However, what’s become increasingly interesting to me as I watch the show is that I’m starting to ask myself, “What if we DID take this show seriously? What would it mean to take the show on its own terms?” As you probably know, many of the situations and subplots of E.U. are ludicrous on any number of levels, but somehow, I actually find it kind of fascinating. Hopefully, when I’ve finished the series (I’m pretty far along at the moment), I’ll have something interesting/amusing to say about the show. Heck, maybe I’ll revisit Turning Point, too, if I get the chance.

Granted, I liked E.U. in the sort of “braindead entertainment” sort of way, but as with any other modern-setting TVB show, it’s very difficult to take seriously and I can’t really see it withstanding any sort of in-depth critical comment.

Maybe it’s a cultural thing, I dunno…

Haha, now *that* is a show I’d totally watch!

I haven’t seen the series, but did happen to catch Turning Point the other day. Can’t help but thinking they could’ve done something closer to Once Upon a Time in a Triad Society rather than go all Infernal Affairs emo with Laughing Gor’s character.

Btw, if you’re still in the mood for some Lee Byung Hun, Dramafever is going to have “Iris” online after Feb 11th

As you might have expected, Turning Point was a huge disappointment to most fans of Laughing. Not only did the script give Michael Tse little chance to *act* much less shine like he did in EU — given how movie Laughing was absolutely bland and void of personality — it totally massacred his backstory by making him a triad member in the first place. Adding insult to injury, it appears that the movie scriptwriters simply could not fathom an undercover cop that did not spend his days agonizing and angsting and being torn over divided loyalties!

But the appeal of EU’s Laughing was precisely that he was a cop first and foremost, who had a bright future as a highly gifted student but made great sacrifices and never wavered in all his years of being undercover, who went about his duties with ruthlessness and flair! Set against all the usual brooding angsty undercovers that the movie industry has thrown at us all these years, Laughing was like a breath of fresh air… and it was really painful when the movie scriptwriters saw fit to ignore the original creators’ vision and destroy it like that.

And after all the glowing praises of his performance in EU, poor Michael Tse had to endure unfair reviews about his acting in Turning Point when it was the scriptwriters (and director) that were mostly at fault — IMHO Michael Tse’s EU version of Laughing could have gone up against Anthony Wong’s and Francis Ng’s “acting chops” anytime.

Well, I could go on but I probably shouldn’t let this be even longer than it is :p So anyway thanks for sharing your thoughts so far, and I’ll be looking forward to your finishing EU sometime and letting us know what you think