Thoughts on past, current, and upcoming TVB dramas and regular TVB artiste/drama-related content. I like text posts. I also sometimes blog about other Hong Kong entertainment/music too!
Two minutes in to The Ultimate Addiction and I'm already really bored. I don't mind Bosco or Kate (much) but...this just feels so ordinary to me now. After seeing such refreshing things, I don't want to go back to the 'normal' productions.
It's actually kind of mentally paining me to keep watching .___.
I don't know about anyone else, but after watching Swipe Tap Love and M Club...seeing familiar faces (The Ultimate Addiction with Bosco, Kate, Sharon, etc.) feels really boring.
Like. Oh. It's you guys again. Back to the old TVB .___. I miss having a fresh cast, what.
It and Swipe Tap Love are definitely the highlights of this year's drama line up. Just too bad they both had pretty low ratings v_v Two of the best dramas in so long.
Is it just me...or does Queenie Chu resemble Carman Lee at certain angles? Carman is great in Never Dance Alone right now btw. She's so pretty for her age *_*
To start things off, ROE is probably one of the better dramas TVB has produced in current years (though this was filmed three years ago, but anyway). It wasn't perfect and the script had some major flaws, but the drama managed to keep the audience guessing and on their toes about what would happen next.
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Plot:
At first I thought the show would be about multiple terrorist cases (kind of like Forensic Heroes, typical cop dramas, etc.) but here, it only had a couple small cases here and there, and one main case starting from like episode 10(?) onwards. I liked that they mainly focused on the one case involving the Scaredy Bird gang, and it was interesting to watch how the plot unfolded due to the presence of the mole (I did NOT see that one coming though I did read spoilers, and I didn't believe it at first xD). I honestly thought Fu Lung Leung was the mole, when in fact he didn't know anything at all! Kudos to the scriptwriters there for putting in that twist.
Mole aside, the rest of the script was so-so. Alfred's character was super annoying and stupid. There was many loose-ends that they didn't tie up What happened to Fu Lung Leung and is he okay? What happened to Derek?! (I'm not sure if I missed that part but as far as I know, he was only going to wake up from his coma and they didn't show anything after?) WHAT HAPPENED TO CARSON AT THE END?! :C
There was one thing that bothered me quite a bit, one major writing mistake I noticed at the very beginning involving Derek, Papa, and Ah Ting. Papa told Ting that Derek was somehow involved with her father's death. But, Derek isn't even that old (around the same age as Ting, if not younger) and Ting lost her dad when she was a teenager...ARE YOU TELLING ME A TEENAGE, 14-15 YEAR OLD DEREK WAS SOMEHOW INVOLVED IN A MURDER? That makes NO sense. But anyway.
I'm conflicted about the ending. I feel Jessica's death was good, but what lead her to it and what her death resulted in was not as good. Her pre-death scene didn't really make much sense though cuz all through out it, I kept shouting at the screen, "CARSON WHY ARE YOU POINTING A GUN AT HER THAT'S NOT GONNA CONVINCE HER TO TURN HERSELF IN, YOU IDIOT!". Honestly, if he wanted to make her stay, he should've pointed the gun at himself instead ^^ That's just what I think should've happened anyway. And Alfred, you stupid man, kicking the gun towards Jessica. Did you really think Carson would shoot her?! Geez.
For my thoughts about the final scene, others may disagree with me, but the producers wouldn't have given us such an open ending if they didn't want us to interpret it in our own ways. I refuse to think Carson committed suicide. He was such a strong character, a loving son, a great policeman, had such a strong will to live...and most of all, he's smart. He would not just let himself die like that and not think of how that would harm everyone else. What about his mom? What about his brother? What about Ah Ting? Remember when he first 'died' and was so worried about how sad his family would be? I think Jessica wouldn't have wanted him to die, either (maybe). I'm convinced he was just really, really tired and just taking a nap and reminiscing about all the sweet memories he had with his one true love ;____; Though it was really sad that Jessica's last thought before dying was that Carson didn't love her any more.
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Cast and Characters
* Ruco Chan as Carson Chong
SOMEONE WANNA GIVE RUCO A BEST ACTOR AWARD YET? PLEASE? He's proved again and again that he's one of TVB's most talented actors and in Ruse of Engagement, he definitely shows his skills. Call me biased, but I can't think of any other actor that looks as natural in action scenes as Ruco does. Especially in Ruse, all that climbing fences, jumping off bridges, throwing bombs, sneaking around in air ducts, getting tortured...Who else can make it look as badass but natural as Ruco can? Besides being absolutely splendid in action scenes, he just has so many emotions (Ron: take note) displayable on that face of his. His acting can be very subtle, and its this subtleness that really makes a character come to life. In the scenes he's around Jessica, Carson looks just so happy and in love. The way he holds her and talks to her is so heart warming. But when Carson is heartbroken, Ruco's eyes are the hardest thing to stare into because it just displays so much raw emotion. The way they glaze over with tears and reddens is just so amazing. In the scenes where Carson is weary and suspicious about things going on around him, there are the shifty looks he darts here and there. And oh god, when he was being tortured. Popping veins, reddening face, eyes rolled back. It hurt to watch.
So, great job, Ruco. Great job. Stuff about your character I've already commented on above, so moving on to the next one...
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* Ron Ng as Alfred Chong
As the younger brother, Alfred definitely has less going for him. A lot less. He was pretty damn stupid, really rash, unbelievably untrusting of his older brother, and Ron's mediocre acting really makes it hard to like Alfred though they give him some redeeming points at the very end. I also blame the script for making Alfred such an unlikeable person, from the way he acted towards Jessica after Carson supposedly died, to how he could actually believe his own brother had turned bad (again). Seriously, the last time Carson had a huge change of character, he was going undercover. Did you actually not think or trust your own brother enough to realize he was doing so again?! I was so happy when he finally realized Carson was still a good guy and they made up to rescue Fu Lung Leung. Though, the part at the end was kind of weird how Alfred was scared Carson would shoot Jessica. Honestly, man, if you hadn't kicked that gun towards her, she wouldn't have died~ Performance-wise, I'm neutral towards Ron's acting though he has improved in recent years (recent as in less than three years ago). In Ruse, however, he had maybe like three emotions ever, two of which look the same when displayed on Ron's face.
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* Aimee Chan as Jessica Chung
Jessica is really a tragic character. She had no choice but to be involved in terrorist activity since her father was the leader of Scaredy Bird, she never really felt she was an individual until she met and fell in love with Carson, and in the end, she dies after seeing the person she loves most betray her and point a gun at her. I did feel bad for Jessica, though in my opinion, it was kind of out of character for her to want to run away from all her problems in the finale. At the beginning, she was portrayed as a head strong, intelligent, and independent girl. We know everything she does is decided by her father, but she WAS able to have freedom for a while after Carson's 'death', and her own personality isn't something her father can control. I just felt someone who was so smart and strong shouldn't have broken down so easily even after she had killed her own dad. She worked for the police, she should know that what she did could be forgiven. And what if she went to jail? Why was she so against going to jail that she'd rather die and never have the chance to see the only person she ever loved again? That just didn't make sense to me.
I'm also neutral towards Aimee's acting, and her portrayal of Jessica was only all right. She's played many of these characters before (the strong, independent, intelligent type) so her acting in those parts were fine. The problem came when she had to show more complicated emotions. In the scene where Jessica reveals to Carson she was the mole all along, while Ruco is there with his tear filled eyes, face in total shock and disbelief, delivering his lines the way someone who was truly heartbroken and betrayed was, Aimee's slightly wooden expression and lack of feeling the way she spoke was disappointing. She does partially redeem herself at the very end when she yelled at Carson to shoot her. I could feel how utterly betrayed and used she felt in that scene, and her death was indeed very sad.
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* Yoyo Mung as Yip Ting
I honestly think Yip Ting was a really great character. She was so strong, so brave, and loyal to her own beliefs, but at the same time so forgiving. She and Carson made such a great team and I was kind of rooting for them to be a couple, though I knew Carson loved no one but Jessica (sigh). It was so touching to see her realize Papa was the one responsible for her father's death, yet she didn't carry out any plot of revenge in the end. She still remembered how he cared for her and brought her up, taking care of her to compensate for his own wrong-doing. Ting's ability to forgive, as well as her general badassery, smarts, loyalty, and "yee hey" (double gas xD) is probably what makes her on of my favourite character in Ruse.
I lean towards the liking-neutral side for Yoyo's acting, because she did a good job at portraying a strong character like Ah Ting. It's nothing breakthrough, but she did deliver a good performance and I generally enjoy seeing Yoyo on screen (A Great Way to Care 2 is airing on TV right now and she's really funny in it).
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As for the supporting characters:
* Eddie Kwan as Ngou Sir
I felt really weird seeing him as Golden in Swipe Tap Love then Ngou Sir in Ruse because it's two completely different characters, and Eddie did/is doing great in portraying both of them! Ngou Sir is super bad ass. One of my favourite characters.
* Kenny Wong as Go Sir
I hoped Kenny/Go Sir would play a bigger part in the cases but unfortunately not. Ah well. Go Sir was cool, and Kenny was average.
* Vivien Yeo as Yeung Lok Man
Ah Man is a scary character. Scary, as in how she initially appeared so friendly, cheerful, and bubbly, but deep down she's actually a cold and manipulative woman who basically cares for no one but herself. Vivien did well as both sides of the character, since she looks very friendly and happy, but her evil, stone-cold face is great as well.
* Louise Lee as Mama
I don't even know what her name is because she wasn't even in the show that much. Her total screen time is like 3 episodes, and she didn't even get closure in the finale!
* Chris Lai as Fung Lung Leung
I dunno what his full name is. Chris was average, though the character itself was pitiful, being used like that and going through so much torture. I hope he was okay in the end.
* Leanne Li as Beauty, Lee Kwok Lun as Chung Lai Him, Law Lok Lam as Kiu Gim Hang/Papa
Not enough to say about each separate character and performance except that they were all average (average for veterans as well). Papa's dying scene was sad.
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TL;DR It was a fun drama to watch, the ending is rage-worthy, and it's sad that it got such low ratings when it's one of the better dramas in a while. Ruco and Yoyo were awesome, Ron and Aimee not so much, relatively good story pacing, and I wish there was a sequel because the terrorism stuff is interesting and also THAT OPEN ENDING.
