Unriddle 2

Unriddle 2 (simplified Chinese: 最火搭档 2) is a Singaporean Chinese drama which was telecasted on Singapore's free-to-air channel, MediaCorp Channel 8. It made its debut on 5 March 2012. This drama serial consists of 20 episodes, and was be screened on every weekday night at 9:00 pm. In Malaysia, it will be broadcast on the ntv7 primetime drama slot at 10:00pm around May. It is a sequel to Unriddle, one of the first sequels in Mediacorp dramas in nearly 10 years. The sequel is also noted for its much darker tone as compared to the first series.

Reason for sequel
In the Season 1 ending, Xiaoman (Rui En) and Zhengyi aka Bun (Chen Liping) were about to find out the mystery of a new case, and before they find out, it was already the ending of Season 1, thus a new season of 20 episodes will be broadcast.

Introduction
The show sees the return of the two main characters Xiaoman (Rui En) and Zhengyi aka Bun (Chen Liping), where picking off from the cliff-hanger ending at the Season 1 they continue to solve cases of complex crimes beyond their imagination. Each case leads to another, quickly taking on a darker and edgier tone, with many friends and loved ones getting killed and pushing the duo to their limits. As the story progressed they realized that there is yet another mastermind behind these events and that the reasons for their own involvements in these cases may be more than simply being part of their work...

Elvin Ng, Yuan Shuai, Adam Chen and Sora Ma join the cast as Xiaoman's fellow CID officers. Xiang Yun, Zhou Ying, Joshua Ang and Wee Kheng Ming will reprise their roles from the first season. Tay Ping Hui will only appear in the first 7 episodes despite still being a main character. Other actors from the previous season such as Brandon Wong and Chen Tianwen return but play different characters.

Story
Picking up from where the story left off in Unriddle, the feisty duo Xiaoman and Zhengyi continue to be beleaguered by cases of complex crimes beyond their imagination. Worse still, a loved one gets incapacitated by a mysterious mastermind. Faced with doubt, can the duo overcome all obstacles and capture the perpetrator?

Zhengyi Trapped (ep 1-3)
Day 8. After leaving a dagger in the eatery, Asura disappears without a trace and is never seen again. Zhengyi confirms that Asura’s purpose in coming to Singapore from Tokyo is to avenge the death of his brother, Shanfan. But why has Asura not make his move yet? During these eight days, Zhengyi lives in fear that Asura will appear any time.

In the meantime, Xiaoman is transferred to the CID to assume the position of Deputy Director. Together with Yuze, who has resumed duty, both of them oversee the case involving Asura. She deduces that Asura was acting mysteriously to instill fear in Zhengyi. The elusive Asura finally strikes on the night of the eighth day, with an attempt on Zhengyi’s life. Xiaoman happens to appear on the scene, and both of them are thrown into a fierce battle.

A murder case surfaces shortly after. The victim is a triad member from Japan. Xiaoman and Yuze link the victim to Asura. Using the victim’s identity as a lead to their investigations, Xiaoman and Yuze chance upon some Japanese triad members operating secretly in Singapore. As Xiaoman and Yuze go into action to arrest them, a clash ensues. The leader, Kuroda Yutaka (黑田丰), is arrested, but they lost track of Asura.

Through Kuroda Yutaka, Xiaoman and Yuze learn that Asura is not only seeking revenge on Zhengyi but was hatching a plot….

The abyss of suffering (ep 4-10)
Dylan continues to woo Xiaoman, but Xiaoman indicates point blank that Dylan is not the man for her. Although Dylan is disappointed, he is determined not to give up pursuing Xiaoman’s love.

Soon after, Xiaoman discovers that Yuze is secretly investigating Dylan for he suspects that Dylan murdered his ex-girlfriend, Fan Huizhong. Xiaoman is aware that Dylan and Huizhong were once in love with each other. She suspects that Yuze is convinced that Dylan is the murderer out of jealousy. Yuze’s unit adopts unlawful procedures to monitor Dylan’s movements covertly in an effort to nail him.

Xiaoman finds nothing suspicious about Dylan, and feels that Yuze is too eager to avenge his ex-girlfriend’s death. He has no evidence whatsoever to charge Dylan. She also suspects that Yuze is abusing his authority, seemingly to punish Dylan personally. To stop Yuze from committing more mistakes, she has no choice but to suspend Yuze.

Yuze pursues the case relentlessly but is killed by Dylan and Jieyu.

Xiaoman's former rival from police academy and fellow CID officer Xie Langfeng is switched to her team to be her deputy.

The Missing Prostitute (ep 11-16)
A young woman named Chen Xinyi has gone missing and Zhengyi encounters Fu Hongbo, a young man confined to a wheelchair. Hongbo pleads with Zhengyi to help him find his deaf-mute sister who has gone missing. Zhengyi and Shishan scour the streets of Geylang and find her after she had been sold into prostitution by a man known as "Big Little Eyes". Zhengyi later discovers that "Big Little Eyes" is actually Hongbo's abusive stepfather and saves Hongbo from nearly being hacked to death.

Xiaoman, Langfeng and the team investigate the Chen Xinyi case. It turns out the girl's parents had no idea she had been earning five-figure sums through prostitution. The kidnappers called them asking for a ransom and team stake out at the drop-off location hoping to track down the suspects. Not only are they outwitted, Langfeng and Xiaoman are outwitted and outmuscled by a mysteriously strong and well-trained suspect. Later, they are led to a part-time funeral home worker "Monkey", who happened to be a friend of "Big Little Eyes". Langfeng deduces that they could be dealing with a case involving a group of psychopaths. They have their work cut out as they uncover a highly organised kidnapping ring who takes pleasure in sadistically torturing and killing their victims and cremating the bodies to discard the evidence. Unfortunately, they must look elsewhere when their best lead, "Monkey", is found dead in a warehouse.

Meanwhile Langfeng continues to make Xiaoman feel uncomfortable by questioning her real motives for going all out to track down criminals and exposing her self-destructive behaviour. Although she realises the truth in it she refuses to admit so. Langfeng is one of the few people able to see through her cool and calm facade and warns her that if she lets her dark side get the better of her she will eventually go down the road of no return. Unable to face the truth, Xiaoman finds herself in an emotional struggle....

The final battle (Ep 17-20)
Xiaoman recalls the string of events 6 years ago which seem unconnected. However, after piecing everything together, it dawns on her that someone was manipulating the chain of events to target her in an attempt to land her in trouble. Xiaoman and Zhengyi are determined to fish out this mysterious person.

Zhengyi has already sensed that Xiaoman seems to be obsessed with capturing the murderer. Zhengyi is worried that her best friend is slipping into the fringe of the dark side. If she does not pull her up, Xiaoman would eventually commit an unpardonable mistake.

Langfeng suddenly gets hold of evidence on Xiaoman’s crimes 6 years ago, forcing her to quit the police force before he exposes her. Did Xiaoman really break the law by killing criminals as a way of punishing them? What was Langfeng’s stance? Was he trying to help Xiaoman or destroy her? Who was the manipulator out to get Xiaoman?

TVC teaser Cases
Teaser commercials for the show featured the following cases that are not otherwise discussed in the show.
 * Meiling and Meifen, both 22, who were last seen on the roof of a shophouse and went missing for 104 days 8 hours 32 minutes 21 seconds,
 * Wenguo and Wenhao, both 2 months old, who were last seen in a rubbish dump and went missing for 30 days 21 hours 17 minutes 21 seconds, and
 * Yuqi and Yulin, both 33, who were last seen at an old tree and went missing for 83 days 15 hours 42 minutes 21 seconds.

Trivia

 * Zoe Tay was the initial announced choice for the role of Lin Zhengyi in Season 1 but had to give up the role due to an unplanned pregnancy. The role was given to Chen Liping instead for all Unriddle seasons.
 * This seasons's TVC cases are unrelated to the show.
 * The "Unriddle 2" theme music is different from the "Unriddle" theme music. Plus, There is a song for both Unriddle seasons. However, they were in the ending theme.
 * For the 1st time, Chen Li Ping and Rui En are buddies in this show.
 * Elvin Ng will appear in episode 8. He will appear in 13 episodes in total.
 * In both seasons, Xiaoman's close friends turned out to be the mastermind of the season. In season 1, the mastermind was Yan Dewei, also known as Chai Zhiyong, Xiaoman's colleague who she most possibly likes, thus Andie Chen did not appear in this sequel but his gun was featured in episode 1. In this season, the mastermind was Gao Jieyu, Xiaoman's friend.
 * The ending ended as a finale. Or perhaps, it ended as there is another season. There may be a third season of Unriddle, but may be unlikely due to its low viewership in 2012.
 * The drama successfully had its encore from 1 January 2013 to 28 January 2013 at the midnight timeslot.

References from other productions

 * Episode 1 of the series was shown on episode 4 of Poetic Justice, where the cameo who bumped Zhengyi appeared in the episode.
 * In Episode 3 (Unriddle) of The Recruit Diaries, Rui En and Chen Liping were accidentally mentioned "repeatedly".

Star Awards 2012

 * Unriddle 2 was nominated for Best Programme Promo when it films 3 campaign spots, however the award goes to the Renaissance campaign spot.

Star Awards 2013

 * Chen Yi You and Loh Woon Woon were both nominated for Best Director, of which Chen Yi You clinched the award.
 * Phang Kai Yee was nominated for Best Screenplay, but the award went to Lau Ching Poon and Cynthia Chong Mei Ying for Don't Stop Believin'.
 * Toh Meng Teck clinched the Best Drama Cameraman award.
 * Elvin Ng and Rui En clinched the Favourite On-screen Couple award.
 * Rebecca Lim and Rui En are both nominated for Best Actress, of which Rui En clinched the award.
 * Tay Ping Hui clinched the Best Supporting Actor award.
 * Unriddle 2 was nominated for Best Drama Serial, but the award went to Pillow Talk.