Watched until episode … 16? Didn’t check! Too busy watching to check!
I want to talk about the more important feature of The Confidant, the half men or the right word is eunuch but that is not accurate enough to describe any of them. All the following rambling is based on viewing of this series up until episode 16. I may update on them later on.
There are many things I disagree about The Confidant but there is one thing I do agree on, that is the portrayal of the eunuchs as not mere sissies but rather as men, just lacking in a certain “tool”. Therefore here you will find all sorts of eunuchs’ personalities; the sissies one, the kepochi ones, the cowardly ones, the Lau Sam Ho ones and of course the manly ones. The only ever manly eunuch we see in popular culture from the Chinese dynasties is Admiral Cheng Ho. He is also the only one I can think of that has a high official rank.
In this series we see eunuchs of 6th rank, 7th rank, 9th rank or rank less for most. My biggest problem with this series’ portrayal of eunuchs is their lives are too easy. Of course they’re beaten, they do have fear but deep down I feel everything was too simple, too fluffy. There was not enough fear, not enough hush hush. Life seems so peachy in this version of The Confidant where being friends is enough to settle all animosity. Kinda too simplistic.
I also don’t like how this simplicity extends to their masters. One concept about eunuchs and their master is, they’re essentially slaves. Paid slaves, but slaves nonetheless. Of course officially they’re civil servants in today’s context but essentially they’re slaves. Why slaves? The master can beat them, kill them, deal with them as they wish. This is not just a servant’s life, this is a slave’s life. So they fear their master, as much as they may respect, love or honour them. But the class difference is obvious. It is not master and lesser master, superior and subordinate. It is master and slave. Some don’t even notice the face of the eunuchs, they don’t even notice the eunuchs’ existence. That is the reality.
Some masters have very close relationships with their personal eunuch that they grew up with, like how Tongzhi will be with his own eunuch or Cixi with An De Hai but at the end of the day, these eunuchs can be cast aside as much as daughters can be married off for political ties to some foreign barbarian. That is the reality of things. This is not present in this series. That is why I say I do not feel the urgency and life is peachy. At episode … 16 I believe, this is how things are. Will it change over time? I doubt it because the main one, Cixi is the same. She may learn to wisen up, but become bad? Evil? Not the intention of this series.
AN DE HAI (ONN DAK HOI)
Of all the eunuchs, my favourite eunuch and the one I know will turn real bad and will probably die a terrible death is An De Hai. I suppose my emotional connection to him arise from the fact that when I was in Beijing I stayed 1 night at his former residence, now a terribly upscale and rather pricey hotel, The Bamboo Garden Hotel. The bamboo garden was gorgeous and very tastefully done. Did An De Hai have taste? I wouldn’t know but he was definitely corrupted and rich and fell from grace thanks to Cian and Prince Gong.
An De Hai was the original big eunuch, before he was replaced by Li Lianying. As I read their bio, you can say they both followed orders or you can say they definitely reaped rewards from following orders. My suspicion is both probably had their fair share in bullying subordinates and assisting Cixi in doing her dirty work as well as being her favourite “confidant”.
Raymond Cho excels as the handsome masculine An De Hai. He is decisive, he is strong, he is cunning and he knows his place within the structure; that his success is dependant on the success of Cixi. In some ways he is not as open or as faithful as the gentler more trustworthy Linying but he is at this time, at episode 16 still loyal to his master. In truth it is An De Hai that captures my interest in this rather mundane series. He makes things complicated as it should be, he uses means that are questionable so as to achieve a result that benefits not only him but his master. You can say he is loyal, yet you can say he may be digging his own grave. At this moment he is not yet arrogant but he certainly shows his capability as a trusted and cunning right hand man. At times I feel he is even more Cixi than Cixi herself. Except of course Cixi never dirties her hands, and in this series, she is not one to ever dirty her hand because she has a good heart, so the villain is An De Hai. I fear for his fall from grace but I suspect the series will justify it as him being too smart for his own good. There is a reason why his “rule” of the 3000 eunuchs as Chief Eunuch is by fear, because then we can juxtapose it with Lianying’s Chief Eunuch which is by benevolence and example. In other words, An De Hai is doomed from the beginning.
Real Person: Yes, here. Even worse reputation. Being compared to Rasputin is no small feat but then even some may dispute if Rasputin was that terrible.
PANG SAM SHUN
My second most favourite eunuch is the surprisingly multi-layered Pang Sam Shun who calls himself the Phoenix rising from the ashes. This in itself is very funny description! He was awful at first, cruel, a bully and greedy. But as the series progresses, you see deep down he is someone who has no friends, he is where he is because of his powerful uncle, Sir Fuk. He saved Lianying’s life when he really didn’t have to, and when his uncle fell, he did not betray his uncle but begged for his uncle’s life. He refuses to suck up to An De Hai and since he didn’t do any big wrong, there isn’t much An De Hai can do since Pang Sam Shun did help them get rid of the many obstacles. Pang Sam Shum is a nice guy, deep down in that heart of his that has a conscience. I love watching how he tried not to let people know he is kind hearted, he feared his fearsome reputation will be destroyed and nothing is worse for him than to be known as the nice guy. He is also very strange; he can tell the truth to both Lianying about his uncle and to his uncle about Lianying without being stuck in the middle. He is very honest with them both; he even told Lianying his uncle’s misdeeds, knowing full well Lianying’s sworn brother is An De Hai, his uncle’s sworn enemy! I suppose this is to show how simple minded he is and I suppose in his simple mindedness is his adorableness.
Power Chan deserves a nomination and I believe he and Koo Ming Wah both have a fair chance to the Best Supporting Actor award at the upcoming TVB Drama Awards and either one winning is ok to me because they were both deserving. I have seen Power Chan act for the longest time and he has improved tremendously over the years. There was a time he was always the educated bespectacled white collar criminal but now he is back at what he is great at; dramedy as in drama with dose of comedy. His Pang Sam Shun is considered this show’s comic relief but to define him as that is plain wrong. He is to me one of the reasons why this series is wonderful to watch, one of the more reasonably fleshed out character that is surprisingly, like An De Hai, unpretentious and logical. And yet both men are at the spectrum of each end, both very different.
Real Person: At this moment, no. YIU SEUNG HEI
Yiu Seung Hei is not one of my favourite eunuch because I find his story the most unrelated story in this series, much like Sin Yau’s story. If I were to be honest, I find his story a waste of time in this series because it is doomed from the very beginning. It was a silly love story that would never have happened. One a eunuch, the other a princess. Doomed. One a eunuch, the other a maid, maybe but still doomed. One a small ranking doctor, the other a princes, probably not doomed, still got chance. So I don’t get why make him an eunuch? The eunuch does not run the medical department. That is stretching a lot. Why must TVB compartmentalise every character so clearly? If this is a series about eunuch, every major character is a eunuch. Why not make him a small time doctor? Can’t eunuchs have friendly relationships with ministers? Since obviously we see they have friendly relationships with their masters. So why not make his story a bit possible, more reasonably heart wrenching rather than just plain silly? Why not make him not an eunuch who ends up powerful and helps Lianying and friends? Wouldn’t that give this series a more rounded perspective?
But one thing I can’t deny; Raymond Wong can act. He is a fantastic actor, even if he looks sickly, more so in this look. His tearful scenes begging the princess to let him be, to not love him, to let him go was a great performance, except it wasn’t convincing not because of his acting or Aimee’s too controlled performance or the dialogue, but within the context, the entire scene was just plain drama for drama sake. I do not feel for their love because it was an impossibility and an illogical one. What do they expect? Cixi allows for their marriage? Well this Cixi might but not before they step over Cian’s dead body so to speak.
Real Person: At this moment, no. LI LIANYING
Lianying surprisingly is not my favourite eunuch nor is Wayne’s performance my favourite in here. At times I find him OTT, especially with the eyebrow thing. I know he is playing a different Lianying and I respect his interpretation. It is that I find his Lianying boring as opposed to the more dynamic ones we see in abundance in here. Wayne still gives a credible performance but seriously though, best actor for this role? No, not for this one. But obviously this series will probably end with Lianying “ruling” over the 3000 eunuchs because he is a good man and they all unanimously approve and respect him. I hope not. No one ever got unanimous approval, even if he is terribly nice. But do expect the Lianying good guy vs An De Hai bad guy repertoire.
Real Person: Yes, Li Lianying is his name. Executed I believe from what I read. You can even see his photos. Read his bio here.
LING TIM SAU
Tim Sau to me is set to be the head honcho of An De Hai, doing his bad deeds, from afraid to do so to willingly do so. He has the greed mark written all over him, his only hindrance is deep down he is a coward. The many times he could so easily want to abandon his sifu, Lianying shows to me he is not trustworthy.
Edwin Siu has that sort of “I am going to betray you” look and as Tim Sau he is well cast. Right now his Tim Sau is still silly but there is a sense of malice deep down in the way he follows An De Hai around. Lianying is keeping him in his place but I suppose when the war brews between An De Hai and Lianying, Tim Sau will no doubt side with the one giving him the most benefit in terms of money and power.
Real Person: At this moment, no. CHAN FOOK
Chan Fook aka Sir Fook is to me one of the worst written characters in here. The fact that he sits on his high chair of morality when he bemoans how An De Hai is evil and will betray everyone is just stupid, and good that a simpleton like Sam Shun puts his uncle into perspective when he says to his uncle “Uncle, you have money. Why don’t you just stop meddling into his affairs and just retire in richness?” True. And until now I still don’t get why he wanted to pull down Cixi at the beginning since there is no indication Cixi wants to destroy him. Not this Cixi. This Cixi is kind, this Cixi is nice. So why? Why do all those small gestures and end up being thrown out? I can tell you why. Illogical drama so that we can see the brutality of An De Hai and the kindness of Li Lianying. And yet I agree with what An De Hai did. He has to control 3000 unruly bunch who still answers to this retired Sir Fook. All I know is whatever Sir Fook does, he digs his own grave, pushes himself into it, and even buries himself in it. In other words, it is his own fault.
Elliot Yue is weird with his very weird look, but he does portray well the “ng kam sum” sort of man. However I find his Sir Fook silly without reason. He is in the best supporting actor list by the way, but to me Raymond Cho deserves the coveted spot more than him. His Sir Fook is one note stupid villain, unlike Raymond Cho’s An De Hai who is multi layered and deservedly controversial.
Real Person: At this moment, no LAU DOR SANG
Lau Dor Sang used to serve the Emperor Ham Fung/Xian Feng, father of Tongzhi. I was just told Chinese loves to say “Ham fung lin doi dik si” aka oh those stories from the age of ham fung which to me means “oh shut up about the olden days” sort of expression. Correct me if I am wrong. Anyway he is a sort of a retired eunuch, sifu to An De Hai and Lianying and doesn’t do anything except eat, gives advice and be jolly happy guy. Oh and he keeps the secret edict of the dead emperor with regards to Cixi which he then promptly told Cixi the entire contents. Tell me, does this look like an act of a loyal eunuch to his master, dead or alive? Everybody blabs about everything to everyone in this series! Chung King Fai is ok. Never liked him much, never disliked him much. I still chuckle at his monotone (or baritone?) voice which Wong Cho Nam perfected.
Real Person: Real but have yet to find a link in Chinese.
LEE WING NING
There are many eunuchs in here but one notable one is played by Fred Cheng as Lee Wing Ning. I am not sure what is the significance of this character but there must be some significance that special spotlight is on him. Fred Cheng is a good actor. Why not give him Edwin’s role who is obviously a young man?
Real Person: Suspected to be one For more info
You can read more about these characters as in this series and more in a link I found here, which is devoid of any spoiler. Also on the influence of eunuchs in various Chinese dynasties, here is a simple writeup. Interesting read.
As for the rankings of eunuchs, let me find out before I post them later. I think I know more about rankings of concubines in Qing Dynasty than the eunuchs. Which is the highest rank they can be bestowed? Ahh a must research point. If you’re curious about the concubines, it is as follows:-
Confirmed here. Only in Qing dynasty. Interestingly Cixi was never empress, Cian was. But she was the Empress Dowager by reason of her son taking the throne. Since the empress proper still alive by then, I suppose it necessitates for the 2 ranks we see in this series but Cian is in effect higher ranked.
So far, I am impressed with the general characterisation of the eunuchs of those time. I like the fact they’re portrayed as ordinary sort of men in personality, not like those lipstick wearing mascara laden sort of half men. I also like the attention to small details; notice each and every eunuch in this series, their eyebrows are perfectly “manicured” and all that. Each very well groomed and the costume does look like those Qing Dynasty era. My only problem is why is it still winter?!
The eunuchs maketh this series; thank goodness since it is The Confidant formerly known as The Big Eunuch. I rather it is called The Big Eunuch because the main point is the rise to power for an eunuch. Cixi is an important feature; whoever she favours shall gain that position. Like in my previous post where I wrote how bland this Cixi is, I stand by my choice of words. Michelle Yim is not terribly exciting but the problem is the writing is terribly bland for the most important person in this series that maketh and breaketh the half men so to speak. By portraying her as some stubborn nice misunderstood woman in effect shows to me how simpleminded she is. The way she handles things is half way ruining things.
The eunuchs however did better in portraying the power struggle which has a bit of intelligence in their actions. But they’re not perfectly portrayed or written. The entire notion “We are friends!! We stick together!!” is the foundation to a true epic tragic of love lost, friendships betrayed and enemies vanquished. In the context of eunuchs in the Forbidden Palace, I find that concept a bit hard to accept. It is a place of every man for himself, even if half man.
Why oh why is it still winter? Is this taking the whole “winter of our discontent” to a year long visual level? Why oh why is Ci’an not given a wardrobe makeover? She has been wearing that dress probably since the Emperor died!
Anyway I always thought Heshuo aka Wosek (reminder: it is supposed to be a rank and why I got Heshuo is biggest subtitle says so) is Ci’an’s daughter but she is the dead emperor’s sister and so Ci’an and even Ci’xi are both her sisters in law, which is why she can run around and do whatever she wants. At least we have less shouting in this episode. I can’t imagine in the real palace you have eunuchs, maids and even princess shouting their discontent. How to sleep if that way?!
For a frightening moment I thought my most favourite and most masculine eunuch, An De Hai (Raymond Cho-robbed off his well deserved nomination as Best Supporting Actor in the upcoming Bonus Time.. sorry… TVB Awards) was rotten when he wasn’t, I know he wasn’t the moment he stabbed Linying who fell into a pond. I mean it is only Episode 12, Linying can’t die yet, so I thought “AHA!!! Infernal Affairs!!” or double crosser of the double crosser and indeed he was!! My happiest moment. But no doubt An De Hai is ambitious, and smart and terribly cunning. Manliest Eunuch, EVER! I should never have doubted him. He never liked that Sir Fuk anyway.
I do love the comic exchange between Linying and Pang Samshun, darn funny! Pretending to be enemies but deep down they’re friends. You may ask how they turn from foes to friends? A few episodes ago Samshun was under no duty to save Linying but he did for reasons he himself also did not understand why. And since Linying is the male version of Lau Sam Ho (you know, that 3 Goods from Beyond The Realm Of Conscious … I mean Conscience), Linying likes everyone and so Linying likes Samshun! A note on Power Chan’s subtle yet excellent performance. He is so “sook gwat” (cowardly) in his mannerism, you know Samshun is not a bad guy. He is a bully but he is not a very smart bully therefore not dangerous. Sir Fuk and An De Hai’s are the dangerous ones because you don’t know what they’re thinking!
Anyway poor Prince Gong. He is truly loyal it seems, not in the “Ci’an/Sir Fuk/ one more can’t remember his name, that Prince Gong assistant who also deserves a nomination even if he looks so stressed 24/7″ gang. I pity him. I am however a bit confused about the whole Ci’an/Ci’xi storyline. I mean why bother with sisterhood plot? Make it less confusing and just show one of them mad with power or madly craving for power. Ci’an in this series has only herself to blame. Everytime she is asked to make a decision, she pretends to be dumb and looks to the more forceful Ci’xi and now she is blaming Ci’xi for having too much power. In fact I am troubled by this Ci’an character. If not for Maggie Shiu, this character is a complete waste of time.
And now to the worst moment; Raymond Wong the eunuch touchy touchy with the Heshuo princess. I mean if he had been a mere young rankless doctor, at least Ci’xi can give him a high rank and she can marry him. Not quite doomed yet. This pair? Doomed from the start. He is not just a servant, he is a bloody eunuch! Oh TVB don’t go politicking with me about eunuchs deserve love and marriage. This is not the right forum. Even eunuchs and palace maids are doomed, more so princess and eunuch! Am I suppose to cry for this pair? I can’t. Because there is zero development in that storyline. Aimee Chan did ok. Her biggest hindrance is her Cantonese and the language here is so old style, it sounds a bit pretentious. But make her a mute and seriously, she looks good, acts good. I think she was at her prettiest during the titanic scene in I think episode 11? Episode 12? She looks like Christine Kuo, except less sulky.
Michelle Yim is still underwhelming for me. I read in Wiki Maggie Cheung (Hor Yee) was supposed to be Cixi although Michelle Yim was Cixi in the sales presentation clip of this series. Maggie Cheung would have changed the dynamics of this series. Michelle to me doesn’t dominate nor does she engage. She is supposed to be the most influential figure in this series filled with men, you can say she is the lead actress but I feel she is like a guest star in here.
But the last scene of this episode makes me anticipate the next episode. An De Hai may be smart but it seems Sir Fuk is smarter! I see the knife on his neck and I was like “NO!!!” and damn! Next episode we shall know. What a cliffhanger!
Between The Confidant and that Silver Sterling, Sickly Shackles, the latter is making me lose patience. The plot is like moving like snail pace and I can never understand why Sire Ma’s young miss falls for that rude pretentiously righteous cop! I mean why does it remind me of that verbally abusive relationship in Divas In Distress? You know Him Him and his Man Man? Especially when she has a good guy in the form of Stefan Wong? Because she is allergic to gentleman? She is allergic to chivalry? She is allergic to mixed race? Likewise in The Confidant but less severe. The princess is supposed to marry a really great guy, she admits that too. And yet her heart belongs to Raymond Wong who is a great guy except … Did TVB just employ Qiong Yau to write for The Confidant?! I mean why set yourself to heartbreak by falling for of all people, an eunuch? Is that supposed to make romantic drama? No! It just makes me think too much!
The Confidant is saved by performances and scenery. In fact many series have been filmed in Heng Dian but it takes this series to show to me more than just the usual buildings we see. Even BBJX did not show what The Confidant showed of Heng Dian. But the story, or one of the few stories we see in here (this series has an identity crisis!) is lame. The rest tries to be not lame but is getting to be lame. It is to me not an intelligent series but at least it is fast paced and engaging series. Just don’t think too much.
But the themesong is great! Who can outsing Shirley Kwan? Not many and I am happy a proper singer sings an actually good song. But my heart is still with the romantic The Last Steep Ascent themesong.
Anyway I am dying with anticipation as to what will happen to my An De Hai in the next episode.
If you're not a fan (of the actors in this series), I will advise you to stay away because it takes a bit of patience to watch this series.
SPOILERS ... SPOILERS ... SPOILERS
Chinese Title
Xing Ming Shi Ye
When this series was announced, the difficulty in this series is translating the Chinese title into English. The producers opted for the sensible Chinese Detective. Some interpret it as Xing Ming Private Adviser or Advisers of Criminal Law. The TV's English sub uses Secretary Of Jurisprudence, which is what the Chinese book being sold in Amazon uses. I understand the Secretary of Jurisprudence. What the Xing Ming Shi Ye does in this series is investigate, collect evidence and come up with a conclusion to advise the magistrate giving the verdict. So technically they're investigators or rather crime scene investigators or CSI. But their verdict bears heavily on the magistrate's ultimate verdict so you can say they're well... secretary of jurisprudence does sound good. Chinese Detective as a title is too simplistic.
So for my review I will refer to this series in its Chinese title; XMSY.
Released In
Only in Korea and Malaysia and in DVD at the time of writing this review. I don't think this will ever see the light of day in China. The DVDs are not even sold there for reasons I do not know. I am sure Youtube will have it one of these days. But technically, 2012.
Roughly based on
A novel of the same title, Xing Ming Shi Ye by Mu Yi (沐轶)
The major differences that I know of is...
1. there is no Duan Ping and for that I suppose no Xia Feng Yi or if there is, she is one of the female leads. I saw some artwork and I swear Duan Ping's costume and headgear looks like the novel's Meng Tianchu. It could be my mistake.
2. Meng Tianchu was someone from modern world time traveling to Ming Dynasty China. This was changed due to guidelines in script approvals banning time traveling story. It is replaced by Tianchu returning from Italy.
3. Therefore all the triangular love between Duanping, Fengyi and Tianchu does not exist in the book.
Meng Tian Chu returns from overseas (Italy) to Ming dynasty China in search of his father (Meng Liang) and solves various difficult and at times perilous mysteries with the outwardly meek, but internally resolute native adviser Duan Ping. The two of them use very different methods to solve the same cases and are constantly at odds with each other while vying for the affection of the same girl, Xia Feng Yi, a butcher's daughter.
My Plot Summary
Wiki did not get something right. Duan Ping is not outwardly meek, he is a man of Ming Dynasty whilst Tianchu is a foreigner so to speak.
It is the day of the wedding of Xia Feng Yi, a former butcher now turned politician and merchant's only child and his adopted son, the famous detective of Zhen Hai county, Duan Ping. However their wedding was destroyed by the return of Xia Yi Dao's dead sworn brother's son, Meng Tianchu from Italy. Unbeknownst to everyone, even Meng Tianchu, Fengyi was bethroed as a baby to Tianchu and so Yidao stopped the wedding and insisted on Fengyi marrying Tianchu. Tianchu was smitten by the beautiful Fengyi but Fengyi is deeply in love with the quieter Duan Ping and will not agreed to the wedding. Tianchu promises to woo her heart and have her marry him for love and not by force and so Duan Ping had to stand aside whilst maintaining a good relationship with the man who raised him and the man who eventually becomes his friend and colleague.
Tianchu is also a talented investigator, using what is at that time unorthodox methods of investigations where he favours making realistic drawings of the crime scenes and performing autopsies, which is a taboo back then. This is in direct contrast with Duan Ping's more conservative methods where his investigative style is based on collection of evidence and finally deduction of all evidence gathered without disturbing the bodies or performing lab tests. What is seemingly rivals in work and in love turn into mutual admiration of skills, partners in work and gentlemanly rivals in love. Duan Ping does not push Tianchu away nor does Tianchu use any devious method both in work and love.
Stuck in the middle is a determined and feisty Fengyi who is very sure who her heart belongs to until one day she realises perhaps she has more in common with the more outwardly affectionate and passionate Tianchu who states his mind rather than the more inwardly affectionate and controlled Duan Ping.
Who will she choose and will Tianchu ever realise his dream to be a detective like his idol, Duan Ping?
The Ending
I might as well tell you the ending. The answer to my last sentence above is ...
Open ended and sorta yeah.
My Comments
There are several reasons to love this series, especially for fans of Nicky Wu and Wallace Huo.
1. neither of them die
2. both gets the girl, losses the girl, sorta gets the girl (in that order)
3. Nicky Wu does not have a kiss scene in here, surprisingly but he gets the hugs
4. Wallace Huo doesn't really get the hug but he gets the 1 passionate searingly hot and long kiss
5. Nicky and Wallace shares almost equal screentime, but heavier screentime for Nicky and more dialogue for Wallace.
6. Both shares equal amount of running and shots up close their faces.
AND
7. They're always side by side when they're together, even the girl doesn't stand in the middle, she stands by Nicky's side and only at the end she stands in the middle of the guys.
But the main reason is this series stars 2 of the most likable actors in the industry, the super handsome Wallace Huo and or course the very sexy Nicky Wu. Both of them recently starred in 2 of China's biggest hits, the former is that The Glamorous Imperial Concubine and the latter, Bu Bu Jing Xin. Since the broadcast of those 2 series, they have went on to film other notable and successful series, but of course none as successful of those 2. And in those 2, both have given us memorable and perhaps their best performances todate, the former being the violent, temperamental, emotional and ultimately tragic Liu Liancheng and the latter being one of the most controversial emperor in history of China and able to bring out the sensitive loving side of him, 4th Prince who became Emperor Yongzheng. These 2 performances propelled them to in effect super stardom and winning many many awards and so what a better follow up than a series combining these 2 drool factors first time ever as partners in work, rivals in love.
I was excited about this series the moment it was announced and I waited and waited and waited and much to my surprise, Malaysia gets one of the earliest broadcast with decent English subtitles. Oh I was excited and ultimately sorta disappointed.
Make no mistake, for Nicky Wu and Wallace Huo alone, this series is a must watch. You can just stare and not blink. Some may say Nicky Wu is 4th Prince in this series. How wrong that observation is. Some may say Wallace Huo is not funny. Of course, he is not a comedian but he has his fair share of chuckling moments. Each bring to this series a different flavour. And what is really funny is in real life, Nicky Wu is Meng Tianchu but smarter whilst Wallace Huo is Duan Ping but more expressive in his own way. And yet on screen, they're often cast as opposites of their real life character, especially Nicky Wu. Between them is 7 years difference but because Wallace Huo behaves older than his age and Nicky Wu looks younger than his age, their age difference is not apparent in this series. In the middle there is the much younger looking and much younger in age as well, He Zhuoyan as the female lead and somewhere by the side the more mature looking Du Ruoxi who is in love with Duan Ping. And then did I mention there was Yan Kuan somewhere in here? Alas he only appears briefly in episode 1 and a much longer appearance in the last episode, episode 30. He looks exceedingly tired but still you can't dim those handsome features and his awesome expressive eyebrows and eyes. But you won't get to see him throwing up blood. That privilege goes to Wallace Huo who gets to do that several times.
So may reasons why this series should be a ratings success if it is ever broadcast in China but from what I know it is not making a huge splash. I suppose I understand why and these would be my reasons why I could have disliked this series if not for the 3 main players.
THE LACK OF PLOT & TOO MUCH SILENCE FILLERS
For a 30 episodes series, it lacks plot. Whilst I complaint about Silver Spoons Sterling Shackles being slow, Chinese Detective is even slower. It is not slow because it takes its time to develop on the characters. Until the end I still don't get why Tianchu returns to China or why Duan Ping was adopted. It is slow because everybody talks so slow. The 45 minutes per episode contents can be easily digested into 25 minutes tops if you delete the staring, slow mo, various poses sort of moments, etc. The characters aren't a lot of people but this series makes it a point to have sayyyy Duan Ping look at everyone before speaking and he looks very very slowly. The typical dialogue being spoken has about 3 seconds delay for the 2nd word and between each sentences another 3 seconds delay and mind you, some speak a lot. There is an episode where half the episode is 4 characters sitting down talking and they didn't talk much. At some point I was tearing my hair out screaming "Can you please just move on!!" and by the end I got used to this sort of presentation. So my advice when watching this series is to pretend it is a CCTV production. It has the feel of CCTV production, but lacks like 100 people in one scene and the grandeur. It is for me like an art house production of CCTV but filled with popular actors because it is so darn slow. There are possibly 4 characters who speak normal speed and that is Tianchu, Fengyi, Xin Ge and Feiyan and even them between each sentence there is a 3 seconds delay. It is an infuriating aspect except this IS how Mainland China ancients series are. Did you watch 3 Kingdoms? As slow. Probably 5 seconds delay. There are just way too much of staring at left right front back speaking up close shots and a 10 minutes scene have the cameras going round and round and round the characters.
The plot or rather the series in effect can be edited to 20 episodes and even for me 20 episodes is a tad too little plot based on what is in this series.
What I have wanted to see was more background stories which this series lacks. That is why in the end I know very little about the characters.
THE SIMPLICITY OF THE CASES
If TVB is infuriating with everybody confessing to a crime, this series is the King of Confession. Every criminal after being exposed confesses mostly directly except for the child murderer who didn't confess but you will know his modus operandi. And by confessing, all of them will be executed. And we see zero execution scenes. What we see is Zhenhai has a lot of criminal activities and like Texas probably the highest execution rate. But none of the execution scenes. The closure is lacking because some murderers deserve that sort of closure for the viewers to see. There is a lack of people participation in the cases. As if every case concerns victim from outside of Zhenhai and the murderers not people of Zhenghai. The main selling plot point of this series is the cases but unlike Galileo which makes the cases the main feature, this series confuses itself by wanting to include everything but in the end excluding the most crucial aspect; an integrity to the cases. All the cases sound complicated. Well the murdering is complicated. The reasonings are for some quite heart wrenching. But like most Mainland China series which tries to depict human emotions, I find the ending for the cases to me lacking in emotional depth. I did not feel for any of the murderers. I felt cold. Something TVB does better is showing at least the emotional depth from the viewpoint of the investigator and even in that aspect this series fails miserably. It seems like just work to these 2 investigators when they're 2 of the most involved investigators; they do their job because they want to help the people, especially Duan Ping. And they they reaction is almost non existent or rather too calm.
THE CONFUSING CASE OF MENG LIANG
It has no ending for the case of Meng Liang because he was stabbed but we were told never by who. I have my suspicion but it was never explained.
THE GUILT OF XIA YIDAO
Over the death of Duan Ping's father, which was weird because I never thought what he did was wrong so why the guilt?
THE SUPPOSED COMPLICATED LOVE RELATIONSHIPS
That is between Duan Ping and his godfather or adopted father, Xia Yidao. Even till the end I don't get why Xia Yidao adopted Duan Ping, my only conclusion is Xia Yidao is deep down a good man who feels guilty for what he did eventhough seriously Senior Duan deserves his ending. The complication arises from the fact Yidao wants Fengyi to marry Tianchu, or that is how it seems until the last 3 episodes or so we see the reason being far more selfish than noble. And stuck in the middle is Duan Ping who Yidao clearly loves but yet does not hesitate to indicate many times he prefers Tianchu as his son in law. Duan Ping stands aside and does nothing. He doesn't argue, he doesn't push, he doesn't bicker, he just accepts Yidao's preference and yet in his own way fights Tianchu for Fengyi's affection.
The relationship between Fengyi and Duanping is less complicated but confusing. Fengyi clearly loves her Duanlang (Lang is an affectionate used for someone you love aka your husband/intended/boyfriend). Some point towards the end she calls him Duan Ping, and that marks the change of their relationship. At the end she reverts back to Duan Lang so my conclusion is deep down she still loves Duan Ping. But that is the confusion. In order not to offend any section of the fans of Nicky Wu and Wallace Huo, neither ends up with the girl and yet both seems to share the affections of the girl. She hugs them both at the end, as in linking hands. At the beginning she calls Tianchu "Pirate!" and Duan Ping "Duan lang". In the middle "Pirate!" becomes "Meng Tianchu" and "Duan lang" becomes "Duan Ping". In the end the final scene she calls Meng Tian Chu "Pirate" again whilst Duan Ping becomes "Duan lang". If there is any indication of the names used, I believe the original script probably ended with Duan Ping and Fengyi, which is the one pair that I agree with. I mean Tianchu is a nice guy, he did a lot to win her heart but for me from the get go, it was Duan Ping and Fengyi for me. When Fengyi falls for Tianchu, Tianchu backs away and Fengyi angrily says "Meng Tianchu, after all that you have done, after everything you did, did you ever realise I am a woman?" which means as a woman she too will be touched by his actions and Tianchu quietly says "I am sorry". Then with Duan Ping she says "With Meng Tianchu... I am just confused..." where Duan Ping quietly says "I wasn't. I could see clearly. Why don't we start afresh? I am Duan Ping, you are Xia Fengyi. Don't call me Duan lang anymore, call me Duan Ping". So this means he wants to let her choose. Did she choose? From what I can see, no. She is like a pendulum swing but I think when she said "I am just confused" is the operative word. Deep down she loves her Duan lang. And so the last scene to me is an indication she sort of made her choice but it is up to interpretation. For me I just want to her make her choice. I want a definite end because I don't see a sequel being planned. In fact I don't think there will ever be any sequel. Of course this would encourage the Team Duan Ping or Team Meng Tianchu. With the amount of time these 2 shares stares and all that, maybe Duan Ping should be with Meng Tianchu.
There's the relationship between Tianchu and Fengyi. It is understandable for Fengyi to fall for Tianchu. He is more passionate, he did give her her first kiss. I doubt Duan Ping ever did more than hold her hands, in fact it shocked her when he hugged her. He was never expressive but Tianchu being the "foreigner" was the more affectionate one. I like how persistent and consistent Fengyi was in the beginning, smiling when she thought of Tianchu dying and she could marry Duan Ping and Tianchu knows what she is thinking. I like how she wrote a "divorce" letter and showed it in public and Tianchu just looks at her and smiles a little and thinking "Some day I will win your heart". I like how she thwarted all his efforts and I certainly likes how she is clear who she loves. So when she becomes confused, that was when this series become a sell out. I hate how some episodes concentrated on how she was confused, avoiding her Duan lang, Duan Ping doing things to win her heart and Yidao scolding Duan Ping for being less of a man.
After a while I was hoping the story ends with Duan Ping falling for Zhuo Jiayin, the winery owner with a secret. She obviously loves him, he knows it. The thing about this series is the love relationships are so transparent. You know who likes who with who and all that. I wanted them to end up together. She is more sensible. She is not a pendulum swing.
THE INDECISIVENESS OF XIA FENGYI
I never thought Fengyi was indecisive until this series decided to make her indecisive and I hate that aspect. Just bloody hell give her a husband! Duan Ping! Duan Ping! Duan Ping! But there is one line I do remember which was quite true. She told Tianchu "Before you came into my life, destroy my wedding and my happiness, I was a happy girl. Everyday I think only of how I will marry my Duan lang and how I will spend the rest of my life with him. I was always smiling. But you came back, you disrupted my wedding day, I stopped smiling since, I was miserable, sad. You did all the things you did, flew a kite with my name on it, drew a huge painting of me .... (she lists everything he did)... Meng Tianchu, have you ever thought for all the things you did, you would have affected me? Have you ever thought I am a woman? Meng Tianchu, I am a woman!" which basically means she would have been touched by what he did and would have fallen for him like she just confesses she did. Pretty sad. At that point I just said to myself, "Poor Duan Ping". Someone gatecrashed into his wedding and now into his fiance's heart.
THE ENDING OF SOME CHARACTERS
Such as Constable Ma. I liked him so I did not like how it ended for him. It just feels too much like "fake shock" rather than real shock as at the sudden turn of events. Same goes for the magistrate Xu Hailin. As for the 2 imperial guards you will see from episode 1, I don't get their involvement in the final case. For me it seems so sudden, so convenient and no connection whatsoever that their ending to me felt rushed.
THE FINAL ENDING
The really final ending. Tell me is that wooden ship is not the same Xia Yidao wooden ship!! How strangely undeservedly poignant considering what happened on that same ship moments earlier.
However there are some great aspects of this series that makes it easier for me to recommend this series.
THE COSTUMES/SET LOCATIONS
I love the wedding costume of Duan Ping in the 1st episode, it was so Duan Ping. It was stunning. I love the wedding costume of Meng Tianchu, it was so him. I love Fengyi's wedding costumes for both as well as that yellow costume she wore sometimes. These costumes highlight the gorgeousness of the wearer. I love how the sets and some costumes have dust, how they look like they have been worn. I love the dust on the sets, the grime, the smoke. The sets felt authentic. It didn't feel new or clean but used, been there done that and it feels like it was back in those days. Therefore I love the attention to details on what we can see. A pity the same level of attention not given to the hair especially female characters, often rather silly or too modern. I do however love how proper Duan Ping's hair is, not a strand out of place and how messy the ponytail of Tianchu, which shows how carefree he is. In fact I love Meng Tianchu's costumes, the overall look right down to the earring which Wallace himself bought and wore. It felt like he was a foreigner, someone standing apart from the rest such as the ultra traditional and proper Duan Ping. I would have loved to see the same hair, look, except the earring for Wallace Huo as Ling Hucong, not the bathrobe we see he is in. You can't argue about the costumes and sets. Absolutely gorgeous.
THE RELATIONSHIP BETWEEN DUAN PING & MENG TIANCHU
I love how civil they both are. Sometimes it confuses me how Tianchu can expect Duan Ping to be cordial with him when every day Tianchu is courting Duan Ping's love, that is Fengyi. Everyone acknowledges how gentlemanly Duan Ping is, and he is gentlemanly except towards the end for the first time ever, he angrily told Tianchu "Why don't you return to where you came from?" which of course confuses Tianchu with a sudden change of character and it wasn't because of Fengyi. I suppose for Duan Ping, all is fair in love and may the best man win. He is also confident Fengyi loves him enough not to betray him. But when Fengyi had a change of heart, he did not go punching Tianchu. They could still talk cordially. I like how naive Tianchu is in love. But then this series never made love as a squabbling point between the 2 men. In fact love was something they did not even argue on. I like how Tianchu was so impressed with Duan Ping from the first time he saw Duan Ping in action in court, and I also like how Duan Ping gave Tianchu chances to excel. I particularly like the scene where an emotional Tianchu met with a drunk Duan Ping as Tianchu with tears said "I always admired you! I respected you! I wanted to be like you! Look at you now, a drunkard". Of course Tianchu should realise he is a drunkard because he knows deep down Fengyi was having a change of heart. Which is why it is also confusing how this aspect was never fully utilised and the 2 men remain civil from episode 1 to episode 30. Very very strange but yet makes for an interesting change.
THE PASSIONATE KISSING SCENE
Only one, and that is between Fengyi and Tianchu. Quite a highlight because he kissed her passionately, she kissed him back quite passionately and in between the super long kiss, there is a voice in my heart saying "Poor poor Duan Ping". I find myself saying "Poor poor Duan Ping" a lot. I suppose I am Team Duan Ping.
THE VERY LAST CASE
I like the very last case. Even for someone seeking revenge, one particular character was apologetic to his "brother". Everybody is so polite here, you know? I like how Duan Ping looked at Yidao and reminded Yidao of the promise he made to himself for the purpose of the wooden ship and his realisation that Duan Ping was right. I like what Yidao did even if terribly tragic. I just don't like how it took the characters 5 full seconds to run to Yidao in the aftermath. Darn slow.
I of course have my preferred ending. I would have preferred Duan Ping to have an upgrade in his profession since everyone thinks very highly of him. So why can't the emperor made him the new magistrate of Zhenhai and Tianchu as his Xing Ming Shiye? And ends the story not with them 2 with Fengyi smiling but rather that should be 2nd ending. Final ending should be Duan Ping investigating a case with Tianchu and they're now full partners in work or rather one is superior, one is his worker? Why not indeed? That is to me a satisfying end. Not the nonsense of the indecisiveness of the writer/producers. I just had a look at the Wiki page where the producers intend to make a series of series for this series so to speak. Really? When they can't even properly end this one? I doubt they will continue with the same set of actors. They can't even get this broadcast in China so I suppose the plan must be off or if on, please start with Fengyi married to Duan Ping or even Tianchu. Oh let the poor girl marry someone!!
THE DUBBING
Believe it or not, the dubbing is actually top quality. They found the perfect sorta playful voice for Wallace, which sounds sorta like the real Wallace except less serious. They found a good voice for Nicky Wu, serious but not dead serious type. Even He Zhuoyan's dubbing voice sounds good, not too high pitch, not too girly, just right. I believe the voice for the actor who acts as Xu Hailin is his real voice because it sounds like how he looks. I am not sure about the others but for the ones I do know, the dubbing was top notch.
THE OPENING THEME
I kinda like the fact that there is no themesong for the opening theme but a series of drum sort of sounds. I also like how the background music, such as the drum sounds are put to good use in building suspense although some scenes do not deserve such suspenseful sounds. The drum sounds do maketh this series, in a way.
THE SONGS
The following is the ending theme. Love this song.
There is another song towards the end when we see Fengyi sorta rejecting Duan Ping for Tianchu, sang by a female singer but I am not sure who is the singer and where I can find the song. That song was lovely.
PERFORMANCES EVALUATED
Performance wise, all round rather good for the main players but not so good for the supporting players in those murder cases since I hardly know them and they hardly look memorable except for a few.
Nicky Wu as Duan Ping
I know the criticisms. He is too wooden, he hardly shows emotions, he hardly have any dialogue, he hardly moves, he is just a terribly inadequate bad actor. I personally feel he has improved a lot and he is a much better credit than many gives him credit for but not that great an actor that his fans will like to think of him. He is above mediocre of course. For me he is a good actor, much better at those quiet moments of self reflection and emoting those sad thoughts. He can really cry and cry effectively and gut wrenching pitiful without going overboard. He is at his best when playing a serious person who has some emotional problems. Which is why he was perfect as 4th prince in Bu Bu Jing Xin and therefore, Duan Ping being rather similiar is right up his alley. Interestingly in real life Nicky Wu can be quite silly despite his age, he is a joker and a person who seems very good natured; that sort you can walk right to him for an autograph and he will happily sign one for you. He is also a man whose past has shaped him into who he is today, and so that is why I believe characters such as Duan Ping is really the real Nicky Wu inside, but he puts on a happy face outside. Duan Ping is not a repeat of 4th prince, even if Nicky Wu stands the way he does in BBJX. Duan Ping is gentler, more stoic, serious but reasonable and a perfect gentleman, so perfect sometimes you wonder is there any passion in this man? Is he capable of any temper? Of course he does and Nicky Wu displays all those emotions perfectly. Problem is the lack of dialogue and the overlong stares with his co-stars before speaking any lines. Sometimes I wish he speaks more. Sometimes I wish he has more lines. Sometimes I wish he just stops fretting and staring and just you know, move side by side or up and down. Other than those superficial criticisms, I have no more I can critique on his fine performance. If you think he was wooden, maybe, but it suits the role of Duan Ping.
Wallace Huo as Meng Tianchu
I love the name Meng Tianchu. I love his looks. I love his costume, his hair, everything except the pirate look. But even for the private looks, it works within its context. After all this man sailed the seas for years, kidnapped by several pirates and forced to do hard labour before finding his way to China. So he is a bit skinny in the beginning and looks older than his years. Wallace lost weight for this role and there was once I questioned why and after watching this, I understood why. How was Wallace? He is playing against type. He is more Duan Ping in real life but always seems to be given either the melancholic roles or this sort of silly roles. But to dismiss Meng Tianchu as silly or fluffy is wrong. He has more substance than the basic story reveals. He cries many times, for various reasons and Wallace Huo is very good at 3 things; quiet contemplation with tears, being tortured, spurting blood. All these 3 he does them beautifully. And you can find plenty of those in here. The only problem with his performance is the writing towards the end drags his character down, and he doesn't have much to do. But other than that, I can't fault Wallace who gave a great performance as the smitten passionate Tianchu.
And a little something I posted previously which may be a repeat of the above:-
I still don't get why it is not broadcast in China though. Must be to their taste because it ... is.. very.. very... slow.. like as if every line uttered between each word there is a compulsory 3 seconds pause. But it has got Nicky who looks not good with the HD aspect, He Zhuoyan who looks lovely (I am becoming a fan of hers, I find her very very pretty in ancient settings) and of course Wallace, KING of HDTV [Part 1 | Part 2]. Not a bad angle, never a bad position and even when his skin is not as good as the past, even when caked with spray tan, he looks absolutely gorgeous. He looks older in this series, but the fashion suits him well. In fact I thought minus the earring (which is really a very nice aspect to show the little rebel in Meng Tianchu, by distancing him away from the usual Ming citizens), a bit more dust, less spray tan and with a sword by his side, just that hair that costume, THAT is the look of Ling Huchong (Swordsman) and not the Swordsman's version of bathrobes outside of shirts.
He Zhuoyan as Xia Fengyi
I doubted her when I first read of her being cast since I didn't know who she was. She looks ok in pictures. Then I saw her quite sizable role in the Journey To The West 2011 as rat demon, voice probably dubbed but she gave a very eye opener sort of performance as the smitten rat demon. I was intrigued even if I thought she looked pretty ordinary due to the heavy make up. For me every China actress looks alike. I saw her interview with the 2 lead actors and she wore way too much make up. Then I watched this series and her very first scene was her wedding day and she revealed her blood red lipstick in red costume and I can say, it was an arresting sight. I googled her and I am under no illusion she did something to her eyes at the very least with fake huge iris contact lense. But she looks arresting like I said. When she wore lesser make up, except for her silly hairstyle and sometimes questionable costumes, she actually looks like a beauty from those era. You can't find someone with her sort of chubby looks these days. She is slim, not skinny but slim and I hope she doesn't go sucking the facts out of her face. I really like how she looks and the more I watch her the more I like her. I find her very very beautiful, not drop dead beautiful but something about her. She also looks like a leading lady in her own right, sandwiched between 2 gorgeous men and many veteran actors. No doubt, she can act. Her Fengyi at the beginning was feisty, you can understand why Tianchu likes her. She is determined, single minded and knows what she wants. It is that Fengyi that I really like, until she sorta fell for Tianchu, then fell again for Duan Ping, then became a pendulum swing, and that was when I felt the Fengyi I liked has been destroyed by the fickle mindedness of the writer who doesn't want to offend Wallace or Nicky's fans and so she chose both or maybe she chose none. I would like to think she chooses Duan Ping because it seems that way. But her first few appearances were wonderful. Love how she just scolds Tianchu and next become very gentle with her Duan lang. I also love how she does not hesitate to hug her Duan lang's arms whilst basically giving the deathly stare at Tianchu. What a pity the series did not give her character a proper end and making her cry and sulk so often towards the end.
Du Ruo Xi as Zhuo Jia Yin
I have heard of Du Ruoxi, who is girlfriend/wife of another gorgeous man, Yan Kuan. Lucky her. She looks ok, but what surprises me is her performance. It was rather good. The way she stares at Nicky's Duan Ping, wanting to hold his hand but can't, being in love with a man whose heart belong to someone else. She did all those scenes adequately and frankly I have not much complaints. In fact I would have hoped Duan Ping end up with her rather than being with the pendulum swing.
Wang Wen Jie as Xin Ge (Meng Tian Chu's servant)
Fei Wei Ni as Huan Fei Yan (Xia Feng Yi's servant)
These two plays servants to Meng Tianchu and Fengyi, respectively and I don't mind giving you spoilers, they marry at last. After 2 disrupted wedding, the 3rd wedding was a success, except it is between these 2. Wang Wenjie as Xin Ge is someone I have never seen before but he is really cute. There is something quite effective about his innocent sort of looks and I find him rather handsome, even if his hair needs some serious combing. Performance wise, again not much complaints. As for Fei Weini as Feiyan, again someone I never seen before or maybe I have but never noticed, the casting of her as a nosy but loving maid is perfect and she again gave a performance that I can't nitpick on. The only problem with these 2 is that they don't have much roles and not much to do.
The Veterans
Of all the veteras, 3 were the main ones;
Fang Zhou Bo as Magistrate Xu Hailin
Zhao Dong Bai as Constable Ma
Wang Jian Guo as Xia Yi Dao
Of all 3, the weakest was Zhao Dongbai but then his Constable Ma doesn't have much to do in terms of acting except for the last 2 episodes or so. Wang Jianguo was excellent as the troubled father with a dark secret, Xia Yidao, although the script failed this character by not developing his story further. The actor however did justice to the role by giving him more than the script gave him. Fang Zhoubo as Magistrate Xu Hailing was also fantastic as the cowardly magistrate who also has a deep dark secret. I was disappointed at the turn of events for these 3 characters which we have seen from episode 1 but I suppose the series has to end with a bang. It wasn't a huge bang but I understand the logic.
The Murderers & Victims
Of all the cases, for me the silliest was the case of Mo Lian who wanted to die and yet died in someone's wedding. The most impossible has to be the case of Meng Liang because how can an ordinary fisherman plan so much things? The most heart wrenching was of course the woman who was raped exacting revenge on those who failed to protect her. But I find her case ended too sudden, not much development given, if the writer did, it would have been a very very good story to develop on. The most illogical one had to be the rich guy who challenged Duan Ping and so murdered a child and kidnapped several others. Why children? The story never explained. And many more.
All these stories stars different actors as victim and murderers, none of them I know. They were all the weakest links, in part because of their underdeveloped stories and also because of their underwhelming performance due to lack of time. The one that did stand out was that child killer. He was creepy. The rest were pretty ordinary to me. And for a series that boasts investigation as its main theme, the fact that I find the cases, murderers, and victims pretty ordinary will basically mean the series failed in its primary purpose. I wouldn't argue with that assessment because it is true. There is just no suspense.
The Guest Performance
Only one actor qualifies for this heading and that is Yan Kuan as the Emperor. Poor Yan Kuan, forever the walk on role. He appears very briefly in episode 1 and a longer scene in the last episode at the almost last scene when all the drama is over. He looks tired, but other than that, he looks like a pissed off Emperor. What more can I say about Yan Kuan that I haven't said? Handsome, tall, strongly built... he can be Duan Ping but then Fengyi will then have no reason to look to Tianchu in terms of looks. But it would have been a great Liu Liancheng-Meng Qiyou reunion. Anyway it was a nice guest appearance and I wasn't surprised since I already knew he would be in this series.
VERDICT
Top notch performances with some engaging moments but overall, it is 10 episodes too long due to lack of contents and the weakest link is supposedly the main feature, the investigations. The producers should look at Galileo on how to write weird cases and the solutions. This is strictly for fans of the 3 main stars. Now, for fans of Wallace Huo and Nicky Wu, you will be satisfied with the performances and often extreme closeups of their faces. Acting wise, no complaints. For fans of He Zhuoyan, you will be surprised at her performance as the feisty Fengyi. Just ignore the fact that Fengyi really has nothing much to do other than following her Duan lang or later her "pirate". This series main feature is to me the fact that it has 2 of the current hottest star in China (maybe you can add a few more but these 2 are searingly hot) in terms of fame, looks and acting and they could have just stand there and do nothing and still I would have watched eagerly. It did go terribly wrong with the story development. But if you can stand the slow mo actions and 3 seconds pause between each sentences and the CCTV like art house production feel, I am sure you will appreciate the costumes, the sets, the attention to details and of course the 2 searingly hot guys.
Therefore I highly recommend this series, to fans of these stars. If you're not a fan, I will advise you to stay away because it takes a bit of patience to watch this series.
ABOUT THE DVD
Yes, there is a DVD (official one) being sold in Malaysia which is..
1. HD quality therefore picture quality is 10/10
2. Box very nice, and some thought put into the design and therefore packaging is 8/10
3. The sound quality is top notch and so rating by me is 10/10
4. Got Chinese and English subtitles which appearance sake is 10/10
5. Quality of Chinese subtitles - undetermined
6. Quality of English subtitles is between 0/10 - 3/10. It started well and becomes progressively bad to the point some part are not translated whilst some parts are translated badly. What is supposed to be "My son" or "Nephew" becomes "Niece". A total change of gender. No fansub yet but I am sure there will be because this series seriously needs a good fansub and since dialogue is not much, should be easy to do. I hate how so much attention on packaging, etc and yet not much attention on the subtitles. This lack of attention is just lazy, cheap and destroys the integrity of the series. My recommendation is if you know a little Mandarin, the subtitles can sorta guide you but if you know zero Mandarin, believe me, the subtitles are of 10% help only. What a disappointing farce.
In short, only buy the DVD if you know Mandarin, knows how to read Chinese or know a little Mandarin.
For those interested, the following are some sample pictures of the DVD priced at RM79-90 which you can buy from any local video stores (where some gives 10% discount) or here.
THE BOX
MENU
PICTURE QUALITY
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INSIDE BOX
SUBTITLE QUALITY
SPOILERS ON THE ENDING
Click the Show button for the spoilers.
The last case is the embezzlement of 90,000 taels of silver of the government money which ties up with Zhuo Jiayin's investigation as an undercover imperial guard. The case actually spans 20 years where Xu Hailing was appointed a small time magistrate in the small province of Zhenhai. 20 years ago he recruited ordinary folks, such as peddlers (father of Duan Ping), butchers (Yidao) and many other ordinary guys as his spies and henchmen together with Constable Ma later on. Their modus operandi is simple; all corrupt officials on the run will escape through Zhenhai and Magistrate Xu will arrange for their escape by a wooden ship at a place called Green Sands Bay. There his henchman such as Yidao and Duan Ping's father will kill the official and take the money. For everyone their act of killing is to get the money but for Yidao it was to kill corrupted officials and he made a vow to kill every corrupted official that boards the wooden ship. Yidao was sworn brothers with Meng Liang, father of Tianchu who was not involved in this sordid business. Meng Liang and Yidao both promised to marry their children to one another. One day Meng Liang witnesses Duan Ping's father killing a corrupted official also by the surname of Duan (something) who turns out to be the father of Zhuo Jianyin (her real name is Duan something, can't remember). Meng Liang told Yidao who advised him to run. Meanwhile Yidao bundled up Meng Liang's wife and infant son that is Tianchu on board of a ship supposedly setting sail for South East Asia and said Meng Liang will come by later. At his home, Meng Liang was attacked by Duan Ping's father and Yidao came in and killed Duan Ping's father. He then stabbed Meng Liang on the left side of his chest (because his heart is on the right) and Xu Hailing came and inspect and thought Meng Liang died and buried him. Yidao quickly came back to dig Meng Liang out and saved his life. He told Meng Liang to go on a run and never to return, if not Yidao will die and meet his wife and son on the ship, which he did but by that time the ship has set sail. The ship is actually an illegal ship and so I assume Mrs Meng and Tianchu were shipped to Italy which was where Tianchu came back from. Meng Liang tried looking for them, set sail for many years but failed to do so and so decided to become a wanderer. Yidao adopted Duan Ping and lied to Duan Ping about his father being an official who was executed, and that official was actually Zhuo Jiayin's father. Duan Ping turned out to be a smart child destined for greater things. Years later Magistrate Xu gave Yidao some official rank and therefore he became a respectable merchant. And since Duan Ping and Fengyi who both grew up together was deeply in love, he allowed for their marriage.
And then Tianchu suddenly turned up on the wedding day and Yidao knew when Tianchu appeared and proved that by having his heart on the right side of his chest, he was Meng Liang's son and Xu will know and suspect Yidao again. Turns out Yidao was right to suspect Xu's reaction who sent a fake Meng Liang to test Yidao's reaction. But when the real Meng Liang turns up because he knew his son was back and longed to see his son, Yidao knew his time was up. Xu orders Yidao to force Fengyi to marry Tianchu so that to tempt Meng Liang to appear at his son's wedding. He did appear but the entire trap was spoilt by appearance of Duan Ping who took Fengyi away.
At the end Xu kidnapped everyone except Meng Liang and Zhuo Jiayin onto the wooden ship and everyone had their say of the past. Xu orders Yidao to kill Meng Tianchu but Duan Ping convinces Yidao of his promise; to kill every corrupted minister on board of the ship and it so happens now they have the biggest crook, that is Xu Hailin. Yidao understood what Duan Ping meant.
Meanwhile Jiayin who was trying to find the Green Sands Bay with an injured and beaten up Meng Liang saw how Meng Liang laughed as his revenge plans were a success. Jiayin realised Meng Liang knew Yidao's principle but disagreed with his method of putting the burden on Yidao. Meng Liang then cried, knowing he had sacrificed his sworn brother in his quest for revenge against Xu.
On the boat Yidao killed Constable Ma and then Xu and then turning to Tianchu, Fengyi and finally apologising to Duan Ping for killing his father (seriously though, Duan Ping's father deserves death), he killed himself.
On land, Tianchu found out his father was stabbed by someone, Jiayin promises to investigate but we never knew the outcome. The 2 imperial guards decided to close the case but Duan Ping and Tianchu disagrees, saying Xu can't have been a magistrate for 20 years without someone making sure he had that seat for that long. Moreover, someone must have told him which officials was running away and the biggest culprit would have been the Imperial Guards themselves who knew which crook runs where. The 2 denied the charge and even wanted to kill everyone there except suddenly arrows shot out, henchmen all died except for the 2 imperial guards and Jiayin. Emperor arrives and it was revealed Jiayin was a spy sent by the emperor into the imperial guard to investigate them, he knew those 2 collaborated with Xu Hailing and had wanted to kill Xu except Yidao did it first. Those 2 were arrested, Emperor wanted to give a ministerial post to Duan Ping who refused and wanted to stay in Zhenhai as a detective.
Feiyan and Xinge marries.
Fengyi, Tianchu and Duan Ping board a wooden ship and laugh happily, which was weird considering it was the same wooden ship her father used to kill people and then killed himself.
There is something not quite right with this series. Such as Raymond Wong’s reaction when he saw the princess hidden in a cart outside palace. He should have panicked more. But the main problem is not Michelle Yim but Cixi herself. I find her no personality. This series is taking great pains in portraying her as really nice, misunderstood but someone in that position can be misunderstood, but can’t be that nice. I know she trusts Li Lianying but I find her easygoing nature that is by blabbing everything of her problem to Lianying troubling. Maybe it keeps to the notion Cixi is not very smart because a smart tactician doesn’t tell everything to the person she likes or trusts. Her Cixi is just a bit dumb.
This series also took great pains to show Cian (Maggie Shiu) as simpleminded, dumb, driven by jealousy, anger when I find her more logical, more smarter even if she may sound a lot dumber. Maggie Shiu really brought out her character’s conflict. I love her performance but I do not like her character. It was just too easy to make her the bad guy and doing a bad job at it.
As for Cixi, again I feel Michelle is too restrained in her performance. She is a good actress but such a role demands more. I find her way too passive. I do not like the way she speaks. Too controlled, at times devoid of emotions or rather filled with those annoying high pitches when I want more in her speech. I find her Cixi bland, boring and beautiful like a vase.
I don’t like where this series is heading. It is a beautifully filmed series, some acting are just wonderful but the story is just like a family squabble. You don’t feel the urgency of the people, you don’t feel the dilemma. I feel absolutely detached. It is maybe not a good story or rather not a good reworked story. I can take the misunderstood Cixi but this is like black and white. And it is just boring.
The most interesting is Nancy Wu’s character and she is out of the palace. I am waiting for her to go back in because splitting the story into inside and outside palace for 2 unrelated events is making this series not only too diversified, but too distant. There must be some connection. And we have too many eunuchs who at this point has yet to diverge into a single point. It feels like I am watching a 4 story series when it should be 1 story, the rest should merge into 1. I am sure at some point it may merge but it is taking too long a time.
I like Aimee Chan but I find her character and her puppy love with Raymond Wong unbelievable and unsympathetic. I feel nothing for their burgeoning love because this series does not take time to develop it. In fact because of too many story arcs, none of the stories are ever properly developed.
It just feels half baked.
Plus point in episode 12; the Titanic scene between Aimee and Raymond is cheesy BUT the scenery is gorgeous. That’s the real thing. TVB wouldn’t use much budget to recreate the scene in a set or even pay for a decent green screen. Cheaper to just go there and put the actors’ life at risk after rainfall to stand near the edge of a woobly slippery looking wooden planks where Aimee’s only saving lifeline is Raymond behind him. I hope he knows how to swim.
