My hypothesis is that better movies and TV shows are generally based on books. The discipline of originally telling the story in words often forces depth and coherence onto the subsequent visual story-telling. Since the TV crime-drama serial “Drifting Away” was based on a book, it might be expected to be above average. However, it ranked only #62 on a list of the 100 best Chinese TV shows of 2025. On the other hand, most of the better-ranked TV shows were period romances, reflecting the preferences of China’s (heavily female?) TV audience.
Set about 20 years ago in a cold run-down northern Chinese city, the story of “Drifting Away” revolves around three protagonists. First, a hard-driving obsessive taciturn police captain who leads a small team of officers dedicated to him personally. Next, a terrifying sociopath who rules a small gang with his iron fist; the gang has built a profitable business which involves dismembering vulnerable young women. And third, a selfish but intelligent 17-year old girl who is bullied by the Cool Girls at school and bullied even more remorselessly by her domineering mother at home.
When the police captain’s team almost manages to arrest the gang after their most recent murder, the gang flees to the warmer south to re-establish the business. Then the unhappy 17-year old schoolgirl runs away from home, also heading south … where she coincidentally falls into the clutches of the gang. The police captain’s team tracks the gang and the runaway to the south. While the girl just barely manages to escape dismemberment, the gang again evades capture and goes to ground, with the gang members then choosing to live ordinary lives, largely separately.
The city’s police department officially gives up on the case, but the captain and his team unofficially continue to try to track down the gang – hoping to relieve the distress still experienced by the relatives of the murder victims. The teenage girl, changed by her near-death experience, decides to join the police. Years pass, but the captain does not give up his search. Eventually, he gets an unexpected lucky break … a clue as to the possible location of one of the gang members. The hunt is back on.
The story illustrates the pressures & events which led each gang member to step onto an evil path, showing the good and bad in every human being. It also confronts the viewer with issues such as whether the gang members’ later years of honest living has to any extent redeemed their evil past, and where the girl’s (now young policewoman’s) burning desire for revenge sits on the scale of good and evil.
What marks this serial is the depth of characterization of the individuals. Each of the important characters is a fully-rounded human being, with his own virtues and vices. The acting is outstanding – especially the psychopathic gang leader and his sometimes-violent beautiful moll, driven by her own demons. The measured pace typical of Chinese dramas works very well for this kind of production where tension slowly builds even in the most ordinary of situations. The serial certainly merits the description “gritty”, and parts of it may be hard for some to watch. Overall, this may be the closest thing to an Ancient Greek tragedy that the modern world can produce.
Is “Drifting Away” perfect? Of course not. Does it deserve a better ranking than #62? Certainly! 14 episodes of about 45 minutes each.
