The Four

5 DVD

Casts : Raymond Lam, Kenneth Ma, Sammul Chan, Ron Ng, Dominic Lam, Kate Tsui, Selena Li

This story is set in the Sung dynasty, with Master Chu Kot attempting to revive the constable's office which was shut down earlier. He believes that if he does a big favour to the emperor, he will be able to restore the office to its former glory and he can play his part in administering justice amid the corruption in the administration. So the first part of the show is of Chu Kot and his efforts to win the emperor's favour.

It also explains how he gathers the four constables together, starting with Mou Qing, who has been with him since he was a child. Mou Qing comes to him after a catastrophic battle between the Fok and Shing family over what Chu Kot felt was a misunderstanding. Even though the head of the Shing family, who was a brilliant weapons maker, was accused of being a traitor and therefore pursued by Fok, who's a judge, Chu Kot did not feel that the violence which wiped out both families was characteristic of either men and it was obviously someone else manipulating the situation. After the battle, which involved the use of a weapon of mass destruction (of the times), Shing's son was left in his care and was given the name Mou Qing without being aware of his family background, because Chu Kot doesn't want the feud to carry over into the next generation.

He later gathers Tit Sau, who was a local policeman, Zhui Ming, who was masquerading as a feng shui master, and Lang Huet, a former assassin.

Each of them have their own prowess. Mou Qing, as his name implies, is cold and unfeeling and even though he's crippled and in a wheelchair, he's the brains of the lot. Tit Sau, who has very powerful fists, looks like the brawn of the group. Zhui Ming is the cheeky one, who can be relied on to come up with tricky solutions. He's also very fleet footed and good at evasion. Lang Huet is the strong and silent one, with expertise in swordplay.

Chu Kot wins the emperor's approval to reopen the constable's office after finding a map that shows the way to a great treasure. From there, the constables start to investigate several interesting cases, including an apparent epidemic that turns the inhabitants of a village into zombies.

But the overarching theme of the series is the ambition of the prime minister, Choi King, to control "mou lam", or the pugilistic world, to harness its strength to take over the government. So enter Chief Ling and his son, who are working for the prime minister, trying to bully all the other sects into a federation that will serve the prime minister's interests and looking for the lost weapons of the Shing family. They are constantly being thwarted in their evil efforts by Chu Kot and his merry bunch.

The female characters in the show serve as foils for the men. Song Zhi Yin is the doctor who helps Mou Qing, who's a bit sickly. Lam Yeuk Fei is the daughter of Chief Lam, who's one of the few who dares to oppose Chief Ling. She's also the love interest of Tit Sau. Tit Sau's sister is interested in Zhui Ming and Ling's daughter has the hots for Lang Huet.