fanifesto | HIStory 3 - 圈套 (2019) (Reply)

Watch on YouTube

The HIStory series are Taiwanese, featuring canon M/M couples. Each year they've released two short run series and we're now up to HIStory4. But enough of this completely inadequate explanation. :D

I'm here to talk about HIStory3: Trapped (2019), which centres around two couples, both cop/mobster.

Story outline from My Drama ListThe story of a police officer who becomes trapped in the underworld, as he develops feelings for a gang leader...

Four years ago, a veteran cop and an elderly gangster were killed in a gunshot attack. The only survivor and the dead gangster's protegee, the enigmatic and ruthless Tang Yi, is now the new gang leader, who will stop at nothing to find the murderer and plans an elaborate trap to lure him out of hiding. Honest police officer Meng Shao Fei is obsessed with knowing the truth behind this case, to avenge his mentor's death, and spends all his spare time tracking Tang Yi and trying to find what he is up to. When Meng and Tang Yi are kidnapped together and forced to survive in a cold mountain, things start to change between them.

I love that this show isn't just about the relationships, much as I love them but that it actually fleshes out the other characters and the background story which can't all be tied up in a nice little bow. It's surprisingly funny at times, sweet, violent, flirtatious and complex, featuring all different kinds of love, including friendship and found family. I really cared about what happened to a bunch of characters in this show, not just the main couples.

While the show doesn't have great production values so it's a little creaky at times, the relationships between Meng Shaofei/Tang Yi and Jack/Zhao Lian are compelling and oddly believable given where they all start out from. They don't manipulate the characterization, in that all of them remain the men they are to begin with it's just that they find ways to make it work between them!

Also, y'know, the manhandling, wall slamming (well lots of uses of walls *g*) and partner worry just enhances the whole thing!

Let me tempt you with a few gifs:

I also love the secondary couple:

The 10 episodes with English subtitles can be watched for free here on Viki

One of the other HIStory series has been given a sequel so I have everything crossed that we might get one for Trapped as well. :D

MAY CONTAIN SPOILERS:

Watch on YouTube