#it's either for undercover or because he is getting SUUUPER serious

[eternitas]

WIP stuff

[dramaclover]

Ending & Thoughts: Line Walker: Bull Fight

This is my most highly anticipated drama of the year. I’ve always loved the Line Walker series and Raymond Lam returning was just the cherry on top. It wasn’t bad but something was just missing. Line Walker is known for polices going undercover to solve cases. And one of the most prominent aspect was “figuring” out who is the hidden undercover. This aspect was missing in this sequel. I understand it in a way cause how many series can you make focusing on finding a UC? But the mystery of it was what made it fun. So I thought alternatively they could focus the mystery on finding who is the “black” cop. They didn’t do that either though. This is probably gonna turn into a very long post.

The Characters

In this sequel we see the return of Bao Seed (Raymond Lam), Cheuk Sir (Michael Miu), Tin Tong (Benjamin Yuen), Shuk Mui (Priscilla Wong), Foon Hei (Benz Hui), and guest appearances from Sin Ching (Elena King), Yuk Huen (Shiga Lin) & Wing Cheung (Tony Hung). And then there’s the new cast joining this sequel in Madam G (Mandy Wong), Lam Lam (Serene Lim), Ah Dou (Sisley Choi), Ho Yeung (Owen Cheung) and of course Ngai Tak Lai (Kenneth Ma). Wow this is a huge star- studded cast and I didn’t even include the numerous special guest stars that appeared in this series. It’s an attractive cast for sure but due to it being such a huge cast a lot of characters ended up getting sidelined.

Foon Hei was a huge character in the first and second, but for this one he was just there. He helped Cheuk sir and the others to solve cases but he doesn’t offer much other than that. The only thing that would’ve made him interesting is if we saw the return of Lok Siu (Pakho Chau), who he saved in the prequel. Unfortunately we don’t find out what happens to him in this version. I’m hoping that the TVB version that airs on tv will show him cause until then it’s up to our imagination.

Another pointless character was Ah Dou. Which is such a pity cause she was soo exciting to watch in the beginning. From episodes 1-10 she was interesting but after that it just went bad. It started focusing on her going undercover and falling for Ho Yeung one of the triad leaders. Boy, that was sooooo boring. It was love at first sight for him while Ah Dou just fell in love with gentleness I guess? After that it was just Ah Dou moping cause she feels extreme guilt & wants to quit. And goodness that bothered me so much. Cause love was all it took for her to want to stop pursuing justice that she wanted when she first joined the police force. After that she was mostly in the background. She didn’t help solve anymore cases and just talked when spoken to. At the end she helped find a chip that incriminated Tak Lei but even then he got away with it. I have no idea why the writers didn’t do more with her character. She wasn’t even there for the final villian gun shooting show down. Her potential was literally wasted in this. Also off topic, but she’s always wearing short-shorts in this series whether undercover or not and that’s how she dresses. I have no problem but yet when Rachel Koo from Al Cappucino dresses formally everyone disses her saying how she shouldn’t be dressing like that cause she’s a cop. Yet here Ah Dou is always dressed in that and no one says anything? I guess when you hate someone, you’ll also hate them over the dumbest thing.

Ho Yeung is literally a supporting character yet he managed to get more screentime then Bao Seed and Tin Tong. WTH?? Another unfair tactic used by TVB to promote Owen. Now this character isn’t bad but he’s pretty bland. And I’m not gonna lie, when he found out that Ah Dou was actually a UC and he had a standoff with her. That scene was pretty touching, he was so hurt but at the same time he couldn’t hurt her. It felt sad but too bad I just wasn’t invested in their love story. His performance here wasn’t that special. He was just mono-toned the entire time- so I don’t get where the praises is coming from? He was waaaay better in Al Cappuccino.

Tin Tong. One word WHY?? What happened to you? I loved you in the prequel. You were that comic relief playboy. You were hilarious and full on flirtatious. But in this sequel you were way too bland and wooden. I don’t even get what happened. This was a horrible character development. And before you say “he was only flirty cause he was undercover”. That ain’t true when he met up with Cheuk Sir and the rest he would show his true form and there he was still playful! Also there were flashbacks from before he went undercover and he was suuuper serious there too. So he went from serious to playful to back to serious. And it’s a pity cause Benjamin only excels in fun roles and becomes wooden with other ones.

Madam G was a failure. And even more of a disappointment then Ah Dou. She starts off amazing too! A cop with a great sense of justice, and quick witted. Yet, the writers messed up her character as well. Her character is literally a rehash of Madam Yuen from Brutally Young. Where she gets used by people around her and her being so dumb to not figure it out. It’s worse here because once she realized her sister is evil, she does nothing. She leaves the police force and huddles herself alone. While more crimes are committed, & more people are dying. She criticized Cheuk sir so hard when he betrayed the force to save his wife. Yet she’s doing the same thing with her sister but worse cause she chooses to keep this information to herself. If she had revealed what she knew, more people could’ve been saved & honestly her sister could’ve survived too. In the end the only reason she got evidence to arrest Tak Lei is because HE CHOSE to let her go or else she would’ve been dead. Another waste of a potential smart character. Another bland performance by Mandy but it could also be because the character faltered in the end.

Ngai Tak Lei, why are you so indecisive? You’re like evil and then you’re not. You’re just like going back and forth before going fully on evil mastermind. It took him way to long to even begin to avenge his brothers death. Kenneths protrayal was pretty bad and uninteresting. I was never scared of his character in the show. When I watched Death By Zero I was literally terrified of Brian Tse. To be a good villain you would have to be able to invoke fear from the audience. I never felt that way with this character. He was just annoying but at the same time he was only annoying cause the other characters were too slow to realize how evil he is.

The Plot

Episodes 1 - 10 were AMAZING. This arc featured selling organs in the black market. And wow it was great. Bao Seed became a handler for Chu Sin (Mayanne Mak) and worked together to find the mastermind behind this trade. In the process Chu Sin dies while saving someone else. Bao Seed is overcome with extreme guilt as she died under his watch. The sadness I felt was no joke. Chu Sin only appeared in the first episode and dies yet I felt such huge anguish & pain when she died. She died a hero and when Bao Seed avenged her death it was done with great justice. Along with this arc Cheuk Sir opens a coffee shop with his wife Sin Ching but she is later diagnosed with liver cirrhosis. Cheuk sir in order to save his wife betrays the police in order to get a liver transplant for her. Unfortunately after going through all that Sin Ching passes away anyways. It was so touching to see them go on one last date together, and they danced together and then she finally passes away in his arms. I was almost in tears cause they went through so much together. I just wanted them to be happy. The flashbacks and the songs they played were perfectly in sync. And then that’s it. After this amazing black market arc it goes downhill.

From episodes 11- 20 it focused heavily on Ah Dou & Ho Yeungs love story. It got to the point that we barely saw Bao Seed, Madam G and well basically any other characters. All the other characters were like just in the background going through the motions. It was so slow paced and boring. I kid you not, you can watch episode 10 & 11 then skip to episode 20 and you would still get what’s going on. That’s how uninteresting and useless those episodes were. And even now I still don’t get the point of this arc. It was about them duking it out to become the top official leader of the triad. Yet I was not invested at all. The sad part is even after Ho Yeung gets arrested and was no longer part of the main story, it was still boring.

Episodes 21- 30 focused more on flashback scenes of two undercover cops that died in the prequel. Along with Bao Seeds secret son that they focused way too much on. With a side story of Shuk Mui and Tin Tong finally getting together. These episodes here were pretty much all over the place. The flashback scenes were not needed at all & I’m pretty sure it was only there cause TVB really wanted to give Shiga & Tony more screentime. I would rather have TVB write a different prequel with them starring in it, then to see them act as filler in this drama. And seriously Tin Tong ends up having 2 girlfriends that worked undercover dead? It’s like he’s cursed. The writers could’ve done so much more with Bao Seed but writing in a secret son is just lazy writing. It didn’t help advance the plot & in the end his son still doesn’t even know that he’s the real Dad. I thought it would end with his sons fake father (whose also a cop) turns evil and uses the son against Bao Seed. But that does not happen so it just ended up being more filler than anything. One thing I did really like is how they written the relationship between Bao Seed and Lam Lam. It wasn’t romantic and never got romantic as Bao Seed still loves Ah Deng (Charmaine Sheh) and Lam Lam only had a one sided crush. But I really appreciate the “platonic -esq” of it. It didn’t turn into anything more but I really liked how they have an understanding of one another. Lam Lam knows he won’t love her but is so kind and still willing to help him instead of being bitter & jealous! I also liked the mentorship that developed between Bao Seed and Ah Dou. I’d rather have them write more about that then the stupid love line she got instead.

The story started to pick up in episodes 31 - till the end. But it really aggravated me that no one suspected Tak Lei as the mastermind. It would’ve been interesting to see someone go undercover to capture him but that didn’t happen. I thought Cheuk sir would realize it quicker. He already knew about him orchestrating to have someone stab Wai Kit (Tak Lei supposed Father). So I thought Cheuk sir would look into him more. Cause wouldn’t he find it weird he was willing to kill his own “father”? Madam G is literally his girlfriend at this point and was able to suspect her own sister but not him? Are you serious? It just seemed like everyone was blind to his actions. I still don’t get why Madam Gs sister didn’t expose Tak Lei as evil. Like why is she helping him? I don’t understand? Was she evil all along? But if she was, why did she plan to expose him but then chose against it when he decided to not kill her? Was she touched cause he did love his sister? I just don’t understand. Bao Seed is a sharp character he should’ve been able to find out sooner. The writing just got sloppy with this part. The ending was nice, justice was served. Madam G is confined to a wheelchair which I’m glad cause she literally indirectly caused a lot of the unnecessary deaths and drama. Cheuk sir is reinstated as a police. Bao Seed decides to go look for Ah Deng. And ends in a good old fashioned cliffhanger. This one I can get behind as most of the main points were resolved.

The Surprise Ending

Tak Lei is killed by another mysterious figure played by Michael Tse. That’s a nice surprise! A pity that he isn’t reprising his role of Laughing Gor though. Madman (Joseph Zheng) who we thought died earlier turns out to be alive and held captive by another mysterious figure portrayed by Philip Keung. This was also a nice touch! Especially when it was revealed that Madman is not who he says he is. I would definitely watch a fourth sequel. Madman was on the way to becoming my favourite character but he had so little screentime I couldn’t really write much about him. He’s a good fighter, smart and he’s able to adapt in situations. So I was pretty sad when he died. But good thing that was not the case. I wonder how they’re gonna write how he survived though in the sequel. One part that annoyed me is that after this whole drama we still don’t know what happened to Ah Deng. They strung us along with saying “she died” to “oh she didn’t die” to having her go MIA. I get why though, TVB wants to leave it open ended should Charmaine ever choose to reprise her iconic role.

My Prediction for the Sequel

If there is one, I don’t see Bao Seed coming back. Mainly cause Raymond doesn’t seem to be interested especially with how his screentime got reduced for Owen. I can see that the fourth one would continue on with Tin Tong and Cheuk sir moving on to a different case. But of course Michael & Phillip would disrupt it. Madman will show up and throw them off. They’ll probably say Bao Seed left to go look for Ah Deng and write him off. I’d rather not see Madam G. Ah Dou would be pointless to bring back unless they kill off Ho Yeung so she gets a new love interest. I hope for the fourth one they bring back the who dunnit concept.

Final Thoughts

I remember on my post on Al Cappucino, I talked about how unrealistic it was with how they portrayed handlers and undercover cops. And that if you wanted to watch a realistic one watch Line Walker... well I take that back. Well for this sequel anyways since it’s super unrealistic how everyone knew Bao Seed was a UC and how they also knew Ah Dou was undercover as well.

This drama had so much guest stars that I lost count of how many appeared. But I was severely disappointed they didn’t bring Sharon Chan in to guest star. She literally played Sin Yan aka Sin Chings younger sister. It makes no sense that when her sister died she didn’t come back to see her one last time! It would’ve been fine to have her cameo or something. It’s like the writers forgot her character existed. But then again they brought back Owen when he already played a different character (Ah Fo) in the first one and ignored it. Also Pakho scenes getting deleted greatly upset me. In the prequel we were left wondering what happened to him and yet we still don’t know right now.

One of the flashback scene that I really enjoyed was Muk Sat (Oscar Leung) meeting Tak Q (Brian Tse). They both were basically the obligatory best friend to the male lead who dies tragically. So having these 2 meet and since they both were goofballs it was super hilarious and intriguing to watch!

I like how they kept the story interconnected with Bao Seed taking over Ah Dengs massage parlour while he waited for her to come back. A pity they couldn’t replicate how the parlour looked in the first one. But it has been 6 years so it would be fairly difficult. Ah Mui dying was sad especially since Tin Tong waited 10 years to be with her. I still feel that 37 episodes made the drama too draggy. And they added subplots that weren’t crucial to the plot.

All in all. It wasn’t terrible but wasn’t great either. There was too much filler & useless flashback scenes. The first ten episodes were perfectly top notch! The middle part was a downer but the ending was thrilling to watch. But my top series of the year would still be Brutally Young, Death by Zero & Al Cappuccino.