I was a big fan of A Fist Within Four Walls because of the fighting choreography and Grace Wong's character. Now, The Righteous Fists is an almost exact replica of it in terms of storyline. Once again, Ruco's dad is framed and he is looking for his lost siblings in a very chaotic environment run by powerful families. Same old, same old but I don't mind cause I am just here for the fights :D The drama is enjoyable so far with interesting characters (mainly with the women's) and even though I don't like the consistent use of slow cuts of the fighting scenes, I am still enjoying it.

What Happened in the First 10 Episodes? We got three families that arrived in Bangkok's Chinatown. We got the Bu family, Lian family and Lu family. Each family is skilled in a particular form of martial arts. Arriving in Chinatown, life was tough and the people there were often bullied. The three men from the families confronted the bullies and soon became the heroes of Chinatown. They started teaching their fellow men martial arts and as things are going well, their kids were kidnapped. The Lian family have one child, the Lu family have one child plus a child maid while the Bu family has three. The three fathers were killed while trying to save their children. After the event, it is said the was Lian Zhenshan who betrayed the other two fathers and that is why they were killed. The Bu family ended up losing two of the children as well...and were heavily criticized by the people in Chinatown. The remaining mother and child then left Chinatown.

Watching the recent TVB dramas made me miss blogging :D The last bit of 2021 and beginning of 2022 has been a good year for TVB! I recently enjoyed some very good dramas including A Love With No Words and Used Good. More so, it is just SO refreshing to see new faces onscreen. I'm not a big fan of TVB 'blockbusters' or star studded cast....I'm just in hope of some good stories to watch. Could some acting be improved by the two main leads in Used Good? Yes. Fortunately, I still quite like Matthew and Hera and the story did well in grasping onto the mystery and fantasy elements. It is reminiscent of Barrack O'Karma for sure...but less romantic and creepy. There are certain dramas that are character driven and there are ones that are like Used Good, which is very storyline driven. You don't watch it for the characters per say because the two main characters were quite bland in personality. What you watch for is how the sub stories unfolded; the weird coincidences that are not coincidences, the hidden clues and the secrets that were revealed. What is impressive is how all the stories trace back to link with each other as well. BAM! We can create a character map and there will be a whole intricate spiderweb network of relationships. Everybody links back to each other. Furthermore, everything was subtly laid out so you don't really notice it until the very end. Very well done. I can't wait to write more about this later and I might as well draw out the character map too! The drama's ambiance is the complete opposite of Used Good; A Love of No Words provides a light hearted story that consists of an emotional roller coaster ride. I can't remember last crying for a drama the way I did in this one. The story's formula resonates with any other regular modern romance drama, but it WORKED. The drama was not too complicated/draggy, you pity the characters, the shots were beautifully done, Hubert's got a godly voice for romantic songs and it's just sad....Why is it so sad?! The mother-son story, the mother-daughters story, the dad-daughter story...most of the relationships managed to tug on a heart string or two. Lastly, everybody performed exceptionally well...especially for all the new faces. For Regina's first leading role, this girl can for sure cry. Hubert also did very well too...and how I wish he would've gotten the my Favorite Character award for this. Overall, this drama was solid and did well for a romance drama. When was the last time TVB was this romantic? It is also great to see new casts in the leads...much more vibrant and youthful than recent TVB dramas. It seems like TVB is promoting younger actors/actresses, which is nice. Provides a more appropriate youthful energy for these types of love stories.

The name Thalassa came from the Greek meaning, "the sea". She is the goddess of the sea. I tried to look up more information about her but there is not much. It is said she take the shape of the sea itself, which was shown in the drama. Furthermore, she was blamed by humankind because of the dangers of the sea. You can read the brief summary of her here (https://www.greeklegendsandmyths.com/thalassa.html).

Back to the drama, we were first introduced to Thalassa (Zoie Tam) when Tsz-Yeuk (Mandy Wong) got transported back to see what the life of an exorcist's wife is like. At that time, the exorcist went to sea to fight Thalassa but never returned. In the end, the wife "went to find him" by jumping into the seas. Fast forward to the present time, Ma Gwai (Kenneth Ma) bumped into Ms. Law (Zoie Tam). She is always drunk when he meets her and is constantly saying she is waiting for someone. They soon developed a friendship.


As we get to know more about her, it is revealed she is Thalassa who took the face of the exorcist's wife back then and has been waiting for him because they never finished their battle back then. Lastly, Ma Gwai turned out to be the reincarnation of the the exorcist she has been waiting for for 700 years. This lead to their final battle in episode 25.

The anticipated battle was lackluster as it showcases nothing from Ma Gwai's side and very little from Thalassa as well. I was expecting a fight but that wasn't the case. When Ma Gwai could've drive into her and 'win' the battle (which would've been lame anyways), flashbacks of them spending time together came up and he just couldn't do it. In the end, she decided to be the one who loses and gave up her powers to him. As she said, she wants him to be the one who remembers her for the next 700 years this time. When you think about it, I think this continues with Ma Gwai's curse. His friends and family will continue to leave him and he will never to be happy. He will always be alone.
In conclusion, Thalassa HAD SO MUCH POTENTIAL to be more than what was given to her. In particular, she has a very powerful ability. Everytime she hums her song, it would compel humans to act on their greatest desires. The tune is so addictive! It's interesting how Ma Gwai was never affected by it though? He was usually with her when she hummed it but acted normal. While others, like Bear Bear, were greatly influenced. I was hoping that this would turn out more exciting so it's a pity she had to disappear in the end.

Bear Bear: "This world is fake...but the feelings are real. In reality, this will never come true. She's already dead, can't she continue to dream?"

Bear Bear's last wish is to to spend a day with Ma Gwai as the girl he loves the most. To make it come true, she asked Tsz-Yeuk (Mandy Wong) to lend her her human body for a day. Tsz-Yeuk agreed and Bear Bear was able to spend a day with him. For some reason, the time they spent together kept on rewinding. After he realized that things kept on repeating, he thought it was this ghost (played by Jeannie Chan) who was trapping them inside. He was about to exorcised her when Bear Bear stopped him.

Up to this point I did not realize that Bear Bear was the one who created this alternate universe. Later it was explained she was affected by the water demon, which caused her to act on her greatest desire and that is to stay with Ma Gwai. She did not want to leave him and gladly, he played dumb and went along with it until the very end.

Ghost: No, I feel like you're much more unfortunate than me.
At least he remembers me and I can feel it. But when you're beside Siu Ma, he never knew that it was you. He does not truly love you. Right now you're just using someone else's identity to stay with him.
If you never wake up from this dream, is that eternal happiness or an eternal punishment?

That last line by the ghost HIT. To be with someone you love is a blessing but what if you're just a replacement. If Bear Bear was not in Tsz-Yeuk's body, would it still be the same? It's hard to love someone who cares for you so much as friend but can never see you more than a friend. It's heartbreaking. It hurts. And moving on is almost impossible because you want to stay by their side. Sigh, it's a cycle of sadness and tears!

Bear Bear: There's something I want to ask you. I want to ask....do you have any...just a little...very little...feelings for Bear Bear?
Ma Gwai: I don't have the right to love her.
Bear Bear: Does that mean love or no love?
If I did not caused her to die. If she is still alive...bickering with me. If she still rides my car every night. If I knew her feelings earlier. I would have cherished her and give her happiness.
Bear Bear: Then that means its not fated.
If only we can go back in time and start all over again.
Ma Gwai: There's no if in reality.

Since the beginning, we all believed that the one Ma Gwai loves the most is Tsz-Yeuk. Bear Bear also knows this as well. While this was established in the first season, I don't think it was a strongly presented in this season. I personally felt that his relationship with Tsz-Yeuk in here was more like friendship (from his side) than the infatuated love in the first season. That is why this episode made Ma Gwai's feelings even more unclear! As he said, he didn't realize how important Bear Bear is to him until it's time for her to leave him. I do not think he said it to be nice but did he mean it romantically or like a family member? So confuse.



In conclusion, I think Ma Gwai doesn't really feel love any more. Tsz-Yeuk is more like an old friend/memory and Bear Bear is a question mark. Maybe it's because he lost too much in the first season and he knew that he can no longer love anyone due to the curse in the previous season. On the other hand, it may be just the writers failing his character cause he has zero development ON ALL DEPARTMENTS. Either way, I'll choose to believe that he feels like his character cannot love any more because that's what he has been saying.

One of my favourite character from season 1 is Bear Bear (Moon Lau) and she remains to be my favourite in season 2 as well. Maybe due to her popularity in season 1, she got a pretty hefty screentime in season 2. I don't want to say that it draagged, but it definitely dragged. Despite that, I enjoyed every time her story shows up. You can feel how much she does not want to leave and it hurts to know that her feelings for Ma Gwai (Kenneth Ma) will not be reciprocated.

I have done a few posts on Bear Bear already and will do one more, but before that I wanted to say how much I LOVE Hana Kuk's subtheme. Whenever a sad part of Bear Bear's story was onscreen, this song was in the background! AND it HITS every emotion strings! I think one of the charms of the first season is the quality of their songs and the second season definitely does not lack in that department either.

I Can't Forget About You 我未能忘掉你 by Hana Kuk

I don't think I have cried so much before! This episode evoked so many emotions and that's big credits to the actors who played Bear Bear's parents.

Starting off, we were introduced to Bear Bear's (Moon Lau) parents. We see how heart broken the mother is and she went to confront Ma Gwai (Kenneth Ma) about it. On the other hand, the father wanted everything to go on as normal and ignore Bear Bear's death. This has put a strain on their relationships and they were ready for a divorce.



Husband: Dear, we can never be like before...
Wife: ......let's end it here.

*both walks off to the opposite direction*

This scene was sooo well done! The way they separated off and the background music, everything was was perfectly done. Bear Bear's death did not tear them up individually, their relationship was no longer rectifiable. Literally broke my heart.


I feel like this story arch could've made a good ending for Bear Bear but in the end, Ma Gwai is her sole purpose for staying and so it does not just end here.

 One of our most beloved character returns in The Exorcist's 2nd Meter! Moon Lau plays Booi Booi Na/Bear Bear, an aspiring reporter. Now she is staying in the real world to continue to work on her dream and to stay by Ma Gwai's (Kenneth Ma) side. There were so many chances up util episode 18 where they could have finished her story and help her move on, but she could never leave because of Ma Gwai.

In this scene above, we have Bear Bear questioning if she should let Ma Gwai go or not. To him, she isn't as important as his mother, Ho Jai (Hubert Wu) or Dr. Chong Tsz-Yeuk (Mandy Wong). Despite that, all she wants is to stay by his side. Love is interesting isn't it? Bear Bear is completely devoted to him even though she knows he would never be able to reciprocate her feelings. It can be seen as foolish but soooo relateable! LOL

On the other hand, Ma Gwai is always looking Bear Bear to help him and just wants their relationship to be as it is. In one scene, Ho Jai confronted him about this issue. Ma Gwai knows that Bear Bear is unable to move on to the next world because of him. So if he truly wants her to be happy, he needs to understand that their current relationship is not ok. I guess you can say Bear Bear's behaviour is enabling him to act that way because it is also her choice to stay beside him. Base from how things are going, I am foreseeing a very tragic ending for Bear Bear. She will probably sacrifice herself for Ma Gwai somehow.

Like with most TVB sequels, things are just getting messy. Too many characters, underdevelopment of old characters and a scattered plot. I have watched up to episode 18 so far and while I am still invested, I still have to fastforward some parts. There is actually so many things I want to talk about but first off, let's talk about Ma Gwai (Kenneth Ma), Ho Jai (Hubert Wu) and their mother (Susan Tse).

Ma Gwai (Kenneth Ma) - Ma Gwai has become such an irritating character and it is so unfortunate to see that because I was expecting a much more grounded person after Shek Gam Dong sacrificed himself. The drama did start off well as we see him investing a lot more time and effort into becoming a demon exorcist. Unfortunately after episode 8, things went completely downhill and his character got thrown into the background. Furthermore, his constant fights with Bear Bear and Ho Jai made him more dislikeable as you can see he is solely focus on himself and his needs. In particular there was one scene where Ho Jai purposely drove Bear Bear away, he asked Ma Gwai why he is constantly holding her back knowing that he cannot return her feelings. I was like, "OMG YESS LIKE WHY." I can't even deal with Ma Gwai. What is it about him that could make the people around him care for him so much?! He is so whiny.

Overall very poor character development. I wish we got to see more of him building his superpowers, but it just ended up as a big family quarrel.



Return of Ho Jai (Hubert Wu)
Ho Jai returned to aid Ma Gwai in his missions. Contrary to Ma Gwai's, his character arch is very intriguing to watch. He drowned as a young kid and when he was able to "escape" the depths of the water, he was unable to return as it turned into a curse that he needs Ma Gwai to help break.

It was sad to see a child return home and realizing he is dead. He deeply cares for Ma Gwai and his mother. He never blamed Ma Gwai for anything and solely just wants him to care for her. While I found the present parts between Ho Jai, Ma Gwai and their mother rather annoying because it dragged until at least episode 18, I really enjoyed the childhood flashbacks between the three.

I became especially invested in Ho Jai through the flashbacks and am intrigued to see how he can resolve the curse. Though I can see why Ma Gwai wanted the family to reunite so badly, isn't the curse just a tiny bit more important right now? Ho Jai already explained to him that because of the curse, he could easily lose control of who he hurts and that is why he did not want to reunite with his mother. So why spend 18 episodes to drag out that story instead of focusing on the curse!?!? Smh. Can't even deal with all of this.


Draggy Storyline between Mother and sons - What a mess. Dragged on for 18 episodes. More screentime for Susan Tse and that's good, but tragically annoying. I was so glad to see the family issue resolved in episode 18. Now there will be time to focus on other stuff.