Darkside of the Moon (2024)

Tavia Yeung does it again

I wasn’t expecting much from this drama but gosh darn it, this was one good revenge story and it had great acting in it. Tavia Yeung and Rosina Lin really gave incredible performances that just blew me away. They have to win some award because I have not seen great acting like this in a long time.

So the story is that younger Rosina really liked younger Edward Ma when they were at high school, but because Rosina slept with his friend, he saw her as trash. Instead he set his sights on younger Tavia. Young Rosina thought it was because Tavia that prevented her from getting what she wanted, so she so hatched a dirty plan. Both younger Tavia and younger Rosina used to work at the same coffee shop, so Rosina drugged Tavia’s coffee and had two men take her away. Her sister younger Priscilla Wong was waiting outside and saw the men so tried to stop them, so they knocked her out and took her along. The girls woke up later and found themselves being raped by younger Edward Ma and his friend. This set up a chain reaction where their entire family got involved that led to the false imprisonment of their father where he died in prison, the death of their mother from grief, and younger Mat Yeung going to prison for setting fire to Edward’s home.

Fast forward to today, Mat Yeung is now out of prison and is helping Tavia get revenge, Priscilla now suffers from PTSD and cannot walk. As you learn more and more you start to understand why Tavia needs to get revenge because you can see the look in her eyes and the way she reacts to situations that she will not falter and wants to get justice. She becomes a PR manager and uses this position to get the trust of key people he wants to approach. It is really gripping stuff!

The biggest surprise for me was Rosina as the big bad. In the drama she somehow managed to go from being poor and useless into become this huge manipulative b***h. She was an orphan and so was raised by a housemaid at the very wealthy Cheuk family home, and somehow she managed to find an opportunity to become the granddaughter of the Cheuks. From there she just bided her time and eventually took over the company from the “grandfather”. When Tavia found out the big bad was her, the pivoting of revenge was swift and damn, the payoff at the end was great. Tavia even planted the honey dick on Rosina. Yes, the honey dick, with Vincent Wong to get close to her. The pay off at the end was literally one episode of Tavia just slowly revealing to Rosina that she had lost everything and it was so satisfying. Rosina’s acting here was great as I have not seen her getting this emotional on screen, it has usually been quite reserved with her. Seeing her in freak out and laughing hysterically was just amazing acting all-round.

I liked Edward Ma in this drama. He has that handsome and yet cruel look on his face but he was perfect as the disgusting rich womanising bastard in the drama. He was well cast for the role and I did find his sneer to be very revolting while his face trying to be nice just naturally looks fake. Whoever gave him the role deserves praise.

Despite the praise I am giving the drama, it did have a few things that made me scratch my head. Vincent Wong is a very capable guy in this drama and handsome, and as you watch it he - for some reason - develops romantic feelings for Tavia. Why? How? There is nothing romantic happening between them, just a few short scenes of them interacting, and suddenly Vincent decides to help her out in her revenge plot. I found that so jarring because there was no real emotional build up between the two of them just “hey wassup you doing laundry? Me too. Targeting something? Me too.” And then suddenly “I like you, let me help you take revenge.” It’s not like Tavia flirts with Vincent or there are many opportunities for them to help each other out in crazy situations, it is just forced onto us. Lazy writing.

And this drama overuses the photographic memory TVB trope. Like all the main characters have incredible memory, like “hey I remember that guy on the crossing” or something like how would you remember that? Do you remember anyone on a crossing on a road you’re walking over? The flashbacks to these is just nonsense to me sometimes.

However, despite the issues I have with the drama, it is overall a great revenge story with fantastic twists and turns, culminating to a satisfying ending. Rosina pretends to be crazy so she does not end up in prison so ends up at a mental institution, however a post credit scene shows she is planning revenge so I do hope there is a part 2 coming soon for this. Bring part 2! The Brightside of the Moon!

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A suspenseful revenge plot!

WOW! It's been some time since I've watched a TVB series, and this 25-episode drama had me invested from the get go. I will start off by saying that although there are elements that make Dark Side of the Moon similar to the Kdrama, The Glory, I still enjoyed watching this.

Highlights:
- The main characters. They were all intelligent people with their own motives and stories, and they were steadfast in achieving their goals. Because they were all capable of strategizing, it made things even more interesting. It felt like a suspenseful game of chess to see who would be able to take down the other player. The actors did a wonderful job portraying their characters - notably Tavia, Rosina and Edward. They really brought the characters and emotions to life.
- The great pacing and suspense. This is what kept me engaged, wanting to see what would happen next. Just when you think things couldn't get anymore chaotic, it does. We're all here for the drama right?
- I'm not a fan of dramas that use too many flashbacks, but it was well utilized in this series (compared to other dramas) for the storytelling, and to illustrate how the past events shaped each of the characters and their relationships. Some of the things I questioned were answered through these scenes.

The lows:
- The ending. Considering the build of the story and all the efforts in plotting the revenge, I was fairly disappointed with how it played out in ep 25. It was like a deflated balloon. I'm curious as to why so many great dramas get butchered in such a way - they feel like a cop out/rushed. Having the FL give a lengthy explanation at how she took her enemy down was not what I had anticipated. This is the reason why I gave this drama an 8.5.
- The plot holes which I overlooked due to the suspense, but they were definitely there.
- Vincent's role. Look, I love a devoted ML, but I found myself just baffled at times because of how unrealistic (for the lack of better term) his unwavering love and actions were. His deep affection almost came out of no where (perhaps due to the lack of development in the beginning). Yes, he had a crush on her for some time, but to just jump right into the FL's life and be willing to whatever it took to help her was a little too good to be true. As much as I wanted the FL to get justice she deserves, I felt bad for his sacrifices. Great character but he definitely could've had more of a story/role due to his potential.

With a revenge plot full of twists and turns and Tavia playing the lead, it made the journey even more worthwhile. Despite the plot holes and the predictable scenes, the drama kept me on my toes. Definitely recommend!

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