Drama Review: My Deepest Dream (乌云遇皎月)

My Deepest Dream (乌云遇皎月)

Main Cast & Synopsis

The story sets place between Dali, the present, and the Diamond Star cruise ship, which is the past. The story starts with Tan Jiao, a web novel writer who embarks on a cruise for research material. Meanwhile, Wu Yu is a Ph.D. student on vacation with his sister, Wu Miao. While on a diving excursion, Tan Jiao gets saved by Wu Yu, and the attraction is instant between the two. Tan Jiao happens to see Wu Yu and Wu Miao together on the ship and misunderstands their relationship, but is more upset that he made fun of the book that Wu Miao had in hand – which happens to be her novel. Tan Jiao returns from the cruise and realizes things are amiss when she meets Wu Yu again, and he doesn’t seem to acknowledge her. Thinking that she mistook him for the person on the cruise, Tan Jiao ponders his identity by purchasing a car shop membership. It wasn’t until Wu Yu told her that a year had passed since the cruise that Tan Jiao realized she had lost one year of her memory. This explains Wu Yu’s haggard look as he’s given up his studies to find Wu Miao’s murderer. Tan Jiao and Wu Yu realize that they have 14 days in the present before they travel back to the cruise. They utilize each time travel to gather as much information as possible that may connect to Wu Miao’s murder and try to alter the past to change future events. Note: to my understanding, although they are time-traveling, they are traveling to a different parallel world, not their direct world. 

Tan Jiao is played by Li Yi Tong, who is known for her roles Bloody Romance (2018) and her most recent 2021 drama with Hu Yi Tian in Dt.Appledog’s Time (2021). Although Tan Jiao is a web novel writer, Tan Jiao’s bravery gets her into unideal situations. This means that Tan Jiao needs Wu Yu’s help throughout the show to get her out of situations. That isn’t to say that Tan Jiao couldn’t fight her own battles. Her wit for coming up with creative ideas to maneuver her way through each issue made it possible for Wu Yu to find her and uncover details before each time travel. When they partake in time travel, Tan Jiao gets stuck in a time-space where she can see snippets of what is to happen before they reach their travel destination.

Jin Han from Jun Jiu Ling (2021) plays the male protagonist, Wu Yu. He is a Ph.D. student in astrophysics who is now a car repairman at Xiao Hua’s shop (Wang Rui). Besides the Chen family that took them in, Wu Yu’s only family member is his beloved little sister, Wu Miao. Wu Miao’s murder took a significant toll on Wu Yu, thus making him drop out of school and focus on finding Wu Miao’s true culprit. Because Wu Yu doesn’t want to involve Tan Jiao in any danger or promise something to her that he won’t be able to give, Wu Yu tries to keep his distance away from her. However, it is inevitable to stay apart from Tan Jiao when the two starts to time travel together and decides to unravel the mystery behind the lost memories. 

Wang Zi Rui plays Shen Shi Yan, a police officer who was once Tan Jiao’s blind date that their parents set up. By having Shen Shi Yan as a connection, Tan Jiao is able to seek his help to resolve the mystery in each time travel. Shen Shi Yan is a man who takes his job seriously and is blunt. His stale personality makes it hard for women to connect to him on blind dates. However, his personality is what charmed Zhang Yu. Zhang Yu is played by Zeng Ke Ni, Tan Jiao’s best friend, sidekick, and fellow web novel writer. In each parallel world, she meets Shen Shi Yan in unideal situations, but the two are bound to fall in love with each other.

Wu Miao (Lu Yu Xiao) is Wu Yu’s little sister who was murdered on her birthday at her university campus. Her case was tied to the homicide of university girls, but Wu Yu feels there’s more involved to her case than meets the eye and decides to investigate it on his own.

Storyline

The drama splits into three parts or cases: Missing Children, Chen Ru Ying’s Wedding, and Wu Miao’s Murder. Note: upcoming content contains spoilers

Missing Children (Episodes 1 – 7)

• Paul Chun as Zhu Feng Xian
• Wu Ya Heng as Yan Yuan / Zhu Bo Yan
  • Wang Hong Li (王泓力) as Zhu Bo Yan (young)
• Zhao Yuan Yuan as Zhu Ji Xin
• Wang Hao Ze as Zhu Zi Han

The drama starts with the “Missing Children,” a case involving the mysterious disappearance of children in Dali. Worried that her little brother, Xiao Hao (Xia Tian), may have been kidnapped, Tan Jiao seeks Wu Yu’s help. Through their interactions, we get some questions and information:

• Wu Yu’s vision has vastly improved since the cruise and can see from thousands of feet away. 
• The bird that showed up during the cruise is hovering around Dali. 
• The people on the cruise, like Yan Yuan (Wu Ya Heng) and Zhu Ji Xin (Zhao Yuan Yuan), have also lost their memories of the cruise. 

Chen Ru Ying’s Wedding (Episodes 8 – 16)

• Wu Jing Yi as Chen Ru Ying (has a crush on Wu Yu)
• Shi Yu as Professor Chen
• Zhao Yi Xin as Su Wan (Chen Ru Ying’s prospect fiancée)
• Wang Yi Chan as Feng Yan
• Wang Fei as Brother Xu (Chen family driver)

Chen Ru Ying is part of the Chen family that took in Wu Yu and Wu Miao. In the original timeline, Professor Chen and his wife, Feng Yan, were killed in a car crash with their driver, Brother Xu. Chen Ru Ying, who is in love with Wu Yu, follows him everywhere. After altering the cruise events, Wu Yu returns to the present, and Tan Jiao finds him as Chen Ru Ying’s groom. Interesting findings from this case:

• The medicine box that Tan Jiao found instructed her to use the medicine and devices. It had the same handwriting as the person who wrote for her to visit them at night during the first case.
• Wu Miao was not dead during this time/world and was only kidnapped. 

Wu Miao’s Murder (Episodes 17 – 28)

• Fan Jin Wei as Zhu Yu Tong / Duan Yun Ying (Wu Miao’s boyfriend)
• Rui Wei Hang as Chen Xing Jian
• Liu Shuai as Zhou Wei (Tan Jiao’s childhood friend)
• Qi Yi as Chen Ning Meng (homicide victim)
• Zhang Ling Yan as Xu Jing Miao (homicide victim)
• Gong Fang Ni as Ye Xun Yi (homicide victim)
• Zhu Li as Liu Xiao Jiang (homicide victim)
• Bao Shang En as Ren Jie

After being capsized, Professor Chen and Wu Miao were safely rescued. Meanwhile, Tan Jiao, Wu Yu, Zhu Yu Tong, Yan Yuan, Zhu Ji Xin, Chen Ru Ying, Feng Yan, Zhou Wei, and Chen Xing Jian ends up on an island. On this island, a strange phenomenon starts to occur—however, the two time-travel back to Dali before they can investigate further. Wu Yu and Tan Jiao are sure that Chen Ning Meng is the murderer and try to get Shen Shi Yan to arrest him. However, they miscalculated and suffered a tragic loss on their end. Tan Jiao is mentally affected and acts irrationally. Wu Miao’s murderer finally takes it into his own hands to kill both Wu Miao and Tan Jiao, forcing Wu Yu to save only one. Interesting things from this arc:

• Tan Jiao and Wu Yu find out who wrote the notes from cases one and two.
• Wu Yu proposes to Tan Jiao.
• Tan Jiao was the target.
• Wu Miao’s murderer had more than one involuntary accomplice, and the control over them had a fantasy element.

Ending (Episodes 29 – 30)

Reaching the end of their time-travel journey, Wu Yu realizes that they must cross through the quantum portal to return to their world. However, only so many people can go through it, and once you walk through, one’s memories will be erased. He decides to stay and sacrifice himself and holds an island wedding ceremony for Tan Jiao. The group celebrates their last night and walks through the portal in pairs. Wu Yu and Tan Jiao are the last two to approach the portal, and Wu Yu asks for Tan Jiao’s watch (to be on the same time as her though they aren’t together). Unexpectedly, Tan Jiao pushes him through, leaving her behind on the island.

Despite continuing his studies as a Ph.D. student with Wu Miao and the Chen family alive, Wu Yu feels he is missing something important. Without the memories of Tan Jiao, Wu Yu visits Dali and ends up at Xiao Hao’s car shop. Wu Yu’s watch dies at the car shop, but he knows exactly where to find the tools to fix it, even though it is his first time at the shop. When he gets the watch to tick, he remembers Tan Jiao and figures out a way to bring her back. Traveling back to the island, Wu Yu finds Tan Jiao, and the two walk through the portal together and lose their memories of each other again. 

Questions and Answers: Plot of My Deepest Dream

heavy spoilers ahead

What is the significance of the bird flying around Dali and on the cruise? Who is controlling the birds?

The birds flying around Dali were first seen on the cruise, which is how Wu Yu deduced that the birds and situation are related to the cruise. The birds are controlled by Yan Yuan. It was revealed in the later episodes that Yan Yuan helped one of the birds. This may be the reason why he was able to control them after gaining their trust.

Who wrote Tan Jiao the note to meet her during the dead of night?

It was revealed later during the episodes from Wu Miao’s Murder that Wu Yu wrote the note to Tan Jiao and put it in her book in hopes of them meeting earlier in their story.

Who prepared the first aid kit for Tan Jiao and Wu Yu during Brother Xu’s assault? 

The first aid kit that Tan Jiao found with a radio was prepared by herself beforehand. After going through the kidnapping and scare of Wu Yu dying, Tan Jiao prepares a first aid kit on their next parallel travel to a time before the fake kidnapping event. She realized that this would work because the note that night she found the kit was written by herself.

The kit was given to Zhuang Yu to help place in the abandoned warehouse where she was arrested for breaking and entering. She meets Shen Shi Yan at the station and accidentally confesses her crime to him.

Who kidnaps Tan Jiao and Chen Ru Ying? Who is the real murderer of the Chen family?

Chen Ru Ying fabricated the kidnapping of Tan Jiao and herself to make Wu Yu give up Tan Jiao. She got the family driver, Brother Xu, to help her create a kidnapping ruse towards her family. Chen Ru Ying soon finds out that Brother Xu has plans of his own.

It was believed that Su Wan, Chen Ru Ying’s prospective fiancee, was the murderer of the Chen family – as he disappeared after their death. However, it turned out that Brother Xu, the Chen family driver was the real murderer.

Does Zhuang Yu die?

Yes, Zhuang Yu dies in one parallel timeline when she decides to save Tan Jiao instead of luring her to the killer. However, Zhuang Yu is alive in the rest of the parallel worlds.

Who was Wu Miao’s murderer?

Wu Miao’s murderer is Zhu Yu Tong, her boyfriend whom she met on the Diamond Star cruise. After killing Wu Miao, Zhu Yu Tong decided to end his life.

Who is Duan Yun Ying? Who is Ren Jie? Why does he try to kill Tan Jiao?

Duan Yun Ying is a timid and quiet guy who fell in love with his online friend, Ren Jie. Through excessive online bullying and shaming, Ren Jie tries to commit suicide. Duan Yun Ying, who is deeply in love with Ren Jie, prevents her from jumping but ends up pushing her off the building, which results in her death.

Yun Ying believed that he was trying to save her pure image that was now tainted. Through his guilt, Duan Yun Ying decides to kill the women involved in Ren Jie’s online bullying case, known as the university homicide case.

Duan Yun Ying eventually changes his name to Zhu Yu Tong and meets Wu Miao on the cruise. He feels like he has been given a second chance at life with Wu Miao, but he doesn’t stop his revenge. Wu Miao discovers his secret and tries to get him to turn himself in, but he decides to harm her instead.

Wu Miao’s favorite author is Tan Jiao, and during an unsuccessful meet and greet with the author, Wu Miao heads back early to meet Zhu Yu Tong. This was when she discovered the evidence of his murders, leading to her death in the original timeline. Zhu Yu Tong believes it was Tan Jiao’s fault for not showing up to the meet and greet and making Wu Miao discover his secret – thus deciding to add Tan Jiao to the list of people he needs to kill.

Who is Chen Xing Jian?

Chen Xing Jian is in a band with Zhou Wei. The two were also on board the Diamond Star cruise as musicians. He was first introduced during Chen Ru Ying’s Wedding case.  

Tan Jiao initially misunderstood his intentions as trying to kill her on the island when he saved her from the snake. 

He was one of the individuals that were controlled by Zhu Yu Tong. Once he was told of his crimes, Chen Xian Jiao tried to change his fate but was killed by Zhou Wei. 

Who is Zhou Wei?

Zhou Wei was first introduced during Chen Ru Ying’s case. While chasing after Chen Ru Ying’s possible murderer, Wu Yu, Tan Jiao, and Chen Ru Ying end up in an empty cafe where Zhou Wei shows up. He hands them a poster of his opening show. 

Zhou Wei is part of a band with Chen Xing Jian. This band happens to be Wu Miao’s favorite band, and she tries to sneak out to attend their concert.

Zhou Wei is also Tan Jiao’s childhood friend, and they reconnected when Tan Jiao time-traveled back onto the cruise. Zhou Wei happens to be a musician on the cruise. Their meeting causes Zhou Wei to fall in love at first sight and tries to pursue her.

Zhou Wei is one of the individuals that was controlled by Zhou Yu Tong and tried to kill Tan Jiao.

How was Zhu Yu Tong able to control Chen Xing Jian and Zhou Wei?

Finding a piece of crystal in the cave, Zhu Yu Tong could see a snippet of the future. Placing a piece of the crystal with high-frequency magnetic waves on Chen Xing Jian and Zhou Wei, he could control their minds to complete his orders through intracranial messages that would linger on even though Zhu Yu Tong was not alive. 

Does Tan Jiao die? Did Tan Jiao and Wu Yu get married?

Wu Yu proposed to Tan Jiao in a parallel world and never held a proper wedding. During their last night on the island (before officially returning to the real world), Wu Yu held an intimate wedding with Tan Jiao and the others on the island.

Tan Jiao does not die. She decides to push Wu Yu through the portal and stay behind on the island. Time stops in the Oppenheimer chasm, a magnetic field on the island, so she looks the same as when she pushed Wu Yu through the quantum gap.

What’s the significance of the island?

The island is located at the bottom of the sea, known as the eye of time, where all time traveling occurs (revealed in episode 30). When their boat capsized during the storm, the group fell into the eye of time and was stuck until episode 30. When Wu Yu met his future self in the Oppenheimer chasm, his future self explained the causes of parallel timelines. The day their boat capsized, the perihelion of Mercury shift caused a warp of time and space to create a gravitational singularity, also known as a black hole. 

“A region of space where the density of matter, or the curvature or space-time, becomes infinite and the concepts of space and time cease to have any meaning.”  

Source: The Physics of the Universe

The day they were able to leave the island was when there was another event of the perihelion of Mercury. We can assume that Wu Yu found Tan Jiao again by waiting for the perihelion of Mercury to shift and enter the eye of time.

Does My Deepest Dream have a happy ending or a sad ending? Do Tan Jiao and Wu Yu remember each other?

My Deepest Dream has an open ending. To save Tan Jiao, who was stuck on the island, Wu Yu goes back to save her and walking through the portal causes both of them to lose their memories. By doing this, Tan Jiao and Wu Yu alter their parallel fate and never meet while on the cruise; thus, they never fall in love. They venture through their lives feeling like they have lost something important, and the show ends with Tan Jiao and Wu Yu locking their eyes while at the river in Dali. 

Review: My Deepest Dream (乌云遇皎月)

“The cloud and the moon. We’re destined to meet again.”

★★★☆☆ 3.5/5

My Deepest Dream (乌云遇皎月 / Wu Yun Yu Jiao Yue) is an adaptation of Ding Mo’s (丁墨) web novel, Timeless Love (currently translated up to chapter 119/300). Ding Mo’s other works with a drama adaptation throughout the years include the popular Love Me, If You Dare (2015), and When A Snail Falls In Love (2016). Side note: find a collection of Ding Mo’s novels that may include the sources for the e-book, physical book, English translation, drama (if applicable), or audiobooks here. 

Differences Between the Novel and the Drama

Ding Mo, known for writing mystery and suspense novels, unsurprisingly features a suspense web novel writer as the protagonist in My Deepest Dream. Having read the first fifty chapters of the translated novel, I noticed some differences in the character setup compared to the drama. For instance, in the novel, Zhang Yu is a single mother who worries about her child potentially being kidnapped during the Missing Children case. In the drama, they changed the child to Tang Jiao’s little brother, Xiao Hao. It would have been intriguing to see Zhang Yu and Shen Shi Yan’s relationship develop with the context of her being a single mother.

It’s important to note that my portrayal of these characters is subjective, based on my interpretation while reading the novel. In the novel, I imagined Shen Shi Yan being somewhat offended when he first saw Tang Jiao and Wu Yu together. I interpreted it as Shi Yan being slightly interested in Tang Jiao, but she rejected him. This doesn’t mean that Shen Shi Yan is conceited, but his pride may have been hurt by Tang Jiao’s rejection. Thus, when he sees Tang Jiao with a rugged man who doesn’t compare to him, a police officer, it throws him off. Additionally, if I recall correctly, Tang Jiao and Shen Shi Yan weren’t set up through their parents in the novel. Their only connection was their blind date. The connection between their families in the drama, with Shen Shi Yan delivering food to Tang Jiao’s mother made by his own mother, changes the dynamics of their relationship. It creates the impression that the two families are close when they actually aren’t. Consequently, while it made sense in the novel for the two to feel awkward around each other during Shi Yan’s questioning, it didn’t quite translate in the drama. In the drama, Shen Shi Yan is portrayed as someone with low emotional intelligence who takes his job seriously, and he probably doesn’t care much about Tang Jiao or their unsuccessful blind date. Therefore, he would likely treat her like any other woman. Including the connection with their mothers would remove some of the awkwardness when they meet again during the interrogation because they should have already established a sense of mutual understanding. Since I’ve only peeked into the novel, I’m sure there are more apparent differences between the novel and the drama.

The Good and the Bad

My Deepest Dream isn’t Li Yi Tong and Jin Han’s first drama together; they previously portrayed rivals in the historical drama Royal Nirvana (2019). However, in this romance-focused drama, their chemistry as Tan Jiao and Wu Yu compensates for other shortcomings. Once they acknowledge their feelings for each other and decide to unravel the mystery of Wu Miao’s murder, the sparks between them start to fly. The way Wu Yu and Tan Jiao make eye contact can easily make one’s heart skip a beat with envy. Their mutual understanding and determination to face any challenges that come their way make them a well-matched couple.

Another positive aspect of the romance is how Wu Yu’s character is developed. He begins as a broken character, consumed by his sister’s death and obsessed with finding her true murderer. Some may see him as crazy for giving up his studies and a potentially prosperous career, but he prioritizes his family above all else. We witness a shift in his priorities as he yearns for something bright and beautiful in his life, which turns out to be Tan Jiao. As we follow Wu Yu through each time loop, getting closer to uncovering his sister’s murderer, he also grows closer to losing Tan Jiao. We witness the internal conflict he faces between saving or redeeming his sister and choosing his own happiness by protecting Tan Jiao. Thus, it is heart-wrenching to see the moment when Wu Yu tries to relieve Tan Jiao’s pain by interposing his fingers between her and the decapitating device (episode 27). The desperation is palpable, even though he knows they will still have another chance in the time loop. Consequently, the ending becomes difficult to accept because we see them endure so much, yet they don’t achieve the resolution they deserve.

Many moments in My Deepest Dream felt forced, with lingering stares and affection used to create relationships between characters. The connections and emotions between characters didn’t always feel natural, and I had to fill in the gaps myself to feel a sense of connection. This could be attributed to both the writing and the portrayal of the characters by the actors and actresses.

One major letdown for me was the lack of thrill in a mystery/thriller drama. The scenes and situations often unfolded in a way that ensured the main characters would be fine, thanks to their protagonist’s halo. While Ding Mo’s writing tends to incorporate out-of-the-box and fantasy elements, the execution on screen sometimes made it difficult to follow. The directing and storytelling of the show may have contributed to the lack of thrill, unlike Ding Mo’s other adapted works in similar genres. As a result, I didn’t feel the urgency to immediately watch the next episode and found myself questioning the necessity of certain scenes within the time loops to deepen the plot.

There were also unexplained elements, such as Wu Yu’s sudden supernatural ability to see from a distance or the loss of memories by people on the cruise. I still needed clarification on many aspects of the parallel timelines and time travel. The complexity of these concepts, which were briefly explained in episode 30, made it challenging for me to fully grasp the idea.

However, overall, My Deepest Dream was a solid watch compared to many other Chinese dramas released in 2022. If you have watched the drama and would like to share your thoughts, I would love to hear them.

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