The Journey Across the Night (2020)

Fear of the unknown

This drama tells the story of Li Jia, a young man whose family is afflicted with a genetic mental health disorder that has caused the deaths of his mother and brother. Although this condition is hereditary, he searches desperately for a cure that will save him from suffering the same tragic end. His search takes him to Hong Kong where his idol, a renowned expert in the field of psychiatry, seemingly has a way to treat his affliction…

Thus begins Li Jia’s journey of healing and hope. Along the way, he forms strong bonds of friendship. He even experiences love for the first time in his life. Together with his new found friends, they repeatedly encounter strange and unusual occurrences that seem to intertwine with each of their lives.

The Journey Across the Night’s very intriguing premise plays out very slowly but surely, with some dramatic and thrilling moments at the conclusion of multiple story arcs or chapters throughout the 26 episodes. These chapters are “mini-mysteries” that focuses on unexpected incidents affecting various peculiar characters and gets resolved within 4 to 5 episodes, while the overarching plot concerning Li Jia and his affliction eventually reaches its zenith in the final episode.

The screenplay is generally quite good. The major and supporting characters were well written while the main plot and the various sub plots were neatly interwoven. The way that they intersected with the various characters were smoothly transitioned without appearing awkward or contrived. The mini story arcs were particularly engaging and very creative, especially the one about heterochromia and red velvet. That plot twist at the end wasn’t exactly unexpected but it somehow fits with Li Jia’s narrative in the whole show, so kudos to the writers for not being predictable.

The main cast did a fine job with their portrayal where the friendship as well as romantic themes were fully depicted. I particularly enjoyed the bromance between Li Jia and Shi Cheng played by Joseph Zeng and Zhou Cheng Ao respectively. Cherrie Ngan’s Zhang Cha Cha experienced tremendous character growth as well, which is fortunate as I was initially a little annoyed with her immaturity. Having seen Joseph Zeng in Heavenly Sword and Dragon Slaying Sabre last year, I thought his acting range has improved immensely in this drama where he had to portray “more than one role”. The most interesting character for me is actually Xiao Si, brilliantly acted by Feng Jian Yu. Even as a support role with diminished screen time and totally no dialogue at all, Xiao Si aroused the most curiosity and that dramatically poignant scene undoubtedly evoked a whole myriad of emotions. The HK veteran Lawrence Ng did a decent but unremarkable job of portraying the show’s “mild antagonist”, Chen Ming Xuan.

I really enjoyed the entire OST (track listing in the comments board) and felt that the music really is appropriate for the rather dark subject matter that the show dealt with. The opening theme Dark Night Rose (Joseph Zeng) projected the essence of the show while during the funeral scene where the Cantonese song Listen to the Wind (Rao Wei) was played captured the mood of the moment perfectly. My personal favourite is actually the hauntingly beautiful ending theme sung by Feng Jian Yu (who plays Xiao Si).

26 episodes for a modern C-drama is usually about right. However, there were noticeable pacing issues at certain points. I felt that the chapter on green nails was a tad overlong, while the Halloween sequence dragged on for a bit. But probably what irked me the most was the rushed ending. The most important part of any drama, aside from a strong beginning, and the writers didn’t do justice to the entire show with that dissatisfying ending.

Overall, this drama is an acquired taste. Not everyone is into this theme and genre, especially with such slowburn evolution, no less. I would say that I savoured certain moments in this drama and appreciated the premise of the story as well as the way the cast acted out their roles. This is most definitely not a light and easy watch, and probably not the kind of show meant for binge watching. It’s thoughtfully written and induces some form of introspection at various stages. I would recommend that you watch the first episode to see if this fits your current viewing mood.

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A “ Journey” Into The Unknown Depths Of The Human Psyche...

It remains apparent in recent years, Chinese productions are trying to offer a more liberal expression ( despite the enforced censorship laws) over their own culture. It is undeniable that director Ju Xing Mao ‘s contemporary psychological drama “ Journey Across The Night”, attempts to do this by portraying the “ grittier” issue of mental health in its urban setting of bustling Hong Kong.

The show was intriguing with its overarching episodes feeding into different topical issues and cases of psychological horror ( paranoia, schizophrenia, psychosis, repressed trauma and depression to name just several) and fairly original, yet nonetheless, the show didn’t truly seem to live up to what should have been a “ brilliant” psychological drama either. By default, “ Journey Across The Night” had all the right elements of being a good drama; a wonderful cast, captivating cinematography, an intriguing premise and characters, but, as the show progressed, it was soon apparent that the drama became its very own worst enemy from a pacing and story - development perspective.

Joseph Zeng stars as psychology student Li Jia , a new arriver in Hong Kong, hoping to finally study at University and find a way to escape his family’s dark and ill-fated history of schizophrenia . Enlisting the help of his professor and trained psychologist Cheng Ming Xuan ( Laurence Ng), Li Jia’s hopes to find some form of normality in Hong Kong, are dashed when he ends up getting involved with Zhang Cha Cha ( Cherry Ngan) and Shi Cheng ( Zhou Cheng Ao) , two individuals who are revealed to have their own onslaught of problems which will gradually push and test Li Jia to all of his limits.

For a show which built itself upon a seemingly unexpected and fast-paced ride into the unknown, the drama’s biggest dilemma was that it was incredibly slow-paced at times. Arguably, this is sometimes necessary for story development , and did allow for some characters such as Cha Cha to shift from being the “ annoying” -sister type for our male lead to more of a complicated love interest. On the other hand, numerous characters in the drama were often cast-aside in favour of either a new “ horror” tale or the slightly lacklustre “ romance” factor present , yet, none so was this more apparent than with our own male lead Li Jia.

Thanks to the talents of Joseph Zheng, Li Jia was arguably one of the most intriguing characters of the show ; a mysterious new arrival in Hong Kong with a prominent desire for normality and to “ save” himself from his family’s ill-fate, a traumatic past and a unique ability to attract new friends and people into his life. Nevertheless Li Jia’s biggest flaw was that he lacked a lot of actual character depth. Whilst it is evident that the show wanted to keep us in the dark about certain elements of Li Jia as a character, it’s hard to truly assess or come to terms with what we see with Li Jia’s “ growth” or “ traumas” being switched-off and on in favour of being used as a plot device, rather than actual characterisation or growth by the ending of the drama .

Whilst Journey Across The Night had an intriguing premise and a fairly decent cast , the show intrinsically lacked a driving factor ( sans Li Jia’s reasons for travelling to Hong Kong) which often made overarching storylines feel disjointed as well as many characters ( including our main protagonist) introduced in the show, one-dimensional.

As past reviews have mentioned, the ending of The Journey Across The Night is a matter of personal opinion more than anything else . An appropriate, yet unexpected twist for a psychological drama , the actual delivered finale just felt too abrupt, sudden and lacking in actual depth to wrap off the many encountered loose ties of the series , than to be counted as a delivered ending. Overall, a decent show if you’re looking for something to binge-watch, but there are certainly better psychological dramas out there than this one.

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Compassion in the Darkness

This is just a supplement of what have been reviewed by others, so please read other reviews if you want to understand the drama completely. This review is also about my different takes on point-of-views of some commenters.

GENRES:

- Horror: What horror? Although if you are, like me, rarely watch horror shows there are plenty of creepy scenes throughout the drama to scare you. Especially the first story "The Cat Food" that was filmed with the setting of a real famous haunted building in Hong Kong. There is also a Halloween event in the drama. Honestly, there are more ghosts and vengeful spirits in dramas like the Korean Goblin, Hotel De Luna, Mystic Popup Bar, or the Thai horrors with real evil spirits. Here I counted only two friendly visits from deceased spirits who meant well. The make-to-believe horror scenes are thanks to the Director Ju Xing Mao who have directed horror dramas, like the Ferryman series. FYI, the Director actually acted as Big Senior in this drama. How someone who loves making horror shows can actually be comical is beyond my comprehension, lol.

- Detective/Investigation: This not in the genre list, but I think this is more like it. Though our protagonist Li Jia thinks that he himself may have schizophrenia, I think mostly Li Jia is the sanest of many psychotic characters in the drama. His pure curiosity, deductive reasoning, and sleuthing skill kick in first in many cases.

- Psychological: The prominent theme is Compassion in this drama, with many recurrences in several characters and almost every case. Li Jia is definitely a compassionate person. As someone who is tortured by the past, he understand what others with mental incapabilities go thru. Strangers (like Shi Cheng in the admission event) and so-called villains in many cases can see Li Jia's compassion throught the drama.
Interestingly, the misunderstanding/misconception of general people against the victims of psychological issues are represented by his friends' initial reactions:
- Cha Cha who is steely and practical will be ignorant/indifferent and say: I already have too much on my plate, who care of others?
- Shi Cheng who is impulsive and emotional will be scared/run away and say: Don't understand them, they are scary. Better not cross their paths.

- Romance: Watchers who purely fans of horror/mystery/action/crime genres won't like romance included here. However, since this drama is not based on any action novel/comic where there are two male leads only, the original script is written with romance between ML and FL in it, as seen throughout the drama. The memory of seeing Cha Cha at the first time when she was skateboarding next to his bus, flashing back on Li Jia's mind while he's fighting a villain in the water. Thus, the first impression counts. Also, his monologue after the first case ends, when he and Cha Cha say goodbye to each other, most likely is recorded in his journal. Lastly, the ending scene (literally after the ending credit finishes) also shows his subconscious affection towards Cha Cha.

CHARACTERIZATION:

- Cha Cha: Anyone who read this review and haven't watched the drama yet will be curious about the FL. Cha Cha is a very good actress and you'll know in "Red Velvet" in the middle drama why (I'm talking about the characterization, not Cherry Ngan). A chameleon in fashion: short hair in one scene, long hair in another scene; feminine dress in one scene, baggy overall in another scene. Eccentric, a colorful character, a rainbow for Li Jia

- Xiao Xi: What to say? This guy makes girls fall for without him saying anything (you'll know why when you watch the drama, lol). Even someone says she'll marry him when she grew up! All feelings shown through Xiao Xi's facial expressions. Though audience don't hear him talk much, at least hear the actor who played Xiao Xi (Feng Jian Yu) sang the ending theme of the drama.

FRIENDSHIP:
Some complains about long "Heterochromia" subplot, but that segment actually shows the building of relationships: romance between Li Jia and Cha Cha, bromance between Li Jia and Shi Cheng, friendship between Li Jia, Shi Cheng, Cha Cha, and the introduction of Xiao Xi and his sidekicks. It's a fundamental subplot than just solving psych cases.

SETTING:
Hong Kong. Thanks to the executive producer Zhao Zeen (赵泽恩)who planned the filming with real landmarks of Hong Kong backdrops. As someone who watch lots of Cdramas but rarely HKdramas, this real setting is a nice treat.

SEQUEL:
Though personally I would like a sequel (someone needs to fix Li Jia!), I'm not really count on it for the following reasons:
1. As a mystery/horror/psychology show, an open ending is quite common not only in life performance but also in written fiction.
2. China (generally Chinese drama production companies) is known as making open ended dramas. There are older dramas with open endings that never heard sequels be made.
3. China sucks in making sequels. If there will be, it may be completely different story not connnected with prequel, change of main characters, or the story flops.
4. The production cost. In an interview, the executive producer Zhao Zeen (赵泽恩) stated that filming in Hong Kong cost 3x than Mainland and Chinese crew had to obtain working visas. If sequel happens, probably the scenario will be based in China that may change the storyline and/or actor/actress

Above all, it took me 2 days binging 26 episodes, 1/3 on the first day and 2/3 on the second day. In the middle of the night watching scary scenes. The suspense and thriller really got me!

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Do you really do who am I?

The actors did a wonderful job and Joseph Zeng shows his versatility in this show.

The drama is about the life of Li Jia and it is depicted in chapters. Li Jia’s entire family is plagued with mental illness, specifically Schizophrenia. Li Jia tries extremely hard to stay afloat to keep his mental stability as he must turn reach his twenty fourth birthday to know if he is schizophrenic or not. He goes to Hong Kong to study with an expert, who is not only his professor and doctor, but also his arch enemy. Li Jia meets his new best friends, Shi Cheng, and Zhang Cha Cha (Cha Cha) and love, Cha Cha.

Each chapter has a new stressor for Li Jia and the intensity grows with each chapter. However, he is able to solve the mysteries and maintain mental stability with the help of his friends. Li Jia is even able to hold it together for Cha Cha when he finds out that her mother also has a mental issue. Additionally, he was able to hold strong when Cha Cha lost her biggest and most important support in life, Xiao Xi.

However, when the Professor, Chen Ming Xuan (Chen) starts to notice that Li Jia is doing fine and is no longer meeting his personal needs, he manipulates Li Jia that he should not have friends or a love. When Li Jia starts to distant himself from Cha Cha, we notice a break in his mental stability where his alter personality comes out to play subtly. We see more of this when Cha Cha is kidnapped. However, with the help of the Assistant Professor, who calls out Chen on his personal exploitation, see Li Jia mental break cease to make an appearance. However, the Professor Chen knowingly pushes the most intense stressor onto Li Jia causing his alter personality to come out fully.

This is where the story starts to fail because it abruptly ends. If there is a second season the makers needed to indicate that more than just having a cliff hanger.

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Psychological Thriller with Incorrect Diagnoses

Picked this randomly as it looked like a different role for Joseph to take on and though it does need a second season, I understand why it didn't do well over there back in 2020. Not sure why it has the horror tag as other then a few jump scares, there was nothing scary about it. It's a psychological thriller but with a very wrong diagnostic for the lead.

Premise is that the lead may hereditarily inherit schizophrenia at age 24 like his mother and brother did but they never really explored what the disease actually is or what the symptoms are. ML did have a mental disorder but it wasn't schizophrenia, it was multiple personality disorder or MPD which has completely different symptoms then schizophrenia and isn't known to be a hereditary disease but one that is caused due to childhood trauma. Instead of focusing on this main topic and really probing it deeply, the series focused on the ML, his idiotic love interest, and best friend who also was acted out way too over dramatically solving mysteries like a bunch of detectives all over Hong Kong. The HK scene was nice to see.

I have to give Joseph or LJ a hand for turning into essentially Eric Draven in the last episode when he finally learned the truth about the professor he thought was there to help him was actually trying to get him to have a psychotic break. The second professor finally telling him the truth and that switch to the alternative personality which was foreshadowed since episode 1 with the half eaten green apple, either at the end or somewhere in each episode.

Other than the ML, the doctor assistant, and a character nicknamed Sharp were done well. I'll give some credit to the professor villain and best friend for at least always being there. I can't say any of the other regular characters were necessary. Ramming romance in there was awkward and extremely unnecessary. Not to mention the love interest character was very cringey and childish; she matured only briefly when going through her own crisis. Lots of plot holes like how did LJ learn to understand Cantonese in just 2 months?

Reason I gave this a higher score is essentially because of how much I loved Dark LJ wailing on the professor and his office and how they dedicated an entire episode to Sharp's passing. I was very angry with FL for running to change the stupid lightbulb leaving Sharp to essentially die alone in that hospital bed. Was that light bulb more important than his final moments? Maybe it was her denial but it was poorly executed. Wish they had given an entire episode to Dark LJ instead of the last 15 minutes.

Would I recommend it? As an in between series maybe and Joseph really did well in acting here as well as the actor who played Sharp. They were my favorites.

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MUST WATCH

It is a MUST to watch this drama! Honestly, I started to watch this drama because I’m a fan of Joseph Zeng. I’ve watched “Rebirth For You”, “Ultimate Note” and this “The Journey Across The Night” - they are the best. I’d highly recommend you to watch this drama if you’re looking for a smart male lead (handsome man), who has undergone through many mysterious cases led by his curiosity. He is then trying his best to solve all those cases which are somehow related to his surrounding friends. Let me end my review here since I don’t want to spoil the movie. If you read my review and find it interesting enough, spend some times watching it. I’m 100% sure it worth your time.

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Re-discovery of one-self

Exactly like The Ultimate Note, The Journey Across the Night also needs a second season.
Bad-boy/Emo Li Jia was so hot.
It reminded me of Kill Me, Heal Me with Ji Sung.
As a computer-wizard, he should have taken revenge on that sociopath/scumbag of a doctor by destroying him, from the inside-out. I am pretty sure; there must be plenty of evidences in that computer that could completely destroy his reputation, as a doctor in the psychiatric field.
Destroying his office and attacking him on the streets is not revenge but just vandalism and bodily harm.
In conclusion, Li Jia is suffering from DID (Dissociative identity disorder).
It seems that he was kidnapped as a kid. Worst than watching his sick mother loosing her grip on reality; I think he might have been sexually assaulted and physically abused...

*We most definitely need a second season.
Joseph Zeng portrayed these dual characters to perfection.

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A feast for suspense and romance lovers.

This is one of the most unique dramas that YoYo English Channel has put up. With only 24 episodes, the mini mystery plots, excellent cast, hint of romance and comedy, it has enough solid substance that is pretty bingeworthy.
All the actors, even the supporting cast, played their roles excellently. Li Jia, Cha Cha and Ah' Cheng's friendship was particularly noteworthy. They reminded me of the Harry Potter trio a lot. I wish I can see more such relations in CDramas. Even in moments of distress, Ah-Cheng would crack a joke and lighten up the mood.
Cha Cha's romance towards Li Jia was truly a delight.
Each episode had a fresh plot and dealt with how the events in them ultimately affected Li Jia, a PG student in psychiatry, who was desperately clinging to a hope that moving away from his home could change the fate that ultimately awaits him - genetically linked schizophrenia around the age of 24.
I loved his character - kind of an introvert, but with enough insight and brains. Cha Cha and Cheng on the other hand were more of his supporters who helped him with each and every step.

--- The downsides would be that some 'mysteries' felt too unbelievable or longer than necessary. The ending itself seemed rather rushed with several unanswered questions.

Despite that all, I'll still recommend this to anyone looking for a quick thrill.

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Great!

This show is honestly really good!
I like the way Li Jia and Cha Cha had met. At the start this show really reminded me of "Strangers from hell" I honestly thought it was going to be a version of it and they would solve what was going on in each room but it wasn't lasting once the haunted apartments burnt down. I think it's cute how Li Jia had started caring about Cha Cha, his devotion to save her was really strong to the point it drived him crazy until he found her. I honestly think that his schizophrenia got worse while solving other people's problems instead of his. You could definitely tell that his schizophrenia got worse after what happened to Cha Cha and in the end he refused to date her until his 20th birthday passed in order to keep her safe. My favorite part of the show was the ending, I like how Li Jia became villainess and soon then was willing to finally love Cha Cha, even though I liked his villainess side, I wish he still has his senses for Cha Cha and doesn't hurt her. Schizophrenia was a big kick to the story!!

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Honestly the ending was just one of the most satisfying for this type of drama.

The whole point of the story wasn't just about schizophrenia or multiple identity disorder so I didn't mind that the science and research were a little dated. The point of the story - and its rather depressing and nihilistic - that people make it impossible to live without using violence. The psychiatrist guy villain, was basically everything in life that forces you to question your faith, hope, love and even devotion.

But while he had to use his other violent self, the protagonist eating an 'apple' only when the dark self comes up, like being kicked out of heaven wouldn't be so bad so long as the apple is tasty - where the Apple is symbolic of desire, anger, evil.

People are saying the ending was ambiguous but it really wasn't, like Strangers in Hell there was no ambivalence about the other self taking over.

Even the mysteries they were solving were very well constructed and fresh .

What got to me the worst prob was Sharp's death. I don't know what it was but there was a devastating sadness in the way it happened.

But why not 10 rating?

Tbh I've said this before, the three characters Li Jia, Chacha, Cheng had great chemistry, ah that scene in the forest where Cheng goes missing and the other two go looking for him, I've not wanted three people to not break up this much since 3 will be free. Like the way all of them kept assuming the other person was in love with one of them, it was just so cute! And holy gay fujoshi Lord that scene where Joseph and Cheng get tazed and tortured by the necro lunatic in the morgue lol just watch it okay , you're welcome XD

But I was soooooo disappointed when they ended up making it a typical het love in the second half I was so frustrated.

And also I feel like the ending and the subject matter deserved less cutesy het love, just my opinion.

Other than that I loved it

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