"The Beginning" officially ends

"The Beginning" has officially come to an end

"The Beginning" has officially come to an end. Last night (January 25), the TV series "The Beginning" ushered in its finale. Hot search number one. The suspenseful plot and story have triggered many netizens to actively discuss and amuse themselves on social platforms. "The Beginning" officially ends. "The Beginning" officially ends 1

"Have you watched the finale of "The Beginning"?"

"Watch it quickly, you can watch the whole episode in one go tonight."

p>

On the evening of January 25, the TV series "The Beginning" starring Bai Jingting, Zhao Jinmai, Liu Yijun, etc. officially ushered in its finale. In the play, the hero and heroine finally found the truth and saved a car of people after experiencing 25 time loops, which moved the audience.

"The Beginning" is adapted from the novel of the same name by Prayer King. It tells the story of game architect Xiao Heyun (played by Bai Jingting) and college student Li Shiqing (played by Zhao Jinmai) when they encounter a bus. After the explosion, he "resurrected from the dead" and continuously experienced a time loop during the time of the bus accident, from getting off the bus to save himself to breaking down barriers and fighting side by side, trying to prevent the explosion and find the truth.

Although there are only 15 episodes, "The Beginning" has aroused heated discussions among many netizens in terms of cast, acting skills, plot settings and other aspects since its broadcast. Topics related to "The Beginning" continue to refresh the hot search list. On the eve of the finale, the film crew officially announced that the number of views of "The Beginning" exceeded 1.2 billion. In terms of word-of-mouth, 280,000 Douban netizens gave it a score of 8.2, which can be said to be a good harvest of both popularity and word-of-mouth.

With the arrival of the finale, netizens were filled with emotions and left messages one after another: "The ending of "The Beginning" is also the best ending I can think of." "The finale is here, and I suddenly want to cry. The ending is not a dream, nor is it an out-of-body experience, it is the feeling of a case five years ago clearing the air. There is too much humanity and too much reality. "I hope that every kind-hearted person who loves life has the right to..." The opportunity to live well. ""The Beginning" officially ended 2

Last night (January 25), the TV series "The Beginning" ushered in the finale, and "exploded" to the top of the hot search. But this time the topic is #开奖不了#. As of press time, this topic has been read 620 million times and discussed 182,000 times. Some netizens said that the ending was too perfect, while others thought that the logic was illogical and that several "holes were left unfilled." Some netizens said, "It's not a bad ending, it's just not good enough or amazing." "This drama is in line with my heart." "The expectations are complete"...

Since its launch on January 11, there has been an endless stream of hot searches for various plots of "The Beginning". According to Nandu Weekly, it was searched over 300 times in 5 days, making it the biggest hot item in the new year. The "Guo Aunt" who triggered the tragedy of the story single-handedly caused the audience to suffer from "Pressure Cooker PTSD", and the "Canon Ringtone, Preparing for Drug Tests, and Cycles" have also become popular after "Mountain Climbing" in 2020. A topic that is often discussed by everyone.

The suspenseful plot and story have also triggered many netizens to actively discuss and benefit on social platforms. As of press time, according to Maoyan Professional Edition, the total views of this 15-episode short drama have exceeded 1.3 billion. Many netizens have said that they are addicted to watching the drama: "Follow the male protagonist into the loop and the rhythm will soar." "The acting is online, Such an embarrassing subject matter is very realistic. ""8 episodes in one breath." The praise of "8 episodes in one breath" has even been used as a joke by fans of the drama, which has become synonymous with the compact and exciting plot.

However, the Douban score has dropped after last night’s finale. As of press time, it has dropped from the initial score of 8.2 to 8.0.

However, there is no doubt that, as Tencent Video’s most popular drama of the year, “The Beginning” became an explosion. For the producer and the platform, this “risk-taking” project actually has greater significance.

(...be careful! There are spoilers below...)

Novel setting, regrettable rhythm

Superb acting skills, touching group portraits

p>

There are 10 cycles in 2 episodes, and 25 cycles in 15 episodes, which sets the tone of "The Beginning" with a tight rhythm.

As the first "infinite streaming" drama series in China, the story revolves around the science fiction setting of a time loop triggered by the explosion of No. 45 bus. College student Li Shiqing (played by Zhao Jinmai) and game designer Xiao Heyun (played by Bai Jingting) "resurrected" after a bus explosion. The two entered the time loop and returned to the bus before the accident, joining forces to prevent the explosion. occur. But what they face is not only the cruel murderer who is bent on revenge on society, but also the police investigation and the attention of the whole society...

The finale aired last night Middle: Xiao Heyun and Li Shiqing, with the help of the police, found evidence that bus driver Wang Xingde (played by Huang Jue) and Tao Yinghong (played by Liu Dan), Wang Mengmeng, was harassed by a bus pervert, and then the two entered the loop again. After waking up from the cycle, Xiao Heyun was unable to wake up due to physical weakness. Li Shiqing immediately sent a text message to Interpol Zhang Cheng (played by Liu Yijun) to call the police for help, and enlisted the help of Lu Di and other passengers. In the end, Xiao Heyun woke up and restrained Tao Yinghong. Lu Di grabbed the pressure cooker bomb and the police deployed control and forced the No. 45 bus to stop on the bridge. With everyone's unanimous persuasion, Wang Xingde and Tao Yinghong decided to believe the police, and everyone in the car was successfully rescued...

As for how the "cycle" begins, the series does not give a direct answer. Answer. At the end of the story, the passengers on the bus received the "Courage Award" together, and the bus perverts who harassed Wang Mengmeng, Wang Xingde, and Tao Yinghong were also tried.

The success of "The Beginning" lies first in the freshness of the story. Even though it is not "unlimited streaming" in the standard sense, after Douban scored, most viewers gave encouragement and affirmation. More than 350,000 people participated in the evaluation, of which 30.8% gave it a 5-star rating, and 47 % also gave 4 stars, and some netizens even shouted that this is a masterpiece that can "sail out to the sea", "It looks good! It looks good! It's the first domestically produced unlimited stream, and every character has an online IQ, logic, and no messy acting skills." It’s okay, it shocked me!”

However, while praising the innovation of the subject matter, some viewers are also keenly aware that the flaws of "The Beginning" are also quite obvious-slow pace and delayed narrative. If the story can be reduced to less than 10 episodes, the excitement will probably be doubled.

Yes, when telling the "loop" that is the core of the story, "The Beginning" uses more of a straightforward narrative. The effective information provided in the first few episodes is quite limited: after a full 8 episodes, men and women The protagonist was "exploded" nearly 20 times before finally identifying the middle-aged woman Tao Yinghong who was carrying the bomb. However, when they found out the real participant in the explosion, "The Beginning" aired two more episodes, and the cycle scrolled four more times...

It is also because of this that many viewers are looking forward to and worried about the finale broadcast tonight: "It is worth encouraging, but it must not be a bad ending!" Fortunately, after the finale was broadcast, many people were "feared and abused" "The audience was relieved: "Everyone is fine, it's good!"

Although there are regrets in the narrative and rhythm, the flaws are not concealed. The beauty of "The Beginning" lies more in its accurate portrayal of ordinary little characters. The play does not idealize human nature, but allows the audience to see the selfishness, cowardice, and inexplicable malice that we are unaware of.

In the process of eliminating the suspicion of the passengers on the car one by one, "The Beginning" depicts a picture of ordinary people: a talkative video blogger who always holds up his mobile phone to take pictures; A warm-hearted aunt who went out; a father who was released from prison and went to find his son with his favorite watermelon, longing for family warmth; an unemployed construction worker who was burdened with debt and had to earn tuition for his daughter; a man who loved two-dimensional culture and endured asthma Ludy, a lonely boy who secretly keeps cats. Each delicate "tear point" hit the audience's heart hard.

Picture source: stills

At the same time, Liu Yijun plays the old detective Zhang Cheng, who is sharp, calm and adheres to his duties. He performed heroically in the 24th cycle The scene of sacrifice has become the most distressing scene for the audience since the series was aired.

Of course, there is also the trigger of the tragedy of the story, the middle-aged woman Tao Yinghong, who was ridiculed by many netizens as "Auntie Guo", "who trembles when they see her." Liu Dan's vivid performance successfully made the audience feel terror, despair and anxiety, and a full sense of "oppression".

In addition, the play also triggered netizens' thinking about "cyber violence".

Whether it is the cyber violence against Xiao Heyun or the cyber violence against Wang Mengmeng in a certain cycle, they are reminders of the harm that unwarranted and arbitrary suspicions, judgments, and violence on the Internet can do to people, and the impact and destruction of the security defense line of the entire society. However, there are still many people who are used to venting their anger on the Internet by hurting others.

The core of the popularity of "The Beginning" is not the setting of "infinite flow". The fundamental reason is that it links a bus bombing incident with complex human nature and social issues. In other words, science fiction , the suspenseful "Infinite Flow" is just the skin, but the core is still a warm background. It has solid character creation capabilities and truly conveys care for society and yearning for justice. And all these expressions of real problems are exactly what the producer Zhengwu Yangguang has been good at and persisted in since "Mountains and Seas" and "Dajiang Dahe".

Will "The Beginning" become the beginning of "Infinite Streaming"?

The broadcast of "The Beginning" made many people aware of the "infinite flow" of time and space circulation for the first time. In fact, this "infinite streaming" is not new abroad. Films such as "Source Code" and "Groundhog Day" all use loops as the main story. Even in China, it is not the first. Do you still remember that in "Moonlight Treasure Box", the Supreme Treasure repeatedly traveled through the timeline in order to save Bai Jingjing from committing suicide? This is probably the earliest time loop in China.

However, what many viewers are looking forward to is, will there be similar "infinite streaming" works put on the screen? Will it be the "beginning" for the development of unlimited streaming themes in the drama market?

According to Red Star News, industry insiders told reporters that the concept of "infinite flow" originated very early in China. The first one to approach this concept was the 1990 animation "Cube Mansion" written by Zheng Yuanjie. The story tells the story of the protagonist Enter the enlarged Rubik's Cube world and experience in 26 cube countries. Although the concept of "Infinite Flow" had not yet officially appeared at that time, the 26 square countries in "Cube Mansion" are similar to multiple unique spaces. The protagonist's adventures in different square countries are also similar to the protagonists in current Infinite Flow works who accept experience and complete tasks. process.

The first "infinite flow" novel recognized in China is "Infinite Horror" written by the online writer zhttty in 2007. The protagonist is summoned into a parallel universe similar to a movie for experience, and resurrects team members through multiple missions. Become the strongest king of the reincarnation world. Similar themes have attracted the attention of major film and television companies in recent years. According to media reports, as early as 2020, unlimited streaming adaptations such as "Earth Online", "Global College Entrance Examination" and "Kaleidoscope of Death" were put on the filming agenda, but there have been no new developments so far.

After themes such as sweet pets, suspense, and fantasy have tired the audience, the fresh concept of "infinite streaming" has inevitably attracted film and television companies to flock to it, but the fact is that the setting of "infinite streaming" is easy Falling into routines, similar domestic online novels basically do not break away from the concepts of "parallel universe", "reincarnation" and "survival mission" in "Infinite Horror". The core settings are similar, and it is easy to fall into the trap of homogeneous content. Reporters should also pay attention to the fact that "The Beginning" also has the problem of plot duplication caused by too many loops.

Screenshot of Prayers Weibo

Film and television researcher Zhang Tong believes that if you simply want to chase hot spots and shoot "Infinite Streaming", I am afraid there will be no good results. The work comes out. After all, Noon Sunshine's production of "The Beginning" is still based on realism. Looking at most of the domestic "Infinite Stream" works, they are divorced from the background of reality, making adaptation very difficult. On the other hand, the author of "The Beginning", Mr. Prayer, is the screenwriter of the drama version. In order to respect the original work more, the producer specially invited professional screenwriters to train Mr. Prayer in screenwriting work.

Prayer recalled that the screenwriter hired by Noon Sunshine almost taught her step by step how to transform the article into a script that could be filmed. This kind of respect for the creator and the script is very rare.

The winner behind it

The popularity of "The Beginning" has also attracted people's attention to the producer behind it, Zhengwu Sunshine. In the past two years, Sunshine at Noon has become more and more low-key. Apart from putting out their works, there is almost no news about them.

As the leading domestic drama company, the Noon Sunshine Team was born out of Shandong Film and Television Media Group and is the producer of many high-quality drama content. The earliest ones include "Nirvana in Fire", "All Quiet in Peking" and "The Pretender", and in recent years there are the "Ode to Joy" series and "Dajiang Dahe" series. These works have made the words "Sunshine at Noon" a golden signature of domestic dramas.

According to "Financial World" weekly, Noon Sunshine, which focuses on creating copyrighted dramas, has always had higher bargaining power in the industry. The platform will basically pay for the works it produces. Of course, a relatively high copyright purchase price will also be charged for this.

So much so that when the work "The Beginning" became popular on the Internet, people in the industry commented, "A work like "The Beginning" can only be made by the noon sun. No one dares to do a loss-making business. No one bought it once it was made, and it would be troublesome if it was bought and sold off. Even though it was produced by Noon Sunshine, "The Beginning" had a strong element of adventure from the beginning. .

Without a grand narrative, no top artists joining, and no big IP blessing, "The Beginning" did not have the makings of a hit from the beginning. How can the platform be willing to pay for the unlimited streaming "experimental product" of "The Beginning" when it lacks its own initial traffic?

According to relevant sources, "In fact, even if "The Beginning" does not explode, Tencent will be willing to pay for it based on the brand name of Noon Sunshine."

Fortunately, whether it is Noon Sunshine Sunshine itself and Tencent Video, the platform party that footed the bill, won the bet. The popularity of "The Beginning" has also allowed Tencent Video to earn enough traffic and reputation.

It is not easy for a film like "The Beginning" to reach the audience. When summarizing the "secrets of success" of Noon Sunshine, Hou Hongliang, chairman and producer of Noon Sunshine, once told the reporter of "Daily Economic News": "You can't think of every drama as a hit. Sometimes, the higher the expectations, the higher the expectations. On the contrary, the final result is not necessarily good. Film and television are really the art of regret. ""The Beginning" officially ended 3

"The Beginning" has made a good start for the 2022 film and television series, and has been well received since its launch. It has received widespread attention, and its popularity continues to heat up, with no sign of a sharp decline. "The Beginning" has dominated many hot search headlines since its launch. As of the 25th, it has been played 1.3 billion times, and its Douban score has reached a high score of 8.6. In film and television, There is no doubt that the play is a success.

Stills of "The Beginning"

So what kind of excellent work is "The Beginning", which continues to be hotly discussed? Why is there so much discussion?

"The Beginning" is a work of infinite flow of skills. It tells the story of game master Xiao Heyun and female college student Li Shiqing who encounter an infinite loop after a bus explosion, so as to find the answer to the story step by step. At first glance, this work It just feels nonsensical. Except for those who like unlimited novels or film and television drama fans, it is difficult for other viewers to understand what the story is in the first episode. The whole story will give people a feeling of confusion. But after watching it patiently, I found that this drama is very interesting and worthy of consideration and scrutiny. The audience can also participate in it to speculate on the cycle of car accidents and explosions. It is for this reason that this drama has attracted many viewers' screams, and this drama also made Zhao Jinmai, a student of Yangzhou Opera who just turned 20, really appeared in the public eye. Her every move and smile touched the hearts of the audience and became a popular film and television star. Bai Jingting has always been a very popular and topical film and television star, and This drama made him get out of the circle quickly.

Stills of Bai Jingting and Zhao Jinmai

"The Beginning" is a success in terms of commercial value, and it is a complete success. In "The Beginning" South Korea obtained the copyright of the drama just after it was aired. It is undoubtedly a success for a drama to be released in other countries. South Korea has always had relatively high requirements for the quality of film and television dramas, so the move of awarding the copyright of "The Beginning" to South Korea comes from He said that this drama has not only attracted the attention of domestic audiences, but also favored by international film and television lovers. This is also a manifestation of the continuous progress of China's film and television industry. Therefore, the quality of the drama "The Beginning" is very high. In addition to South Korea, it also has Many foreign movie fans use translation software to translate sentence by sentence to follow "The Beginning". This is probably the greatest respect for art. It is worth recommending to everyone to watch this drama.

Stills of "The Beginning"

The 25th also ushered in the finale of this drama. Although there are only 15 episodes, these 15 episodes of short dramas made The audience has seen new possibilities for Chinese dramas. This drama may usher in the trend of unlimited streaming of movies. It is precisely because this drama has given the audience greater and greater expectations that the ending will become whether this drama can truly become a classic. The final deciding factor. If it accidentally ends, the show will be completely ruined. Those fans may really have to send razors to the screenwriter. Unsurprisingly, the ending caused a huge sensation after it was broadcast. Those who did not meet their expectations Audiences went online to complain about the poor ending of "The Beginning", which once again gained unprecedented attention. In fact, some people are happy and some are sad. These complaints are reasonable, because this drama has given the audience too much expectations. See It is inevitable that there will be a psychological gap in the ending, but when I feel calmer, I will watch the ending of "The Beginning" again and find that although this ending cannot be said to be very satisfactory, it cannot be called a bad ending. It is just a bit dull, but it is closer to life. Life is both impulsive and touching. Everyone has a beautiful yearning for life. Everyone’s life experience seen in the infinite loop will be touched. Life is already very bitter, and you should add some sugar at the right time. , so isn’t a happy ending more in line with what each of us once yearned for?

Stills from "The Beginning"

At the end of the story, Xiao Heyun and Li Shiqing came together and sprinkled a handful of sugar. Seeing their Did you raise the corners of your mouth when you kissed the TV? It is reported that this is Zhao Jinmai's first kiss on screen, and I hope there will be more good dramas like this in the future.