Originally Posted by
Suet Seung
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Anyone watched this series before? I see Lau Kong, Patrick Tse, Yeung Chak Lam, Sean Lau, Eddie Kwan, a very young skinny Bobby Au Yeung in there so far.
It was a very nice show, but went completely pear-shaped in the last episode when virtually everyone other than Maggie died. The plot was good, and I just love these family-based dramas in a wuxia setting.
-spoilers-
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The Fong family are the premier weaponsmiths in the country and lots of armies come to buy weapons from them for war. The head of the family (Yeung Chak Lam) and his two brothers (Lau Kong and Patrick Tse) run the business, while their uncle (Cheung Looi) is more into research and development. Yeung is the oldest, Lau is 3rd uncle and Patrick is 4th - I'm not sure if there was a 2nd brother or not.
Yeung is the venerable gentleman upon whose management skills the business depends upon. Lau is the ambitious and ruthless 3rd brother, while Patrick is the casual, laid-back 4th brother. The 3rd generation comprises Yeung's oldest son (Bobby) who is spoilt and rather hot-headed, Lau's son (Eddie Kwan) who is a wastrel and just as wicked as his father, and another cousin who is generally quite weak and ill but gentle and nice. There are a few girls in there too, but I can't recall them. Patrick is as yet unmarried and a bit of a casanova, so he has no children. Yeung, seeing that the business needs an heir (and wary of the threat of his 3rd brother and his family) decides to bring in his illegitimate son, Fong Hou Tin (Leslie Cheung) into the family business, much to the objection of Lau. Leslie hates his father as well for not doing right by his mother, but over time he accepts Yeung as his father, and the Fong family accept Leslie as family too. Bobby sees him as a threat, while Eddie obviously takes every opportunity to hurt him, but with the support of Patrick Leslie entrenches himself as heir apparent, which is more important when Yeung is injured when a deal goes wrong (I think due to sabotage by Lau) and later dies of his injuries. Lau then goes on a rampage to steal power from the family but fails, and he is accidentally killed when his weapon, a prototype flame-thrower spear, goes off in his hands and he burns. Before he dies he begs forgiveness from Leslie, and Leslie allows Eddie and his family to remain as family in the house.
Somewhere along the way a foreign tribe princess (Maggie Cheung) comes to visit the Fong family with the intention of buying weapons for their tribal conflicts. Leslie and his best friend Cheung Wai (Lee Kok Lun) are tasked with escorting the princess to the Fong family mansion. They split up and Lee escorts the princess, while Leslie escorts her handmaiden (both not knowing that Maggie has swapped roles with her handmaiden for security in the first place). By the time they get to the Fong residence, Leslie and Maggie have become close friends. Patrick also falls for Maggie, and her rejection of him, coupled with Leslie's control of the family business, makes Patrick jealous and he begins to scheme against Leslie and the family, culminating in framing Leslie for the selling of fake weapons. By sabotaging Leslie's cargo to Maggie's tribe, Patrick causes Maggie's tribe to be wiped out by their enemies (as the flame throwing spears do not work, and they're not trained to fight with spears) and Leslie is disgraced and on the run. Patrick becomes a despot, and Bobby tries to kill him but ends up being killed instead. Eddie and the other cousin leave the family home, and Maggie and Leslie confront each other and realise it was all Patrick. They confront him, and Patrick kills Leslie, only to be killed by his uncle Cheung Looi who did not recognise him in the dark and shot him, thinking it was an intruder. Maggie is left all alone.
Or something like that. Really gripping series, but that last episode was just horrible. Not only does Leslie die in a careless way (impaled when his spear gets thrown up and lands on him) Patrick's death was also most unsatisfying, dying out of a pure accident. The family drama bits were really good, and with people like Yeung Chak Lam, Lau Kong and Patrick Tse you just know that the brotherly feud is going to be great. Worth watching, but don't expect a good ending.
TVB Oldies - The Fallen Family - 武林世家
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