White War (2020)

Awesome crime drama

White War was one of the best dramas I have seen. I watch a lot of crime dramas, so I can usually predict plotlines, but I didn't find White War to be that predictable. There were some parts that were really cliché, but there were also some really unexpected plot twists. I really loved the relationship between the three friends, which was a driving force for much of the plot. I liked how it showed that they valued their friendship so much that no matter how rough things got they would still not betray each other. I also thought the acting was really good, especially Bosco Wong. He did a fantastic job playing a really complicated character like Turbo. It was so hard to tell whether he was actually good or bad throughout the show. Overall all the characters were really 3-dimensional and interesting.

My main issue with the drama was that in the beginning it was super obvious that Turbo was an undercover cop, since he was still hanging out with his police friends and no one in the gang happened to see them which was kind of unbelievable. Also for the most part the plot and character development made sense, but there were some bits that felt a bit discontinuous to me. I did like that the plot wasn't rushed and didn't feel like it dragged on a lot either. Overall this didn't take away from my enjoyment of the show and I still enjoyed it a lot. I definitely recommend this!

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Decent Cop Drama (slightly generic/predictable)

Music: Pretty good music, but I didn't really pay attention to it (there is a comment that lists out all the music from the drama!)

Cast: Basically started watching this for the cast and because it is on YouTube (free with ads, just search up "White War"). I just finished Flying Tigers not too long ago and wanted some more on-screen collaboration between Ron Ng and Bosco Wong. I grew up watching their series, so it's always a treat to see them on screen! Gallen Lo once again reminded how great of an actor he is! Even though he was an evil villain, his emotional scenes were so good that I had to remind myself to not feel bad for him lol. I also liked the actor who played 太子, I've seen him in older dramas, seeing him again reminded me how time has flown by (all the TVB actors I grew up watching have also aged too :'(). His acting is pretty good, but I don't think he has had much main roles, but he played his role well.

Plot: Honestly, an easier to follow plot than the Flying Tigers (2019 one) that I just finished. I think this plot was better. It is still a pretty predictable cop drama, but there was enough happening to keep me interested for most episodes. Honestly one of the better plots for a cop drama. There are multiple bosses, and Turbo's rise to the top didn't come off as too fabricated. Bosco's acting did convince me at some points that maybe he did give in to the dark side, so did Kenny Kwan's acting. I think the plot was pretty good because it wasn't too cheesy and unrealistic. A good cop did get put to jail because of the law and technology being used for evil. There were good people who had to do bad things because of their situation. I also like Gallen Lo's character, but I wish the drama developed him some more instead of splitting the series villain between him and the Doctor. I became more interested in his character when he broke down in the end, because there really are people in the world who think that they can own other people if they have enough money. I think he made a good villain because of his interaction with Jessie-- it really showed how much of a psychopath he was. The strongest point of the plot is the three brother's relationship. Ron's character does a good job at reinforcing the white/absolute justice viewpoint, Kenny's character does a good job of showing how the lines between good and bad can be blurred, and Bosco's character dances between the line of gray and black. Although I mostly found the character Carman to be annoying, I do have to commend her personality. She is a strong, independent woman who has a strong moral compass but is still compassionate. In cop dramas, we often are told to sympathize for characters through the lens of the traditional criminal justice system-- if they break the law, they are bad. But Carman's character reminds the audience to also be a compassionate person and makes us question how should we judge a friend. A good amount of other characters also remind us of this, but I think the obvious portrayal of this is when Carman refuses to leave Jessie despite finding out about her criminal activities. She doesn't help Jessie, but stays as a friend. This contrasts with the three brother's relationship, where they view helping a friend as stopping them from committing crimes (although do note that the 3 guys are cops, so they have other positions to consider). In the end, I'm glad that the the three brothers can still remain buddies and have a happy ending (no one dies, they are all good guys again).

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