Sparrow (TV series)
Sparrow (Chinese: 麻雀) is a 2016 Chinese television series based on the novel of the same name by Hai Fei (海飞), starring Li Yifeng as the title character. It aired on Hunan TV from 5 September to 20 October 2016. Plot. Synopsis. Set in the 1940s during Shanghai's revolutionary times, communist agent Chen Shen infiltrates the Japanese' base and adopts the code name "Sparrow". His mission is to obtain the "zero" intel, a secret plan that could destroy China. To do so, he becomes the assistant of Bi Zhongliang, the leader of the Special Operations Team  under the Public Security Bureau. Plot Summary. In March 1940, the Collaborationist Wang Government was announced. The invading Japanese army hunted down Anti-Japanese in Shanghai, and the puppet government set up a "special operations department" headed by Bi Zhongliang (played by Zhang Luyi), a former National Revolutionary Army officer. Chen Shen ( Li Yifeng ), a CCP member codenamed "Sparrow" who has been lurking beside Bi Zhongliang, lost contact with the other communist agents. In the perilous situation where the tiger is watching the wolf, Chen Shen pretends to be an unruly prodigal who gambles within the Shanghai bund and rolls  among women, but in fact he has a firm belief and risks his life to rescue "prime minister" ( played by Li Xiaoran ) and other Anti-Japanese. Bi Zhongliang is cunning, and has suspicions on his "brother", the life-saving benefactor, Chen Shen. Because the "prime minister" is his brother's wife and sister-in-law, he desperately wants to rescue the prime minister, but things backfired. After the sacrifice of the prime minister, Chen Shen finally found a new "doctor" and was ordered to get the important battle plan of the Japanese army code-named "Return to Zero". Chen Shen 's former lover Xu Bicheng (played by Zhou Dongyu ), the two had a master-apprentice relationship at the Whampoa Military Academy. Xu and another Kuomintang intelligence officer, Tang Shanhai (played by Zhang Ruoyun), pretended to be husband and wife and sneaked into the special operations office. At this time, they also received information from the military. Ordered to get the return to zero plan, which is a plan by the Japanese army to lurk undercover in the military and the CCP, so that after the war ends, they can continue to serve the Japanese. Because of her personality, Xu Bicheng  is not suitable for being a spy, and is always emotional, causing trouble to Chen Shen in many of her actions. Chen Shen, who is very clever, in the midst of a series of murders, cleverly exploits the subtle gaps in the Japanese, Wang Jingwei's puppet government and other factions, and won repeated victories, so that Bi Zhongliang and his superiors do not suspect that they are undercover. However, Su Sansheng ( Yin Zheng ), where Juntong had betrayed, he was given information from the Special Operations Department, Juntong's assassination team, the Hurricane Team, and almost all of Juntong's  forces in Shanghai were wiped out. Su Sansheng loves Li Xiaonan (played by Kan Qingzi ), but Li Xiaonan is in love with Chen Shen. Su Sansheng actively wants to kill Chen Shen, Tang Shanhai, and Xu Bicheng, believing that they are the undercover CCP "Sparrow" and the military undercover "Shudihuang". It also paid a huge price. Chen Shen finally succeeded in obtaining the "return to zero" plan, which was hidden in Bi Zhongliang's house . The ending is intriguing. Even though Xu Bicheng saved Chen Shen, she didn’t go to Yan’an in order to meet Chen Shen. However Chen  Shen didn’t meet Xu Bicheng in Shanghai because he faked death. Reception. "Sparrow" received critical acclaim for its tightly-woven plot and acting performance, particularly Li Yifeng's. It became the highest rated spy drama to date with a peak rating of 2.46, and also the first spy drama to surpass 10 billion views.