D.I.E.

Cast:

Roger Kwok - Yue Chi-Long (于子朗)

Sonija Kwok - Ying Ching-Ching (刑晶晶)

Margie Tsang - Yue Chi-Ching (于子晴)

Kenneth Ma - Hugo Shing Ka-Tsun(成家雋)

Derek Kwok - Cheung Zing-Yi (張正義)

Kitty Yuen- Ng Siu Yi (吳小宜)

Story: The title comes from the special new police unit formed, Death investigation extension, but it’s actually a group used to put in members of the police force that their police colleagues did not want to work with, so it ended up having 5 police members. The cases that they have to solve are ones that have been unsolved through many years due to not enough witnesses or evidence. So it’s mainly the difficult cases. One of the guys in D.I.E, Yue Chi-Long, has a special ability. In that when he touches anything belonging to the person who has been murdered, he gets a little fragment of help to solve the case, however when he goes into this “state” his body looses control of itself so he ends up doing weird things.

At the start those in D.I.E do not get along very well especially Yue Chi-Long and Ying Ching-Ching but as time goes by they find out more about each other and start to work well together and solve quite a few cases. However Ching-Ching focuses too much on her work and does not spend enough time with her long-term boyfriend Hugo who is a very young but talented police officer too. Eventually, he cheats on her with another girl and when she finds out she is shattered. Yue Chi-Long supports her through this tough time and he starts to realize that he is falling in love with her. He thought that she still liked her old boyfriend so he did not want to step in, but he was drunk one night and told her how he felt and then they started to go out after she told him she felt the same.

Yue Chi Long cares a lot for his sister Yue Chi-Ching that results in him being very judgmental on all her past boyfriends, thus she is still single. Ironically enough she and her aunt open a dating agency but she herself can’t find love. That is until she meets Cheung Zing-Yi, he falls in love with her as soon as he meets her but he is too shy so does not tell her.

When he finally tells her how he feelings, they are faced with the problem of her brother finding out, so they hide their relationship for sometime. When Yue chi Long does find out first he is angry and felt betrayed but after talking to his sister he finally accepts them.

D.I.E help solve lots of cases that were left unsolved for many years, and everyone in that force develops as the drama goes on.

SPOILER ALERT:

The original ending sparked complaints from audience, because Yue Chi-Long dies, when he gets run over by a lorry when trying to save Ching Ching. Many did not like this ending, so they had a vote and a majority of audience voted for a happy ending instead. Which is why we see this girl ghost that was introduced during the drama help them turn back time, just before he dies, so that they can try and prevent his death. I personally found this part quite odd and someone random. But after some difficulties they manage to prevent his death. And we see Ching Ching and him having a son, who seem quite big and healthy, and the girl ghost reveals that she fed him a bowl of rice before he as born into the world. I found the first “sad” ending a little bit depressing but we tend to remember depressing and shocking endings, but I can understand why people wanted a happy ending. The happy ending was a bit cheesy and very random; to be honest I don’t know which one I prefer. I guess you would have to watch it yourself to decide, but remember to let me know.

~Roger Kwok’s performance in this drama was quite good, at the beginning it annoyed me when he went into the state when he touched the victims stuff, because it seemed a bit stupid and childish, but after a while I sort of got use to it. The way he acted out Yue Chi-Long was good because he showed the sensitive, funny, caring side but also acted out the withdrawal stage quite well(when he was scared that him and Ching Ching being together would eventually kill her, so he pulled away)

~ Many have said that Sonija Kwok was transformed because of this series. This I also agree on, but before this series I liked her acting a lot too. But I think many did not like her much before hand because in the past most the roles she played in series were the “bad” character or the “third person” which gave her a bad public perception. However, I think if someone is playing a bad character and makes you dislike them, this can only mean that they acted out that role really well. This role she was in was the “good” character and the leading female character, so we see her in a more positive light. And the way she plays Ching Ching was very well, because it was sweet, workaholic, and loveable. So I’m glad many have changed their view on her.

~Margie Tsang’s acting was very good as the older sister, because it was realistic, and believeable. There was chemistry between her and Roger. And her chemistry with Derek Kwok was also very sweet. I have not seen Margie in any series before but I quite like her in this series and would love to see her in more.

~Derek Kwok has started to get more parts in series, which I think is really cool, because he is a good actor. In this series, he gets to use his fighting skills, which is nice see, but I don’t understand why he has to constantly eat a lollipop. It just makes his role as a policeman very unprofessional and fake because when do you see a policeman do that in real life. But I guess it’s not his fault. His character is quite likeable though, because he is loyal, honest, caring and I think Derek portrayed those attributes well.

~Kenneth Ma is really good at acting out a police type of role. Even though he cheated on Ching Ching, we don’t hate him because part of us can understand why he did it. And when he regrets it, we as audience forgive him too because when we look into his eyes we feel he really has learned his lesson, which means that Kenneth acted out the character very well.

Overall I give this drama a 3.5 out of 5

Gossip and information in regards to the drama:

~ After this drama Kenneth Ma started dating Margie who was quite a few years older than him, but it did not last long, according to reports her son did not like him.

~ I also noticed something a bit weird and funny thing, 3 of the main characters have the surname Kwok.

~ When Roger’s wife gave birth to a son, Sonija became the Godmother of his son.

~ This drama has very high rating beating out several other drama ratings during the time it was broadcast. with rating of:Week 4 (Ep. 16-20): 34 points (peaking at 37)
Week 5 (Ep. 21-25): 37 points (peaking at 44)