TVB - Safe Guards

Starring: Steven Ma, Wayne Lai, Kwok Fung, Elaine Yiu, Chuang Zhi Guang, Kara Hui Ying-hung, Suet Nei etc

I finished watching this series early last week and have put off writing any comments on it till now simply because I've been too busy.

This is simply the best TVB series I've watched since Yummy Yummy (Food for Life). Even though Elaine Yiu is uneven in her first lead role, given that this is only her fourth series (I think), I feel she aquitted herself well enough.

The performances in this series and the very strong script is what makes this a memorable series. The setting is the Qing Dynasty and it centres round a family runned "biao ju" (security escorts) who are like the Cisco guards in Singapore today. If you pay them money, their courier your stuff and ensure that it gets anywhere you want it.

It's been a long time since TVB has managed to depict business so well. The last time they did it was in Point of No Return which was only a partially good series since the romance in there was soooo silly and juvenile that it destroyed the series for me.

SG suffers no such flaws. Instead, the business of running the "biao ju" is portrayed quite well and although I don't think it is anywhere close to the truth, still it makes exciting stuff and seems reasonable realistic. The almost larger than life portrayal of Kwok Fung's and Steven Ma's characters give them a heroic edge which works really well in this series since men of the "biao ju" must surely have been strong, tough and fearless men. But what made the series shine was also the portrayal of these men outside of the business. At home and in private, these men exhibit personalities and flaws that not only make them human but make them believable and so likeable.

SG's characters are often multi-facet and fully developed and also progress quite logically. This is quite often a series flaw in TVB series. They often start off by giving you interesting characters only to have them be completely incomprehensible as the series progressed. But SG is a rather consistent series and while each character does grow and develope, this developement is well explained and fully within reason for each character.

What TVB has consistently been able to do well is to depict epic family struggles. Good examples of this would be Secret of the Heart, Instinct, Greed of Man and to some extent Point of No Return and The Charm Beneath. No exception here. SG has a very involving and absorbing family struggle at the heart of it's story. Wayne Lai plays the oldest son and the logical heir to the family business if only he was a capable man. The second son is far more capable then Wayne Lai's character but he is only the second son and the son of the second wife to boot. But the most capable of Kwok Fung's character's son is Steven Ma's character but he is an adopted son and that practically disqualifies him from the position. While it seems in the beginning that Steven Ma's character would be the stereotypical good and grateful adoptive son, the script fleshed this character so well and Steven Ma played him so well that one never feels that he is colourless and bland. It is characterisation like this that really sets SG apart from many TVB series.

Kwok Fung was really good in this series and played the stern and commanding patriarch with authority and yet managed to portray with great conviction the childlike side to this man when he is with his wife. Although in the end, my favourite couple is the couple played by Zhuang Zhi Guang and Kara Hui Ying-hung. They had a great deal of chemistry and even though they were very different in nature, the script and their performance made them feel like they were born to be together.

SG is a great series and I've not liked a series this much since Yummy Yummy. Under the Canopy of Love came close for a moment with it's strong beginning, witty script and quirky, charming characters but the last section of the series evolved into the usual romance tale that the series suffered somewhat in the end.

Now if only TVB can make more series like SG. I would be a happy happy person. =) Here's hoping that Dance of Passion would be great. It has a strong cast and Ada Choi's in it, so I'm really looking forward to this series.