TV Review: Tientsin Mystic
Tientsin (now usually romanized as “Tianjin”) is a river and port city in Northern China. During a ceremony to honor the River God, two corpses are discovered by salvage diver Guo De-You (Xian Li). One is an infant of unknown origin, but the other is the leader of the prestigious Chamber of Commerce. Ding Mao (Ming’en Zhang), heir to the Chamber and recently returned from learning forensic science in Germany, wants to help investigate his father’s death. De-You’s childhood friend, the apprentice sorceress Gu Ying (Cici Wang), and reporter Xiao Lan-lan (Yumi Chen), daughter of a local government official, also become involved in the case.
As they investigate, more and more corpses come to light. It becomes obvious that all of the strange events in the city tie back to the Ancient Evil Gang, which terrorized Tientsin two decades before and is experiencing a resurgence in influence. And disturbingly, the four discover that the Ancient Evil Gang is tied to their personal pasts.
This 2017 Chinese television series is set in the late 1920s, during the Republic era. It’s very pulp-flavored; while the mystery aspect is most prominent in the early episodes, there are quick shifts into action and zombie horror, and by the end it’s master villain plan territory.
De-You’s primary job is pulling corpses out of the river. He is an expert swimmer and diver, and trained in keen observation and Chinese pharmacology by his master, “River God” Guo. De-You is nicknamed “Little River God” and sometimes lets this go to his head. He can enter a trance state when he inhales tobacco or other smoke, in which De-You has visions which give him insight. But De-You has a weak constitution, and inhaling smoke is dangerous for him. The series switches off viewpoint characters, but by the end he’s clearly the main protagonist.
Ding Mao studied science in Germany because he wasn’t interested in business, but his father’s death requires him to step up as leader of the Chamber of Commerce water transportation business. He’s not afraid to use his wealth to his advantage when he feels it necessary in the cause of investigation, including getting a “Special Detective” badge from the police force. As the story wears on, his science skills take a back seat to business politics; the Chamber of Commerce has many enemies.
Gu Ying is a skilled martial artist who may or may not have any supernatural abilities. Her mother, who trained her in the ways of sorcery, primarily seems to be interested in showy ceremony and freeloading opportunities. Gu Ying is a loud, obnoxious young woman who frequently quarrels with De-You despite her rather obvious affection for him. It’s pretty obvious to everyone who sees them together that De-You and Gu Ying are a couple, but they won’t admit it, and get skittish every time they get too close.
Xiao Lan-Lan is a modern young woman who would like to be a good reporter. But a combination of her publisher being skittish about offending the government and period sexism often holds her back. Lan-Lan isn’t afraid to use her father’s political power to her advantage, but also knows that this is a double-edged sword since she is independent only to the point her father allows her to be. She’s much more polite and polished than Gu Ying. The story pushes Lan-Lan and Ding Mao together as a couple, but there’s enough ambiguity to suggest she prefers the company of women.
The Ancient Evil Gang is led by Lian Hua-Qing (Enhe Kang), who is small, frail-looking and soft-spoken, but sinister and a snappy dresser. He is looking for the Holy Child, the lost center of the Gang’s cultish plans. With the Child, he can–ah, but that’s spoilers! He’s suitably creepy and helps keep up interest during some of the slower episodes.
Also fun to watch is the police captain, who isn’t completely stupid or corrupt, but is a political animal who will take the path that results in the least effort required. Except that thanks to our heroes, sometimes he has to put in quite a bit of effort.
There’s an extended “take that” at the British for their culpability in the opium trade, a matter of historical record, but no doubt encouraged by the current Chinese government.
I’d put the series overall in the “weird menace” category; despite the supernatural trappings of some of the events, almost everything has a (dubious) scientific explanation.
There’s a second season in production, but missing one of the main characters–no news on when that’s coming, but the first season is up on Netflix and has a decent enough ending.
Content note: body horror, lots of corpses in various stages of decay, harm to children, suicide, drug abuse. People triggered by drowning scenes should definitely avoid. One episode has a woman in underwear who engages in sex just off-camera (strangely enough, not one of the prostitutes we see in the lobby of the brothel that is seen a few times.)
Overall: If you don’t go in expecting too much of the “master detective” subgenre that the first episode seems to promise, it’s a pretty good show. There are slow bits, and Gu Ying gets tiresome, but as the series goes on there’s good payoffs. And it’s nice to see Republic-era China from the Chinese point of view instead of the Western pulp writers.
