Survivor's Law

Cast:

Raymond Lam as Le Bin (Ben)
Myolie Wu as Chung Ching Ling (Ling)
Sammul Chan as Zhuo Wei Ming (Vincent)
Bernice Liu as Jiang Sijia (Jessica)
Lok Ying Kwan as Hong Ding Wei (Homer)
Ruby Wong as Kwok Yan An (Angela)
Lee Kwok Lun as Lee Ming Jie (Marco)
Winnie Leung as Xiaojun, Homer's Wife
Juno Mak Jun Lung as Ma Ching Gin (Ah Liang)

Plot:

This series revolves around court cases, dilemma between morality or professionalism and most primarily relationships. At the start of the series, we are introduced to both Ah liang and Ben where the latter helps him to get off the hook on a drug case. However, this was used as an excuse to dismiss him of their job in one of the biggest and reputable law firms in Hongkong. Jessica was actually Ben's colleague and her aunt, Angela sacrifices Ben so that Jessica can keep her job. However, we realise later in the chapter that she quit her job because of Vincent. Vincent is a capable lawyer who rebutted the judge on the verdict and because of this; he became Jessica's love interest. Vincent later left his current job because he do not want to be a sidekick, being his mentor's assistant or handling small cases. Ling is a righteous lawyer who lost her job after negotiating for a settlement. In the first chapter, it was already known that Ling and Ben are sort of enemies because of a misunderstanding. Thus, the four lawyers applied for jobs at this HK firm which is at the verge of bankruptcy.

The four of them; Ben, Ling, Vincent and Jessica struggles to get their own cases because no case = no pay. So Homer brought them to the heartland and forces them to take up trivial cases. Jessica is the only one who cannot handle any case her own. Rather, she is content to be a paralegal. After some time, the office mistakes Ben and Jessica as a couple while both Ben and Samuel try to woo Ling, obviously, Jessica was still hopelessly besotted with Vincent.

Finally Ling and Vincent got together and Ben and Jessica kept their feelings to themselves. Slowly, the firm is recovering their losses and making profit. Vincent became famous due to a HK$10m case. He got busier and busier and couldn't make enough time for Ling. In one of the cases, Macro knocked someone down and seeks the help of Vincent. Vincent finally won the case with the help of his ex-girlfriend, Eva. However, on that night, he had a one-night-stand with her. Ling quarrelled with him over this. However, the real reason for the quarrel that Vincent, eager to get his father off the hook in a drugs case, harassed the witness and blamed Ben for causing his father to land in jail. Exasperated and disappointed, Ling broke up with him.

Ben and Ling later start to develop feelings for each other while Vincent continue to sink further in his mistakes, maligning other people for the sake of winning. The relationship between the three of them deteriorated. Just as Ling and Ben were going to get together, Ben suddenly realised Ling was the only witness in a murder case in which Ling's best friend was killed brutally. Ben's best friend, Hui, was convicted in that murder case. After these seven years, Ben decided to seek an appeal and of course, Ling was angry and stubbornly insisted that Ben is wrong about his friend being innocent. Later, it turns out that Ling was indeed mistaken about the murderer. “Sha Bao”, some rich man's son, was the real murderer. Guilty that she caused Hui to land in jail for seven years, she broke down in the court. Vincent became Sha Bao's lawyer and successfully got him off the hook; however, he harassed, bribed, gave false statements and indirectly caused the death of the witness.

After realising his mistakes, Vincent tries to amend by doing some investigation on his own. However, he had a confrontation with Sha Bao and shot him in his head when the latter threatens to rape Jessica. Ben and Jessica believed that Vincent is ready to change for the better and Ben decides to defend Vincent. Finally, Ben won the case and Vincent was acquitted. He apologises to the three of them and confessed his love to Jessica. Ben and Ling also got together. Happy ending.

Character Analysis:

Ben is a very witty and capable lawyer. He is very righteous and loyal to friends. Even though Ling is together with Vincent, he wishes them all the best and continue to help the both of them. We see a process of him growing. In the first few chapters, he uses weird methods to help his clients and he is always happy-go-lucky. However, in the middle chapters, we see Ben losing all his confidence. He feels bad that he is helping his guilty clients get free. He tries to convince and resigns himself to the fact that his profession requires him to help the guilty too. But later, he got back on his feet with the help of Ling. In the last few chapters, Ben became a more matured lawyer who no longer uses weird methods or witty comments but capitalized more on facts and emotions to move the hearts of the jury.

Raymond Lam on Le Bin

Raymond did a good job in portraying the happy-go-lucky, yet witty Ben. His emotions were well-expressed, whether he is sad, happy, disappointed or angry. This was his lead role after "A Step Into the Past" and I must say this actor is really good. You can really feel for the character. I like the part where he was knitting the bag for Ling. It was really sweet and real. After seeing Raymond in various productions, I think this is one of his best works. He looked very dashing and charismatic in this show too even though his crew cut was terrible.
Rating: 4.5/5

Chung Ching Ling
A very capable lawyer, righteous, but too emotional. Always lets her emotions affect the way she looks at the case. However, she is quite impartial and always believes that they should protect the interests of their clients. She disliked perverts, rapists or molesters a lot perhaps due to the murder of her best friend seven years ago. Hence when she had a misunderstanding with Bin, she disliked him immediately. Only after handling the first case with him and negotiating with a out of court settlement did she change her impression of him a bit. However, they were still loggerheads with each other. I disliked the fact that she believed Ben twisted the facts and accused her for the sake of getting his friend acquitted. I mean, she knew Ben for quite an amount of time and shouldn't she be clearer on what kind of person Ben is? That was still ok, what I cannot stand is she actually splashed water on Ben, scolding him outside the court. I do understand the pain she is going through. But, based on the memory of the big nose the murderer has, it is too vague and weak to convict Hui. She was very apologetic towards Hui.

Myolie Wu on Chung Ching Ling
One word to describe her: good! I do not like her in "Golden Faith" or "Eternal Happiness" but this show really proved that she is a very versatile actress. She portrayed a stubborn, yet righteous and emotional lawyer very well. Her crying scenes on the bus were great, nothing too exaggerated. But the one in the court was quite fake; especially the one where she scolded Ben and insisted that Hui is the murderer and Ben was maligning her. I see it as a way of gaining sympathy. I liked the way she delivered her performance, solid and real. She definitely changed my opinion of her after this show.
Rating: 4.5/5

Ben and Ling's (Rayolie) Chemistry
Quite good, surprisingly, they do not really have compatible looks but their chemistry was there. I liked all the scenes with them, especially when Ling was slowly falling for Ben. I liked the part when Ling finally knew that Ben was the one who knitted the scarf and bag for her and she realised she liked him too. That was really sweet, the best onscreen couple in this show, in my opinion.
Chemistry - 4/5

Jessica Jiang Si Jia
I don't know what feelings I had for this character. I like her for her devotion to love. But, on the other hand, I find her stupid and bimbo-ish. I don't whether Bernice was portraying her that way or the producer made the character that way. She liked Vincent for his capability and good looks, quit her job at a good law firm and joined an infamous and nearly bankrupt law firm just to get near him. I find it so childish of her, even more so for a lawyer. Sometimes, I just wonder how she got her lawyer's license. She simply cannot handle a case of her own. It was only after some time that she wasn't that nervous anymore and she delivered a satisfactory performance in the court. Even then, she was still wooden and emotionless. She is very good with Taekwondo and practises it when she is nervous or stressed. Her love life is a mess. Vincent was clearly making use of her yet she thought he is interested in her, indirectly resulting in the acquisition of Sha Bao. She looks like and acts like a nerd, clutching her bag close to the chest whenever she goes, wearing that pair of nerdy glasses. I must comment that the way she looks at Vincent is quite... I don't know, like she is ready to eat him up.

Bernice Liu on Jessica
A relatively weak performance from her as compared to her other co-stars and her previous performance in "Virtues of harmony". She is quite wooden and exaggerated in her expressions and emotions. Her crying scenes were also weak. The feeling that they give me is she is really acting, which is not good because she failed to get into the role. However, she does have the nerdy look and she does look silly with the fascination to get together with Vincent. Her Taekwondo is really good and the scene with her carrying Ben while Vincent carries Ling was cute. Generally, I didn't look forward to her scenes as they were quite boring. One thing better than Myolie; she has the figure and looks hot when she is wearing tight clothes practising taekwondo.
Rating: 2.5/5

Zhuo Wei Ming(Vincent)
A highly ambitious lawyer who is not content with small cases. Out of the four of them, he is the most capable lawyer. However, he will do anything to get what he want including harassing witness, betraying friends, etc.

However, he does love Ling a lot. It can be seen by the sweet little things he did for her. Later, he sinks further in his wrongdoing and distanced himself from the three of them. Later when he realises he indirectly caused the death of a witness, he felt guilty. I don't know when it happened, but he started developing feelings for Jessica. The progression of their relationship was kinda weird, maybe he is touched that she is the only one who stood by him. Anyway, he accidentially killed Sha Bao when he was investigating and was charged of murder. Fortunately, Ben helps him and he was acquitted but had his lawyer's license suspended. He got together with Jessica and happy ending.

Sammul Chan on Vincent
A good performance by Sammul. Confidence, ambitous, power-hungry, he portrayed them very well.I like the relationship between him and his father, very heart-warming. I do understand the desperation he had when his father was convicted and it is natural that he hates Ben for indirectly landing his father in jail. That part was a turning point for Vincent and Sammul portrayed the change very well. A very versatile actor who can act good and bad roles, he looked very convincing when he became bad. But the scene at the pub was not up to expectations. He didn't portray the out-of-control emotions very well and it is so unlike his character to do such rash things. The only explanation I can think of is the producer wants to show how important Jessica is to him. Anyway, generally a good performance but in my opinion, he was outshined by Ben.
Rating: 3.5/5

Jessica and Vincent's Chemistry
Hmmm, to me, I see no any chemistry or progression of a relationship btw them. It has always been a one-sided love on Jessica's side. It was not obvious to me that Vincent is slowly falling for her if he is supposed to be. It was only at the last two episodes where I realised he fell for her. Their relationship was too rushed, nothing romantic and not matching at all.
Chemistry rating: 2/5

Best Scenes:
- When Ben was knitting for Ling the bag both at the park and in the office. It was really funny when the client's mother just told him that he missed two snitches.
- The part at the themepark where Ben and Ling got together
- The case on Kenneth Ma and Sharon Chan. It was interesting. Both of them were quite good.
- The court case involving Homer. I was really amazed how they found out the truth and him off the hook.
- The appeal case involving Ben's best friend, Hui and Ling.

Boring scenes:
- Any Homer, Meili, Xiaojun, Yanan or Macro parts. I know they are necessary but they were just plain boring.
- The case involving Meili and her house.
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Extra Stuff:
- There will be a sequel. Out of the 4, only Sammul will act in this sequel. The cast will consist of Kenneth Ma, Selena Li and Ella Koon.
-The rating of this show was quite high. I think 38 points, that is why they considered a sequel, but I am surprised they took so long to film a sequel.

Conclusion:
It is quite a nice show both humorous and serious. I would strongly recommend it for you guys to. It is definitely worth the money to rent or buy. If you are a fan of Myolie, Raymond or Sammul, then you must definitely watch this.