Phoenix Rising

I wasn’t planning to watch this series because I thought it was quite boring, but I watched it once in awhile when I didn’t have anything else to do. To my suprise (as usual) I enjoyed it! Sure, it had a limited cast but the storyline was very tragic and was focused on betrayal. I love tragic stories, espicially with good artistes in it. Limited spoilers.

Main cast: Louisa So, Krystal Tin, Leila Tong, Sunny Chan
Genre: Period drama, Suspense, Mystery
Length: 20 episodes (approx 45 minutes each episode)
Released: July 2007
Theme song: Phoenix Rising by Kelly Chen

Synopsis

Wealthy lady Yim Pui Woo (Louisa So Yuk Wah) was accused of murdering her adopted mother and imprisoned. Unexpectedly, she meets her long-lost younger sister So Fei (Leila Tong Ning) there. Fei reunites Woo with their big sister Kong Lai Nga (Krystal Tin Yui Nei) and rekindle their sisterly love. Furthermore, Nga and Fei join together to clear Woo’s name of her accused crime.

Unfortunately, after Nga gives birth to her son with boyfriend Yin Leung (Sunny Chan Gam Hung), she learns that she has an incurable disease. Nga decides to take a risk and takes the punishment for Woo’s crime and be imprisoned. Fei can only investigate by herself. However, frighteningly, she discovers that the report for Nga’s incurable disease was fabricated by Woo. Fei cannot accept her dear elder sister’s actions.

Fei, to avoid Nga from going to jail wrongly, breaks the law and helps Nga to conspire her escape from prison. Woo faces Nga with a notion of wanting to destroy any possible trouble and wants to kill her. Instead, she implicates her beloved husband, Cheung Chi Hoi (Ben Wong Ji Yin), by breaking up his family. From here on, the lives of the three Woo sisters hang on a string inside and outside of prison? (credit to TVB musings)

My thoughts

This drama is a massive change to the normal TVB dramas, this is one of their first dramas that talks about prison and I just loved the storyline. It shows that even though you can be related to someone by blood, they can do anything to you just so they can live peacefully. I haven’t watched a short 20 episodes that left me crying and screaming (when Pui Woo did something bad to her sisters) in almost every episode in ages!

I think Krystal Tin used to work with ATV because this is the first time I’ve seen her. I must say, she’s a really good actress and don’t foget about Louisa So and Leila Tong! Louisa plays a very good villian and Leila was such a cute, optimistic and hardworking sister. The love relationships with the three female leads and male leads was really good too.

 

In the final episode, there was two deaths. I didn’t like half of the ending because one good person died, it was so…tragic. Life in jail was so scary man, one of those terrifying scenes was when one of the girls wanted to chop Fei and Nga’s fingers off and when they were forced to drink soap. It was so disgusting but exciting at the same time, if you get what I mean.

The filming was done really well too, it looked really realistic when it was snowing and the scenes in jail looked realistic too. Even thought I’ve never been to jail, it looked like what I expected it too. Some of the hairstyles looks really fake, espically Pui Woo and Fei’s hairstyles in the end.

Final Judgement

8.5 out of 10. Almost a 9, it wasn’t a PERFECT series but it was really good. I’d recommend it to people who don’t mind tragic dramas.

P.S – I think the poster was done really well, how the mirror reflects the backstabbing. Smart. Anyone agree with me?

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