First Episode 60: 痞子英雄 (Black and White)

[nicklenn]

A part of the Grand First Episode Project -- See this thread for more info.

A modern Taiwanese police drama.

Emule - youku

Wow,

Best drama for awhile from Taiwan!.... It has taken dramas to a new level! I loved it! So What did everyone think about this drama? for those who havn't seen it, here is a run down of it;

Title: 痞子英雄

English: Black & White

Genre: Police, action, romance

Episodes: 20

Broadcast network: PTS / TVBS

Broadcast period: 2009-Apr-11 to 2009-Jun

Opening theme song: 無賴英雄 by CoLor and Mark Chao

Ending theme song: Perfect Stranger by Jason Zou

Pi Zi and Ying Xiong are two cops who are as different as day and night. One does nothing except for drinking coffee and living a luxurious lifestyle while waiting for information from dubious sources to crack his cases. Another believes law and justice are the pillars of society and is constantly on the street catching criminals… a little overzealously for his superior’s liking. When a case brought these two top crime solvers together, sparks flied and a little light peeked into this dark city where the nation’s President is on friendly terms with the local triad and twins kill people while drinking milkshake.

Although Zai Zai in this drama was a little annoying with the whole 笨手笨脚 act made it a bit hard to believe at times lol that he was police! overall it was intense for a taiwanese drama

So critics what did you think????

oh and a few drama's I highly suggest watching if your into watching Taiwan drama's;

1. 鬥牛要不要

2. 这里发现爱

3. 幸福的抉擇

4. 換換愛

Edited February 13, 2010 at 01:31 AM by renzhe

[Petit_Scarabe]

I watched the first episodes on Viikkii, which by the way is a great site for chinese learners as it allows you to watch chinese series with both chinese and english or even other language subs ...

Very close to "western standards" in terms of production value, story lines, characters, etc, which I'm not sure is such a good thing,... but i guess there's even less you can do against (a)cultural globalization than against economic globalization.

For those of you who were longing for a Sonny and Ricardo duo with a chinese zest, this "Taipei Vice" is probably what you were looking for

[Gleaves]

I've seen about ten episodes of this and it is great. It definitely feels a little standard, especially at first, but after 4 or 5 episodes there is enough back story and intrigue to make it compelling.

Some links.

verycd youku Commercial on youtube

DVD is also on yesasia.

[renzhe]

You guys are making this easy I'm adding it to the First Episode Project and I'll have a look at it as soon as I catch some time.

[roddy]

Ok, I was skeptical about this one, and the opening sequence (which ends with the daft cop being chased out of his station under gunfire from his boss) didn't convince me that this was actually going to be any good. But . . . I don't know, it's got everything a decent show shouldn't - the entire police force and criminal underworld look like they've just walked off the set of Taiwan's Next Top Model, the laughs that get played for are cheap ones, and the plot does seem to have come from the Bumper Book of Cliches. Yet, it was fun. And I watched it all, and even laughed a couple of times.

I can't rank this as drama yet. But it's earned a 'watchable' from me, and I'm going to give a few more episodes a chance. Guess I'll go for the 4 or 5 episodes Gleaves mentioned and then see how I'm doing . . .

Thanks for the recommendation, and great to see some new faces popping up. Welcome to the First Episode Family.

[chrix]

Here are some words from the first two episodes. Take the English translations with a grain of salt (except for the chengyu ), because most of it was generated automatically:

• 啄木鳥: zhuó mù niǎo 啄木鸟 Woodpecker

• 監聽器: jiān tīng qì 监听器 Listening device

• 月臺: yuè tái 月台 railway platform

• 緝毒行動: jī dú xíng dòng 缉毒行动 Anti-drug operations

• 半死不活: bàn sǐ bù huó to be half-dead, to be listless (idiom)

• 因公殉職: yīn gōng xùn zhí 因公殉职 Killed on duty

• 蒐集: sōu jí 搜集 gather (data), collect

• 壓紋: yā wén 压纹 embossed

• 假釋: jiǎ shì 假释 parole

• 偵訊: zhēn xùn 侦讯 to interrogate during investigation

• 正妹: zhēng mèi good looking female, hot babe

• 攔截: lán jié 拦截 to intercept

• 移送法辦: yí sòng fǎ bàn 移送法办 Brought to justice

• 翻臉: fān liǎn 翻脸 to fall out with sb, to become hostile

• 襲警: xí jǐng 袭警 Assaulting a police officer

• 體面: tǐ miàn 体面 dignity, ㊁ face (as in "losing face")㊂ honorable㊃ creditable㊄ pretty

• 蒞臨: lì lín 莅临 to arrive (esp. of notable person), to visit (more formal than 光㊥ - guāng lín)

• 大駕光臨: dà jià guāng lín 大驾光临 your gracious presence (honorary) (idiom)

• 交保: jiāo bǎo Bail

• 涉嫌: shè xián to be a suspect (in a crime)

• 迫不得已: pò bù dé yǐ to have no alternative (idiom); compelled by circumstances, forced into sth

• 羈押: jī yā 羁押 Custody

• 巡邏員警: xún luó yuán jǐng 巡逻员警 Patrol Police

• 嫌疑，嫌疑犯: xián yí, xián yí fàn suspicion, the suspect

• 輕浮: qīng fú 轻浮 frivolous, ㊁ careless㊂ giddy

• 調戲: tiáo xì 调戏 to take liberties with a woman, ㊁ to dally㊂ to assail a woman with obscenities

• 謹慎: jǐn shèn 谨慎 cautious, prudent

• 中樞精神迷幻劑: zhōng shū jīng shén mí huàn jì 中枢精神迷幻剂 hallucinogen of the central nervous system

• 提煉: tí liàn 提炼 to extract (ore, minerals etc), ㊁ to refine㊂ to purify㊃ to process

• 根莖的萃: gēn jīng de cuì 根茎的萃 Rhizome extraction

• 預估: yù gù 预估 to estimate, ㊁ to forecast㊂ prediction㊃ projection

• 篩檢: shāi jiǎn 筛检 screening (medicine)

• 檢驗: jiǎn yàn 检验 to inspect, ㊁ to examine㊂ to test

• 核准: hé zhǔn to authorize, to investigate then ratify

• 扣押: kòu yā to detain, to keep in custody

• 審問: shěn wèn 审问 interrogate, ㊁ examine㊂ question

• 洗脫罪嫌: xǐ tuō zuì xián 洗脱罪嫌 to clear one’s name

• 下落不明: xià luò bù míng unaccounted, unknown whereabouts

• 打烊: dǎ yàng to close shop in the evening

• 加護病房: jiā hù bìng fáng 加护病房 intensive care (in hospital)

• 唬弄: hǔ nòng to fool

• 人命關天: rén mìng guān tiān 人命关天 Human life, idiom: A human life is more important than anything else

• 心肺衰竭: xīn fèi shuāi jié Heart and lung failure

• 抽搐: chōu chù to twitch, hyperspamsa, convulsion

• 防彈背心: fáng dàn bèi xīn 防弹背心 Bullet-proof vest

• 捐贈: juān zèng 捐赠 to donate, to give (away)

• 搜索票: sōu suǒ piào search warrant

• 查詢: chá xún 查询 to inquire, inquiry

• 休旅車: xiū lǚ chē 休旅车 SUV

• 條子: tiáo zi 条子 Slang for “cop”

• 滅口: miè kǒu 灭口 silence （a witness)

• 線人: xiàn rén 线人 spy, informer

• 千金: qiān jīn ㊃ (honorific) daughter

Edited November 27, 2009 at 03:02 AM by chrix

[semantic nuance]

正妹？: zhēng mèi? not sure what this means

good-looking female, hot babe, stunning knock-out.

滅口: miè kǒu 灭口 silence （a witness)

殺人滅口 --kill that witness

[chrix]

引用:

正妹？: zhēng mèi? not sure what this means

good-looking female, hot babe, stunning knock-out.

Thanks, now I remember too

引用:

滅口: miè kǒu 灭口 silence （a witness)

殺人滅口 --kill that witness

Yes, they use it once in the combination 殺人滅口 and also just 滅口. (In English, silencing a witness pretty much means killing them as well)

Thanks for your comments, really appreciate it !

[semantic nuance]

殺人滅口 and also just 滅口. (In English, silencing a witness pretty much means killing them as well)

Thank you! Learning a new expression from you.

[chrix]

Anyone watched enough to be able to discuss this series? Like in episode 5 or 6, when they go buy these modern American guns and look at the merchandise, 痞子 asks the mafia guy, 這把怎麼算, and the reply is: 就是算一把. So 把 is the measure word for rifles, but what's the joke here

I agree with the above posters, that there's a lot of clichés, especially at the beginning, and some inconsistencies (you can't stop a train just on the last 100 metres, and you wouldn't get a warrant for searching houses just based on their electricity bill, at least I hope you wouldn't in Taiwan), but from episode 4 the plot starts to become quite intricate and intriguing, especially challenging 英雄's black-and-white world view.

Sometimes the background music is too loud and you can't properly hear the actors, but otherwise it's great training for emulating Taiwan Mandarin (and just ignore those old guys sprinkling their speech with erhua )

[Gleaves]

This show is totally preposterous and people are crying all the darn time, yet I'm totally on board. Anybody still watching?

Chrix - Went back and watched that part. The gun salesman mentions rubbing the serial numbers off ("绝对没有任何记录，连号码都帮你磨掉了"). So I think 痞子 is asking how he counts them, and the salesman gives him a jerky response by saying that's one (referring to the one 英雄 is holding)? Maybe?

Don't want to give any spoilers, but I was pretty disappointed with the resolution of episode 12's mid-season cliffhanger. Kinda lame. But I quickly got over it as there is plenty of stuff going on.

There were some hand-written notes in episodes 11, 12, and 13 (the fax, mirror, and diary). If anyone has watched and remembers what they said, I would appreciate the heads up (maybe with spoiler tags). I have a general idea what they said from context and reading what I could, but they were tough to make out (Her handwriting looks like a cross between Hangul and wingdings).

I do have a question I will put in spoiler quotes, about episode 13:

In episode 13, how did 英雄 find the hot dog hideout? I completely missed that.

[chrix]

Thanks for clearing that up. I'll put up the rest of the vocab I collected soon.

Spoiler Response:

He found the address by looking up the business licence of the hot dog stand. I suppose it's this idea that no-one can escape the taxman, I suppose, not even people in hiding...

Edited January 14, 2010 at 10:16 PM by imron
added [spoiler] tags.

[Gleaves]

Ah, thanks. That makes sense (at least in the world of this show). I'm guessing I missed that in one of his conversations with his research assistant guy.

[Gleaves]

I finished this one off. Fun show. If you enjoy this one after the first five episodes or so, then you'll get a kick out of the whole 24. You have to be willing to go along for the ride and endure the main characters that can be tiresome. But it is a fun show. There were enough ridiculous plot points that kept it moving it along. And if you like to see dudes cry, then you'll like pretty much every episode of this show.

I was satisfied with the ending. They definitely left room for a second series/season. The last four episodes had a bunch of plot details as did the epilogue, so I think I need to go back and re-watch some of the that. I definitely missed some of the finer details.

Some spoiler thoughts:

One of my biggest disappointments was that they didn't let 痞子 be the villain. For the half an episode or so where he was a bad guy, I thought he was great.

They just couldn't resist bringing back the McDonald's chick could they.

[chrix]

Oh right, for the language level I would rate this show "Intermediate". A lot of sophisticated vocabulary at times, and if you take into account that the plot can get complicated and twisted, making it hard to follow at times, which perhaps warrants an "Upper intermediate" rating...

[chrix]

Also, here you can find English subtitles for the series: http://sugoideas.com/drama-2009/black-white/

[renzhe]

This was very good!

Great production, no dancing pink teddy-bears, clear language and subtitles, and the story seems interesting. Not dead-serious either, it has a bit of that Miami Vice vibe.

Finally a Taiwanese show I like.

I'd say it's intermediate too.

EDIT: The big honcho's daughter at the end -- is that 灵珊 from 奋斗?

Edited February 13, 2010 at 01:30 AM by renzhe

[Daan]

I'm also watching this now and greatly enjoying what renzhe calls the Miami Vice vibe. This is definitely the best Taiwanese show I've seen. Lots of interesting plot twists, some creative language use and overall, a nice atmosphere. I think I'll buy the DVD, actually.

[iolair]

Kaohsiung Vice, not Taipei Vice.

I used to live in Kaohsiung... I can't believe it's become the kind of place (soapy) cop shows are filmed in. I'm chuffed. The city has come a long way from when the banks of the Love river were basically just a pile of mud.

[renzhe]

I have to admit that, based on the first episode, I expected this to be more serious. It's become improbable enough to rival the least probable mainland spy shows I've seen.

It's entertaining enough, as soon as you accept that you're basically watching "True Lies", and not "NYPD Blue".