Under the Skin 2: A Review and a Jumble of Thoughts

Years ago when I was a teenager and when Eddie Murphy was in his heyday, he made a funny little film called Trading Places. The play on words in the title hints at something thematically richer than a mere comedy about the reversal of fortunes of two very different men (Eddie Murphy and Dan Aykroyd) — linked to the unscrupulous machinations of two elderly brothers who are adamant about proving a thesis. Is it nature or nurture? Take everything away from a man or put him in temptation’s way, what will he do?

The question of whether criminals are born or made has been a matter of scientific inquiry for criminologists and behaviourists in recent centuries. It’s arguably an extension of theological and philosophical discourse over the nature of evil since time immemorial. On the other hand the impulse to understand evil is nothing new especially in a bid to prevent it. Our tools have seemingly become more sophisticated and yet solutions elude us. Can the remedy be found in epigenetics or gene technology? Indeed, what’s the measure of success? Such questions and many others plague Under the Skin’s protagonist who is positioned as both a sympathetic observer of humanity’s foibles and to sit in judgement of them. One senses his longing to be their saviour and his knowledge of art as well as his artistic skills are his weapons of choice.

Shen Yi’s idealism is charming. Naive even. Perhaps all credit goes to the talented Tan Jianci. Nevertheless it takes no time at all to see that the answer to the question of crime prevention is far more complex. Crime prevention cannot live by science alone.

Tan Jianci and Jin Shijia return as the crime fighting duo in Under the Skin Season 2. Tan Jianci reprises his role as Shen Yi, the brilliant portraitist turned police sketch who is determined map out human behaviour in similar fashion to the human genome project in the endeavour to predict the occurrence of criminal behaviour. In that vein he encounters an eccentric if cantankerous geneticist Fang Kaiyi (Zheng Yunlong) who in brusque fashion encourages him along that path. Team Leader Du Cheng (Jin Shijia) is concerned about Shen Yi getting ahead of himself and obsessing over such an abstract goal that may lead him up the garden path. The viewer can’t shake that nagging feeling that he could be right. Will Shen Yi lose himself in such an ambitious quest for knowledge? He has troubles on another front. The team’s unofficial profiler is not sleeping well. In fact he’s having nightmares about a little girl in a red dress that he couldn’t save.

On the bright side the well-oiled investigative team at Public Security Beijiang CID working better than ever having found their groove. Even while they are faced with a series of complex cases that see them working over time, they never fail.

Like Strange Tales of Tang Dynasty 2, each case is not what it first appears to be. The experience is likely similar to that of Alice tumbling down rabbit holes in search of seemingly intractable answers. For instance, when members of a boy band are murdered, their only surviving team member is the obvious chief suspect as his motives are known. But has he done it? On top of that how does one account for a wooden giraffe among the objects present at the scene of the crime? It falls on Du Cheng and his team to uncover the motive and the method of this puzzling scenario.

Yet Under the Skin has never been just a police procedural. With Shen Yi in tow with his satchel and sketchpad, it becomes an exploration of the passions that drive human beings to do good… and turn against each other.

The observation rings out loud and clear: Immoral acts that go unchecked have a way of becoming obstacles for law and order in a soceity. Whether it’s bullying, domestic violence, exploitation, inciting violence, or blackmail, unchecked the effects can be catastrophic and destabilizing. The show also identifies the kinds of mental health issues that result from the lawlessness that poorly navigates the technological advances of the 21st century. Moreover the desire to do good can be tainted when ethical lines are crossed repeatedly. Disordered loves drive many not only to wretchedness when goals become unattainable. Worse still, these moral pathologies have a way of infecting and undermining the social fabric in the long run.

While the focus is heavily on Shen Yi, the artist standing in the place of the archetypal psychologist, team members too get their time in the sun. Li Han, the team’s go to girl for information and the devilish details is living with a shadow that belies her sunny nature. She has a hoarding impulse that stems from living with a grandmother who scavevnged, scrimped and saved. Consequently Li Han (Lu Yanqi) was the butt of jokes in her school years. The team’s most experienced interrogator Detective Yan Tansheng has troubles closer to home. His daughter’s best friend has been acting out. She seems to be harbouring resentment and jealousy. What could be the source of that?

Tan Jianci, as one expects, is brilliant especially when he’s given free rein to run through the entire gallery of emotions. He hogs the spotlight thanks to the direction of narrative and themes. Jin Shijia (whether intentionally or otherwise) has a smaller presence this time. Their dynamic has changed from the previous season. Du Cheng was once an adversary of sorts but now he’s not just a colleague and friend but his brotherly keeper. He keeps a watchful eye lest the all-too curious Shen Yi goes astray.

For me the episodic nature of the series continues to enthrall. Unfortunately the pacing is not as consistent as it could be. There’s a lot of dialogue to chew through on occasion. Still compared to most C dramas that come my way, this is a masterpiece by virtue of the fact that it does its due diligence. While it’s not hard to guess the perpetrators in most cases and there are Agatha Christie reverberations, the storytelling brings a unique flavour to each story. The amount of research and attention to detail is commendable — streets ahead of most dramas.

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