I didn't have high expectations when I first started watching “Miss Truth”. I was just in the mood. A female lead who loves to do autopsy? Sounds good! However, even with low expectations, I am greatly disappointed. The drama started out promising and had a fun first half. But then I don’t know what happened in the second half. The editing was horrible and there were so many illogical things happened. Was the drama slated for a lot longer and then got cut by censorship? Or just bad writing and editing?


Acting
This is female lead Zhou Jie Qiong’s first drama, and she did fine. I don’t find her character too annoying and she wasn’t too bad. Toby Lee probably wins the prize for acting in this drama, and he wasn’t exceptional either. His face and expressions look funny when he’s supposed to be angry. But I enjoy his bantering with the female lead. Unfortunately, Tim Pei is the most disappointing for me. I understand he’s a cold assassin, but he’s completely emotionless throughout the drama. He did not improve at all! Even when he’s faced with the love of his life, he still has dead and bored eyes. The rest of the supporting cast isn’t too good either, and that includes some of the veterans. The minor roles are the worst and watching them act is difficult. The thing that bugs me the most is there’s no subtle acting. You get that “wink wink” acting with the eyes to convey to the audience openly what is going to happen. There are too many occasions like that and I blame the director for it.

Romance
I initially really enjoyed the bantering between Ran Yan (FL) and Xiao (Song). It’s a lot of fun watching them argue and solve crimes together. Su Fu as the second male lead is also the type of character I like. In another drama, Su Fu could be the main lead. Both Xiao Song and Su Fu love noble idiocy and also show their love by doing a lot of things behind-the-scenes for Ran Yan. However, this love triangle lasted way too long and I was tired of it. I just want Ran Yan to decisively pick one guy and stick with it. But misunderstandings and noble idiocy take center stage in the romance department and the chemistry between the three of them disappears. There aren’t enough sweet and cute scenes, and the sad/heartbreaking scenes do not move me. For a romance junkie like me, romance really disappoints me.

Crime Investigations
The autopsies and investigations are my favorite parts. I am sure what Ran Yan said during the autopsies are not 100% true, but these are some fun scenes. The mysteries are interesting and they are all tied to the big mystery and plot about the pearl and treasures. Execution is the problem. If you are worried about dead bodies and gore, the drama doesn’t really show the details of the autopsies.

Plot Holes/Editing
As I mentioned, the second half is just weird. Scenes seemed to have been edited out. I was expecting the drama to show me what will happen next, but instead I was shown the result. There are so many illogical things that happened and many plot holes.
* A spoiled brat villain knew acupuncture? No way she could learn that in record time and all the characters let her poke needles on someone who everyone cares for.
* It seems like a commoner can go in and out of the palace with no problem. Oh, you can even argue with the King and consequences are an afterthought.
* A man can also enter a princess bedroom in the middle of the night, question her about a crime and can walk out unscathed. * The princess barely scolded him and left the room after being confronted.
* With the three intelligent leads gather together, no one thought of preventing assassins/culprits from committing suicide in front of them when so many of them died in front of them?
* The ending of the two leads - can they really see each other like that?

Production Quality
This appears to be a low budget production. It might not bother many viewers, but it bothered me that I see cheap clothing that is oversized and looks super heavy, draped on the actors' and actresses’ tiny bodies. The accessories, sets and ornaments all look very cheap. This has to be one of the sparsely- and cheaply-decorated palaces I’ve seen in a Chinese drama. While I appreciate actors using their own voices, the post production dubbing is inconsistent. There are times I wonder if what I heard is the actor’s internal monologue, or the audio/lines spoken and the lips are not matching.


I would not recommend this drama, unfortunately. Maybe it’s just me as I had a very hard time finishing it and it failed to hold my attention throughout the 36 episodes. The drama did have closure but also left it open for another season. The drama was shot in late 2018 and aired in 2020. As of this review in 2023, season 2 is nowhere in sight.


Completed: 8/6/2023 - Review #338