Reset (Chinese TV series)

Reset is a 2022 Chinese time-travel whodunit television series based on a novel by Qidaojun directed by Sun Molong and Liu Hongyuan. It tells the story of a college student Li Shiqing (Zhao Jinmai) and a video game designer Xiao Heyun (Bai Jingting) who are trapped in a time loop on a soon-to-explode bus. The drama premiered on Tencent Video on January 11, 2022.

The show was a critical and commercial success. In September 2023, producer Hou Hongliang and writer Qidaojun announced an upcoming companion series titled Restart (开启).

Plot
University student Li Shiqing is riding a local bus on Route 45 when she is caught in a time loop, whereby the loop repeats every time the bus explodes and kills all passengers on board. In one loop Li Shiqing drags fellow passenger Xiao Heyun, a game designer, off the bus before the explosion happens, and this brings him into the time loop with her. The pair are able to disembark from the bus and avoid dying, but the loop still repeats when they fall asleep. They decide that they may have to save everyone on the bus, and work together to investigate the passengers and identify the bomber.

During their investigation, Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun gain appreciation and sympathy for their fellow passengers who come from various walks of life, and whose appearances can be deceiving. In some loops, Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun encounter the police, primarily Deputy Captain Zhang Cheng who is helpful but notices their odd behavior. Although Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun are detained by the police in some loops, they are also able to get information from the police in these encounters.

The pair eventually learn that the bomber is elderly lady Tao Yinghong, and her accomplice is the bus driver, Wang Xingde. Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun use their accumulated knowledge from previous loops to direct the police's investigation, and so discover that Tao Yinghong and Wang Xingde are married, and that they are enacting revenge for the death of their only daughter, Wang Mengmeng. Five years prior, Wang Mengmeng was riding a bus on Route 45 when she demanded to disembark at an unsafe point on the bridge, and upon stepping out of the bus was hit and killed by a truck. Tao Yinghong was dissatisfied that the police closed the case, believing that Wang Mengmeng had good reason to demand to be let off the bus. Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun discover that Wang Mengmeng was sexually assaulted on the bus and demanded to be let out to get away from her assailant.

When the final loop starts, Li Shiqing immediately contacts Zhang Cheng to notify him about the bomb, enabling the police to set up a road block to stop the bus on the bridge. Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun also work together with the other passengers to restrain Tao Yinghong and get her away from the bomb, and talk down Wang Xingde by revealing what they know about Wang Mengmeng's death. They are successful, and Zhang Cheng throws the bomb off the bridge, allowing it to explode in the river. Afterward, the police arrest Wang Mengmeng's assailant, and Li Shiqing and Xiao Heyun, now a couple, pay their respects to Wang Mengmeng.

Bus No. 45
No. 45 bus license plate number - Jia A77651.

Release
The drama premiered on Tencent Video on January 11, 2022. It was released in China on LINE TV the same day, and later on Viki. It was released in Thailand on TrueID, in Korea on Asia N, A+Drama, in Hong Kong on MyTV SUPER, and on in the China, Singapore, Vietnam, Malaysia, and Brunei.

The first episode aired on Tencent Video on 11 January 2022; by 23 January 2022 its first 13 episodes had surpassed 1 billion total views on the platform. In Taiwan the first episode debuted on 12 January 2022 on Line TV. In Thailand the series began airing on 19 January 2022 on TrueID.

Reception
Its popularity has led to much discussion in China on social topics such as social responsibility and cyberbullying. International reception has also been overwhelmingly positive. It has a score of 7.9 (610k) on Douban and 8.1 on IMDb.