Face to Fate

Cast

Frankie Lam
Tavia Yeung
Raymond Lam
Selena Li
John Chiang
Anne Heung
Nancy Wu
Derek Kwok

Synopsis (Spoilers!)

A doctor (Raymond Lam) has a sickness that runs in the family. Even if the person is very youthful, when he reached a certain age, he will suddenly come up with a head of white hair. This sickness causes the person to age quicker than they actually are. This doctor has a real attitude and is a complete womanizer, and he goes by the name Lai Yeuk Yi. Lai Yeuk Yi meets Lee Boh Yi and company one day after they bribe him to heal an old man.

A fortune teller (Frankie Lam - I guess that's what you would call him...) is an average man who lives in peace. He is very sincere and likes to help people. Lee Boh Yi is his name, and he normally doesn't like getting involved in the pugilistic world. However, a certain chain of events lead him to help the Fei Yu Clan find the many masters of Kung Fu to fight in a tournament to settle things between the "light" and the "dark".

Yip Mong Sik (Tavia Yeung) is the student of the very respected Sum Sing Lam (John Chiang), who is the leader of this Fei Yu Clan. She is very naive and hot-headed, but learns to calm herself down. She and Lee Boh Yi become acquainted as she is involved with finding the masters as well. Mong Sik is best friends with her master's daughter, Sum Gong Hong (Nancy Wu). Gong Hong is very naive as well, and is very desperate to prove to her father that she is capable of fighting and making decisions on her own. However, she is very rash and only gets herself in more trouble. Gong Hong also dislikes her step-mother (Anne Heung) very much.

Yin Yeh Loi (Selena Li) is the average woman who runs a hotel business. She is widowed and is raising the child of her deceased husband, whom she treats as her own. She is very kind-hearted but has a horrible past. She desperately tries to push people away, fearing that they will find out about that past. Yeh Loi meets Lee Boh Yi when they find refuge in her hotel while searching for the Kung Fu masters.

Fu Man Fei (Derek Kwok) is known as the world's famous assassin. However, he changes his ways when he meets Gong Hong and falls in love with her. He gives up his violent past to be with her, and Gong Hong sacrifices her home to be with him as well. He and Lee Boh Yi knew each other when they were children, but after a series of events, they lost touch. Fu Man Fei originally was supposed to kill Lee Boh Yi, but after Boh Yi helped him, he sided with the fortune teller.

Lee Boh Yi, Yip Mong Sik, Lai Yeuk Yi, and Yin Yeh Loi go through many hardships on their journey. Yip Mong Sik finds out that her biological father is actually the leader of the dark clan. Lai Yeuk Yi's family disease finally catches up to him after his older brother dies. Yeuk Yi joins the dark clan after Yeh Loi is fatally wounded trying to save her friends. Also, Sum Sing Lam is betraying his very own clan to help the dark clan. Mong Sik tries to help Lee Boh Yi but finds it difficult now that they are supposed to be enemies. However, she cannot deny her feelings for him and neither can he.

Yeuk Yi joins the dark clan only to save Yeh Loi. But she feels he is changing by doing this and would rather have died than to see him like this. He claims he did it all for her, but she still cannot find it in her heart to forgive him. Yeh Loi loves Yeuk Yi very much, but she finds out that he damaged Lee Boh Yi in the grand tournament. She cannot believe that he had lost so much of his dignity and hurt his best friend.

After all this, is "happily ever after" possible? And how will Lee Boh Yi and Mong Sik deal with their feelings, and will Yeh Loi forgive Yeuk Yi for what he's done? Who will triumph: light, or dark?

Review

I liked it a lot, actually. I didn't think that Tavia Yeung and Frankie Lam would have such great chemistry! I've heard many complaints about this series though. Everyone was saying, "Why did Selena Li get a bigger role than Anne Heung?" or "Why did Frankie and Tavia end up together?!" I think that is immature and very hypocritcal. Yes, Anne Heung is a very talented actress, but if you see the same characters over and over again in different series, you would get bored, no? I personally think Selena did a good job in Face to Fate.

Frankie Lam as Lee Boh Yi
Excellent. Excellent I say! Frankie is so good at playing these kinds of roles. I like his seriousness yet he knows when to be laid back. He says he doesn't like getting involved, but his kind heart decides against him and draws him in. He didn't mind when he found out that Mong Sik was the dark clan's leader's daughter. He announced to her that he loved her because she was simply her, and that was enough. Frankie did such a great job and he never ceases to amaze me. Oh, yes, and his voice goes really well with Tavia's for the ending theme song. Overall performance - 4.5 out of 5.

Tavia Yeung as Yip Mong Sik
I'm trying not to be hypocritical because Tavia is one of my favourite actresses, but she did a pretty good job. I liked her better in Pillow Case of Mystery though. Her chemistry with Frankie Lam was great! And I thought that the naive, childish girl character seemed perfect for her. Not that I'm saying she's like that...but it fits her appearance. Her character was able to break down Boh Yi's little wall that he had built around himself. She wanted him to trust her more and tell her what he was thinking. And he did, which was really good. I think her singing voice needs a little bit more improvement, but it was good just the same. Overall performance - 4 out of 5

Raymond Lam as Lai Yeuk Yi
Raymond Lam is very good-looking, has a nice singing voice, and is a great actor. He sings the beginning theme song which is quite catchy. At first, I didn't like the song so I'd always skip it. But then one time, my mom forced me to listen to the whole thing and I found it wasn't too bad. I actually started to like it. When I found out that he was playing the playboy, immature type of character, I said, "Raymond Lam? No way!" But he did such a great job, I didn't expect that from him at all. I remembered his polite and quiet character in Eternal Happiness, but then I remembered his character from Twin of Brothers, which was almost like his character in this series. Let's just say that I'll never grow tired of him, haha. Overall performance - 4.5 out of 5

Selena Li as Yin Yeh Loi
Despite the many complaints that she wasn't as pretty as Anne Heung or Tavia Yeung, I thought that she was very photogenic. However, sometimes I thought her voice got kind of annoying. When she cried, it didn't seem very genuine to me. But I liked the fact that she got quite a large role rather than her minor characters like in Life Made Simple and many other series. I like Selena, and hopefully I see her more in the future. Overall performance - 3.5 out of 5

Favourite Scene

I can't exactly remember which part it was, but I believe it was when Raymond has just helped Selena find her son and they were walking in the forest. He told her that he wanted her to repay him. When she asked how, he said that he wouldn't give her a hard time. He leaned forward a bit and closed his eyes. She smile and planted a kiss on his cheek. "That's it?" He asked her, and she reminded him that he himself has said that he wouldn't pressure her. "Well, a hug isn't so much to ask for is it?" He asked her again as he held open his arms. Selena smiled and did the same, before walking towards him and they enveloped each other in a warm embrace. How cute!

Last Words

This was a great series and I was very impressed. Although, if you don't like it when they talk too much, then I suggest you don't watch it. My mom got really frustrated because there was hardly any action, "There's too much talking!" She said. Well, if you are one of the people who like the Raymond/Tavia pairing, this series isn't right for you. For those who like to see new characters and new pairings, go for it!