The Lonely Warrior (Chinese: 三大队) is a 2023 crime suspense online drama in mainland China, adapted from the short documentary work "Please tell the Director, the mission of Brigade Three has been completed" by writer Shen Lan. The play is directed by Xing JianJun, written by Xing JianJun and Li SifuLi Sifu [zh], starring Qin Hao, Li Naiwen [zh], Chen Minghao [zh], and Ma Yinyin [zh], with Tong Liya as a special guest star and Ren Min [zh] as a special guest star. It will be broadcast on iQiyi Mist Theater on December 21, 2023.^[1]

Unless otherwise specified, all times in this article are East Eighth Standard Time (UTC+8).

After an interrogation gone wrong, Detective Cheng Bing (played by Qin Hao) from the Third Brigade was imprisoned and served his sentence. His teammates were implicated, dismissed from the police force, and demoted, leading to the disbandment of the former Third Brigade. After spending ten years in prison, Cheng Bing regained his freedom, but his faith was shattered, his passion extinguished, and he lost everything. Meanwhile, the suspect in the case, Wang Dayong, remained at large. However, wearing a police uniform for just a day instilled in Cheng Bing a sense of righteousness that would last a lifetime. The Third Brigade felt compelled to explain their actions, but their unwillingness morphed into determination, and they once again unsheathed the sharp blade of justice. Cheng Bing and his brothers from the Third Brigade regrouped and embarked on a journey to pursue the murderer. Throughout the lonely and arduous pursuit, they collaborated with law enforcement, chasing the murderer across thousands of miles. After 13 years and eight city-wide searches, Wang Dayong was finally apprehended and brought to justice. Through this ascetic journey, Cheng Bing rediscovered the coordinates and meaning of life.^[2]

Theme meaning

Throughout the story of the TV series "The Lonely Warrior", the theme of "Justice may be late, but it will never be absent" resonates. The Three Brigades, with their persistence and sense of justice, safeguarded the hearts of the people, allowing the audience to experience the reality of life and its profound background. Through the struggles and sacrifices of the characters, the audience deeply grasps that the pursuit of justice is the most precious aspect of life.^[4]

Narrative Technique

The TV series "The Lonely Warrior" no longer focuses solely on the novelty of the case but shifts the narrative's focus to the changes in the characters' fates. It utilizes the characters' life trajectories and beliefs to resonate with the audience on a deeper level. "The Lonely Warrior", as a new work of iQiyi Mist Theater, embodies the theater's innovative ideas in the suspense drama genre. The creators aim for the drama to embody the creative concept of "emphasizing fate lines, focusing more on plot than emotion", imbuing it with a more humanistic spirit.^[5]

On September 21, 2023, the TV series "The Lonely Warrior" unveiled its stills and officially announced the lineup. The show also released its first trailer on the same day.^[6] Later, on December 18, the show released storytelling stills.^[7] Subsequently, on December 20, the series released stills featuring "Old Faces." The following day, December 21, a finalized poster was released, announcing its premiere at 19:00 on the same day at the iQiyi Mist TheaterMist Theater [zh].^[2] Also on December 21, a special episode featuring the protagonist Cheng Bing was released.^[8] Additionally, on the same day, the show released a drama calendar,^[9] followed by the release of the drama "Life" poster on December 22.

In March 2022, Xing Jianjun decided to create the TV series "The Lonely Warrior, and script discussions began. By December 2022, the basic script was completed, and as the filming progressed from preparation to start, the script was continuously revised and polished.^[10]

The TV series "The Lonely Warrior" is adapted from Shenlan's work "Please tell the Director, the mission of Brigade Three has been completed".^[11] This prototype story provides a valuable first draft outline, and the series cleverly retained it during the adaptation process. The core content not only shows the charm of the original story, but also adds more details and plot development through in-depth expansion, making the story richer.^[4]

The creative team interviewed many veteran police officers and detectives. Their experiences and inner and emotional changes in the face of different incidents have become one of the sources of authenticity in the creation of "Three Brigades".^[10]

Xing Jianjun, the screenwriter and director of the TV series "The Lonely Warrior", started to contact Qin Hao after writing 5 episodes of the script. After that, he never wanted to find other actors and kept communicating with him. Because he has a sense of reality, from his performance to his own state, it is very consistent.^[12]

The TV series "The Lonely Warrior" was filmed in Xiamen, Northeast China, Yunnan and other places.

The TV series "The Lonely Warrior" restores the background of the era more than 20 years ago, and the creative team planted many "Easter eggs". One of the characteristics of this play is "nostalgia". The play shows common props such as mobile phones and BP machines (pagers) at the end of the 20th century.^[13]

The creative team of the TV series "The Lonely Warrior" spent a lot of time in early stage exchanges, interviews, and visits. They obtained first-hand real materials from more than 20 front-line criminal police officers and police station directors, and invited these police officers to come to the scene to guide the filming.^[13]

"People's Daily" commented that the drama version of The Lonely Warrior "embodies that even though the members of the criminal police team have lost their professional status, they have never lost their firm performance of their duties, their persistent pursuit of justice, and their dedication at all costs."^[14]

The TV series "The Lonely Warrior" is unique. In the story, the protagonist Cheng Bing, played by Qin Hao, was imprisoned and lost his police identity because of an accident during the interrogation that caused the death of a suspect. After being released from prison, he remained true to his original intention and was determined to pursue the murderer. As a professional policeman, while chasing the drama, I couldn't help but empathize with this group of characters. While watching the drama, I acted as "their" staff assistant, thinking about how to investigate in a roundabout way and find shortcuts. In the fourteenth episode, Cheng Bing's thoughts are meticulous and his methods are effective. He is worthy of the title of a good policeman "in and out of the drama". More importantly, the whole drama shows a kind of abundant, high-spirited and unyielding spirit.(China Police Network Comment)^[15]

Although Wanda is responsible for both the movie and web drama adaptations of The Lonely Warrior, the storyline of the drama version of "The Big Three" has caused controversy due to over-stretching and cutting compared to the movie version. The major differences between the drama version and the movie version are that firstly, the escaped Wang Eryong in the prototype and movie version was changed to his brother Wang Dayong, and secondly, the timeline of events related to the Third Brigade and the Wang brothers was moved forward. In this regard, Xing Jianjun, the screenwriter and director of the play, said that although the film and drama versions communicate with each other, they are not content-oriented, but emotional. The scripts of the film and online drama are independent, emphasizing that "giving the transparent story another dimension rationality".(Wenhui Daily Comment)^[16]

The fate of the characters is tragic and the contrast between the beginning and the end is huge: the audience feels that Cheng Bing and others have experienced great changes and setbacks in the plot. In particular, Cheng Bing spent thirteen years chasing the murderer. Although he finally arrested Wang Dayong successfully, the entire Third Brigade had already been disbanded, and the fates of the team members were also separated. This huge contrast and tragedy made it difficult for the audience to accept.

Wang Dayong's plastic surgery and hasty ending: the audience thinks that the design of Wang Dayong's final plastic surgery is too abrupt and unnatural. Wang Dayong after plastic surgery is far from his previous image. This change makes the audience feel unreal and does not conform to the logic of character setting and plot development.

The side story is not explained clearly: the audience pointed out that many side stories in the play have not been fully explained or concluded, such as the final whereabouts of the precious raw stone carried by Wang Dayong, and Pan Dahai's actions in the criminal investigation team for more than ten years. These unsolved mysteries make the audience confused and disappointed.

Exaggeration and logic problems in the plot: The description of Cheng Bing single-handedly crossing multiple provinces to track down Wang Dayong was considered too exaggerated and inconsistent with reality and technical conditions. This plot design made the audience question the logic of the plot.^[17]

• San da dui at IMDb