We are Criminal Police 我是刑警 - Impressions (Ep 5 - 17)

Link to Airing Announcement Post
Link to Previous Impression Post(s) Ep 1 - 4

Current Observation: This is Not a Suspense or Crime Drama
Episode 1 - 6 would make one think that this was a crime investigation drama, although much more grounded and close-to-reality than what we usually see in the "crime and suspense" genre. The scenes where the suspects were being questioned remain among the best display of pure acting skills I have seen in cdrama this year, and this is considering the fact that I have also recently watched some previous years' classics -- such as The Long Night and The Long Season. If you only watched this drama for the first 6 episodes (or the first major case) it would have already been time well spent.

And then this drama really shifted to what it's really about:

1. the development and evolution of the Criminal Investigation profession from the early 90s to 2000s (I am not sure how far into the 2000s it is going to be yet),
2. the challenges faced by criminal policeman during their investigative work,
3. the hidden recruitment message??!! 😂😂... through the life story of the main character, and using real cases that happened during that time period

A lot of viewers might find Episodes 7 to 13 quite flat and boring, because there aren't any "big cases" happening. And the intervening "smaller cases" were not something that would make you marvel at the ingenuity of the culprit, and in turn marvel at the brilliance of the main character. If anything, each case demonstrates a particular advancement in either investigative technique, or forensic analysis, or the difficulties faced by regional police.

A New "Major" Case
If you do not care about any of the intervening "boring stuff", you can fast forward to Episode 13 for the next major case. However, be prepared to be met with frustration (like our main character and the so called "Expert Group" that was assigned to the case to help with the investigation) as one of the things that this case is being used to demonstrate is the reluctance for towns to cooperate together to solve a case. I know it sounds crazy because the culprit continues to wreck havoc in the town, while the police chief just doesn't seem that enthusiastic at all. I guess real-life is both crazy, and frustrating.

Going to include a small snippet from the drama that I really liked

!Context: Main character is invited to help resolve a case from 5 years ago where a divorced woman and her child was murdered. Main character learns that the deceased liked to go to dance halls after the divorce, but her parents didn't want to accept that (I guess they were conservative and wanted to preserve their daughter's image??). The investigating police thus discarded this and did not investigate in this area further...!<

!Investigation Police: We were just trying to respect the wishes of the victim's family, [so] we didn't record the details [about the victim's habit of going to dance halls after her divorce]!<
!Main Character: How could you not record this? We are here to solve a case. We are not here to judge the victim's lifestyle or morals.!<

If you are currently watching this, I am looking forward to hear your thoughts and impressions!

Please remember to use the Spoiler tag where necessary.