Imperfect Victim (2023) First Impressions

I’ve only seen the 5 episodes available free on iQiyi and already I’m convinced this is probably one of the year’s best. And in all likelihood one of the best C dramas ever made. So I’m doing my bit to give it a plug as it will likely not have a huge audience because 1) there aren’t any highly attractive popular actors in the mix; 2) No nice sweet romance; 3) The subject matter. Rape and sexual harassment aren’t pleasant to talk about. Certainly not the subject of conversation one reaches for in polite company.

So why am I particularly hyperbolic on this fine but slightly chilly Saturday morning?

It’s rare in my travels to find good character studies like one would find in a great 19th century European novel with an unabashedly insightful but tragic view of the human condition. Those sort of gems tend to be the exception rather than the rule. But Imperfect Victim is buttressed by an excellent script. The titular character is Zhao Xun (Jelly Lin), a young 25 year old employee of a large corporation. She may or may not have been raped (legally defined) by the CEO (Liu Yijun) after a drunken spell at a work-related function. Zhao Xun is a bundle of contradictions. When first asked by the police if she’s been raped, she neither confirms or denies. So they cart her and the alleged perpetrator off to the local station for further questioning. This begins the entire trajectory of determining “was she” or “wasn’t she” by the lead investigator (Elaine Zhou) and the CEO’s lawyer Lin Kan (Zhou Xun).

The drama opens with a scene of a young woman sitting up in a bathtub. She reaches for the tap. Turns it on and then off. She looks to be in distress. The camera pans to the adjacent bedroom where we see a man sound asleep in bed. Then the show cuts to a phone call from a public booth to the police. An unknown voice reports a rape in progress at a flashy office building. The backdrop is contemporary metropolitan China. Soon the police arrive on site and with them the media conveniently capturing the entire entourage traipsing out of the building. When daylight emerges, a scandal is born. The CEO, Cheng Gong and his right hand woman cum mistress Li Yi are in damage control mode.

For lawyers and cops, whether rape technically occurred that night is what matters most but for the audience we are privy to the kind of people that have perpetuated a culture that have become a breeding ground for what powerful people do in their spare time. I say “people” because it isn’t just men. It never is. There’s no sisterhood here.

As much as he is despicable, Cheng Gong is a fascinating charismatic creature who surrounds himself with attractive women that he deploys as his enforcers. He is a monster of a corporate sort albeit a charming one. It’s not hard to see how they all fall under his spell because he does know how to bait them and reel them in with dexterity. He epitomizes what raw power does to a human being wielding far too much of it. He rationalizes in his own mind that he’s within his rights, sees what he wants to see, bends the truth here and there and then deploys his wealth to cover up his “mistakes”. He is opportunistic and strategic which is not surprising considering he has built a successful company. Moreover he’s a predator — a wolf in sheep’s skin. It’s a writing tour de force and a terrific performance by Liu Yijun. The psychology is pitch perfect.

His philandering ways have been endured by his soon to be ex-long-suffering wife Xin Lu as well as second-in-command. Li Yi who goes everywhere he goes knows this better than anyone including his wife. That disapproving look says it all but the perks must outweigh the drawbacks for her. What’s particularly horrendous is how she stands by and watch him take advantage of vulnerable, eager-to-please young women who are clinging on to their jobs. There’s obviously a casting couch in Dacheng Inc. and a lot of people know it.

I can’t entirely blame young Zhao Xun for being contradictory. Hence the title. Her concerned colleague Chen Mo hit the nail on the head when he opined that she would rather forget about it and move on with her life. It’s rape victimology 101. She’s angry and ashamed mostly at herself probably for not resisting but felt helpless about rejecting her employer’s advances.

The key figure here is quite likely the lawyer Lin Kan who is playing detective despite orders from her client to focus her attention elsewhere. The drama unfolds like a police procedural up to this point but the cops play a small role here. Lin Kan is intelligent and perceptive. She knows full well that Cheng Gong is not entirely forthcoming with the details but she has enough nous to be circumspect about her position. She’s kept her cool, kept her opinions to herself and made salient observations.

I imagine the rest of the show will a tough watch as Cheng Gong and his minions manoeuvre their way out of the thorny situation they’ve found themselves in. I foresee a cat and mouse game. It will be business as usual. They’ll be pulling out all the stops and playing every trick in the book.

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