“The Forgotten Day” Criticized for Sluggish Story

Viewership ratings for TVB series The Forgotten Day <失憶24小時> has been disappointing especially over the past two weeks, despite starring Best Actor and veteran Roger Kwok (郭晉安).

The slow-moving and boring plot development was attributed to the lackluster ratings of 22.8 and 22.7 points over the past two weeks. While producer Amy Wong‘s (王心慰) dramas are typically moderately paced, episodes of The Forgotten Day have been lacking ever since the first ten episodes focused on the kidnapping case of protagonist (Shaun Tam 譚俊彥) and the disappearance of his wife Freeya (Grace Wong 王君馨). Although there are only several main characters, the plot has not been progressing much due to sub-plot diversions which do not actually bring value to the main story. Instead of focusing on the results of the investigations to sustain viewer interest, the plot has been undermined by too many meaningless romantic developments instead.

Another puzzling fact has been the “disappearance” of female lead Grace Wong, who has pathetically few scenes. The Forgotten Day is Grace’s long-awaited drama since 2019’s The Defected <鐵探>, but her character Freeya disappears after appearing in the first few episodes where she paid ransom to the kidnappers, and only appears thereafter in the form of flashbacks. Despite being lead actress, Grace’s screen time is ironically much lesser than the rest of the drama’s supporting actresses including Roxanne Tong (湯洛雯), Zoie Tam (譚凱琪), Elvina Kong (江欣燕), and Lisa Lau (劉思希).

Four Intimate Scenes to Entice Viewership

Perhaps in an attempt to revive flagging ratings, the drama unexpectedly threw in four intimate scenes in episode 19 alone. The first is Elvina who cooks up a virility-boosting meal for Max Cheung (張達倫), though the latter sees through her intentions, hence stopping short of any bedroom excitement. Next is a kissing scene between Lisa Lau and Wu Fei (胡㻗) as their relationship progresses, but the teasing comes to naught. Another is a bold sex scene in the car between Derek Wong (黃建東) and Sabrina Yeung (楊埕). Finally, the last scene is between Roxanne and Shaun, who suffers a panic attack during a particularly stormy night and takes the chance to hug Roxanne’s character. The two kiss passionately in a scene that is said to be Roxanne’s most passionate kissing scene up until now, which culminates in a one-night stand. Due to television censorship restrictions, a cut version was aired while the full version can be accessed online.

Source: HK01

This article is written by JoyceK for JayneStars.com.