The Imperial Coroner 2 (2026) - Final Review
Final review/rating: The Imperial Coroner 2 (2026) - Nostalgia can only take the dream team so far in this uninspired sequel
This is 7/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼
Overall rating: 7 Stars Plot: 6.5 Stars Acting/cast: 7 Stars Chemistry: 7 Stars Music: 7 Stars Re-watch value: 6 Stars Enjoyment factor: 7 Stars |
But alas, despite a promising start and the warm nostalgic feeling of a reunion with old friends, it was evident early on that The Imperial Coroner 2 (2026) was not on par with the original in terms of novelty and whimsy. The cases were bland, the relationship dynamics often felt contrived, and the drama's pedestrian pace and predictability meant that it was mediocre at best.
Albeit the occasional moments of brilliance that reminded me why I loved season 1 so much, season 2 definitely falls short by comparison. I give it a 7 out of 10 stars, but that is a subjectively generous score - it is more of a 6.5, with an extra 0.5 added for pure nostalgia.
SPOILERS AHEADS
Plot: Navigating the personal, professional, and the political
For a spoiler free synopsis, see mine 👉here.
Balancing married life and professional responsibilities is not difficult for our main CP, as both are workaholics and their relationship continues to have the give and take that made them so charming in season 1 despite the occasional misunderstanding. Besides, the Emperor is a huge fan of the fab four, relying on their expertise and judgement, so all is generally right with the world.
As for Jing Yi and Leng Yue, they give off HEA vibes too, albeit of the willingly hen pecked doting husband, "happy wife, happy life" variety.
The love tokens from season 1 also make an appearance - the coroner's tools Xiao Jin Yu made for his Chu Chu, and the handkerchief Chu Chu made for Xiao Jin Yu embroidered with the 5th left rib, being the rib closest to the heart.
There is a callback to some of the more iconic lines from season 1 as well.
I also enjoyed the fact that season 2 allowed the very proper-almost-too-
perfect Xiao Jin Yu to walk on the dark side when his bottom line (Chu Chu) is crossed. In episode 20 when Chu Chu is poisoned, Xiao Jin Yu goes absolutely feral and all but tortures Ambassador Gao until he terrifies an answer from him. Probably the best acted scene from Wang Zi Qi in season 2, and makes me think that he would do well if cast in villainous roles.
Secondly, the writers clearly struggled with how to portray the relationship dynamics of a happily married couple (the eternal 'what-more-is-there-to-say-when-the-will-they-or-won't-they-stage-is-passed' dilemma) and relied on a lot of cliched contrived angst to bridge the gap.
Thirdly, there was no attempt to misdirect and nearly everything was predictable.
But amidst the seeming peace of the prosperous Tang, a foreign threat lurks in the form of neighbouring Nan Zhou, whose tentacles have stretched into the Tang court and whose emperor has military expansion in mind.
As a number of seemingly unrelated cases rock the capital, the talented young team of the Three Judicial Ministries are put through their paces and face danger on all sides. It slowly becomes evident that the mysterious 'Peacock' behind the cases hails from Nan Zhou and that each case is designed to destabilise the foundations of the Tang dynasty.
As time runs short, the dream team must work together to unmask the mysterious 'Peacock' behind the conspiracies, uncover the truth, and safeguard the peace of the people and the country.
What worked: Fab four reunion, domestic felicity, and season 1 callbacks
Although season 2 is not as good as season 1, there are still a number of factors that worked for me. The higher budget is evident in the improved wardrobes, and I also approve of the change of voice actress for Chu Chu, rather than using the baby-voiced voice actress from season 1.
Watching season 2 also felt like a reunion with old friends, slipping seamlessly into a story with familiar characters that I already knew and loved, and the Fab Four dynamic remains a highlight. It is rare in c-dramaland to have dramas where established married couples are the main characters, and in this drama we have not one but two sets in Chu Chu and Xiao Jin Yu, and Jing Yi and Leng Yue.
I enjoyed the couple dynamics and seeing the sweetness of Chu Chu and Xiao Jin Yu's post marriage domestic felicity (eg. the casual intimacy of Xiao Jin Yu fixing Chu Chu's hair as they get ready for a palace party as she flirts with him about his perfect skull structure; the way he makes sure she remembers to eat; them having a foot soak together while debriefing on work logistics; and generally giving peak relationship goals vibes).
The unwavering trust they have in each other puts me in mind of the line from Su Wu苏武's poem《留別妻》- "結發為夫妻，恩愛兩不疑" ("Having become husband and wife, our love is mutual and undoubting"), and the drama really has to work hard to create minor angst/misunderstanding between these two to the point that it seems contrived.
There were also a few callbacks/Easter eggs from season 1, including moments that reminded me of what I loved about the original.
Even after all these years, Jing Yi still cannot kick the habit of entering through windows, Chu Chu and Xiao Jin Yu still do crime scene re-enactments with earnest gusto, and it seems that the rest of Prince An/Xiao Jin Yu's staff also think of him by his homophone, Little Goldfish/小金魚/xiao jin yu (per episode 9 when a literal little goldfish dies and they all rush in worried about Xiao Jin Yu😂).
And while Chu Chu has gained some town bronze, she has not lost her rather endearing weirdness either (eg. slicing into the palace feast steak with the precision of a coroner; responding to a moment of romance and fireflies by telling Xiao Jin Yu that fireflies used to keep her company at mass grave sites).
The love tokens from season 1 also make an appearance - the coroner's tools Xiao Jin Yu made for his Chu Chu, and the handkerchief Chu Chu made for Xiao Jin Yu embroidered with the 5th left rib, being the rib closest to the heart.
In episode 19, when Chu Chu laments that Leng Yue has been hurt while protecting her, Leng Yue repeats her line from season 1 when they first met and which was the start of a beautiful friendship: "女子保護女子本就是天經地義的事"/"Women protecting women - that is only right and proper". General Xiao Jin Li's hilariously iconic "一兩句說不清楚"/"It can't be explained in one or two sentences" also makes an appearance at episode 20.
Incidentally, season 2 criminally underutilised the adorkable Xiao Jin Li and he got one of the biggest laughs out of me this season when, in episode 25, his crush Luo Yan asks him for a token, hugs him... and then later, much to the main CP's amusement (and mine), he has to leave camp in a hurry, dishevelled and missing a belt...
perfect Xiao Jin Yu to walk on the dark side when his bottom line (Chu Chu) is crossed. In episode 20 when Chu Chu is poisoned, Xiao Jin Yu goes absolutely feral and all but tortures Ambassador Gao until he terrifies an answer from him. Probably the best acted scene from Wang Zi Qi in season 2, and makes me think that he would do well if cast in villainous roles.
There were also some genuinely sincere moments in the drama that truly moved me, such as the scene in episode 10 between Qin Xiang and the child monk Jing Yuan - a mother's love and loss which cannot be articulated, a child's recognition and acknowledgment, made without recrimination...
What didn't work: Boring cases, contrived angst, and the failure to misdirect
As much as I wanted to wholeheartedly love this sequel, there were a number of things that just didn't work...
First, the cases were kind of boring, which is a fatal flaw in a detective drama. The flying skull case at the start had my hopes high, but the rest were mainly uninspired poisoning cases where the cause of death appeared to be syphilis, and generally, there was a distinct lack of the whimsy and ingeniousness that characterised Season 1.
What made Season 1 work so well was the weird and wonderful cases and how these were solved using the dream team's particular set of skills, especially Chu Chu's impressive coroner expertise and Xiao Jin Yu's intelligent deductive abilities, but in Season 2, you can count on one hand the number of autopsies that actually happened on screen or off, and the resolution of cases lacked the 'wow' factor.
So while I enjoyed the sweetness of Chu Chu and Xiao Jin Yu's domestic felicity, I did roll my eyes at the writer's attempts to insert angst and emotional conflict. The whole 'I-must-prevent-you-from-doing-your-job-to-protect-you' misunderstanding was quite tedious and thankfully quickly resolved, and I mean do they really expect me to buy the fact that three years in to his marriage, Xiao Jin Yu needs to seek relationship advice from a brothel madam? Honestly, I just wanted the drama to focus more on the detecting and less on the contrived angst by that point. Thankfully, the drama spared us the 'obsessive-second-male-lead-falls-for-the-female-lead' trope, because if it had not, I might have rage quit the drama.
The 'final boss'/Peacock is exactly who you think it will be (and it was obvious from the get go and to the extent that I thought surely You Chen An, Nan Zhou's 2nd Prince cannot be the Peacock? It is just too obvious). But with this drama, what you see is what you get, and by episode 16/17, we are given a far too early reveal confirming You Chen An is the Peacock. Thereafter, all the twists are fairly obvious. It did not surprise me at all that You Chen An faked his death in episode 18, or that Madam Liu was actually You Chen An's mother and that he would kill her before finding this out in episode 25, and the final denouement also elicited little surprise.
The predictability of everything really had me dragging my feet to complete the drama and made it a rather mediocre example of the detective mystery genre.
Final thoughts
🐼: The Imperial Coroner 2 (2026) is probably only going to satisfy viewers whose nostalgia for season 1 compels them to complete the canon by watching its sequel.
It is not without its charms, primarily the reunion of the fab four, with some callbacks to season 1 which will remind you why you miss them in the first place. But nostalgia is doing a lot of heavy lifting and a drama cannot live by callbacks alone. On the whole, this season 2 is definitely not as good as the delightful season 1 - the cases are lacklustre, the relationship dynamics feel more contrived, and the predictability and lack of misdirection made for average viewing.
I do not regret finishing the character's stories by watching season 2, but I also kind of wish they had stopped with season 1.
7 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮
