Open Endings
Wai Ka Fai seems to love creating open-endings for the stuff he wrote. There were some of the finest TV series made based on his works, all modern.
This author also wrote what's called "All Out of Love" or something like that (ATV) and "Racing Peak" (w/ Amy Chan), AGAIN starring Felix in both of them (the baby is loved, aww), but since I have no clue what they are all about, I'll just stick with the above 3 mentioned for this article.
- Looking Back In Anger (1989) - starring Felix Wong, Carina Lau, Deric Wan, Kathy Chow. It has had the highest viewing rate in the history of TVB (yes, surpassing even 'Legend of the Condor Heroes 1983'.. come to think of it, Felix's series replaced his own record, what a guy).
- Heaven's Retribution (1990) - starring Felix Wong (again), Jamie Chic, Lawrence Ng. Quite possibly the best ATV series I've seen, written by the same writer.
- The Greed of Man (1993) - starring Adam Cheng, Sean Lau, Vivian Chow. Yet again, the same writer.
Anyway, all 3 of these series have something quite obvious in common.
- Numero uno: the main guy is always hard-working, ambitious, wanting to succeed, righteous, virtuous, all the plus adjectives.
- Numero dos: the main girl is always somewhat spoiled, hard to tame, or stingy. In other words, they are far from normally innocent girls. But they eventually change. God knows how bad Carina was, but she changed. Jamie was like the reincarnation of Katarina from Shakespeare's 'Taming of the Shrew,' but she changed. Vivian could be awarded as the neo-Scrooge, but she changed.
- Numero tres: that main guy and that main girl always fall in love. Felix & Carina. Felix & Jamie. Sean & Vivian. What great couples. [Actually, Sean & Amy Kwok made a better couple off-screen but that's besides the point...]
- Numero quatro: the main guy (or some other main guy) always cleans up after someone's crap, probably for their whole lives. Felix cleaned up after Deric's crap. Felix cleaned up after Lawrence's crap. Damian Lau in 'The Greed of Man' cleaned up after Adam Cheng's crap when he was alive. It's a pitiful life.
- Numero cinco: the main guy always gets screwed, either through the death of a loved one or himself dying. Felix lost his son and his wife eventually left him, thanks to his brother Deric. Felix lost his 2 sisters, thanks to his best friend Lawrence, and his wife got ill and they had to part for 2 years. Sean lost everyone - his 3 sisters, and the person who raised him - and his girlfriend's life was at stake at any given moment.
Conclusion: 1. I still know how to count in Spanish, let's give that a whoop for joy. ;) 2. The writer is some crooked-hearted & sadistic meanie who can't bear to see a happy ending for the characters he/she created. Very very naughty. =_=
Open endings: In 'Looking Back In Anger,' Felix is praying in a church
on the day he is supposed to meet Carina again. Then the camera captures a person's feet drawing near him, leaving a note saying that Carina is dead. This is probably the most disputed series ending, about whether Carina is really dead or not. I personally like to think that she was alive and that the person in the church was actually her. At least it's more hopeful that way.
In 'Heaven's Retribution,' Felix gets shot by Lawrence but doesn't die on spot. He reassures his wife, Jamie, that he won't die so easily. But when they are in the ambulance being transported to the hospital, his marble (he put a marble in a jar for each day Jamie was in hospital because she had blood cancer) rolls out of his pocket, then the ambulance stops because there is traffic. This is harder to guess and I was waiting years for the sequel (no hope, I know), but I think it meant that he was dead. If he was shot like that, I don't think he stood a chance to live even if he did make it to the hospital in time.
In 'The Greed of Man,' I think it's quite obvious that Vivian is dead, although this can be argued for years. That's what I think because I thought her letting go of her handkerchief symbolized her life dying. I think this was the most touching scene I've ever seen in a TVB series by the way. T_T
Bottom line: who the hell knows. All these series are very good but nothing bothers me more than open-endings. I guess the series are the reflections of the real world (cold, hard and cruel) because not all 'good' guys end up with a happy ending, as unfair as it seems. Otherwise this life would be very ideal and no one would have to suffer. I think the vast majority probably know this already, and the reason they might perhaps like series where the main characters end up happily is that they might receive some vicarious pleasure out of seeing that. I am one of those people, therefore, the above 3 series really stress me out and piss me off!
Simple message from all of the above: life sucks, deal with it.
[Written by Clair, 2/21/2001]