First Episode 60: 痞子英雄 (Black and White)

[renzhe]

So, I've finally finished this.

First things first -- the story is beyond outrageous, and there is plenty of typical Taiwanese idol stuff, like the Boyzone gangster brigade, or very strange music playing for no apparent reason.

Having said that, this is incredibly entertaining, partly because it doesn't take itself TOO seriously. The story really keeps moving fast (unlike many Mainland shows where they bloat 20 episodes into 34, here they crammed 40 episodes into 24), there are numerous twists, and many characters to keep you occupied. Each episode ends with a cliffhanger, there are some interesting characters and you never really know what's going to happen, since the show makes it clear very early that it does not care much for laws of physics or realistic plots.

I didn't care too much for most of the main actors, though 痞子 was actually quite an interesting character and there are some scenes with nice chemistry between characters. He's actually much more clever than he acts. I liked many of the incidental characters -- my favourite was chief 陳 with his cynical, sarcastic rebukes everytime the two heroes screw up -- and that's often. Also cool was 大雁 with his look that says "I'm a REAL gangster, what am I doing surrounded by these momma's boys?"

Overall, it's great fun when you get into it (and it gets going pretty quickly), and reminded me of the fun cop stories like Miami Vice, Magnum P.I. or Cover Up (I am dating myself here........) and just like with those shows, you need to suspend your disbelief and enjoy the ride. Certainly an enjoyable watch.

[Gleaves]

Well played, renzhe.

I also enjoyed that the show crammed all its ridiculous plot points into 24 episodes instead of stretching it to a longer season. I think they originally planned for this show to be 20 episodes and then later extended it to 24. Instead of stretching out the existing plot, though, they added a whole bunch of "world building" type stuff in the final four episodes (I think to open up sequel possibilities). On the same note, does anyone have any info on a 痞子英雄 movie that was supposedly in the works?

Here's a fun chart if anyone wants to dig into the how the characters are all connected (contains spoilers).

[ansileran]

I watched it all and it was fun, though at the end I started to get bored...

I watched a few episodes without subtitles (wikii subtitles missing) and I still managed to grasp what was happening though not much more. Vocabulary isn't your average every day Chinese and the Taiwanese accent is definitly more pronounce in this one than in most romance Taiwanese dramas (haven't watched anything but romance dramas so far ^^)

I have to disagree with previous posts though : the story is quite predictable, only thing that surprised me is *** (don't know how to add spoiler so I'm not saying...)

I also would have loved it if Pizi had been a jerk for a while longer... I think it suited him well ^^

Anyway, good Taiwanese drama.

[taylor04]

Just finished this show, truly enjoyed it. Although some of the plots were truly ridiculous. 痞子 was my favorite, especially when he was flirting with all the girls, always brought a smile to my face.

[Gleaves]

Has anyone had a chance to see the new movie (痞子英雄首部曲：全面開戰)? The

is pretty fun. I didn't realize this was coming out now.

No 仔仔. 黄渤 instead.