Stream It Or Skip It: ‘Taiwan Crime Stories’ On Hulu, An Anthology Drama Based On Real Cases

Taiwan Crime Stories is a 12-episode anthology series that dramatizes four real-life crimes that have happened in the country over the years. Each case spans 3 episodes, and, as you might expect, parts of the story are fictionalized, hence the “based on real events” disclaimer at the beginning of each episode.

TAIWAN CRIME STORIES: STREAM IT OR SKIP IT?

Opening Shot: A closeup of a lighter being lit, and the flame lighting the end of a cigarette.

The Gist: A series of train derailments have been taking place in Taiwan in the mid-to-late 1990s. A news report says that the derailments are purposely caused by a “railroad geek.”

Insurance investigator Wen Qing Qiu (Allison Lin) has been looking into these derailments in order to make sure the claims that are related to it are legitimate. At home, things between her and her husband, Yan Jie Zhao (Ming-Shuai Shih), have been icy, which is brought home when an old friend, Chen Lang Yu (Rhydian Vaughan) comes back to Taiwan from a stint in the U.S. He’s taking a job as an investigating proscecutor.

Yan Jie tells Wen Quing that he’s going on a business trip, and we see him outside the train station, getting a lighter from a stranger. Then we cut to Wen Quing getting a phone call that his train has derailed and he’s in critical condition. When she runs to the hospital, she sees the sons of one of the other injured victims — Xue Wen Lin (Po-Yu Shih) and Xue Ching Lin (Simon Hsueh). When Xue Wen goes into his father’s room, suddenly the dad flatlines and dies.

Chen Lang tells Wen Quing that he feels that the derailment wasn’t an accident, based on the fact that the sales director from Wen Quing’s company came to visit the victim that died. He asks her to provide the victim’s insurance records, and sure enough, it shows that the man, who was heavily in debt, took out a number of insurance policies in the months before he died, all of which list Xue Wen as a beneficiary.

Chen Lang suspects that Xue Wen, a former track worker, sabotaged the tracks and somehow timed it so that he wouldn’t get hurt during the derailment, despite being on the train with his dad. When he hears that the brothers are arranging a quick cremation for their dad, he runs to interrupt it. Questioning the brothers gets him nowhere, but he orders an autopsy to help get him proof.

Xue Ching, though, finds out that his brother had been borrowing money from the “underground bank” to help their dad. Xue Wen immediately becomes a suspect.

What Shows Will It Remind You Of? The anthology format of Taiwan Crime Stories reminds us of American Crime, with the caveat that one season of this show covers 4 cases instead of just one.

Our Take: We were surprised to see the names of Ron Howard and Brian Grazer in the opening credits for Taiwan Crime Stories, but the fact that Imagine Entertainment is one of the production companies behind the series explains why the structure and beats feel closer to something we’d see in the U.S. or maybe the U.K.

The three-episode arcs that explore each case gives the show’s writers and directors time to dig into the people involved in the case, from the suspects to the investigators, and sus out what the motives of the crimes were, instead of just having the key investigator come up with the motive out of thin air. But it also gives the writers time to bring out some personal stories of the people involved with the case.

It helps us to know, for instance, that Wen Quing’s marriage is shakier than even she realizes, which is revealed when she finds divorce papers signed by Yan Jie. Since he’s still in a coma at the end of the first episode, it’ll be interesting to see how this is germane to either the derailment case or how Wen Quing investigates it.

The first episode has fine performances from its two main stars, Vaughn and Lin, and that helps when some of the twists and turns feel like shortcuts. We’re not quite sure about Lang Yu’s backstory, for instance, but he seems to have good instincts. It helps that Vaughn plays him as a guy who has obvious flaws but wants to do the right thing.

Sex and Skin: None.

Parting Shot: Wen Quing finds the divorce agreement and looks in the mirror, wondering just why it exists.

Sleeper Star: Simon Hsueh as Xue Ching is the choice here, because he plays a seemingly tough, uncaring guy, but he seems to be a lot more emotional than his brother.

Most Pilot-y Line: Two cops stake out the brothers’ home, waiting for Xiu Wen to come out. There’s a strange bit of comic relief when one of the cops makes noise sipping the last of his drink through a straw. As he’s admonished to be quiet, we wonder if these guys have ever been on a stakeout before.

Our Call: STREAM IT. Taiwan Crime Stories is a show that’s structured in a way where the writers and directors of the various arcs can take their time examining a particular case, without the pressure of having to pad out the stories into entire seasons.

Joel Keller (@joelkeller) writes about food, entertainment, parenting and tech, but he doesn’t kid himself: he’s a TV junkie. His writing has appeared in the New York Times, Slate, Salon, RollingStone.com, VanityFair.com, Fast Company and elsewhere.