AERIAL TALK: Law of attraction

By LOONG WAI TING | loongwaiting@nstp.com.my

TVB seems to be running out of ideas. In the drama series Friendly Fire (now showing on Astro On Demand, channel 921), Mary Hon plays a judge who is searching for her biological son, played by Sammy Leung.

She again portrays a distraught mother looking for her long-lost son in Missing You, airing the same week on the same channel. Mere coincidence? Or is the station lacking fresh ideas and credible actors to play the roles?

There were rumours that this was due to the recent “mass resignations” and “talent drain”. Former stars and employees from the directing and scriptwriting departments were being recruited by rival free-to-air TV stations.

Mass resignation aside, Hon was quoted as saying: “It’s just a coincidence. Both series were filmed at different times but are only shown now. I have no control over this...”

Friendly Fire is a legal drama about JJ Kam (Michael Tse), a prosecutor at the Department Of Justice who lives with his girlfriend Fong Tin Lam (Tavia Yeung), also a prosecutor at the Public Prosecutions office. After a failed attempt at proposing to Fong, the couple part.

Then Kam is transferred to the Public Prosecutions office and they work on cases together. Both have different ways of handling their cases but it appears that they still have feelings for each other. Then JJ discovers why Fong rejected his proposal.

Albeit the overused ideas, Friendly Fire is a fresh approach on how these lawyers and prosecutors tackle issues involving money, power and status.

While some TV series tend to focus more on relationship issues, Friendly Fire addresses both this and court action equally. Of the many legal dramas that TVB has produced in the past few years, this series really stands out.

What I like about it is the intense and realistic court battles. Whenever the lawyers are cross-examining the “witnesses” and “suspects”, you almost feel that you’re in the court. For example, during the cross-examining of a murder suspect, the camera is focused on the audience, making viewers feel that the “lawyers” are prosecuting them.

Overall, this is a good series with (mostly) watchable performances. My only grievance is that all the court cases seem to revolve around those in the Department Of Justice and their friends.

Nevertheless, it’s nice to see veteran actress Alice Chan coming out of retirement and appearing in TV series, although only in a supporting role.

Bill Hung (Kwok, right) gives a realistic performance as a lawyer, while Chan (left) returns to showbiz after announcing her retirement in 2008.

Yeung (left) plays Fong, who rejects JJ’s (Tse) marriage proposal.

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AERIAL TALK: Law of attraction

TVB seems to be running out of ideas. In the drama series Friendly Fire (now showing on Astro On Demand, channel 921), Mary Hon plays a judge who is searching for her biological son, played by Sammy Leung.

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