I wish I could say that this was one of the better TVB series but with a lame title. Regretfully, this one had both–the title and lame plots. I must admit I was curious after reading some comparisons between this and The Brink of Law and how people say that there were similarities between both. However, I honestly think that The Brink of Law was ten times better–even if they managed to kill off half of the cast. This one was too messed up and gift wrapped toward the end. Although I must admit they wrapped it well with some plots intertwining to catch John Chiang’s character, it was not a satisfactory series with so many loops and stupidity in here. Sounds judgmental to death but I felt like morality was not even clear in here or no one had any, to begin with.
Likes:
- Felix Lok as Ng Gam Kuen. He was the only one I actually liked in here among the cast that had anything to do with the whole plot. He was loyal to the father (Lau Dan) and was doing his best to help but would always worry to death while others were doing stupid things.
- Lawrence Ng as Koo Ka Hyun. The kid was so cute and had a lot of potentials. His acting was great.
- Lo Hoi Pang as Martin’s father. I think his parts were the most fun in the series since he played tricks on people so much. His attempted plot was a bit funny and his bond with his son was really touching too. Some parts with his disciple were fun while others memorable to watch.
Dislikes:
- The fact that Kit (Ron) and Hoi Sum (Ella) ended up together. I think Hoi Sum loved to torture herself or something since he was the one who did not know what he wanted or both or whatever. But she kept wanting to hurt herself by doing that. Kit was also an idiot and a rash person throughout. Nothing was significant about him from the beginning to the end. He was also so hot-headed and did not listen to anyone. Yes, he eventually learned but it just made their relationship a joke that he was firm or stubborn with a lot of his principles but was not able to resist temptation thus going with Chloe (Elaine). Using Hacken’s song “Never Change In This Lifetime” as Hoi Sum and Kit’s song was a big insult to the song. Honestly, if he was that loyal, he would’ve more self-control.
- Chloe (Elaine) and Mark (Derek) ended up together. WHAT?! Another dumb pairing and was too gift wrapped. Not saying that he did not deserve happiness but HER? Seriously? There were no other girls in the whole wide world? These people seriously forgave too easily or were just looking for self-torture. She no longer had anyone to rely on, that was why she chose him in the first place. NOT convinced that she was turning good. It was just that she needed someone to lean on since she had no other hope after what happened to her father.
- Everyone kept jumping back and forth. I swear the Wong family was so wishy-washy. They kept shifting focus and all, especially fighting with their uncle and then coming back to let him use them some more.
Things that I DIDN’T LIKE but could accept:
- Martin (Joe) and Becky (Kenix) ending up together. If we were keeping score, she lied to him right from the start–to which he just ignored it most of the time because he was interested in her. Okay, so he used some techniques to test her later but that was just to see if she was lying to him or not. So it was okay that she lied and deceived him BUT it was not okay that he tested her? GREAT. But still, it was acceptable to a level because it was all confusing and how she wanted to have enough money for her aunt’s surgery. But still…it was quite a low attempt with using her son to bait Martin.
Who got robbed:
- Raymond Cho. It was a shame that he only appeared a bit and he was one of those with great potential and it was too bad that he did not rise as much back then. It was until recently that he got more focused but still did not make up for anything. It was because those other ‘supposed’ handsome faces that kept hogging the screen that made him lose out on opportunities. He’s quite good-looking actually and with potential also. Not to mention, he did sing the song better than someone else.
- Nancy Wu. Seriously, I loved Maria more than the rest of the main cast in here. None of the girls in here could live up to Nancy’s fiber, except for let’s say, Kenix Kwok. Too bad.
- Tsui Wing. It was funny how I didn’t notice him until I watched Off Pedder but I must say he’d gone a long way. It was a shame he could not rise in the earlier series.
- Other potential cast. I think most of the bearable cast or the great characters were actually the supporting ones instead of the main cast.
So, overall, who got the most out of this drama? I swear it was Hacken Lee since they used some of his songs for the series. I had a feeling they were boosting him (which was well deserved) but other than that, this series tried to set all the hype around the characters but failed to deliver with an exact goal as an overall. It was a bunch of randomnesses thrown together. I could only feel that the ones who appeared a little were the more decent characters than the main cast combined.
Posted (on Xanga): September 11, 2009
Re-posted: Friday, April 2nd, 2010