D.I.E aka 古靈精探

Title: D.I.E aka 古靈精探(2008)
Producer: 張乾文
Episodes: 25
Cast: Roger Kwok, Sonjia Kwok, Kenneth Ma, Derek Kwok, Margie Tsang, Mimi Lo
Theme: Modern Police Investigation Series
Setting: Hong Kong
Themesong: Sang by Roger Kwok
Awards won from this serie: Highest Rating Serie so far for 2008

The Setup of the Serie….

The beginning drive of the serie in which D.I.E is formed is quite funny and somewhat creative. In the police force, there are those cops that are great detective material, and then there are the klutz who usually gives more headache to their ‘head’ as in the Cantonese phrase “meh wok” (literally translated carrying a wok) meaning having to carry the burden with the problems than actually giving any achievements. So what to do with them? Why not gather them up and send them somewhere so as to alleviate the problems? Thus, the brash tomboy who is all quick acting, but no thinking- Sonjia, the cop with a silly health problem- Roger, the girl who always want to look pretty and marry a great bachelor – Mimi Lo, and the guy who is afraid of blood – don’t know his name, and a little bit later on, the Bruce Lee wanna-be – Derek Kwok, were all sent to an empty station to form a new group call D.I.E. Thus, this group of silly cops went on to solve unsolved cases on victims who were killed for a while.

Character and Actor Discussions….

Roger’s character has been struck by lightning, thus whenever he touches objects or the victim from the scene of the murder, he would have “Tung Ling Kum” which is a process in which he gets literally knocked out for a couple of minutes, and he would experience things from a different world, sometimes it can be a reenactment of the crime, or it could be signaling an object that is key to solving the case. So through each case, Roger is usually the intelligence behind each group. He also likes to read detective manga or anime, and he is fairly intelligent with solving the cases throughout the serie. Roger Kwok did a good job as usual, but I can’t say it was something surpassing the usual.

Sonjia’s character is tomboy who seems to only have one goal in her mind always- “catch the criminal. “ There are many times in the serie in which she doesn’t think before she acts which leads to many “man why did you do that?” shouts at the screen, but nonetheless I think it is a very refreshing role for Sonijia. I am surprised that I actually enjoy Sonjia’s performance even though I get annoyed of her always rushing to catch the criminal without thinking about whether it was the right situation. Nonetheless, I still liked her character. She was pleasant to watch, and she has nice chemistry with both Roger and Kenneth Ma, especially Kenneth Ma. I still can not pinpoint on why I like this character, but I think it is because this is the first character of Sonjia’s that isn’t stereotyped as a bad or rude person. She has her weak points, but nonetheless she is a very sweet and normal girl. I guess what I’m saying is Ching Ching is a down to earth gal, and I don’t see Sonijia Kwok when she is onscreen, but just a simple and cute girl name Ching Ching…which marks good improvements for Sonjia! Not a bad performance, but the girl still needs to work on her crying. Also, I find it pretty convincing of her to act as the cute and adorable Siu Yee. I didn’t expect the mature and serious Sonjia to be able to deliver Siu Yee’s personality so well! Just for that, I think I should give Sonjia a big applause!

Kenneth Ma plays a good cop, but when it comes to love, he is somewhat “fa sum” in this serie. He is rational and calm, but just a few times in this serie, it portrayed him as not being as quick-witted as solving cases as Roger’s characters. Although this character is suppose to be semi-villianish because of his unfaithfulness to Sonjia’s character, I liked his character throughout the serie. He’s not a bad guy, he just fell for another girl. It’s actually quite refreshing since TVB always like to put the cheater as the bad person, but in this case, they manage to let Kenneth’s character still be a protagonist despite that. By the way, Kenneth Ma was looking HANDSOME in this serie! The hair, the glasses, the fashion, his coolness, the cuteness with Sonjia, whew….just hot haha! I think this is the best look he had in the dozens of TVB series he has been in. And also, I totally buy his portrayal as a good cop. If only there was a DIFV or another serious police investigation drama, I think he would make an awesome main lead.

Derek Kwok’s character in here has one idol, and that is the legendary martial artist, Bruce Lee. Not only does Derek’s character dress like him, but he holds Bruce’s (or what he represent in movies) visions to fight for what’s right, with righteousness comes justice, that sort of thing. Derek is so hilarious in this serie. There was this one scene in which Roger and Derek were re-enacting a crime scene, so one was trying to choke the “victim” while the victim tries to write the other’s name on the floor, and I think Derek ended up writing Roger’s name somewhat more neatly because Roger isn’t able to choke him since he has martial arts background and can hold his breath for a while lol. I didn’t think he looks that great with the Bruce Lee fashion, but this is a very new character for Derek to portray since his character is so silly.

Margie’s character in here is Roger’s bigger sister, a good-hearted and pretty girl. She works at her aunt’s dating service company. Due to Roger’s overly concern about her dating life, her love life is quite void because Roger tends to scare away her boyfriends. I didn’t think her character was really that hard to play. There weren’t many emotionally challenging scenes for her, but she has chemistry with everyone around her. She seems very comfortable, and so I think she gave a pretty good performance for her first comeback serie to TVB. Margie is also definitely very pretty for her age, and she keeps her figure very well after having a kid!


The Relationships….

Roger & Sonjia- These two play the opposites attract couple. For me, I think they were ok as a couple. I like how Roger always looks out for her, and they were given quite a lot of cute scenes together. Actually, I think I like watching them more as partners rather than lovers. Their bickering and Sonjia’s trying to be a better/smarter cop is fun to watch. I think their best scenes together was when with Sonjia’s body was taken over by Siu Yee.

Kenneth & Sonjia- Surprisingly, a very cute couple. Although Sonjia’s character isn’t really the perfect girlfriend throughout their scenes together, I still enjoy watching them. They seem very comfortable together, and I could see them as a couple. It was unexpected they had chemistry together. I really liked that she gave him a second chance after the first unfaithful incident. They also look very compatible together in looks and personality.

Derek & Margie- At times, I think it was a little dragging how their relationship progressed. He likes her, but she did not at first, but eventually they admit their feelings and got together. I actually like watching them more after they got together than before they got together. I think they were cute portraying an older innocent couple, and they did have the necessary chemistry to make it work as a couple, but I have to admit at one point in this serie, I was actually hoping he would hook up with Mimi Lo since I think they would have more fun scenes to watch.

Roger & Siu Yee – I think they deserve a mention as I find them to be quite cute together. Although technically they weren’t really a couple in this serie, but I enjoyed their scenes together. He’s mean to her, but yet he cares a lot for her too. I really liked their last scene when Siu Yee “moves on” at the beach.

My Rating:
*4 Cups of Lemon Iced Tea (4 out of 5 stars)
1st cup for cast chemistry
2nd cup for some refreshing plots
3rd cup for some funny moments/scenes/jokes
4th cup for overall an enjoyable serie to pass time with.

Why lemon iced tea? Because it was refreshing to watch, and you would want to watch it while you're relaxing. Yet it has some sour moments with the lemon, so it may not be for everyone. See reasons to stay away.

A Must Watch IF:
1. You are looking for a serie for enjoyment as this would give you some laughs.
2. You liked To Catch the Uncatchable. The cases and characters are silly and sort of out there (actually this serie is a bit more out there than TCTU due to some unexplainable, supernatural plots).
3. You would like to watch fresh pairings. Roger & Sonija, Kenneth & Sonjia, as well as Derek & Margie all have their chemistry together as a couple
4. Family related scenes….I quite enjoy Sonjia’s interaction with her family and definitely Roger’s interaction with his family
5. You would like to see Sonijia’s major improvement as an actress
6. A really good looking cast haha.
7. You are looking for something to pass time with.

Stay Away IF:
1. You are looking for a serie with serious drama and plots
2. You are looking for awesome police detective investigation cases (the cases in here are not in DIFI-IV’s range). In my opinion, the only interesting one was Kenneth’s case with Queenie. That was the most exciting case throughout the whole serie for me.
3. You need absolute consistency with unfolding of plots….one supporting pairing was somewhat together without any prior scenes of interest for each other.
4. You do not like to watch unexplainable plots like seeing ghosts and having premonition ability.
5. You are looking for an ending that is not rushed.