This Character Has Potential To Be the Final Boss in “Al Cappuccino”
TVB comedy drama Al Cappuccino <反黑路人甲> is keeping viewers on the edge of their toes as the main characters go on a hunt to uncover the killer behind Chiang and his two sons. William Cheung Sai Lun (Vincent Wong 王浩信), a struggling but dedicated actor from the United States, gets raked into this mystery after Inspector Rachel Koo (Crystal Fung 馮盈盈) convinces him to take up the identity of Chiang’s long lost third son Chiang Sai Lung to become the Union Gang’s dragon leader. With the support of undercover cop Ko Bun (Owen Cheung 張振朗), William searches for theChiangs’ true killer.
Meanwhile, KT (KK Cheung 張國強), the Deputy Commissioner of Police, is giving his subordinates pressure to solve the case quickly so he could be promoted to CP. Master Sun (David Chiang 姜大衛)—the leader of Luen Hing Sing—learns from his own sources that Madam Koo had been in contact with Ko Bun, and that William could possibly be a police informant.
Currently, there are three major suspects who may be behind killing the Chiangs. The first is Luen Wong Sing’s Crazy Chung (Tsui Wing 徐榮). Boasting that he could be a better dragon leader than any other potential candidate, he is the most obvious suspect from the start. While Crazy Chung is obviously capable, he lacks the craftiness and deception of carrying out a skilled assassination.
The next major suspect is Luen Hing Sing’s Master Sun, who has made several attempts to stop William from advancing to the dragon leader position. He attempts to find proof of William’s true background, and also obtains through a source that Ko Bun is working for the police.
The final suspect is Madam Koo’s father, the businessman and film investor Victor Koo (Shek Sau 石修), who is not only in a good relationship with KT, but also has a secret agreement and exchange with Master Sun.
There is, however, also a fourth major suspect—Superintendent Winson Szeto (Jack Hui 許家傑) of the Organised Crime and Triad Bureau. There is speculation among netizens that Szeto Sir is a mole planted into the police force by the triad. There’s been seeds planted throughout the series hinting at Szeto’s mysterious past—him having dated Chiang’s second daughter Mandy (Kelly Fu 傅嘉莉), and Master Sun hinting at Uncle False (Chun Wong 秦皇) that he had went through many connections to obtain Madam Koo’s phone number. Szeto may also be the reason why Master Sun speculates William and Ko Bun to be police informants.
In regard to these speculations, Jack Hui said, “Winson Szeto would use any method possible to get to the top. He would absolutely overstep boundaries to achieve that. He doesn’t think it’s fair that a person like Madam Koo—who is both incapable and his subordinate—to be co-leading the undercover operation with him. There are still several weeks left before the show ends. I guarantee you that no one would be able to guess Szeto’s ending! He has a pretty complicated private life. Don’t get too angry at me!”
Source: HK01.com
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
The problem with this series is that there is no emotional investment in finding the Chiang family’s killer. I really don’t care and I don’t think the audience does either. Why should we? The final villain will likely be Jack, but it is hard to muster interest when the series fell flat from the beginning.
Vincent has too many love interests and not enough sparks with any of them. Seriously, if this was just a bromance between him and Owen, it would actually be decent. They are great together, but I feel the story didn’t really build up to strong friendship, but relied on the actors’ chemistry and Legal Mavericks history.
Writing for this story is just terrible.
@potatochip your review is so accurate I had to comment. Like what is even the purpose of these UCs when all they do is chit chat.
Like do your job! bring down the triad! It just started off on the wrong foot. The whole drunk flirting thing between FYY and Vincent in the first episode was really unnecessary for their relationship and there’s just not enough for his relationship with Kathy to really be a love interest. The third sister serves no purpose really. The only people with the correct character set up is the big sis Winki and Owen. I really hope this whole finding the murderer doesn’t take up the rest of the drama cause it’s obvious who the bad guys are. But anyways, I’m giving up in this drama unless there’s more big sis and Ko Bun scenes. Feels bad for Owen he seems like he gave his all for this drama and it’s a flop.
@bubbles23 I gave up at epi 7, that about 4 more than my usual….Ali’s shows are exceptions!
@bubbles23 Yes! Lol. Why aren’t the UCs doing anything? What’s the point? And how can Jack be a triad UC? He knows everything, wouldn’t Owen and Vincent be exposed already? But then again, maybe the UCs are all just that incompetent.
@bubbles23 Yea, that scene between FYY and Vincent was unnecessary. Seems like TVB added the scene to sell s*x. They even showed flashbacks to it, focusing on FYY’s chest.
@bubbles23 I agree that the 3rd sis serves no purpose. Serene is a new actress and I feel like TVB puts new people in series without character development.
Agree that Owen’s acting in here is great, way better than Airport Strikers & Justice Bao. Apparently, he will be in Line Walker 3!
@potatochip tbh, I always felt that VW always lacked chemistry with his female co-stars, besides Ali. He’s good with bromance but not the romance arc in his series.
I just think this series fall behind Brutally Young, Life After Death and Death By Zero. VW and OC bromance alone can’t save the series. I wish they make it shorter and spent less time on the overdrawn election process.
@pompidur VW been around for many years and gain acting experiences along the way. Most lead actress in TVB came from beauty pageant and such with zero experiences. I would think it’s more of the actresses not knowing how to create that chemistry.
@pompidur Oh, I love VW and Ali’s chemistry in Legal Mavericks. He did awesome in Brick Slaves with Selena. He did well in Coffee Cat Mama with Nancy too. Not forgetting, VW actually had great chemistry with Natalie in My Unfair Lady.
But unfortunately, the chemistry with Kaman Kong in Fist Fight got me cringin’ bad. And this time, to wrap him around so many love interest, I don’t know what to focus on. I will applaud him on his chemistry with Owen – great bromance for sure!!
@piggygrace I honestly dont know what went wrong with Vincent & Kaman because they are both pretty good actors. Maybe they dont look good together, maybe the height diff, or the age diff? Kaman had great chemistry with Matthew Ho in Tiger Mom Blues, though.
@pompidur actually, I liked Vincent’s chemistry with Tracy Chu in Over Run Over. But I also like Tracy’s acting, so maybe the skill of the actress should also be taken into account.
@pompidur I agree with the @piggygrace and @sasamii that VW does have chemistry with many actresses. I think it depends largely on storyline. He was sizzling with Ali, but also good with Nancy, Selena, Tracy and Natalie (only in My Fair Lady, Man who Kills Trouble was a bust). Even Zoie and Stephanie worked ok with him in Dead Wrong. He’s actually better as a romantic lead than an action star. These action series have really hurt him since he won Best Actor.
@pompidur Agree that Vincent is great with bromance in most dramas. Besides Ali, he had chemistry with Tracy in EU, Selena in Brick Slaves, Natalie in My Unfair Lady.
Agree that BY, LAD, and DBZ are all better than Al Cappuccino, but I’m still enjoying this series because it’s the funniest. I think all actors are doing a good job in making this a comedy, so I guess it’s successful in that sense.
@potatochip I agree with you that the plot does lack a worthwhile focal point. But I am a fan of the hijinks that the characters on the show are going through (at least for now – I’m on episode 11), which is why I am watching the series as a sitcom. What will happen to them at this episode? It’s more of a curious question than a burning need to watch. The momentum isn’t as strong.
@coralie Some of the hijinks are amusing but some that are caused by Vincent can be annoying. I do like watching because I miss seeing Vincent and Owen together, but this isn’t going to be fondly remembered. 2020 has been disappointing, looking forward to DID next year. Not so much LM2 because the lack of Ali, but at least she is going to be in that AI series.
@potatochip
lack of emotions probably due to the fact that it’s meant to be a comedy?
@m0m0 It is meant to be a comedy, but there are very few laugh out loud moments for me. Mostly from Owen, a few from Vincent when he he is reacting in a hidden, “Oh sh*t” expressions.
In regards to emotional investment, I mean that there are no ties that makes the viewers care about the death of the Chiangs. We didn’t know them as characters when they were alive. Vincent isn’t related to them by blood. The sisters cried for a scene but never seem to miss them or mention them. Maybe some flashbacks would help. The triad members aren’t looking for the killers. The police say they want to find the killer, but why? Especially, when the ones that love the Chiangs should want to find the killer but have made no effort.
@potatochip The main theme of Al Cappuccino is to find the Chiang family killer. You’re right that there’s no emotional investment & people dont care because the drama doesnt make the case suspenseful enough.
There are so much useless events and characters in this drama. Why does Vincent have 3 love interests but 0 chemistry/sparks with all of them?
Totally agree that the drama relies heavily on Vincent & Owen’s chemistry in Legal Mavericks.
@potatochip the most perfect and spot on review. I forgot they were looking for their killers until this week. This show is such a waste of talent for some really great actors (Vincent, Owen, Jack, winki) and a storyline that had good potential because it’s so terribly written. The writers literally threw everything into the blender and spit it out.
I’m disappointed because this was Vincent’s first drama this year and I was excited to see it. I recently rewatched legal mavericks and it is knight and day – storylines and chemistry. Even though I had already watched it, I found myself just as invested.
Also jack being the villain is not a surprise lol. I called it after the first week and because jack mostly plays the villain.
Anyways this year so far has been meh. I hope the next few dramas will save it. Looking forward to line walker 3!
@tt23 night* and day. whoops can’t edit.