Love Me If You Dare (2015)

This is coming from someone who rarely finishes dramas and if she does, it's bc something abt it hooked her and made her wanna stay. Most of the time, she just quit watching whenever she feels like it.

Ps. This review is long. Sorry.

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I watched this drama while having dinner 2 days ago without giving it much thought bc I just saw it on yt, little did i know I was in for a pleasant surprise!

This drama has it all: crime, thriller, suspense, romance and comic reliefs! The past few months, I've been watching lots of dramas and I always find myself fast forwarding a lot of scenes just bc they're very unnecessary and boring BUT for this one, I can confidently say that I NEVER skipped a second of it....until the very last few eps.

The good:
- WALLACE mf HUO!!! I never gush about someone's looks but THIS MAN IS TOO HANDSOME. I squeal a little bit inside (okay maybe out loud a couple of times) whenever he comes on screen. His performance was also very outstanding and consistent throughout the drama! Such a great actor!
- THE CHEMISTRY!!! Wallace and Sandra's chemistry was ON FIRE! It was innocent yet intense at the same time! I've seen some who said this had a "little bit" of romance but noooo!! This drama literally revolved around their romance. It may not be through lots of cuddling and intense kisses but their love was there and it was SIZZLING. Their progression was perfect for me. I loved their dynamic so much! If u want a bit of possessive and lowkey intense romance, this is for you! I've been into obsessive dramas lately and this definitely tops it in my list, maybe even next to Secret! (mmmaybe)
- since this is a cdrama, yes it is dubbed but it's bearable this time! I didn't even notice it at first!
- the secondary characters are also very interesting and entertaining to watch! Esp Fu Zi Yu!

The not-so-good:
- the crime storyline wasn't that strong, in my opinion. Nothing new in here but it's still a bit interesting to me bc I usually stay away from crime dramas. Prof. Bo is a psychologist so he focuses more on what goes into the mind of a criminal than the actual investigation so that really kept me interested bc it's new, at least.
- they dragged the storyline at around ep 16 or so. It was especially painful during the last 4 eps, I found myself ffd til i reached the last ep. Like, I alr knew who the culprit is, I just wanted to see how they execute the story.
- should've stayed with chinese actors bc 1.) the American actors were just...weird. i liked Susan and Dr. Barnes tho! 2.) Language barrier (u'll know what i mean once u watch)
- Sandra's acting was ok at most during the start but for some reason it started to become annoying and lackluster. She wasn't giving the performance i wanted halfway through the drama. Her character also plummeted from an independent, outgoing and smart lady to always crying & just always looking pretty character. Idk if her performance plummeted bc of her character arc or her abilities. She also started murmuring her lines halfway through the series too!! It was so annoying. I liked her, too bad her character sucked halfway. Maybe it's just me tho.

I'll definitely rewatch this..until ep 12 or 13 lol! All of the eps (subbed!) are on youtube so it's very easy to watch!! Wallace Huo is no joke. What a papi. Sandra is so pretty! Loved them together! Definitely stayed at the end for their chemistry!

Ps. There's no notable ost here bc they're all instrumentals (i think?) but I didn't mind it at all bc I just skip over them anyways lol there's no actual lyrical song played throughout the eps, just in the intro and outro

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I would give 10/10
To avoid the spoiler I will not mention the ending, for me it was very satisfying and I liked it very much. I felt accomplished.

As for the drama, it was kind of plain and nothing much of an original at first look, but everything was so smooth and all the details were out there like a jigsaw pazzle. It goes on and on and you get caught up with the story development and you also start thinking what could it be, questioning the reality and human mind. It was indeed psychological war with psycopath. At first you would think it is not much thriller or something but at some point you might find yourself our of breath.
As story goes on it is getting better and better, the lack of romance - it was not much of a romance but it was essential. For me, everything was its place.

The monotonous tone of the series was ok, it was indeed not your typical Asian drama.
The character development was really good, I think it has well portated how scary it could be if you are targeted by the intelligent and meticulous psychopath. And just having a strong will will not save you. I really did like the story and I wish everybody will watch it- as It seems somewhat underrated.

As for the characters, they were 100% for the role. I fell in love with main leads- not of a fan of girls, but I really loved her. as for main lead ofc he is marvelous. The supporting second leads were soo good.
to sum it up, it was too good to skip this.

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Laughed a lot more than one should with this genre

Mixed feelings with this one.
Actors/characters (also my number one problem with this Drama): I liked the male lead, he did good on most parts, some parts seemed a bit awkward, but I guess I liked his performance the most. The female lead either wasn’t very good at all or her character was just really badly written. She seemed like a strong and rather fearless woman in the beginning, but somehow she just suddenly started crying at everything? It just really seemed out of character to me... by the end she had turned into an extremely passive character without much to show for herself. What makes me doubt the actress’s acting skills is the way her emotional outbursts felt extremely awkward and hard to watch.

Second major problem with the cast were the ‘American’ actors/characters. We all know that Chinese Dramas rarely feature any good foreign actors or English dialogue. Usually this is not a big problems since those kind of scenes only take up very small parts of the entire Drama. However, since about half this Drama supposedly plays in the US and half the characters are ‘American’ they really could have spent a little more on getting some decent actors.
I personally did not hate the fact that they just had everyone talk in their own language and ‘magically’ understand each other, since I know the alternative would have been terrible broken English or broken Chinese dialogue which would have made the whole thing unwatchable.
All other Chinese characters did a good job, nothing too complain about there.

Plot:
I was entertained by the plot for the most part, but I think if the writers would have dug a little deeper into crime-psychology it could have been even better. A lot of the conclusions that an entire group of police men and FBI agents couldn’t come to were obvious with some knowledge of basic logic, given the evidence at hand. The main storyline was what kept me hooked. There were multiple points were I thought I had had it all figured out, but it turned out I did in fact not, I like that, plots that pick at my brain. The ending did seem a little weird and maybe rushed I could have imagined a better ending, but I’ll take it.

I liked the love storyline, it wasn’t too present but it was still there, I don’t know if I fully bought their chemistry but since I liked the male lead and his way of expressing himself very much I was still on board with them.

On a last note the portrayal of American police or FBI was extremely weird, admittedly I don’t know how they work in real life, but I sure hope they do a whole lot better than they did in this Drama.

Finally: I personally enjoyed watching this Drama, laughed a bit more than I should have due to logical flaws, awkward scenes or bad acting, but I was hooked for most of it. The ending 100% confused me but I just won’t spend to much time thinking about it. I do absolutely not regret having watched this. I probably wouldn’t rewatch it tho since I already know the outcome, which makes it kind of lose it’s appeal.

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Interesting Crime Drama with a mediocre end.

LoveMeIfYouDare is a psychological crime drama with great visuals. The effects in the flashbacks or in his Fantasy are quite individual. I like the idea how he Analyse the mind of a serial killer.

The lead couple is lovable and The romance is sweet but not in the center of the show. My favorite was his best friend as funny sidekick. The other actors are partly terrible. Especially the while people got real bad acting.

The Story is entertaining. First you’re surprised about the development but you reach a point where it’s obvious where the story is going. The case is exciting and makes you crave for information about the male lead.

This CDrama has a perfect start, a fulminant middle and a weak end.

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Basically they start out being all edgy and dark and I was thinking hell yes, till a couple of episodes and then the so called narcissistic male lead starts acting all cute and funny, like what? Instead of being a crime mystery drama with a romance sub plot it turned into a romance drama with a crime sub plot. I kept watching because the male lead is just  gorgeous and I was really intrigued by the crime plot and already invested.

 And then things got worse when the show became super misogynistic, and the hero kept spouting lines like 'women are like this, men are that' wtf? All the stereotypes of males and females that the civilized society has tried to make obsolete, started showing up and the fact that he treats her like a servant and an all around maid while being shitty and borderline abusive. Look, there are some dramas like lakorns that show slap and kiss but treat it like a fetish and it's for guilty pleasure. No one is supposed to take those seriously and despite being slap and kiss most of those lakorns like Hua Jai Sila don't treat female characters like this, and still break stereotypes and show a hero who is not misogynistic.

The problem with a show like Love Me If You Dare is that it is supposed to be taken seriously. Like even if you're trying to portray the male lead with faults that's fine, but it's not just him! His best friend and even the main female lead constantly spout this kind of nonsense. And I even ignored it hoping there would be a growth in that respect, but the very last couple episodes still had bs dialog like 'women are whiny'

And the love story was really juvenile. I mean there were times when a serious crime is going on and these are murders okay, and the two leads were joking around and being cute! There is a way to do humor in dark situations and dark humor but this is not that kind of mature content. Everything is just kind of shallow including the characters so when the female lead starts crying it feels forced, not to mention, you're also reminded by some male character that she's crying because she's a woman lol I'm not joking!

But credit goes to the camera work and the story arc with the actual villain was done pretty well, and definitely what kept me watching. 

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This drama is a masterpiece. It has everything a excellent (crime) drama needs. The Storyline, the characters, the music in thrilling scenes.

Story: A criminal psychologist gets a new assistant and together they solve complicated murder cases. But this is the superficial storyline. From episode to episode it gets deeper and deeper until the point, where we know that there is one person who is creating all of this (indirectly). This drama is a mix of crime, thriller and romance (and because the main character is a criminal psychologist, there is also psychology). The story is exciting until the end. I wish there will be a second season, because there is something I can't get over v.v.

Acting: Before I watched the drama I didn't know any Actor or Actress. My last Chinese drama was 'Loving, never forgetting' with Jerry Yan (I watched it last year, I think). I thought there wasn't another chinese drama who would good enough to watch more of them. But 'Love me if you dare' is the reason why I am a fan of Wallace Huo.
So I will begin with Wallace Huo. He plays the male main character Bo Jinyan, who lives alone in a mysterious house. From beginning he is very special and mysterious, because we don't know much about him and his behaviour doesn't help us. Wallace Huo plays the role excellent. After the first two episodes I had to search his profile, because of other dramas and movies he acts in. I mean, he must be an excellent actor to play this role. I can't write too much about his character because I don't want to spoiler, but his mysterious acting is a masterpiece.
Sandra Ma acts as Jian Yao, the new assistant, who wants to be like her father, who was a police officer. She is smart, but thanks to Jinyan she gets into angry situations. At the beginning she should translate for Jinyan, who has to solve a difficult case. But after they solved the case, somehow she gets entangled with him again. Sandra Ma plays the role excellent. I like her role, because she isn't very naive like many other female characters in asian dramas.
Wang Kai acts as her best friend who likes her more than that. So at first sight he is the typical second male lead. But he is different from most of the second leads, because he wants his best friend to be happy. Wang Kai acts very natural. I like him.
Also I liked the acting of Andrew Yin (played the best friend of Jinyan) and Edward Zhang (played the villian Xie Han). Both of themhad there scenes which gave them the spotlight. Edward more, Andrew lesser. The other supporting Actors were good, but I don't think they have to be mentiones all.
The chemistry between the two leads Wallace Huo and Sandra Ma was very good. They are lovely together and even though Jinyan is emotional more like a stone than a human, I loved him when he talked to Jian Yao.

Music: The music suits the drama theme, but sometimes I think it was very short (maybe it was only my feeling). The ending song is my favourite of this drama.

Overall: 'love me if you dare' is worth watching. I would highly recommend it, because it is not a 0815 Drama. There is not too much romance, but also not too little. There are not many dramas, which could comprise both genres. Mostly there is something missing or it is too much romance.
I hope there will be more dramas like this in the future and not only in China, but also in Korea. (I know there are some in Korea, but they are...different and not very good -.-).

Also I am looking forward to Wallace Huo's other dramas and movies *-*.

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Mind blowing, keeps you on the edge

If you love Crime, mystery and some thriller... this would be a nice watch. It is not long winded, a mere 24 episode long series. I would say this show is stunning, mind blowing, keeps you on the edge, suspension, thriller all in one mix. Both the male and female lead did a very good job, especially the male lead..... But I would say, overall the entire casts and crew really did a remarkable job bringing this series to life. Especially the psychotic casts. They are down right creepy and eerie. Great performance on that part!

It is definitely a watch, even if it is only for once, to watch this thriller and crime series unfold. The songs are also very nicely paired to this show.

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A little bit more blood and gore than what I'm usually into, but the story-line and psychoanalytical aspects of this series was definitely refreshing and worth the watch. That said, if you cringe at blood, people getting stabbed/cut, "dead" bodies, etc, this might not be a series you want to watch - my family actually stopped watching halfway through because of Chinese New Years, granny didn't want the bad mojo. (I watched it before and got them to start it)

The plot-line is pretty good, but they really should have stuck to the book this series was allegedly adapted from (the whole villain controlling villain thing got taken too far, got a bit draggy) but the ending leaves room for a season 2, so I'm excited and on board for it. I don't want to give anything away, but it's short enough that the draggy-ness of the series doesn't get annoying.

Since Wallace Huo is in this, it's pretty hard for me to notice other cast members - and I'm a straight guy. The man's incredible - minus the whole speaking Chinese to Americans and having them all understand perfectly bit. I will say that the female lead is a bit awkward at times, though.

The music choice can be cute at times - to demarcate the couple cute "eyebleach" moments scattered throughout the series to get your mind off the gruesome killings that happened just a couple minutes ago. Thriller/Psychological themes are also on point, when appropriate.

I wouldn't really rewatch it, since after watching it once the "whodunnit" kind of goes away, and the intrigue is gone. But absolutely worth watching, the first time.

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Watch this.

I read the reviews before watching this. I've used this site many times before choosing my next drama. I ALMOST passed on this one and that would have been tragic. Anyone not rating this above an 8 clearly missed the point. The story is brilliant. Yes, it twists around on itself more than once. Classic "who is the villain" that loops like a snake eating it's tail. This had the potential to be redundant but they did it smart. At no point was it tedious because the clues they left you were so carefully placed, it was fun to play along. There was just enough romance to make those who prefer the strong romantic elements of the guy getting the girl, giddy happy. I'm one of those. I love it when the guy gets the girl. I was not disappointed.

The biggest aspect of this drama... a story that finally let the characters be who they are. I love that about Asian story telling. I'm an American and I loathe the way we treat our characters. We write these wonderful heroes and fantastic heroines... then we destroy them. Even if we let them win the day, the damage is done. Nothing is more American than watching the hero fail and fall but to rise again. We can't believe it unless there is some flaw or fault to overcome before earning the title of savior. It's almost like we can't allow anyone to be that good. It's never made sense to me and usually just pisses me off.

I absolutely LOVED that the ML was allowed to be as good as he thinks he is. As good as he's appeared to be throughout. No tricks. No slights. No candidly written plot devices where he has to remember who he is. He does what he says and says what he does. He's the hero who just really is. Just as much, the FL didn't waver. She made a choice, early, and stuck with it. I had more respect for her and cherished how steadfast she was. She was the perfect match for him, for that very reason. She believes him. In him. Without question. An earlier review said the ML lost himself and became someone else after falling for the FL. I disagree. Completely. I'm not sure how anyone watched this and didn't see the same drive and brilliance in him... but with more focus. The writing and the actor balanced it well and it was believable that he went from confused and awkward and weird to acting like someone who actually cares. He made a choice. And within the parameters of his character, he did the expected. He analyzed the situation, came to a conclusion, and acted accordingly. The entire series is him doing just that. Why would anyone need him to continue to struggle when he was clearly smart enough not to.

I applaud the tension building, the plot transitions, and the carefully crafted elements that came together in the end. I don't want to spoil anything, I loved every moment of this story. The only cons... because nothing is perfect... some of the side actors were, umm, new. Small hiccups in dialogue and the accents on supposedly American players will fool no one. Also, they did rely a bit on behind the scenes activity. Bringing it out after the climax of the moment as a flashback. It didn't take away, so much, but it did hollow out the moment enough that I noticed. I trimmed a single point for this.

Over all, I give this a 9 because the main cast was wonderful. The story was smart and enjoyable and tense and all the things I needed it to be coming from years of watching every American crime drama that has ever aired. This held it's own. The romance was spot on being cute at times, sweet at others, and completely without guise. I finally made an account on this site just to review this one. I recommend this. Highly. I loved every second of it.

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Perfect blend of mystery & suspense & romance

Usually mystery and suspense dramas have little romance or don’t put the proper time and energy into the romance for it to touch the audience. And romance dramas often try to incorporate mystery and suspense into the storyline but fail miserably because so much focus is put on the romance. But this drama somehow fuses both mystery & suspense and romance seamlessly into an intoxicating drama you will binge watch.

The male lead is a genius criminal profiler that can take one look at a crime scene and tell you all about the person that perpetrated the crime including his personality and lifestyle. He specializes in catching serial killers so he needs to stay focused with no distractions so further deaths can be prevented. But despite his high IQ he has problems interacting with others due to his low EQ. So when the female lead steps in as his assistant to help deal with people and handle all of the small tasks for him, they find that they work really well together. Watching the male lead learn so much about himself and grow as a character was touching. And I loved how the female lead was strong, smart, and loyal instead of the silly and dumb female leads we often see. There are some really great side characters that you’ll love like the male leads best friend and their great bromance. Or the female leads childhood friend whose loyalty is so touching. Then there’s the bad guys that are just so great in their acting with their over the top crazy evil villains they portray so well that I just can’t even put it into words. I was really impressed with the acting in this drama.

The storyline and suspense in this drama will not disappoint you. There are so many twists and turns you will never guess who is good and who is bad and who is behind it all till the very end. I was on the edge of my seat the whole time. So it was nice when the sweet romantic moments would periodically pop up and slow things down so I could relax a bit. There are some nice kisses, hugs, and touching scenes between the leads. You could feel their chemistry and their romance was very endearing.

The one thing that might put off some would be the grisly crime scenes and murders. When the male lead is figuring out what happened at a crime scene he often imagines himself as the criminal and re-enacts the crime in his head. So we often see these re-enactments which are gruesome and detailed. It didn’t really bother me but it might bother you so be forewarned.

Overall this is an amazing drama that seamlessly fuses two genres together into one cohesive and addicting show that’s hard to stop watching. If there were less blood, gore, violence and disturbing crime scene footage I would have given it ten stars. But if you’re okay with that type of stuff then this is the drama for you. It has a unique storyline, excellent acting, a good romance, and lots of character growth. I don’t often rewatch shows but I had to go back and enjoy this one again.

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