Yr/TV Stn: 2012/TVB
Cast:
Joe Ma ~ Zhan Han Tao
Jessica Hsuan ~ Zhuang Zhuo Hua
Oscar Leung ~ Zhuang Zhuo Yuan
Vincent Wong ~ Qiu Jun Xuan
Him Law ~ Yu Xue Li
Mandy Wong ~ Su Wen Qiang
Synopsis: (edited from just-tvb.blogspot.sg)
Serving on the Special Duties Unit (SDU) for many years, "devil" instructor Zhan Han Tao is seen as a hero in the hearts of his subordinates. His style is strict, serious and has high expectations on his subordinates, especially the two new SDU members Qiu Jun Xuan & Yu Xue Li. However when he's off-duty, Tao is actually a very caring big brother. Tao thinks of Zhuang Zhuo Yuan as his best partner at work and a good brother, but to his surprise, his girlfriend falls in love with the optimistic Yuan and wants to break up with him. To maintain the brotherhood, Yuan asked his colleague Su Wen Qiang to pretend to be his girlfriend, which begins a mess in the relationships. Meanwhile, the police were informed that the king of thieves is planning a large-scale robbery of the treasury. Tao and OCTB inspector Zhuang Zhuo Hua jointly sets up an operation to capture him. Hua is Yuan's elder sister and has a snobby personality. She only cares about her work day and night because she cannot forget the pain of her boyfriend's murder. As Tao gets to know Hua, he slowly realizes that he and Hua are actually similar people, and his feelings starts growing...
Review:
It's a pity that this drama cannot be shown on the prime time slot, because both leads, Joe and Jessica had left TVB. It's the usual "punishment" TVB does for actors who left the company. Despite being shown on the wkend slot, "Tiger Cubs" did well in HK. I like this drama as well, as it got a solid production, not the usual way of drama filming (more like a movie-drama), and the plot was interesting. Each episode has one special guest, with the exception of Kenneth Ma, who acted as the king of thieves, appearing in the first and final episode.
Joe was an ex-G4 member, so he definitely fitted the role. Jessica returned with a very serious role. Both of them are not new with their characters, so there's nothing too special about their acting. However, I do like their chemistry as their romance blossoms. It's a pity it happened mostly in epi 12. Ha!
The other main cast, Oscar, Vincent & Him had their fair share of the episodes as they faced with their own problems. Not much romance for the guys, except for Oscar. I hardly bothered with Oscar as he mainly acted in smaller roles, but he did a great job as Yuan.
Nice performance from Mandy as well. I think she might be the upcoming rising star in the future. Ha!
Thankful that SCV managed to show this drama on the same day as HK. One of the best police dramas I have seen recently :)
