Gallen Harbour

This is not a news article, so please do not repost elsewhere. Thank you.

:::

Lang Yan [Wolf Smoke / Wolf Scent / Smoke Signal] is, by all counts, a propaganda work. But it has Gallen Lo and Flora Chan!

The series is part of an extensive program to celebrate the 80th anniversary of the PLA (China), begun August 1st. Lang Yan has not been aired, but curiously, a novel based on the series with the same title is already made available both in bookstores and online. The online version is being updated daily and should be completed around September 15th.

::: Possible spoiler ahead! :::

About 150 pages out of some 400 pages are now available at Sina. It’s one-third the way already, so fans who are anticipating the series for Gallen-and-Flora-reunion might, and rightfully so, feel a little dispirited, for the characters still have not met one another. She walks her path, he walks his. She loves her man, and he’s not (yet) him. The man she loves is his superior whom he very much admires, and whose daughter is currently pursuing him. If nothing changes its course, Flora’s character will soon be Gallen’s character’s step-mother-in-law (is that even a valid title?)! Should fans then cry, or laugh?

Han Yip, Flora’s character, is a sophisticate career woman with a family past that haunts her. To make matter worse, she falls in love with the son of the rival family. In a few of their scenes, she carries with her the air of those female characters from Taiwan romance novelist Qiong Yao - dedicate, poetic, and desperate.

Colonel Ko Tat, Gallen’s character, in the other hand, is almost a twin of ATE’s Tim - strong, shrewd, stubborn and rebellious. Tim is, by most counts, a destructive device to his own civil life. Now imagine putting those traits into a soldier! Isn’t it seemingly the third World War awaiting all?

There are some interesting parallel lines one could draw between ATE and Lang Yan, but maybe not for the moment. Not until Lang Yan is aired, when Han and Ko are made alive, by the very Flora Chan and Gallen Lo.

Pray she will not become his step-mother-in-law!

Much inspired by the author of TVB Musings, I attempt something out of the ordinary news-relaying activity of GH. Purely my thoughts. Comments are highly appreciated. This is not a news article, so please do not repost elsewhere.

:::

Different upbringings, different circumstances, but the three characters share one profound description: bright, talented, ambitious and under-appreciated young men.

None of them were born evil. They turned evil. It’s not the society that is to be entirely blamed, but more so the lack of integrity in each and all three individuals. The critical point of turning evil, however, varies from one to the other.

Man Wei (Ambition, TVB 1993) lost his innocence very early in his childhood, witnessing his mother being raped and beaten by her “regulars”. It was probably her choice, but he saw himself as the ultimate cause as why his mother had to go on living such a life. Bottled up in him were rage, anger, and the boiling longing to break away. To change.

That’s where Man Wei met Kiu Lik (Vengeance, TVB 1992) and Tsui Ka Lup (Cold Blood Warm Heart, TVB 1996). Young, well-educated, they all believed they could change their lives for the better. They all have the willpower and the ability to make the changes happen. Nothing is wrong with wanting a better life.

What went wrong, then?

With Kiu Lik, it wasn’t the family hardship he had to face, but the idiotic favoritism his filthy-rich father practiced. He would have ended up better should he turn unfilial and walk away. Lik was so filial he wanted to prove himself to his father. Over, over, and over again, until he made the grave and desperate mistake of setting fire on the ruined shack housing a helpless old lady. It was right then and there that he crossed the line and let go of his principles. His choice!

Tsui Ka Lup didn’t have to deal with family hardship. He had no evil parent, either. In fact, he had a wonderful, loving family who doted on him. Everyone - his father, his mother, his adopted older brother, his little sister - was proud of him. Then why on Earth would he turn evil? It was as ridiculous as it was unfortunate, the loving nest did not quite prepare him for a dog-eat-dog world. And while his adopted brother scoped with the unfavored office politics in a clever, almost submissive manner, Ka Lup fought back in the most vulnerable way. The moment he accidentally pulled the trigger and killed his corrupted boss, Ka Lup’s life was quite over.

Quite, but not quite over in a sense that Ka Lup did have a lot of chances where he could actually stop striding the evil path and redeem himself. The same hold true for the others. Sadly, no-one took up the opportunity, except for Man Wei when it was already too late.

Regardless of how or why these men became villainous, they had all been slaved to their senses of pride, blinded by their internal rages, and succumbed to their thirst of power disguised in the quest for just. All awaited nothing but the smallest trigger to send the men downhill.

Especially when they had no integrity to keep their original believes from being wavered, altered, and thrown away.

Along the way, there were instants when those believes manage to find a moment of existence. Whenever they were there, Gallen made sure the audience see them through his eyes. “Villains, they are human to begin with.” Most humanly, and fatally helpless, must be when they were beside the loves of their lives. Villains do love.

Image courtesy of Gallen Baidu Board

At the very end, when Man Wei let his love go unscathed and came defiantly toward the police squad’s fire, when Kiu Lik victoriously escaped through a window just to fell several stories down, or when Tsui Ka Lup smirked arrogantly while blood dripping down his tall forehead, all to their destined death, what was left almost felt like pity.