Ups And Downs In The Sea Of Love [TVB]

Written by Jules

"Man, I want to go on a cruise!! Actually, last summer I did and I do want to go back but this series made me want to go even more!"

SPOILERS! SPOILERS! SPOILERS!

Released In

2003



Cast-Character

Nick Cheung- Jason

Maggie Cheung- Yama

Joyce Tang-Christine

Cheung Chi Kwong

Angela Tong

Stephen Au

Winnie Yeung

Rebecca Chan

Lo Hoi Pang

Kingdom Yuen- guest star



Plot

A very and romantic adorable story about the roller coaster ride of a couple, Nick and Maggie (Jason and Yama).



Story

The series starts out with Maggie running in the streets of LA in a wedding dress to a taro card reader, Kingdom. She asks about her life and Kingdom tells her a bunch of things but all I remember is that the person that Maggie was running away from will always be in her life and causing havoc for her.



Some years after, Maggie is in HK working for a cruising ship company with Angela Tong and Rebecca Chan. She is selected to go on a cruise supposedly for vacation but really it’s the boss’ way of evaluating her performance. Coincidentally, Nick is the cruise director of that boat. The two meet and of course disaster strikes for the two have been married before but have also been through a bitter divorce.



Turns out, back who knows when, Maggie and her then fiancé were supposed to have a cruise wedding, however, the jerk left Maggie for another woman. Maggie being all alone and sad bumped into Nick and the two become friends. Nick is also in a bit of a situation for his dad and the company has lost all their money and now basically Nick is left penniless. The two out of impulse get married and have their wedding on the boat. Back in LA (since Maggie’s parents live there), another wedding was held in their honor but the fiancé had to come back and tell Maggie that he still loved her. He told Maggie that she’s just using Nick as a rebound. Maggie agreed, saying that at first that’s what she thought, but really now, she realized that the person she loves is Nick. Nick, our brilliant man, only heard the first part and left the wedding devastated. He then went to the hotel and paid some chic off to pretend that he’s having an affair with her, sending Maggie hysterically in the streets of LA.



So that was the past, now in the present, the two have to work together for the same company and needless to say, they don’t get along. In addition, Maggie got this idea to have Nick pay money support because they are divorced. Nick, not able to take it anymore, hatches this brilliant plan to get Maggie married off so he doesn’t have to pay anymore. In comes Stephen, Nick’s childhood friend and now Maggie’s potential suitor. So as that is going on, we also see that Joyce has been in love with Nick forever, however, knowing Nick isn’t able to handle another relationship, she keeps her feelings to herself. Actually, she pretends to be gay and hit on girls.



Anyways, the story unravels and we both see that although, Nick sees Maggie as just a person using men to get over her other fiancé, and Maggie sees Nick as a player, the two still have feelings for each other. But of course, there are lots of obstacles, like the money hungry Stephen who’ll do anything for Maggie to marry him, and the love struck Joyce who’ll do anything for Nick and his love…



What I love about this series

Nick Cheung- Oh how I missed him! I saw him in movies but somehow he wasn’t adorable in them like he was in here. And they were mostly gambling movies made by Wong Jing who I can’t really stand, so it was refreshing to see him star in a romantic comedy series. His character was too adorable and I remembered rooting for him all the way. Yeah…he should’ve talked to Maggie first in the beginning where he thought he was just a rebound for her, but I think she should’ve also talked to him too and demanded an explanation. Sometimes, it’s just the lack of communication that causes problems.



Nick and Maggie’s chemistry- they should really do more series together often. They made such a cute couple that I so love them. Every scene with them is definitely a memorable scene, especially the parts in the beginning when they just first met, then when both went to LA again to do some filming and data collecting for work. Everything they did for each other showed how much they cared. By the middle of the series, you just wanted them to go elope or something because they’re made for each other, have feelings for each other but things just got in their way.



The boats- Man, I want to go on a cruise!! Actually, last summer I did and I do want to go back but this series made me want to go even more! The scenery was amazing, the boat life was also very glamorous and just different from HK sets and so forth. But one thing, there was no people. I remembered fighting for the pool every time I tried to squeeze in there, not like Nick/Maggie have that great place to themselves. And no one was sunbathing or anything on the deck, just the characters, not very realistic.



Scenes taking place other than in HK- Just refreshing. New scenery, and people with blond hair, just very different, like in LA.



The music- All the American songs were so cute and perfect for each scene. (I downloaded all of them!)



What I didn’t like

Stephen Au’s character- Wow! What an annoying creep! He made me want to punch him, but that was towards the end when he’ll do anything for money. In the beginning actually he was alright, kind of sweet and cute, but towards the middle, he was a jerk and deserved what came to him. Stephen did a great job in here for making me hate him so much. Actually, I thought he was going to end up with Joyce for some reason. Hey, now I mentioned it, I also liked Stephen and Joyce’s characters in Witness to a Prosecution II. Very cute couple in there but kind of too rushed ending.



The last couple of episodes- Maggie just got on my nerves. The woman is so stupid towards the end that I seriously wanted to ring her neck. There was also Stephen who I really wanted to whack him somewhere. Plus, I don’t think she made an effort with Nick. Nick did so much for her but sometimes, the basic thing to do is trying she wouldn’t even do. Poor Nick.



Odds and Ends

Joyce Tang- She was very pretty in here and very skinny too, also, she smiled so much with the dimples and everything. Very, very happy in here, well sometimes. Anyways, I would have probably enjoyed it better if she ended up with someone. Just a very pitiful character at times. Sometimes, I couldn’t’ stand her, like in the beginning where it’s so evident that she likes Nick but for some reason most of the characters didn’t know. And sometimes, I thought she was just so righteous like when she tried to get Nick and Maggie to reconcile because she knows they were the ones who belonged together. I seriously felt bad for her actually; loving someone who she knows will never return her love. Just sad. I was seriously waiting for Marco to come and rescue her towards the end! Hehehehehe! Well, she wasn’t sad in the end so that’s all that counts.



Winnie Yeung- Seriously, they should’ve just had a less famous person play her character because she showed up for like 30 minutes total. Very unimportant character as Stephen’s girlfriend who ended up pregnant with his baby but again, she wasn’t in that many scenes.



Angela Tong and Cheung Chi Kwong- The funny couple in here that first hated each others guts but ended up with each other. Angela is Maggie’s best friend and Cheung Chi Kwong is Nick’s kind of hobo writer friend. Actually, he’s one of those trashy romance writers. Angela loves his books but of course doesn’t know who the writer is until when she does and the two go out. Cute happy story. Angela to me can be so cute and sometimes, so annoying, depends what role she’s playing. In here she was just funny, sit back and enjoy her bickering sessions with Cheung Chi Kwong. I love Angela’s little curly lock that sticks out the side of her head...it’s so funny, especially when you see her put a curl roll in it at night.



Favorite Male character

Of course that would be Nick’s Jason! He looks really good in this series too. Like I said before, Nick isn’t a handsome guy but for some reason I think he’s attractive. I love him in suits and of course those cute casual outfits that make him so…cute. Part of me thinks he’s so obsessive with trying to expose Stephen in the end because Maggie was so stupid in the end that she didn’t deserve him, and part of me thinks that it’s so sweet of him because he’ll do anything for the woman he loves. I don’t know if I think it’s wrong for Nick to set up Stephen with Maggie in the first place because Maggie kind of brought it upon herself for flaunting her/his money in front of him, being as cheap as I am I wouldn’t want my money to be spent like that. A very sweet, funny, caring guy, I wouldn’t mind dating him!



Favorite Female character

Actually, I liked Maggie in the beginning but then if you’ve read all the way this far then you’ll know she lost lots of points towards the end. She listened to everything Stephen said when she wouldn’t listen to Nick or even her own sister, Joyce. Oh yeah, if you haven’t seen this then that might be a bombshell. Joyce and Maggie are half sisters. (Maggie’s daddy had an affair and voila Joyce was born. Just plain dumb that really annoying to me. Again, I didn’t think she did anything to try on her relationship with Nick. A little problem and she’ll flee. *sigh* Poor Nick. However, I still think that they made the cutest couple.



Funniest Character

Usually, I would say that Nick is the funniest because in the TV business I think he’s sort of the king of comedy, but his character was more sweet, and caring more than a comic character. So the funniest people would be Angela and Cheung Chi Kwong when they’re together. As a couple, I wasn’t that interested in them, but when they bicker it’s funny to watch.



Should you watch it?

Absolutely! It’s a light romantic comedy that will sure to make you laugh, feel with the characters and sometimes want to ring some necks because it’ll make you that mad. It’s been a long time since TVB successfully got me hook on any series, and this did the trick. The actors all did a great job, storyline very refreshing and touching, and heck it’s Nick’s first series since he’s back at TVB! I’m a Maggie fan, but I definitely watched this series for Nick, actually for both, but Nick was my favorite character.



Rating

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