Trigger warnings galore! Don't know if I should give TVB points for releasing a drama in 2000 that is daring or criticize them for the excessive depictions of physical AND sexual violence towards women and children in this show. Literally almost all of the cases in here portray abuse towards women and children. It's very graphic for a TVB show too. I would've loved some variety in the cases.
I'm on episode 11. I'm completely aware this show is from 2008 but the whole story line of Mei Yi (Lena Wong) getting pregnant by Stephen Wong's character and everyone, including Mei Yi puts ALL of the blame on Stephen Wong is gross. Stephen Wong agrees to accept responsibility and get married. The drama presents their relationship as sweet but I cannot agree. First of all, Stephen has never liked Mei Yi. It was definitely one-sided by Mei Yi. SHE slept with him while he was drunk and heartbroken; his crush literally just died. He was under the influence and could not consent. She ended up pregnant (but she couldn't use contraceptives when she was the one sober?) and put all the blame on him, telling him to bear responsibility. When he initially refused, she proclaimed that her only options were to either be a single-mom or a murderer (a murderer to what? a 1-2 month old zygote?) She seems very young, still in school, unemployed, and being supported by her family. I despise how this entire situation is treated by everyone as if Stephen Wong was the one at fault. Mei Yi is incredibly annoying: immature, bratty, entitled, and the acting is horrendous.
Yes! I agree there were barely any similarities between Nancy Wu and Sheren Tang from the previous dramas. They just held powerful positions in society, but the similarity stopped there. Nancy Wu felt like her own character, with her own traits and motivations. I think it's wrong for people to say she tried to copy Sheren's style as I didn't see that at all.
Overall, I enjoyed it. Can't compare this to the first 2 because those are GOAT dramas from TVB so comparing them to this feels pointless. The story was slow at times. I feel like Edwin Siu and Celina Harto could've been utilized more as villains. The story lacked interesting villains that made the first two so great. Edwin Siu's character was confusing. I think he should've had more interactions with the whole cast, instead of just Nancy Wu, which made his character feel so small. I was waiting for Celina Harto's character to wreak havoc but she just faded away. The story lacked tension and suspense. It tried but because villains were unexplored, the tension was lacking.
I completely disagree with people comparing Nancy Wu with Sheren Tang, saying that Nancy tried too much to copy Sheren's style. Did we watch the same show? They were not similar at all. Nancy felt more romantic, more soft-hearted, less commanding (not in a negative way). Sheren felt more ruthless, determined, and loud. They were two different characters. I feel bad for Nancy Wu when people said she tried too hard to be like Sheren. I didn't see that. Nancy's 7 Ye felt like a very original character, and I'm not even a big fan of Nancy. Best part of the show was Wayne Lai and Nancy Wu's acting, as expected.
This is my first time seeing Joey Law and boy, is he wooden. He's so unemotional. It's really obvious when he's with his love interests, Hera Chan and Celina Harto who were not great, but they were definitely trying harder.
The series was okay. Not great, but a good time-killer. 6/10
My favorite so far among TVB's resurgence of female-lead work politics and family drama series i.e. The Queen of News, Dark Side of the Moon, etc. Jessica Hsuan and Alice Chan are fantastic on screen. The series never slow down, and the characters are fun. Definitely recommend.
Zzzzz. Boring. What a snoozefest. Don't get mislead by the first episode or the poster, thinking this is some mystery thriller drama because it absolutely isn't. This show should also be added to the list of "TVB doesn't know how to write female characters" dramas because all the women in here are either dumb, despicable, annoying, or loud-mouthed.
Anita Yuen. This drama should be renamed "Anita Yuen meddles in Kristal Tin's life" because that's all she does in this show. She acts like she's Kristal Tin's mother, calling herself a "good friend" to justify the nosy business she gets into. She meddles in Kristal Tin's affair with Power Chan (ok, maybe I can look past that as she feels guilty for covering the affair for them) but then she meddles in Kristal Tin's relationship with her estranged mother. Her character as Zita has no life except judging and sticking her nose into Kristal Tin's business. I get she's coming from a good place, but as a result, all the character development is given to Kristal Tin. She personally has no character development besides getting better at selling insurance? It's really off-putting watching a 40 year-old woman manage another 40 year-old woman's life.
Zita looks haggard all the time, with the terrible haircut & apparel, hunched over back and dark circles under her eyes, which I get is befitting for her character as an ignorant, air-headed housewife but she is not compelling as the Female Lead aka. Main Character AT ALL. WHY WOULD ANYONE BE INTERESTED IN THIS TYPE OF MAIN CHARACTER?
Michael Miu. Boring. Does Michael Miu have a clause in his TVB contract that requires him to wear a suit in every drama he's in? Because I'm getting tired of it. He plays the typical "big brother" that all his friends idolizes/respects where he works in security/law enforcement that requires him to wear a suit, sunglasses, and bluetooth earbuds. He doesn't do much in here besides popping in to do security jobs here and there, and that arc where he mopes over his dead wife.
Michael Miu and Anita Yuen have absolutely no chemistry which is surprising as they are both veteran actors in the business. Also, shouldn't a couple with strong chemistry be given for a drama named "Love Exchange?" I sensed no love nor exchange in this. The script is so horribly written it takes out all the charm in the characters they're portraying.
Kristal Tin. Kristal Tin steals the show every time she's in a scene, especially when it's shared with Anita Yuen, who's supposed to be the lead by the way. Her character is the mistress of Power Chan, who at first is unbelievable as Tracy Ip, who plays the wife, is younger and prettier, but after her backstory is told, it's understandable as to why she and Power Chan connect better. I found myself only interested in his story arc halfway through, even if she plays a very despicable character, but hey, at least she's interesting to watch?
Power Chan. At first, it's hard to believe that 2 women would be fighting over him as Power Chan does not have the playboy look, but he pulled it off in Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain where he was the center of a love triangle, and he pulled it off here again. Power Chan makes it work because of his great acting chops. He had good chemistry with Kristal Tin, and their scenes were much more compelling than any scene where Michael Miu and Anita Yuen were together.
The drama barely taps into the reasons of the deaths behind Michael Miu's and Kristal Tin's spouses until the last few episodes. It mostly focused on side characters including an arc with the equally-annoying Angel Chiang, also equally loud-mouthed Angelina Lo/Law Lok Lam/Eileen Yeow, and Alex Lam who I felt had waaaay too much screen time. Then there's a side plot with Dickson Lee and his wife (who I felt so sorry for). The movie was so unfocused in that the 2 leads felt like side characters that got entangled in the family dramas happening around them. Also, if I was Michael Miu, I would be crazy to choose Anita Yuen over Mandy Cho (who is not only gorgeous, but also smart and quippy) unlike the tofu-brained Zita. Seriously, this show had such unlikeable leads. Heck, I enjoyed watching Wilson Tsui acting as a cop waaaay more than the leads. The 2 veteran actors deserve better than the crappy roles they were given. Skip this.
Anyone who says this is a great show must be speaking through nostalgia lenses lol
Great cast, really really fun cameos (holy smokes, Melissa Ng, Roger Kwok, Joe Ma, Michael Tse, Kingdom Yuen, Joyce Tang???) Just when you think the cameos don't get better they do. I love this show just for the insane cameos.
HOWEVER, mother of love triangles, I wish TVB can write better romances than love triangles. It's so overdone, overused, and plain annoying. The poorly written love triangles DRAGGED this series down to the ground, probably not the basement but at least to the first floor. I checked out after episode 40. The 2 male leads were wishy washy. They both had the same dilemma in which they are too perfect that girls love them and they can't decide between which beautiful lady to love. Like, can we get some variety here?!!! It makes the male leads completely unrelatable and unlikeable.
The women had their flaws too. Everyone had flaws but unrealistic flaws. They're simply too nice, too generous, too forgiving. Real life doesn't work like that. Don't tell me this is a TV show. It's a show but it has to make SENSE.
Also, the cases started out really strong then it dwindled. By the end, I was tired. It became predictable who the killers were because 1) it's probably the LGBT person. I am aware this show is old as can be, but based on recent years TVB hasn't improved their prejudice against LGBT characters either. So I'm calling them out. If you see an LGBT character in a TVB crime show, they're most likely a killer. Do better, TVB.
2) Typecasting. There are a few cases I can simply guess who's gonna be the killer before the dead bodies are even found because TVB LOVES to typecast their actors. The actor who always play the sleezy guy will probably end up being the killer. And he was. Lame.
In conclusion, good show to kill time. Good nostalgia. The cases were great at first then dwindled. Terrible character building and irritating romantic plots. At least the cases move fast. You get a new case within an episode after the last one. That's the best thing about this show.
This show was promising but it tried to be too many things at once -- romance, crime, family, undercover, internet safety, all that crammed into 20 episodes. The characters work but the script needed more. It started out being pretty lighthearted with Myolie trying to reconcile with her brother and grandparents, then Jack Wu's fallout with his girlfriend and meeting Myolie, then it jumps into Jack Wu's cat & mouse game with Wong Hei, then Eddie Kwan's disdain for Wong Hei, then Wong Hei's off-and-on relationship with Tiffany Lam, then a full on gun fight that just very little to do with Myolie, our female lead. Things didn't really blend well. It felt like 2 separate shows (with Myolie building familial and romantic relationships) and Wong Hei and Jack Wu's crime investigations ft. Eddie Kwan and Felix Kwok. The other comment was correct that the show really drags beyond episode 15 because you don't feel that emotional connection because Myolie had little to do with the main conflict and we have been following her for a majority of the series.
Most of the characters in here are unlikable with the exception of maybe Louise Lee (who plays the levelheaded and wise mother like she always does) and Evergreen Mak (even though he can be too foolishly in love sometimes). I love my unlikable characters but in this case, everyone just seems so mid and uninteresting with really annoying qualities.
Fala Chen had terrible chemistry Timmy Hung -- not to mention her terrible styling. I'm aware it was done on purpose but why??? How does her horrendous styling even serve anything to the storyline. They could've given her better hair and NOTHING would've been affected.
Christine Ng was fun to watch. She's typecasted to play bitchy characters but she does it well and she had decent chemistry with Evergreen. Her storyline was the most interesting out of the 3 leads. I love her bickering with Evergreen's sister. They made the funniest episodes.
The father, Chung King Fai, got way too much screentime but it amounted to nothing. Johnson Lee's character was so bizarre. He appeared at the right times and the right moments but you learn absolutely nothing about him. Talk about plot device. If there was a twist that the dude was a ghost, I'd totally believe it.
This series was boring where nothing really happens for 30 episodes!!! This series needed a villain for something that lasts 30 episodes!!! Also, some of the themes are really outdated (I'm aware this is an old show) but the mom constantly preaching to the daughter that she needs to feed a man to keep a man was annoying, especially when she failed to teach her daughter anything and babied the entire family, especially her husband and daughter for most of the series.
The plot is really thin. Almost all of the characters are unlikable. The weirdest thing for me is watching a bunch of 30-40 year old adults act and be treated like teenagers by their parents. Everyone was over 20 years too old to be acting that way.
I'm 29 episodes in and I'll come back to edit once I've finished. But after Lu Zhen gains a Lady Official position, the plot starts getting REALLY repetitive. It's a cycle of --> girls are jealous of Lu Zhen because they're in love with Chen Xiao's character, they scheme against Lu Zhen, she falls into the trap, then she gets miraculously saved by one of the men who are in love with her, Lu Zhen forgives the girls/trusts in them, then they come up with a new scheme. Rinse and repeat. This show could be shortened to at least 30 episodes (half) and you wouldn't be missing much, honestly.
This show is an absolute mess. TVB needs to fire their editor. Why the hell are their camera cuts every 2 seconds. Hell, the camera cuts 3-5 times while a character is MID-SENTENCE. It gives me a headache. Yo, TVB, write better scripts to capture your audience's attention. Don't rely on jumpcuts on steroids.
You're already 1/3 through the series and have missed the entire plot lmfao. 1. Yes, it's not enough because he…
Well said 👏 I couldn't tell if OP is a troll or not so I didn't reply. They don't care about the literal main character's trials and tribulations? Why even watch the series lmao
Dropped it after 5 episodes. It probably gets better but I can't with this type of female lead where she's so "not like other girls" and quirky to the point it becomes incredibly irritating.
If anyone ever doubts why Vincent Wong is a 2x TVB Best Actor winner, watch this show. I don't care what you think about his personal life but Vincent Wong is a phenomenal actor, one of TVB's best in a long time, and this drama proves it.
I just started it because I enjoy dramas with a good amount of episodes. Did you finish the series? Worth it to…
I'd say it's a good way to kill time. Not the worst, not the best. If you're a fan of any of the actors it's worth a watch. Otherwise I'd skip because the plot was so-so.
I completely disagree with people comparing Nancy Wu with Sheren Tang, saying that Nancy tried too much to copy Sheren's style. Did we watch the same show? They were not similar at all. Nancy felt more romantic, more soft-hearted, less commanding (not in a negative way). Sheren felt more ruthless, determined, and loud. They were two different characters. I feel bad for Nancy Wu when people said she tried too hard to be like Sheren. I didn't see that. Nancy's 7 Ye felt like a very original character, and I'm not even a big fan of Nancy. Best part of the show was Wayne Lai and Nancy Wu's acting, as expected.
This is my first time seeing Joey Law and boy, is he wooden. He's so unemotional. It's really obvious when he's with his love interests, Hera Chan and Celina Harto who were not great, but they were definitely trying harder.
The series was okay. Not great, but a good time-killer. 6/10
Anita Yuen. This drama should be renamed "Anita Yuen meddles in Kristal Tin's life" because that's all she does in this show. She acts like she's Kristal Tin's mother, calling herself a "good friend" to justify the nosy business she gets into. She meddles in Kristal Tin's affair with Power Chan (ok, maybe I can look past that as she feels guilty for covering the affair for them) but then she meddles in Kristal Tin's relationship with her estranged mother. Her character as Zita has no life except judging and sticking her nose into Kristal Tin's business. I get she's coming from a good place, but as a result, all the character development is given to Kristal Tin. She personally has no character development besides getting better at selling insurance? It's really off-putting watching a 40 year-old woman manage another 40 year-old woman's life.
Zita looks haggard all the time, with the terrible haircut & apparel, hunched over back and dark circles under her eyes, which I get is befitting for her character as an ignorant, air-headed housewife but she is not compelling as the Female Lead aka. Main Character AT ALL. WHY WOULD ANYONE BE INTERESTED IN THIS TYPE OF MAIN CHARACTER?
Michael Miu. Boring. Does Michael Miu have a clause in his TVB contract that requires him to wear a suit in every drama he's in? Because I'm getting tired of it. He plays the typical "big brother" that all his friends idolizes/respects where he works in security/law enforcement that requires him to wear a suit, sunglasses, and bluetooth earbuds. He doesn't do much in here besides popping in to do security jobs here and there, and that arc where he mopes over his dead wife.
Michael Miu and Anita Yuen have absolutely no chemistry which is surprising as they are both veteran actors in the business. Also, shouldn't a couple with strong chemistry be given for a drama named "Love Exchange?" I sensed no love nor exchange in this. The script is so horribly written it takes out all the charm in the characters they're portraying.
Kristal Tin. Kristal Tin steals the show every time she's in a scene, especially when it's shared with Anita Yuen, who's supposed to be the lead by the way. Her character is the mistress of Power Chan, who at first is unbelievable as Tracy Ip, who plays the wife, is younger and prettier, but after her backstory is told, it's understandable as to why she and Power Chan connect better. I found myself only interested in his story arc halfway through, even if she plays a very despicable character, but hey, at least she's interesting to watch?
Power Chan. At first, it's hard to believe that 2 women would be fighting over him as Power Chan does not have the playboy look, but he pulled it off in Ghost Dragon of Cold Mountain where he was the center of a love triangle, and he pulled it off here again. Power Chan makes it work because of his great acting chops. He had good chemistry with Kristal Tin, and their scenes were much more compelling than any scene where Michael Miu and Anita Yuen were together.
The drama barely taps into the reasons of the deaths behind Michael Miu's and Kristal Tin's spouses until the last few episodes. It mostly focused on side characters including an arc with the equally-annoying Angel Chiang, also equally loud-mouthed Angelina Lo/Law Lok Lam/Eileen Yeow, and Alex Lam who I felt had waaaay too much screen time. Then there's a side plot with Dickson Lee and his wife (who I felt so sorry for). The movie was so unfocused in that the 2 leads felt like side characters that got entangled in the family dramas happening around them. Also, if I was Michael Miu, I would be crazy to choose Anita Yuen over Mandy Cho (who is not only gorgeous, but also smart and quippy) unlike the tofu-brained Zita. Seriously, this show had such unlikeable leads. Heck, I enjoyed watching Wilson Tsui acting as a cop waaaay more than the leads. The 2 veteran actors deserve better than the crappy roles they were given. Skip this.
Great cast, really really fun cameos (holy smokes, Melissa Ng, Roger Kwok, Joe Ma, Michael Tse, Kingdom Yuen, Joyce Tang???) Just when you think the cameos don't get better they do. I love this show just for the insane cameos.
HOWEVER, mother of love triangles, I wish TVB can write better romances than love triangles. It's so overdone, overused, and plain annoying. The poorly written love triangles DRAGGED this series down to the ground, probably not the basement but at least to the first floor. I checked out after episode 40. The 2 male leads were wishy washy. They both had the same dilemma in which they are too perfect that girls love them and they can't decide between which beautiful lady to love. Like, can we get some variety here?!!! It makes the male leads completely unrelatable and unlikeable.
The women had their flaws too. Everyone had flaws but unrealistic flaws. They're simply too nice, too generous, too forgiving. Real life doesn't work like that. Don't tell me this is a TV show. It's a show but it has to make SENSE.
Also, the cases started out really strong then it dwindled. By the end, I was tired. It became predictable who the killers were because 1) it's probably the LGBT person. I am aware this show is old as can be, but based on recent years TVB hasn't improved their prejudice against LGBT characters either. So I'm calling them out. If you see an LGBT character in a TVB crime show, they're most likely a killer. Do better, TVB.
2) Typecasting. There are a few cases I can simply guess who's gonna be the killer before the dead bodies are even found because TVB LOVES to typecast their actors. The actor who always play the sleezy guy will probably end up being the killer. And he was. Lame.
In conclusion, good show to kill time. Good nostalgia. The cases were great at first then dwindled. Terrible character building and irritating romantic plots. At least the cases move fast. You get a new case within an episode after the last one. That's the best thing about this show.
Fala Chen had terrible chemistry Timmy Hung -- not to mention her terrible styling. I'm aware it was done on purpose but why??? How does her horrendous styling even serve anything to the storyline. They could've given her better hair and NOTHING would've been affected.
Christine Ng was fun to watch. She's typecasted to play bitchy characters but she does it well and she had decent chemistry with Evergreen. Her storyline was the most interesting out of the 3 leads. I love her bickering with Evergreen's sister. They made the funniest episodes.
The father, Chung King Fai, got way too much screentime but it amounted to nothing. Johnson Lee's character was so bizarre. He appeared at the right times and the right moments but you learn absolutely nothing about him. Talk about plot device. If there was a twist that the dude was a ghost, I'd totally believe it.
This series was boring where nothing really happens for 30 episodes!!! This series needed a villain for something that lasts 30 episodes!!! Also, some of the themes are really outdated (I'm aware this is an old show) but the mom constantly preaching to the daughter that she needs to feed a man to keep a man was annoying, especially when she failed to teach her daughter anything and babied the entire family, especially her husband and daughter for most of the series.
TVB has ever produced. Every episode is intense. Every character matters. This is TV gold.