The Last Steep Ascent: Episode 5-9

Ho Sai Man (Katy Kung), the youngest daughter of the Ho family, got married to a Malaysian businessman Ngai Bo Law (Matt Yeung), but it seems like he's just after her money to save his family business. Don't know if he really loves her or not. Sai Man seems like a nice girl for now.

Miu Tin (Moses Chan) got a job at Chai Man's (Joel Chan) medicine shop. Chai Man really admired Miu Tin's knowledge in Chinese medicine so he got promoted really fast. Although Chai Man may sound cocky sometimes, you can tell that he's a good guy. I really enjoy his scenes so far, along with with his wife (Samantha Ko). They make a funny couple!!

When Miu Tin's friends came visit him, Chai Man's wife teased them, making them feel so awkward! Chai Man was being nice and hired all of them to work for him (all except for Tsui Wing who had to return to the village). You can tell that Chai Man really treasures Miu Tin.

Koo Sun Yuet (Maggie Cheung) finally found out about the affair between her husband Ho Sai Cheung (KK Cheung) and Tin Oi Tai (Aimee Chan). Two years ago in San Francisco, Sai Cheung was really sick and Oi Tai was 'bought' to take care of him. After that, they developed feeling for each other. Understanding her family situation, Sai Cheung arranged Oi Tai to leave the States and live closer to him in Guangzhou. Oi Tai continued to take care of him and his health.

Although Sai Cheung and Oi Tai do seem like they truly love each other, it hurts Sun Yuet that Sai Cheung didn't love her enough despite their 20-year marriage and even deliberately made up stories to lie to her. I do believe that Sai Cheung and Oi Tai were true to each other but I also think that Sai Cheung didn't love Sun Yuet enough to tell her about his illness. After all, these two seriously lack communication and understanding, Sai Cheung only cares about his business while Sun Yuet only cares about the kids. Nevertheless, a married man must know what he should and shouldn't do so Sai Cheung is in the wrong here. And Oi Tai, knowing that Sai Cheung was already married and even had kids, still clung onto him so she's at fault too. However, I do pity her character.

Sai Cheung's illness struck him again and this time, he passed away. A lot of people were sad but of course, some people were extremely happy about this!! As for Oi Tai, she got really depressed after Sai Cheung died. She kept wandering in Guangzhou and even got raped when she was drunk.

Sai Leung (Benjamin Yuen) is Sai Cheung's brother. After Sai Cheung died, he took over as the boss of Ho Ching Tong. However, due to his lack of experience, Sai Leung found his task extremely exhausting. In addition, Sai Ho (Edwin Siu) and his father Kwan Yiu (Cheung Yik) set up traps to trouble him even more. As a result, Sai Leung ran away from home. (He looked dead!! Poor guy =.=')

Sun Yuet's mother-in-law (Law Lan) now made Sun Yuet take over the business. Sai Ho and his father of course wouldn't agree to this. They called everyone in the Ho family out and forced her to hand over Ho Ching Tong. And now we get to see the familiar Tim-Gor-style-family-showdown scene!! Shame on these guys, picking on a widow... tsk tsk!!

At a time like this, only one thing will come in handy --- the will!! ~~Yay, will-reading time~~!! So according to the will, Kwan Yiu committed some crime in the past (rape in particular). As a result, his father didn't let him manage Ho Ching Tong even though he was the eldest son. After hearing this, Kwan Yiu got furious and collapsed. Sai Ho felt that they were in great disadvantage after his father was sent to the hospital (he came down with stroke or something). He fell on his knees and begged Law Lan for forgiveness, but of course, he didn't mean it!!

So Sun Yuet got to be the boss again. She may be a good mother, but when it comes to business and medicine, she basically knew nothing. In the midst of great distress, Sun Yuet found the note that Miu Tin wrote for Sai Cheung when he lent him $3000. According to their agreement, Miu Tin would come over to Ho Ching Tong and help whenever they needed him.

Sun Yuet immediately went looking for Miu Tin. But of course, someone's not gonna be happy!!

The Last Steep Ascent: Episode 1-4

I like the theme song 《一生一心》 sung by Hubert Wu. I think Hubert's voice sounds a bit like Chilam's, or is it just me?! However, I don't like the opening theme video. It has exactly the same style as Bottle Passion's, but more poorly done.

Ok let's get started. So apparently, Maggie made my eyes teary within the first 5 min of the first episode!! WTH?! I totally didn't see that coming!! I got so emotional just by listening to her narration. It was her voice, so old-fashioned and so old too. She was able to bring out the mood just by using her voice. I'm impressed!! Good job Maggie!!

The story begins in 1934 in a small village. Miu Tin (Moses Chan) is basically a 'seun poon' in his village because he's nice, filial, capable, blah blah blah... After the death of his parents (a rather sad and touching part... Q.Q)), Miu Tin and his friends decided to go to Guangzhou to sell off the medicine they have grown for the past 2 years.

However, things didn't go well as they planned. When they were trying to sell the medicine to Guangzhou biggest medicine shop Ho Ching Tong, they were 'bullied' by Ho Kwan Yiu (Cheung Yik) and his son Ho Sai Ho (Edwin Siu). Miu Tin's friend Cheng Kiu (Kenny Wong) couldn't hold back and punched Sai Ho. As a result, he got into jail. Miu Tin had to help get him out. But when they thought everything was resolved, their medicine went rotten before they could sell it.

Luckily, Miu Tin met Ho Sai Cheung (KK Cheung), the owner of Ho Ching Tong. After hearing Miu Tin's story, Sai Cheung decided to lend him some money so he can have something to give back to the villagers. Sai Cheung is actually Kwan Yiu's nephew and Sai Ho's cousin. Since Kwan Yiu and Sai Ho were backed up by the whole Ho family, Sai Cheung didn't dare to fire them even if he knew they cheated Ho Ching Tong's money. I can see that Sai Cheung is very troubled!!

Koo Sun Yuet (Maggie Cheung) is Sai Cheung's wife and a loving mother of 3 kids. She didn't want to get involved in the Ho family business and just wanted to take care of her kids. Her mother-in-law (Law Lan) wanted her to be the head of the Ho family but Sun Yuet rejected her every time. I love their interaction, so cute and so childish!!

After giving all the money back to the villagers, Miu Tin once again decided to go to Guangzhou and find a job to pay off his debt. Tin Oi Tai (Aimee Chan), a villager who just returned from San Francisco, joined him. Although Oi Tai was born in the States, she lived in China Town and didn't know English. She returned to the village after her parents died. By accident, Miu Tin discovered that Oi Tai was actually the mistress of Sai Cheung.

Looking forward to the relationship between Sun Yuet and Miu Tin!! They met many years ago when Miu Tin was 10 and Sun Yuet was 18. At that time, Sun Yuet was on her way to marry Sai Cheung. They haven't properly met each other again yet but it seems like Miu Tin recognized Sun Yuet.

I still couldn't get over the fact that Moses got his role as Miu Tin, who's 8 years younger than Maggie's character Koo Sun Yuet. Because the thing is, Moses looks older than Maggie, it's not convincing!! They should have gotten a younger actor for this role (Bosco? Ray Wong? Ruco? or Kenneth??). However, if they insist on using an actor at Moses' age, I prefer Steven Ma!!

From the first 4 episodes, I feel that this series is similar to Rosy Business. The wealthy Ho family and Moses-Maggie relationship are comparable to the Chiang family and Wayne-Sheren relationship in RB. I highly anticipated this series so hopefully it won't disappoint, especially the ending.

And isn't that... RAYMOND WONG?!?! O_o Since when he's in this series?!

 

[TVB2012] Gloves Come Off 《拳王》 Review

 

Genre: Modern, drama, action
# of Episodes: 25
Producer: Marco Law
Casts:
- Kevin Cheng as Tong Sap Yat
- Raymond Wong as Pat Ka Sing (Buddy)
- Selena Li as Chai Pak Fai (Donna / Don)
- Natalie Tong as Yam Ho Kau (Bo Bo)
- Nancy Wu as Ting Yan Chi (Ah Ting)
- Kenny Wong as Ko Wai Ting
- Power Chan as Chu Sai Cheung
- Florence Kwok as Chong Po Lam (Polly)
- Katy Kung as Chong Po Kei (Vicky)
- Edwin Siu as Leung Yan Wah (Edward)

What's It About? A very frustrating story about the lives of two Boxing Champions, who take turns making stupid decisions for living. This series turns out to be nothing but a disappointment.

- Spoilers Alert -

First of all, the title is all wrong. The Chinese title literally means "Boxing King" or "Boxing Champion" but of the two main leads, one is already a champion to begin with, and the other one MIRACULOUSLY earned that title after winning ONE match half way through the series. If they chose to keep that title, they should have at least made the story more like it, something like Kevin's character helping Raymond's character work through all the hardship and FINALLY he becomes a boxing champion. For the series we see right now, a more fitting title should be something like "How to Ruin Your Life as a Boxing Champion" Now that's what the story is about!!

Nowadays, everything is about packaging. If in Beyond the Realm of Conscience the poor script-writing was masked by those fancy costumes and ginormous wigs, in Gloves Come Off, the cliche messed-up plot about love/hate/betrayal/revenge is wrapped up and sold as a boxing drama. I'm sure everyone can tell that roughly 5% of this series is about boxing, the rest is just more or less crap to me. This is one of those series where the artistes' efforts all go to waste because the scriptwriters were all messed-up in the head. I can totally imagine them talking among themselves "Hey, I thought of this AMAZINGLY DRAMATIC plot that I'm sure all the see-lai will love. How should I make it so the ratings can go even higher, you know, beating the records of HOG and MR?" "Oh, I know. Let's add some boxing scenes so the younger guys will like it and have those half-naked muscular actors acted out so the younger gals will love it as well!!" "Well, yes, that's a GREAT idea!! Let's make a boxing series out of that to draw the younger audience as well and the ratings will be skyrocketed. YAY!!" Aww man... I feel cheated by TVB!!

Ok, that's enough of ranting for now. What's so bad about GCO? Well, a lot... but not all. I do admit that not everything in GCO is bad. For example, the father-and-son plot of Kevin and the little boy Tong Kat (Kat Jai) is one of the best parts of the series. They do act like real father and son. Their story is rather touching as well and I thought it was quite cute how Kat Jai kept opposing his father and hiding his stuff just because Sap Yat wouldn't admit that he still loves boxing. The most memorable time got to be when Sap Yat hit Kat Jai because he was rude to his grandpa. He got mad when someone badmouths his father and would defend him all the way. He wants Sap Yat to be happy so he kept urging him to box again. What a cute little kid Sap Yat has!! It's also really funny how he always talks like an old man haha... I kinda miss him when he went to Canada. Well, it's actually unbelievable that Sap Yat would let him go to Canada with his grandpa in the first place. I thought Kevin did well portraying the role of a father. When he hit Kat Jai, I kinda saw tears lingering in his eyes. Very good performance, I can feel his pain. Thumbs up to the little boy as well, very natural acting!!

 

Buddy's change in character
This is one of the highlights of the drama and I think it's fair to say that Raymond's character Buddy is the driving force of the whole series. Buddy was nothing nice to begin with and he was rather annoying. He's badmouthed, irresponsible, lazy, hot-headed, arrogant, troublesome... but at least he still has conscience. I heard a lot of people said Raymond was OTT as the goofy Buddy but I thought he was fine. His character required him to act like that. Though you can just say you don't like his character in general. Anyways, when he started to learn boxing with Sap Yat, the two became good friends and Buddy also found his goal, which is to become a boxing champion. But once he earned that title, his desires just grew bigger. He wanted to be rich and famous as well and that had led him to the wrong path. That's some character dynamic right there!! However, it's kinda sad to see his friendship with Sap Yat broke up. And when Sap Yat decided to fight him, I thought Sap Yat would have the upper hand since he trained days and nights while Buddy was slacking off. It turned out I was wrong, Sap Yat kept getting hit by Buddy. But what I didn't like is how Sap Yat just needed to hit Buddy ONCE and he WON. That didn't seem right to me (ok, I'm not a boxing expert but still, make it more exciting at least!!). And did that hit cause Buddy to have brain damage or something because he turned all nice right after? That fast? Come on, it was only ONE hit? The part where he kneeled down and apologized to Sap Yat didn't have any effect on me at all because it wasn't even convincing. I was glad that he's good again but they should have at least made it more believable!!

Buddy, Bo Bo, (and Vicky)
Raymond and Natalie were quite cute as a couple. I love the part where Buddy and Bo Bo went to Super Junior's concert and danced to their song "Sorry Sorry". That was hilarious!! I also love the part where Buddy proposed to her on the street. That wig he wore was just... O_o Just like Buddy, Bo Bo was also immature. She was pregnant but she still got herself drunk and even slapped Buddy's mom by accident (that was a funny scene though!!). Even after they got married, she just knew how to play and didn't help the family out. However, Bo Bo gradually changed for the better. She grew more mature and even became the main support of the whole family. Bo Bo was actually my favorite character in GCO. Her character development was believable and Bo Bo was the type of character that makes you root for her till the end.

Sadly, her marriage with Buddy was ruined by the retarded Vicky who just happened to escape from a mental hospital. I don't even know why they added her to the story because she just made the series more frustrating to watch. If in Sergeant Tabloid Elaine Yiu's Ko Yee Kiu traveled through time to target Niki Chow's Tsui Sum because of jealously, in GCO Katy Kung must be trying to take revenge on Raymond for what Tung Bun Sin did to her in their previous life; and this time, it was her who seduced him. Vicky was such a wicked character with a messed-up head who even went as far as seducing her sister's husband, and Buddy was probably the dumbest guy ever!! I got so mad when he cheated on Bo Bo. And I really wanted to slap that Vicky when she came to Bo Bo saying she was pregnant with Buddy's baby. That being said, Katy was successful in portraying such b*tchy character. She has potential in acting but I'm afraid that she'll get typecasted from now on. Natalie's acting hasn't exactly improved but her portrayal of Bo Bo has won my heart. I appreciated that Bo Bo didn't abandon Buddy's parents and even helped them with the tofu business despite Buddy's wrong doings. And just when Buddy finished learning his lesson, they had to kill off Bo Bo. This is seriously the WORST part of all!! How dare they kill off my favorite character just like that?! I'm still so mad at how this series had turned out!! And I still couldn't believe Bo Bo just died like that. I almost cried at the part where Buddy watched the video Bo Bo made for her older self. Raymond's acting was good too. He showed his inner emotions well. BUT I'M STILL SO MAD AT HOW THIS SERIES HAD TURNED OUT!! ARGHHHH... and that Vicky didn't even get the punishment she deserved!!

Sap Yat, Don and Edward's love triangle
This is also another part that dragged this series down because I seriously don't understand their romance. Sap Yat loves Don but doesn't dare to tell her because he doesn't think he matches her. Don loves both Edward and Sap Yat but she seems to love Sap Yat more. Edward loves Don but knows that Don loves Sap Yat. And finally Sap Yat chooses to sacrifice and pushes Don to marry Edward. And of course Edward marries Don knowing that she loves Sap Yat!! O how unromantic!! These people seriously have no life!! The night before Don and Edward's wedding, Don ran out to find Sap Yat. Ok that's understandable given that Don loved him too. Let her be the only foolish one then, but NO, Sap Yat just had to come out at that moment and even kissed her and then...... still shipped her back to Edward!! What was the point of that then, seriously?? If he chose to step out of the relationship, he shouldn't meet her and let her forget about him. But no, he just had to remind her how 'in love' they were and in the end still had no guts to run off with her. Sap Yat, you're hopeless!!

Then came the tragedy, which pretty much served as an easy way out for this love triangle. During this time however, I appreciated that Don didn't give up on Edward and still took care of him even if he treated her badly. But then I just realized that according to TVB policy, Edward must die in this case so our hero and heroine can end up together. And yes, he died. So now Sap Yat and Don can be together. NOT SO FAST!! TVB decided to give us one more round of torture: Don came down with Alzheimer!! Seriously? For real? I thought I heard it wrong. I even went online to check at what age you can get Alzheimer. And yes it's possible to get it in your 30's but that's extremely RARE even for early onset (or does anyone want to tell me that Selena's character was supposed to be in her 50's or something). Otherwise, that's just too much of a miracle for me to take!! I'm satisfied with their ending though. That meeting in the church was bittersweet. I know a lot of people root for these two to be together but as for me, after watching all this mess, I didn't care what would happen anymore!! I must say Kevin's acting in this series has clearly improved. His reaction in that final scene was great. As for Selena, she's too pretty to be sick!! And I think I mentioned this somewhere before but I still don't like the way she talked. It was so hard to listen to because she kept mixing English in her lines. Acting wise, I still don't see anything different from her. She's just like the Selena I saw in Wish and Switch, nothing special. Edwin Siu deserves the praise here though. His breakdown scene was well done. TVB, it's time for Edwin to lead a series!!

Nancy Wu as a deaf-mute female boxer
Nancy again didn't disappoint me. She was really good playing a deaf and mute character. When she visited her dying mom in the hospital, she cried and cried but she had to hold back her voice. It's hard to cry without making any sound and she was effective in that scene. I also can feel her frustration when she couldn't voice out her feelings, especially in those critical situations like when Sai Cheung kept bothering her. Unfortunately, her character Ting Yan Chi didn't manage to shine with little screen time and her storyline wasn't as exciting comparing to others. Or should I just say, Nancy's character served pretty much no purpose at all in GCO!! Well that's true, though I guess I could spare her some credit for being the reason Sai Cheung gave in to the police. That's it, no more!! (But why can't Nancy be paired with someone from her generation??)

Sai Cheung's change in character...
Definitely not a good change and comparing to Buddy's, this is way more painful to watch. He was already annoying at first and after the change, he became even more annoying. Sai Cheung is just as messed-up as Vicky. And everytime I saw him or Vicky onscreen, I just wanted to throw my laptop out of the window!! The stuff he did sometimes just creeped me out, like the time when he put Ah Ting under camera surveillance. Such a creeper!! Throughout the whole series, every time he's onscreen, I kept asking the same question "What's this guy even thinking?" because none of the things he did made sense to me. How did he even get mad at Sap Yat and others in the first place? Because he's jealous that Sap Yat was better than him in everything?? His reasonings didn't sound legit to me. I just don't get him in general. It was just over one night and he's completely different. He was just stubborn at first but he turned quite nasty after. I'm really disgusted by how he betrayed Ko Wai Ting!! Power's acting was good though. He portrayed such character with a messed-up mind so convincingly that I technically hated him from head to toe. There's one thing I've been wondering though: Sai Cheung didn't know how to fight?! I thought he learned boxing together with Sap Yat and Ko Wai Ting??

Kevin Cheng as Tong Sap Yat
When I was typing this, I realized I have a lot more to say about Kevin's acting so I saved one whole paragraph for him. During the airing of this series, there was a lot of criticism about Kevin's acting, which I think was mainly due to his scandals with some other actors. They said his acting was 'plastic' and his boxing scenes were like swatting flies. I'm no boxing expert so I can't comment on that. Comparing to Raymond, his boxing scenes were minimal anyways, and like I said before, only 5% of this series was about boxing so I wouldn't even care if his boxing was authentic or not. Acting wise, I do think Kevin showed improvements here comparing to his last series, namely Ghetto Justice. His emotions were more believable and real here. The way he had his tears lingering in his eyes was just excellent, especially in the last scene where he met Selena again. However, apart from those emotional scenes, Kevin was still Kevin, nothing special, and his body language was still as bad as ever!! I also couldn't really get on with his character Sap Yat. He seemed too good and too forgiving to be true. Can I easily forgive someone who helped put myself in jail? NO!! Sap Yat, you don't do that! You have to hate him! Keep hating him! Do what Buddy and Sai Cheung did! Hate him! Hate him! Don't talk to him! And HATE HIM!! (sorry... I got carried away :P) Nevertheless, this is some good acting from Kevin even if his character may not be the best one to watch for. Oh yes, one more thing, the theme song was wasted on Kevin. The song itself was ok I guess (I don't like the English part though) but it definitely doesn't go well with Kevin's voice. He sounded weak. Sometimes I can only hear the music and not his singing.

My Rating: 6.3/10

Worth watching? Messed-up plots + some good acting, you decide. For me, it's a no. However, if you do want to start it, don't let the beginning fool you and more importantly, don't grow to love it or else you will be very frustrated later on.

**Credit: The pictures are taken from tvb.com and just for illustration purpose**

[TVB2011] Forensic Heroes III 《法證先鋒III》 Review

Genre: Modern, police procedural
# of Episodes: 30
Producer: Mui Siu Ching
Casts:
- Wayne Lai as Po Kwok Tung (Pro Sir)
- Maggie Cheung as Chung Hok Sum (Mandy)
- Kate Tsui as Ling Sin Yee (Ada)
- Ron Ng as Lee Chin Fung (Wind)
- Edwin Siu as Ho Ching Man (Ken)
- Aimee Chan as Chiang Cheuk Kwan (Angel)
- Nancy Wu as Chow Yik Fei (Eva)
- Ruco Chan as Fong Sai Yau (Jim)

What's It About?
Crime scenes. Police. Forensic team. Criminals obediently telling stories. The end. Here's how it goes: police arrived at crime scene first, did nothing and called the forensic team, who would do some lab works and then solve everything. EVERYTHING! And what does the police do? Fighting scenes but after a while, they have to share those scenes with the forensic team as well. And of course, it includes some dramatic family scenes so that our Wayne Lai can show off his dramatic acting skills.

- Spoilers Alert -

The Cases: This series is case-driven so I would like to share some of my thoughts on the cases.

Case 1: Wedding Party
This case is a mess, what a bad start eh?! It feels like they were just throwing clues and information out of nowhere right into your face. It also gave me a headache, probably from all the flashings. The gay couple Chris Lai and Vin Choi were convincing though. This case is one of the worst IMO. And boring too!

Case 2: Sky-Eye Girl
To make up for the first one, the second case is one of the best cases in FH3. So suspenseful, especially the part where they found the baby. The doll behind the mirror is really scary. I really feel sorry for the girl, being used and raped by that 'guardian' dude. I still don't think that his punishment is enough for all the bad deeds he had done. Urgh! The beginning of this case is intriguing, a prediction by Sky Eye Girl followed by a kneeling corpse at the beach! The case got a bit boring in the middle when they were solving the murder of a rich dude which I don't care about. It then got interesting again when we finally learn more about the Sky Eye Girl and the 'guardian' dude. It was freaky when Ada snatched her earphones and she screamed her head out! Also the part where Mandy and her grandfather stalking her in the morning, it just made it seem so mysterious (although I knew that it would turn out to be something normal - like autism!) It got to the best part when they went to that girl's house and found out about the 'ghost' and the baby. I laughed really hard when Mandy went to the washroom and came out saying that she just gave birth to a baby! I know I shouldn't have, but I did. However, I find that the evidence for solving this case is a bit weak (a tree only?!). Good thing it got a happy ending for the poor autistic girl. Cilla Kung, who played the Sky Eye Girl, did well as a person with autism, I'm impressed! I really like her bond with Mandy (and the prediction of Mandy being Pro Sir's girlfriend!!)

Case 3: The Three Tenants
If I have to describe this case in one word, I would say: comical! It's just funny how the three tenants were framing each other, but none of them actually did it! (well, that's predictable too). I like how the corpse was burnt but the actual cause of death is drowning! And did I mention the cute granny in this case? She was so adorable!!! I saw her in a lot of series before but I don't know her name.

 

Case 4: Apple's Death
This case is also good although it deals a lot more with the court. The highlight here is of course Eva. The best parts are Eva questioning Pro Sir and his dad in court and how all the evidence is of no use anymore for breaking the Chain of Evidence. They had to work their butts off to find new evidence and saving Baby from the big bad Wilson Yu. This case also marks the end of Pro Sir and Eva's marriage (what a bad way eh!!). My favorite quotes are "Common law is the law for common man" by Pro Sir and "Take off your pants" by Mandy LOL. I laughed really hard when she said that. I also really like the way Mandy talks to Apple, who is lying dead on the autospy table. My complaint: Such bad names TVB gave to the characters - Apple and Baby! Seriously???

Case 5: Murder in University
We see a lot of newcomers in this case, well it's expected. I'm not complaining about seeing them, they did well in fact, especially the guy who played Wu Sai Hang, who got murdered. I must say that it's really stupid of the murderer to leave Wu's hand uncovered while his body was well hidden in the soil. Is he really that careless? Oh well, it's TVB. This case is just ok in my opinion. Oh yea, why was Sire Ma even there? She served no purpose at all. And why does Brian Chu always look so angry? I remember seeing him in The Other Truth, also that same angry face.

Case 6: Murder of Jim's Brother
Nothing special about this case either. The most surprising thing is probably Jim's change in behaviors. But in one way, it's kinda expected since there must be something wrong with this 'perfect' Mr. Jim so that he and Mandy can break up. We also see the same forensic pathologist as the one in FH2. This guy is the real deal. Nothing much to say about this case since it's just similar to FH2, also about someone who got buried for a long time then discovered. However, the sudden sinister smile of Natalie near the end really sent a chill down my spine.

 

Case 7: Mandy is in Danger
I don't consider this as a case, ok maybe a mini case. It has only one purpose: to get Pro Sir and Mandy together. I really like Mandy's calm and cool attitude when she received those threatening messages. The 'Professor King' part is just a total ripoff from The Mysteries of Love. Don't even know why that guy is there.

Case 8: Family Feud
Out of all the cases, this one is the most boring. The premise sounds boring already. There is no suspense at all in this case because the killer is made known (or at least very obvious) already from the beginning. Yet it took the longest to solve (~ 5 episodes). Such a waste of time! The beggar part is just gross. Wind's mom is just annoying, actually his whole family is annoying. And the whole Bonnie thing is just so unoriginal. Kudos to the actor who played the servant Ah Chung though. Great performance.



Case 9: Death of a Vampire
No, not the Twilight or Vampire Diaries kind, it's the Halloween kind! This case is also a waste of time. I rather have them take off this case and expand a little bit more on the last case. There are some creepy scenes like when they went to the woman's house at night and when she suddenly opened her eyes, but TVB just has to ruin the moment after all.

Case 10: Murderer from 30 Years Ago
Last case means the drama is about to end. FH3, just like any other series, rushed through the last case so that it can end. This case returns to Mandy's haunting past of her parents being murdered. That crazy dude really killed his wife in front of his son! What was he even thinking?? Anyways, since Mandy lost both of her parents on the same night and witnessed the murder of her mother, she suffered from PTSD and had only her grandpa as her family from then on. Now we can understand Mandy's sympathy with orphans such as the Sky Eye Girl, Apple and Baby. Eva was purposedly involved in this case so that she can get killed as an easy way out for Mandy and Pro Sir's daughter. TVB, TVB... what can I say? *sigh* The two explosion scenes at the end were forced, you can tell. Why wouldn't they shoot the criminal's car tires instead of running after him till night? And why wouldn't Ada just kick his head instead of pointlessly struggling with her hands? KICK HIS HEAD!! Nevertheless, this case kept my interest and is one of the better cases of FH3.



*** What's your favorite case? Mine has to be the Sky-Eye Girl case ***

The Ending:
Ending is disappointing! Catwalking with sunglasses to the crime scene and................ THE END?! Is this some kind of joke?? And they don't even bother to show a scene where Pro Sir's daughter Man Man found out about her mother's death and quickly called Mandy 'mom'.



Relationships:
- Pro Sir and Eva (Wayne and Nancy) - Despite the age gap, I can feel the chemistry between these two. This is also not the first time Nancy is paired with Wayne. The scene where Wayne was telling Nancy that he didn't want to divorce was great. The argument scenes of these two are awesome too. They really give off a feeling of a married couple. But too bad TVB just wants to use the despicable way to end their marriage because that's the fastest way. Fine then, Eva, you don't deserve Pro Sir anymore! Let's move on!

- Mandy and Jim (Maggie and Ruco) - These two have chemistry as well, as lovers! Jim is just too sweet the whole time he's with Mandy. And for some unknown reason, I always give off a smile when I see them together, especially the scene when Jim takes Mandy to her favorite coffee shop. Maybe these two are more fit to be lovers, I don't know. But then comes the case with Jim's brother being murdered, which also marks the end of their relationship. Why does TVB always starts and ends stuff so abruptly?? I totally do not understand their breakup!!!

- Pro Sir and Mandy (Wayne and Maggie) - These two are definitely soul mates. I can totally feel it. But not lovers! They understand each other well, they know what each other thinks, feels, needs or wants. Wayne and Maggie sure can show that, but not enough chemistry to show that they are lovers, or probably not the right kind. Maybe because we usually see them together at crime scenes, working as partners for so long (2/3 of the drama), they have little time to develop their love relationship so it's kinda weird to see them together as lovers. Each time I see them, I only think about work, about solving cases, about 2 brainiacs talking in Martian language that leaves Ron and Kate wondering what they are talking about. Then I again blame TVB for this! Why rushing? But then I was so touched by the confession at the hospital. Mature yet sweet!

- Mandy and Ada (Maggie and Kate) - the Korean Ginsengs!!! :D These two have the most chemistry. Yes, I find this sisterly relationship wins all the couples in terms of chemistry. I like how they tease each other about Ko Sir, Jim and Pro Sir. They are so hilarious together, along with Mandy's grandfather (played by Chow Chung). This trio got to be my favorite. Their chemistry is so obvious and convincing. Best moments include: Mandy imitating Ko Sir's pose when he arrives to pick Ada up for the party, Mandy's grandfather and Ada teasing Mandy for letting 'brown sugar' Jim in the house, and the hospital scene where they imagine how Pro Sir and Mandy would fall off the building and die together. So funny :D

- Ada and Wind (Kate and Ron) - Kate and Ron of course have chemistry. They paired up so many times already. It's really funny how every time Ada has to use Wind as an excuse to get herself away from Ko Sir. How these two got together was funny as well (ie. Wind bashing into Ko Sir office and listing Ada's habits). And I love the 'Albert Yip' part too. I may forgive TVB for letting these two be together at the end.

- Ken and Angel (Edwin and Aimee) - Ok, enough with the forgiving! Why kill off Angel?? WHY? Poor Ken. This couple is rather cute, although I was a bit annoyed how Ken always teased Angel about her Chinese (yes, I agree that her Chinese sucks too but this is just too much!!). Their arguments are lame most of the time, but their expressions are just too funny, especially Ken. I love the kiss at the bar when Ken got drunk the first time LOL!!! These two are fun together but then they had to kill off Angel at the end. Totally forced and unnecessary!!!

*** So which relationship do you like most? I gave my vote to Mandy and Ada ***



Performances:
- Wayne Lai - is boring. Not his fault, I blame the script. His character is uninteresting most of the time and he seems so bored too. I'm not gonna compare him with Bobby but Wayne does give off a professional look. Other than that, he did great or better at the family scenes with Man Man, his dad and Eva.

- Maggie Cheung - is so pro!! Amazing performance from Maggie as the cool and professional Dr. Chung. She made the character so much fun to watch. Her quirkiness, curiosity and utmost respect for life blend together so well. Some people find her character boring but I don't think so. Dr. Chung made me enjoy FH3 much more. This role was made for Charmaine Sheh but after seeing Maggie's portrayal of the character, I can't picture Charmaine in the role anymore.
P.S. I love her ringtone

- Kate Tsui - is not convincing as a senior inspector. Her character is cute and hilarious though (through her interactions with Ko Sir and Mandy). I do like her style in this series but this is definitely not a senior inspector's style. And sometimes I find her a bit childish that she can't lead her team at all. Nevertheless, this role is definitely better than the one in Lives of Omission.

- Ron Ng - is mediocre. His character is so undeveloped and unnecessary. They can just take his character out and not affect the story at all. Wind only serves as Ada's boyfriend with no other obvious purposes. His acting didn't help either, not that he's good or something. Ron is just wasting his time here, should have spent it filming something else instead.

- Edwin Siu - is funny. This guy can do comedy. His face looks so chubby for some reason, and that made him so cute. I really like Edwin here and I wish he had more screentime. He did well in the hospital scenes where Angel was dying.

- Aimee Chan - the ABC. They should have made her character a little bit more useful than just blurting out all the English scientific terms!! She's like the 'pronunciation' button in those electronic dictionaries while Wayne will serve as the definition part. Each time they come across something new, Aimee will find the right ENGLISH term for it and say that term out loud. Then we have Wayne who will give the definition of it as if he has an encyclopedia installed in his brain, and everyone else will just stand there and nod to his words.

- Nancy Wu - is so not pro! Sorry! I mean Eva is so not pro, not Nancy. Nancy did well as Eva, very well in fact! Her court scenes are really fun to watch and she did an amazing job. Kudos to Nancy. The script just had to make her character Eva so detestable, what a shame!! And what I meant by so not pro is that Eva had to use such nasty tricks to win a case, which eventually leads to her divorce -- so unrealistic!

- Ruco Chan - is just an extra. He, just like Ron, serves no obvious purpose in FH3. Introduced as a psychologist, I don't see him treating any patient at all, just dating!! Isn't that amazing?! Anyways, I enjoyed his appearance. He did well as an impatient, frustrated yet sweet Jim but still needs to improve on his crying.

*** Whose performance do you like most in FH3? I like Maggie Cheung's the most ***

Notable Mention:
- The little girl Moon Chan who played Po Ka Man (Pro Sir's daughter). This little girl will turn out to be a great actress when she grows up. Watching her crying in the divorce scene is so heart wrenching. I recognize her as little Charmaine from Beyond the Realm of Conscience and Can't Buy Me Love. So if Charmaine was to take part in FH3, they can be mother and daughter again (as in Can't Buy Me Love).

- Ko Sir played by Geoffrey Wong is just hilarious!! I got to give him credit. I enjoyed all of his scenes. The way he stands, poses, talks or just his look alone makes him so funny. Such classic comedy!! I especially love his "Mr. Wind" and his stomach ache pose.



Overall:
I know I complained a lot but I also know I love FH3. This series is nothing of a WOW but it's really addictive and entertaining. I do miss the old cast, but the new cast here also did a great job and they really made me want to go into forensics. I can easily overlook all the flaws and ditch the haters, just to sit back and enjoy the show.


My rating: 6.9/10

Worth Watching? Yes


**Credit: The pictures are taken from tvb.com and just for illustration purpose**