“Big White Duel 2” Criticized for Illogical Plot
Airing its fifteenth episode recently in Hong Kong, Big White Duel 2 got brickbats for its illogical story plot revolving around its central couple played by Kenneth Ma (馬國明) and Natalie Tong (唐詩詠)!
The couple first met at a KTV lounge, and after much tribulations, finally reconcile at the end of season one. In season 2, Zoe (Natalie), an Accident & Emergency (A&E) doctor is four months pregnant with Tong Ming’s child, but decides to keep it a secret from him as she wants to give him a Christmas surprise. A rescue mission which she tags along with ends badly when she is accidentally impaled by a metal rod. Suffering major blood loss, Zoe is sent in time for an emergency operation which Tong Ming, a prominent cardiothoracic surgeon successfully leads, but a surgical abortion could not be prevented.
Leading Up to the Operation
Initially hearing the good news of the pregnancy via a voice recording from Zoe, Tong Ming is elated about becoming a dad soon, but his joy is short-lived as he immediately receives news that Zoe is up next on the emergency surgery list. Holding back tears, he decides for her to go ahead with the termination of the pregnancy so the lifesaving operation could proceed as planned. Asking to see Tong Ming before being put under anesthesia, Zoe is reassured by him that their child would be safe, but her later devastation upon awakening and learning she has lost her child leads the couple to break up yet again.
Fans Annoyed by Poorly Written Arc
Fans took badly to the romantic plot developments, describing Zoe as “loathsome” and pointing out that it was illogical for her character to continue taking on high-risk work such as hiking and saving an AIDS patient earlier if she was anxious about the pregnancy in the first place. They also highlighted how it was unlikely that doctors would ignore their own safety in the name of professionalism.
Netizens comments include “Why don’t the scriptwriter just sacrifice her, instead of (playing things up) using AIDS (and) impaling of a metal bar. It puts me off!” and telling Zoe to “just break up and give Tong Ming a break!” Describing the arc as “unreasonable” and Zoe’s character as “selfish”, they found it hard to accept that she chose to conceal the pregnancy from Tong Ming, and hurled brickbats at the scriptwriter for callous writing in order to play up the tragedy factor, and adding senseless details just to pave the way for upcoming romantic developments.
Producer Explains Rationale behind Zoe’s Character
The viewer backlash even prompted series’ producer Marco Law (羅永賢) to personally address the feedback. He explained that Zoe did not blame Tong Ming for saving her and not the baby, but would be reminded about the pain of loss every time she saw him, which prompted her decision to break up and give both of them a cooling off period.
Source: HK01
I think the character Zoe’s biggest flaw is never speaking up and jumping to conclusions herself. The first time her marriage ended was because character Tong Ming was a workaholic, but I wonder if she ever told him “Honey, can we please set some dating time aside?” She also didn’t tell Tong Ming the first time she was pregnant (I get it she found out after the fact but was she also that busy that she didn’t know when it was Month 3/4 already?). The second time she ended the relationship (not remarried yet) is because Tong Ming would remind her of the pain and that’s not wrong but is that really grounds for ending a relationship? She cried when she thought she might have contracted AIDS but that didn’t her teach her anything the second time? Most people want to believe Tong Ming and Zoe have a healthy relationship but they do NOT. She always assumes because she doesn’t speak up that she really understands Tong Ming and he really understands her but that’s just not true. Zoe usually pulls all nighters at the hospital sleeping on free patient beds but that goes to show she’s too attached to her job too. I would marry Roger or Moses’s character and probably not even date Kenneth Ma’s Tong Ming. Zoe could have told Tong Ming she already had 1 abortion in the pass after they reconciled or before they reconciled in S1. I think they make great friends and Kenneth’s match was Kennis Ching Lok Man played by Ali. Nancy’s Yip Ching is not for Kenneth Ma’s Tong Ming because she’s too headstrong and Kenneth is a little too indecisive.
I haven’t watched TVB shows in a while, but the thing I’ve learned about watching their shows decades before that is that they never know how to write a strong couple that gets together and stays together and solves problems together. They just always find ways to break them up and get them back together in like the last episode after much angst. It’s gotten real old.
Yea is quite illogical that zoe(Natalie) ask for break because he reminded her of their baby,
1st of all, she is the 1 that taking the risk and putting herself n baby’s safety number 2 and saving patients are number 1.so now she wanna ask for break up because he couldn’t save the baby? The baby probably already dead due to the impact of the accident or during operation.and all these are avoidable if she put her safety priorities. she Could have prevented at the 1st place right ? Dr tong ming is the one shud be angry/feel pain by looking at her, due to her negligence, not her feel bad by looking at him. Because he reminded her of their baby..
I don’t think calling it illogical plot is fair. In fact it’s pretty well written. Characters that have flaws are the better characters than a wooden puppet character that does everything perfectly. It would be so boring to see zero conflict whatsoever in their romance.
I think people misunderstood Zoe’s character. Many and many times before, Cham-sum already mentioned that this is who Zoe is; she’s a person who would put the patients need above anything else, even herself. She would do things that she thinks is the right thing to do without hesitation, even if it puts herself in danger. It’s contradictory to her profession, but at the same time it’s her character’s flaw, which make it so good. I thought the abortion episode was really well made, very emotional ending with her on the operation bed.