The Rose

Title: Qiang Wei Zhi Lian
Also Known As: The Rose
Genre: Family, Romance
Episodes: 26
Broadcast Network: TTV

Cast

Ella as Zheng Bai He
Joe Cheng as Han Kui
Jerry Huang as Han Jin
Joelle Lu as Han Fu Rong
Cecilia Yip as Han Li
Selina as Zhuang Zhe Qin and Di Ya Man
Hebe as Xiao Feng
Billie as Ah Puo
Hong Jiao Nang as Mao Ji
Z-Chen as Shan Bo

Synopsis

Zheng Bai He (Ella) is having the worst day of her life. Her boyfriend dumped her because she was ugly and her grandmother dies. However, there's still one single glimmer of hope - her birth mother is still alive! In fact, Bai He's mother is actually a famous superstar, Han Li (Cecilia Yip). When Bai He travels to the Han household, she finds that she already has three siblings. First is Han Fu Rong (Joelle Lu), the eldest child of Han Li. She is beautiful and secretive. Fu Rong pretends she doesn't care about whatever happens to the family, but deep down inside, she is a genuine and caring person. Next up is Han Jin (Jerry Huang), the second child. His father was American, giving him blue eyes - so he always wears sunglasses to hide them. He has a horrible past, making him cold and bitter. Last but not least is Han Kui (Joe Cheng). He is goofy and loud, and has a huge appetite. Also, he harbours love for his older half-brother, Jin.

Bai He feels intimidated by her new family, because they are all beautiful. She feels that she does not belong in this family because she thinks of herself as ugly and fat. Soon, the truth is revealed. Bai He actually isn't the child of Han Li. She is actually the child of Han Li's best friend, making her unrelated to the family except for Kui. This news hits Kui hard because he finds that he has fallen out of love with Jin, and in love with Bai He. However, he is caused more grief when Bai He constantly rejects him and falls deeper in love with Jin.

Jin is hesitant to accept Bai He because he still believes she is his younger sister. Also, the death of his fiance, Qin (Selina) hit him really hard. He finds it difficult to leave Qin in the past and struggles with his newfound feelings for Bai He. However, he eventually falls deeply in love with Bai He - but they both know that Qin will still be a part of their hearts. One day, Xiao Feng (played by Hebe) appears at the Han household claiming she is Kui's fiance. Xiao Feng is upset after she finds out Kui is in love with Bai He, but the two girls develop a unique bond.

As the series goes on, Bai He manages to change the people around her and warm their hearts. Her elder sister Fu Rong has become more open, Jin's heart of ice melted, and Kui has become more gentle.

A stone with an ugly outward appearance and not eye-catching: would people be able to see the glittering gem that is wrapped inside? Being looked down upon by people for a long time and faced with cold and indifferent treatments, the stone will gradually turn rusty and lose its brilliance, or maybe...after experiencing all these hardships, its lustre and beauty will be highlighted even more?

Follow Ella, Joe Cheng, Jerry Huang and Joelle Lu for a story of family, love, and true beauty.

Characters

Ella as Bai He
I believe this is Ella's second series that she has appeared in. Her acting is wonderful, I think. She's really good at crying scenes, because whenever she cried, I felt like crying with her. In the series, people called her ugly and fat, but I believe that those characters were the ugly ones and she was the beautiful one. She was the one who managed to change the Han family into who they were. At first, they all hated her because she didn't exactly look like she would be Han Li's daughter. Gradually, she was accepted and everyone began to love her even though she wasn't really part of the family. However, sometimes her character made me a little angry because she always got upset whenever Jin would think of Qin. I mean, people never really completely get over something like that. I understand that falling in love with him while he's still thinking of his deceased fiance is painful, but death is something really hard to deal with. Overall, I give Ella a four out of five on her performance.

Jerry Huang as Han Jin
His voice was always monotone and his face was always expressionless. I personally don't think he's very good-looking. I didn't like watching his scenes and I felt his character was dull and boring, other than the fact that he had to go through Qin's death. I hated how he was so insensitive to Bai He because he was afraid to fall in love with her. I also didn't like it when he pushed Bai He to Kui because they found out that the two could possibly not be brother and sister. When Bai He got hurt, he didn't even go see her! I don't understand his character too much. Sometimes, I sympathize with him for his loss of Qin, but that's about it. However, I hope Jerry will continue to appear in dramas and I hope he'll improve. I give his performance a three out of five.

Joe Cheng as Han Kui
I watched this series after watching It Started With A Kiss and I was surprised at why they gave Joe this particular character. But then again, I think it made me love him more. I loved his little outbursts, "BAH!" Or whenever he snuck up to kiss Bai He. At the beginning, I despised his long hair and his weird attitude. However as the series progressed, he made me laugh, he made me cry and he even made me angry sometimes. I laughed whenever he yelled and teased Bai He, I cried when he confessed his feelings to her but she didn't feel the same way, I was actually somewhat angry at him for letting her go, too. I really wished the writers would have let Kui and Bai He end up together, but then again, that would be sort of gross, since they are brother and sister. I give Joe's performance a five out of five, because he's adorable and one of my favourite characters.

Joelle Lu as Han Fu Rong
I despised her too at the beginning of the series. She was so mean to Bai He and so cold. However, when Bai He started experiencing hardships in her love life like falling in love with Jin and having Kui loving her at the same time, Fu Rong came to the rescue! She always knew what was going on in their minds and was truly the big sister of the family. She offered great advice and provided a shoulder to cry on whenever someone was upset. Fu Rong had always had a bad relationship with her mother because Han Li was always pretending. However, I loved Fu Rong's character because she was the big sister I always wanted. She was always there to support everyone and I believe she is the reason the family stayed together. I give Joelle's performance four and a half out of five.

Cecilia Yip as Han Li
The mother of the four, er, three children. She acts like she despises Bai He because she thought Bai He's father had cheated on her. But deep down inside, Han Li wishes that she was the one who gave birth to Bai He. In fact, she is more genuine towards Bai He than all of her other children. With Fu Rong, Jin, and Kui, she rarely speaks in a motherly tone, and always speaks harshly. However, if you really watch her, whenever she's speaking to Bai He, her voice is softer and gentler. You can really tell that Han Li was extremely in love with Zheng Ye, Bai He's adoptive father. Although this type of character isn't exactly very unique, I felt that Cecilia Yip portrayed Han Li's character very well. I give her four out of five stars.

Billie as Ah Puo
Loved her. She is the maid/housekeeper at the Han's. However, the Hans don't exactly treat her as a maid, but rather as the Grandmother of the family. Ah Puo helps Bai He by telling her of the story of Han Li and Zheng Ye. Ah Puo is also the one who helped Fu Rong through her childhood and is the one who provided all the motherly love that Han Li couldn't provide for the children. There was one particular scene in which my love for her grew even more. Bai He suffered from being dragged across the beach by Kui's horse, and sustained many injuries. However, she wouldn't speak because of her mental state. Ah Puo fell down in the kitchen and hurt her back, but Bai He wasn't able to call for help. They were sitting there in the kitchen, holding each other as they cried their hearts out and I could literally feel my heart splitting in two. Ah Puo was also one of my favourite characters of the series. I give Billie's performance a five out of five.

Selina as Qin and Di Ya Man
Her voice was a little annoying at times. However, the way she portrayed Qin's character was quite believable. She had that angelic look to her and her personality warmed your heart. I can understand why Jin loved her so much and why Bai He admired her so. She was an amazing character and Selina's acting was good, but she still has room for improvement. Her character as Di Ya Man was pretty good too. I give Selina three out of five stars.

Hebe as Xiao Feng
Her character was a little pointless, actually (but then again, so was Di Ya Man). She wouldn't even classify as a love rival because Kui had already fallen in love with Bai He. However, I found Hebe really cute and I really want to see her in more series. I was planning to watch Reaching for the Stars which has all the members of S.H.E in it, but maybe I'll get to that another time. Hebe's facial expressions are adorable, but her acting still needs a bit of improvement. I give Hebe three out of five stars.

Review

The Rose is a great story about family and romance. I was surprised they would actually speak of homosexuality and incest in such a mature manner. In fact, many viewers actually wanted Kui and Bai He to end up together, myself included. Viewers prayed and prayed that somehow the two wouldn't be related! Many series that I have seen, portray homosexuality as a humourous thing - which it isn't. The Rose includes some humour, but mostly the angst and sadness that is involved with it. However, the one thing that I might change about this series...I would take a pair of scissors and chop off Kui's hair, haha! But then again, it adds to his character. So, maybe I would leave it after all.

Ella Chen was great in this series, however, I didn't like her hairstyle. Joelle Lu was stunningly gorgeous and a great actress. Jerry Huang? Could use a little more practice, but then again, who doesn't? There's always room for improvement. Joe Cheng is already making his way up my list of favourite actors, and this series only made me feel better about him. It shows that he can play all different kinds of characters (Jiang Zhi Shu from It Started With A Kiss is completely different than his character in this series). However, you might need to watch ISWAK once more to remind yourself of how manly Joe Cheng actually is, haha!

I also hope to see more Selina and Hebe in the future, so I can see whether or not they have improved in their acting. To be honest, the only reason I started watching The Rose was because of Ella. She is constantly impressing me, even though people say her acting is overexaggerated. I still think she's constantly improving and I don't think I would have gotten another person to play Bai He. However, the storyline expresses that Zheng Bai He is ugly and fat, I think Ella is cute and pretty skinny. So maybe they should have planned that better.

Overall, I give The Rose four out of five stars.