Burning Ice (2017)

I heard that this Chinese mini-series was about a serial killer and since I like detective stories - and it was only 12 episodes - I decided to give it a try.

The police nicknamed the mysterious killer as The Snowman because he built a snowman beside the victim. It had been 3 victims already and the police couldn't solve the case, so they hired a new help, a district officer named Yan Liang. Yan Liang had been a bright detective, but because he had tried to cover a kid's crime - thinking that the kid had a good future, that he should had been forgiven - it was difficult for Yan Liang to get a promotion.

Meanwhile, Guo Yu, a young intern in a lawyer's office, helped his old friend, Hui Ru in a lawsuit. Hui Ru's husband had just been murdered -being one of The Snowman's victims - and the legal wife Mrs Li, wanted Hui Ru to return the restaurant given to her by her husband. Hui Ru refused to give up the restaurant because it was where her brother made his living. Mrs Li sent thugs to terrorize Hui Ru so Guo Yu introduced Hui Ru to Blonde, a criminal, to counter-attack Mrs Li. Unfortunately, Blonde only wanted to take advantage of Hui Ru.

This resulted in the murder of Blonde. The Snowman helped Hui Ru and Guo Yu to cover the crime. However Yan Liang knew that Hui Ru and Guo Yu were guilty. Yan Liang also knew that The Snowman was no other than his old friend, the one who found out about Yan Liang's mistake years ago. It was rather strange, actually, that Yan Liang could guess who the killer was in such a short time. Yan Liang grilled Guo Yu and Hui Ru in the police HQ, hoping that they would confess so the police could arrest The Snowman.

The original title of this drama is 无证之罪, which I think means 'no proof of the crime'*. This Chinese title is easier for me to remember the story in years to come. [*Correct me, my Chinese is far worse than my English.]

In my opinion the young actors who played Guo Yu and Hui Ru were not convincing at all. I think they were models who picked up by the producers to star in this drama. Also, it seemed to me that the young actor who played Guo Yu wore eye liners.😑 It was not clear what Guo Yu's job in the lawyer's office. His boss was a crook who gambled and helped rich clients by every means. His best friend, also his room-mate, gossiping and reporting him to the boss. Hui Ru, on the other hand, was a kept-woman and didn't work at all.

Dai Xu plays Guo Yu. I think he wore eyeliners

 The jokes were also not to my taste. They failed to make my laugh... or was it because this was a creepy drama, not a comedy. It was cold like the setting of the story: there was a lot of snow from beginning to end. The reason for the killing didn't make sense like in many fictions, so it was okay, I think.