EPISODE 5

A new case today which was very exciting because for once it was logical and interesting.



Woman's Finger Chopped Off Whilst Drugged

Technically Anna wasn't really drugged, she took sleeping pills. She went home with a Dr Lam whom she met at a local pub, both drunk, they talked and vomitted and talked some more, then Dr Lam and Anna took sleeping pills and slept soundly. Dr Lam woke up and left her apartment. Whilst driving, he became thirsty and when about to take a drink from the bottle, he saw pinkish water and one finger inside. Immediately he stopped and vomitted and of course called Master Hung. You see Dr Lam was Master Hung's family doctor. Vincent and Ben went along and to their dismay found:-



1. that bottle with that finger inside;

2. a bloody knife;

3. a very scared possible accused.



Did Dr Lam did it or didn't he? Dr Lam cried and said he didn't. He didn't know what happened. Immediately Master Hung told him to lodge a police report and just surrender. Once at the police station, the investigator in charge was Cheuk Sir, Vincent's beloved father. They were very professional towards one another and only later did Ben and Hung knew Cheuk Sir was Vincent's father.



Father and son's relationship was very close because mom died early, dad took care of Vincent all by himself. So though Vincent dressed very formally and in very nice suits, you and I know Vincent wasn't born rich. So he must be hungry for success. But today's episode showed him in a very good light. He respected his father, he was friendly with his coleagues and staff, what not to like about this man with the bad habit of smiling to himself?



Anyway back to that case. Poor guy was charged. Anna didn't die, Master Hung wanted to visit her but Ben and Vincent said, no way! Can't do that since they represented the accused. So Ben and Vincent became diversions and Master Hung snuck in and talked to Anna, saying he was a priest. She was emotional but told him she didn't believe Dr Lam did what he was accused of and yet she was reluctant to voice out the possible suspect.



Once outside, Master Hung said they needed private investigators but guess what? Ben and Vincent will have to pay for a PI. So instead of hiring one, they decided to be investigators themselves, going to the pub that Anna went that night.



Once there, they asked loads of questions and many were scared to answer. Jess and Ling were there to, as support system.



The bartender then revealed a secret; nobody would dare to touch Anna because she was a kept woman of a very nasty looking gangster called I think Mark. When Mark's boys heard Anna's name, immediately they attacjked Ben and Vincent. Ben pushed Vincent out together with Jess and Ling whilst he fought 5 or 6 guys alone and then ran away, taking one road whilst the other 3 took the other road. But Jess was worried and she ran after Ben. Ben was cornered and put up a brave fight and when he was losing, Jess came to the rescue and basically fought all guys alone and won. Ben was amazed (so was I, who would have thought such a lovely timid girl could fight so well?) but he fell as he hurt his leg. At the meantime Ling sprained her ankle and Vincent was extra gentle with her, and she looked at him oddly, the attraction building. Yes, every woman in this series fell for Vincent's charm or rather gentlemanliness or what they call handsomeness. Anyway, Vincent carried Ling on his back and they bumped into Jess CARRYING BEN ON HER BACK (wow! What a woman!). Jess was jealous that Vincent wasn't carrying her whilst Ling was embarassed at being seen in such a position. Poor Ben, Jess dropped him.



The next day Ben and Vincent again went out investigating and found Mark's bungalow. There they saw Mark beating Anna and warning her not to help Dr Lam if not she will lose more than one finger. Then they heard that he bought her that apartment. So logically, he must have chopped off her finger that night!



Once at trial, the guys decided to use a very logical strategy; blame it on someone else.



Vincent professionally interrogated his ultra cool father whilst Anna lied on the stand about what happened (she was cross examined by Ben). Then Anna said Dr Lam was a sicko, a weirdo and the prosecution asked why? She said he kept commenting how lovely her fingers were and he kept sucking her fingers that night!



Naturally Ben and Vincent were shocked to discover Dr Lam had a finger fetish (what is it with TVB with fetished? First legs, now fingers). They warned him whether there were any more secrets and Dr Lam tearfully cried and said no and if he lost he will rather die!

Dramatic moment and Ben and Vincent tried to console him but knew they had to explain for that finger fetish.



The conclusion? Tomorrow I guess.



I must comment on the interrogation part. Cheuk Sir said;



"The report confirms that the finger was chopped by the knife with prints all wiped out, the finger belongs to Anna and there were no signs of breaking in and since there was no one else in that house and the finger in the bottle was found in your car, we have no choice but to arrest you and to charge you, Dr Lam".



Awww come on! Come on! Dr Lam's car was parked downstairs, anybody would have broke into his car. There could be other people who has access to that house, there were no prints. How can they jump to teh conclusion Dr Lam did it? Why would Dr Lam chop off her finger? Of course during the trial came the bombshell; Dr Lam has finger fetish. Interesting but the prosecution's case is weak.



Now back to the relationships proper.



Tonight we see more of Vincent and his personal life. He may act cold or cool but he really loves his father. He is also loyal in the sense that he wanted to run to help Ben when Ben was pursued by those gangsters.



Ben himself proved to be a very heroic person today as he pushed the others away and led the gangsters away from them.



Jess was even more loyal in the sense that she alone ran after Ben and even rescued him in one of the funniest scene in today's episode, funny because of Ben's expression (total shock) and how when he tried to move he fell down (so Louis Koo you know, so much like Louis Koo).



Only Ling didn't prove her loyalty yet BUT she is getting friendlier with Ben whilst her attraction to Vincent is growing. Can't see why not since Vincent was very gentle with her ankle, you know the classic "I help to massage your swollen sprained ankle in a very concerned way whilst you look at me shyly whilst hissing your pain" scene.



Poor Jess though, everybody thinks she is in love with Ben.



Today's other highlight is Master Hung's clever deception, saying he is Anna's brother to get past a nurse, then saying he is a priest to coax Anna to say the things he wanted to know and then when a doctor entered the room, he left by saying "O-mi-to-fatt" and poor Anna couldn't decide he was a Christian or a Buddhist!



Tonight also Ben's family finally found out Ben was broke and they all promised to spend wisely in a very warm loving scene between mom, dad, Ben and little sister (I remember her! She was that cute girl, playing the daughter of Chin Ka Lok in Life Begins At Forty).



Now forn performances, Raymond Lam totally shines with his comic timing and his cheeky smile. Ben is his ideal perfect role and I find him charming.



Myolie is still the best actress in here whilst Bernice Liu is ... cute, charming, great to look at, love her Jess and the actress with the million dollar mega watt smile. BUT it is unfortunate that her acting still sucks and her character Jess is still so silly. But I like the fact that her Jess can really fight.



Sammul Chan continues to improve but I still think he lacks that oommph factor to play Vincent. Vincent is not supposed to be strong or athletic, in fact Ben is stronger and yet why girls find him irresistable? Because of his confidence, his devilish self assured smile, his nice suits, his confidence, his handsomeness. Sammul Chan played the confidence and self assured factor nicely but he lacks everything else. I swear his wardrobe is nice, in fact he could rival Bobby's Pang Kwok Tong's suits in Take My Word For It (I believe Bobby's best role and best clothed role in recent memory). Remember my post yesterday when I felt Shaun Chen (Singapore/Malaysia) would make a perfect Vincent? Well I finally thought of one in HK who is perfect for this role, a pity he wasn't that well known when this series was filmed. Remember Kevin Cheng? He is not a terribly good actor (neither is Sammul Chan) but he has everything except height; he is good looking, he looks like a professional, he has this devilish smile and this devil may care kind of look, laid back, very self assured and I believe a very believable professional. And he is young looking. Oh yes, KEVIN CHENG. How could I forget this man?



Today's guest star is I think his name is ... Jimmy Au I think and he plays Mark. Very explosive performance, as in violent and very scary man. I can't remember the name of the actor who played Dr Lam but well this series highlight is having credible actors playing minor or guest starring roles.



Overall, a very enjoyable, interesting and funny episode.



Anyway I forgot to mention something which was very funny in EPISODE 4. There was a scene where Master Hung gave them salaries and they were so happy but Hung deducted the commission out to repay debts! But Hung gave them each a free cake coupon. During lunch, everybody was eating except Ben who was eating dessert. Ling asked, "Why are you eating dessert first?" and Ben quietly took out a box with a cake inside from underneath the restaurant table and cheekily said; "my lunch is in here! Must use the coupons!" It was such a funny scene. Then Jess, very nice of her gave some of her food to Ben who then had the nerve to ask her to share her coffee with him! Ling and Vincent of course thought they were very much in love!



Ahhh, so looking forward to tomorrow's episode and Dr Lam's fate.