[TV Commentary] “Eye in the Sky” Episode 8

Eye in the Sky <天眼>
TVB Drama 2015

Executive Producer: Catherine Tsang
Genre: Crime Thriller
Number of Episodes: 20

Cast: Kevin Cheng, Ruco Chan, Tavia Yeung, Tony Hung, Vivien Yeo

The following is not a recap but a commentary on the particular episode in the title. Major spoilers and Ruco Chan-love alert. Originally posted at www.point2e.com.

EPISODE 8

Obligatory eyecandy pic of the day …

This is becoming my most favourite picture so I had to repost!

THAT flasback scene : 1 time

What an episode! Started out dramatically but nothing to do with the series, then became quite cute and touching and the ending, woahhhhhh…. woahhhhhhh!!!!!!!

Anyway Kevin saved Tavia and that girl. Destined to be a pair. My only question is how come Tavia is always using those dark brown lip liner that makes her lips so… brown?

Vivien Yeo appears as a tenant at Y Suite Hotel, someone cool,.beautiful and rich and who only stays a few months in a year or something and who does yoga totally nude which the manager tried to peek and got beaten by her badly. Ruco smelled her perfume on the manager’s jacket and was convinced that was the same smell as the one who stole the necklace and was convinced he is on the right track.

Ruco and Kevin will have their birthdays soon and Ruco promised to celebrate with his BFF and grandma as always. Meanwhile, Ruco pretended to have no home to stay and when he got really drunk (real and not pretend), he woke up on Kevin’s bed and to have his real parents prepare him a room on the rooftop. He feels accepted as part of them, especially when they said they’re celebrating Kevin’s birthday and Ruco thought he got to go too. So he asked Tony to think for him a way to not attend his usual birthday party and Tony felt ditched, like some scorned spurned lover. Rather funny. On the big day, Ruco found out the 3 of them will be going out for dinner and Ruco was not invited. His face fell, heart dropped. So he went back to Tony to have someone spend some time with him on his own birthday only to have Tony acting like a spurned lover and preferred the company of Samantha and their banter was natural and so funny, culminating in Ruco wishing Tony death in a very cute way. So poor Ruco, home alone drinking and playing ping pong ball and he got a call from his father and he instantly lit up only to be told to please record a TV series. Face fell again and he went down to the house only to have the 3 of them bringing out a cake and singing happy birthday. The look of pure confusion and then pure joy on Ruco’s face as both made a wish and later excitedly like a little boy Ruco smilingly asked “How come you know it’s my birthday today?!” and Kevin smiled and said “Don’t you remember who hired you?” and we see a flashback scene where Kevin saw Ruco’s birthdate on his file. They all was surprised Ruco was fooled and Ruco said honestly “I mean I am a stranger here so it’s normal if you don’t invite me to your son’s birthday party since I am not family” and his mom confessed they never celebrated because of the lost twin. But now since they saw it was Ruco’s day too they decided to celebrate and his mother actually asked Ruco if he is willing to be her god son and his father asked the same question and Ruco was in tears as they gave him pillows and daily necessities as if welcoming him into their family and Ruco called her god mom and god dad and Kevin playfully asked “What about me?” and it was his happiest day as they took for the first time a family picture.

Ruco rushed home to Tony during midnight and woke him up to excitedly tell him the good news and then asked Tony “What about my birthday gift?”

Now this is where we see the 2 faces of Ruco. One an excited little boy who got his wish and you feel so happy for him. The other, a small minded angry resentful man who hates and never forgives.

Law Lan the woman who stole him as a baby and sold him was tricked to the police station that her son got arrested only to come home to find Tony, face covered had stolen her box of money and she ran after him and he threw her entire savings into the street and she rushed down to pick them up as she fought with beggars and homeless to get her money. And we see Ruco looking on with deep satisfaction from the bridge as Tony said “I don’t know if what we did was right. Seeing her like this reminds me of grandma…” and Ruco angrily said “Don’t you pity her! She was the reason I had a bad childhood. Who can I blame? It is her fault and this is her comeuppance, a small payback for her sin to me that she can never repay. She deserved it!” and as Tony felt bad Ruco walked on and staring coldly and with a satisfied smile.

And that was his birthday gift that Tony got for him. Tracking down the old woman and ensuring the rest of her life is as pitiful as his life was as a child.

Do remember, Kevin was the better man who did not arrest her despite knowing the truth,but if you were Ruco, would you have done the same thing? On one hand she has had her comeuppance in a life of loneliness, with a cat, little cash and a son who refused to see her. A bigger man will say that’s enough and what’s done is done. More so when Ruco in a way had a life now, a good job, good friends, and he in a way joined back with his family. If he had stopped now, life is perfect. But he can’t. There is this anger within him and frankly can’t blame him. I probably would have done the same thing to the woman. It is different between fate giving the woman a hard life and yourself having the satisfaction of making sure she suffered. He never intended to kill her. I thought he would but he is not so cruel. But he is mean enough to want to do what he did. And that last scene, the brilliance of it is it explained the 2 brothers having grown up in different environment had different moral values, you can say one is right and one is wrong and maybe you agree with what Ruco did, and will say “She deserved it” which is normal but deep down you will feel this guy… he is not a good man and character is everything and he is lacking that character to be a better man hence the reason to his eventual downfall. He had a choice now and unfortunately he chose badly.

Brilliant second half of the episode.

Kevin acted well with his perpetual frown; smart frown, angry frown, worried frown, all sort of frown. In fact when he was Ruco, that was basically Law Ba but seriously, he did well as the serious older brother.

Ruco shows… no… proves … no… what’s the word…demonstrates why he is simply masterful. Kevin in the Scoop interview said Ruco acts very expressively through his eyes, body, something like that and it shows. TV does him justice because it zooms in and you can see every minute detail. The excitement when he thought he was invited to the dinner, to the extreme disappointment when he felt abandoned yet again and finally the pure joy when he was accepted. And the final scene, the hatred, the scorn he feels for that woman who ruined the first half of his life was pure masterclass acting. I do not ever want Ruco to look at me that way, ever. I’d rather he looks at me like how he looks at Tony.

Ruco truly shines in here. He looks great, suits up great, physically top notch, healthy, glowing, fit, tanned, handsome and the acting of 3 sides, all shown in one episode; childlike wonder, abandoned and pure hatred. He speaks his lines clearly, never missed a word of his dialogue ever, he stands straight, great posture and he charms as he is deadly. What more can a fan ask for?

Well… a better overall series. This character is just all too familiar, setting is the usual and the presence of other unnecessary moments could potentially cut the development of the main characters and rush things. Ruco could just sleepwalk in this character he has played at least twice before BUT this time there is an added edge; that descent to hatred, envy, villainhood. This is where Ruco does his magic; he is given a well written role that exists in a not so consistently well written series, and he is doing very very well.

I am still waiting for the day where Ruco gets to be a bona fide leading man in a long series that is structured in such a way that his character is important by default and not because his acting made himself prominent to the viewers. I don’t mind him in a historical series, only pity is if it is in China, his great beautiful clear diction will be dubbed. Maybe he can speak own mandarin. I don’t even care if he goes to Taiwan and film an idol series there, maybe as 2nd lead. I haven’t watched those same old Taiwanese idol series for a very long time since I can’t stand the acting and the accent but you know what, if Ruco is in it, I will bear it all. What I mean is I just want him in a great role in a great story surrounded by great actors that matters. Yes, Kevin was supposed to be in this as the top billing, we all know that and I don’t begrudge him. Ruco can never be the 8th prince that Kevin became and Kevin deserved the accolades. But try as they might, officially Ruco is 2nd lead but to me from the looks of it, Ruco bulldozed Kevin in terms of performance (which was easy because Kevin is not the best actor there is) and grabs the attention like a co-lead. He’s no 2nd lead in effect.

As for Tony, he is a fine actor but I worry for him in his next role which will be the supposed main lead and Ruco as 2nd lead in that pirate series. I fear Tony won’t have that first lead experience or charisma and frankly, as fine an actor he is with the best chemistry with Ruco, he is no lead actor. So again, Ruco like in many series before this will end up as the unofficial lead having the burden to carry the series.

As for Tavia, I don’t doubt her acting prowess. I enjoyed her performance but I really question if Tavia is tested in this role. It is same old same old. I hated how the story changed. I hated how Tavia is essentially in a overpublicised sidekick role of a vase who is used as a catalyst of grudge between 2 brothers and yes, like some out there I question does she have the goods to be that sort of catalyst; can she be the Vesper Lynd to James Bond, that sort. So the emphasis has to be on her nature and whilst Jen is a really really nice girl, she doesn’t stand out as exceptionally different that 2 hot guys will want her, more so fight to the death for her or that she is in a situation where she has to choose between 2 brothers. I am not saying she is not pretty enough. In fact I find her prettiest moment was when she was at the hospital, hair down and lesser powder on her face. I question what is so darn special about Jen that puts her apart from other girls out there? I got so annoyed that she kept pushing up the specs and during her entire ordeal, from kidnapped to chained to almost drowned to CPR, that darn specs NEVER left her face, NEVER sideways or whatever. I find this series unbalanced because in part of her presence and how she interpretes Jen. Her specs is like those bags that the actors never stop holding onto in any scene or those jacket they never take off even if they’re back home. It is simply unrealistic. Of course, hit me with the comment “Yeah 90% burn on the face, 30 surgeries later and you have Ruco’s face, that is realistic huh?”. Fair comment but that is in furtherance of a plot. Whatever Tavia has to do and with her specs, nothing to do with that.

Anyway I have read fans complaining since he is not often in any episode, it is boring, will miss it, etc etc. That won’t do Ruco any good. I may wonder about the effectiveness of the series, the purpose of useless characters, complain about Tavia being a vase and in effect the sidekick (and she is) and what nots, I never doubted Ruco. He delivers. And it is a bonus he.. is.. so.. dreamy.. in.. here! Ahhhhhhh!!

So handsome.

RELATED ARTICLES

• [TV Commentary] “Eye in the Sky” Episodes 1 to 3
• [TV Commentary] “Eye in the Sky” Episode 4
• [TV Commentary] “Eye in the Sky” Episode 5
• [TV Commentary] “Eye in the Sky” Episode 6
• [TV Commentary] “Eye in the Sky” Episode 7

This commentary is written by Funn Lim, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com and was originally posted at www.point2e.com.