A 25-episode TVB series which explores the old adage of time-travel for a second chance in life. The male lead Sze Kwong dies while trying to save his sister while on the run from the the evil-doer property developer Hong Wing-yan. He wakes up a few months earlier, realises his second chance in life and determined to protect his loved ones and make it work.
The series introduces Little Period of Time (Xiao Xiao Shi Guang) Café located at outskirt Sai Kung in a bungalow. The café is left by the recently deceased Chu Siu Siu to her secondary school friends – Hailey Cheung Man, Au-yeung Kah Shun and Yeung Zhi San. The girls used to be good friends but drifted apart due to misunderstanding over young love. As the 3 girls face the challenge of operating a café, their friendship is reignited and questions arise their deceased friend Chu Siu Siu’s life and the reason for her to commit suicide.
Muse 1 The location of the café is really nice & unique. I also like the various cakes & coffee ideas explored herewith. I would love to visit the café if it really exists in HK. 😀 The place looks like a relaxing place to unwind.
Sze Kwong moves next to the Café to stay with Park Go-bum, an attorney who also manages the will of Chu Siu Siu. In his previous life, he reconciles with his step-sister Kah Shun and falls in love with Hailey but both die. As he returns for his second chance, he decides not to reconcile with Kah Shun nor woo Hailey to protect them.
Muse 2 The series take liberty to show off the men’s muscles at every single chance. 😛 Cheap thrill.
He also commences his plan to compile evidences to take against Hong-wing Yan through the corruptions & bribes that he has given in order to ensure smooth running of his property development projects. He gets assistance from Park Bo-gum who finds out about his time-travel. As he goes through his “second life”, he realises he does not have the full picture of the situation.
In his previous life, he is in charge of inspection of the Wai Lei Building, an old building which collapses and kills 5 occupants. Subsequently, his girlfriend Hailey is mowed down by a car while he and his sister Kah Shun is kidnapped to an abandoned factory and died while trying to escape.
Muse 3 The series explores the idea of heritage building, which is really great. The implied engineer vs architect. Although superficially explored, but adequate to focus the attention on these themes.
Originally, he is set for revenge against his mentor Marco Ying Yiu-wa, whom he perceives to be the betrayer in his previous life. Throughout his ordeal, he is always pulled into different directions as he is drawn towards his love for Hailey. In his pursuit of protection for Hailey and Kah Shun, he tries his hardest to avoid reconciliation with them.
As he gets to know the residents of Wai Lei Building, he tries to convince them to move out. However, as clues lead him to further investigations, he finds further information
- Chu Siu Siu did not commit suicide
- Hong Wing-yan has his hands even further into many various sinister plots to further expand his businesses
- There are implanted moles staying nearby the café to spy on the girls
At the end, he finally manages to ensure the safety of his loved ones and the occupants of Wai Lei Building. And the final revenge is to put Hong Wing-yan away.
Conclusion 6/10
HK TVB drama series have long been on decline and hardly any are worthy to watch. Terrible plots, mediocre acting, cheesy scripting. Anything in the negative, you name it and you will get it in TVB series. This particular series is a little bit of a surprise for me.
Character-wise, I won’t really classify the series as great. Many of the characters in the series are predictable with one dimension development. In fact, the main male lead Sze Kwong has a terrible character development. He feels guilty but his actions to decide on others’ behalf does not endear him. At the same time, the love interest Hailey is equally childish and often reacts irrationally. Deserving of each other, I guess.
What is quite interesting is the lives of the occupants of Wai Lei Building and how they react when prodded by Sze Kwong; the development of Kah Shun’s naïve but kind nature into something more balanced; the attraction of Zhi Shan and the younger Sing into a relationship. Adequate superficial touch on various topics of interest.
Now – the ending itself is really a major spoiler to an otherwise enjoyable mediocre series. In the 2nd life of Sze Kwong, he still ends up dead but able to save his loved ones and redeem himself to save the occupants of Wai Lei Building.
However, when it was revealed that all of the “2nd life” were just a story written by a nerdy Park Bo-gum. Hailey, Sze Kwong and all the 5 occupants of Wai Lei Building died. Only Kah Shun is saved and managed to find the SD card that contains all the evidence that can be used against Hong Wing-yan. I was gutted on the change in the direction of the story. Am not so sure why the story changes 180 degree, likely due to China’s ban on time-travel concept.
The series is actually enjoyable, just that there are loopholes everywhere and the ending is terrible. Watch at your own peril.
Cheng's Musings 