TVB’s Latest Drama: The Mysteries Of Love

After finishing Fly With Me (where Ada Choi is a ridiculous superhero who is conceited and obnoxious but with a conscience), I finally had the chance to start watching TVB’s latest drama, The Mysteries Of Love. I would say this series is very refreshing as I normally enjoy watching modern series more than period dramas. I find the cantonese used in the modern series far easier to understand than the ‘tau lei tau hui’ cantonese of the past. I get to learn cool new canto phrases too. Like do you know that the flab under your arm when you wave is called Bye Bye Yuk (Bye Bye Meat)?? Hahahaha. I learned that from Moses’s mother in Fly With Me.

The Mysteries Of Love has been criticized for copying a certain Japanese drama about a professor working with a detective to use science to solve cases. For someone who does not watch Japanese dramas, I am totally okay with the fact that they got Raymond Lam to portray the calm, almost sedated but brilliant Professor Kingsley and Kenneth Ma as the womanizing high flying detective. Tavia Yeung is thrown into the mix as Raymond’s love interest and she is a young police woman in this show.

I have watched three episodes so far and I CAN’T STOP OBSESSING OVER KENNETH MA!!! AHHH!!!! While we’re talking about hot actors with the surname Ma, it is with great regret and a heavy heart that I bring to you the news about Steven Ma’s upcoming wedding plans. 🙁 My mother will be very sad as well. Stay strong, mummy. We are in this together. T_T

Kenneth Ma usually gets roles as a bumbling love struck idiot (in other words, a sor chai) and has this baby talk voice going on for his other series. But in this one, he plays a cool and suave detective who womanizes like mad!

All the girls they use to portray his girlfriends are like super hot and not a single one is pure chinese except for Bernice Liu who plays his long time fuck buddy. It is a lovely new role for Bernice too as she usually gets pure, decent and angelic roles.

There have been various interviews on the gossip blogs asking Kenneth Ma if he feels awkward while making out with his costars (too many to count) and he says that if the girls start to be a little more reserved, he will hold back. I know Hollywood have hot sex scenes as well but this is TVB we are talking about!! Where sex is mostly taboo!

He has a tendency to start stripping all his chicks from the door and then kiss them passionately until they bend over backwards and then on to the bed. Then he gets shirtless. *bites knuckles* MORE MORE MORE!!!

Given his slutty ways, Kenneth actually harbors actual feelings for Bernice, who is a globetrotting career minded journalist and has no qualms about sleeping with Kenneth on a regular basis. In the third episode, Kenneth tells Raymond that he is okay with the status of their relationship though you can hear a tinge of sadness and desperation in his voice.

Then we have Raymond Lam who portrays a physics professor with a gaggle of research students flocking around him at the university. He has a brilliant mind which he uses to help Kenneth solve his crimical cases.

Now, Raymond is one of the hottest TVB stars around but this show will either knock him down a few notches on the hot TVB stars scale or propel him a few levels higher for those who dig geeks.

In this time and age, girls in general DO dig geeks but maybe unknown or less famous stars would have made much better geeks. We have practically seen Raymond Lam grow up on TVB as a typical hot and spoilt rich man’s son, a playboy, a cheeky guy, a casanova and so much more, but never a geek. Oooh, ooh trivia. He is in actual fact a rich man’s son in real life too and his classmates at the TVB academy used to call him Siu Yeh (Little Master). He has this weird side parted hair and the way he talks..omg don’t even get me started on it. I have to tap furiously on my volume key when he gets screen time. He is definitely a fantastic actor lah, I’ll give him that since he can transform into a quiet and shy professor who clamps up when he is around girls (Tavia and his research students). He talks with this vacant look on his face and is overly genuine with everything he does. Not Raymond Lam at all. Boo.

Tavia Yeung is still Tavia Yeung. So cheery as usual. I do enjoy the scenes she shares with her nephew, Hei Chai who is played by the 11 year old Lawrence Ng. I can’t believe this little fella is still 11 as I have seen him acting in TVB series for years and years! He is one of the most utilized child actor on TVB. Tavia’s scenes with her nephew is very real and that’s what acting should be about. If you have the episodes, check out the first episode of Fly With Me. Lawrence Ng portrays one of Ada Choi’s ex-boyfriend’s son. Ada Choi talks to him like a small kid, trying to win his heart. The boy’s coffee then arrives and he starts telling Ada off in a voice with a sense of maturity and cynicism that is at least 30 years older. “Tai ha lei la, dou chau lei sei cheong lah, hok mai sai yan tei tau lou kong, lei chi mat yeh yong la…~~”(Look at yourself lah, already in your mid thirties, learn from others to steal other people’s husband, what do you look like..). Sorry for the lousy translation but I loved that scene so much. Hahaha.

Oh and another memorable scene from the series is the one where Tavia meets one of her second brother’s old friends who seems to be interested in her and insisted on taking her out to dinner. He brings her to a buffet where there are kids running about and then when she says “Okay I’m going to go get food.” He stops her claiming that it is only 8pm and the buy one free one buffet starts at 9pm. What a terrible impression on a first date!! Nevermind, then he goes on to pile his plates with food from the buffet spread and even takes off the sashimi from the sushi, leaving the rice for the other patrons to take. Which is quite pointless lah, a sushi with just the rice. UGHH. Then nevermind, Tavia tries to let him down slowly by saying that she doesn’t like buffet so there won’t be a next time. He then whips out all his restaurant coupons.

The guy is such a horrible joke. If there is ONE thing a guy cannot be towards a girl that he wants to impress, it is BEING STINGY. I mean if you can’t afford it, don’t overdo the frugality lah. Just spend within your means and within the norms of society. Being kiamsiap within your own family members is fine. But towards a girl that you like?! I really felt so embarrassed for the guy’s character… which means kudos to him for an acting job well done as a stingy guy who can never land a girl. Remember guys, don’t be stingy. I’m not asking you boys to bow to your girl’s every whim and fancy, just be generous once in a while lah. A stingy guy is one of the most disgusting things in the world. Don’t worry about the girl taking advantage of you, a keeper will be considerate but will totally judge you lor if you dare to be kiam!!

As for Raymond and Kenneth Ma’s acting as buddies, the laughs were so forced. I don’t actually feel the friendship and their acting together is dangerously bordering on corny. Hope this will improve over the next few episodes. 🙂 Now I need to get back to my books and then maybe take in another episode.