Brutally Young (2020)

Even though this is a small production and the writing went downhill near episode 17, this is by far the best TVB drama of the year.

The first 16 episodes had excellent writing and pacing, with a mix of tense moments and comedic scenes. The gradual unravelling of events and truths constantly kept me on the edge of the seat as I try to figure out who was the murderer and what would happen next. But they revealed the murderer too soon and the episodes became a little draggy to watch. In my opinion, there are a lot of ways to show Sam's extreme drive of self-preservation without having him kill off Lai Guo Meng and thus, the whole messy plot of causing the death of Gan's mother.

The character development weren't as tight as the plot, especially when you consider that the whole series centres around Sam and the way his self-preservation led him deeper and deeper into the wrong path. I actually enjoyed watching the character and Shaun Tam did a great job as Sam, but I felt that the writers could have gone deeper into Sam's psyche and pushed him further against the wall. In a way, Sam was both the protagonist and the "villain" of the show, but he wasn't as convincing as a "villain". Still, this is Shaun's best and most natural performance. If there are no other outstanding performances this year, I will root for him to win Best Actor.

However, I was really disappointed with Sam and Gan's love-line. There was absolutely no chemistry between Shaun and Mandy Wong, and at the end, I was confused at the way Sam grovelled for Gan's forgiveness. There was no scene to show exactly when Sam fell so much in love with Gan so I thought he was with her just to get more information about the investigations. I can't say that their romance is unnecessary as taking out their relationship would also lessen the guilt Sam feels about the death of Gan's mother, but I just wish that their romance was more developed.

Something that surprised me was how much I enjoyed the Yat/Sin love-line as I do not like Joel Chan and I thought I will be bored to tears with the typical romance between a deaf girl and a triad member. But there is something that I like in their chemistry, even if I dislike their romance plot. Vivian is adorable as Sin and I can tell that she put a lot of effort into playing a deaf character.

It's pretty obvious that inspiration has been taken from When Heaven Burns - the whole plot of living with blood on your hands and watching your closest friends becoming strangers or enemies, though Brutally Young is a lot darker and more tense, while When Heaven Burns is a meditation about the effects of growing up in a desensitised city. The last shot of Sam and Fu imagining their friends there with them harks back to a similar scene in WHB where all of the characters (including the dead Ka Ming) reunite in an alternative reality - that actually brought a smile to my face (because WHB is my favorite TVB dramas ever).

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Brutally young was as an enjoyable ride for 2/3 of its run. It kept you on your toes while slowly unraveling the plot. However, it reached an impromptu climax that it was never able to recover from. That absolutely ruined it for me.

The last 1/3 of the show was cringe worthy, it will probably divide viewers. For me, it felt like watching two different shows from that point onwards. I could see how others may feel differently, especially if you reframe the whole series as the downfall of a man.

The bottom line if you're considering watching this series is to know what you're getting into.

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