The Green Hope

Just when you're about to give up on the series that TVB produces, they come out with a savior called "The Green Hope" that surprises the viewer with a refreshing cast and an interesting storyline. The Chinese title translated literally is "New Fresh People" and "Green" is everything new and fresh. With a plot that entails the struggles of those inflicted with mental illnesses and the ordeals of their family and friends, the main cast members includes Bowie Lam Bo Yee, Stephen Fung Tak Lun, Joey Yung Cho Yee, Cathy Tsui Zhi Kay, Yoyo Mung Ka Wai, and Melissa Ng.

For such a new cast, except for Bowie Lam, all the other main cast picks have not made an appearance in a TVB series prior to "Green", though Stephen Fung - from the Dry Band -has made several popular Hong Kong movies ("Gen-X Cops", "Gorgeous", "He Comes From Planet K"). Their performances were pretty good, especially notable were Stephen Fung as the mentally ill younger brother, Fong Ka Him, of Fong Ka Fai (Bowie Lam) and Yoyo Mung as Lai Wah. Joey Yung was cute as Wai Man who pursues Fong Ka Him while Cathy Tsui was also not bad, though her voice seemed to teeter on cracking at times. Considering it is the first TV series for these three, performances are better than average. Another appealing factor of "Green" is of course the new matchups - triangular love between Stephen Fung, Joey Yung, and Cathy Tsui vs. Bowie Lam, Yoyo Mung and Michelle Ng Mei Shuet. Bowie Lam is an experienced actor and gets into his role with ease.

"Green" is a series that is heavy on the love between the two brothers, Fong Ka Fai and Fong Ka Him. It is a series that is deep with morals and good feel but done not in a preaching way. The only faulty points in the series is that flashbacks can get redundant at times and some might complain about the not so fast pace. However, character development is done very nicely at such a pace. Music is also good - the themesong written by Stephen Fung himself - with mixes from Stephen Fung's and Joey Yung's albums.

The ending is probably one of the best parts of the series. "Green Hope" is one of TVB's best modern series out thus far this year. For a while, one was getting worried that TVB would not take a series seriously anymore!

Screenshots: (from TVB)