Review of: Steps (TVB Series)

Synopsis

Ballroom dancing emphasizes rhythm and mutual trust between the partners. If we can apply the same philosophy to our daily communication practices, we are likely to find ourselves in greater harmony and our lives will surely be enriched.
Dance lover LEE SUM-YING (Bernice Liu) is going to audition for a place in the Hong Kong Dance Company. Before the audition starts, she bumps into her brother LEE LIK-KEUNG (Wayne Lai) and his colleague CHING KA-TSUN (Steven Ma) at a supermarket, where she is accidentally run over by TSUN’s trolley and hurts herself. Due to her leg injury, YING does not perform well in the audition and fails the assessment. At the invitation of TSUN’s mother, YING goes to teach Latin dance at a local community center, in the hope that she can save up enough money for further studies abroad. YING has a very warm personality and is well-liked by many of her students. Her popularity eventually lands her a teaching job at a dance workshop, which makes another dance tutor CHING KA-MAN (Fala Chen) incredibly jealous. MAN dislikes YING so much that she means to make things difficult for her in every possible way.
YEUNG SZE-MAN (Kate Tsui), the daughter of TSUN’s boss, is appointed to take charge of the company. In order to improve staff morale, MAN has announced a series of reforms. She needs her staff to learn dancing so that they can get more physical exercise. YING is hired as the dance teacher of TSUN and his colleagues. TSUN who has some knowledge in dancing has soon resumed his interest in this expressive form of art. YING and TSUN have gradually developed a close bond with each other and even decided to take part in an international dance competition as partners. But the pair’s relationship is put to the test when TSUN and KEUNG later fall out over business matters. The discord between the two men has put YING in dilemma …

From the beginning, "Steps" is a breath of fresh air. Dancing had come as a refreshing theme and was without a doubt fun to watch, especially with the talented dancer Bernice Liu as the lead. Unlike other series, it had started with a fast pace which made it interest you right from the first episode. Since a majority of the cast were dancers, or had a dancing background, they handled dancing Latin well, instead of just posing and shaking their hips. The cast was made up of veteran actors, newbies, as well as actor/actresses that have recently improved. I had many opinions of the cast members, and with each cast member came a different opinion.

The Cast

Bernice Liu as Lee Sum Ying
Although she has been criticized early in her career with lack of fluency in Cantonese and bad acting, she has improved heaps since she first entered the industry in 2001. Her character is perfect for her, a girl who's positive, nice, and loves to dance, and one of my favorite female characters in a TVB series. Dancing is definitely one of her best talents which she was able to show off in "Steps." Her performance may not be award winning or a big breakthrough, but it was sweet, likable, and real. Overall, her performance gets a two thumbs up for me.

Steven Ma as Ah Tsun
His character is likable, and his performance shined compared to his newbie co-stars Matthew Ko, Stephen Huynh, and Stephen Wong. However, it falls slightly short of long-time veteran Wayne Lai. His acting is solid, and sometimes humorous. The downside? His hairstyle in this particular series is a little...weird?


Wayne Lai as Ah Keung
As he does in every series he's in, he stands out. His character is most amusing to watch. Although he's not young or handsome, he can out perform a whole cast of a series, whether he's playing a lead or supporting role.



Claire Yiu as Lam Lam
Besides for Bernice, Claire is the only other female lead I liked. Her character was refreshing to watch, because how often do you see a geeky girl wearing glasses onscreen? The performance was cute and lovable. I enjoyed watching her so much. Unfortunately, her screen time is cut after she gets married.

Kate Tsui as Sze Man
I'm sorry, but I just do not like Kate. When she's playing good, her acting is bad. If she's playing bad, her acting is just mediocre, and that's basically at it's best. I do not like how her voice sounds babyish sometimes, nor am I fond of her character. I did not care for her relationship with Matthew Ko, but she is more bearable when onscreen with Stephen Wong, because although I dislike her, I liked the pairing of those two.


Matthew Ko as Dickson

O_O This character is not likable...at all. As for his acting, this is Matthew's first major role since winning "Mr. Hong Kong" so...nothing special about his acting, it can still improve tons. However, not bad for a first time role.

Stephen Wong as Ah Dat
Compared to all the other male newbies in this series, Stephen was one of the better. His acting still needs work, but he's improved a lot and has almost passed the 'wooden and stiff' stage. Still, he is more likable than the other male supporting actors from "Mr. Hong Kong."

Fala Chen as Karmen

The character Karmen goes down as 2007's Most Poorly Written Character. At first, she is a bad, mean, and rude girl but after the accident with Lam Lam, she suddenly turns all nice and good. After she turns "good," she is literally being pushed off the screen. Her absence from the screen lasts at least 5 episodes, with the other few she appeared in with a screen time of about 5 minutes each. Then towards the end, she turns bad, mean and evil once again. I will say this again, TVB did a terrible job of writing this character. However, Fala did a nice job acting out the role (with the few scenes she was in). Although her character is not likable, her acting is likable, and she's improving. Still, I do not think she should've won "2007 Best Supporting Actress" especially cuz her character was not even that important, or had much screen time.

The Chemistry Factor

"Steps" had great chemistry among it's cast, and not just in love relationships, but brother/sister and best friend relationships too.

Bernice and Steven

What kept "Steps" going was the dancing scenes and chemistry between Bernice and Steven. These two had so much chemistry onscreen, and were so entertaining to watch, from their romantic scenes to their comedic scenes, to their fighting scenes. I loved when they called each other Auntie and Uncle. Their relationship was another one of TVB's "Hate to Love" relationships where Bernice and Steven at first disliked each other, then became friends, then became a couple. I hope these two will have more opportunities to collaborate with each other again, now that their chemistry has improved more than ever.

Bernice and Wayne

These two played brother and sister in the series, and it was quite enjoyable to watch. They had the right chemistry and atmosphere that really could make them pass as siblings. It is amusing how Bernice, although the younger sibling, took care of Wayne. From helping eat healthy, helping Wayne and Steven when they were fighting, to Bernice even setting up a blind date for him, these two were just great.

Wayne and Steven

Talk about hilarious! Steven and Wayne were very comedic to watch onscreen as friends whether they were having fun together, fighting, or just being silly with one another. It's great that these two veterans had the opportunity to work together, because they are both great actors with likable characters. Together, they produce great comedic scenes that contribute to keeping the series alive.


The Letdown

For a series that started off so strong, "Steps" lost a lot of steam after 12-15 episodes. You'll definitely still keep watching, just because it's still pretty great. Unfortunately, the storyline starts to drag, and the script becomes sloppy. Bernice, Steven, Wayne, and Claire if she was ever on screen, kept it alive. I will not blame these four talents, because it's definitely not their fault. I don't know about all of them, but here are a few factors that I think are the main reasons for "Steps" later disappointment.

• Fala's character "Karmen's" transfer from bad to good.
• Too much focus on the Hei Yeung Yeung business
• Too much Kate screen time, she is the supporting actress, not the lead!
• Too little Claire screen time :(
• The pathetic Kate and Matthew relationship
• Not as much scenes dealing with dancing

Overall, "Steps" is one of the best series of 2007, and THE most refreshing series of 2007. However, it does not stay strong for the whole series, but is still a must watch. I definitely recommend it.

RATING: 3 3/4 stars

Entertaining dancing, great performances by the veteran cast, but poor casting on the supporting newbie cast and poor script in the last few episodes. Poor script in the later part of the series and poor acting by Kate Tsui is the only thing that kept me from giving it 4 stars.