The Life and Times of a Sentinel Overview

!!!!MAJOR SPOILERS ALERT!!!!

Hands down...this series have the most depressing ending of 2011. When I finished the series....I just felt a little bit heart broken.....and kinda empty...

The Ending Spoilers
Guess what? The news spoilers never told me that Dor Po (Steven Ma) and Duen Man (Selena Li) would end up as siblings!!!! Omg! That totally blew me off....felt like an arrow just struck my heart :( I guess by ending with her death, it prevented the big heart break but yet....her death just felt too sudden! And come on...the fake blood from her mouth...was that really nessesary? I guess they were trying to make it feel "dramatic" but that failed horribly! *sigh* I wish they'd somehow ended it differently because Duen Man's death just felt abit unnecessary/rushed. (Her death reminds me of how Sunny Chan's character in The Greatness of a Hero also died. Same feeling towards both deaths.) Without her death, the series would've been much better....

I also thought since Duen Man's entry into the imperial palace, her character would have a little more impact on the story...but there still wasn't much. :/

Biggest twist? Dor Po is actually a Prince! I don't think I would've ever guessed that...his childhood is full of twists and turns isn't it? I'm glad that Dor Bou senses came back though...and was able to bring the court back in order. His ending is rather odd....(his looks reminds me more of a thief than a monk xD)

Prince Yu's (Kenneth Ma) Ending
Was I surprise that Kangxi (Power Chan) did not kill Prince Yu? No I wasn't. On the other hand, I would've found it disbelieving if he did kill Prince Yu. I thought Prince's Yu insanity in the end was appropriate (since he seem insane throughout the whole series anyways). It's also not surprising that he still only has Man Kwan (Elaine Yiu) in his heart, and mistook Kwai Lun (Natalie Tong), who play as his wife, for her. It would've been strange for Prince Yu to get along with Kwai Lun again after all that have happen.

On the other hand, Man Kwan (Elaine Yiu) still remembers Prince Yu, even though Kangxi treated her really well. I actually felt really bad for her in the end when she looked out the window. She was probably thinking of Prince Yu? Throughout everything, she did know his plan but couldn't bring herself to tell Kangxi because she didn't want him to die. Till the very end, she still have him in her heart....but no matter what, she knows she is Kangxi's wife. I pity her.... :(

The "taking" of the Throne scene
Unexpected but enjoyable! Abit dissapointed in the fact that there were little actions taken (where are all the fighting?) but I liked the dialogues between the characters :) Quite touching towards the end.

Characters:

Steven Ma as Dor Po
As always, I did not find anything wrong with Steven....but his character isn't so interesting either. Steven needs new roles to portray....

One thing I'm wondering though....did Dor Po go insane in the end? I'm actually kinda confuse with that. It would've made sense if he did. Or maybe he followed the monk's advice...and let everything go? I don't think that's it right? It did make sense if he let everything go....until the part that Duen Man died. After that....he should've gone insane.

Kenneth Ma as Prince Yu
I can say that Kenneth have definitely improve his acting, especially in his crying scenes. He's also convincing as an evil dude. One problem I've been seeing in Kenneth lately though, is the shifts between his emotions, while staying true to his character. I've seen that problem when I was watching him in The Truth (but did not write a review...so I might as well mention it in here too). In The Truth, his character is suppose to be all cool and smart, which he did show off well....but when it got to the parts where he was suppose to be emotional....it was abit to exaggerated...and rather untrue to what he showed of in the beginning. It made me feel like he had two characters in The Truth because of that. He is much better in here though...not as bad with that.

Another comment I'd like to make on Prince Yu is his....insanity like personality. Haha I did liked that, when his eyes grew big and showed off so much anger. I just thought that as a schemer, he could've controlled his emotions a bit more?? I prefer evil guys that are abit more settle....and a bit wittier. Too much of the anger easily shows off as overacting....which can be seen in here.

Selena Li as Duen Man
Shouldn't Duen Man be considered as a main character? So why is she nominated in the "Best Supporting Actress" section for the aod award? Hm....

Though not the best character of Selena's...it is her first leading role and she did well in it. I'm a bit upset in the little significant of her character. Though I understand that this is a really male dominant series, I had hoped to see a little more of Selena. It would've been nice to see Duen Man with a little more wit and power....causing a few trouble in the palace :)

Elaine Yiu as Man Kwan
Since her first debut, Elaine had been consistently improving as an actress. She really fits in as the gentle and quiet concubine...Her character is a real push over and that either makes you pity her or a bit frustrated. Hahaha...I wasn't frustrated but sometimes just hoped that she'll take a stand for herself at least once.

Power Chan as Kangxi
I love Power as an actor but do feel that he lacked something as an emperor. Haha I guess it's because of the stereotypical emperors being all powerful and stuff. Power is really the opposite of what you think an emperor is.....so calm, that the sense of power isn't really there. Haha one thing I also notice was how he always crossed his legs when he sit :P

Natalie Tong as Kwai Lun
Um..I love Natalie, but this role just did not suit her. Her yelling and glaring just....irritated me.

Lily Ho as Duen Man's maid (in the palace)
Yah...Lily Ho is cute as a typical/normal girl in the modern series...but this role is just too much for her. She horribly failed it.

The Moment:
Prince Yu isn't as evil as we think he is (too be honest...I think the word insane, is a better description than evil, when we talk about him). I thought it was really good how they showed his regrets and frustration when he was debating on himself if he should rescue Kangxi or not. That is the first time when I felt his pain. The dilemna in his eyes....the flashbacks of him and Kangxi....and then the sudden burst of regrets when he heard the explosion, it just made his character a bit more realistic. After that incident....I wanted to see his jealousy and anger fuse down....but it went the opposite way :P That just made me wonder what the purpose is for filming this scene :P

Overall
I did really enjoy watching the series....until Duen Man's death. It was just unbelievably way too hard to swallow. No sense came out from it!!! I've watched so many series before....and aside from "Cupid Stupid"'s ending...this have to be the worst.

On the other hand...I do not say not to watch this series because the storyline overall was consistent and enjoyable to watch with some little twists here and there (even though not all of them make sense..). you might need a bit of patience to start of though since the beginning is kind of slow.

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