"return of the cuckoo" thoughts

I actually rented Return of The Cuckoo a few years ago and saw the first four episodes then. I couldn't finish it because my mom said it was "inappropriate" for me to watch and she kept it for herself to watch. Honestly, I wasn't very upset over it because the series didn't impress me in those episodes that I saw. It was kind of boring and weird. It felt very "old-fashioned" and I just didn't like it much. However, it was always in the back of my mind to watch it some day because Cuckoo was a highly-rated series when it aired in Hong Kong and received a lot of rave reviews. It's Producer Tsui's post-A Kindred Spirit and pre-Virtues of Harmony hit. I really wanted to see for myself if it was "that" good.

Recently, I had a chance to watch Cuckoo and seized the opportunity. I was turned off by the series again in the beginning, but this time around, I understood the story a lot better. The first time, I was very, "Huh?" about it, possibly because I wasn't interested by the rather slow beginning. Cuckoo never really engaged my interest and I kept waiting to see the "action" start. To me, it doesn't have a solid storyline. It feels disjointed and incoherent at times. I also found it to be a little pretentious and contrived, trying to squeeze the audience's tears. If you asked me what the storyline of Cuckoo was about, I'd have a hard time answering. Stuff happened all right, but it's really hard to put everything together. Honestly, I really don't know what to make of this series.

Do I like it? Do I hate it? I have no idea.

Best performance hands-down was Julian Cheung's. That is great acting. He is so natural and convincing as the mute "Man Chor"! His sign language looked very realistic and natural. He surely must be a fast learner to have it down so fast and well! He is such a good actor. His crying scenes were so impressive in Point of No Return and his performance as a whole was great in Cuckoo. In fact, "Man Chor" was probably the only character I warmed up to. I loved his narration of the series - very meaningful dialogues. [On a side note, Shirley Yeung could have taken some pointers from Julian. Her acting, voice-over, and signing were all way over-the-top in The Price of Greed.]

Charmaine Sheh was quite unbearable. No, I'm not just talking about her acting. I'm mainly referring to her character. Coupling an annoying character with bad acting makes everything just worse. I cannot understand why so many people liked "Kwan Ho" [in the story and the audience]. I found her irritating and selfish, not cute or charming at all. I hated how she used "Man Chor" (even if in a typical, loving brother/sister way). I couldn't feel anything for her character. I felt no chemistry between her and "Auntie Q" (Nancy Sit). The only chemistry she had was with "Man Chor." I must admit they were charming to watch. By herself, however, Charmaine was just... Her look in this series was quite unflattering as well. I must agree with Charmaine that this isn't the series she "most improved" in. Country Spirit was and remains her breakthrough.

"Lai Shun" (Steven Ma) and "Kwan Ho" were awful. I'm sorry, but I felt absolutely nothing for this couple. I don't even understand how they began. Yes, I understand it was when "Lai Shun" blew "I love you" on the whistle to "Kwan Ho" that they began, but I'm talking about the feelings. Didn't she passionately hate him? All of a sudden, she's all lovey-dovey and talking for hours on the phone with him. It's possibly because of my inability to comprehend when "Kwan Ho" developed feelings for "Lai Shun" that I didn't believe in this couple. From the beginning, it felt like she was using him. Even near the end when he declared his love for her... I felt nothing - not from him, not from her. It just felt like a business deal because he could "provide" more for her. I could see that "Lai Shun" loved "Kwan Ho" a lot (not that I understand why or for that matter why any of the guys fell for her) but from the beginning to end, the love he got back from "Kwan Ho" never equaled what he gave her. In my eyes, she only truly loved "Man Chor". It felt like she was making herself love "Lai Shun"... To my surprise, I really didn't care for Steven in this series. I think it's either because his character was poorly written or his performance was a little raw. In any case, he has truly come a long way in terms of his acting.



Complaints
Some of the dialogues in the series are really ridiculous. For example, during the meteor shower episode, "Lai Shun" tells "Kwan Ho" that he wished for "Man Chor" to be able to speak again and when he does, he'll tell her that he doesn't love her. This was after she told him that she wished "Man Chor" could talk again and tell her his true feelings. What the heck?! Who says that? It's so blunt and awkward.



The ending felt really ridiculous. "Auntie Q" and "Man Chor" do so much for the sake of "Kwan Ho"?! Yes, I understand that they love her and only want the best for her, but they are too self-sacrificing that it felt very fake and contrived. Again, it felt like the writers were purposely doing all they can to make the audience cry. The ending wasn't satisfying. "Man Chor" and "Kwan Ho" meet again after she finds out the truth and then it just ends there after two simple lines?! "How are you?" "I've missed you." Ugh.

I didn't like how they made it seem like "Man Chor" wasn't "good" enough for "Kwan Ho" simply because he was mute. What the heck? I liked "Man Chor" a lot and it was refreshing to have a main character be mute. At times though, I felt the muteness to be too much of a ploy.

I found the series very feminist and kind of demeaning towards men. Then again, Cuckoo had plenty of vicious women, so I guess it balances out.

Praises
Despite all of my complaints, I did find some interest in Cuckoo enough to finish it. I don't know why. As incredulous as I found the plot at times, I was interested in it enough to want to keep watching. There are some really nice moments. In fact, I found that the supporting cast had far more interesting storylines than the "love triangle" among "Man Chor", "Lai Shun", and "Kwan Ho."

What a lovely themesong! The themesong by Julian is beautiful and touching. It really sticks out and is the most memorable thing about Cuckoo. It's such a pity that there wasn't as beautiful, memorable, or moving a series to go along with it.

The scene when "Man Chor"'s mother attempted to kill him at the beginning was chilling and sad. I really enjoyed watching the plot with "Man Chor" reuniting with his mother... only to discover that she hadn't change one bit - so heart-breaking! Poor "Man Chor"; he gets wronged by his mother over and over again. It was ingenious of the writers to have "Man Chor"'s muteness be a psychological fear that resulted from the abuse of his mother. I loved the symbolism of the whistle.

I enjoyed the chemistry and storyline between "Man Chor" and "Kwan Ho". They deserve the "Best Partnership" award that they won at the TVB Anniversary. Their scenes were really cute and touching. Charmaine was actually somewhat likable in those scenes.

I liked the plot with "Chuen Hoi Ging" (Johnny Ngan) and his lung cancer. His storyline with "Auntie Q" and his death scene was touching.

The scene where "Man Chor" asks "Auntie Q" if she was abandoning him was heart-wrenching and memorable. "Auntie Q" realized that "Man Chor" had feelings for her daughter, so she wanted to send him away to "stop" anything from happening. I found her action really selfish and mean. I understand that she loves "Kwan Ho" and wants only the best life for her, but doesn't she care about "Man Chor" too? Personally, I found the relationship between "Man Chor" and "Auntie Q" far deeper than that which she had with her daughter. Julian's crying was very powerful and realistic. It was so sad how he said he doesn't have feelings for "Kwan Ho" and never will.

It was awesome when "Kam Sing" (Michael Tong) rejected "Man Sai Gwong" (Lau Dan). "Come home." "I waited all of my life to hear you say that. It turns out it's not that great. ... My surname will remain Kam." Karma indeed.

I really enjoyed watching "Hoi Lam" (Irene Wong) and "Pui Gin" (Tang Ho Gwong). They were so cute and their storyline was touching. I liked the wedding subplot and how "Manchu Sa Wah" (Mannor Chan) switched the brides - quite exciting and sad. What a tragic ending for this couple... but I liked that she was pregnant with his child and ultimately gave birth to a son.

I found the scenes with "Yi Man" (Sherming Yiu - what an actress with so much versatility!) alone and with her mom (Helen Ma - fantastic veteran also with great versatility) interesting and sad. If only "Kam Sing" loved her, her life would be so different because she wouldn't have the incentive to go down such a dark road.

I liked the back story of "Auntie Q" and "Chuk Jin Fai" (Kwok Fung) as well as how the writers handled the complicated "two family" storyline. I really liked the fact that there was closure and that they didn't end up together, but he gets back with his wife. His wife isn't a bad person. Her actions were understandable. It was good that they portrayed both sides of the story.

Heaven's retribution on "Manchu Sa Wah" was a very powerful scene... but what a shame it had to come with the death of "Pui Gin". She did so many awful things and didn't seem to have a soul at all - what a contrast in comparison to her warm sister ("Auntie Q").



Final thoughts
I have only random thoughts about Cuckoo. I honestly don't know whether I hated it or liked it.

TVB surely picked a suitable English title. I feel "cuckoo" trying to analyze and decipher the series and whether or not I liked it. It just doesn't make sense to me. I felt nothing for it and took away nothing at all. I've gained no understanding or enlightenment and it has little entertainment value. It felt slow and boring. Yet, I managed to like quite a bit about the series. Huh?! I really don't know.

Cuckoo is written by Chan Bo Wah, who worked with Producer Tsui on Kindred for five years and wrote many classic TVB series such as Healing Hands and Blood of Good and Evil. She also wrote my all-time favorite ATV series Light of Million Hopes [which I love for its powerful writing, intense drama, genuine feelings, and ability to draw the audience into the series]. She claims that Cuckoo is a series that's "100% feelings", but with characters so under-developed, an un-gripping plotline, and relationships that feel so shallow... how is that possible?

I honestly wonder why this series was so highly rated and praised by viewers for being gripping, sad, and touching. Perhaps it's not my cup of tea. It's overly sappy, melodramatic, and awfully pretentious. I was highly disappointed; maybe I expected too much. It is, however, far from a "terrible" production. I really liked pieces of Return of the Cuckoo, but as a whole, the series is empty and unsatisfying.

In summary, I guess you can say that I didn't care much for this series.

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