The modern series focuses on 2 main noble professions – firefighting & medical. The firefighting team which is relatively young & driven is led by two gentlemen – Chief Huo Yan and Chief Luo Jie, who are both vying for the attention of the soft-spoken medical officer Yan Lan. The medical team are mainly made up of the medical officers – Yan Lan, Liu Xuan (Yan Lan’s “nemesis”) and Ji Yuan, with assistance from nurse Bai Xiao Lin who is also Yan Lan’s good friend.
The 2 teams cross path often in their rescue work, going through emergencies and rescue missions including:
- Rescuing accident victims including pregnant woman pinned in vehicles at a tunnel
- Managing fire accidents in apartments & at factory
- Rescue mission of missing person at mountainous area with an expected typhoon
- Rescue mission at earthquake area
- Rescuing suicidal case at the bridge
Villain-wise, Han Pei is our guy, who is also Huo Yan’s schoolmate. The storyline went off tangent in later episodes as the series steered towards vice activities. As Han Pei is involved in illegally faking reports for new drugs to be released. The activities are somehow tied to Luo Jie’s family business in pharmaceutical and also linked with Dr Yan Lan whereby a secret storage device disguised as a pen falls into her hand. Too many unrealistic co-incidences.
Romantic Pairing
The series seems hell-bent to match couples from the series. Although Luo Jie is also vying for Dr Yan Lan’s attention, she is attracted to Huo Yan whereby her feelings is reciprocated. Luo Jie has nothing to fear as Dr Liu Xuan is crazily in love with him, and is not shy to pursue him. Go girl! The pairing of these 2 couples is more conventional.
The young laid-back firefighter Wang Da Yin is paired off with graduate new recruit, Jiang Tong. This pairing focuses on the difference in education background and social expectations.
Nurse Bai Xiao Lin is paired off with a younger firefighter, Ma Qian Li – focusing on the relationship of elder woman-younger man. The doubts, social expectations.
Dr Ji Yuan is not paired off romantically, but found brotherhood with a muscular firefighter in an unlikely friendship.
Grouses
The original attraction towards the series is actress Zhang Hui Wen who portrays Dr Yan Lan. The character is supposedly lively and likable, but I do not like Zhang Hui Wen’s portrayal of the character, which seems forced and unnatural. Her romantic chemistry with Gong Jun’s is hit and miss, mostly misses. The series tried to portray their relationship as sweet love, but the whole thing just felt forced.
The gem of the show for me at least, is Gong Jun. I didn’t realise how handsome he is, although I was first introduced to him in Word of Honor. He looks great in modern attires! 😀 Although he really looks a little too young to be a Chief of a fire station?
The series also seems to focus on too many things – is it a series focusing on the noble profession and their daily challenges? Is it a romance series? Is it a series with focus on mystery & investigation of vice activities? The series seem to touch a specific topic briefly on the surface and never go deeper. Superficial would be a good description. In later episodes, the direction of the series hinges on ridiculous coincidences and really unnecessary drama.
Some good themes which I thought could have definitely been explored with deeper thoughts are
- The new technology used in firefighting and its application & benefits
- Cooperation (and potential conflicts) between the 2 professions in managing the rescue missions
- The drama could have been better guided towards showcasing the bravery & sacrifices of the professionals, linking their emotions in managing their daily challenges
- Another aspect would also be showcasing the victims’ perspectives and the emotional rollercoaster they go through during these crises
- The rescue stories in the earthquake could have been potential heart-wrenching situations which challenges the emotions of both victims & frontliners
Conclusion 5/10
Surprisingly short at 24 episodes, I really felt that the series totally missed the target with sloppy plots & sub-par portrayals. It felt like the series picked bits and pieces of scenes from various other series to hastily put the puzzles together. To me, it is a real waste of a series & a bunch of good actors & actresses. There are so much potential for a thought-provoking drama – these are professionals who are also frontliners with challenges and emotions to manage. Really wasted. 😦
Cheng's Musings 
I just noted Tears on Fire is on Netflix too! Will definitely put this in my to watch list. 🙂
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I recently watched Tears on Fire, a taiwanese drama with a similar theme and found that to be a pretty interesting watch. Clicked in after seeing that this drama also focuses on firefighters and emergency medical team but was surprised by how young the leads looked in the poster. Am not very familiar with these actors (even though I heard of Gong Jun being mentioned) but I feel that their image just doesn’t fit what I imagined. Maybe I’m biased after watching Tears on Fire, you should give that a try!
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