Mr. & Mrs. Chen (2023)

Chinese version of Mr. & Mrs Smith. Decent Spy drama of a couple from different sides.

Mr. & Mrs. Chen is a spy drama set in the 1940s. Former lovers Zuo Shuang Tao and Chen Jia Ping unexpectedly reunite and rekindle their love in a sea of spies as they pursue the same goals.

This is the Chinese version of American Mr. & Mrs Smith (played by Brad Pitt and Angelina Jolie.)

It is not a bad drama with a lot of suspenseful moments. The acting is good from the lead actor and actress (Elvis Han and Guan Xiao Tong.)

I would rate it higher if it showed more romance between the lead actors. It is a good watch, and I enjoyed it. I give it a 7.5 rating.

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Catch me if you can

Plot Outline
The story takes place during the 1940s Second Sino-Japanese war, when the Japanese had already captured several cities in China and the China Communist Party (CCP) had to wage a campaign of sabotage and guerrilla warfare to counteract the expansion of Japanese influence in its territory.
The lead protagonist Chen Jiaping (played by Elvis Han) is an undercover agent serving the CCP, who goes by the codename of "Mei Hua Si". Days before his marriage registration to his girlfriend Zuo Shuang Tao aka GuoGuo (played by Guan Xiao Tong), Jiaping abruptly leaves behind GuoGuo in Wuhan for Shanghai to embark on his first assignment mission from the CCP. He plants himself as a manager within the Tai He trading company, a fake shell company hiding the intelligence station of the Japanese Garrison Headquarters in Shanghai.
Years later, he accidentally reunites into his ex-fiance at a train station whilst on a mission to track a CCP traitor's whereabouts. Little does Jiaping does not know that GuoGuo is also a covert operative of the Kuomintang military intelligence with the code name "Red Heart Five" and that she was there to assassinate Mr Yamashita, a Japanese opium drug trafficker, after receiving intel about his train arrival time.
The real Mr Yamashita was shrewd enough to conceal himself and manages escapes the gun shots fired by GuoGuo and her team. As GuoGuo tries to later flee from the scene, she gets tailed by Zhao An, a pro-Japanese employee at the Tai He trading company, who suspects that she is an anti-Japanese spy hired to plan Mr Yamashita's assassination. Zhao An also summons Jiaping for interrogation, as he finds his sudden appearance around the train station at the time of the assassination attempt highly suspicious. Jiaping quickly makes up an excuse to say he was there to pick up GuoGuo, his long-distance girlfriend who was arriving from Wuhan and GuoGuo tacitly plays along with Jiaping's narrative.
The extensive interrogation efforts by Zhao An fail to uncover any inconsistencies between Jiaping and GuoGuo's testimonies, so they are discharged from further questioning. Zhao An remains highly skeptical about their identities and continues to stalk and scrutinise them closely behind the scenes.
To prevent their own agendas and real undercover mission from being exposed, Jiaping and Zuo Shuang Tao realise they have little choice but to continue their ruse as a romantic couple. The rest of the drama follows Jiaping and Zuo Shuang Tao's never-ending attempts to conceal their identities from others and hoodwink their detractors by keeping up a continuous act of couple pretense, whilst gathering intel against the Japanese army to secretly taking down mercenary traitors one by one without blowing their own cover.

The Romance
Viewers who expect some instant sizzle between the Leads in this drama should be prepared to be disappointed. The romance in this drama is a slow buildup, largely driven by the self-imposed restraints of the male and female protagonists, who stoically deny themselves of any romance, for the sake of pursuing the greater good. Just like a poker game, "Mei Hua 4" and "Hearts of 5" keep each other guessing as to whether their affections for each other are actually real or just a mutually agreed staged pact. But eventually, the shrewd and patient hunk manages to woo over his frosty strong-willed princess, rekindle her affections for him and align her ideologies to his side.

Summary
Several scenes of how our Spy couple managed to foil their enemies schemes and cover up their tracks were so ridiculous that it left me laughing in stitches. If you can get past the veiled politics behind the historical portrayal of the Japanese, this drama is an action-packed, hilarious, cat-and-mouse hunt to watch.

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