We explore what worked for Ch8 drama series Unriddle 2, and what could have been done to make it a better production

After four weeks of intense murder cases and mystery-solving by Hu Xiaoman (Rui En) & co., the 20-episoder whodunit finally came to a climatic end yesterday.

While Season 2 saw a slight dip in viewership numbers compared to season 1 (813,000 till episode 18* versus season one’s 880,000), numbers don’t usually translate into a show’s popularity and represent how well-received a series is these days. The widely-anticipated sequel of Ch8 drama series Unriddle 2 was much-talked-about when it premiered four weeks ago and even trended worldwide on Twitter for a couple of hours when its debut and finale episode aired.

For sure, Unriddle 2 ain’t for the weak-hearted and the young; it’s not your typical 7pm or 9pm series to chill and unwind to after an intense day at work. Season two was darker, more gripping, and TV viewers saw the investigation team delve deeper into a slew of dramatised deaths and psychotic murder cases. Pandora’s Box was unearthed and unlocked with each passing episode as the death of characters formed an indiscernible bond between the victims and the ultimate perpetrator.

Apart from a meatier and more action-packed storyline, we also saw Unriddle 2 tie up loose ends from the first season with more focus on the growth and development of characters. After one fruitful season of partnership, Xiaoman’s faith and trust in Zhengyi (Chen Liping) is left to dangle precariously as the former begins to doubt everyone, including herself, when she is left to deal with her innermost demons and fears.

While young viewers lauded the production of a more intense and riveting crime series, there were others who commented that its violent scenes were inappropriate for the 9pm timeslot on TV.

Here, we look into what the drama did well and what can be worked upon to make it a more wholesome series.

Unriddle 2: The Good

The Good: Partnership between Hu Xiaoman and Lin Zhengyi (Dabao)

The uncanny friendship between Hu Xiaoman (Rui En), a CID officer and her mole cum pau seller, Lin Zhengyi aka Dabao (Chen Liping), was a hit with TV viewers from the get-go. Audiences loved their sleuth pairing and Xiaoman’s dry, icy humour versus Dabao’s frank and bubbly ways spoke of the inexplicable connection and irreplaceable trust they had in each other. This season, the duo took their friendship to another level as they coped with personal losses and dealt with their inner insecurities and moral weaknesses. Even heroes have the right to bleed, but it takes a trusty sidekick to lead one back on the right path as the once cool and collected Xiaoman faltered, succumbed to her fears, and marred the line between upholding justice and observing the law.

The Good: Strong and concise storyline

There’s no time to waste when it comes to story development for Unriddle 2. Right from the start of the first episode, Xiaoman & co are left to fend off threats from a new enemy called Asura and deal with the death of Hong Chao, whose life was sacrificed in-exchange for the rest’s safety when they were held hostage. Yuze finally gets some form of closure of his ex-girlfriend’s death in this season. We see the light of unanswered cases which are in fact, snowballed to form a chain of murder cases that are seemingly instigated and plotted by Jieyu, whose ultimate aim was to cause the downhill of Xiaoman. Props to the writers for a job well done in terms of cliffhangers and last minute plot twists.

Audiences are kept right on the edge of our seats till the very last 10mins of the show which unveiled the ultimate puppeteer who orchestrated this entire series of mindless killings, in the name of conducting a criminal psychology experiment.

Unriddle 2: The Questionable

The Questionable: Short and fast cuts between scenes

While some found it dizzying and confusing to be fed with these sporadic cuts and swift camera movements, this directorial decision can be considered befitting of a series as fast-paced as Unriddle 2 to create an adrenalin rush and keep viewers on the edge of their sofa seats.

The Questionable: Dark nature of the story

We laud the producers and writers of Unriddle 2 for their brazen decision to morph and move the drama series into darker and unchartered territories, despite the knowledge of possible flak and criticisms that will come their way when the drama airs. Happy and lighthearted moments were sparse and far between the entire season and they veered away from the typical family-friendly series that we’re more used to and showed viewers a grimmer and lesser-seen side of local productions. While we think it’s a commendable move towards more heavyweight material, it feels as if this darker sequel was produced with two aims in mind: to satiate demands and requests of fans from the original series and to outdo its first season with more amped up crime cases and violent action scenes.

The Questionable: Last episode of Unriddle 2

Two points that came to mind after tuning in to the last episode: Why was there a sparked increase in the use of English between the main characters (with the exception of Lang Feng who has been doing it throughout the season)? Is this another open-ended ending with no concrete conclusion in sight?

What was originally perceived to be the answer to a riddle within the original riddle, has escalated to form yet another new riddle at the end of season two. While some are satisfied with the ending as it spells the prospect of a possible third season, others felt cheated and duped with yet another open-ended ending. So, will this spell the possibility of a third season to the “never-ending” TV series? Viewers who are crossing their fingers and hoping for a big fat ‘YES’ will be disappointed — there may be a couple of loose threads unexplained for, but the production team currently has no intentions of producing another sequel to Unriddle 2, as said by writer Peng Kai Yi during a recent LIVE chat with fans. No harm to keep hoping and wishing though, you never know if they might just accede to your requests for a sequel or spinoff if the demand remains.

Unriddle 2: The Bad

The Bad: Inappropriate timeslot on TV

Not programmed at the most ideal time slot, this is one show parents wouldn’t want their kids tuning in to before bedtime; especially not with that many violent and cold-blooded, gruesome murder scenes. It would have been more suitable to push back the airtime to a much later timeslot to cater to more mature audiences and young adults.

The Bad: Attempt to cover all bases in a short series

Too ambitious were the production team of Unriddle 2 as they tried to achieve too much within too short a span of time. In 20 episodes, they ramped up the dark and suspenseful story, brought in more action and violent scenes, doubled up the amount of drama and introduced fresh and new camera angles. There might have been too much intensity, shock and mind-boggling events for a layman TV viewer to take in and absorb. First-time viewers of the series not in the know of what happened in the prior season might also be turned off, overwhelmed, and left confused.

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in EN, Ratings 节目收视率, Unriddle 2 最火搭档 2, xinmsn.

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Remember what happened when xinmsn turned one last year? We roped in celebrities and got them to help commemorate this special occasion with their fanciful birthday cake drawings. As with all birthday traditions, this year, we decided to put their drawing skills and creativity levels to the test again, and got both local and overseas celebs to ‘draw something’ for xinmsn.

Artistes are tasked to design a square-piece of white paper with two printed tall columns that can be interpreted either as the Roman ‘II’ numerals, or the Mandarin character ‘二’, which means two in English.

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xinmsn迎来创网两周年，延续去年的风格，找来众多海内外艺人送上祝福之余，不忘考验他们的创意！

xinmsn去年找来多位艺人为我们画生日蛋糕，今年延续这个”传统”，并顺道升级，出了题目考验海内外艺人，要求他们在印上”=”的方形纸张上自由作画。”=”可以看成中文字”二”或罗马号码”II”，刚好相应xinmsn二周年。

Rui En

Source: Xinmsn English | Chinese

Categorised in CH, EN, xinmsn.

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Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes

Weekly Result (Online Voting and Telepoll results combined)

Results updated at 2pm every Monday.

Deadline: 29 April, 2012

Results as at 26 March 2012, 2pm.

Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes
十大最受欢迎女艺人

(by alphabetical order 按字母顺序排列)

ANN KOK 郭舒贤
CYNTHIA KOH 许美珍
JEANETTE AW 欧萱
JOANNE PEH 白薇秀
LIN PEI FEN 林佩芬
PAIGE CHUA 蔡琦慧
REBECCA LIM 林慧玲
RUI EN 瑞恩 1900-112-2023
VIVIAN LAI 赖怡伶
YVONNE LIM 林湘萍

Dial 1900-112-2023 to vote for Rui En in Top 10! Per vote costs 86c.

Online votes make up 50%! 1 vote/NRIC per day at bit.ly/top10re12

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in EN, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, xinmsn.

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林雯莹报道

《红星大奖2012》网上投选进入第3周，瑞恩与黄俊雄人气红不让，继续领先！

由xinmsn鼎力推动的网上投选活动，成绩100%由公众投选结果决定，从3月1日开始投票以来，受到网友们的热烈支持。

在第一期（从3月1日中午至3月8日早上9点）的投选中领先的瑞恩、黄俊雄和范文芳，第2期（至3月23日早上9点）的表现依旧优异，粉丝投票毫不停歇。

“最喜爱女角色”奖项方面，瑞恩（《乐在双城》章雅乐）的粉丝保持一贯霸气作风，本期守住偶像的冠军宝座。和同剧的李铭顺一样，刘子绚（饰杨敏妃）暂时占领第2名位置。

台湾艺人王心如（《阿娣》林珊珊）、郭舒贤（《甘榜情》冯月满）和新人谢静仪（《边缘父子》阿雅）的粉丝可得多加油。

至于”最喜爱荧幕情侣”奖项，结合瑞恩和黄俊雄两军粉丝的力量，两人轻松以《正义武馆》的宋亚仔和欧可璐搭配领先群雄。

李铭顺和刘子绚（《行医》吴国恩和杨敏妃）目前依旧只有亚军命，但瑞恩和黄俊雄的粉丝也不能就此松懈，要不然也可能会迎头赶上哦。

其他入围的包括：方展发与瑞恩（《麻婆斗妇》萧建海与王佳珍）、李南星和范文芳（《边缘父子》田一邦和刘佳丽）以及白薇秀和戚玉武（《警徽天职》廖心怡和唐耀佳）。

Vote for Rui En as your Favourite Female Character here!

Vote for Rui En in Favourite On-Screen Couple here!

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, CH, Code of Honour 正义武馆, Ruivin, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, The In-Laws 麻婆斗妇, xinmsn.

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After two weeks of online voting, Elvin Ng and Rui En are still in the lead for Favourite Onscreen Couple and Favourite Female and Male artiste award

By Joanna Goh

Fans of Jesseca Liu and Chris Lee who are hoping to topple over the ‘RuiVin’ (a term to describle Rui En and Elvin Ng’s onscreen coupling) domination of the online polls after our first update will be sorely disappointed.

We don’t see any changes made to this week’s online voting results as fans of Rui En and Elvin continued to keep their idols in the top spot for both Favourite Male and Female character in C.L.I.F (Elvin Ng as Teo Kwee Xiang) and A Tale of 2 Cities (Rui En as Zhang Yale), with their fervent voting.

The duo, also nominated for their chemistry and likability in last year’s Code of Honour, secured their reign over the online polls (as of 9am on Mar 23) for the Favourite On-screen Couple category in their pairing as Song Yazai and Ou Kelu. Following close behind ‘RuiVin’ is Jesseca and Chris’ pairing for The Oath.

With no changes made to the rankings in the 2012 Star Awards online polls after three weeks of voting, will this seal the fate of a double whammy for both Elvin and Rui En? Will the currently-airing Unriddle 2, which also features Elvin and Rui En, help boost their popularity amongst TV viewers and give them a permanent edge over Jesseca and Chris?

Vote for Rui En as your Favourite Female Character here!

Vote for Rui En in Favourite On-Screen Couple here!

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in A Tale of 2 Cities 乐在双城, Code of Honour 正义武馆, EN, Ruivin, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, Unriddle 2 最火搭档 2, xinmsn.

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林雯莹报道

新传媒庆祝戏剧30周年，透过8频道呈献一连串丰富节目与活动。

从经典的《雾锁南洋》、轻松搞笑的长篇剧《荷兰村》到现在风格大胆的《最火搭档2》，中文戏剧陪伴本地观众度过成长岁月的各个阶段。

今年迈入第30年，8频道配合《戏剧情牵30》庆祝，将送上精彩节目与活动，让支持者看个痛快。除了演员阵容强大的台庆剧《花样人间》和《戏剧情牵30》特备节目，还包括：

《那些年，我们一起看电视》（5月播出）
谢韶光、曾慧芬……离开电视圈后，昔日的红星跑到哪儿去了？

《熠熠星光总动员》（9月播出）（暂名）
长得像某位艺人吗？那要找的可能就是你！

Joys of Life 花样人间 debuts 26 June 2012 9pm on Channel 8.

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in 30th Drama Anniversary, Joys of Life 花样人间, Unriddle 2 最火搭档 2, xinmsn.

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Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes

Weekly Result (Online Voting and Telepoll results combined)

Results updated at 2pm every Monday.

Deadline: 29 April, 2012

Results as at 19 March 2012, 2pm.

Top 10 Most Popular Female Artistes
十大最受欢迎女艺人

(by alphabetical order 按字母顺序排列)

ANN KOK 郭舒贤
JEANETTE AW 欧萱
JOANNE PEH 白薇秀
KATE PANG 庞蕾馨
KYM NG 鐘琴
LIN PEI FEN 林佩芬
PAIGE CHUA 蔡琦慧
REBECCA LIM 林慧玲
RUI EN 瑞恩 1900-112-2023
YVONNE LIM 林湘萍

Dial 1900-112-2023 to vote for Rui En in Top 10! Per vote costs 86c.

Online votes make up 50%! 1 vote/NRIC per day at bit.ly/top10re12

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in EN, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, xinmsn.

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十大投选 Top 10 Voting

一年一度的娱乐盛事《红星大奖》2012 将在4月22日和29日隆重登场。两场盛会，双重娱乐！Star Awards 2012, the most anticipated event in the local entertainment scene, will be held on 22 and 29 April.

哪位艺人会登上《红星大奖2011》的十大男女艺人榜呢？

《红星大奖2012》将与去年一样举行两场颁奖礼，在4月连续两个星期日举行，与往年不同是《红星大奖2012》（第二场）的”十大男艺人”å’Œ”十大女艺人”奖项有新的投选规则。

成绩将由50%电话投选，50%网络投选统计而成。成绩将在4月29日的《红星大奖2012》第二场颁奖典礼公布。

电话投选部分将从2012年3月15日开始，直至4月29日晚上9时。

网上投选部分将从2012年3月16日开始，直至4月29日晚上9时。届时记得到本页投选你喜欢的艺人咯！

十大最受欢迎女艺人入围名单

No 艺人 Artiste Name 电话投选号码
1 PRISCELIA CHAN 曾诗梅
2 CYNTHIA KOH 许美珍
3 RUI EN 瑞恩 1900 – 112 – 2023
4 AILEEN TAN 陈丽贞
5 YVONNE LIM 林湘萍
6 ANN KOK 郭舒贤
7 PAN LING LING 潘玲玲
8 REBECCA LIM 林慧玲
9 MICHELLE CHIA 谢韵仪
10 KATE PANG 庞蕾馨
11 JEANETTE AW 欧萱
12 BELINDA LEE 李心钰
13 PAIGE CHUA 蔡琦慧
14 ZHOU YING 周颖
15 LIN PEI FEN 林佩芬
16 VIVIAN LAI 赖怡伶
17 HONG HUI FANG 洪慧芳
18 KYM NG 鐘琴
19 MICHELLE CHONG 庄米雪
20 JOANNE PEH 白薇秀

Dial 1900-112-2023 to vote for Rui En in Top 10! Per vote costs 86c.

Online votes make up 50%! 1 vote/NRIC per day at bit.ly/top10re12

Source: Xinmsn, BaguaTV, Channelnewsasia

Categorised in BaguaTV / Bagua8, CH, channelnewsasia.com, EN, Star Awards, Star Awards 2012, xinmsn.

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廖哲豪报道

早前，《花样人间》的剧组在大士电视城完成一部分的拍摄。

瑞恩在《花样人间》的新娘造型。

Joys of Life 花样人间 debuts 26 June 2012 9pm on Channel 8.

Source: Xinmsn

Categorised in CH, Joys of Life 花样人间, xinmsn.

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