“Black Heart White Soul” Cast Celebrates Good Ratings
The cast of the popular TVB crime drama Black Heart White Soul <忠奸人> said they are “very satisfied” with the viewership ratings of the drama. Averaging ratings of 25 points for four straight weeks, the drama’s ratings increased to 27 points in the fifth week and reached a peak of 31 points. Roger Kwok (郭晉安), Kristal Tin (田蕊妮), and Ron Ng (吳卓羲) gathered the cast together for a celebratory banquet on August 20.
Roger Kwok’s Popularity Rising
The popularity of Black Heart White Soul is also picking up speed in mainland China. Since its premiere, Roger Kwok, who portrays the disabled lawyer Matt Ko, revealed that he has been getting more offers to make appearances in mainland China. His remuneration fees for these appearances have increased exponentially. When asked on how much he has earned from these appearances so far, Roger said, “We haven’t counted yet. I don’t know.”
Roger has been monitoring the reviews of the series in mainland China, adding that mainland viewers have become very attached and invested in the drama. Portraying a morally-conflicted lawyer, Roger’s character earned mixed reviews.
He said, “There are people yelling at me on Weibo, but there are also people who said they pitied me. The difference was quite extreme, and the reactions were pretty interesting.”
Asked if he has confidence to win the TV King title again through his performance as Matt Ko, Roger said, “I won’t [win]! There are still many good dramas that haven’t aired yet. There are a lot of actors who have given much more stand-out performances than me this year.”
Roger said he is very satisfied with Black Heart White Soul’s improved ratings, and hopes TVB will treat the cast for another dinner. Will Roger strip off his clothes to celebrate high ratings? “I need to work out some more first!”
Kristal Tin Will Not Do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge
The finale of Black Heart White Soul will aired on August 22. Kristal Tin said she doubts the episode’s ratings would hit 40 points. “I’m really happy that the drama is getting good word-of-mouth. I will also be happy if it hits 35 points!”
Recently the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge, an activity that brings awareness to amyotrophic lateral sclerosis, has gone viral worldwide. The challenge involved the dumping of a bucket of ice water over one’s head and donating to the ALS Association. Numerous celebrities and public figures around the world have been doing the challenge and tagging others to do the same.
Kristal stated that she will not do the challenge, as it is a waste of water, but she will donate to the association.
Asked if she will celebrate the drama’s ratings by wearing her swimsuit in public, Kristal said, “That’s not unique anymore, and I don’t think the audience would want to see me in a swimsuit. If finale ratings do reach 35 points, I nominate Roger Kwok, Ron Ng, and I to run around Tsim Sha Tsui wearing down feather jackets.”
Source: Oriental Daily
This article is written by Addy for JayneStars.com.
One of the best series TVB has made in a long time.
Yes been too long but still disappointed after during ep 25ish when Ron decided to marry Lisa. He became undercover that was stupid and How can the father run off when he got captured in the car.
“Kristal Tin Will Not Do the ALS Ice Bucket Challenge” WHAT!!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!?!
But she donated. That’s also another way to help
Yup…though many celebrities did the challenge, just as many celebrities chose to donate money instead. The whole Ice Bucket Challenge campaign has actually worked quite well, as it has raised alot of money for the ALS Association (even those who accepted the challenge still donated money, whether to ALS or to its equivalent charity in Hong Kong, Taiwan, etc.) and also made people more aware of what ALS is all about. It’s also a big help that so many celebrities who accepted the challenge took the time to explain the cause in their videos and encourage people to donate.
Also, in my opinion, accepting the challenge doesn’t necessarily mean wasting water. Quite a few celebrities had very creative ideas for still doing the challenge, but not wasting water in the process.
Anyway, kudos to everyone who participated (celebrity or non-celebrity), whether by doing the challenge, donating money, or both. 🙂
She’s a Diva, I dislike her, she’s no difference from her irritating hubby.
Agreed! It takes one to know one. 😀 🙁 LOL!
the challenge is just a waste of water…
Achieving awareness and getting donations is the way to help, wasting water is not
LOL!
So did Chow Yun Fat who thinks it’s wasting water
Basic! 😀
Virginia Lok did it…HAHAHAHAAH
http://youtu.be/vHlxVc4P3cw
Actually enjoyed BHWS. Kept me wondering what would happen next. Was so shocked when I found out Leanne Li’s character was actually a b****. Her acting was one of my fav in this drama, quite impressed. Although I do find Roger Kwok’s acting amazing, some of the things he said in this drama was kinda corny lol. But all in all, one of my fav tvb series that they’ve had.
Still hoped matt would genuinely turn into a good person but until the end, he still thinks that going to jail only mean to get back together with may. Anyway, the actor who portray to yi hang was also quite good. He looked so scary.
Waise Lee, he’s known for portraying villains and is pretty damn good at ’em.
The last scene is similar to the one in Last One Standing. Roger with evil smile in jail. Just brilliant! Best TVB series in ages.
Yes, without Roger, this drama will flop
rich bald guy did an excellent job as well. loved it everytime he slapped scarlett LOl
yes the rich bald guy is excellent,anyone know who he is? because i never seen him before.
The bald guy is Waise Lee, think he acted back in the 80s?
Uhm…he had hair back then : )
He played the apprentice that betrayed Chow Yun Fat amd Ti Lung in the all time classic “A Better Tomorrow.” Instantly received recognition thru that role. He is still superb in his villian roles.
the bald guy is also in many old dramas such as A step into the past, twins of brother, the last breakthrough etc
@Steven
And selfish, greedy, cold-hearted, foolish Scarlet deserved every slap to her face.
yeah!!! that is a very good result!!!!! i really like watching this film!!!! ~~~>.<~~~~
Good to see that BHWS got good results (ratings and word of mouth). Though I wouldn’t put this series in the ‘best’ category, I do agree that it was definitely one of the BETTER series that TVB has produced in a long time.
With that said though, the series would have gotten more points in my book if they had switched out Lisa Lau and put in a decent actress whom I could actually look at without thinking how much she looked like Chuckie (I pretty much stopped looking at the screen whenever she appeared…lol). And I still feel they should have cut out some of the ‘fluff’ in the second half of the series and made the plot tighter…but all the flaws aside, it was still a pretty good series overall.
LOL the chuckie comment. This series frustrated me, I have no idea how it earned so much praise! Is it just me or in some scenes Matt seemed like ah wong? Especially his crying scenes, haha. But overall, it started out strong but was really lacking towards the end!
25 ep wld hv been just nice, anything longer is just draggy.
I personally think Lisa Lau was great. Her face is strange looking compared to other ‘pretty’ actresses but she was very expressive without going OTT. I like her portayal of Gillian, a rather naive and twisted person. Black Heart White Soul in my opinion as well is a very clever series.
Nice series..but I must said, Funny is annoying like hell. He hold personal grudge towards Matt and said Matt is even more evil than To yi hang?. I don’t know he is equally evil when he want to break the case he told To yi hang Matt’s weakness which put May into danger. Ron acting is getting weak?.
I share the same view..Funny is very annoying & his acting is “wood”. I prefer Ruco Chan to play this role.
Agree, Ron’s acting is still in the wooden mode.
Ruco is a capable lead actor not a supporting artiste like Ron.
Ruco should play Matt, grey characters are his forte.
I agree only in so far to match Ron’s age but Roger was superb in the last episode in the confrontation scene with may, the tears, the frustration, the betrayal, I almost pitied his Matt. Perhaps we may see the same sort of character with Ruco in Eye In The Sky?
Ruco or bosco playing funny.. Bosco would be better cos bosco is funny and bosco has played cop roles extremely well
I thought Ron acted well but the script is insane in that part. I was like what especially when everyone pitied lau yim more when no one seems to remember how he killed sap chai. Funny is also guilty of many selfish acts. None of the men were likeable and I get the sense of justice etc but I thought what Matt told May at the prison hospital to be realistic. She wasn’t though. Anyway the ending is great for me.
Funny chemistry with Gillian is not there at all. Through out the whole series. Even when Gillian is in coma I can feel Funny emotion..it doesnt move me. I am notvquite sure because of script or what. Agree with you that last scene of Matt with May is supeb.
Personally find this series falls behind LOS, with flaw story line and characters, it appears to simply ‘just want to get it done’. Ironically, ‘smart’ people in series turn stupid all of sudden. Like, Ron get exposed. To Yi Hang killed Scarlet. Matt become witness. And many more. Series is not as fantastic, just ok.
The ending was a bit rushed but this was a series where I actually looked forward to the next episode in anticipation. They really needed a 2-episode ending for this because the momentum and build up fell off a cliff near the end there.
Mr.To probably had the worse ending of them all, he practically walked away from market manipulation in grand fashion but he really thought he couldn’t shake off murder? There was a dead assassin next to him and Scarlet had her fingerprints all over the gun, he probably stood a pretty high chance of winning with self-defense. If there’s any doubt, the point goes toward the defendant as I remember it from another series that focused on the jury. God awful ending for him, guess the only way to kill a rich and powerful bad guy is divine intervention aka traffic accident.
Scarlet I had hoped would live out the rest of her life in poverty (what she’s afraid of the most) or become another old guys mistress realizing she was stuck in this lifestyle forever, unable to escape which would fit her profile as a self-serving individual who lusts for fame and fortune.
Gillian should’ve died from the fall as a caution to Funny, it would’ve given more screen time without needless dialogue talking to her and Mr.To would’ve had an even better reason to go after the two.
Funny I never liked. He was a poor cop, way too emotional and living in his own ‘white’ world. As Matt pointed out, his hands were not clean either but in the end when he talks with May and shifts all blame to Henry To like he was the only one who caused Gillian to be in a vegetative state. Way to clear your conscience and push it all on the bad guy, not a very well written character overall.
May, imho, had the best sense of justice amongst all the characters after her transformation. I think a part of that may have influenced her enough to tell Matt she didn’t love him anymore partly because she knew how dangerous he was and loved him enough to want him to accept responsibility and change. I pieced that together near the end when Matt knows she still cares enough to visit him which fell into his calculated plan. As Matt pointed out though, everyone has their own views based on their moral code. Matt’s reaction would be the opposite view of how her justice was seemingly a ‘betrayal’ to people who go above and beyond to protect family/loved ones, but she stuck to her sense of justice so to me she was the most ‘just’ character. Never yielded her own moral code kind of how batman never kills or uses guns, ever. She has a very idealistic view of justice which she thinks will lead to world peace which imo is great for television but anyone who truly believes that will find the world to be more align to how Matt describes it.
Matt stayed true to the very end. He represented a solid shade of grey, willing to be white or black or depending on the situation. Great example of a realist who acts on his thoughts when the average person will only play out the scenario in their head. Lovely downfall, the bribe that started it all ended up being the catalyst to come full circle. Most people would probably think he never learned and is still evil at the end but my own conclusion is a bit different. He shared this with the audience through Funny when the accident occurred, explaining how his new reality changed after the accident which turned him into a different creature. At first, the opportunity he took on was only for himself as he became self-serving but it soon encompassed May. When the prison guard asked him why anyone would add 10 to 20 years to his own sentence he replied with “with my condition, the years make no difference. This way as long as she thinks I’ve changed, she will be with me forever”. Quite brilliant to the bitter end because he never changed, only adapted like a chameleon and came out with a win-win scenario. I laughed a little when May said “luckily you’re not a lawyer” because I think he’s so successful in the first place because of this adaptability.
True that humans have a sense of right and wrong but this differs vastly between cultures and different periods in time, what was acceptable in ancient times may not be acceptable today. We like to think of it as improvement to what our ancestors did but it’s merely an adaption to our own needs in any particular point in time and the society in which we operate in. People in the future might think of our own moral compasses as odd, foreign and never understand why we think like this as we etch ourselves into the history books.
Matt was the happiest man at the end because until the very end he made the calculations and got what he wanted. A selfish man to the end .
SD…U can write a book on this drama..Lol
I couldn’t agree more. There’s no “righteous character” in this show. They all have their own flaws. What I think could have made this show better is if it was made clear that Funny is not always that “good” guy. He used May in order to trap Matt in Hong Kong. May easily couldn’t have been killed already. Yet, at the end of the show, May remarks she sees a halo on top of Funny’s head. He doesn’t deserve it…. I’m not saying any other character in the show deserves it either, hence, the title black heart white soul 🙂
Agreed! However, he doesn’t know what happiness is and he will never want to. That’s one stubborn guy. 😀
Matt was definitely the overall winner even if it looked like he lost on the surface, he got another chance once again. Splendid ending the way he created a win-win situation where he’s happy and May will be happy that the ‘real’ him has comeback because she’s an idealist and desperately wants to find the old Matt which never existed. I have very little doubt in the future if he lives long enough to leave prison, May will forgive and get back with him. His deception runs too deep and I suspect he will be even better at performing the ‘white’ role which will be made easier by not having to need money/power anymore now that he realizes May is all he ever wants.
Fantastic ending for him, a true puppet master and borderline psychopath which might seem scary to the average person but in reality a lot of people in power have some psychopath tendencies. You’ve got to be willing to throw people under the bus to achieve great things sometimes. Since only Matt really mattered, I think ending was very satisfying.
“ay will be happy that the ‘real’ him has comeback ”
I don’t think May will be happy. She no longer love him. She is now bound by guilt and duty. Hers is a sad sad ending.
If her ties to him is completely cut, she should be happy otherwise she would be miserable even after his death. When someone calculates till the end, will never know what happiness is.
SD… good analysis hahaha. Bravo
From May’s perspective, she’s probably on the edge with forgiving him. Sure, she will have her doubts but what Matt did was probably so unexpected that he will once again pull the wool over everyone’s eyes. Their love isn’t your typical fickle love/flirt and runs deep so with what we know about Matt, I’m certain as long as they continuing interacting then I theorize a get back in the future is unavoidable.
It’s sad for her from our perspective but I don’t feel May will be sad, somewhere deep inside she wants the old Matt back. Alas, he never existed in the first place but he won’t mind acting the part for her.
did May visited Matt in the end? i thought she just ignore him..
Never shown but a possiblity she will.
I thought the ending was really poor. Funny’s character was annoying as hell. He was such a hypocrite, Matt wanted to leave with May but he didn’t give him a second chance despite them being friends. Also, he knew that Matt and Scarlett were planning on having To Yi Hang killed so he could have sent in some people to protect him. But he didn’t, and then at the hospital with Gillian he was all like, “I had to arrest him” making it sound like he didn’t want to.
He did, that’s how he witnessed To executing Scarlet. In the end his professionalism won out eventhough his heart told him justice will mean ignoring that Scarlet was planning to kill To. Matt and Funny were never friends. It was all pretend. I think the ending was different, it was in a way unique and wasn’t BBQ ending which was fine with me. I was thinking maybe Matt will end up with conscience and a good guy but aptly in the end he never changed. Which I suppose is the point of this series.
What I don’t get is how Matt is WORSE than To as Funny theorised it although I might agree Matt is THE SAME as To even that is pushing it a little. But Matt is of course terrible and selfish. He loved no one but himself that even if he did all for May in the end he did it for himself.
I suppose the best ending was the brother Ming turning a new leaf OR Kwong King Cheong who was never arrested at all despite the things he did?
I AGREE! I think Matt was manipulative and cunning, but Henry is definitely evil!
Matt does bad stuff to secure himself and protect the ones he loves. He is selfish with questionable morals. But he is not without conscience. He lies to May due to insecurity and he feels trapped and sees no other way!
But ho-ho, Henry is a control-freak, a user, a tyrant, a murderer, a rapist, etc… who created the whole mess when he killed whoever was in his path. If Henry existed in the old days, he would have potential to be a warlord. Crazy psychopath.
Great stuff from Waise! Glad to see him speaking Cantonese on TV again! Please give him Best Supporting Actor TVB!
I agree on Henry. BUT… the actor was somewhat lacking. I don’t know, not quite convinced of his control freakness.
No, I meant that Funny could have gone in sooner to prevent it from happening. Also, he had the duty to inform To Yi Hang as soon as he suspected that he may be in danger.
I think there was a friendship between Matt and Funny, however Funny’s black and white personality got in the way.
I agree I like that fact that Matt didn’t turn good but his character became a little pathetic as he was still pining for May.
Yes Matt was no where near as bad To Yi Hang so that was a little ridiculous.
Just shows how much expectations hv dropped. Avg 25 points is considered “good ratings” these days!
it’s hard to get people to turn on the tv nowadays..
SD
You wrote a great review analysis
God, that ending was super creepy. Matt is a Class A psychopath.
Lol. agree!
These days almost all hong kong dramas using english names. But koreans don’t, let’s not talk about HK being ruled by the British, but are the hongkies feel having the english names in the dramas make it better?
Dislike Kristal Tin so much.
Agree…Aunty Kristal’s acting is too loud and she ought to have kids at her age!
Kristal can only play these “loud” roles. She would never be able to play an elegant, high-class rich girl. (The ones that Linda Chung is pretty good at).
Huh? Why does having English names matter anyway. Hong Kong is a place where Eastern and western culture collides. Of course, people will use English names.
Hongkies mostly are Christian and they do follow chinese culture so English name are very common to them.
HKG is cosmopolitan- with a huge influx of foreigners in the mix, so it only make sense to have “English Christian ” names- it’s just so much easier to remember. More convenient for all kinds of reasons.
Roger can play any roles extremely well
Chow Yun Fat, Francis Ng, & others declined the challenge and donated. What’s the big deal?
What is Hong Kong’s obsession with wanting to see their stars parade around in a bikini? When an actor offers to parade around in a bikini if ratings go up, it cheapens their art.
I’ve often wonder if TVB are not losing their talents to other stations, would ppl like Kristal Tin be considered for all these main cast? She has to thank the current situations which she has obviously benefitted from it.
Tvb losing their money makers
Tvb biggest lost tommy leung
620 and Catherine has no idea how to promote and help tvb make money.. All Catherine does is promote Wayne and no body else.. Not even roger or Moses Ruco … If Catherine opened her eyes she would know roger Ruco Moses and many more are true legends in acting but she doesn’t care about them
Didnt make the good grade in the final ep. Highest rating points at 31 and average rating points at 25.4…Sad!