“Always and Ever” Peaked at 31 Points in Premiere Week
Always and Ever <情逆三世緣> premiered last week and even though ratings were satisfactory, not all viewers are happy with the drama. Besides netizens who pointed out mistakes during last week’s episode, in which a metal fence was visible during an outdoor filming scene, TVB received six complaints on the plot being illogical.
JJ’s Death Was Not Mourned
In episode 3, the emperor’s (KK Cheung 張國強) son dies from a fatal allergic reaction to peanuts. Bao Zheng (Bobby Au Yeung 歐陽震華) and Han Sheung Sheung (Esther Kwan 關詠荷) are burdened with the responsibility of solving the mystery, and soon, evidence points to Concubine Yin (JJ Jia 賈曉晨). Thinking that Concubine Yin purposely put peanuts in the desserts to murder the prince, she is given the death sentence. Although Bao Zheng and Sheung Sheung believe she is innocent, they are unable to find evidence to save her.
During the process, it was revealed that Concubine Yin was the lost daughter of Kung Suen Chak (Ram Chiang 蔣志光) and in order to save his daughter’s life, he planned to break into prison. However, in the end, Concubine Yin could not escape the tragic fate and killed herself to protect her father.
Right after JJ’s character dies, however, not much is shown to mourn over her death, and instead, the storyline jumps to where the emperor reunites with his long lost son, Chiu Ching (Adrian Chau 周志文). The emperor, ecstatic about this reunion, awards Bao Zheng with a feast, while Kung Suen Chak, who recently lost his daughter, did not show an ounce of sadness and simply stated that it has been a while since they had a happy celebration. He also joked with Bao Zheng on how to pursue women.
The plot then jumps again. In episode 5, the entire episode was solely focused on an outbreak of smallpox in a village – making Always and Ever seem more like a medical drama.
TVB Receives Six Complaints
TVB received six complaints for having an illogical storyline, historical inaccuracies, boring and plagiarized details, and filming mistakes. Luckily, the Bobby-Esther power duo managed to save the show’s ratings despite complaints and earned high praises for their acting. Always and Ever averaged 28 ratings points and peaked at 31 points, drawing in over 1.99 million viewers, surpassing the earlier broadcast of Karma Rider <師父．明白了> by 5 ratings points.
Triumph in the Skies 2 <衝上雲霄II> increased by 2 ratings points, averaging 31 points and peaking at 32 points with approximately 2.05 million viewers.
Source: Apple Daily
This article is written by Su for JayneStars.com.
I saw episode 1 and 2. Not bad. A pretty typical historical drama.
Thats Episode 6 for the smallpox, not episode 5.
With all of the jumping around of ancient to modern and modern to ancient, the 3 lifetimes,etc.. the plot is bound to get confusing. But is it that bad so far? can anyone that has been watching share what you think??
Reread the synopsis again. First six episodes, its in good pace, nothing confusing except a few bad parts like Christine Kuo.
It doesn’t really jump around from the different eras that much. The first episodes starts in modern times and ends with Bobby going back in time to ancient time. He’s going to be staying there for a few more episodes before he jumps to pre-modern.
I actually found the first episode when they were in modern time a little slow and liked it a lot more when Bobby went back in time because there are a lot of comedic elements when he uses modern language or has knowledge of what has already happened in the future. He and Esther still have great chemistry so if you are a fan of one of them, you should definitely watch it.
The plot does tend to move quickly in that it might not have the best transitions. I personally don’t mind since I knew they would only be in the ancient period for around 10 episodes and they had to show the development between Bobby and Esther in that short of a time. The critique of one episode seeming like a medical drama is totally silly. Also, that episode totally moved the plot along.
Basically, not a perfect series, but there are many enjoyable parts. Based on the 6 episodes I watched so far, I would recommend it. 🙂
Thanks for the info AC!! I hope the plot is good since that is the most important aspect to any series. But of course having a good cast is a big plus too.
I enjoy watching it. Funny and yet touching. Storyline is easy to follow and understand. So far much more enjoyable than TITS2. Is not bad. Much better than Karma Rider & RPG. And Bullet Brains.
I am enjoying the series so far up to ep6. Agree with Larry 3 that there is nothing confusing except a few bad parts like Christine Kuo. Christine is slightly more bearable with a dubbed voice, but her acting is still visibly bad. The chemistry between Bobby and Esther as the article suggested does help tremendously make this simple series enjoyable.
Its a pretty good series but tvb series are no where near as good as what they use to be no matter what pairing or which actor/ actress is in it
Well a series has way more important aspects rather than just the cast.
Agree but tvb doesn’t know that all tvb really cares about these days is saving money
We all know how stupid TVB is getting these days and how cheap they are and always were.
Entertaining or otherwise juvenile stuff mann but Bobby n Esther hv chemistry lol!!!!!!
I actually enjoy this drama. I personally like the “jumping” thing. When a case ends, it ends. Why do they need to drag on the story? I glad that they did a fine job for this plot. I just wonder if anyone actually call TVB and give a compliment instance of complaining. Beside that, I love the duo Bobby and Esther. They have good chemistry together. For a long time, this is the first time, I really look forward to the next episode. This is an enjoyable drama 🙂
This is a good drama! I’d much rather watch this than TITS2.
Hk people have no life. All they do is complain even when a drama is refreshing and funny like this one.
I wonder why HK people complain so much?? I thought they would be really busy, therefore, I am shocked that they seem to have so much time on their hands.
There are some complaints that is legit or even down right stupid. Its just only 6 people out of 7+ million people in Hong Kong.
Uhm, there’s only 6 complaints out of like a million+ people. Isn’t it silly to think that nobody will complain about a series? Have you seen the complaints on this website from users that aren’t from HK?
I agree that this series is somewhat funny but nothing refreshing about it.
Was Crystal Li dubbed also?
Nope, only Christine.
Also because Crystal had a very small role. I think I like Christine dubbed, that way I’m not distracted by her terrible speaking. Then she’s actually not that bad. Plus the dubbing here is not as badly done as previous dramas she’s in
no, its bad. it does not sync into Christine’s mouth.
I agree miriamfanz – it really was better with her voice dubbed!
@Larry: If you heard her dubbing in The Life and Times of a Sentinel, I think you will agree this time is done much better
No, the voice dubbing is not the problem…. its that it is out of sync with the inexperience horrid actress Christine Kuo mouth.
Such a good series .. very light-heart drama.
One of the few series I try to catch every night despite my busy schedule.
My favorite parts are actually Bobby with his men. It’s hilarious how Bobby adds retarded modern elements to ancient times. It was much better than that other series with Ray Lam and Kenneth Ma.
Don’t remind us how disastrous on TVB’s Three Kingdoms with subpar actor Raymond Lam and Kenneth Ma.
Story is just average, if Esther is not in this drama, I would skip it.
I saw the 1st episode and I thought the jumping so to speak was very very jarring. He didn’t mourn for Phoenix, it immediately launched into all out comedy. I find this series terrible in that sense. But I suppose it is the memory and chemistry of the 2 main leads that made viewers forgive the jarring jumping about and the fact that the same woman will die again and again and again in different times. For me the story is a problem.
he was not confirmed on the death of Phoenix yet though .. he immediately was transported to a new time. to me it makes a lot of sense .. if i’m bobby, suddenly life got turned upside down, i would immediately be concern with whether i’m in a dream or some prank. as soon as that shock was settled for bobby, he went and tried to commit a suicide. hence the mourning you wanted to immediately happen didn’t due to a difference in personality. people handle things differently, can’t expect the story line to mirror how Funn will handle things.
i honestly don’t see a jarring jump in the particular scene you described.
i am enjoying the series but i also found it illogical that ram’s character didn’t mourn for her daughter and was so cheerful at the feast.
JJ’s character was sentenced to death by the King, because she was also accused of cheating on the king with another guy, used witchcraft, and attempted murder of the young prince.
I think with all those charges in the ancient times, you’re not allowed to mourn in public, because that will mean you’re going against the king. so it’s not too illogical.
I actually felt that whole piece about JJ being Ram’s daughter was unnecessary — not sure why the scriptwriter decided to add that piece in there. My guess is that they were trying to include some details from the actual Justice Pao story (the story about Gun Suen Chak and his daughter is pretty famous), which isn’t necessarily wrong, but the problem is that they didn’t do it the right way — it’s almost as though they just inserted that segment in there randomly.
To be honest, I don’t feel it’s necessary for the scriptwriter to insert random pieces of the real Justice Pao story in the drama, unless they do it in a way that moves the story forward or as a clever comedic element — otherwise, it just looks / feels awkward…
They cant do it the right way, the premise of this series is Bobby is trying to get Esther back in time. Doing the right way will also be awkward. At least they mix it up and alter a bit to keep the story flowing.
That’s exactly the point — since the premise of the story isn’t even about Justice Pao, then why incorporate elements of that story into it in the first place? Just make it completely fictional then and avoid all the hassle…
Then why argue. TVB has strained resources. At least they gaining some viewership back.
i only watch this b/c of JJ Jia…
u got lucky b/c now u are witness the golden couple back in action!
i don’t care about the golden couple…good story line..i’m into it.
It is good to see the golden couple back onscreen. The series is not confusing at all and i quite enjoy the serie so far. Christine and Adrian really annoyed me tho lol
I love Bobby/Esther pairing, that said, the storytelling is pretty stupid. Karma Rider is much superior in plot/story.
Making Ram have a back story with JJ is waste of time other than to move the plot along with his “relationship” with the JJ’s son. Well that became a bit of nothing also.
full theme song of “Always and Ever” now release: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=LxaA1r5XQG8
Enjoying the series… Much better than draggy TITS2.
for me I love Bobby and Esther pairing and enjoying the series much better than…..i think u all know right ?