Divorce Lawyers Episode 1

I went into this drama thinking it wasn’t anything special and I knew nothing about the actors. To be honest, I was rather reluctant in the pairing because the male lead looked so old but he impresses me and the female lead is awesome. They are seriously hilarious together and their competitive nature is fun to watch. It took me a few episodes to fully engage but some of the scenes are so laugh-out-loud worthy I had an urge to write about them. Plus the divorce cases are treated with more heart than I thought. All in all I wasn’t expecting to enjoy this as much as I did. 

Shi Hai Dong: exceptional divorce lawyer who has issues with pride.

The drama wastes no time to establish his remarkable skills as a lawyer by winning the divorce case within a few minutes of the first episode. But how do you not win with so many conclusive evidence (e.g. buying your “dance instructor” a condo and visiting him on a regular basis at irregular times on top of calling him a baby)? 

Contrary to his profession, this guy’s married and is rather devoted to his wife. Their voice messages (of if you guys know about WeChat) to each other are sweet but is ominous as the wife sternly but casually warns him not to cheat. At this moment, cheating seems completely out of the question for the husband. Personally, he sounds awesomely sweet to his wife. He promises her that if he were to cheat, he’d hand over everything to her willingly.   

Jiao Yan Yan: housewife of Shi Hai Dong and takes part in ballet (there’s this odd connection between women, dancing, and infidelity in this drama…).

At home, she’s putting on the final touches to her skanky, black bunny outfit but, oddly and surely enough, she gets surprised that her husband’s home. She’s the one cheating. Another man , half-naked at that, pops out of the washroom all clean and ready to indulge in his manly desires but stops dead in his tracks as he, as well as the cheated husband and the unfaithful wife, register the disastrous situation.

Yue Qun: the unfaithful wife’s lover.

At the sight of Shi Hai Dong grappling the sword (which he got as a present in front of the court from his grateful client), he fervently escapes – still half naked.

Pan Xiao Gang: Shi Hai Don’s loyal eunuch assistant (actually he’s quite a ladies men, it’s just he’s adorable devoted to his boss).

He’s quietly helping his boss water his plants as he’s interrupted by a man running down the stairs – still half-naked. He is followed by Shi Hai Dong – still with his sword. Lastly, a bunny girl, with her arms swinging side to side as she runs, follows the two men out.

Xiao Gang’s head busily swings back and forth from the stairs to the exit wondering if there will be any more surprise appearances.

Luo Li: although not as experienced as Shi Hai Dong, she’s another brilliant divorce lawyer with a sharp tongue and temper.

She exudes loads of charisma as she knows she’s smart, beautiful, and successful; you can tell from her walk. However, all that falls apart when she discovers the boyfriend she’s been dating for years was a married man with a child already attending elementary school abroad.  That same day, she quits her job at her boyfriend’s (rather successful) law firm. At least she kept one of the three charms: she’s still beautiful.

Wu Wen Hui: the boyfriend who has a wife.

He’s successful and another one of those brilliant lawyers; I don’t know whether he’s > Shi Hai Dong or Shi Hai Dong > him but both of them are > Luo Li. He seems to genuinely care about Luo Li and not about his wife yet he remains married because of his responsibilities as a father.

Tang Mei Yu: best friends with Luo Li and cousin with Yan Yan.

Another lawyer that I’m assuming isn’t as a brilliant. She gets called to comfort her cousin and brings Luo Li along to provide advice and help. Yan Yan needs comfort because Shi Hai Dong  isn’t answering any of her calls and worries about the aftermath of her cheating business but she omits the cheating part to the ladies. She claims that Shi Hai Dong misunderstood she was having an affair with a guy that only came to fix her computer.

In one day, Luo Li ends up doing what she hates most – women that ruin marriages – and Shi Hai Dong finally tastes the bitterness experienced by his clients. That night they both look outside their windows, lonely and heartbroken. Shi Hai Dong realizes his contact list is endless but there’s no one he can pour his heart out to. While Luo Li comforts herself by dancing to music with the window wide opened.

Luo Li finds a new job at the firm her best friend, Tang Mei Yu, is working in. It’s a downgrade from his previous job at her ex-boyfriend but she’d much rather be here. Now she has to finds ways to get clients to pay for the firm’s rent even if it means working for annoying scums.

Shi Hai Dong drafts the divorce papers and manages to convince Jiao Yan Yan to sign them, or so he thinks. When he arrives at his own home, he’s greeted by his ex-wife-to-be in a low cut, high silted dress. She’s using this meeting to seduce her husband but it doesn’t work as he escapes from the washroom window. Oh poor guy, so desperate to escape.

Jiao Yan Yan calls her cousin to comfort her but Mei Yu’s got prior arrangements. So, Luo Li takes her stead in listening to Yan Yan’s complaints. She’s heartbroken alright but also criticises her husband for constantly being away on business trips, neglecting her at home. Listening to all of this, Luo Li drafts a conclusion about Shi Hai Dong: his personality has a problem and he lacks sincerity in treating Yan Yan. She asks Yan Yan why she doesn’t consider divorce. Yan Yan’s never thought about it considering she married him right after graduating (she even gave up her chance to study dance abroad).

Luo Li officially becomes Yan Yan’s lawyer and pays a visit to Shi Hai Dong. Being a divorce lawyer, he automatically becomes defensive and questions her which law states that he’s obliged to hand over his entire fortune after a divorce. Luo Li doesn’t falter in front of this huge senior. She explains that Yan Yan is a full-time housewife without much experience work wise. As Shi Hai Dong receives more and more cases, his networking increases and his values shoot up but his wife, as she excels being a house-wife, her social network is at a constant decline and her values drop immensely. Wow, so true. Listening to this, Shi Hai Dong, a lawyer packed with years of experience in divorce cases, seems to be seriously contemplating Luo Li’s words and throws her a thumbs up. But he doesn’t let her gloat too far; he asks whether he’s responsible now to find his ex-wife(-to-be) a new husband? Lol.

Luo Li smartly says denies that and switches up her tactics to outline the benefits for Shi Hai Dong of not divorcing: he won’t have to pay a single penny of his hard earned money if he were to stay married. I get it but he has to care for her as a wife still, no? That’s still money.

Shi Hai Dong’s not convinced. He asks her bluntly whether she thinks she’s beautiful. He then asks whether she wants to marry him. Because if she does she can just marry him, then divorce him, get half of his heritance, then marry another guy, and rip him off as well. He rationalizes that if all women are like this, what are lawyers for?

They continue to argue back and forth but seeing as they’re both lawyers, their argument are rather logical. However, Shi Hai Dong gets angrier and angrier at her prodding and decides to take it to court. Luo Li’s not happy with that development but beckons to the challenge to face off in the court.

Before she leaves, Shi Hai Dong comments (unnecessarily) that she must not be married. Luo Li doesn’t back down on rebutting him by saying she’s grateful she didn’t marry a guy like him. Shi Hai Dong returns the favour saying he’s grateful she’s his ex-wife’s lawyer and not his ex-wife. She corrects him, saying that he actually wasn’t that unfortunate, that is until his ex-wife found her to be her lawyer.

Comments: 

The drama is following a familiar trajectory, setting up Luo Li and Shi Hai Dong as equals and opposites: both plummet from a state of bliss; one who ruins the marriage and the other whose marriage is ruined; neither is at fault though. What sets this drama apart from its predecessors is the amazing cast. Apparently Wu Xiu Bo and Yao Chen, playing Shi Hai Dong and Luo Li respectively, are of superstar status, I think. Both have very prestige images but they aren’t afraid to pull off the silliest moves, especially Yao Chen. I love this girl; she’s charismatic and knows how to be funny. On the other hand, Wu Xiu Bo looked old to me but as I continued to watch him, I can see why he’s a famous; he’s just naturally captivating (as an actor), delivers his lines with sincerity and on point with his reactions. The only actor I’m familiar with is Alex Fong, playing Wu Wen Hui. Is it just me or he’s aging evidently? Or is his upper lip always that thin? I cringed a little when he got to kiss Yao Chen even though I remember liking him in past TVB series.

I’ve decided to recap this series because the later scenes are well panned out and I actually find myself laughing out loud and not just silently smiling. I’m interested to see in how these two get together because their encounters are quite fresh accompanied with great dialogue – really different from some of the cheesier lines in sea of Chinese dramas.

Cao Qian Kuen

Dong Da Hai