Drama Digest
The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter takes off from a while after the events of the first season, when Ma Gwai, the taxi driver, chooses to pay homage to Shek Kam Dong’s destiny and sets foot on his path as a dedicated exorcist. Trouble brews when he meets the spirit of a childhood friend, Mok Wai Ho/Ho Zai, who approaches him with a mysterious threat on his trails. Ho Zai had drowned at the age of 8 and died. Ho Zai comes to Ma Gwai to ask for assistance to get through his unfinished business. In the face of adversity, Ma Gwai will have to make difficult choices between his kin and his responsibilities. Parallely, Ma Gwai’s arc with Dr. Felicity Chong remains inconclusive as the presence of a thousand year old sea spirit looms over their heads. What happens next? You will have to watch to find out.
The Feel-Good Part
The series starts strong and has a humorously written script that makes you anticipate the rest with great excitement. The story gets pretty heavy at points, almost driving you to tears if you have watched the first season and touches on some crucial contemplative questions broaching the topics of life, death, the true meaning behind being a hero, survivor’s guilt, and the like. It also features some solid OSTs, which overshadowed the ones in season 1 in terms of quality.
The Disappointing Factor
One of the big problems with this series is the pacing. The story drags out at so many points that it becomes difficult not to lose interest altogether. The build-up in the first few episodes heightens your expectations and then the latter half of the show fails to stand up to those expectations. There are too many subplots, and even though they are pretty heart-wrenching at places, they fail to contribute to the progression of the plot.
In-Depth Analysis
The Exorcist’s 2nd Meter relies on its cast to make up for the disjointedness in its storyline, and for the most part, they do pull through. Kenneth Ma, with his 20 years of experience, delivers a satisfactory performance with diversity in his expressions, something which might have been slightly absent in a few of his other roles in the past.
There are arcs in the series that stand out more than the others, especially Beh Beh’s one, which easily overshadows a lot of other vital parts. The writing does get in the way of conveying the intended emotions with repetitive dialogues in a few episodes and takes away the gravity from situations. However, some portions are so well-done that they redeem the screenplay.
The OSTs had me pleasantly surprised. They are well-composed and alleviate the episodes a lot.
Star Power
Hubert Wu seizes attention despite being a relatively new actor and essays his role quite convincingly. It is also pleasantly surprising that the character he embodies is so distant from his original personality, and yet he finesses his performance with so much ease.
Overall Opinion
Despite all its shortcomings, the series is entertaining and an excellent sequel to the first season if we choose to overlook a few things. If you are up for a series that dabbles in the supernatural and throws some hard-hitting existential questions, you should watch this.
