Drifting Away is a crime thriller drama produced by iQiyi, , Good Friends Pictures, and Paihaoxi Pictures, directed by Cao Kai, written and supervised by Chen Ping, starring , Wang Qianyuan and Zhao Jinmai with special appearances by Ren Zhong, Wang Jiajia, and Zong Juntao. The drama is adapted from Chen Ping's novel of the same name,. and premiered on iQiyi's on January 17, 2025.
The drama tells the story of police captain Peng Zhaolin ( played by Guo Jingfei ), who missed a crucial opportunity to apprehend suspect Deng Ligang (played by Wang Qianyuan ) ten years ago, allowing Deng to escape. Deng then vanished without a trace, leaving Peng Zhaolin filled with remorse and relentlessly pursuing him. Ten years later, Deng commits another crime, prompting Peng Zhaolin to reopen the investigation. Meanwhile, Zhen Zhen ( played by Zhao Jinmai ), who had previously been kidnapped and escaped by Deng Ligang, becomes a police officer and joins the hunt. Peng Zhaolin leads his team in a battle of wits and courage against the cunning and ruthless Deng Ligang and his criminal gang, overcoming numerous obstacles on their path to truth and justice, determined to bring the criminals to justice, uncover the truth, and deliver vindication to the victims.
as Peng Zhaolin
Wang Qianyuan as Deng Ligang
Zhao Jinmai as Zhen Zhen
Ren Zhong as Shi Bi
Wang Jiajia as Song Hongyu
Zong Juntao as Ji Dashun
The filming of the drama was announced to begin on February 28, 2024, and was announced to have wrapped up on April 18 of the same year.
Wang Meng, a former reporter for Southern Metropolis Daily, accused the drama of plagiarizing his in-depth report "Bleaching" published in Southern Metropolis Daily in 2012. He pointed out that there were 17 instances of plagiarism in the original novel and that the drama's creative team did not contact him or Southern Metropolis Daily in advance. Chen Ping, the author of the original novel, responded by denying the plagiarism accusation. Chen Ping said that the novel's content came from his interviews with the investigators and parties involved in the "Yang Shubin gang 911 murder and dismemberment case". The "Bleaching" production team responded that the film and television adaptation rights were purchased from Chen Ping's novel of the same name. The contract signed by both parties stipulated that Chen Ping would bear the corresponding responsibility for any disputes arising from the original novel. The production team called on and actively promoted full communication and proper resolution among all parties involved.
The promotion of the drama was questioned for its entertainment of crime, and the adaptation of the original case information and characters was accused of whitewashing criminals and hurting the feelings of victims.
On February 22, 2025, a two-minute video of the filming of the drama was leaked online. The poster questioned whether the filming vehicle had run over the head of a female stunt double, causing her injury, which drew public attention to the safety of the actress involved. A Weibo user who claimed to be the producer of the drama posted that "It is normal for accidents to happen during filming, don't stir up trouble" and was criticized by netizens. Shortly afterward, the account deleted the relevant content of the drama. On the afternoon of the 22nd, the Weibo user who claimed to be the stunt double and the drama crew responded on Weibo, saying that the situation on the scene was that the actress had abrasions on her arm, no head collision or injury, and was fine