997, 1998 and 2016. (PHOTO PROVIDED TO CHINA DAILY)
Biggest advantage
Pan said the success achieved by The Long Season underscores the need to resonate with audiences.
"People's emotional patterns are worth writing about, which is our biggest advantage in connecting with audiences. We cannot ignore the very soil of our lives," she said.
From discussing the plot and the actors' performances, to exploring details of costumes, makeup, music and even posters, Chinese audiences have always shown great enthusiasm for and anticipation of high-quality domestic TV dramas, especially those they can connect with.
They are less concerned about big-name directors and actors, but more interested in whether the overall quality of a production is good enough.
Domestic suspense dramas have been particularly popular in recent years, and online video platforms such as Youku, Tencent and iQiyi continue to broadcast new works.
In March, two suspense dramas were released on Youku's Suspense Drama Theater and iQiyi's Mist Theater — Who Is He, starring Zhang Yi, lead actor in this year's hit drama The Knockout, and Echo, directed by Feng Xiaogang. However, both productions were criticized for their slow-paced plots, receiving scores of 5.8 and 6, respectively, on Douban.
Last month, the new 24-episode suspense drama Thirteen Years of Dust, which focuses on an unsolved murder case in 1997, found favor among audiences, who gave it a score of 8.1.
