Completed - 2/19/2022

I am quite surprised that I enjoy this drama more than I expected. I am usually not a big military drama/movie watcher, but I think what excites me the most is the almost never-ending excitement of training/action/mission of the Blue Lightning. This is my first modern drama of Vengo Gao, after seeing him in "10 Miles Peach Blossom", "Legend of Fu Yao" and "Sword Snow Stride". I have to say I like his character and visuals the best in "Operation: Special Warfare".

What I Enjoy:
1. The Leads - Not just the visual of Vengo Gao is amazing (and he looks so hot!), but his character, Qin Guan, as the team captain of Blue Lightning. He was tough as he should be when training his soldiers, but when he's not in training mode, he's just like a normal guy and can joke around. Oftentimes, this character would the cold-on-the-outside and slowly get melted by the female lead. But not here and it's refreshing to see. On the other hand, our female lead, Ning Meng, is also tough as nails. She is super smart, strong mentally, stubborn and confident. She's also not the stereotypical weak girl to start and then get stronger, nor was she super tomboyish just because she is the female lead in a military drama. I really appreciate non-cliché leads.

2. Camaraderie - The tight bond between the Blue Lightning soldiers is without a doubt a big selling point of this drama. It's not surprising because most of us came into this show knowing that this is an integral part of the drama. But that doesn't dampen my excitement one bit . Each of them has their unique talents and contribute to the success of the team. I think the drama did a great job in showcasing the strengths and weaknesses of each soldier through all their trainings and missions. Well, there are a couple soldiers that bugged me a little, but I still very much enjoy watching them "suffer" together.

3. Pacing - For a 35-episode drama, the pacing of the show is great. I very much enjoy the first 20 episodes. Time goes by fast when I was watching the new recruits being "tortured" by their captain, banding together through Devil's Week and solidifying their bond after near-death experiences. The drama slows down a little in the mid-20 episodes to deal with issues not related to missions, maybe to give the audience a breather. Action picked back up at the end when we know the final showdown with the villains is coming.

4. Romance - I know this is not a romance drama. There are no kisses or PDA since it's a military drama. However, this is romance done right when romance is not the center of the plot. I've watched a couple recent dramas which have slight romances ("Happiness" and "Reset") and I felt that those two dramas did not give us enough scenes to justify or lead up to the slight romance. If you are giving me dissatisfying romance, might as well scrap the whole thing (rant over and please don't hate me!) However, in this drama, there are enough scenes to tell us that Qin Guan and Ning Meng care for and like each other, even without holding hands or kisses. Through their bickering, glances, flirting/not flirting and caring through actions, viewers know they like each other very much. Same goes to the romance between Lin Yi and Xu Dong Dong. Their romance seems more innocent. Amidst all the training and mission, they are there for each other for support. All they do are talking, sharing food and looking out for each other. And that's enough for me. Oh.. of course, The Star! ⭐

5. Training/Missions - I do not know if all the actors and actresses did all training scenes themselves. However, aside from still running like women and not soldiers, I applaud all actors/actresses for acting like soldiers. From marching to saluting, they convinced me. They are in uniform almost 80% of the drama and are either sweating like a dog or filled with dirt all over their faces and bodies. Props to the ladies for puking their hearts out all the time! (LOL). I am sure I will puke if I have to go through 0.1% of their trainings. I do feel that the women seem to have more intensive trainings than the men. Is it also unfair to the men? Mm...

What I don't Enjoy:
1. Villains - This S Corporation has to be one of the weakest villains I've seen in a drama. For almost 30 episodes, their little schemes did not pose any threat. They are either taken care of by the Blue Lightning, or offscreen by other government entities. Even the big blow out at the end is quite weak. I think this is the weakest part of the show. I also really dislike the abrupt cut scene or transition to the villains to give us a quick update, so we didn't forget about them. It disrupts the flow of the drama.

2. Minor annoying characters - For the most part, I like all members of the Blue Lightning. I do think Li Si Si whines too much and is too weak emotionally to be part of the team. I understand if she's weak in the beginning, but even in the middle of the drama, she's still the weakest link. Honestly I don't think she has the personality to be part of such an elite team. On the other hand, Xu Dong Dong also annoys me a little. She is made out to the 'villain' of the girl group initially, so I somewhat expected to dislike her. She also makes dumb decisions. Is it cliché to have someone like her that is strong physically, but not very smart?

3. Other minor critiques -
- The flowing Chinese flag looks like bad CGI, and some aerial shots.
- Anyone can listen in on a conversation inside a room if you stand by the door.
- One soldier gets reprimanded for using a cell phone but the other openly uses one.
- Even in the military, there's gossip everywhere with no secrets - I thought the investigation on FL is supposed to be a secret, but everyone knows.
- A certain soldier was very close to the grenade explosion as well, but did not die.