anopinion

Starting first with the story, I get that Zhao Jing wants revenge for her daughter, and the fact that Zhang Shi Kai got no comeuppance for what he did was naturally infuriating to a mother. Resurrecting him to inflict on him what he did to her daughter, though legally wrong, is emotionally understandable. I actually like the torture scenes, but I don't think they were "enough". Sadistic sounding, but I think we need more on the vengeance side when it comes to Zhang Shi Kai.

There are also a couple of things I don't understand, and I think many people echo the same thoughts. First, the back and forth on who ratted on the girls. What is the point of throwing out all these red herrings when they don't make logical sense? Second, why attempt to absolve Zhang Shi Kai of blame by giving him a sob story? Plus those few last minute turnarounds which left more questions and not answers. Who is Pong? Who is the mastermind behind the scenes? Are they related? Are you trying to tell me there's going to be a sequel?

Do also allow me to diss the random loveliness added in the penultimate episode. What's with the sudden love interests? I did not see them coming!

On to the acting. Shu Qi was attached to the project at the very start, and she was actually offered the role of Zhao Jing. Actors of her pedigree seem to have an obsession with going against people's expectations, and she chose to play the timid housewife Wang Hui Jun instead. Under normal circumstances, I would understand. Usually what happens is that the actor sees a character that's stronger or more interesting than the lead, and they are drawn to that role instead. In this case, I don't see it. I think Wang Hui Jun has interesting aspects, because she's exacting revenge very meekly, but she still has that resilience. But ultimately the character feels more like comic relief. It could also be deliberate portrayal, but I definitely think this isn't as good a role.

After Shu Qi chose the other role, they approached Sinje Lee for Zhao Jing, and it was a brilliant choice. Given that this is the "original lead" who sets the tone for the show, they found someone with gravitas in Lee. I would say that I cannot imagine Shu to be as good in the role (though it's all hypothetical). However, I find Lee's obvious Malaysian accent surprising at the start, because I am familiar with the actor, and she used to sport a perfect Taiwanese accent when doing media duties ten, twenty years ago. They explained that the character is Malaysian, and I was like "whatever you say, man". I did read articles where she talked about this, and I think they obviously modified the character for the actor rather than the other way round. But if it's what it takes to get Sinje Lee back on screen again, why not? She's a very subdued actor, very convincing and an extremely charming presence on screen.

I also really liked seeing both female leads acting together. So even though I can't say that the young actors were terrible (they were probably pretty good), I must say that I did not want to watch their parts that much. I was dragging the progress bar to skip to the mums.

There aren't any obvious weak links really. Well, except Patrick. Though I've also seen raving praise for Chung Hsin Lin's portrayal, but I think the makeup did about 90% of the work for her.

Overall, the drama is paced as if the episodes were dropped one by one instead of all at once. The reversals appear to be because the creators wanted one revelation every episode, and it was also written like that, which is why everything seems very frivolous and illogical. But is it entertaining? I think so.