TV Review: Unriddle Season Two
At the end of Season One, Singaporean police officer Hu Xiaoman (Rui En) and streetwise informer Bun (Li Ping Chen) were able to find their friend and mentor Officer Zhang Yuze (Ping Hui Tay) and clear his name. So, now Xiaoman can finally concentrate on whether she wants to date Yuze or dashing attorney Dylan (Kheng Ming Wee), right? Wrong.
Xiaoman holds off a little too long on rescuing a hitman from a precarious position because she thinks she can squeeze just a little more information out of him while he’s in fear, only to have him fall to his death. Yuze has some pointed questions about this matter, but he’s not one to talk. He’s discovered the suspect in his old lover’s murder is in town, and will stoop to any tactic to learn the truth.
Meanwhile, Asura (Desmond Shen), the big brother of Bun’s old crime boss Savage, is in town and seeking revenge. But he isn’t interested in the person who actually murdered Savage. No, Asura wants to make Bun’s family pay!
The second season of this Singapore crime drama ramps up the action considerably, with plenty of fight scenes. It also ramps up the personal tragedy. Not only does everyone have tragic backstories, but the main characters are repeatedly hit with the suffering stick.
The mystery aspect is less on the clever side this time; we know most of the villains as soon as they appear, and there’s no attempt to hide who the main baddie of the season is. (That person’s motivations and end goals, however, are concealed for most of the story.)
Xiaoman and Yuze are much less likable characters this season as they repeatedly cross lines police officers shouldn’t. Yuze at least has the excuse of a terminal illness affecting his judgement. Xiaoman, on the other hand goes from “needs to be in counseling” to “should be on administrative leave” to “should be kicked off the force” to “should be in jail.”
Fortunately, Bun and her family remain sympathetic…which makes what happens to them hit even harder.
Midway through the season, Xiaoman gets a new subordinate, Xie Langfeng (Elvin Ng), a former classmate who still carries a torch for her. He likes to go by the nickname “Wolf” because of his alleged excellent sense of smell, is always snacking, and peppers his speech with English phrases. Hilariously, his introduction to the squad is also the first time we learn the full names and character tags of the other subordinates who’ve been around since episode one of the previous season.
The final episode is a doozy. You can tell that at least one of the writers was a fan of the movie Se7en. And then there’s the stinger, which feels as though the writers had some cool ideas for Season Three but were told there just wasn’t the budget.
That plothole I mentioned from Season One never gets plugged or mentioned, and I was disappointed that none of the writers seemed to remember that adorable orphan Bi was originally Yuze’s ward before he disappeared and Bun took her in.
Content notes: This is a modern cop drama, so pretty heavy on the possibly triggery content. Rape, sexual abuse, physical abuse, emotional abuse, child abuse, abuse of the disabled, torture, a bit of gore.
Overall: I didn’t enjoy this season nearly as much as the first one as it went in directions I did not like with the characters. Cool action scenes though, and very stylish–enjoy the Singapore scenery!
