At the core, Dead Talents Society can also be viewed as a typical underdog story. This is true even as you are introduced to The Rookie (Gingle Wang) whose antics are synonymous to her name. In an early scene, you see how she is literally is sidelined, while spending most of her time with her friend Camilla (Bai Jing-yi). The twist in the tale occurs when The Rookie undergoes an identity crisis in her alternate world, after her family discards the one little certificate of merit that she had attained while The Rookie was alive. This was also symbolic of the fact that The Rookie was an underachiever all her life, and that her future of remaining in the ghostly world depended on that little certificate of merit. And this is when a virtual take of a reality show takes shape – The Rookie must participate on a reality show on the lines of a talent show, with the talent being that of scaring people. And she has 30 days to prepare until she disappears for good.

The concept of a reality show in the ghostly world adds to the campy humour in the drama while doubling up as a searing commentary on peer pressure. Yes, this remains an underdog story that resembles a reality show contestant who literally gets a ticket with a sob story. Unfortunately for the protagonist, it is just the talent of scaring people that is of utmost importance, something that she completely fails at. Her failure is directly linked to her self-confidence of being an underachiever all her life, that never fully allows her to bloom. But fortunately for her, she stumbles upon Makoto (Chen Bolin) who wishes to train her for the reality show before her time runs up. And this is also where the character dynamics play an important part. It is Catherine who remains a lurking shadow in the group of misfits, actively looking for a protege after her fiasco with Jessica. The game of one-upmanship between Catherine and Jessica is the sole reason for the former to invest her time in The Rookie, even while the protagonist repeatedly fails at her tasks during her ‘probation’ period.

In many ways, the entire setup of the second act can be extended to a more corporate setting wherein freshers are literally trained on their jobs. Much is the case with the protagonist who is active trained by Makoto, despite repeatedly failing that results in a lot of humour. In a particular sequence, the protagonist is tasked with scaring the daylights out of a couple residing at a hotel room, that leads to a lot of laughs even as the writing deconstructs the basic fundamentals of a horror setting, while inculcating bouts of humour along the way. Meanwhile, the politics of the land of the ghostly influencers also plays an important part in adding texture to the drama while contributing well to the fabric of storytelling. Also, the presence of a supreme leader is a direct take on fascism and dictatorship that is prevalent in many countries across the globe (some in the name of democracy).

The one ingredient that ties the narrative together while looking beyond the campy and eccentric humour in the narrative, is the emotional quotient in the drama. There is a little backstory for Makoto and particularly the protagonist, that adds to the emotional connect in the drama as well as the characters. For The Rookie, it was mostly related to achieving something in her (after)-life before becoming irrelevant (read : disappearing). And this fundamental plot-point is used in a wonderful final act that plays out like a competition between two factions, while summing up to be a culmination of an underdog story. The humour did shine through but so did the underlying layer of emotions that made the screenplay, an absolute winner. And the ‘childhood’ montages at the end did put a smile on my face too!