As we’re still in a semi-lockdown where I am, I’ve left the flat once in three weeks, and I think it was… twice in the six weeks before that. Oh hang on - I had to go into the office to pick up paperwork (paper? What is this, 2010?) once as well.
Only having to commute twelve feet to work every day has made such a huge change to my day. I can get up half an hour later. I have time to make a cooked breakfast every morning. I close my laptop at 5pm and have an extra 45 minutes to arse about in, where I used to have to contribute to the road traffic. This means I can catch up on a show or get Doom Eternal out on the PS4.
As you may know if you’ve seen any other my posts, I do still like HK dramedies. Yes they’re simplistic and yes they’re trying to do big things on a Coronation Street level of shooting schedule and budget, but they also bring out the best of actors just trying to put their backs into it and make the most of everything. And if there was ever a time to record how life is and how it can be in HK, it’s right now.
I’ve just finished a cautionary tale about scams, from online dating to stocks to scalped concert tickets. On-Lie Game (a pun on lying whilst you’re online) ran for the typical 25 episodes from July to August 2020 on TVB, that bastion of superficial entertainment. The usual faces are all here: Matt Yeung (揚明), Samantha Ko Hoi-Ning (高海寧), Helen Ma, and David Chiang. (Is it me or do they keep matching up Matt Yeung and Samantha Ko in comedy dramas?) While it was a little dry, they did manage to shoe-horn in Public Service Announcements whenever they could, it had an ok conclusion. It didn’t really do much for drama and the comedy fell a little flat for me.
Then I went back to a series I dropped a few months ago whilst I was moving. Airport Strikers A.K.A Airport Security Unit is basically what airport security should be in HK right now. A convoluted tale of young police officers trying to pass the entry training to get into the ASU, it goes on to mix in ASU officers who have been there for years, others that have been there only a few, and of course who gets into the ASU and what happens to them. Love lives, tragedies, work conflicts, family problems - it’s all in there. To be honest it’s much of a muchness except for the pleasantly surprising on-screen chemistry between actors. Matt Yeung, oft used for straight by-the-book characters who are quite dull in their single-minded pursuit of a mission, is allowed here to be a happy-go-lucky harmless prankster, who is only really serious when he’s on duty. He sasses everyone at every opportunity, usually getting away with it, and certainly lives up to his nick-name ‘Easy’. When a friend gets into the ASU and becomes a first-year recruit the comedy and shenanigans ramp up. Owen Cheung (張振朗) is excellent as the cocky yet determined rookie ‘Hill’ Cheung who has his reasons to be the complete arsehole people take him for, but actually isn’t that at all. When you get Owen and Matt in the same scene playing people who grew up together you get witty comebacks, hilarious interactions and some brilliant chemistry that actually puts me in mind of Jensen Ackles and Jared Padalecki from Supernatural. I can only hope that they get to do a lot more TVB productions together, as they really were the highlight of the series.
Another highlight was Sisley Choi (蔡思貝) as Sanjay. For a change, the smallest woman there wasn’t given any extra help or special attention just for being female; she was tougher than most of the men and just kept going no matter what. The actress was perfect for this (even though every time I see her I think she reminds me of Anita Mui Yim-Fong (梅艷芳) and there was never a time I didn’t want her character to be involved in something. I hear the actress was a bit upset at having her long hair chopped off for the fantastic pixie cut she sported for the series, but don’t worry love - it’ll grow back.
Most of the plots were ok although I felt they did rush through them, often resolving them over just two episodes instead of making something of them. To be honest though I would be happy to sit through a spin-off with just Owen Cheung and Matt Yeung’s characters and the shenanigans they get up to.
And that’s pretty much it for me. I’m going to continue doing next to nothing as at time of writing I’m not allowed to mix with other households and am not supposed to be using public transport or in fact going anywhere. Getting a little tired of this whole semi-lockdown bollocks, to be honest.
Anyway. Chin up, eh? I have entertainment and you’re never really disconnected from the world when you have a smartphone, right?
Take care, everyone.
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