Love Exchange

The Cast/Characters - 4/5

Michael Miu as Yiu Lap Tin 饒立天 (Mike)
Anita Yuen as Sit Tze Yiu 薛子瑤 (Zita)
Crystal Tin as Ching Ngo Yee 程傲兒 (Jackie)
Power Chan as Tsui Yuet Yu 徐若愚 (Anson)
Tracy Yip as Tung Sze Ting 董詩婷 (Sophie)
Mandy Cho as Yu Siu Long 佘小龍 (Nikita)
Wilson Tsui as Kam Sum 金森

Even though the members of the cast are not high profile and I am not too familiar with them, I think they were well chosen. The chemistry between Mike and Zita built quickly and though it wasn't romantic or anything, it was quite funny to see them. The comedy between all the characters helped to relieve the seriousness and the intensity of the subject. Perhaps the acting skills of the newer actors/actresses could have been better.

The Story - 4/5

The theme of this series is 'love affairs' and this theme affects much of the story, even the small side ones. I usually don't like it when affairs happen in series, but this series adds an interesting twist to it. The story was fairly confusing at first, I think I had to re-watch the first episode to be sure of what was going on. The audience is immediately thrown into this mysterious death of Dick and Bonnie which appears to be suicide. Clues lead Mike and Zita closer and closer to the truth. Some clues lead to false conclusions and when we as the audience and the characters begin to accept that as the truth, another piece of evidence comes up and pushes everything back to square one. The series was really a game and it kept me guessing what the truth is. Of course this type of story is extremely hypothetical, but it was none the less entertaining.

The Ending - 4/5

I see this series on very close terms with The Brink of Law where the mystery isn't revealed until the very end and I mean the very end. Near the end of the series, when it was determined that Dick and Bonnie were definitely murdered, I had guessed it was Jackie because I had guessed that she had an affair with Dick (and from their dialogue, Anson wasn't aware of it) and when Dick tried to leave her, she killed him so that nobody could have him if she couldn't. I didn't think it was Anson because I thought he was all about the money and power and wouldn't risk himself when he would eventually get the big corporation anyways. Then the evidence of 'black money' was found on the SD card and Anson became the most suspicious. It was obvious that Jackie was injured by Anson when the news broke out. Anson was the first to admit that he was the one who murdered Dick and Bonnie, kind of like Michelle Yim in Brink of Law. At first I wasn't sure if Anson died, but I guess he did cut his own throat and committed suicide. When we thought the mystery was completely solved, we then find out that it was Jackie who committed the final act. She failed to save them and shut the car door on them and let suffocate. She was arrested but like Mike, I really don't know what to feel about it. She went through a lot and she knows what she did was very wrong, but she should still receive penalty and lose her best friend Zita. As for Mike and Zita's relationship, they were right, no one is able to differentiate whether it is a love relationship or a companion. Giving each other some time, 2 years in Vietnam, was a good idea so that they could have time to forget about Dick and Bonnie. I just wished that they could spare a couple of minutes and do a '2 years later scene'.

Overall - 4/5