Review of "Survivor's Law"

A drama revolving around the lives of four lawyers, this is one of the highlights of 2003. Not to mention, it scored Raymond Lam the "Most Improved Actor" at the TVB Anniversary Awards that year. During 2001-2003, the newbie actors and actresses that dominate TVB today, first appeared. While they usually played supporting, recurring, or short cameos, the main cast of "Survivor's Law" consisted of all younger generation/newbie actor/actresses: Raymond Lam, Myolie Wu, Sammul Chan, and Bernice Liu. This has become to be known as an irreplaceable cast, all performing greatly or decently. For newbies at the time, they all did outstanding.

The Characters

"Survivor's Law" revolves around four lawyers, all who are different and handle their cases differently. The writers did a great job of making these four so diverse and real, so props to them.

Ben (Played by Raymond Lam)
Most likely your favorite character, without a doubt my favorite, he's hilarious and brings most of the comic relief. He is positive, helpful, and never gives up on his friends. When it comes to being a lawyer, he is the only one that enters the court completely clear minded and doesn't let his personal life get in the way of his cases. However, he is smart enough to only defend cases he believes in, and would never defend someone he doesn't believe did the right thing. He can be quite pitiful because everyone tends to put the blame him for things he didn't do.

Ling Ling (Played by Myolie Wu)
She is smart, clever, and sweet. Although she is very capable when it comes to defending in court, she can let her personal problems get in the way of doing her best. At times, she can be very emotional, which affects her performance in court. Growing up with her parents always taking care and doing everything for her, she later moves in with Jessica and her aunt Angela to become more independent.

Vincent (Played by Sammul Chan)
He is first seen as extremely intelligent and a gentleman, but he later turns from bad to good. After making a mistake that makes his relationship with Ling Ling turn sour, he puts the blame on Ben and devotes himself to giving him a hard time. This eventually makes him blinded by revenge. At this point, he is selfish, power hungry, and not afraid to use others to get what he wants. Although the most capable of the four, he starts defending for criminals simply to get back at Ben, despite the disgust of his colleagues. In the end, karma hits him hard, and he realizes all his mistakes, but not before making the ultimate one. Although he is the least like able, somehow I found him to be the most intriguing to watch, from his transformation from good to bad, back to good. Maybe it's just because Sammul's playing him?

Jessica (Played by Bernice Liu)
Geeky, slow, but sweet and optimistic. She appears quite dumb, and is the least capable lawyer of the four. Her intentions are good, and she always sticks up for people. Sometimes, she seems to live in a fantasy world, thinking everything and everyone is good. She also can have ridiculous ideas of love. From beginning to end, she is in love with Vincent, and even after making so many mistakes she still supports him. Despite being slow and dumb, she is great at tai kwon do, which is how she protects herself.

The Acting

Raymond Lam
After watching him as Ben, it is no wonder he won "Most Improved." He outshines everyone else, and brought his character to life. You will without a doubt enjoy watching him. For everyone that doubted he could act, or at least act out a character that's not a rich man's son, you've been proven wrong. He's back, he's in his first leading role, and he's playing a poor, clever Mr. Nice Guy! When the day comes where TVB completely crashes and burns because of all the terrible new actors/actresses, he'll join the small circle of people who will save TVB.

Myolie Wu
For a younger generation actress still under 30, she is a very versatile actress. She did very well in her role, and nailed all the crying and emotional scenes. Not once did she overexaggerate, unless it was meant to be. Her chemistry with Raymond was great. I knew that Myolie was a great actress, I just didn't know she has been this great and improved for so long! Along with Raymond, she joins the small circle of younger generation actors/actresses that CAN act. However, TVB needs to stop giving her whiny, annoying immature characters that are giving her criticism she doesn't deserve, like in "When a Cat Loves a Dog." This is the kind of character she should play.

Sammul Chan
I don't like the character Vincent, but I like the actor Sammul, and believe he's very versatile and talented. I always thought he started improving in 2005, in "The Academy", but in fact he's been improving since 2003! He's very convincing as the selfish, power hungry guy and portrayed his transformation from good to bad, to good again very well. He has so much talent and potential, yet TVB seems to be kicking him to the back just because Sammul doesn't want to sign a contract with them in order to work in Mainland China as well. You will hate Vincent, but like Sammul for doing so well in a role that was not easy to play.

Bernice Liu
Just two years into her career at the time, Bernice was not yet experienced. She was still wooden and unnatural. Still, she was able to pull off the geeky look. However, her crying and emotional scenes were done poorly, but her character didn't call for her to do those often. That's why, in the end I didn't mind that too much. Many years have past though, and now I add her to the small TVB circle for her recent improvements, especially in "Steps."

Extended Cast Performances

Lok Ying Kwan as "Homer"- Recently, he has been getting many roles as either evil villians in anicent series, or unfair bosses in modern series. In fact, every drama I had ever seen him in before "Survivor's Law," he had played one of those two roles. I finally see him in a good role, and really, he is very funny. His reactions and schemes to get Angela off his back were hilarious. Got stinky feet, Homer?

Ruby Wong as "Angela"- I loved watching Angela, she was quite amusing. In the beginning, she is the serious, uptight, and professional lawyer, with the boring boyfriend. After that relationship ends, we see a flirty and hilarious side of her when she falls in love with Homer, and tries to court him. She really never gave it a rest, and never left the poor man alone.

Juno Mak as "Ah Leng"- A nice touch with Juno as the office boy. He definitely stands out. 1. His reddish, orange hair. 2. He is the only one in the office dressed in jeans. 3. He is always seen with his feet up on the table. 4. His random bits of humor.

Helen Tam as "Money"- With her short hairdo, pointy glasses, unusual voice, and quick wit, Money is as special as her name suggests she is. I really have to hand it to the people who play these 'weird' characters. Yes, they're not 'pretty' but they're refreshing and funny. A role like that isn't as easy to play as it looks.


The "Quadrangle"

TVB quits its usual annoying 'love triangles' by making it a 'quadrangle.' The outcome, not so bad. It gives the series a certain twist. In fact, if you didn't have any background information (ex. you didn't read any summaries or synopsis), then you probably wouldn't know who were the couples. Everyone in the beginning had scenes with each other and they all got along very well, becoming great friends. As usual though, the four do not just stay 'friends.' They all start to develop feelings for the other, and the 'quadrangle' emerges. Raymond Lam and Myolie had a lot of chemistry, but I didn't get any interest watching Sammul and Bernice. It quickly become annoying that Bernice was so in love with Sammul, and I find it hard to believe that Sammul would just suddenly 'like' Bernice in the final few minutes of the series.

The Court Scenes and Cases

The cases, although very short, were done finely, and so were the court scenes. Raymond, Myolie, and Sammul were very convincing as lawyers. I exclude Bernice from having a good lawyer presence only because it was her character that did poorly in court, and I think that Bernice would've also been able to pull it off if her character called for it. Really though, I think Sammul made the most convincing lawyer because he had excellent speaking skills, being able to talk slowly, loudly, and put emphasis. It was too bad "Vincent" abused his talent as a lawyer. The court scenes were handled professionally, unlike in the sequel. In court, you have to be serious and not let your emotions get in the way of your actions. In "Survivor's Law 2," they tried to deliever humor in the court scenes, which probably wasn't the best way they could go.

The Perfect Ending

Instead of a tragedy, TVB decides to deliever us with a happy ending, making it "Survivor's Law" a satisfying watch all the way, instead of having it sadly ruined in the last few minutes. The ending was a little cheesy, yet very cute. After Raymond/Myolie and Vincent/Jessica finally get together, they ride around on their heelys together. The last shot has the four of them jumping up into the air, and the end credits roll. One of the cutest endings ever.

Now if you're like me, and have just recently watched "Survivor's Law," you'll recognize some old 'fads' being promoted in the series. In other words, look at their Heelys! :D I remember Heelys being so widely popular within kids during this time, but pretty soon they faded, and I haven't seen them since. Heelys became popular around this time, so it's obvious that they helped sponsered TVB for this series. Now, I doubt Heelys were sold in adult sizes, but having the four young adults riding around on them was definitely cute. And if they didn't lend TVB a few extra large pairs of Heelys, how would they ever be promoted?


Last Comments

Great acting by the people who were at the time newbies, and now today's biggest stars. The series was very enjoyable, because it is one of the few series that combined drama, comedy, and romance well. Although a lawyer drama, it was at times so funny, without trying so hard to be. With the comical Ben, you couldn't hep but laugh at the silly things he sometimes did, or the silly things that happened to the characters outside of court. Definitely recommended.

Rating: 4 1/2 Stars

(AU)"The Gem of Life" A Thorough Look @ the Anticipation, Star-Studded Cast, Eventual Disappointment & More

*Posts labed (AU) stand for "Asian Universe" so non-Asian readers, or readers that don't watch HK drama may not 'get it'*

Initially, The Gem of Life was to be a controversial, memorable blockbuster about the world of the filthy rich, which would have everyone talking. What became of it, was something that TVB would never wish for.

The Anticipation

Gem had everything to make it potentially the best TVB production ever filmed:

• Budget- Gem was a grand production with a budget of about $12 million, making it one of the most expensive TV series' filmed in TV history.



• Location- With it's extreme budget, it was able to film on location in Paris, London, Tibet, and etc.
  


• Cast- Gem has what is probably the best cast ensemble in TVB history. It is dominated by well known veterans like Gigi Lai, Ada Choi, Maggie Siu, Bowie Lam, Moses Chan, Wong He, Louise Lee and more.
  

With these factors, Gem went on everyone's watch list. Yes, they were iffy about the whooping 80 (later 82) episode count, but that didn't stop them.

The Expected Success
In 2007, the 60-episode grand production "The Drive of Life" expected great success. When Drive started airing however, the result was less than TVB was hoping for. Ratings were just average, and ended with only the 7th spot in 2007's Top Ten Ratings. In the end though, Drive was still a moderate success with favorable reviews and many fans.
In October 2008, Gem was released. TVB thought it would be a sure-fire success, and that ratings would go over the roof. (Note: TV ratings were low during this time due to the financial crisis) Gem was supposed to be memorable, a classic, something we would remember for years to come. So, what happened?

A Look Back @ the First Week
In the premiere week of Gem, ratings were moderate. The average was 30 pts, equal to about 2 million viewers. The highest rating even reacted 37 pts. With Gem just starting to air, people tuned in to catch a glimpse of what it was like, and maybe even stick around to watch the rest.

Everything Comes Crashing Down
Apparently when people caught a glimpse of what Gem was like, they were not pleased, nor interested. This resulted in the ratings coming crashing down, going from 30, to 28, to 27, to 25, to its all time low, 23pts. Part of the reason was that it was aired during a time where people were too busy running after their cash to care about what was on TV. However, just because they were, didn't mean the wouldn't watch TV if something that interested them was on. (2009's E.U. proved that.) That brings us to the main reason: No one, or at least not many, were just not interested in watching Gem.
Viewers complained the plot was draggy and that the writing was poor. Too many scenes dealed with business, and this bored them. At one point, TVB considered cutting the series down to 70-75 episodes. In extreme cases, it has been known that TVB take dramas off the air before they finish showing the complete series. They were about to give it a go, but its sponsor's would not allow them to do so. Without Gem on the air, the sponsor's products would not be able to be promoted. As a result, Gem was forced to finish airing.

Say Goodbye to Gigi Lai
Following the wrap up filming of Gem, Gigi was to retire, making it her last series before retirement. The now 37-year old pretty and yet still youthful looking actress retired after getting married to live a quiet, relaxing, enjoyable life. It was sad to see that her last series was taken negatively, and described as a 'failure.' Her role as "Constance," although likable, was unable to show her great acting skills one last time. Gigi Lai joins the circle of talented TVB 'fa dans' (translates to female actresses) that have left TVB. These fa dans include Kenix Kwok, Jessica Hsuan, and Flora Chan. However, these three have either returned, or returned to TVB recently. Who knows, maybe this isn't the last we've seen of "Lai Chi."

My Pity on Gem
The point in me writing this was not for me to criticize Gem, but rather to look at what Gem went from and all the commotion it had caused, which is why it's not a 'review.' I did not watch nearly enough of Gem (only about 5 episodes and bits and pieces) to write a review of it and criticize all the parts I watched. Although Gem had poor script writing, we still have it's talented cast. That's where my pity for them comes from. Filming a drama series is very hard, and it was even harder for the Gem cast because filming for this had lasted a year. So much time and hard work had been taken from them, and what was the result? People criticizing and blasting them from here and there. Yes, Gem can be classified a 'failure,' but we should probably think about how much time had been taken from the casts lives to film this. Despite the script and plot and everything else there is to complain about Gem, it still had very strong acting by the whole cast.

Trip to National Habor 4/10/09

Yesterday, I went to National Harbor, and I gotta say, the website makes it a lot prettier than it looks. It's actually not all that exciting or has that much to offer. In a way, it looks a lot like Old Town in Alexandria. That's kind of ironic because you can see the same bridge in National Harbor that you see in Old Town, too.

In my opinion, I think I like Old Town more, but National Harbor is definitely cleaner. It is partly a shopping center, with many expensive stores located along the streets. So...really no point walking around in the part of the area. However, the name "National Harbor" wouldn't make any sense without a harbor. There it is in the first picture. *Points up* It's quite nice, and there's a giant sandbox with a sculpture of who I think is Alexander the Great? Not sure, I didn't exactly look up the history of it before going. The sculpture is pretty unique, because it was built to look like he was sinking into the 'sand,' with only a couple parts of him we can see. These include his head, arm, leg, and foot. If you look closely in the pic above, you might be able to make out some of his head and the giant arm reaching out. Here are a couple of pictures I'd thought I'd share:

When you're about to reach National Harbor, about 5 minutes away, this is what you'll most likely see. Note: I took this picture on the dock up close, not in the car, which is why the quality is clear. One more difference between Old Town and National Harbor, the architecture of Old Town's buildings are more old fashioned made of brick and etc, while this buildings are very modern looking.

For those of you who've actually heard of the country Luxembourg, (For those who don't, it's an EXTREMELY small yet pretty country next to France), here's a little taste of it. This view actually is quite similar to the view in Luxembourg. I might actually be able to fool someone with this, if it weren't for the tall American flag on a pole flapping proudly in the wind. :D

Here's another picture of the dock. Yep, I said I didn't take a picture of the entire sculpture in the sandbox, and I spoke the truth. Still, here you can see the arm and leg. I'd share some personal pics of me and my family, but they are PERSONAL. Otherwise, I'd post them because in some of the pictures, we're standing behind the rail and platform you see there, it looks like the giant arm is trying to reach for our head. xD

Here's something else I failed to take a picture entirely of:

It's a mural of Virginia on the floor of the platform we stood on. Not only does it locate popular cities (Jamestown, Williamsburg, Washington DC, etc) like a normal map, there are pictures of famous people in our history like George Washington as well as famous landmarks like the ones you see in the picture to the right.

Looks like a fancy place to live but I fail to see why I would want to live here considering the lack of places to eat and all the shops I can't afford to shop in. Besides for the harbor you could take a walk around during your free time, this isn't exactly a convenient place to live.

If you ever come here, there's this place I high recommend you dine at. It's called Potbelly's, and they make the greatest sandwiches. It's like yet better than Subway's and it's cheaper. Also, the resturaunt looks unique because it's in an old fashioned way with wooden polished booths, chairs, and tables. It's one of those places where where you order at t
here are cupboards and other types of furniture and appliances that give the resturaunt a vintage twist. Potbelly's is located right near the harbor!

Overrall, not the best road trip ever, but still fun, and at least I had the chance to go somewhere before spring break is over.

Spring Break: Zzzzzz....

It's finally spring break, and while I'm stuck at home Christine is on a trip in Florida. We're keeping in touch with each other via text message. Meh...this is going to be a boring break.

Currently Working On:

• Possibly reconstructing "The Messed Up Files of Life"
• Review of TVB drama "The Gem of Life"
• Randomly writing in my writing portfolio and journal
• A science essay and math packet
• Watching old TVB drama "Survivor's Law"