BLISS Rating: ★★★★
“The Apocalypse lasts. So does the Oath.” – Quote from The Last Oath
Admittedly, this series grabs your attention quickly because of its theme. This is the first zombie BL series I can recall being produced and it begins creatively enough. While I am not sure, it does seem patterned off “The Walking Dead” (which was a momentous production in the USA for years). It had hallmarks of the ambience and feel from that Homeric narration. Reminiscing, it harkened me back to the many nights I spent watching “The Walking Dead”, as it did seem to have referenced a lot of the cinematography and plot twists around that series. I was indeed a huge fan of that series until it got platitudinous. Unfortunately, this series suffered the same fate but of course at a much quicker pace.
The plague begins and the zombie apocalypse hits. And, for sure, packs of humans must band together to ward off the undead and scavenge for food. On one such expedition, Lin Zai (Chen Liang) and his brother, while searching for food and supplies, were overrun and his brother was killed and Lin Zai was bitten by a zombie; thus, a fait accompli. Lin Zai had been a college student prior to the outbreak. However, rather than turning into a zombie, he survived and in essence became one of the rarest of individuals. He became immune to their bite and apparently now carries antibodies. Accordingly, Lin Zai has been ranked and classed as an Immune and obviously became a valuable commodity.
There are special agents working for pharmaceutical giants who are seeking Immunes for testing. One such agent is a cold, calculating, borderline sociopathic individual who is a rather enticingly handsome young man by the name of A Lie (Chen Ming Hao). He discovers that Lin Zai is an Immune and begins to track and befriend him. While very desirable, A Lie is a loner, aloof, and only initially interested in bringing Lin Zai back for testing. However, even though A Lie rescued him several times, Lin Zai is also able to return the favor. Lin Zai is himself a very attractive young man who can hold his own with wit against A Lie. Although both do not want to admit it, they find themselves attracted to the other. You can definitely cut the sexual tension between the two of them with a knife. Ultimately on a mission to capture and bring in Immunes, A Lie kidnaps Lin Zai and begins a journey to bring him to the pharmaceutical testing center.
Being a zombie series, the expectation is that their journey would go off in at least one demented fashion. And of course it did. It was all so completely superfluous and something reminiscent of a “The Walking Dead” plotline, although with that series there was time to develop and massage an appropriate story. Cannibalism did not need to be displayed here; it could have been assumed that along the way a group of demented humans would have devolved to that level because of a lack of food. To show this was non-essential, as it was not effectively done well. Then of course, along their journey to get Lin Zai to the intended destination, they find a colony that is stable and functional where Lin Zai’s old companions have now been absorbed into. Not unexpectedly, just prior to them meeting this stable settlement, they met a strange bedfellow named He Yeo (Lu Lu) who goes out of his way to throw them off track and fabricate what his true intentions are. He appears to be sinister, and he certainly is projected that way, with more than once trying to get them eliminated. While the actions of He Yeo were nefarious, his reasons were, in a warped way, understandable.
Who really S.T.O.L.E. this series? He Yeo was trying to save the love of his life and that was his adopted brother by the name of Chang Huan played by Wang Chao Yang. It is not until the end that we get the full story of how he became a ‘zombie’, with that scenario quite intriguing. With all the various characterizations in this series, he goes through the most upheavals. Chang Huan has to convey a multitude of conflicting emotions and attitudes as well as face a reality that perhaps he was not prepared to confront. To say nothing of perhaps the physical pain he had to endure. And obviously aware of a future that is bleak at best. Chang Huan also realized that, while he too does love him, He Yeo’s actions and behaviors to save him have crossed the line, even if no line now exists. I found him to be a sad figure who was still trying to hold on to a conventional standard of decency and one that literally had no control over any of this. However, he was in the end able to guide his own fate as he knew that he had to. The acting of Wang Chao Yang is rather unique as he must project being a human sometimes and a zombie at other times. Retaining a certain level of human emotions that are still strong within his human side and his desire to be ‘human’ again; his emotional dilemmas wear heavily on him. Much of what he had to project is done with subtle facial features and body language. This is indeed a tough role to traverse and I for one appreciated his nuances in navigating the complexities of it. Kudos for making his ‘zombie’ half feel like he indeed was worthy of redemption.
This series yo-yoed from being interesting to just downright doltish. So much time was wasted on going nowhere. There were a lot of very interesting characters in this series that could have enhanced the story or made it way more entertaining and dynamic but were underutilized with the whole story seemingly directionless and pointless. It was obvious a low-budget production because the zombies were rather hackneyed. They looked unconvincingly made-up for being ‘dead’ and frankly were not very gory or hideous. For zombies, they certainly could trodden fast. Ironically, the undead were not the cornerstone or the main culprits in this series. Other humans were, specifically the mercenaries, who were coming for the Immune.
Even though He Yeo was less than candid with Lin Zai and A Lie and more than once unmitigatingly tried to destroy them in their new camp, Lin Zai still fell for his psychological manipulation. Somehow, He Yeo managed to ingratiate himself into the community. With that, rather than being honest and upfront with A Lie, he lies to him and attempts to ‘break up’ with him to ‘save’ him. The standard trope plot “go-to” when the storyline is lacking originality. I found that all so disingenuous, dishonest, and cowardly. And, again, took away from any serious concept of the development for a BL. They had invested time in building a romance, but Lin Zai’s self-centeredness quickly eroded their trust. This only reinforced my doubts about the depth of their connection.
Overall, admittedly Chen Liang as Lin Zai and Chen Liang as A Lie physically are an appealing couple. Both beautiful men who began to foster a relationship together but for me it never fully came to fruition. Something always seemed to hinder it from making it either romantic or sensual. Until the ending credits – and then it went sensuously and erotically carnal and NC.
For me, sadly, who I really thought was the real power couple was Lu Lu as He Yeo and Wang Chao Yang as Chang Huan – surprisingly. I thought the development of their relationship was more punctilious, better articulated, and more emotionally involved than the one between A Lie and Lin Zai. Theirs seemed so unfocused and spun around in so many different directions that it was hard to get a handle on what was happening between the two of them. It did not seem as if they or the story wanted to focus on their union. Meanwhile, the relationship between He Yeo and his adopted brother is methodical and so well fleshed out with emotions that I actually began to feel sorry for them and felt heartbroken for their pending fatalistic outcome. And frankly I understood He Yeo’s actions completely. There is no morality or ethical standards anymore. He lost his tethering to those when he tried to save the love of his life. Chang Huang had to remind him at the end what really matters and what is of value. Surprisingly I thought they taught us more lessons and developed a stronger connection than anything between A Lie and Lin Zai. Theirs began to become so cliché, especially at the end.
However, I was dismayed by the end for Chang Huang and He Yeo. One must remember that if this was a genuine ‘zombie apocalypse’, normative human behavior would become helter-skelter. Pinioning reality is whatever you define for yourself as real. So, I understood He Yeo. Other human life has become cheap and meaningless. Only his love was important and why should he not have his love with him at whatever the price?
Regrettably the way the production chose to conclude this series is almost laughable. It became just a little too “Hollywood” and theatrical to be believable. I was so disappointed in the cliché and tropey ending.
I REALLY liked this series at the beginning. It started out creative and interesting and I recalled the same great feeling I initially had while watching “The Walking Dead”. Then it seemed to drift into an abyss of where and what to do with the story. So, cannibalism arrives. Then He Yeo who is trying to develop a cure but ONLY for his brother-lover. The relationship between our protagonists is hot, then cold, then frigid, then at the end, blazes like a thousand suns. With not much making sense in between. I wanted to see if there was something, anything, going to be done with and to the Immune. THAT is the story if you have a zombie theme. BL has to take a secondary role. Hence, that is why I liked the second couple. They completely developed that relationship; honestly, they did. And by the end, felt so much stronger. And true to the zombie theme, they paid the price.
It sure looks like they left the door open for other seasons at the end. Summarily, this series is certainly entertaining. Our protagonists are undeniably going to take some time to enjoy the pleasures of the flesh, as well they should. After all, this is the apocalypse. Perhaps the narration will be more comprehensively developed in future seasons. Hopefully, none of us will be bitten beforehand. Run away from anyone who makes any type of slithering sound!
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