Kenneth Ma’s Big Reveal in “Line Walker: Bull Fight”
In Line Walker: The Prelude <使徒行者2>, Kenneth Ma (馬國明) made a guest appearance on the very last episode, appearing as the younger brother of triad leader Victor Ngai (Moses Chan 陳豪), the drama’s final boss.
In the sequel Bull Fight, Kenneth appears again, this time playing a central character to the plot. Kenneth plays Klein Wai, an investigator from the Security Bureau. Siding with the heroes throughout the story, it took over 20 episodes in before the plot finally revealed the true identity and motive of Klein’s character.
In episode 24, Ah Fung (Otto Chan 陳志健) abducts Klein and reactivates Klein’s lost memories. Klein had apparently forgotten that he was the brother of Victor. With his memories now returned, Klein vows to avenge for his brother’s death.
Bull Fight is the sequel to the Line Walker series, which started in 2014 with Michael Miu (苗僑偉), Raymond Lam (林峯), Charmaine Sheh (佘詩曼), and Benz Hui (許紹雄). 2017’s The Prelude was a prequel to the 2014 series, which saw Michael and Benz reprising their roles, and introducing new cast members which included Benjamin Yuen (袁偉豪) and Priscilla Wong (黃翠如). In Bull Fight, most cast members return to reprise their roles, and we are re-introduced to the undercover Ah Luen, portrayed by Shiga Lin (連詩雅).
In The Prelude, Ah Luen was killed in action during an undercover operation in Thailand. The show hinted at her brief relationship with Tin Tong Gor, an undercover cop portrayed by Benjamin Yuen. Bull Fight brings back their brief relationship to the forefront, which makes Ah Luen’s death all the more sad.
Source: On.cc
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
The plot is messy, convoluted and poorly written. It is so forced at many parts. The series started out quite promising with the part on the organ trafficking. Then the part on Owen running for head of his triad seemed a bit random but interesting enough to keep my attention. After that it just went downhill from episode 19/20 onwards.
@boomer completely agree. it got really boring after ep 20. Kenneth ruined the series for me
@bubbles23 Gosh his character is so badly written. That whole dual identity thing was ridiculous. I was pleasantly surprised at first when they revealed midway that he actually didn’t want to live out his ‘destiny’ as Ngai Dak Lai, then out of nowhere he suddenly can’t bear not to fulfil his destiny of continuing the Ngai legacy. Ok fine. But when people start finding out he is Ngai he starts killing everyone to keep his identity a secret. Dude make up your damn mind. And Kenneth’s acting also didn’t help.
@boomer @bubbles23 he literally was like “I am not going to be Ngai tak lai” for two episodes and then one conversation and he’s all “I am ngai tak lai!!!!!!” Like what????
So annoying. Kenneth is killing this series for me with his facial expressions and hair. Owens story was random but his acting really made me like the story but then it just ended like wtf??? It’s not confusing to me because they finished one story before the next but none of it ties into each other seamlessly and that’s the problem.
@tt23 please please please do not let LW3 win Best Drama. I still have a few episodes to go and I can already tell how it ends. Yuck. The bigger the cast, the bigger the let down with the cast it seems. LF can only do so much. Hopefully LM2 is good or DBZ wins
@bubbles23 with the script* I mean
@jayne please bring back the edit comment !
@bubbles23 It’ll all come down to viewership. That’s how TVB has determined it’s Best Drama for the past few years. I don’t know which would be worst though – LW2 winning, or FH4 or Airport Strikers winning lol. The latter 2 currently have the highest viewerships of the year but were both absolutely atrocious to me. My favourite series this year is Brutally Young but it definitely won’t win, so I’m rooting for Al Cappuccino which I really enjoyed even though it had several big flaws.
I watched several episodes of DBZ but didn’t continue till the end, which is rare for me. Just lost interest for some reason.
I’m gonna watch LM2 and I hope it’ll be good.
@boomer yes my personal favorite is BY, nothing can top a good storyline and Vivien’s acting was a highlight. My other favourites are LAD and Of Greed and Ants. You should continue DBZ imo, the end is sentimental. Airport Strikers is such a joke, why do they bother filming these….
@tt23 hahahaha yes exactly, the character is so fluff.
I think Kenneth tried his best but his evil expressions are a bit OTT and when it comes to gentle/sad parts he just defaults to his puppy eyes expression and I can’t take him seriously lmao.
Agreed about Owen, something about him/his portrayal of the character just draws me in. He brought a charisma to an otherwise nondescript character I feel. Which is why I thought he was a semi-major character. When he went to prison I was expecting that storyline to continue somewhere down the line but it just ended, wtf indeed.
@boomer I was still cutting him some slack for his subpar acting in BWD but honestly he’s such an embarrassment of a “best actor”. Awful character development on top of one dimensional acting in this drama. And people thought Moses was bad in LW2 lol, KM is 10x worse.
*SPOILER*
With character intros of Philip Keung and Michael Tse in LW4, with the possible return of Charmaine Sheh, and the continuation of Raymond Lam and Michael Miu’s characters. The series is looking more promising than LW3.
I agree with the other posters. The plot was trash. I had no hope that TVB can write a proper script so I was not disappointed at all. Basically watched it for Raymond Lam. Can’t stand Kenneth Ma, Sisley and Priscilla’s acting. They act the same in every drama that I’ve seen them in. Sisley has one of the worst voices for an actress.
LW4 excites me more than LW3.
@anon I LOLed when they brought out Laughing Gor and Bingo in the last 10 minutes, they are really dead set on making LW4 a convergence of all the UCs in the TVB universe lmao. I don’t have high hopes though, if the writing is gonna be like LW3 – even having a bunch of good actors can’t save a bad script. And oftentimes too many stars dilutes the focus…
@boomer
I don’t have hopes for TVB scripts period. TVB can’t write a decent script to save their life, but what I can count on are Raymond, Michael Tse, Charmaine Sheh and Philip’s acting.
@anon I find that some small productions have had great scripts (supported by good performances by a non-star studded cast), like Barrack O’Karma and Brutally Young. Then ironically the super hyped and promoted huge productions end up disappointments.
@boomer Convergence of all the UCs in the TVB universe ha ha ha indeed. But to be honest, when The Defected aired last year, I kept thinking that could be a sub-plot of Line Walker and Benjamin’s character’s backstory or something, Bingo is just too good to pass up for LW. Oh well, a’lil bit lame but at least wish came true haha.
Very interesting to see Michael Tse joining too, but come on the introduction could be more creative, at least choose something different from Kenneth’s introduction in LW2. Wait, does that make Michael part of the Ngai brotherhood??!!
If Joseph Zeng could be revived, I want to see Kobe revived too. Surely, by that time no one will remember Pakho’s CCP insult right? So let’s fix the ‘plot hole’ and bring his character back too. SERIOUSLY THAT WOULD BE AWESOME!!!
@anon the last ten minutes along was better than the entire series lol. That just tells you the caliber of those actors. I’m excited for LW4 and hope it happens. I hope they way they broadcasted the show didnt screw up their chances for LW4.
Spoiler alert for LW3****
@tt23 I finished the series just now.
One feeling: why! Ok, at first I wasn’t so fond of Serene Lim but her story arc with Bao Seed grew on me, and they just make her the sacrifice. Whyyy. Ugh. I am so mad they killed off Mui, and she died the most horrible death. Lok Siu and ah Mui all x.x whyyyy. Maybe I’m biased, but looking back now her performance in LW2 really wasn’t bad. And her character development was the most consistent from LW2 given the ten year gap. So much wasted potential in this drama why would they get LF and underutilize him, why is Foon Hei just here for the sake of his name, why is KM even worse than Moses. . . I’d rather the story line be that Victor had a twin seperated at birth than this dual identity. Why waste so much time on cameos and supporting arcs than developing the main story more. All the romance arcs ended in nothing. Sisley and Owen were the most outstanding and didn’t even relate to the overall plot much…. disappointing. And all those flashbacks (the new scenes) were useless tbh. I never imagined Priscilla and LF would share scenes together so that was interesting. Why should Mandy get BA for this flat one dimensional acting, I was cringing at her being “autistic” in the last few eps. Compare her to Charmaine it’s miles off.
Also I miss the soundtrack from LW2, 3’s songs just aren’t as good.
End rant.
Man tvb is reviving all the dead UCs aren’t they. I really do hope Joseph returns as he is eye candy and got the acting. With the way they are writing this, what are the chances Charmaine will return? Big question mark.
@bubbles23 honestly I think you described it best just why lol. And yes so many plot lines and while they were executed without confusion, it didn’t add anything and felt random.
LF and foon hei and cheuk hoi I think were all underutilized. I agree with you about the serene lim/LF story line. I didn’t like it at first but it grew on me. I really enjoyed the whole dynamic with LF and his massage employees. Also the storyline with his son just abruptly ended?!?!? I feel like every storyline was like that even Kenneth’s death was anti climatic.
I enjoyed the songs a lot tbh, mostly the ending and the duet with LF and Hana but I agree with you they weren’t as catchy as the previous ones.
I really hope Charmaine comes back, she MUST if they set it up that way otherwise if they do LW4 and in the first few episodes she’s dead then what’s the point. I can’t wait to see phillip, Michael and LF act together. Joseph would also be nice to have. His look reminds me so much of pakho tbh. In the trailers, I thought it was his brother who was the actual UC lol they look so similar.
@tt23 I thought there would be more closure with his son… I also still find it really weird that Bowie is his ex, despite acting as PH’s girlfriend in the MV for LW2. This LW universe has a lot of inconsistencies tbh, but I will accept it. Also, Anthony Ho was so good this year as Bao seed’s “boss” haha and in Brutally Young, but I’m not sure if these performances make up for him in DBZ. Will he get the BSA award, or will that fall to Owen?
Should have gave all the screen time Shiga/Tony/Owen’s godfather/even Ben took and gave it to Raymond, I just feel like he had no character development and missing that extraordinary scene for BA… But still good nonetheless. Please let me complain about KM once more. Did he ever just look at his playbacks and think wow, it’s the same face same tone of voice as me in all my other dramas. He fails to live up to the BA name big time.
I hope Michael Tse returns as the villain in the next one. Joseph and Pakho both have those big eyes <3. I wonder if Benz had his scenes cut due to Pakho, but now, I'm glad PH wasn't in LW3 for this crap storyline. Thanks for reading haha.
@bubbles23 I love Anthony. DBZ was a miss but two out of three is not bad? However, I think BSA needs to go to Owen. By far, he’s had my favourite performances this year.
Hahahaha god kenneth was such a huge let down eh but watch him get nominated for BA because he’s Kenneth. Also his revenge was pathetic like he only managed to kill one and everyone else got away. Such a disappointing villain. Will Raymond still get BA? Will he even show up? I’ve heard ppl say if you don’t show up you don’t get it. He hasn’t been to any promos (fair enough his wife just had a baby).
Foon hei’s sidekick…. sorry I don’t know the actors name but he definitely replaced Pakho but didn’t say much or have any value. I often forgot he exisited. Looking forward to LW4 please!
@tt23 I think it will still go to LF, the whole quarantining thing and his newborn probably changed or delayed any plans. Depends on when the awards show is I guess he will show up. I wish Owen will get more than a BSA, stellar performances throughout. Anthony’s smile is contagious. Foon hei’s sidekick got real lucky since he was in LW1, they had to bridge someone from that scene to save Foon Hei. I feel like most tvb villains just die instead of going to jail, which is why I like BY cause Shaun actually goes to jail. Why can’t the bad guys live to serve their punishment. If they can bring Laughing for back can I get Chung Lap Man back too? Ron Ng can play the commissioner lol That would be the dream cast.
Raymond for Best Actor but not the LW3 for Best Drama! Crazy plot lines! Bring back Ah Sheh, please!!!
Without giving away any spoilers, my biggest gripe with this series is what they’ve done with practically all the female leads…come on! But agree with everyone here, Kenneth was a total miscast (no more trying to pass off puppy eyes for sadness look).
And while none of these series are perfect, here is my personal preference / ranking of the TVB series I’ve managed to watched this year:
1) Death by Zero: unique plot, and solid acting from Wayne Lai. Elena Kwong is also highly underrated.
2) Line Walker: just a huge fan of the dynamics amongst Michael Miu, Raymond Lam & Benz Hui, and the original love story arc between Michael & Elena Kong; and Raymond & Charmaine. I really hope they being a Charmaine back.
3) Life After Death: while there is a lot of flak on Priscilla, she is starting to grow on me, especially after this series.
4) Brutally Young: good acting and plot but this got way too serious and real for me, and I’m just not enough of a Shaun Tam fan.
Not a Vincent Wong fan so didn’t mention any of his series here.
@aidenchan
I agree these are the best TVB series this year….
I think Life after Death should get best series… and Priscilla for BA, Raymond Lam should get BA
I also am not a fan of Vincent Wong…
@aidenchan agreed with all your picks. I’m a huge Vincent fan but al cappuccino was not great and I haven’t finished LM2 yet.
Ok I just finished the series here are my thoughts. Spoilers ahead.
1) Kenneth is a HUGE miscast. Did not bring anything to the role and literally so boring in every freaking scene. He does not know how to play a villain. Also the writing for his character was terrible. What did he really do that was “evil”? So boring like so damn boring. I also can’t stand his stupid “pity me” face. I don’t know what’s worse, that face or his angry face lol. I can’t. He single handedly ruined the show for me tbh. And I like Kenneth as a person and didn’t really care for his acting but this ruined it all.
2) Where the hell did Arnold kwok’s character come from? And suddenly he was the right hand man for Kenneth? Missing context and random
3) Too many characters and the thing is too many “big” names. They introduce these characters but with not context and abrupt endings e.g. owen’s character which was a WASTE because that’s some of owen’s best acting and also one of the better storylines. Owen definitely could have done more with that storyline and role to add to the story. Also the one who came to fight Kenneth for the boss seat in the gang? Like what was the point of that story line? What about bobs undercover story? Random? Like I know it was to support Kenneth wanting CIB to handover the list of UCs but then Mandy says some words and he’s like oh nvermind and bob dissappears and we don’t find his body? Plot hole. None of the storylines felt completed and just when it started it ended so quickly and abrupt.
4) They made Mandy’s character pathetic halfway through as I predicted they would do. So what is the point of her role besides being Kenneth’s love interest.
5) I’m sorry but even when they gave Ben material to he step up his acting, when a mui died, he failed to do so. Also how did he and bao seed become police after they left SIA? Plot hole.
6) Is it just me or did cheuk hoi and foon hei not have enough screen time and how much of a waste is that to be honest. These two are the core of this series and they cut their screen time because of Kenneth? Wasted. Same with Raymond. Not enough screen time. Also foon hei’s side kick who’s supposed to be pakho…. waste of screen time. No relevance whatsoever -_-
7) I love Raymond’s story with his foot massage staff, I thought it was really cute and sweet. Also funny. Needed more of that instead of Kenneth.
8) okay. SUPER excited to see Laughing gor (he kinda aged a lot no?) and Phillip in the end (I LOVE phillip). Surprised to see that fake madmen didn’t actually die and that he isn’t anything he said he was but happy because I liked his character. If they can bring Charmaine back, the last ten minutes of the series was already better than the whole series combined lol.
I’m only on episode 10 of LW3, but seeing the comments here, that’s too bad the the series starts to go downhill afterwards. I did feel it started to get complicated when they threw in Michael/Owen into becoming head of the Triads. The organ trafficking was a nice change of pace as a UC storyline. Was kind of getting bored of it always being drugs and triads.
@exodus my suggestion, watch up till ep21. You will just get frustrated with the drama and bored after that.
@bubbles23 I barely stomach the plot line to the bitter end because of Raymond and Michael. I hope Charmaine will return for LW4. PLEASE reunite RL and CS!! PLEASE! PLEASE! PLEASE!
@bubbles23 agreed and watch the last ten minutes of the last episode lol.
Those ten minutes alone was better than the whole series.