Review: “Season of Love” (By Miriamfanz)
Season of Love <戀愛季節>
Hong Kong TVB Drama 2013
Producer: Kwan Wing Chung
Genre: Modern, romance
Episodes: 20
Rating: 
Cast:
Kenneth Ma as “Chu Jo On”
Myolie Wu as “Yiu Dong Lei”
Kate Tsui as “Summer”
Ron Ng as “CK”
Nancy Wu as “Ho Chau San”
Oscar Leung as “Ray”
Vincent Wong as “Simon”
Him Law as “Season”
Toby Leung as “Lam Chun Fun”
Plot:
4 seasons, 4 stories. How does each pair overcome the obstacles to find true love?
Review:
In a series that was supposedly about love, there was little discussion about what love is. The only time there seemed to be any discussion was in the autumn story, with the talk about the importance of honesty in a relationship. Also, for a series about love, there was poor development of the romantic relationships. In at least 3 of the 4 stories, the two leads just miraculously ended up with each other in the final minutes of their story. It is hard to develop a real liking of any of the pairs because there’s never any emotional connection.
Perhaps the short length of each story didn’t allow for its proper development. However, if there’s anything I liked about this drama, it’s the format of it. Four short stories, five episodes each. It keeps things refreshing, the plot doesn’t drag on forever and if I’m ever bored, there’s always the option of skipping ahead (mind you, I didn’t skip though).
Spring: This story was familiar from all angles: the rivals to lovers development, the difference of social status, the misunderstood character. I don’t think Him and Toby look good as a couple. Their age difference looks to wider than what it should be. Their performances were not inspiring either. Toby looked flat and tired. Him had nothing to show except for his muscles. Kandy Wong, who played Toby’s little sister, was annoying with her constant cries of “Season BB!” All in all, the spring season was the most boring of the four.
Summer: This story was slightly better than spring because of the suspense factor. Someone is causing trouble for Kate and the trouble doesn’t stop even after one perpetrator is caught. Watching things unfold was interesting, but the ending was rather disappointing. Turning Kate’s fiancé into a psycho was a quick way out for the scriptwriters who needed to get Kate and Ron together. Not to mention convenient advertising for the upcoming A Great Way to Care 2. Again, nothing too special with this season.
Autumn: This season is the most thought-provoking of the four. The central question is: does fate or character determine one’s life? The series uses three parallel stories to try to arrive at a conclusion. In the first two tries, Nancy’s attitude led to bad endings, no matter who she was married to. What’s interesting though, is that in the third time, even with a changed attitude, she didn’t necessarily have a smooth, desirable life either. Fate spurred events that would lead to her husband cheating on her. Although she finally has a happy ending, it still begs the question: which is the controlling factor, fate or character? Philosophical questions aside, I liked this story because you don’t actually know who Nancy will end up with until the very end. That kept me more interested in this story than others because in the other seasons, the audience had full knowledge that the two leads will end up being together regardless of what goes on for 5 episodes.
Winter: This story probably had the best development in terms of the relationship (“best” being in relative terms). It went through the whole process, from Kenneth chasing after Myolie, the budding romance, the misunderstanding and break-up, the “still have each other in their hearts” stage and finally, the reconciliation. Mixed in between is a search for the truth about one’s own history. The answer isn’t likely to be surprising, although I was thinking of another possibility. The minor flaw is the lack of continuity or explanation from Kenneth’s previous appearances. He appeared to be extremely mysterious in previous stories, but there were no remnants of that mysterious character in this story. Also, at the end of episode 5, there was a picture of Kenneth and Myolie together, which points to an already existing relationship, but their story starts off with them meeting for the first time.
Recommendation: Passable
The review is written by Miriamfanz, a Contributing Writer at JayneStars.com. Visit Miriamfanz’s blog!
I like winter and spring the best though
Couldn’t agree more with your review!
I think Kenneth and Myolie’s first meeting was before the spring story. Then it coincided with the other stories. I remember in one of the stories(Summer or Autmn), Kenneth’s employee was talking about how Myolie would come to accept him eventually.
I liked Autum the most! Others i skimmed through
myolie and kenneth look great together and showed their wonderful acting skills!
nancy proved that she can lead as a titular role! only tvb never gives her that chance!
I agree whole heartedly 110%
Winter and Autum is my fav!!! Myolie and Kenneth are really compatible.
absolutely right! myolie and kenneth looks very compatible and have great awesome chemistry!
i like winter n autumn. 🙂 Myolie n Kenneth look good together. 🙂
same here. winter and autumn are the best. love nancy’s great acting and love the pairing of myolie and kenneth. they look great together and have awesome chemistry! tvb should pair kenneth and myolie more!
Love Autumn most!
I love the characters in autumn but I don’t get the story. Who did ho chau sang marry?
She married Oscar in the first story which ended with him cheating on her and leaving her for JJ.
In the second story, she married Vincent and he was a really good husband but she was a spoiled, lying brat and caused him to become sterilised and then fall down the stairs, getting further injured.
In the third story, she married Oscar again and he became really successful while she was a doting wife. He cheats on her with multiple women, but she forgives him and tries to win him back. Eventually, she gives up and leaves him which makes him realise he wants her. Two years later, they met again and reconciled.
Needless to say, the ending to the third story made absolutely zero sense, unless TVB’s message to women was to accept and forgive your cheating louse of a husband.
I agree; I thought the Autumn story had a lot of potential, but wasn’t sure I liked TVB’s message. The moral of the story is that being selfish is bad. But in the 1st iteration, I actually thought Nancy’s character acted WELL within the bounds of acceptance. Yes, she could have been nicer, more trusting, etc… but she mostly acted like a regular person.
And then her character was the most accepting and kind (frankly, in a not really realistic way) in the 3rd go-around, but then pretty much got treated the worst (outside of the quickie-tacked-on ending)??!
It’s almost frustrating because the bones of the story is good, and I thought Nancy’s acting was really enjoyable. TVB needs to use her more!
ron role was boring as usual but the one thing he proved was he can act other roles not just the hot headed characters like in ssss
The most boring was summer for me. Kate and Ron pairing is just so boring and uninteresting. Their acting is still crap and bland. Both of them suit each other coz they are the same level of b-level acting.
Spring was good. Like him’s muscles and cute face. So handsome and comical. Very funny. Kandy is an eye opener. Her constant season bb! Playing him’s hc fan is so funny and cute! Crazy fan. She played a teenage kid very well.
Autumn was more like Sliding Doors. Too many tears in this one. But must praise Nancy Wu!!! Her acting is good. I find her better than Kate even coz she’s comfortable to watch on screen.
Winter was good too. The investigation into the history of Myolie past was interesting and sad. Ma Ming’s hair was a bit weird. Lucky they had a happy ending.
Echoed my sentiments exactly!
I liked Autumn and Winter’s story the most because there seemed to be a little more thought put into these 2.
Autumn’s was interesting since I didn’t know who she was going to pick. I was rooting for Nancy and Oscar in the beginning but then he cheated on her both times! However, I did like how it tied into the stories about if she loved him enough to forgive him and move on. When Oscar realized he was in the wrong, he was willing to give up everything to win her back. Even though Nancy’s personality was different both times and it still had Oscar cheating on her, it was their fate that they will still end up together.
I thought Kenneth and Myolie’s was very cute and sweet and liked how history tied in to their story. For some reason, I kept thinking that they were going to end up making Kenneth the first love from her dreams, just because it would be something cheesy that tvb would do. haha. I was glad that Myolie was able to find her first love, just to realize that she had to let go of her past to move on with her future.
Exactly my thought! I thought Kenneth was gonna be the one that appeared in her dream. Oh well, TVB had surprised us with something new this round.
I like the story of autumn the most!
compatible???? eww
myolie and kenneth look ODD as a couple
I like Autumn and Winter the most, the first 2 weren’t interesting, I even thought of discontinuing the drama. But luckily the autumn one saved the whole drama. It was really interesting and fresh from TVB, I really like Nancy and Vincent! Miss them so much since Gun Metal Grey.
Winter is very well-potted, I like how there was this historical thing evolving around them. I thought Kenneth will be ‘Hou Lam’ actually. One thing that flawed is Kenneth’s appearance in the previous 3 stories wasn’t explained. He was so mysterious, I expected something to link all of the stories together.
Well, it’s a pretty cute and fresh drama from TVB, departing from the usual police, lawyer, doctor drama.
p/s: Ron and Kate don’t have much chemistry between them anymore, I meant I don’t see any sparks between them now, i hope to see more fresh pairings like Kenneth and Myolie.
after watching ron .. im so scared that ron and myolie’s pairing in triumph in the skies 2 will be total failure. ugh … i was rooting for them in tits1!!!
I love the 4 story but eventually I agree with others that said Myolie and Kenneth they look very sweet and pair together.
Please TVB has to give more of this kind of story or drama to all their fans and tv publics.
thanks
Winter – Kenneth Ma was so weird in the first 3 stories, but he was very sweet in the last one. I wonder if a guy would really make so much effort for a girl in real life….
Autumn was my favorite, but it reminded me of wish and switch. To be honest none of them stood out, but if i had to choose then it would be Autumn. The rest were really bland.
I love Autumn the most, it reflected on some morals and values when being in relationships etc. Nancy and Oscar’s performance was pretty well done. I also enjoyed Winter because of Kenneth and Myolie! The story and ending however was ok.
did anyone else notice all the girl’s character names had the season in it.
that was kinda clever actually. 😀
after reading about the disconnecting kenneth ma character from the posters above, i thought it through .. not sure if this made any sense.
i think while he was solving the 3 cases, it was already post US with his dad. he came back b/c his assistant wanted to get married and transfer those cases back to him. to me, this made the most sense to explain his odd behavior and knowing myolie already.
Vote for autumn. Nancy and Oscar are both great. Both fate and attitude lead the couple together. If Nancy hadn’t met Oscar when she was back in HK, they probably wouldn’t be together. However, Nancy’s attitude towards life makes her a person who can accept what life gives her (being single or back again with Oscar – she seems happy in both situations. Spring is really LAME.
Guess Kate was right! Audience are bored of her pairing with Ron already. I still like their pairing, but after watching HAL, I totally loved Ray and Kate’s pairing. By the way, I didn’t watch SOL yet.
its a waste of time, boring.
I have only watch the first episode of the Summer story. I find all 4 guys vying for Kate’s affection are more interesting than Ron.
I love autumn the most! I really hope that TVB will give a chance to Nancy and Vincent to co-lead in a drama together. I love seeing them together 🙂
Can someone tell me what happens in Autumn? I thought Nancy went back in time and she was with vincent, then I heard she went back to Oscar. Does she get anyone in the end? I hate oscar, not a fan of his whatsoever nor JJ
Spring was tolerable until Toby put on that yellow dress to act “feminine” – way to recycle a severely overused story line. I couldn’t watch after that.
Summer – I put it on for background noise when I put together a furniture project, so I technically only watched about 15 min of it and heard the rest. Meh.
Autumn – I took time to watch this one because I enjoy Nancy Wu’s acting. Thought this was the best of the 4 but I agree with the slapped on ending. Did not believe she should end up with Oscar. Stronger ending would be that she makes her own fate.
Finally took the time to watch the autumn part. My gosh, Nancy, I like you! Boy, Oscar can look quite manly.
I have to give him kudos for his crying scene when he was reading Nancy’s letter got me tearing…yeah, I got weak eyes. I can’t watch anyone sob..the snot..the tears.. the veins getting ready to pop..over dramatic? A bit. But all for the good take!
Anyone want to tell me which is the next story to watch?
Autumn and Winter!!!! The acting, the cast, the storyling, and the little insights on life of those two seasons were the best!
Summer and Winter! but weird, Billy’s Curry shop sign clearly said “Halal” so how is Kenneth Ma’s character going to order Curry Pork Chop in the finale???