Under the Microscope (2023) - Final Review

Final review/rating: Under the Microscope (2023) - A quixotic quest to right a mathematical injustice in an unjust world

This is 9/10 stars ✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮✮ from Pandafan🐼

Overall rating:        9 Stars Plot:                      9 Stars Acting/cast:           10 Stars Chemistry:             10 Stars Music:                    8 Stars Re-watch value:      9 Stars Enjoyment factor:   9 Stars

Under the Microscope (2023) gives us Zhang Ruo Yun in a refreshingly different historical drama.  

On offer are maths, tax fraud on an epic scale, and an unlikely hero from the common people in mathematical savant Shuai Jia Mo, whose determination to correct the numbers stirs up a hornet's nest.  

Who would have thought that a drama on math and tax evasion of all things could be so damn riveting? Yet this surprisingly accessible gem of a drama packs an intellectual and emotional punch. At only 14 episodes long, Under the Microscope (2023) makes every episode count.       

SPOILERS AHEADS

  

Under the Microscope (2023) - Synopsis

Drama info:

Title:  Under the Microscope 

Chinese title:  显微镜下的大明 / 顯微鏡下的大明 (Eng translation: "The Ming dynasty under the Microscope") 

Episodes: 14

Genre: Historical, mystery, thriller 

Original network: iQiyi

Release date:      9 Feb 2023

Airing schedule:  9 Feb -  19 Feb 2023    

Synopsis:

When mathematical savant Shuai Jia Mo stumbles across a county-wide discrepancy in Ren Hua county's land titles, he decides to investigate. 

He duly discovers that some devious shenanigans are afoot: For the past 100 years, Ren Hua county has been overpaying a mysterious "silk poll tax"(人丁丝绢) of 3,350 taels per year because it has been footing the bill for the surrounding 7 counties as well.  The number 3,350 is also a significant numerical signpost in Shuai Jia Mo's murky memories of the past...

While trying to prove the silk poll tax discrepancy, Shuai Jia Mo encounters many obstacles as those who want to keep the status quo try to prevent him from succeeding by any means necessary.