Reset is a mystery thriller about a college student (Zhao Jin Mai) who finds herself trapped in a time loop where she is stuck on a public bus that eventually explodes and kills everyone on board. With the help of another passenger (Bai Jing Ting), they try to change the fate of the bus and get out of the time loop.
Li Shi Qing (Zhao Jin Mai) is a college student who gets trapped in a time loop on a bus that keeps exploding. She desperately tries to save herself and the other passengers in hopes of ending the time loop.
Xiao He Yun (Bai Jing Ting) is a game designer who finds himself pulled into the time loop and works with Shi Qing to save the bus.
Zhang Cheng (Liu Yi Jun) is a well-respected police officer who repeatedly gets involved with the bus explosion case and tries to figure out who is responsible.
Reset was quite a fun and thrilling ride! Personally, I’m a big fan of time loop stories, but it’s a trope we don’t really see that much in general and especially in dramas. So, I was pretty excited to read the synopsis for this one. And luckily, I had a great time with it!
The drama gets us quickly into the action by starting the time loop up right away. We see Shi Qing on a bus that explodes, and she is then thrust right back into the same scene as she finds herself trapped in the time loop. At first, she is on her own and trying to make sense of what is happening. She just wants to get off the bus.
It isn’t long though before she is joined by He Yun in the loop. We then watch as the duo navigate trying to get off the bus themselves, trying to get other passengers off the bus, and trying to stop the explosion. But everything they do seems to still result in the ultimate end of the bus exploding.
I know some people might worry that a time loop story could feel repetitive, but I didn’t find this to be the case at all. Shi Qing and He Yun encounter a wide variety of situations. Sometimes it involved action on the bus itself as they tried to stop the explosion while other times they get themselves off of the bus and had to deal with the police. Spending time on the bus as well as at the police station helped keep things varied.
I thought the drama was interesting right from the get go, but it especially picks up after the first couple of episodes, and the suspense doesn’t let up. The drama is paced very well as Shi Qing and He Yun collect clues and try to work out the cause of the explosion and how to stop it.
We also get to explore the stories of the passengers on the bus. There are some very heartfelt stories as we learn of each of the passengers’ struggles and what brought them to the bus that day. This also helped to change up the setting and bring other characters into the drama more concretely.
But I most enjoyed just watching Shi Qing and He Yun on their journey. They go through an incredibly intense and difficult experience. An experience that draws them closer together as they only have each other to rely on. I loved seeing their bond develop.
They deal with a lot of struggle and heartache, but they do find moments to step back, take a break, and connect with each other. This duo’s relationship is at the center of the drama, and there is a bit of romance that develops towards the end, but it is a slow burn as they have a lot to deal with just trying to survive.
I liked how the drama incorporated the police into the story, and we get a nice case where the police are actually fairly competent. It was interesting seeing the different ways they responded to the bus explosion and how their interactions with Shi Qing and He Yun changed. And Zhang Cheng was especially great as our main officer dealing with this challenging case.
One thing that is always a concern with any story that deals with time is wondering if it will get too far-fetched or try to do too much. Luckily, I feel like Reset remained steady in its writing. It didn’t try to do too much, and it didn’t go off the rails. It stuck with its plan in a fairly straightforward way, but it was still able to deliver a few twists and turns in a very engaging way. I really appreciate how difficult it is for stories involving time to pull this off, and I think Reset did it wonderfully.
Overall, Reset is an engaging and suspenseful drama with great pacing, an intriguing mystery, and wonderful storytelling. It brings in plenty of heart as we get to know the characters and watch the relationships develop. It’s an exciting story with fun and thrills that I had a great time with.
My Rating: 8/10
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