Drifting Away 漂白 seems to be the name on everyone’s lips recently. The latest suspense offering from iQiyi’s Light On initiative has recently broken past the 10k popularity milestone. Quite an achievement especially considering there was hardly any promotion before it was broadcast. After a few lackluster shows, it looks like iQiyi’s Light On project is finally back on their game.
A Powerhouse Cast
The series stars Guo Jingfei as police investigator Peng Zhao Lin who starts a decade long pursuit to capture the merciless criminals. Wang Qianyuan plays his nemesis – the villainous Deng Ligang leading the 4-member gang played by Ren Zhong, Wang Jiajia as the notorious Song Hongyu and Zong Juntao. Angel Zhao Jinmai who’s the youngest at 22 years old plays Zhen Zhen and she holds her own against her seasoned colleagues.
Zhao Jinmai who had her start in the industry as a child actress particularly shines in this one with her nuanced performance. When her character Zhen Zhen was kidnapped, beaten, tortured, and then forced to call her parents to pay the ransom, she blew everyone away with how effortlessly she managed to convey the vulnerability and despair of her situation through the screen. The actress was just recently in the historical romance The Princess Royal, and to see her tackling a much heavier theme is a testament to her acting chops and versatility as an actress.
Plagiarism Allegations
Meanwhile, Drifting Away’s screenwriter Chen Ping has recently come under fire for allegations of plagiarism. An investigative reporter named Wang Luanfeng accused the writer of lifting the story from his in-depth investigative report published with Southern Metropolic Daily back in 2012. According to him, neither himself nor the publication were contacted in advance by production, and that they were not credited as the source in the promotional materials.
In response, Chen Ping said that whilst the in-depth investigative report published by Wang Luanfeng and the subsequent novel and script for the drama were based on the real murder and dismemberment case of the Yang Shubin gang, each of their works are independent from each other. Moreover, she said the so-called plagiarism claims are all information available to the public and are not protected by copyright law.
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