History is a series of Boy's Love stories based in Taiwan. They began as a bunch of short stories that became ten episode dramas. Some of the other series include HIStory: Crossing the Line and History: Make Our Days Count(My thoughts on this drama coming soon.) These dramas are like a substitute for the Chinese short dramas that frustratedly keep getting banned in mainland China. HIStory3: Trapped(2019) is the newest entry to the series after many fans didn't think that another installment was ever going to happen. The drama stars upcoming actors, Jake Hsu, Chris Wu, Kenny Chen, and Andy Bian. Ching Jung Lee returns to direct another HIStory installment while Lin Pei Yu also returns to pen the story.
A cop gets involved with a gangster who's in the center of a long running unsolved case. Their relationship evolves into one that will cross the line of morals between right and wrong.....
History3 to me, felt like a major update from all the other entries in the series. These stories don't connect to each other in any way, so you can pick which one you want to watch based on the plot summary. What I really enjoyed about this drama was how the story is very easy to follow. One reason being that the story gives the characters room to breath life into themselves. Sometimes as I watched, the plot does seem to take a back seat to couple fan service stuffed content, however, Trapped always somehow doubles back picking up building blocks that formulate a world for the couples to exist in. A lot of the show does give an excuse for the couples to be together. One might find certain situations a tab bit cheesy. An example being that slow motion slip then catch me scene... Where I kinda rolled my eyes as I looked on.... Other crucial conflicts in the story are predictable but good enough to keep you invested in the episodes to come. Most avid East Asian drama viewers will guess the plot twist before the main character does. Ninety percent of the background story revolves around on characters which I must say was well written. The rest of History3 is relationship drama green lit by multiple excuses. I'm going to be honest though. I wasn't to mad at the long drama scenes. If you are looking for a raw gangster story experience, this is not going to meet your expectations. Some parts are intense when need be. The target audience is CEARLY not gangster drama fans.
History3's performances are the bread and butter of the whole project. Every cast member did their part to create a romantic dramatic atmosphere but Jake and Chris's on screen chemistry was some of the best acting I'd seen in years from an East Asian drama gay or straight. Watching the two actors play characters who are so vastly different in morals and upbringing create a strong connection with each other was emotional due to their acting abilities. It takes a hell of a lot to get me in a space where I look forward to rooting for a on screen couple. Nine times out of ten, I'm yawning when I watch many Korean drama couples act out the SAME cliches just in a new setting. This here however, had the actors go deep down into their hearts to give their all and it shows a hundred percent in the acting. I could feel everything that they were feeling when they were together. I also loved how both actors kept eye contact. Even taking a beat while holding it for a time. You can also see both actors searching each others eyes when they fought. Kenny and Andy played the second couple who I said to myself after they were introduced how I actually found a side couple in a drama that wasn't annoying me. Normally either I like the main couple or the side couple. If I don't like the main couple then, I get pissed off because the side couple never gets enough screen time. Their story gets rushed a bit on here as well because a big chunk in the plot is spent on one character's story only. As a result, The side couple had a few moments that had no choice but to happen off screen. I'm not too sure I believe that a gangster can just walk away from mobster life so easily out of the blue cause his love interest asks him to. In real life, it would have never been that easy and I wish there had been at least a scene of him fighting his way out of the gang to make the overall situation more realistic. Can we lastly acknowledge how a character got shot, stab, constantly throughout the drama? Damn.... You would of thought homeboy was 50 cent. [INSERT ME LAUGHING]
HIStory3: Trapped is at it's best when you focus more on the acting than anything else. I wouldn't claim the script to be the best there is out in drama land cause it's not. There are tiny problems but there's no doubt in my mind that all four main actors deserve praise for carrying a drama on pure talent alone...... Ok ok alright!!!!! Don't look at me like that! LOOKS, ABS, AND PURE TALENT ALONE! Happy now?......
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