TV Series Review: Maiden Holmes

Thirty-two episodes of adventure, romance, and detective work. Not nearly as long as a lot of Chinese costume dramas, which can often run 50 eps plus. I approve of this one being shorter, though, specifically because every episode – every last one – ties into the overarching story of “who murdered an entire clan, and why?”

…Almost an entire clan. Which becomes critical later, in many different ways. A few of those ways you need to have done a little cultural background research to pick up the cues. For example, at one point Detective Su Ci is praying to her deceased parents’ memorial tablet. Normal enough… except 1) the tablet is hidden away, not out in the open, and 2) the tablet is blank.

Meaning she can’t get caught doing this. Meaning just having something with their names on it would be dangerous.

(Lethal, in fact. Familial extermination is a Thing, and given the crime they were accused of, even years later she’d be executed without a moment to defend herself.)

The characters are great, the costumes are gorgeous, Xie Bieming in particular is a well-meaning if sometimes way too naïve pure-hearted Hero, and almost everybody has a secret. Yes, even people you’d never dream had a secret. One recurring character, you don’t find out until the very last two eps that there’s a secret at all – yet it doesn’t feel like a cheat, because to even survive with that secret you have to hide so very well.

A couple of things I specifically liked on the romance end. First, while there are misunderstandings between Su Ci and Pei Yanzhi, they are based on plausible reasons (I heard a voice that was there when my relatives died!) and generally cleared up within an episode or two, because these people actually communicate. Way to show healthy relationships, thank goodness. Second – it’s made clear over and over again that while it’s natural to want revenge for an injustice, what you must seek is justice. Su Ci has dedicated her life to reopening a closed case to clear innocent names. Others so wronged take bloody revenge into their own hands, and they usually murder innocent people along with the guilty before they’re stopped.

There’s also a serial killer case in the mix of murders, treason, and old conspiracies. It’s an interesting change from the rest. Especially since, with the deaths being presented in the context they are, you get the chance to see how hard it is for cops to sort out “normal” suicides and deaths from, “Oh heck, we have a madman on the loose.”

And eventually it turns out that a seven-year-old case is the key to the murder of one emperor, and the attempted murder of another….

Maiden Holmes Playlist on YouTube: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLOW9dYWFXJ7ElaPJIEtyrUrF_P3G_EVDa

Advertisement