On the evening of February 1, 2023’s first hit drama "Hurricane" ushered in the finale of iQIYI. In the play, Gao Qiqiang finally pleaded guilty and was sentenced to death according to law. The reporter noticed that Gao Qiqiang’s crimes listed in the court were as many as 11, including the crime of organizing and leading a mafia organization, the crime of intentional homicide, the crime of intentional injury, the crime of kidnapping, the crime of arson, the crime of picking quarrels and provoking trouble, the crime of illegal business operation, the crime of forced trading, the crime of organizing prostitution, the crime of opening a casino, and the crime of offering bribes. At the end, Gao Qiqiang and An Xin, who was full of white hair, were separated by iron windows. An Xin said the scene of "how many ifs" in the face of Gao Qiqiang’s assumptions, which made many viewers sigh.
752,000 added Sun Tzu’s Art of War to the bookshelf
This Spring Festival, "Hurricane" undoubtedly became the biggest winner in the drama market. The reporter observed that on multiple data monitoring platforms such as Kuyun and Yunhe, "Hurricane" led the way with more than half of the market share, far outpacing the episodes being broadcast at the same time.
In iQIYI, "Hurricane" broke the iQIYI historical heat record with 11,000 popularity, surpassing the previous results maintained by "Fatty Son-in-law", "Human World" and "Canglan Jue" in one fell swoop.
The drama became popular, making the starring cast even more "familiar" among the audience.
The reporter observed that in addition to Zhang Yi and Zhang Songwen harvesting a lot of discussion heat, Gao Ye (played by Chen Shuting), Li Jian (played by Li Xiang), and Jia Bing (played by Xu Jiang) were surprising, even Su Xiaoding (played by Gao Qisheng), Lin Jiachuan (played by Tang Xiaolong), Aruna (played by Li Hongwei), Sun Yan (played by Tang Xiaohu), and Feng Bing (played by Lao Mo) of the "villain cloud apology" rushed to the hot search…
Judging from the popularity of the public, the hot search entry "Spring Festival return high-speed rail is all crazy", and the hot search "Sun Honglei of Qiangsheng Group", which has been searched for a few days just because of the same name, have all become evidence of the explosion of the drama.
The series even brought Gao Qiqiang’s "pillow book" "The Art of War". On the QQ reading platform, more than 752,000 people have added various versions of "The Art of War" to the bookshelf, and QQ Reading’s "Gao Qiqiang’s book list of the same style" – "The Art of War" and "Dream of Red Mansions" reading volume rose by 12%.
The explosion of "Hurricane" is partly due to the drama’s portrayal of a flesh-and-blood villain – Gao Qiqiang played by Zhang Songwen.
In interviews with reporters, multiple audience members mentioned that the best part of the show is that it is written "not completely opposite good or bad, with more reality."
The character is not "black and white", and this success is of course the first reason for Gao Qiqiang’s characterization: he is the boss of the underworld who dominates the party without evil, but his experience of growing from an honest and dutiful fishmonger to a "big boss", as well as his character who is always wrapped in family love, and his many encounters with An Xin, are the sources of the popularity of "Hurricane".
Complex human nature is not only reflected in the portrayal of villains. Li Xiang, the captain of the criminal police team in "Hurricane", who is ultimately "unpalatable", has to walk between black and white because of the weakness of human nature, and finally keeps his beliefs and realizes the highlight of life, which makes many respondents forget.
On the other hand, the explosion of "Hurricane" also stems from the creator’s powerful breakthrough in "scale" within the framework of "proposition composition".
Part of the breakthrough came from the portrayal of villains, and on the other hand, under the theme of "sweeping black and evil", it confronted the "umbrella company" problem that also exists in the real world. From Gong Kaijiang to Zhao Lidong, from Cao Chuang, Li Xiang to Zhang Biao, why can "Gao Qiqiang" do whatever they want? "Hurricane" tore a corner.
However, due to the cuts in the later plot and the changes in the lines, the watercress score of "Hurricane" has dropped from the highest 9.1 to 9.0. In the interview, many viewers also mentioned that the current watercress score of "Hurricane" is a bit similar to that of "Menghualu" last summer. "This drama is definitely wonderful, but if the passing score is 6, then 9 is still an inflated score."
The score was "inflated", of course, because the audience had "ideas" about the setting of some of the plots of "Hurricane".
In an interview, "Young", who followed the drama throughout, mentioned that the story of "Hurricane" has obvious flaws in logic, especially the growth path of Gao Qiqiang’s boss, "more like a cool drama where the protagonist is omnipotent."
At the same time, she focused on criticizing the character of the protagonist An Xin, "Not only has the character not grown up, but also lacks the most basic feeling of being close to real life. At a serious point, it is’floating ‘." She even mentioned that in terms of the setting of the plot, "An Xin is more like the sexual transformation of the female lead of an idol drama Silly White Sweet (Note: Internet language, gender conversion)."
In addition to the above, the popularity caused by "Hurricane" has also attracted more attention from the broadcast platform iQIYI.
On February 1, iQIYI was sued by a user in Guangdong for restricting screen projection. At present, iQIYI limits the screen projection clarity of gold VIP members to 480P, which in the user’s view is "unilateral modification of the contract terms, constituting a breach of contract".
(The picture shows the relevant public materials of "Hurricane")
