Death by Zero (2020)

A theme grounded on contract killers has reaped its rewards

Nearly a week to reflect the assassin drama known as Death By Zero, and I can truly say it is an entertaining, engaging and nicely executed TVB drama. Words that is hard to associate with TVB dramas these days.

STORY
The plot revolving around Overbeck, a world of assassins was signs that Death By Zero was going to an unusual route but a refreshing and unique change. It centres around two of the greatest assassins to be in the game, Yim Mou (Wayne Lai), once the best, before a family tragedy not only led to his downfall but also ushered into a new era of the current best assassin in Zero/Kiu Sing (Moses Chan). Respectively, being a punk and a cafe owner as cover to protect their identities. Of course, female characters are just as important, Cash (Ali Lee), a single mum but cute, quirky and money-hungry comes into Zero's life but not what it seems to begin with before showcasing affection to one another. Haan (Elena Kong), Yim Mou's good friend, who always provides closure and comfort towards him in desperate times.

For the first 75% of the drama, sophisticated storytelling of what lies around the lives of assassins led to huge potential going from the previous episode to the next. With side stories sometimes can affect the overall theme, but in this instance, certainly did not. Zero, Yim Mou, Cash and Haan all had motivation and purpose to immerse and engage into fantastic storytelling. Whether it is Zero's purpose is avenging his brothers, Yim Mou wanting to reconcile with his long-lost daughter back to good terms or Cash doing everything she can to support both her mum and son, just them plot arcs was brilliantly accomplished. Into the finale week, some plot holes were left unanswered and from the beginning of episode 26 towards the end, it did slightly fall away from narrative. More scenes featuring both Zero and Yim Mou would've been nice to excel it even further. Thankfully, the final episode, showed restraint but in a good way, which delivered what was a touching and well thought out ending to pick up where it begun.

CHARACTERS
Two veterans in the business such as Moses and Wayne, always garner attention and for good reason. Both are able to sound so convincing when playing their part but also give that flair and charisma which is lacking in today's generation of actors and actresses. No drama would be complete without relationships but involving the main two, huge props to not only Zero & Cash/or should say Speed but also to Yim Mou and Haan. Both showed amazing chemistry in two different aspects, Zero & Cash displaying the humour and cuteness (sometimes Aegyo), and Yim Mou & Haan showcasing more of towards the emotional side. Can I just say, is there any role Ali Lee can not do? Like seriously, she is so versatile and can play any character given the opportunity. She is definitely TVB's best actress! As good as the main cast was, the support crew delivered mixed results. Dark Angel (Katy Kung), delivered her best performance but was a confusing character to read at times, the storyline involving Mun Mun (Kaman Kong) dragged for too long, Tet Yan (Jimmy Au) had potential but was a complete afterthought, Dino (Anthony Ho) tried his best but just doesn't seem to fit the antagonist role and the main villian Parker (Brian Tse), again a breakthrough but lack of story build up hurt his overall character. In contrast to Sum Sum (Samantha Ko), a temple keeper by day & a sweeper by night, a love interest of Zero and Cash's best friend showed her true capabilities. An honourable mention to both of Zero's and Yim Mou's respective agents Charlie Chan (Timothy Cheng) and Fong Taai (Helen Ma), showed great chemistry with their clients, especially Zero and Charlie Chan, such bromance between the two and always expect comedy between them.

SOUNDTRACK
Short but sweet, James Ng's track Unselfish who happens to play the role of Fung Sir, a cop investigating these matters, reminds of a superhero opening that hypes the audience into watching the episode, couldn't have thought of a better opening intro.

Again, Death By Zero is TVB's best drama of 2020 (so far), for its excellent showcase of surprise elements in enlightened storytelling, superior characterisations and style. But taking a risk in using sequences of events and the characters’ actions to tell the story, created consistency to the majority of Death By Zero really paid dividends and huge benefits came out of it. A difficult job knocking off the perch for upcoming TVB dramas of 2020.

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Interesting Premise, Failed Execution

Quick Snippet: What is death in a world of assassins? Anyone can be an assassin in this universe, and there is an intricate underground syndicate of assassins for hire. The assassins have managers that help them book jobs, and there are cleaners to help dispose of the body and evidence. Most of the jobs are made to look like accidents or gang casualties, only a rookie police suspects anything is afoot. The idea for this series is interesting and refreshing-- TVB hasn't done a series like this before. However, the plot gradually deteriorated the quality of this series.

Plot: There were a lot of contradictions in character design on top of bad writing. The bad writing mainly stems from overused movie troupes and awkward pacing. If you have to make something predictable, at least make it enjoyable. I could basically guess the main plot towards the end of the series but it wasn't the traditional feel good or bitter sweet ending so I just became disengaged with the series. All the characters I wanted to live, died; all the characters I could care less for, survived.
I did not understand how Zero and Cash suddenly become so deeply in love with each other when they started off as FWBs bc I could not sense any chemistry between them. The characters in the story are also very inconsistent in order to follow the plot:
1. The assassins are written to be smart and seasoned, yet they were really oblivious sometimes. For example, Yim Mou was completely unsuspecting of Bingo's death despite being familiar with Bingo's daily patterns and behavior (Bingo basically follows Yim Mou around everyday, it is very unlikely that he wouldn't contact Yim Mou for days on end). Also, how do you not hear a person being hit by a fucking car when you are literally around the corner?? Another example is how no one suspects foul play from Dino when Sofia goes missing and he stands up to not only find the killer but promote himself to be the new leader...
2. Another plot is how despite Parker and his uncle being billionaires, they can't seem to hire bodyguards to protect them from Faat Ye. If the uncle already broke the law by hiring prostitutes, he might as well hire an assassin to kill Faat Ye too?? This is a series about assassins, yet the richest person in the series doesn't think to hire one to solve their problem? Also, Faat Ye is not a realistic villain, he basically takes what he wants... how is he allowed to do that? Aren't there Jiang Hu rules? Why wouldn't all the triads and underground criminals gang up to get rid of this wild card and just split his property?
3. The timeline of the plot was also very choppy. In one episode, Faat Ye uses Megan to blackmail Parker, but we don't hear anything else about that until like 4 episodes later. This demolishes the sense of urgency or threat of Faat Ye bc the audience doesn't get a follow up on the situation. The plot didn't do a good job of mixing all the characters together. It basically seemed like there were 3 separate stories being told (Yim Mou, Zero, and Faat Ye + Parker). A lot of problems could have been solved if the characters appeared on screen together and communicated.

Characters:
- My favorite character was Sam Sam, she is the woman girls aspire to be. She is perfect, but the plot did her dirty. Samantha Ko looked really good with the asymmetrical bob, hair color, and outfits. What I really like about Sam Sam is that her EQ and IQ are through the roof. She has a very mature perspective when it comes to love and friendships. She takes a very logical approach to relationships and doesn't let emotions cloud that. She is also well informed in topics she is interested in. I really shipped her with Zero, because they would have been such a power couple! But alas, she doesn't have that kind of plot armor and ends up alone. Her friendship with Cash also seemed very one-sided, I couldn't wrap my head around how she could be friends with someone like Cash. She has bailed Cash out so many times, yet Cash doesn't even seem grateful for it! It seemed like Cash thought she was entitled to Sam Sam's good graces and help because she was down on her luck. I also didn't like how Cash have Sam Sam manipulate the guys that liked Sam Sam to benefit herself (i.e., coffee shop job, tutor for her son, etc.). Also, I think it is a plot hole to have Sam Sam not be a good fighter. She has a dangerous job and her personality is one who studies everything to mastery-- it doesn't make sense that she wouldn't have learned some self-defense along the way.
- I also have a soft spot for Bingo. Not only was he good comedic relief, he actually had some depth. He knew he was being taken advantage of by Ah Mou, but he willingly continued bc he believed he gained companionship and exposure to a new world. He is aloof, but he is smarter than some main characters.
- Megan and Parker: I actually have a lot of empathy for this couple. I was glad that Megan chose to stay with him, because I think Parker did love Megan and she could be the key to saving him. I was disappointed that the plot made him turn into a killer, but I had a feeling that would happen, sadly. I think Parker was a really good guy in the beginning, but he was traumatized and later snapped. I don't think the series did a good job depicting his mental breakdown. He was afraid to even hold a gun, so how did he become a crazed killer 5 episodes later? The series also showed that he was a weak fighter, so how was able to overpower trained assassins later on? A lot of the character progression had no build up. Also, the oversight of Zero, Yim Mou, and Charlie was baffling. How did it never cross their mind to get mental help for Parker after everything with Faat Ye ended? Being assassins, they of all people should be aware of the mental toll of the initial exposure to death. Parker was locked in a coffin with his uncle and literally watched his uncle die before his eyes. There is no way he didn't have any mental repercussions afterwards. I think his long exposure to Faat Ye and no mental health debriefing afterwards precipitated his spiral later on.
- I found Man Man to be pretty annoying; it was hard to feel bad for her when she died because I had no attachment to the character at all. She was still okay the beginning, albeit a little too innocent. For someone who has been travelling Asia alone to look for her father, her innocence and bubbly-ness comes off as fake. Maybe the actress had some difficulty portraying the nuances between hope stemming from optimism (fitting for the character) and hope stemming from ignorance (character comes off as fake). It was also bad writing to not flesh out the internal conflict of Man Man. When she saw her dad die in front of her, she had a 180 change in personality. This is understandable, but the series didn't illustrate it well. She just became very self-destructive, which is normal, but it came off as very distasteful because she continued to blame Zero for everything and kept throwing herself a pity party. She became very entitled-- thinking every one owes her pity for things she did to herself (no one forced her to start getting into drugs). I had no empathy for her, until the plot redeemed itself with the night scene between Zero and Man Man (when he gives her the teddy bear keychain). That scene showed me a new POV on Man Man's situation. Finding her dad was her only goal in life, so when her dad died it was less that she was sad about her dad dying than the removal of purpose for her character in this story. Yes, her dad dying is sad for her, but the audience (and probably herself) know how much of dirtbag he was, so he got what he deserved. The biggest emotional hit to her was that she no longer had a purpose in life, and so she felt lost and turned to the wrong things (resentment and drugs) to fill that vacancy. It was just annoying how she would try to guilt Zero and Yim Mou into feeling responsible for her downward spiral when she was the one who decided to jump in the first place. And it was dumb how Zero and Yim Mou were able to so easily guilted. They are professional assassins who have killed countless people-- how many innocent people have they already hurt and how many families did they break in the process? How are they so easily guilted by what Man Man says to them?
- I found Cash to be incredibly annoying, she was like a parasite in this story. It blew my mind how someone as abrasive as her could survive in this universe of assassins for more than 3 episodes. Unfortunately, since she is the female lead she is given some out-of-character advantages (an intellect that only seems to pop up in critical times and hidden sniper skills!?). I don't have anything against her being cheap, but she's very brash and judgmental-- doing what she feels is right for her without considering how other people will be harmed (even when others point out what she is doing wrong, she insists in her thinking). The worst part is that none of the situations pertain to her! She butts into these situations because she thinks that she knows what's best for everyone-- except she doesn't bc her thought processes are too short-sighted and simple. She also likes to victimize herself for being so outta luck (e.g, poor), when the main reason for her misfortune is herself (she is a terrible employee). She is also a bad mother and rude to her own mom. She no doubt loves her son, but she is too selfish and immature to teach her child well. I really like Ali Lee, but there were scenes where I literally had to press mute when Cash came on... Yumi was an annoying character too but she is a secondary character who didn't have much substance to begin with, thus her irrelevance is not that disappointing. However, Cash is the female lead so it was disappointing to have her disaster of a character drag down the whole series. I would rather have her die than Parker (the final villain of the series), which says a lot bc Parker did some really messed up things.
- Zero's character flaw was falling for Cash. He changed into a less respectable character after that. It was cool that he was really loyal to her, but I couldn't see why he would like someone like her. He was supposed to be a prideful character, but that trait just turned into a joke towards the end of the series. It was a character inconsistency, bc the series did not depict his growth into a more humble person-- it was as if the series just forgot what kind of character Zero is for some scenes.
- Yim Mou was mostly enjoyable. I really like the play on his name! Back in his prime, he was nicknamed "Yim Wong" (~ Grim Reaper), but in the current timeline he is referred to as "Yim Se" (~gecko). The two nicknames are homonyms to show that he used to be pretty badass but has fallen off since. He really let himself go, and I found myself frustrated with how dejected he was. He eventually steps up to the plate, but usually after shit hits the fan. He really is a legend in the assassin industry bc he still has is when he gets serious. He can even still go toe to toe with Zero!

Acting: I think all the actors did a really good job. My favorites were Moses, Wayne, and Brian Tse. Moses did an incredible job of giving life and personality to the character. Granted, the script made Zero and interesting character, but Moses delivery of the lines and portrayal of his character quirks really defined the character. I loved how he would slip in some English words and hand movements to make Zero more comical while maintaining that cultured image. It's been a minute since Moses has been in a drama-- I was impressed by how attractive he was in this. I used to watch TVB when Raymond Lam, Bosco, Ron Ng, and Moses (+ others) were the popular main actors, and I never really found Moses that attractive. I think he aged really well. Wayne is always a treat to watch, he did such a good job in portraying his character's loss of will power and self loathing. Wayne plays a "ma laat lou" character well, and I was so surprised by how fit his body could be when he trained at the end of the series. Brian Tse was very versatile in this series. He pulled off the genuine rich guy without coming off as flat, and his performance as the serial killer was really good! I got chills in some scenes when he got triggered or blood thirsty. Katy Kung also impressed me with her performance as a love sick, crazy assassin!

Music: The opening theme song is pretty catchy and fast paced. I also liked the ending OST, but it didn't exactly match the theme of the series.

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