cdrama: Face to Fate eps 1-3

[meganbmoore]

Started a new drama since my Love Guaranteed replacement disc hasn't arrived yet (to taunt me, there's a preview for it on my Face to Fate disc...)

You know you've been watching too much wuxia when, 15 minutes in, they do a quadruple (or so) take when the Mysterious Traveller and young heroine pass each other, and then she rushes off after him, points a sword at his throat and demands to know what he's up to, and you know they have to be the OTP.

Face to Fate is about the conflict between the good and bad side of the martial arts world, and two neutral men who get caught up in the conflict.  I haven't caught a single character's name yet, but I DO know the actors' names, for the most part, so that's what I'm calling him. Tavia Yeung and Nancy Wu play, respectively, the foster daughter and daughter (and disciples, of course) of the leader of the good side, the Flying Fish Sect. A fortuneteller, Frankie Lam, crosses both when he reunites separated lovers, wrecking a wedding in the progress, and then is present when the leader of another sect is killed after bringing Frankie to the notice of her disciples, and then is present at another death.  Frankie, meanwhile, suspects Raymond Lam, a doctor from a famous family he catches at both scenes, but who doesn't want to be seen.  Of course, neither man is the killer, and the first three episodes are largely about them and the girls finding the killer.  As yes, the fortuneteller and the doctor are the ones with the awesome kung fu skills.

I've seen some people call Nancy and Tavia's characters immature and, in Nancy's case, bratty, but I really don't see that.  They're young and impetuous (and in Tavia's case a little blunt and frank and in Nancy's kinda hotheaded) but I like them a lot.  It cracks me up that they're both obviously crushing on one of their seniors, when I know who they end up with(the credits would tell me even if I didn't already know.)  I love the guys, too.  Neither one particularly wants to get involved in any good guy/bad guy fights(in fact, Raymond goes out of his way to avoid it and, even though you can tell he'll help in the end, he makes people work for his help.)  Frankie is busy trying to figure out how to avoid a prophecy about evil rising and stomping good into the ground (you'd think he'd make the connection between that and an assassin taking out all the leaders of the heroic kung fu sects a little more quickly, though...) and Raymond...well, I don't quite know what his deal is yet, but he really just wants these people to leave him alone so he can take care of whatever it is he has to take care of.

Selena and Derek haven't shown up yet, but I can't wait for them to...Selena because Raymond is a complete (if bored with it) playboy and I can't wait for him to meet his match, and Derek because he's the other half of my assassin/heroine OTP.

My favorite part so far is when Tavia is trailing Frankie because she suspects he's the killer, except she's the worst stalker ever so he knows she's there and he tricks her into barging into a men's bathhouse.  And then later when she catches up with him at the theater and he freezes her because she keeps demanding answers (I really can't blame her...I love him, but he'd drive me crazy, too) and he wants her to be quiet so he can explain.  Except then he sees Raymond and he takes off after him because he thinks Raymond is the killer, and he leaves Tavia like that.  Actually, this was probably a pretty bad idea, as it ended with her almost getting chopped in half (I hope she chewed him out for that later.)

I can't quite get over how different Nancy looks here from how she did in Lost in the Chamber of Love.  I mean, Tavia looks really different from how she did in Shades of Truth, but I was expecting that because ones a modern drama and the other a period drama...I guess I just expected Nancy to look the same because they're both period dramas.

Anyway, much love.  Though...I'll be in quite the quandary when my Love Guaranteed disc gets here...