> Western shows are all about the "you don't have to sacrifice anything to win" and Eastern shows are all about the "you're the chosen one" but this one was "the establishment is the establishment and most of the time it wins".

What's sorely missing is the very rare theme of "the establishment wins, and for a good reason, and it's actually a good thing".

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neaden 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

Isn't that basically every cop show for instance? Like an episode of Law and Order is this person does something bad, the establishment finds and punishes them hurray.

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elcritch 3 days ago | parent | next [-]

A favorite tidbit I learned years ago was that the Chinese invented Law and Order genre pretty much before anyone else. Very much an establishment wins genre.

Here’s the Google summary:

> Early Chinese detective stories, known as gong'an ("court case") fiction, emerged from oral tales and plays during the Song Dynasty (960-1127), featuring incorruptible magistrate-detectives like Bao Zheng (Judge Bao) and Di Renjie (Judge Dee) who used clever deduction, forensic logic, and sometimes supernatural elements to solve crimes.

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TeMPOraL a day ago | parent | prev | next [-]

Didn't watch Law and Order much (my wife is a fan though, so I'll ask).

Most of the cop shows/procedurals I saw have some kind of "corrupt mayor" arc as a substantial part of their plot, but I guess if you go one level up, it's still "the establishment wins". But then anything where civilization doesn't collapse would be that.

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Supermancho 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

LaO doesn't always follow that forumula. In some LaO the trial is botched or the law doesn't protect the victims or the perps escape justice due to political influence, et al.

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neaden 3 days ago | parent [-]

Still, cop shows generally are about the "the establishment wins, and for a good reason, and it's actually a good thing" which the other commentator said is a theme that is sorely missing.

	▲	kibwen 3 days ago \| parent [-]
		As is most any other show where the protagonist works for the government, e.g. James Bond or Ghost In The Shell.

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arjie 3 days ago | parent | prev | next [-]

SPOILER

There is actually a little bit of that in this. While the charismatic leader has some points about how the establishment has gotten weak and corrupt, overall it seems pretty par for the course. To be honest, it's better he didn't win. He was a bit demagoguey.

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krapp 3 days ago | parent | prev [-]

We just call that "propaganda."