The Seventh Day — Romantic Recipe Gone Wrong

My critique of “The Seventh Day”

The cake was so deliciously sweet last time you had all your hopes up.  Unfortunately, the chefs tried to surprise you with an innovative, but terminally flawed recipe. 

You’d think that the original cast and crew of 2005 hit series “Under The Canopy of Love” would make ratings miracle again.  You’d think that well-received on-screen couple, Kevin and Niki, will steal your heart again.  You’d think that TV cutie, Bosco, will make your day again.  You’d think that the magnificent scenery at Shirakawa and cultural presence at Kanazawa will add romantic accents to their love stories.  You think and think for a year or two, only to find that they had the perfect ingredients, but somehow screwed up the recipe.

Albeit some people may not agree that UTCOL was good series, it was to the least enjoyable throughout.  What made UTCOL a good series?  Certainly, IMO, it was not the excessively-bright glowing videography.  So what did they bring over to the “sequel”? Exactly — the darn videography.  Pretty? Yeah, for about half an episode, until it becomes an eye-sore.

What made you like UTCOL? Maybe it was Kevin and Niki’s chemistry, maybe it was Bosco and Kevin’s chemistry, or even the chemistry between the supporting actors - but did you find enough of that which you liked in TSD?  I didn’t. 

Kevin and Niki just became a loving couple out of nowhere, and then overly melodramatic obstacles have them show up separately for most of the time.  Bosco and Kevin? Forget it. They had no more than 8 short conversations in 20 episodes.  I see the chemistry, but it was so short-lived I didn’t get a chance to enjoy it.  To be fair, the times when Kevin and Niki were actually acting face-to-face, there were some sweet and romantic moments.  Also, Bosco and Natalie’s tug-of-war style dating game was refreshingly cute and very humorous.  Yet then you come back to reality to find both stories highly unbelievable.

Yan falling for Wing was in many ways unconvincing.  Analyzing her background and her personality, what makes her think that Wing is the right guy for her?  She didn’t know him long enough to discover his positives.  He didn’t do anything to win her heart.  She was not innocent nor rebellious enough to fall for the bad guy - because it’s usually one extreme or the other where you find bad guys irresistible.  Why him, when she had the option to continue pursuing Dr. Ching?

Wing falling for Yan was simply mind-boggling.  Like … who, what, when, where, why did all of a sudden he has feelings for her? Just because she’s following him around?  Just because she suddenly scolded him for neglecting his girlfriend-that-wasn’t-to-begin-with?  Is that why, because he felt sorry for her?  (Hello scriptwriters, show me his feelings and stop showing her blog!)

OK, so they hooked up under the tree — whatever!  Now what? Some lovey-dovey scenes that tell us, “Yes, they are in love.”  Then comes all those misunderstandings and whatnots that have Yan blogging 90% of the time in a monotonous voice that distracts me from watching whatever’s left of Kevin’s screen time.  Then you see him fly to Japan.  “Yes.”, I think to myself, “the good parts are coming.”  And then I find out the Japan plot is not about Yan and Wing - yeah, very romantic (sarcastically).

Cut to Bosco and Natalie. My only sigh of relief is when I see Bosco.  Him and his buddies, Natalie and 3J make the other side of the story so much more interesting to watch (because they weren’t blogging).  Although Don and Sasa are probably the worst type of boyfriend or girlfriend anyone wants, Bosco and Natalie’s comical portrayal make them so adorable. The mind games they played on each other were hilarious. Though, like the editor-in-chief described Sasa’s comic story, it’s repetitive and not very progressive.  Still, I didn’t mind, because the other couple was even less progressive (and still blogging).  When they finally truly fall for each other, I was absolutely engrossed in their puppy love (and kissing), for about half an episode.  Then the truth comes out.  Now they hate each other.  Ha Ha… just great (sarcastically, again).

Now, both sides develop into love triangle relationships. Very TVB!  Not much acting face-to-face between the 4 leads for about 2 or 3 episodes -  damn it.  Yan gets cancer, gets a brain tumor, is diagnosed with LFS, blah, blah, blah.  The Korean sappiness kicks into full gear.  My only thought during those scenes - man, Dr. Ching sure is an expert in every field, Yan is so lucky to have him as a doctor, because doctors like that DO NOT EXIST!  I’m not surprised if he delivered her baby.

OK, long winded…. but still not finished.  To be continued.