The Dream-catchers 未来不是梦

February 14, 2009 in 2009 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: dawn yeoh, jesseca liu, lin meijiao, nat ho, paige chua, richard low, rui-en, shaun chen, tay ping hui, the dream-catchers, wei lai bu shi meng, zhang zhenhuan, 未来不是梦

this drama starts on 4th Feb 09, at 9pm on Channel 8.

this drama stars:
Jesseca Liu as Lin Jiale, Rui-en as Lin Jiaqi, Tay Ping Hui as Wang Zhi Wei, Shaun Chen as Jiang Cheng Feng, Elvin Ng as Sato, Dawn Yeoh as Wang Pei Pei, Nat Ho as Lin Jiajie, Zhang Zhenghuan as Hu Yuanjing, Richard Low as Lin Guodong, Paige Chua as Zhang Xiaowei, Lin Meijiao as Cai Aili, Wang Huaqing as Situ Yan, Eelyn Kok as Li Shanshan

OFFICIAL MEDIACORP CH8 SYNOPSIS

this is an idol drama about engineering! haha :) it reminds me a lot of 2007’s “The Peak”, ‘cos they’re both sponsored by erm… big companies to promote something.

in the midst of all the engineering jargon, love troubles surface…

Rui-en will receive the affections of Shaun Chen and Elvin Ng – and they even get to film in snowy Japan! the scenery is so beautiful!
and some complicating problems arise with the arrival of Eelyn Kok’s character as Shaun Chen’s ex-fiancee, who is quite a horrible person – evil role for Eelyn Kok again!

and Jesseca Liu will end up with TPH in the end, but Jesseca is liked by expat engineer played by Zhang Zhenghuan (in his debut acting role), while TPH is liked by resident slacker played by Wang Huaqing.

they ALL have to encounter multiple problems at work and in their love lives, and family lives.

i guess that sums the whole show up. sorta.

SORRY PEOPLE, I’M NOT WATCHING THIS DRAMA.

here are some views from Paul Chan’s blog– CLICK HERE

Crime Busters x2 叮当神探: FINAL REVIEW

November 1, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: channel, crime busters x2, dawn yeoh, ding dang shen tan, drama serials, drama series, Dramas, entertainment, mediacorp, paige chua, shaun chen, singapore, tay ping hui, zhang yao dong, 叮当神探

this drama ended on Monday 27 October 2008, at the 9pm slot on Channel 8.

this post will focus on the last 3 cases, and the general review of the entire series.

Cases 4,5, and 6 were all linked to Yu Jie, and her past. Ultimately, it also linked the story back to the Surgical Maniac.

CASE 4: Fallen Angel

this case surfaced when Daxiong and his team were informed that the mentally unstable Chen Zhihui hanged himself in the mental institute. Chen Zhihui had stabbed James Tan, and murdered him a few months ago, but as his mental health posed a problem, he was serving out his sentence in the mental institute. When Daxiong and Jingyi investigate, they discover that the last person who went to visit Chen Zhihui was ____. they pay ___ a visit, and Jingyi starts sneezing non-stop after smelling an incense he has in his house. they find no leads.

meanwhile, Jingyi decides to break up with Dazhi, and leaves him feeling miserable. while nursing his sorrows, he meets an innocent young lady, Xiaoyun (Candyce Toh), and discovers that she has the gift of foresight. they save a young girl from being knocked down by a cyclist (did you notice who was riding the bike? CSS 2 finalist Zijie!). he brings her back to her uncle, Xue Youren (Rayson Tan), and observes the meeting of a group, the ‘White Cloud Group’, where their followers are dressed in white. Xiaoyun is called ‘fairy white cloud’, and she uses her gift to help the people who seek advice on matters.

when Cantik’s daughter, ah-boy, gets kidnapped, Dazhi brings her, Jingyi and Daxiong to ask for Xiaoyun’s advice. Jingyi smells the same incense which makes her sneeze, and finally manages to link ____ to the “White Cloud Alter”. Xue Youren insists that they are not a cult.

Xiaoyun manages to locate ah-boy, and Cantik is elated. Xiaoyun enjoys spending time with Dazhi and has fallen for him, but Xue Youren strictly tells her not to look for him anymore, and insists that she must listen to him, as he loves her the most, and that Dazhi might not be as good a person as he seems.

it is revealed that Xue Youren is taking advantage of Xiaoyun, and Dazhi attempts to expose him. meanwhile, Yu Jie and Jiang Zaixi investigate on the whereabouts of ‘one-horned dragon’. Zaixi investigates, and gets Monkey and Xue Youren to meet up. Realising that they’ve been set up, Xue Youren sends Monkey away with some money. Obviously, Xue Youren has had something to do with the child-smuggling syndicate…

Dazhi gets into trouble when he is too impulsive, and has absolutely no proof that Xue Youren is taking advantage of Xiaoyun. Xiaoyun refuses to reveal the truth. the ‘White Cloud Alter’ is revealed to be a crime syndicate… Xue Youren ensures that Xiaoyun’s divinations come true, and resorts to setting fires and injuring people to make people believe, become followers, and donate large amounts of money to them.

Chen Zhihui was a follower. 6 months ago, Xue Youren was approached by another follower, Evan, who wanted James Tan dead, for James had found out too many of his secrets. Chen Zhihui was sent to kill James, but now Evan returned, and wanted James’ wife dead, for she held the evidence which James had collected against him. first, Xue Youren ties Xiaoyun up, to prevent her from hindering his operations. He tries to kill 3 birds with one stone, by sending someone to kill James’ wife, and he would knock Jingyi and Dazhi down, as they knew too much. his plan fails, and Jingyi and Dazhi end up in the hospital. although Jingyi was not badly hurt, Dazhi remained in a coma.

Xue Youren runs away. Xiaoyun manages to escape, but faints. she awakes in the hospital, and keeps vigril by Dazhi’s side. when Dazhi wakes up, he finds Xiaoyun unconcious. she has brain cancer, and must be operated on immediately. Dazhi, recovering, keeps the unconcious Xiaoyun company, and plays her favourite song, as he bought her the CD which she wanted but was out-of-print already.

when Xiaoyun awakes, she has forgotten who Dazhi was, but he starts anew with her, now truly in love with her.

Xue Youren and Monkey are found dead. Jiang Zaixi had kidnapped them, hoping to find the whereabouts of ‘one-horned dragon’. Xue Youren finally tells that he knew ‘one-horned dragon’ was in Thailand, 8 years ago. Zaixi kills Youren and Monkey.

CASE 5: A Pact with the Devil

a reporter was killed a few months back, and his brother comes to Daxiong and team with a back-mail note he found among his brother’s things. with this note, Daxiong suspects that the reporter, Song Guanghua, did not just die of a drug overdose, but was murdered.

among Song Guanghua’s things were pictures and an incomplete report about a child-smuggling syndicate. Daxiong is sure this is the reason for his untimely death. meanwhile, Zaixi does some digging, and suspects that philanthropist, Xu Manling’s husband, Du Min, is actually ‘one-horned dragon’. the couple and their 2 children had relocated to Singapore a few years ago, from Thailand.

with Yu Jie, the two of them pose as reporters to find out more about Xu Manling and her husband. however, they are unable to find anything, and rouse Manling and Du Min’s suspicions.

Yu Jie’s brother, Yu Qing, comes back. he is the head of a child-begging syndicate. upon meeting Jiang Zaixi, he finds him familiar, and warns Yu Jie not to get too close to him. Yu Qing is determined to locate ‘one-horned dragon’, and stopped at nothing to find him, including killing Song Guanghua, and getting Yu Jie to doctor the autopsy report.

Daxiong and team manage to get Yu Qing’s picture, and attempt to find him. they spot him in a picture taken of Xu Manling and Du Min, when the philanthropists were raising protest against developers who wanted to buy the land an orphanage was on. on that day, Yu Qing was going to kill Du Min, but was interrupted. Daxiong and Jingyi pay the Du’s a visit and warn them about Yu Qing, whom they think is out to take harm them.

however, what Daxiong and Jingyi don’t know is that Zaixi had kidnapped the Du’s 2 children, and handed them over to Yu Qing, who demanded ransom from Du Min, and for him to deliver the ransom personally. Du Min was about to walk out of the house when Daxiong and Jingyi came.

Yu Qing loses his cool, and takes out a knife, wanting to harm the 2 Du children. however, Yu Jie arrives in time, and begs him not to harm the children.

Later on, Daxiong and Jingyi visit Yu Jie, and she tells her story, where she recalls the love and care her brother gave her, even as they had been kidnapped, and forced to become child-beggers. she tells them that her brother begged the kidnappers not to amputate Yu Jie’s leg, only his, but he’ll beg for enough money for both of them. the surgeon had a face mask, so only her eyes were visible, and she had a red birthmark behind her right ear… she said: “小弟弟，你连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒你。”

but Yu Jie told Daxiong and Jingyi that her brother had already died many years ago, when they were in the orphanage.

Du Min finally comes with the ransom, and is beaten up by Yu Qing, who reminds him of what he did to them many years ago. Du Min finally remembers them, and expresses his regret for all the bad things he’d done in the past. he now tries to make up by being charitable, but he knows that he’ll have to answer for his actions some day.

he accepts his fate, and does not beg Yu Qing to spare his life. Yu Qing is greatly disturbed by this, and goes mad, threatening to saw off Du Min’s leg, like how they did to him years ago…

Daxiong and Jingyi arrive in time, and take custody of Yu Qing and Du Min.

it’s not over. Zaixi had put CCTV cameras in the go-down where the Yu Qing and Du Min showdown took place. irritated that revenge was not taken, he plans something else…

a romantic dinner with Yu Jie, no doubt, is part of his plan. it arouses Yu Jie’s suspisions, when he says: “你哥哥连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒他”, which sounds stangely familiar. she writes it down, and pastes it on her wall… then attempts to rush to the hospital to look for her brother.

but Zaixi is waiting outside. he kidnaps her, and she sees the birthmark behind his right ear… he? or her?

CASE 6: The Surgical Maniac (Part 2)

Daxiong and Jingyi rush to Yu Jie’s house, to find the piece of paper. they take it to Yu Qing, who tells them what took place many years ago…

Yu Qing had always cared for his sister, and the day they were kidnapped, Yu Jie was eating the first ice cream Yu Qing had ever treated her to. they were on their way home from school, when they were abducted by a child-begging syndicate.

Yu Qing had begged the kidnappers not to amputate Yu Jie’s leg, but only his, but he’ll beg enough for her too. he recalled that phrase “小弟弟，你连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒你。” was said by the surgeon, only known as Blade.

they later realise Jiang Zaixi’s past. Jiang Zaixi was actually Zhu Yanmei, a very promising surgeon. his/her past was told by Duofu, Daxiong’s father, who used to be a professor in the surgical department, and Zaixi/Yanmei’s professor’s good friend. upon knowing the truth about her health (she was born with 2 sex organs), her professor felt threatened, and refused to accept a student like her; she had to choose and take the necessary procedures to make herself a man or woman. she refused, and her professor resorted to underhanded means to malign her, and kick her out.

they find the body of her professor, and he was killed by the surgical maniac. hence, they deduce that Jiang Zaixi/ Zhu Yanmei is the surgical maniac, and that he/she’ll make an appearance at her professor’s funeral, where Duofu was giving the eulogy.

with Daxiong and Jingyi on duty, staking out the place, Duofu is actually posing as bait, to lure Zaixi/ Yanmei and they need to find Yu Jie’s whereabouts, and of course, catch him.

Zaixi runs up to the roof. after emphasising again and again that he is the winner, and having SMS-ed a website to Daxiong, telling him that he’d know where Yu Jie was after watching the video there, he jumps off.

the video showed him performing surgery on Yu Jie, and she died. Yu Qing, who is in jail, is devastated.

Daxiong and Jingyi, after avoiding each other and being awkward around each other for a long time… finally end up together.

REVIEW

cases 4, 5 and 6 were related, and i was quite impressed with the facts about the past, linking directly to the present. even though cases 4 and 5 involved the deaths of people who seemed completely unrelated, we had to look at the big picture.

even though case 4’s main focus was the death of James Tan, and the suicide of Chen Zhihui, involving the “White Cloud Alter”, Xue Youren’s cover for a crime syndicate, the case focused more on Xue Youren’s past, and his links with the child-begging syndicate and ‘one-horned dragon’.

i pretty much enjoyed case 4, as i thought Candyce’s character, Bai Xiaoyun, was so cute, and the chemistry she had with Jackson Tan’s Dazhi was really sweet. of course, Rayson Tan is a brilliant actor, who played the evil, schemeing and cold-blooded Xue Youren really well!

also, what was nice was that the focus altered from Daxiong and Jingyi to Dazhi and Cantik…

case 5 was full of vengeance, and where Yu Qing appeared. it was also in this case where many secrets were dug up, and Yu Jie’s child-beggar days were revealed. everything gets a little clearer, regarding the whole ‘one-eyed dragon’ and child-smuggling/begging syndicate. Zhang Yaodong’s acting was really quite good! i’m seeing him in a different light now, as the kind of actor who can play a revengeful kind of person… he looked so evil and so crazed, when thinking about revenge. that was all he lived for, and that was really scary.

i actually felt sorry for Du Min, ‘cos he was living such a civilised life now, and donating so much money to help children. i mean, he was trying to atone for his sins, and what he’d done in the past was so evil, and ruined many lives. even lives like Yu Jie’s where she is now successful, but she still lives in the unhappy moments and it has affected her psychologically, so much so that she is in so much agony, and pain, as she just can’t forget the trauma she went through. and lives like Yu Qing’s, where he now heads a child-begging syndicate, living a life like the one which ruined his, living only for revenge and nothing else.

yes, so i really felt sorry for Du Min, ‘cos even when Yu Qing was going to take revenge, and kill him, he accepted his fate; he knew he’d done wrong to all those children, and was prepared to be punished; he knew that he’d be hunted down sooner or later; he was prepared to die, but even though he knew that he would get his just desserts one day, he still gave to charity, and helped children.

these 2 cases were pretty well crafted, and were linked to the ultimate child-begging syndicate, which involved Yu Jie, Yu Qing, and Jiang Zaixi…

the last part of the 19th episode was really creepy, ‘cos that was when Yu Jie suspected that there was something seriously wrong, when the phrase: “你哥哥连死都不怕，以后，什么事也难不倒他” came out of Zaixi’s mouth. then he kidnapped her, and revealed who he/she really was. Jiang Zaixi was a WOMAN!

i really disliked the finale, ‘cos there were just too many things to squeeze into that 45minutes (minus advertisements), including Jiang Zaixi/Zhu Yanmei’s past, told to Daxiong by his father, Lu Duofu, who had a great role as the connector who knew the whole story. i didn’t really get the part about Duofu acting as bait to lure Jiang Zaixi/Zhu Yanmei out, ‘cos it all happened too quickly! we knew that Jiang Zaixi had gone to murder his/her former professor, but it was all so random, when they just cut from scene to scene that you got disoriented. i think it was meant to give you the sense of suspense and excitement, but it didn’t work. it made me confused, and i felt that there were many loopholes.

in the end, we have a usual rooftop confrontation, with Daxiong and Jingyi pointing their guns at Jiang Zaixi, who was standing on the edge, ready to jump. he does, after declaring himself the winner, and SMS-ing Daxiong a website which would tell him Yu Jie’s whereabouts. that’s it. Jiang Zaixi just jumped off without a fight. and he’d killed Yu Jie.

the ending was really disappointing, as i felt that the scriptwriters just needed to end the show, and could not get away with an ending where Jiang Zaixi didn’t die. there wasn’t enough time in one episode to fit all those important details, and it was never explained why he/she set up ‘wanttodie’ and ‘phoenix talon’.

ok, let’s recap: being the surgical maniac, he/she was proud of his/her skills, and would flaunt them, hence the ‘wanttodie’ fanclub, where he/she had fans who admired his/her work; did the ‘phoenix talon’ organisation have anything to do with the fact that her professor had framed her before, or was it for a pure hatred of men? why then did she decide to become a man then? i still don’t get that.

overall, with the exception of the finale (which i think is VERY important!), i really enjoyed this show! it was not too complex, and had many funny and amusing moments! the plot was interesting; the acting was brilliant, and i especially liked the Jiang Zaixi/ Zhu Yanmei past, ‘cos it was unexpected, and creepy!!

it was also really interesting how Jiang Zaixi was involved in every case – from the Butterfly Sisters’ case, to the Liu Wenbao case… and of course the cases which led to the finale; i thought that was ingenious, building up his character as the show went on, and deepening the mystery.

Best roles: Jerry Yeo, Jackson Tan, Paige Chua, Rayson Tan, Zhang Yaodong, Shaun Chen, TAY PING HUI
showed improvement: Dawn Yeoh, Paige Chua, Jerry Yeo, Zhang Yaodong, Rebecca Lim
loved: Candyce Toh, Jackson Tan, Marianna

FINAL RATINGS: 4.2/5.0 (VERY GOOD)

Crime Busters x2 叮当神探: after 12 episodes

October 26, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: crime busters x2, dawn yeoh, ding dang shen tan, drama serials, drama series, Dramas channel, Dramas, entertainment, mediacorp, paige chua, shaun chen, singapore, tay ping hui, zhang yao dong, 叮当神探

this review covers 12 episodes, and 3 cases: The Surgical Maniac, Metamorphosis and Wheel of Destiny.

(this drama is ALMOST FINISHED, and this review IS LATE!! sorry!)

i’ve thoroughly enjoyed it’s plot, it’s characters, and the acting! in what i deem a first for local dramas, this police-themed series cleverly keeps the audience’s attention by mixing comedy with serious, high-action cases. this similar format was used in HK-TVB’s D.I.E., but that series had an element of ‘unrealism’ as the main character, played by Roger Kwok, had ‘visions’, and a ghost following him. in “Crime Busters x2”, there are no ‘unrealistic’ moments, other than the moments where the characters are daydreaming. “Crime Busters x2” is down-to-earth in it’s plot.

our main characters, Lv Daxiong (Tay Ping Hui) and Xia Jingyi (Dawn Yeoh), are at loggerheads from the beginning, and over the episodes, the focus is on their over-changing friendship. we are constantly reminded by how different they are in character and mannerisms – Daxiong is a neat freak, while Jingyi is an extremely messy and unorganised person.

from the beginning, the scriptwriters let you know who the ultimate evil guy is – plastic surgeon Kang Jae-hee (Shaun Chen), who is the elusive Surgical Maniac. he soon gets a main role, as forensic pathologist Yu Jie’s suitor.

the ice-lady Yu Jie’s (Paige Chua) character is developed, and you get snippets into her dark and horrible past, and her current agony, where she drowns her sorrows in hard liquor, and takes tons of sleeping pills, and drugs, crying painful tears of bitterness and anguish. she is constantly harassed by a guy (Zhang Yaodong), but his identity is unknown at the moment (he is her brother, Yu Qing).

CASE 1: The Surgical Maniac

guest starring: Jesseca Liu as Ou Fenni, Jerry Yeo as Lin Zhengwei, Michelle Chong as Isabelle (Yi Sha Bei), Desmond Tan (from Star Search 2007) as Hu Zhiyang, Henry Heng as Chen Xiazhong

introducing the “surgical maniac” (Shaun Chen), who was involved in a number of cases 5 years ago. this person wants to flaunt his skills, and even has a fanclub – wanttodie – dedicated to him, and his ingenious, and gruesome methods of killing people.

a surgeon, Chen Xiazhong is brutally murdered. the murderer’s MO is almost identical to that of the “surgical maniac”‘s, who has been missing for 5 years. something fishy was going on in the hospital where Chen Xiazhong worked, and it involved his beautiful assistant, Ou Fenni, who was his student, and has since taken his position, and a certain Hu Zhiyang, who keeps harassing Fenni. Staying by Fenni’s side is Lin Zhengwei, a genius who dropped out of medical school — all of them were linked to Chen Xiazhong.

Ou Fenni tells the police that Xiazhong was only her teacher, and that they did not have an affair, as everyone in the hospital thought. instead, she was helping him keep a deadly secret. 6 months ago, a wrong examination had led to an unsuccessful surgery, where the patient died. it was Xiazhong’s mistake, and he begged Fenni to keep the matter under wraps even though she insisted that he should apologise to the patient’s family, lest the matter weigh on his conscience for his whole life. they had constantly met in a hotel room, as Fenni was trying hard to persuade him to tell the truth, as she could not sleep properly at night, haunted by this secret. she told the police that Hu Zhiyang was angry with Xiazhong for transferring him out of the surgical unit, and that he nursed a grudge against Xiazhong.

through meticulous investigations with Isabelle of Major Crime, and along the way, recalling Daxiong’s past and how he indirectly caused the death of his partner, Xiao-gou, who was Isabelle’s cousin, the team finally find some leads, at which point Hu Zhiyang is found dead in the same manner as Chen Xiazhong.

finally, evidence points to Lin Zhengwei as the culprit.

however, after they’d captured Zhengwei, incriminating evidence on the ‘wanttodie fansite’ (username: scorpio) and Fenni’s house (many scorpian decorations) point to her as the mastermind, who suggested, and wanted Zhengwei to help her kill Xiazhong and Zhiyang. she knew that Zhengwei loved her and would do anything to protect her.

Daxiong receives a call from the surgical maniac, who had kidnapped Fenni and Jingyi. Daxiong is given 30 minutes to find them. the surgical maniac then forces Fenni to perform surgery on Jingyi, but she refuses. the surgical maniac decides to perform the surgery himself.

Daxiong and Isabelle find them, but Jingyi is unconscious…

it turns out that the story Fenni told the police was totally fabricated, and that she was the one who was negligent and made the mistake which caused the patient to die. Xiazhong had persuaded her time and time again to apologise to the patient’s family, but she would not, and hoping that he would continue to keep her secret, she took advantage of Xiazhong’s love for her and became his mistress (which would explain frequenting the hotel rooms). but Xiazhong still could not live with this matter weighing on his conscience, and Fenni knew that sooner or later, Xiazhong would spill the beans, and with that, her whole career would be over. meanwhile, Hu Zhiyang had been investigating on this matter, and to protect Fenni, Xiazhong had him transferred out. but Zhiyang refused to stop, and continued harassing Fenni.

Fenni was the one who introduced Zhengwei to the ‘wanttodie fansite’, and Zhengwei, being a talented surgeon, was coached by Blade to kill Chen Xiazhong and Hu Zhiyang.

Zhengwei and Fenni go to jail. Jingyi is hospitalised, having had an appendicitis performed on her by the surgical maniac, and could be discharged in a few days.

CASE 2: Metamorphosis

guest starring: Alan Tern as Tang Jiasheng, Rebecca Lim as Hu Huadie, Cecilia Wang as Hu Caidie

a few months ago, a female body was found buried in a park, but the body could not be identified as the head and hands have been cut off.

while clearing the records room, this case surfaces, and Jingyi takes interest in it. while helping Kumar, an annoying hit-and-run victim, who refuses to leave the police station till Daxiong and his team find the culprit to claim his medical fees, Jingyi chances upon a CD released by a popular getai duo, the Butterfly Sisters, Hu Huadie and Hu Caidie, 2 years ago. strangely, shortly after they released their 1st album, they decided to quiz showbiz.

Jingyi observes that the Butterfly Sisters each had a butterfly tatoo on their right (Huadie) and left (Caidie) hips. she thinks the mark is similar to that of the deceased. after visiting people who knew them from their getai days, Caidie is said to be overseas. Daxiong and Jingyi visit Huadie and her husband, Jiasheng, who was the sisters’ manager…

they think the body belonged to Caidie, and that Caidie is dead.

it turns out that Kumar helped them solve their case, when they finally find the driver who knocked Kumar down. the owner of the car that knocked Kumar down was injured, and his friend was desperately driving him to the hospital, rushing, so much so that he was not concentrating and knocked Kumar down. Kumar felt really guilty and refused to press charges or pursue the matter anymore, as the owner of the car had been hit by killer-litter – a flower pot, with the initial ‘K’, and was still looking for the culprit… it was Kumar’s flower pot!! so Kumar’s flower pot knocked this guy, and he got his friend to drive him to the hospital. just then, Kumar saw his idol, Hu Caidie, and ran across the road — that was when he got knocked down.

things didn’t add up — by right, Hu Caidie should have been dead for over a month, if the headless and handless body they found was even hers!

in a twist, Daxiong and Jingyi finally get Huadie to admit… the woman who has Huadie’s appearance, and has been acting as Huadie, Jiasheng’s wife for over 2 years is actually Caidie, who had undergone plastic surgery.

the sisters were fighting over Jiasheng. Huadie had decided to move out with Jiasheng, and Caidie, who loved Jiasheng deeply, refused to let them, especially her sister, go. insisting that Jiasheng was hers, Caidie got very agitated, and took a knife to threaten her sister. Jiasheng intervened, and accidentally stabbed Huadie. he insisted that he’d immediately go and turn himself in. frightened, Caidie hit the deluded Jiasheng with a chopping board…

then she mutilated her sister’s body. Jiasheng suffered from the after-effects of the blow to his head, and had amnesia. Caidie was at his side, taking care of him, and he thought she was Huadie, as Huadie was forever the only one in his heart.

in the hospital, she met a plastic surgeon, who promised her happiness – he’d perform plastic surgery on her to make her look like her sister, and she’ll live her sister’s life, and be with the man she loves. the plastic surgeon is no other than Jiang Zai-xi (Shaun Chen)! he was the one who instructed her to dig her sister’s hands and head up, and throw them into the sea, so that no one would ever suspect her identity, or the identity of the dead body.

Jiasheng and Caidie both went to jail, but Caidie never revealed that there was a mastermind behind the curtain. she wrote to Zai-xi, and thanked him for the happiness he gave her; enabling her to spend 2 happy years with the man she loves. she promised to take the secret to the grave. upon reading the letter, Zai-xi burnt it, leaving no trace of his involvement.

CASE 3: Wheel of Destiny

guest starring: Zhang Wei as Liu Wenbao, Celest Chong as Margaret, Li Tianle as Liu Wenbao’s daughter (suddenly forgot her character’s name!)

Liu Wenbao goes on a tour to pray for lucky 4D numbers at a cemetary. he looks back and sees a figure in white, and suffers a heart attack. his last words were “ghost, ghost”. upon investigation, it is found out that his heart attack pills have been swapped with vitamin pills, resulting in his death.

meanwhile, Daxiong’s father, Duo Fu, meets a beautiful woman, Margaret, and introduces her to Daxiong. however, Daxiong takes no interest in her, and Duo Fu dates her instead. convinced that she really loves him, Duo Fu proposes to Margaret. Margaret has her reservations, as Duo Fu’s entire family think she is out to cheat him of his money, since she is a great deal younger than him; fit to be his daughter.

Dazhi is extremely scared with matters involving this case, as it is the 7th-month, and he believes in ghosts. he is also extremely frightened as he is haunted by a traumatic childhood memory. Daxiong and Jingyi don’t believe in ghosts, and try to prove that Wenbao, if indeed he was scared to death, was scared to death by a person.

their investigation leads them to Wenbao’s daughter, who behaves suspiciously, and to Batam, where he always went for business, and where he kept a mistress. however, they meet a dead-end in Batam, as they are told the mistress died in a fire. continuing to check on Wenbao’s daughter, they finally manage to scare Wenbao’s superstitious widow into divulging the truth.

Wenbao’s daughter was responsible for the switch in his medicine, as she was very upset and hated her father for breaking her mother’s heart time and time again, as he had many women, and even though he promised to leave them, never did.

at the same time, Duo Fu was preparing to get engaged to Margaret, but she never turned up. obviously cheated, Duo Fu was heartbroken. he then happened to see her and followed her. she is a member of “phoenix talon”, which is an organisation to help women who have been ill-treated by men, and to take revenge on them.

but Daxiong and Jingyi continued to dig deeper, and find Wenbao’s ex-mistress. he had an affair with her over 30 years ago, and she was now dying of cancer in the hospital. Wenbao’s ex-mistress had a daughter, who was Wenbao’s daughter, but she left home many years ago, after being ill-treated by her step-father. conincidentally, Wenbao’s daughter’s name, and his Batam mistress’ name is the same! Jingyi suspects they are the same person, which would mean Wenbao was having an affair with his daughter!

from the picture Wenbao’s dying ex-mistress gave Daxiong and Jingyi, Wenbao’s daughter (the illegitamate one) had a big red birthmark on her left shoulder.

Both Jingyi and Daxiong find the girl in the picture very familiar. finally, Jingyi remembers where she’d seen the birthmark before – on Margaret.

in the end, Margaret is brought in for questioning… she was Liu Wenbao’s mistress. but he had suddenly left her one day, and she chased his car; he knocked her down. she attempted to take her life, but a member of “phoenix talon” offered her a new lease of life, and she sought to take revenge on him. she went from Batam to Singapore to look for him, and realised that he thought she was dead. taking advantage of his susperstitious-ness, she planned to dress up as a ghost and scare him on his lucky 4D number tour. later, she ends up visiting her mother in hospital and admits her wrongdoings, causing her mother to die. she had thought Daxiong and Jingyi revealed all she had done, but they had not. she had succeeded in killing her mother.

she was also responsible for killing Liu Wenbao, by dressing up in white and scaring him to death. Liu Wenbao was her father.

so Liu Wenbao was killed by his 2 daughters.

Margaret reveals why she had cheated Duo Fu. it turns out that she is seeking revenge for a member of “phoenix talon”, a woman who was rejected by Duo Fu in their school days. the mysterious mastermind behind the organisation “phoenix talon” was only someone known as Blade.

REVIEW

wow. it has really been exciting! even though the cases are really simple, we know that there is a mastermind behind everything, and that someone is played by Shaun Chen. who is this mysterious person? yes, we know he is Jiang Zai-xi, the plastic surgeon, but who is he really? and what is his past? why is he so anxious to help all these people, and is he Blade??

i liked the 1st case, ‘cos it really gave us an insight into Daxiong’s past, and it just set the whole show rolling… introducing, or re-introducing the surgical maniac, and the copycat MO (sounds so H.I.T. – KR-MBC). brilliant acting from Jerry Yeo; especially Jerry Yeo!! ok, i’m going to make a statement now — i’m pretty sure Jerry Yeo will become a male lead soon enough; if Mediacorp gives him more roles and more exposure, i’m sure he’ll do very well, and become an equivalent to a princess, as an unofficial prince! haha. i’m confident that he’ll be able to perform when given the chance. look out for him!

Jesseca was acting kinda normal, so it wasn’t very challenging, i guess. a pity Desmond Tan only lasted like, 3-4 scenes. and it was strange too, that Michelle Chong was only guest starring in this case, ‘cos usually, the police officers don’t guest star, they stay the whole way through. i guess they needed her as the link between Daxiong and Xiao-gou (Joshua Ang)… she helped, or rather, Jingyi helped them make peace, and Daxiong finally apologised.

the 2nd case was very interesting. i loved the fact that Kumar got knocked down by the car that was sending the guy his killer-litter injured to hospital, and in turn, also helped Daxiong and Jingyi solve the case! how ironic! it was a great twist, even though now linked directly to the case, but it was just brilliant!

Rebecca Lim is getting a lot of exposure, and i’m touting her to be included in the next tier of seven princesses (i’ll be doing a post about it soon — “The *new* Seven Princesses”: Rebecca Lim, Paige Chua, Koh Yah Hwee, Jacqueline Sue, Joey Feng…) her role here was not very exciting. it was great, however, to see Alan Tern onscreen again! but his role wasn’t exciting either. on the other hand, i think Cecilia Wang did a pretty decent job as this crazed, violent and evil woman. i didn’t know she was an actress, i only saw her hosting before…

the 3rd case was not really good, ‘cos i thought the whole birthmark thing in this case, and tatoo thing in the previous case made it too simple. these people could be identified so easily! but i had to say, it was really nice seeing Celest Chong onscreen after SO MANY years. and i liked how Liu Wenbao actually died ‘cos of his 2 daughters – they’d planned separately, but they managed to get the end result, by indirectly helping each other.

i’ve only done this review of the 1st 3 cases, ‘cos the next 2 cases involve the whole Yu Jie/ child begging syndicate, which will ultimately link to the surgical maniac again…

by the way, i have to say this show has let me see Paige Chua in a totally different light. she’s great as the ice lady, who is so full of hatred, but is so weak emotionally. i can actually feel the pain she seems to be going through. and this is only her 2nd role! on the other hand, i find Dawn Yeoh pretty good in this show. well, one thing’s for sure – Dawn can’t play Paige’s kind of role; neither can Paige play Dawn’s happy, bubbly, messy and bright character.

RATINGS: 4.5/5.0 (VERY GOOD!)

Crime Busters x2 叮当神探

October 4, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: channel 8, crime busters x2, dawn yeoh, ding dang shen tan, drama, drama serial, jackson tan, jerry yeo, jesseca liu, paige chua, shaun chen, star search 2007, tay ping hui, 叮当神探

Mediacorp Channel 8 synopsis HERE

This drama stars:

Tay Ping Hui as Lu Daxiong aka ‘old maid’, Dawn Yeoh as Xia Jing Yi, Shaun Chen as Kang Jae Hee (Jiang Zai Xi), Paige Chua (Cai Qihui) as Yu Jie, Jackson Tan (from Star Search 2007) as Fu Da Zhi aka ‘big mole’, Richard Low as Lu Duo Fu, Mariana as ‘Cantik’, Hong Huifang as Feng Huixin, Huang Wenyong as Xia Mingda, Chen Guohua as Ah Fu, Joey Swee as Lu Baoliang, Nick Shen as Sun Ji Qing, Pan Lingling as Wang Yumei

Guest starring:

(eps 1-4)
The Surgical Demon (Part 1)
两极阴阳 (上篇)

Jesseca Liu as Ou Fenni, Jerry Yeo as Lin Zhengwei, Michelle Chong as Isabelle (Yi Sha Bei), Desmond Tan (from Star Search 2007) as Hu Zhiyang, Henry Heng as Chen Xiazhong

(eps 5-8)
Metamorphosis
生死蝶变

Alan Tern as Tang Jiasheng, Rebecca Lim as Hu Huadie, Cecilia Wang as Hu Caidie

(eps 9-12)
Wheel of Destiny
红绫孽劫

Zhang Wei as Liu Wenbao, Celest Chong as Margaret

(eps 13-16)
Fallen Angel
陨落天使

Rayson Tan as Xue Youren, Candyce Toh as Bai Xiaoyun

(ep 17-19)
A Pact with the Devil
魔鬼交易

Zhang Yaodong as Yu Qing, Brandon Wong as Du Min

(ep 20)
The Surgical Demon (Part 2)
两极阴阳 (下篇)

PLOT

don’t expect it to be gritty like “C.I.D”, or as intriguing and full of drama as “Metamorphosis”. expect more D.I.E (HK-TVB; 2008) than H.I.T (KR-MBC; 2007), as this cop drama promises to have comedy working hand in hand with dramatic sequences and serious cases. i’ve also read that it has the characters of “Doraemon”, hence ‘叮当 (ding dang)’ and how Tay Ping Hui as Daxiong is Nobita and so on. i’m not sure about the details as i’m not familiar with the comic. haha :) [could anyone who knows tell me more? thanks! :D]

this drama has 1 major case – ‘The Surgical Demon’, and 4 other cases, each focusing on a few of the main characters. from the start, they already reveal who the real surgical maniac is – he is played by Shaun Chen. they will continue to develop his character as the show continues, first with his relationship with Yu Jie (Paige Chua), who resembles his deceased girlfriend (yes, another of those!).

Tay Ping Hui is Lu Daxiong, the high profile cop from major crime who screwed up 5 years ago, and caused his partner Doggy’s death (Joshua Ang’s cameo). he then asked to be transferred out of major crime, and is now in charge of the records department – the department in charge of keeping records of cases, and digging up unsolved cases to investigate further. He is a very cold man, who is neat and organised, and he likes to pick on newbies.

Dawn Yeoh is Xia Jingyi, a rookie cop who is assigned to be Daxiong’s partner. She is a very disorganised and messy person, who is enthusiastic and excited about her job. She often thinks of herself as a capable detective, and constantly quotes famous detectives, sometimes daydreaming about being a hero, like in manga/anime.

Daxiong and Jingyi progress from being at loggerheads (like how he hates her wearing colourful t-shirts, and disected an umbrella and made her wear it like a poncho) to another level. however, Daxiong starts the show liking forensic pathologist Yu Jie, and Dazhi (Jackson Tan) likes Jingyi (now nicknamed ‘xiaozhu’ piglet).

PRE-REVIEW

after 4 episodes: the first case has been solved. it was the case of a copycat murder, with the same M.O. as the surgical maniac’s (sounds so much like H.I.T!). the acting by Jerry Yeo as Lin Zhengwei was really good as he played a stuttering pharmaceutical assistant who was the copycat murderer. it was so different from his debut role in “”Beach.Ball.Babes”, where he was the blur, innocent undergrad. he was very convincing as a person who lacked confidnce and who was very unsure of himself. he was really good! and this is his second role! ONLY!

i’m also very pleased that actors whom have not appeared in a long time, like Joey Swee, Nick Shen and Alan Tern are back onscreen!

CURRENT RATINGS: 4.3/5.0 (VERY GOOD!)

La Femme 绝对佳人

June 8, 2008 in 2008 Dramas, Dramas
Tags: ann kok, channel 8, 绝对佳人, drama, drama serial, jue dui jia ren, la femme, mediacorp, nat ho, paige chua, shaun chen, tay ping hui, tiffany leong, yao wenlong, zoe tay

Stars: Zoe Tay as Fang Baoyu, Ann Kok as Lin Xiuhui, Tiffany Leong as Qian Minmin, Tay Ping Hui as Huang Quanhe, Yao Wen Long as Zhang Jiawei, Shaun Chen as Liang Xingxiong, Paige Chua as Qian Tingting, Nat Ho as Fang Baoguo and Desmond Sim as Zhong Weixiang

This 25 episode drama starts on the 2nd of May, 2008 at 9pm on Channel 8. Focusing on women taking different path in life, both in love and their careers, this drama is filmed partly in Malaysia.

READ FULL SYNOPSIS HERE

**sorry about this unupdated post! i’ll be writing about it soon! please bear with this first!

THEME SONG by Cai Meiyi

https://qingling.wordpress.com/wp-content/uploads/2008/06/la-femme.jpg

*UPDATED*

OK. sorry people, i’m not watching this show, but upon seeing the debut episode, trailers and reading the synopsis…

• i expect a show much like “Mars vs Venus”, but focusing more on women
• but not like “Mars vs Venus” as there isn’t much comedy in it
• Ann Kok’s role and her portrayal of her character – Star Award worthy!
• Zoe Tay returns to dramas… but as a housewife — not as extreme as her ugly role in “Man at Forty”; nothing to be so excited about…
• Desmond Sim’s return to screen (actually, i’ve not seen him on-screen before)
• Yao Wenlong is always great to watch, and here, he’s a horrible guy!
• more exposure for new actors – Paige Chua and Nat Ho

from the first episode, i realise that Paige Chua’s acting is not really good. Here, only her second role, she’s playing a carefree undergrad who is the happy-go-lucky kind of person. But she’s very unnatural here. I guess her debut role in “Just in Singapore” seemed more natural. Maybe her personality is not the bubbly kind?

i really don’t know what else to say… sorry :(