Yes, I made it through this mark and I think I should discuss a certain matter before I blow up with people’s stupidity OR the messed up way everything seemed to be in here. I was expecting much more, considering how the cast seemed strong. However, it just got worse and worse because they wanted to sacrifice everything for dramatic purposes that it was beyond pathetic. I’ll save the rest for later but I would like to discuss the whole idea of blaming Gigi Wong’s character, Hui Zhan Yan, for the death of Maggie Chan’s character, Wai Cheung Ping. Honestly? That was a low tactic. Though I admit that by telling Cheung Ping what actually happened that it drove her to commit suicide, but seriously, Cheung Ping did commit the crime, NOT like Zhan Yan influenced her to do it OR had anything to do with it in the first place. What the world was that? Making Zhan Yan a scapegoat for all the men’s terrible choices and/or decisions in here? Or like making Cheung Ping such a pitiful character to seek brownie points?
Okay, so Cheung Ping was dumped by Wah Man Hang so she was devastated and went and married some guy. But she started over (or supposedly later) and loved that guy for real YET he found out the reason behind her marrying him and went ballistic, taking it to the worse (aka abusing her). I think any man would be upset IF he found out that reason. (Some man eventually got over it but others don’t–and that was the case in here.) I DO NOT, let me repeat that, I DO NOT approve of the abusing going on. Just because he was hurt DID NOT mean he could inflict pain on her. I also understand why she was driven to insanity and eventually killed him. YET I found it messed up that the others were blaming Zhan Yan when she was trying to tell the truth of what actually happened. Cheung Ping–whether OR not she intended to start her life over–made a decision, SO she was responsible for her actions too. The consequences she had to face was brutal for her, BUT she still made those choices. AND then she just had to go kill herself since she was such a coward AND did not want to face the consequences of imprisonment (or worse). Therefore, Zhan Yan got hated on–at least only from Man Hang at this point (since the others did not know yet). (And yes, I do know that Cheung Ping did not blame anyone and felt really guilty for her crime SO she could not live with herself, considering how she killed the father of her child. BUT I still hated that it eventually became the reason for others to blame Zhan Yan.)
What was Zhan Yan supposed to do? Perhaps she should not have told it in that way OR perhaps try to find some other ways like saying that Cheung Ping had killed in self-defense AND she would’ve gotten off (not really but might take on a lighter sentence than that). But I do not know of Canadian laws well so I cannot say for sure on this one. YET I have to defend Zhan Yan because she was so shocked that her husband wanted to break the laws in order to get Cheung Ping out of trouble. What IF he got caught? Was the other guy reliable? Zhan Yan DID NOT have time to think long. It seemed to portray that she was not as intelligent as various characters in here SO she did the only thing she thought reasonable AND that she knew of to protect her husband and her family. How was she supposed to know the outcome was like that? Again, just because a certain someone DID NOT have the bravery to face the consequences of his/her past and/or actions, it DID NOT mean that it was right for others to point a finger at someone else.
I find it even more beyond madness to even cast doubts and/or some guilt toward Zhan Yan just because she was married to Man Hang. He was the one who was responsible for causing grief toward different parties, NOT her. She never knew of Cheung Ping’s existence until recently. (OR so we were told so far since I’m only on episode 22 and I wouldn’t know if TVB would throw some twist in there BUT I doubt Zhan Yan knew Cheung Ping beforehand.) Why did they (the scriptwriters) make it like Zhan Yan was at fault for marrying Man Hang (aka being the third party)? (She was BUT she DID NOT know SO it wasn’t like she used dirty tricks to get to him AND wronged Cheung Ping.)
Now that I’m on Man Hang’s case, I just remember something else even dumber. The misunderstandings and/or rift between Mang Hang and Man Hung. It was pathetic that Man Hung was always so defensive and was pissed off at Man Hang and blaming Man Hang for everything. I agree that Man Hang had been responsible for breaking Cheung Ping’s heart AND how he went and decided stuff for them at times, BUT it was none of Man Hung’s business regarding Man Hang and Cheung Ping. I think the ultimate reason why there was a rift between their relationship in the first place was because of Man Hung’s unwilling to let go of the past AND it was more about the love and jealousy against Man Hang because of Cheung Ping than just the whole rant about “Man Hang deciding stuff for people.” Man Hung was still sore that Cheung Ping picked Man Hang over him. (I would NOT blame Cheung Ping in this case since she had the right to choose who she wanted to be with.)
What made it even more pathetic was Man Hang never making up his mind about what he wanted either. Yes, he was experiencing some past memories, etc. YET it was pathetic that he should blame his wife for making the move (or being unreasonable at times–which she was a bit overboard BUT I can’t blame her fully). He felt guilty for not being able to help Cheung Ping, but what was that? He made it like he would help anyone else IF it was the same situation BUT it seemed to imply otherwise. It was pathetic to doubt him since he really cared for the current family, BUT I find it pathetic that he shoved part of the fault to his wife too. IF he loved Cheung Ping soooo much, why did he sacrifice her back then AND now want to make up for it? IF he already made his decision, then MOVE ON. Or perhaps he was using his anger to mask for his own guilt. Whatever.
I’ll save the obstacles of the younger generation for some other time. Since I think it’s enough rants for this time.
Yes, a lot of rhetorical questions indeed, LOL. They never learn. YET I know someone who actually enjoys this and watch it like twice or more already. I was like “OKAY”. I might watch some parts again BUT sit through 60 eps for that same junk again? NO thanks.
Hi there!
First of all, I must say, great analysis! But you know how I feel about this series, so I will try to keep my comments “tame” (plus didn’t want to get myself all worked up AGAIN over this stupid series).
Anyway, I totally agree with every one of your points. I felt that the whole storyline involving the older generation (Damian, Gigi, Maggie, Liaojingsheng, etc.) was extremely lame — like you said, why does Gigi have to be the scapegoat for other people’s stupidities? Not that I liked her character in the first place, since she’s a bit too “over the top” for me with some of her actions — but that does not mean that she should be blamed for someone deciding to take their own life (especially if she was speaking the truth).
Maggie’s character was way too weak and cowardly — I mean, yes, she felt guilty and didn’t blame anyone, but why not stand up to the consequences rather than taking the “easy” way out? Not to mention the effect that her death had on her daughter and the subsequent storyline involving the younger generation (which was also pitifully lame, but I’ll save those comments for later).
As for Damian — well, I was disappointed…not in his acting of course (he’s still and always will be an awesome actor), but rather in his character — some of the things that he does are very irrational and senseless — like he is not thinking about the consequences of his actions and just brazenly doing things based on emotion. I’ve liked most of the characters that Damian has played in the past, but I absolutely did not like his character in this series…
With regard to Liao Jing Sheng — well, first of all, I do not follow China entertainment at all, so when I first saw him in this series, I had absolutely no clue who he was. But I guess that didn’t matter because I didn’t like his character either — I mean, what exactly was the point of having his character there? Just so they (TVB and the producers) can have enough mainland artists in the series to fulfill the “quota”? (Well, they are collaborating with mainland China after all, so I’m not surprised if this is truly the reason)….
Also worth mentioning is how much this section dragged…I mean, did they REALLY need to dedicate 20+ episodes to this particular storyline??? I got sooo bored with some of the scenes that I actually fell asleep watching at certain points (which is rare for me)…they should have just shortened it, got to the point, and moved on!
I totally agree with you on the drag of the series thus far. I was like “MOVE ON ALREADY!” since I know they could squeeze something like that into 3 episodes regarding the older generation. Then do something else for the young generation and still end at around 30 (IF they must have all the cast) BUT it could be less. It was extremely tempting my patience but since I got started, I had to see where it was going so I told you I have to watch in bits and pieces.
I did not like Gigi’s character either BUT like I mentioned, I felt that she should not be blamed for this one. It was like since they already hated her, it was all right to pin this one on her too.
AND what in the world happened to the whole idea behind the ‘car’ thing. It was like they were slamming in too much stuffs for the ‘love’ thing that they forgot about the ‘car’ theme. I know some of the stories in here imply the ‘car’ thing with everything going hence ‘the drive of life’ BUT I could not stand the drag.
And yes, I’m saving the stuffs with younger generation for next time as well since I have separate posts regarding that.
Ok..will make it short, since don’t want to sound too repetitive.
The episode thing annoyed me to no end. Either the management at TVB are so dense that they are not able to put two and two together, or they are just extremely greedy….I mean, haven’t they learned by now that alot of episodes does NOT translate to good ratings — even if you put in an all star cast??? Well, that’s a rhetorical question I guess, since TVB continues to produce series that are LONG (I’m talking more than 40 episodes), dragged out, and full of “fillers”….and the most annoying thing is that they try to stick most of the veterans and high caliber artists in these series in the hopes that they would be able to pull in high ratings. Seriously, does TVB think that we are going to just look at the ‘pretty faces’ and ignore the fact that the series has a sucky script, is way too long (to the point that people fall asleep) and does not make one iota of sense?????