The Mysteries of Love Review

And TVB disappoints us...again. The Mysteries of Love was one of the most anticipated productions this year but as usual, we are let down.

Characters and Performances

Raymond's a great actor, but his roles continue to become more and more boring. "Kingsley" was an unrealistic character who literally knew everything about anything relating to science. The fact that he did bothered me a lot. Kingsley studies physics, not every aspect of science. While I'd find it understandable and acceptable if he happened to know a bit about different scientific fields, how he was able to chime in with tons of information and observations honestly drove me nuts. Raymond's performance in the series was just mediocre, and his hair in the series was not any better.

Siu Lai does no justice to Tavia's great acting skills. In fact, I still refuse to call Siu Lai "Awesome" because to me, she is not awesome at all. Despite how physically strong Siu Lai may be, she is (very) emotionally weak. I did not enjoy her character at all. I have to give props to Tavia for the scene where she is acting all bubbly and happy at work after going on her first date with Kingsley. She was so adorable in that scene, especially when she was interrogating that suspect. PC was looking and listening to her in disbelief!

With a great hair style and wardrobe, Kenneth managed to look more handsome than Raymond. He was so cool/"yau ying" as Lo Sir. It was fun seeing the professional side of Gordon at work and the playful flirty side of him in his personal life. At times, I'd have to remind myself they were the same person. Kenneth was average in the role, his performance as "Koo Yu Tong" in A Fistful of Stances was a lot better.

The status of second female leads continues to fall lower and lower.  Bernice was more of a guest star than the second female lead.  It's great to see her on screen again, and she looks gorgeous, but there was nothing special about her performance.  The fact that her name "Nicole" was spelt "Nickole" and prounced "nickel" drove me nuts, as did the character's English.  Don't get me wrong, Bernice's English is good, but Nickole, you're in Hong Kong.  Speak Cantonese!

Cases. Not too interesting. The cases were rather boring.  The writers tried too hard to fit physics into the cases.  Ruco Chan and Raymond Wong's cases were the best, especially the latter.  It was thrilling and fast paced.  That case was perhaps the only one that even made you bother to think about it.  Unfortunately, its conclusion was rushed and abrupt.  Raymond's case was the last one, and was literally solved within the first five minutes of the last episode.  It was a very bad ending for such a suspenseful case.

Chemistry.  The couples have great chemistry, but it couldn't make up for the poor development and writing of their love storylines.  Raymond and Tavia (affectionately known as "FungYi") are cute, but Kingsley and Siu Lai were simply boring, if not irritating.  To me, they looked more like friends.  Although I haven't watched Into Thin Air, I love the Kenneth and Bernice pairing.  The two are rather adorable and they are so comfortable working together.  However, their "friends with benefits" storyline was sloppily written.

Conclusion. Many anticipated this series.  Many carried high expectations.  And yet, many were disappointed.  The Mysteries of Love is extremely mediocre.  It is apparent that TVB was aware they had an "all star cast", therefore they didn't bother too much with constructing a decent plot.  While sad to realize, most of us know that TVB knew the cast was awesome, and that it was guaranteed to bring in high ratings.  In the end, this series does not even come close to going in my highlights of the year.

Ratings: 2 1/2 stars