TVB 50th Anniversary Awards: Results + Comments

This year's award show, if you haven't already realized, was unsurprisingly a sweep for this year's hit "A Fist Within Four Walls." Overall, the show had its entertaining moments with deserving winners as well as a few surprises. I watched the show as I wrote my post this year (after skimming it the day of so I could find out the results before class), so I hope you enjoy the commentary and screen caps.

Here is the full list of winners.

Most Improved Actress: Ali Lee

I totally should have seen it coming that TVB would make Tony and Edwin present Most Improved Actor and Priscilla and Natalie Most Improved Actress. As predictable as that move was though, their banter was actually entertaining and funny instead of the usual forced presenting of awards. I loved all the jokes they made about each other, starting when Tony replied to Edwin saying he has won awards too...to realize Edwin actually has not (for acting). Poor Tony looked completely blind-sided though when Edwin joked that Kenneth was the one who told him Natalie has a good figure and can cook. The banter level between Priscilla and Tony was also high as always, which was shown by this imitation of what Tony thinks Priscilla looks like in all of her series:

But anyway...Tracy gets robbed again. Ali is far from the least deserving winner in the history of this award, but Tracy is now two years overdue for this award after a critically-acclaimed performance in sleeper hit "Over Run Over." I have loved Ali in her villain and semi-villain roles, especially in "Fashion War," but her first turn as a leading protagonist in "Law Disorder," while partially the fault of a dull and poorly-written character, showed she still has a way to go and lacks the charisma Tracy has. Ali's acting is already at a better level than some of her colleagues at this point in her career, and her win is expected given how heavily she's being promoted. I do like Ali, but this was admittedly, pretty darn disappointing.

Most Improved Actor: Jonathan Cheung 

"Anybody could win and he'd be better than last year's winner!" *camera pans to Tony* Oh Priscilla, even you have to admit that other than Jonathan, Tony was still a stronger nominee than any of the other nominees this year. You knew Jonathan was obviously going to win when literally all the other guys were pointing in his direction when Priscilla and Natalie were about to announce it.

This may have been one of the more obvious winners of the night. I'm still so happy Jonathan won, and he had a sweet and concise acceptance speech. There's really not much to be said other than that, since I've already gone on and on about how he deserves this recognition in my predictions post and "House of Spirits" review.

That performance of "Stand By Me" wasn't great, but for once they sang a song and it didn't make my ears want to bleed and was even quite nice, so that's an improvement. Wasn't exactly acapella, but they're lucky I have a soft spot for this song.

Best Onscreen Partnership: Tracy Chu and Vincent Wong for "Over Run Over"

It was nice to see a mini "Virtues of Harmony" reunion! But yeesh, it looks like Joyce Chen has barely aged since the sitcom.

Neither Tracy or Vincent took home a favorite character award, ruining my prediction that Vincent would win Favorite Male Character. I'm glad they were able to take home SOMETHING, especially considering they were only one of two nominees in this category that actually made sense.

Best Supporting Actor: Raymond Cho for "Short End of the Stick"
Top 3: Raymond Cho, Hugo Ng for "Brother's Keeper II," and Luk Wing for "Two Steps in Heaven"

There are always several solid supporting male performances every year, so I'm glad they've brought back a short-list of nominees after announcing all darn 20 nominees for the past year or two.

Luk Wing became my last minute personal choice for this category after loving him in "Two Steps." I don't think anyone expected him to place in the top 3 though, including Luk Wing himself, as evidenced by the sheer look of shock and excitement on his face when he heard his name called from backstage. I literally jumped up from my seat from excitement for him when they said his name! It's so refreshing of TVB to give acknowledgement, even if just in the form of a top 3 nominee, to someone who is not a TVB managed artist (to my knowledge?) or an acclaimed non-TVB managed veteran.

The announcement of the winner of this category is always fun and heartwarming, with standing ovations for the unappreciated veteran supporting actors who usually take home this award, and this year was not an exception. I did not watch "Short End of the Stick" so I cannot give much personal comment, but I have always enjoyed Raymond Cho's performances and glad he finally got his recognition this year.

On a side note, Louis looked like he was getting his creep on while petting Luk Wing here.

Best Theme Song: Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu's sub theme for "A Fist Within Four Walls"

No surprise, but since "Dead Wrong" went home completely empty-handed and "Fist" made such a major sweep, I would have wanted Stephanie Ho's sub theme for "Dead Wrong" to win. Not just because "Dead Wrong" absolutely deserved to get something, but also because it's a beautiful song in its own right that adds to the emotional factor of the series.

Best Supporting Actress: Katy Kung for "Two Steps in Heaven"
Top 3: Katy Kung, Joyce Tang for "House of Spirits," and Grace Wong for "A Fist Within Four Walls"

This is the one award I really cannot wrap my head around. I was so looking forward to finally seeing Joyce getting acknowledgment for her strong acting. Instead, I'm just left here bitter and confused.

If there was anyone who I heard a lot of buzz about who deserved recognition for their performances in "Two Steps," it would have been Bosco, Louis, and/or Luk Wing. Katy certainly got a different role this time, playing the wife and mother instead of the little sister, and I do usually like her, but she tried too hard here. She supposedly won for her crying scenes, but those were her most cringeworthy and unnatural. She also received a big standing ovation though, so I guess I'm missing something. I never thought TVB would give this award to her, and even now that she has, I honestly don't see them being serious about promoting her like they usually do with winners of this award...

And for the second year in the row, we interrupt this broadcast so the actors can chow down on some chicken. Looks like they didn't secure a sponsorship with KFC this year though, because this time it's homemade.

Rosina Lam doesn't mind that she did not get into the top 3 of Best Supporting Actress because she now has food.

My Favorite Female Character: Grace Wong for "A Fist Within Four Walls"
Top 5: Grace Wong and Nancy Wu for "A Fist Within Four Walls," Natalie Tong for "Speed of Life," Tracy Chu for "Over Run Over," and Joyce Tang for "House of Spirits"

Grace was completely shocked when her name was called, responding with an expression of disbelief that mirrors when Nancy's name was called for Best Actress last year. Like us, she thought this award could only go to lead characters! I guess TVB decided they didn't want anyone pulling double wins. I wasn't ecstatic about the results of this, but I'm not mad either. It was heartwarming yet quite funny watching her get her thanks out in between sniffling and trying to stay calm, which made her voice go up and down. I burst out laughing when she realized she almost forgot to thank her fiancee and let out a very deep "Hi." All other top 5 nominees were not a surprise except for Natalie in "Speed of Life," which was little-watched and talked-about.

Best Actress: Nancy Wu for "A Fist Within Four Walls"
Top 5: Nancy Wu, Maggie Shiu for "The Executioner," Tracy Chu for "Over Run Over," Kristal Tin for "Brother's Keeper II," and Priscilla Wong for "Two Steps From Heaven

I knew Nancy had won for sure when Jessica said she had voted for the winner! Ah, the "Gun Metal Grey" days. She was incredibly calm (but still very gracious) this time, since we all knew it was just too obvious. It was too cute when she asked Frankie to give her a kiss on the cheek. Also, yay for Maggie getting into the top 5!

My Favorite Male Character: Benjamin Yuen for "A Fist Within Four Walls"
Top 5: Benjamin Yuen and Ruco Chan for "A Fist Within Four Walls," Vincent Wong for "Over Run Over," Bobby Au-Yeung for "House of Spirits," and Louis Cheung for "Two Steps in Heaven"

Yeah...I saw this coming after Grace won. But while I'm okay with Grace's win, I am just not into this at all. "Duen Yiu Fung" was a pretty dull character, and was only made interesting when acting alongside Ruco, Nancy, or Grace. But, Benjamin's speech was touching. It was nice to hear him thank Jennifer even though they've broken up for supporting him for three years despite him being so busy with work. However, this award should have been Vincent's.

Best Actor: Ruco Chan for "A Fist Within Four Walls"
Top 5: Ruco Chan and Benjamin Yuen for "A Fist Within Four Walls," Vincent Wong for "Over Run Over," Bosco Wong for "Two Steps in Heaven," and Roger Kwok for "Dead Wrong" 

The moment I've been waiting to see since Ruco became a leading man in 2011. Oh man, was I grinning from ear to ear when his name was called. I shouldn't be surprised that even though he was teary-eyed and emotional, he was very calm and eloquent in his acceptance speech. It was too sweet when he thanked his mom and the camera panned to his mom blowing kisses at him from the audience behind tears. Congratulations, Ruco. <3

Best Drama: "A Fist Within Four Walls"

Oooh, Wayne's burns about TVB executives never willing to talk about money in negotiations and their grueling hours were too good. I was holding out on the hope "Dead Wrong" could go home with Best Drama, but alas, this really was the year of "Fist." But hey, I hope the success of the series will teach TVB to put more effort into their action series like they did with this in the future.

What are your thoughts on the winners? 

TVB 50th Anniversary Awards: My Predictions and Personal Picks

Best Actor

Predicted Top 5: Ruco Chan, Wayne Lai, Liu Ka Chi, Bobby Au-Yeung, and Roger Kwok
Predicted Winner: Ruco
Most Deserving: Ruco
Personal Choice: Ruco

I'll be completely honest: I was hoping that Roger's performance in "Dead Wrong" would turn out to not be another groundbreaking role so that Ruco would have the best chance possible to win Best Actor. And while this may be premature since I've only watched 13 episodes, it seems like my wish came true. "Dead Wrong" is a very well-written and compelling series and Roger performs well as always, but beyond the two hour premiere, he isn't doing anything new compared to his award-winning performance in 2013's "Black Heart White Soul" that would warrant a fourth Best Actor win.

While Ruco doesn't break any new ground in "A Fist Within Four Walls" either, it is certainly a solid performance where, unlike his past performances that mostly highlighted his capability as a dramatic actor, he is able to show a playful and more comedic side too. It's about time TVB finally awards him Best Actor.

Best Actress

Predicted Top 5: Nancy Wu, Kristal Tin, Tracy Chu, Mandy Wong, Joey Meng
Predicted Winner: Nancy
Most Deserving: Nancy
Personal Choice: Nancy

I genuinely think that Nancy deserves Best Actress this year, and the only thing that makes this less satisfying is her premature win for "Ghost of Relativity" from last year. After a string of weaker and/or less interesting roles in the last two years such as "Ghost," "Overachievers," and "House of Spirits," Nancy really took advantage of her role "Diu Lan" in "A Fist Within Four Walls" by absolutely shining. She is fierce, funny, sassy, and strong, while easily evoking lots of compassion and sympathy from the viewers. Last year's win aside, "Fist" feels like a representative culmination of all the improvements and hard work Nancy has put into her acting over the years.

But also, everyone else kinda bombed. Maggie Shiu received critical acclaim for "The Executioner" but that's obviously not happening. Tracy Chu will (hopefully) take home Most Improved. Bad performances aside, Grace Chan and Selena Li should be in the supporting category.

Best Supporting Actor

Predicted Winner: Raymond Cho
Most Deserving: Power Chan
Personal Choice: Mat Yeung
Wtf? Oscar Li for Fist

I'm not saying I think Raymond isn't deserving since he's always been a reliable supporting actor (though I did not watch "Short End of the Stick"), but Power has long been unappreciated and narrowly lost the award to Koo Ming Wah two years ago as well. This could be TVB's chance to make it up to Power, but my gut's telling me it'll still go to Raymond.

I about hit the table when I realized Mat wasn't nominated for Most Improved again this year, since his chances of winning seemed high without Tony Hung in the running like last year. Instead TVB opted to shoot him up into the Best Supporting category, where he has no chance. This feels like a repeat of last year where his "Momentary Lapse of Reason" co-star Rosina Lam was nominated for Best Actress instead of Best Supporting, ruining any chances of her winning an award. No, from what I saw of "Brother's Keeper II" Mat was not best supporting level, but I'm allowed to have personal biases right? (9 months after watching "Momentary Lapse" and I still strongly believe Louis, Rosina, and Mat were robbed last year)

Best Supporting Actress

Predicted Winner: Joyce Tang
Most Deserving: Joyce
Personal Choice: Joyce

Best Supporting Actress has become a weaker and weaker category over the years, to the point I literally did not put down any predictions or choices for it last year. Surprisingly though, there are some good contenders here this year and it's even a little ~unpredictable~. I won't be mad if either Rosina or Grace wins. People were ready to dislike Rosina when she first started acting a few years ago, but she has genuinely surprised me as an actress. She was out of the running before the race even began last year, and I heard good things about her comedic performance in "Stick." She definitely deserves more opportunities. Grace hasn't had a substantial role since I believe 2013's "Awfully Lawful," so it was nice to see TVB give her a dynamic role in "Fist." While not without her flaws, Grace's performance proved that she is a noteworthy actress that really hasn't been getting enough notable work the last few years. Not quite "best supporting" level, but "Chiu Ha" made an impact and a win would at least make sense.

However, my vote definitely goes to Joyce, who shows her strength in portraying tough, intelligent, and motherly roles in "House of Spirits," as well as making me laugh very hard in certain scenes. She's been long one of my favorite supporting actresses, but never seemed to stand a chance at winning an award. With "House" being one of the highest rated series of the year and her satisfying win in Singapore though, it looks like 2016 is finally Joyce's year to receive recognition.

*Random fact: I usually keep a note on my phone of memorable characters/performances for when anniversary awards season comes around. Joyce was the first (and only) person I wrote down this year when I created the note.

My Favorite Male Character

Top 5: Ruco Chan, Vincent Wong, Louis Cheung, Bosco Wong, Roger Kwok
Predicted Winner: Vincent
Most Deserving: Vincent
Personal Choice: Ruco

Ruco, Vincent, and Tracy each received four nominations, which makes me think... Is TVB setting up Vincent for a Favorite Character win? I've heard so many good things about him and Tracy in "Over Run Over" and have been a long-time fan of Vincent, so I'll be thrilled if Ruco can win Best Actor and Vincent can win this award. If Ruco does not win Best Actor, I will assume this award will go to him as a consolation prize for the second year in a row. Fingers crossed that doesn't happen.

Personally though, if I were to choose any male character as my favorite from this year, it'd probably be Ruco since I did not watch "Over Run Over" (but intend to).

My Favorite Female Character

Top 5: Nancy Wu, Grace Wong, Tracy Chu, Joey Meng, Priscilla Wong
Predicted Winner: Nancy
Most Deserving: Nancy
Personal Choice: Nancy

I see Nancy pulling off a double win, and I would have no problems with that. "Diu Lan" was a wonderful heroine to root for who was dynamic and flawed yet infinitely likable and funny. Even if this wasn't a year where there were very few captivating characters in TVB series, Diu Lan was a stand out.

Most Popular Series Partnership

Predicted Winner: Wayne Lai, Edwin Siu, Power Chan, and Raymond Cho for "Short End of the Stick"
Most Deserving: Vincent Wong and Tracy Chu for "Over Run Over"
Personal Choice: N/A
Snub: Ruco Chan and Nancy Wu

I would've thought that if TVB was going to bring in this category, it would've been to further milk the Ruco and Nancy pairing. Yet, they weren't even nominated but Carat Cheung, Apple Chan, Chloe Nguyen & Doris Chow were? And Eddie Kwan and Vivian Yeo from "My Lover From the Planet Meow"? What's going on here? Vincent and Tracy should get the award for their well-received pairing, but it will probably go to Wayne, Edwin, Power, and Raymond since the comedy quartet was also well-received in "Short End," and was a ratings hit (by today's standards).

Most Popular Theme Song

Predicted Winner: Ruco and Nancy’s subtheme for “A Fist Within Four Walls”
Most Deserving: Ruco and Nancy's subtheme
Personal Choice: Ruco and Nancy's subtheme, Vincent Wong’s theme song and Stephanie Ho’s subtheme for “Dead Wrong”

TVB can't give this to Jinny again...right? I'm putting my money on Ruco and Nancy's subtheme, which has already won in both Singapore and Malaysia. It's a lovely duet that I think complimented the scenes between the two in "Fist" very well.

However, I also really like both Vincent's theme song and Stephanie's subtheme for "Dead Wrong." The former brings out the suspenseful and dark nature of the series, while the latter brings out the emotionally-charged factor. In general, I've been loving the songs Stephanie has been singing for series soundtracks.

Most Improved Actor

Predicted Winner: Jonathan Cheung
Most Deserving: Jonathan
Personal Choice: Jonathan
Snubs: Mat Yeung, Benjamin Yuen, Lai Lok Yi

For as long as I can remember this has always been a strong category and probably my favorite one. Yet when I first saw the nominations for this category this year, my first reaction was "Seriously?" The competition for this year is sad and the weakest it's been in years. Three of the nominees are singers who TVB just started sticking into series, probably for self-promotion! I was so sure Mat would be one of the top contenders this year, but it turns out he didn't even get a nomination (which I'm very salty about), nor did Benjamin, instead getting bounced up to the Best Supporting and Best Actor (???) categories respectively. TVB once again shows they don't give a damn about Lai Lok Yi, despite delivering a chilling villain performance in the last few episodes of "Presumed Accidents."

With that said, I'm so happy Jonathan is nominated and really hope this is TVB's way of paving the road for him to win. I've loved watching him as a supporting actor the last few years. He never fails to make me laugh, but proved in "House of Spirits" he can handle drama and more major roles as well. If Jonathan doesn't win, you can find me at home on my laptop on the 19th, kicking and screaming.

Most Improved Actress

Predicted Winner: Tracy Chu
Most Deserving: Tracy
Personal Choice: Tracy
Snub: Roxanne Tong

Last year Tracy decided to ditch the anniversary awards to go on a school trip to Europe (can't blame her), but now that she's graduated and has the sleeper hit "Over Run Over" under her belt, she has a significant chance of winning. Unlike the Most Improved Actor category though, she faces some competition from Moon Lau and newly minted lead actress Ali Lee. I would not be too mad about Ali winning and think that she has been a decent actress since her debut and getting better, but after enjoying her character in "Fist," Moon proves she is still very raw in "Two Steps in Heaven." So if Tracy has to lose to anyone, I really hope it's Ali, but Tracy definitely deserves this award. Meanwhile, poor Katy is probably going to continue to be a perpetual nominee, but never a winner.

The only notable snub I can think of is Roxanne. I was not crazy about her in "Come Home Love," but she was my favorite part about "Between Love and Desire" once the series started stalling in the second half. She was natural and bubbly with an affable charm that lit up the screen during her scenes. Yet, she was next seen on air playing a tiny role in "Fist." TVB, get on promoting her (consistently)!

Best Series

Top 5: A Fist Within Four Walls, Dead Wrong, Short End of the Stick, Over Run Over, House of Spirits
Predicted Winner: A Fist Within Four Walls
Most Deserving: Dead Wrong or Fist
Personal Choice: Dead or Fist

It's going to be a tough competition between "A Fist Within Four Walls" and "Dead Wong," and I myself can't make a clear decision on which I personally love more, but I'm giving the advantage to "Fist." After all, as critically acclaimed as "Dead Wrong" has been so far, the ratings, buzz, press coverage, and popularity of "Fist" easily beats everything this year.

However, in terms of writing, I personally give an advantage to the 13 episodes I've seen of "Dead Wrong," which feels much more serious and tight, whereas "Fist" felt more entertaining (with a cartoonish villain) than well-written in the last stretch episodes.

What are your predictions? Who are your dream winners? Comment below!

"Presumed Accidents" Review

*Warning: This review includes major spoilers about the series' plot twists and ending.

There are two lens for which I could evaluate "Presumed Accidents" under: my usual objective one, and the one that has only thoroughly enjoyed (and finished!) two series this year ("Fashion War" and surprisingly, "My Dangerous Mafia Retirement Plan" for those curious).

In the context of the terrible series TVB has been churning out this year, "Presumed Accidents" is one of the better series of the year. It has a solid leading man in Lawrence Ng, a good supporting cast full of veterans and newer faces, and mixes elements of drama, action, and suspense. However, if I look at it objectively, this so-called "crime thriller" still fell flat for me.

"Presumed Accidents" suffers the most from its incoherence, initially taking the form of a procedural drama for three quarters of the series and zoning in on various cases of insurance fraud. While these cases were usually over the top and unrealistic, some of them were still entertaining to watch.

However, maybe because I've grown tired of the procedural format these days, but my interest in these cases started to drop towards the middle of the series. I was starting to feel like these characters and the story had stalled.

Then in one episode, the writers decided to throw us a huge plot twist (more like half a dozen of them) and reveal a boatload of shocking and mind boggling information at once. The series then returns to its procedural format as Sisley Choi's character tries to grapple with this new bizarre information, before abandoning the cases for a serialized story line with suspense to finish off the last third of the series.

The series' biggest problem lies in its supernatural aspect - yes, you read that right. The plot twist of Lawrence's character being an undead person, although foreshadowed in the series' opening scene, was completely unexpected since it wasn't advertised as a supernatural drama. It seems throwing in a supernatural character is TVB's idea of "creativity" these days.

As shocked as I was by the supernatural twist in Lawrence's character, I was more disappointed in its execution, which is what ended up causing me to dislike it. Although the way in which Lawrence becomes immortal is pretty crazy (apparently all it takes is a pill now, everyone!), even less explanation and exploration is put towards developing this important characteristic of his. It felt so shoehorned in that this whole story line probably could have been cut from the series to make it a typical procedural drama with little consequence other than trimming down its episode count. We do not know if there are more people like Lawrence or what he intends on doing with his life when his children inevitably die. His true identity is exposed at the end of the series, and all that comes out of it is that Lawrence up and leaves.

What left me feeling most uncomfortable though is the revelation that Lawrence is Sisley's biological father. Although I started to suspect it shortly before it was revealed, I kept denying it to myself since I thought there was no way TVB would ever go in such a direction. Boy, was I wrong. This plot twist would have been less cringe worthy if the writers hadn't spent so many episodes setting up Lawrence as being obviously romantically interested in Sisley. Perhaps we were supposed to believe that this is what the circumstances appeared to be from Sisley's eyes, which I will choose to believe to make it less disturbing, but it was nevertheless very creepy thinking back to the two's early interactions after finding out their true relationship.

Cast and Characters

With these criticisms out in the open, it is still worth noting that the cast performs adequately, or well.

Lawrence possesses a very calm and gentlemanly demeanor as George, and is enjoyable to watch despite all of the flaws of his character.

Sisley does not show any regressions in her acting here, but I wouldn't say she improved
much either. The actress seems to be well-aware of the criticisms of her high-pitched voice and as a result, like in "Fashion War," she tries very hard to speak her lines in a deeper register. While she is clearly working on her voice control, this understandably usually hinders her ability to act more naturally, and her emotional scenes are still raw.

Although Lawrence is a whooping 27 years older than Sisley, the maturity of Sisley's character allowed the scenes between the two in the early part of the series to be natural and not cringe worthy. This is a big pleasant surprise, as this pairing was what I dreaded most going into this series, but of course the writers had to ruin it later on.

Surprisingly, Sisley struggled more in sparking chemistry with Lai Lok Yi, who looks much more physically compatible with her. While Lok Yi has little problems in being natural while showing physical affection towards Sisley, she looks stiff and uncomfortable in these scenes. This reminds me of Fala, who in her time at TVB was able to create a fun and enjoyable chemistry with many of her male costars, but unable to be natural in more romantic or physical scenes.

I was probably looking most forward to this series to finally see Lok Yi in another role after three years as "John Ma." Unfortunately, his character is mostly a snooze fest through out most of the series, only serving as the man Sisley's Eunice goes to after realizing the man she was interested in was her father. Oops. However, he turns it around in the last few episodes of the series as a chilling villain when his true character becomes apparent to the others. While the script provides next to no transition from portraying Mantus as a seemingly calm and friendly character hiding a dark past to an aggressive and angry psychopath, Lok Yi does incredibly well with what he is given. He succeeded in scaring me with his performance in the last stretch of the series, acting as a villain who was quiet but seemed ready to burst at any minute, and is the first villain in a while to actually spark some fear in me. I saw no signs of the playful, clever, but kindhearted "John Ma" in this performance, and that's what Lok Yi so badly needed as he transitions back into dramas. Here's to hoping his next character is even better.

The biggest acting disappointment does not lie in Sisley, but Selena Li, though this is not her fault. In promoting the series, TVB seemed to want to push Selena as an intriguing guest star who plays three different and complex roles. However, we all knew "guest star" was really just a fancy word for demotion. Selena plays three undeveloped and uninteresting characters under the constraints of very little screen time, which all share the characteristic of having pretty darn bad luck. Faye, the main character that Selena plays, is weak and quite ambiguous with her actions. This is one of the weakest performances from her in a while, and it is all because of the mess of a script she was given for her characters.

Joyce Tang and Raymond Cho provide comic relief and deliver as always, but were disposable to the overall story line, though Raymond becomes more significant to the main plot towards the end. There was no use in spending so much time on Joyce's messy divorce, but I did enjoy the scenes she and Raymond shared together.

Rounding out the supporting cast were relatively fresh faces Winki Lai and Snow Suen.

Although Winki is way too young to realistically be heading a police department, I was surprised by
how much more mature she looked here and how naturally she stepped into the role despite the usual student characters she plays. She's quickly becoming one of my favorite new actresses and while I had reservations of her playing more major characters outside of the student, I have more confidence in her now and looking forward to seeing her more.

Snow was very likable as the upbeat, positive, and happy I.I. Although the character annoyed me at times with how often she'd suddenly show up at Eunice's house while Eunice wasn't home, Snow's positive energy and smiles were infectious. It was sad to see her character go.

Overall

"Presumed Accidents" isn't without its merits or entertainment value. It has a good cast and mixes different elements including drama, comedy, action, and towards the end, suspense. It's enjoyable, but suffers from its disjointedness and inconsistencies in pacing. Is it one of the better series this year? Sure, but that isn't saying much. I wanted to like "Presumed Accidents" more, but by the halfway point, I felt over it. Luckily, the last third was able to hook me back in, and I would have liked the rest of the series to have had a similar serialized, thrilling format.


Rating: 3.5 stars

'The Threshold of a Persona' Review

Before the release of Threshold, I didn't hold any anticipation or special expectations. It wasn't that I thought it would be bad and wouldn't watch it, but it just didn't attract me beforehand. I watch practically any series that comes out now since it's summer, and I need a past time/relaxing time when the day's almost done.

For me, I had three reasons to looked forward to watching: Roger Kwok, and his second collaboration with Yoyo Mung after Last One Standing. I wanted to see their relationship unfold in comparison to Last One Standing as Roger would once again return as the good guy. As for the plot, I figured I would just watch and see. Not having seen a modern action series since E.U., I thought it'd be nice to watch something that might actually keep me in suspense.

The three reasons that had been why I would watch the series turned out to all be disappointed...

Roger Kwok

I never thought I'd say this, but I was disappointed by Roger's performance here. He was sometimes stiff. His speech doesn't demand attention, but makes you rather tired. He just didn't bring his character to life. However, there wasn't really anything to bring to life in his character, except his two crying scenes. In the end though, it is still a solid performance. It is just not a special, memorable, or special performance for someone as versatile and talented like Roger Kwok.


Roger Kwok and Yoyo Mung's Relationship

Even though Roger and Yoyo's relationship in Last One Standing was not 'pure' with the fact that Roger was evil in his doings, their relationship still shines in comparison to Threshold. I could feel the emotions between Ah Yin and Carmen in Standing. I could feel that although Roger was evil and cunning, he cared and loved for Carmen endlessly and didn't want her to leave him. I could feel the pain Carmen felt when she learned of Roger's true character and bad deeds. In Threshold though, it was just way too quick and things were just said instead of shown for us to see. There was no room for their relationship to develop. It is only said in the last few episodes that Angel (Yoyo Mung) had a crush on Ah Kit (Roger Kwok) and they got together in the last episode after Roger Kwok's wife Ah Man (Claire Yiu) died. I do not doubt the two's acting or chemistry, but the fact that the two simply weren't given enough time to develop. They spent too much time on Roger and Claire's relationship that the quick get together of Roger and Yoyo felt so 'empty.'


The 'Action'

Although this series is classified as 'Modern Action' it really can't be classified into any genre. Threshold lacks its own genre too much. It is anti-climatic and stays that way with the exception of the last two episodes. I wasn't expecting constant fighting, violence, or blood but I was at least expecting ACTION. I was expecting people to move around the world. Meanwhile, a majority of the time has characters worrying over their relationships. It is a laughing stock in terms of 'action' compared to TVB's previous action series E.U., which is one of 2009's finest.

Enough of my complaining about the disappointments of the series though, and let's move onto the performances and characters...

Excuse this part for being extra long, as this has quite a big cast to take note of..

Roger Kwok as Fong Tsun-Kit
Thoughts about his performance and character already stated above.


Yoyo Mung as Ah Jo "Angel"

Ah Jo/Angel is a very sweet and caring person who wants to prove that a woman can take care of herself by herself. You will easily like her and her name (I find the nam Ah Jo so cute). However, it is nothing special for Yoyo. The problem doesn't lie in her acting, it lies in the role. Yes, these roles are great and likable, but they can't show the versatility of Yoyo. Is Yoyo a versatile actress? We'll probably never know, because this is the type of character she always has. But wait, isn't she playing the villian in the new lawyer series with Fala Chen and Steven Ma that's filming right now?

Claire Yiu as "Ah Man"

Initially, I didn't like her, nor did I feel much for her. As her past was slowly revealed and one by one bad things started to happen to her, I couldn't help but pity her. Before meeting Ah Kit and moving to Hong Kong, she worked as a prostitute to make money to pay for her father's surgery. For how long? A week. However, that week scarred her for life. All she wanted was to start over and live a new and happy life. And yet, heaven just couldn't give her that. Everywhere she went, her past haunted her. When she finally met her demise, I was in tears. The sight of her being pushed off the roof to her death by Ah Yue and falling on her husband who she just reunited with was haunting.
Without Claire, there wouldn't be a plot for 'Threshold.' Her character "Ah Man" is what makes the plot go forward. She is the most important female character. You pity her so much. Claire did a good job portraying the pitable Ah Man.


Raymond Cho as Cheng Pak-Yue

It's impossible NOT to hate his character towards the middle and end. In fact, I never liked Ah Yue to begin with. Even before all the things he done wrong, I already didn't like him. He was selfish, conceited, and powerhungry. He wanted to climb up to the top of the ladder to getting a promotion, no matter what dirty little thing he had to do. Whose ever life came in danger, he didn't care, as long as he could save his own skin. It's one thing though to be selfish, it's another thing to be cold blooded. I couldn't believe that just to save himself from getting into trouble, he murdered Ah Man, who was perfectly innocent, by pushing her off the building. I hated him so much for this and wish I could just punch him, but decided to spare my computer. Watching him is so aggravating you wish he'd just die. It's mean, but it's true.

On the other hand though, this role proves how good of an actor Raymond really is. His performance is absolutely convincing, and you realize that when you start getting the urge to smack him.

John Chiang as Mak Sir


Good solid performance, but not much to say about it. Honestly, I didn't pay much attention to him. However, I did like how he gradually start caring more about his wife and son. At first, all he cared about was his job. After getting divorced (and getting back together) with his wife, he learned to become a better husband. His character had a good amount of growth. Truthfully though, I didn't care much for him.

Patrick Tang as Au Shun-Fung

"Au Shun-Fung" is a different type of character for Patrick and my favorite character in this series. He is no longer playing some 'little boy who needs to grow up" like he did in King of Snooker. Quite frankly, it's refreshing. Ah Fung is a hard working and devoted mature young adult. He has a passion for his job and overprotective of his mother and daughter. He's too good for his own good. You can't help but fall in love with him and how he just cares about everything and everyone.

I loved his relationship with his mom. He is overprotective of his mom, and bans her from doing many things like traveling to China by herself as well as drinking. Their scenes were so funny and sweet. I loved it when they bicker because you can tell they really love and care for each other and yet having them argue can't help but make you chuckle. It's too bad that after the first few episodes, scenes between Ah Fung and his mom went from limited to none. I would've loved to see more between them, especially since 'Threshold' was dragged on a bit too long anyway.

Patrick has improved a lot. It is probably the first time we've seen him in such a serious and mature role, and he pulled it off nicely. He gives his character charm and is what makes him so likable. This series is most likely to make you a Patrick fan, or make you at least not hate him anymore if you did so before. I don't see why people hate him. 

Ruco Chan as "Kelvin"

"Kelvin" is one of those 'in the middle' characters. You don't hate him, yet you don't really like him either. I actually liked him, and found his character to be very interesting.
Formerly of ATV, this is Benny/Ruco's first series after returning to TVB. Out of the four younger actors/actresses in this series (Patrick, Natalie and Toby), he gave the best performance, just not the most likable character. He outshined the other three in terms of acting. He was constantly under the shadow of his dad who was the 'heroric immigration officier' whom pratically everyone know. He wanted to prove to everyone, most of all his dad, that he has ability and talent too. This led to him making a mistake however, and that led to even more mistakes, including ones that he did not intentionally do. Most of the mistakes he made leading up to his arrest were with good intention. Ruco's portrayal is very convincing and makes Kelvin come to life. Although he made so many mistakes, you pity him and feel what he's feeling through his 'dark' time. I am very impressed by Ruco and seeing him in A Great Way to Care and Burning Flame 3, two characters whom are very different from Kelvin, proves his versatility and talent. I definitely want to see more of him and think that he has a bright future ahead of him.

Natalie Tong as Yip On-Yee

On-Yee is a single and unmarried mother who became pregnant with her daughter "Sze-Sze" when she was in high school. However, she becomes much more smarter and cautious after making this mistake. Her personality is strong and independent. Unlike other young mothers, she cares for and loves her daughter very much. To her, Sze-Sze was the most important person to her. This makes her iffy towards new relationships though, such as a failed relationship with Kelvin. Unlike with other characters in series who ended up alone though, I didn't pity her. Not because I was against her character, I already stated that I absolutely loved her. I thought that her ending up alone was fitting. There is no one more important to her than her daughter, and she is the only one she needs. On-Yee is a strong, independent person, the type of person who doesn't need a man to make her happy. All she needs is Sze-Sze.
Natalie does a great job and is very charming as On-Yee. She is the one that brightens up the screen with her charm and smile. Her portrayal as On-Yee proves that she can play more than the 'innocent one' or the younger sister. Natalie improves more and more with each series she is in, and is on the way to becoming a fine young actress. She has so much potential, and this is her best character and performance so far.

Toby Leung as "Yan-Yan"
I didn't like Yan-Yan that much. I didn't hate her, I found her likable, but not as special or interesting as Kelvin, Shun-Fung, or On-Yee.

Toby delivers the worst performance of the younger four. She was not 'atrocious' or 'terrible' but she was mediocre at best. I don't like the way she talks and her emotional scenes need much improvement.

Other Notable Performances/Characters

Kenny Wong as Wu Sum

I was neutral towards Kenny. I didn't love him as much as other people did. One thing I did like him for, was his love for Ah Man. He cared for and was always there for her. If it weren't for him, Ah Man would've totally fallen apart and died much earlier. He did more for Ah Man than Ah Kit ever did. Then again, he is still a triad leader involved in criminal and illegal activities. At the end of the day, he is still 'bad.' He's just not coldhearted though. Even so, Kenny Wong pulled my heart string when he cried over the death of Ah Man, whom he loved so much.
Iris Wong as Lai-Man
I absolutely loved Iris Wong. At first, I did dislike her for taking advantage of Ah Man, but I grew to love her. She was such a funny character. I loved how she was just always talking away, or how she would always be the first one to talk in the middle of silence. It was so cute and nice of her to stand up to that 'fei jai' for Hei-Hei. Iris brings 'Wing So' to life. Without her, 'Threshold' would be completly dead. I applaud her performance.
Power Chan as Ah Lun
Ah Lun was such a good friend with a good heart. I loved how he cared for Ah Kit and Angel. The scenes where he was 'nagging' Angel to take care of herself were so sweet. It was also funny to see how in a situation he would always be the first to speak up and say something (usually something rude to the wrong party). Watching him getting hit in the head by that brick made my heart beat really fast (as well as make me hate Ah Yue even more for leaving him there). I was so afraid he'd die (as at the time I didn't know what happened to his character at the end). Power is always a strong and entertaining supporting actor underrated and underpromoted by TVB. Congrats to his upcoming marriage by the way.

Additional Thoughts
-Even after watching, I still fail to see the main plot of this series. I know the theme was immigration, but what was the plot?
-I felt sorry for the illegal immigrants a lot of the time. I especially felt sorry for the man who came to work illegally in order to earn money for his ill wife. Unfortunately, he died before he could set foot in Hong Kong.
-I liked Queenie Chu here. For once, she didn't play a third party or mistress. She looked very pretty and sophisticated. She has potential, I hope she gets more roles in the future (that aren't her playing a third party of mistress).
-The Kelvin/Ah Fung/On-Yee & Ah Fung/On-Yee/Yan-Yan love triangles (or love quadrangle) is much more bearable to watch than past love triangles. Watching love triangles usually make me nuts and make me want to throw something, but this was not bad. It was actually interesting at times too, because you somewhat cared who ended up with who.
Recommended? No. It is a forgettable and unintriguing series. If you're looking for something action-packed, definitely pass as well. If you do though, it should be for Patrick, Natalie, and Iris' wonderful characters and performances.
Rating: 2 1/2 stars. The script is weak and fails to lure in the viewer. However, the supporting cast (Patrick, Natalie, Chan Chin Pang, Iris Wong, and Power Chan) are a joy to watch. I also loved watching the 'four' (Ah Fung, On-Yee, Kelvin, and Yan-Yan) before their complicated relationship issues days. Something about four friends having a bbq on the roof and talking and laughing is so relaxing to watch.