Forensic Heroes II

Chinese title: "Fat Jing Sin Fung" (roughly translates to the leaders of forensics)
Year: 2008
No. of episodes: 30

Foreword
The series responsible for reviving Niki Chow's public image, pushing Charmaine Sheh into the depths of third-party hell and casting Kevin Cheng as a two-timer in tabloids is actually not that bad. One of the few examples of a sequel topping the first series. But how much is that worth if the first series sucked? I thought so.

Quick Plot

TVB takes a knee-jerk turn away from focusing on romantic/familial relationships and makes FH2 all about the profession (for once). But there's always a romantic relationship backdrop.

Sam and Ting Ting are preparing for their wedding when tragedy strikes and Ting Ting dies in an explosion. Tim and Siu Yau finally get some excitement in their relationship when Tim proposes successfully after one failed attempt. When Siu Yau's hand gets hurt, she can no longer work at the front line and so leaves overseas to complete a course in criminal psychology (or whatever the correct name is - basically studying how the brains of criminals work). She returns, they get married, hurrah.

Bell is the icy heroine of the series, traumatized by having witnessed her husband-to-be get shot in cold blood at their wedding. She takes over Siu Yau's team and temporarily suffers a "boss-from-hell" reputation until finally getting along with the cops. After much pursuing, she finally gets together with Ivan, only to have Sam come between their relationship (duh). When Bell and Ivan get stuck in a car that's about to explode, she finally realizes it's Ivan she loves. Hurrah.

Review

The really good thing about this series is that it doesn't focus on romantic relationships and instead focuses on the work that forensic scientists do. Of course, one must question the accuracy of this portrayal. Though there's enough education value in here (one can pick up scientific terms, names of little-known diseases, etc.), you gotta question how accurate all this information is just based on one fact and one fact alone: TVB's English sucks.

Someone tell me who is responsible for English grammar here. Obviously the scientific terms are mostly correct since TVB had to Google most, if not all, of these. But is there no one in TVB who can speak grammatically correct English? Every time the computer screen flashed NOT MATCH, I was cracking up. The correct grammar is DOES NOT MATCH or NO MATCH, you idiots. Based on this alone, I would take all the educational value that this series provides with a grain of salt. As for all the technology, computers, gadgets, etc. the forensic scientists use here... can anyone tell me whether TVB actually bought/borrowed this equipment or is it all to give this series a wannabe realistic look?

And though I know rumours are just rumours, I can understand why Kevin and Charm got in such tabloid trouble after filming this series. Because though they only have 2 romantic scenes, they have amazing chemistry. I kid you not. Kevin does fine as the intelligent, good-humoured Ivan. What I like about him is that he is one of the very few TVB actors who thoroughly convinces as a beta academic. Charm gave one of her stronger performances as Bell. Her performance is consistent (for once), she tears well, and delivers in this role. Definitely one of her better performances, and her hair and wardrobe look great here.

Yoyo Mung needs to take a break from acting. She wasn't able to get rid of the super scary voice she talks in when she cries, and has been little more than mediocre in all of her performances. The only performance I liked from her was in The Green Hope, and that was a decade ago. It doesn't help that she has almost no chemistry with the cast here.

Frankie Lam manages to squeeze out a bit more charisma in this series than in his previous works, but I still think he's boring. He looks bored half the time.

Bobby Au-Yeung gave the best performance of the series, and his character didn't even go through some traumatic experience for him to show his acting chops. That should say enough about the calibre of Bobby's acting. An excellent performance.

Though I love Linda Chung as a person and really liked her performance in Heart of Greed, she irks me here as the perky Ting Ting. She is fresh-faced and energetic, but there's something unnatural about her acting here. I do not know why. Yes, it's as bad as her acting in FH1.

The supporting cast was, in general, better than the main one. Raymond Cho continues his tradition of silly, endearing characters. Florence Kwok makes the most of out her limited screen time. Fred Cheng is excellent as Kong. TVB should be giving this guy Wong Cho Lam-type promotion. And I would recommend looking out for newcomer Macy Chan, who plays Formula.

Top 3 Most Repeated Lines
1) "A human being can lie but evidence never lies".
2) "Every time there's contact, evidence is transferred. This is Locard's Principle".
3) "If we hit a roadblock, it's back to the basics".

To Watch or Not to Watch, That is the Question
This series wasn't that bad, but it wasn't that great either. For all those curious to know why Kevin and Charm got into such trouble, watch this. Those who enjoy strong supporting casts should watch this too. All others can pass.