Ever since I watched “The Disguiser” starring Hu Ge, Jin Dong and Wang Kai starring some time ago, I became drawn to dramas set in the Japanese Occupation of China era as there are elements of espionage, betrayal and skullduggery, all of which make for riveting dramas. I am half way through the 60+ episode “Sparrow” starring Li Yifeng who was excellent in “Daughter Back”.

“Sparrow” is set in Shanghai during the Japanese Occupation of the 1940s and Li Yifeng is Chen Shen, a trained barber who is assistant to Bi Zhongliang, the leader of the Special Operations Team under the Public Security Bureau. Chen Shen is codenamed “Sparrow” and works undercover for the Communists.

Chen Shen’s former student at Whampoa Academy, Xu Bicheng joins the Public Security Bureau with her pretend husband, Tang Shanhai. Both are agents for the Nationalists. Chen Shen and the Nationalist spies are after the “Return To Zero” Plan which is said to cause great harm to to the Chinese.

So far, it has been very interesting but I can’t for the life of me fathom how the Nationalists can be so desperate as to field a spy like Xu Bicheng who is naive and lets her emotions get the better of her every time. The woman looks like a little girl whose expressions give her away so easily and she is too rash and impetuous to be a good spy or even a bad spy for that matter. She is too incompetent to be a spy as she cannot rein in her emotions.

Some scenes are really incredulous like where Tang Shanhai cradles a dying Liu Meina (he was using her to get to the “Return To Zero” plan of which she has custody) in his arms amid rapid gunfire from all directions. They manage to have a lengthy conversation amidst all that noise and chaos. Then after he shoots her to end her misery (she was dying slowly anyway after having been hit by enemy fire), he jumps into the river and manages to hike it back home and be seen in bed all dry when his colleague checks whether he is indeed in bed. How in the world did he manage to dry himself that quickly?

I like the Li Xiaonan character, she is a supporting actress who loves Chen Shen and from her actions, I can tell she is a spy for whatever party. She makes a better and more competent spy than Xu Bicheng whom Chen Shen loves. I’d rather see Chen Shen end up with the lovable Li Xiaonan as she would not jeopardise his disguise unlike the jumpy Xu Bicheng.