If you, like me, have been deceived by the title "Zhao Xue" into thinking that this drama is about how the hero cleans up his grievances, then congratulations, there is no progress until the end of the case, just like someone who died in the first episode. But I believe that for the truth, the show has given enough hints. Here are some details that I think you'll notice when watching this miniseries after watching it that should enhance your viewing pleasure.
First, light. It can be said that 20 years of prison life has caused Daniel to have a severe sense of social alienation, and we can clearly perceive the communication barriers between him and others. Part of this social distancing is in the light. The director pays great attention to the rendering of light to the environment. Bright and gentle scenes are often the expression of Daniel's sunny and immature side, while dark and airtight environments are often the background of his dark and negative emotions. Where there are emotional twists, the changes in light are striking, and even have the quality of a Terrence Malick movie. In the current environment where American dramas are basically filmed in green studios, this kind of light and shadow has become more and more difficult to find on the small screen.
Second, the change of theme. The first half of the play is mainly about the discussion of social relations. You can see the attitudes of various characters towards Daniel, and after everything is done, it turns to the portrayal of Daniel's inner changes. This is the most brilliant part of the whole play. The actors also expressed such a contradiction. The image is portrayed penetratingly.
Third, prison. During the course of the plot, there will be frequent flashbacks of Daniel in prison, and this flashback not only supplements the impact of prison life on him, but more importantly, hints at the current psychological state of the protagonist. His two neighbors, one on the left and one on the right, reflected the attitudes of two different groups of people towards Daniel, and even Daniel's self-perception. One scene in which his neighbor Kerwin talks to him through the wall is undoubtedly highly symbolic.
Fourth, all recurring elements are referred to. For example, Daniel's book in prison symbolizes the divine side of others (and was eventually confiscated for exceeding the limit). Coffee, which symbolizes the tension between Daniel and his step-brother, Ted (and was finally buckled on Ted's chrysanthemum by Daniel). In addition, the last game played by the male protagonist in the third episode is Sonic the hedgehog. I didn't think about why it was this game at first, until the foreign comments reminded me that the feature of the game is that the protagonist Sonic can speed up to get a higher clearance Evaluation, but once it hits the enemy, all the rings collected before will be scattered. I don’t know how many people are still playing Sonic, and have they ever experienced the feeling that all success and joy vanished in an instant, I think, when the male protagonist sees children playing contemporary Sonic games in the mall, It was the same feeling that first came to my mind. There's also the key concept of episode 5, baptism, which is basically Daniel's last effort to let go of his guilt and try to fit in, when he discovers that the brief relief baptism brings him is nothing more than an illusion of his sister-in-law. After the ethereal love and the irreconcilable contradictions he brought to his step-brother, he completely slipped into the abyss of self-imposed exile.
Fifth, the general truth of the rape and murder case was actually revealed in the first episode. But the truth doesn't matter, because everyone has their own truth. Amantha has always been complaining about Daniel's innocence, and when Daniel mentioned that night, she just took it with an understatement of "you were on drugs and high that night"; the counterpart, such as little Ted, was worried that Daniel would take it back to the store management rights, thus insisting that Daniel killed someone. In fact, the driving force that leads you to pursue this drama should be the exploration of the inner labyrinth of various characters, not the progress of the superficial case. You will often question why I made this scene by directing it like this, but once you understand the hidden motives of these people, you will suddenly understand.
[The following sixth episode is ferocious and read carefully]
[Don't scroll down the scroll wheel, I know you haven't watched the sixth episode, I'm talking about you]
[Quickly pick up your mouse to close the tab and don't let my personal Conclusion robs you of the joy of self-judgment]
The details of the cases in the play are given very little, but they are all crucial. Whether it's the suicide in the first episode, the old lawyer's hint in the third episode, Daniel's recording in the sixth episode or Trey's corpse in the ending, it all shows that everyone raped Hannah one after another. And for whatever reason, Daniel should have killed her in the end. It's just because of the subjective misleading of the plot narrative that makes us reluctant to accept the assumption that Daniel was involved in the crime. I choose to believe that he was driven by desire at the instigation of several other 18-year-old boys, and when he woke up, he couldn't face the fait accompli, so he settled everything and took the blame alone. Although his family fully supports him, he can only bear the cruel truth. After breaking up with little Ted, he realizes that the freedom of his convictions does not bring any spiritual relief. He can't forgive the sins he has committed because of the good side of his human nature, and he can't find a way to wash away the sins he once committed, just like the goat man said to him in the fifth episode of Daniel's Fantasy Journey, It's the beauty that hurts you most, not the ugly. His kindness aggravated his torment on himself. And the result is just as Hannah's brother Bobby took ruthless revenge on Hannah's grave in the end, It doesn't do any good to fight back. The
film starts in prison and chooses to end in prison. Kerwin, who firmly believed that the protagonist did not commit a crime, was taken away and executed, which also meant that the protagonist was finally defeated by his own guilt. He never left his spiritual prison. After watching it, I realized that the name of this drama is very deceptive. The story it finally tells is not a rectify of an unjust case, but a rectify of the protagonist's self-awareness.
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PS Since the second season has been renewed, those who want to know the truth of the case should be at ease. Whether the male protagonist killed or not will definitely give the result. I hope you don't complain about "new, two seasons in one case". After all, there are only 16 episodes in total, which is only three episodes longer than one season of "Murder"...
And PS, there are still many people who complain that the story of the first season is not clear. I specifically went to see the interview with the main creator Ray McKinnon. He created the series with a capacity of 6 episodes when planning and filming the show. Since this is Sundance channel's first fully self-produced drama, if it weren't for the excellent reputation of the critics, there is no follow-up production plan for this drama (in fact, the number of viewers for this drama is very small, only hundreds of thousands of viewers in the United States). Therefore, the screenwriters did not deliberately dig holes. This is just an attempt they made to avoid giving the audience an all-round perspective like most dramas. We can naturally complain about the shortcomings of the plot, but we cannot deny that this kind of attempt is in small A unique experience on the screen.
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