The Beauty of War, also known as Mei Li Zhan Chang, Mei Lai Zin Coeng, Wo De Can Lan, or The War of Beauties, was aired from October 3, 2022, to October 28, 2022. This drama originally aired on TVB Jade network and has an airtime of 45 minutes with 20 episodes.
This show has Jeannie Chan as Chung Ka Bo, Moon Lau as Lee Ching Yee, Hera Chan as Lam Siu Mei and Angel Chiang as Chung Ka Kei as our four main leads, along with Rebecca Zhu as Tong Yan and Alex Fong as Pong Zan Yu.
The Beauty of War is the story of three best friends, Chung Ka Bo, Lam Siu Mei, and Lee Ching Yee. More than friends, they were like sisters; this story explores the bond they share with each other and their relationship. The plot also explores the relationship between Chung Ka Bo and her sister Chung Ka Kei (not biological). The plot begins when Chung ka Bong is nominated by her friend Lam Siu Mei to participate in their school’s beauty contest. Chung Ka Bo’s confidence and elegance win the heart of manager Wong Yat Yin. Her performance in the beauty contest paves the way for her modeling career. She was recruited by manager Wong Yat Yin, an event that changed her life forever.
The rest of the story progresses as Chung Ka Bo struggles to adjust to the work and the challenges she has to face as she launches her career in the entertainment industry. This new-found fame has brought a rupture in her personal life, and she struggled to balance between her personal life and professional life. The stardom had an effect on her longtime friendship with Lam Siu Mei and Lee Ching Yee. The story moves as we see Ka boom’s strained relationship with her friends and her struggles to survive in the Warfield of the entertainment business. The story expands to twenty years, from Ka Bo as a teenager to her adulthood, and we get to see her life change during this time span.
It has a similar theme to the Korean drama Penthouse, where there is a battle between beauty, power, and wealth. Though The Beauty of War is praised for its exciting and engaging storyline, the ending left the audience in a bit of confusion. The last episode, aired on October 28, 2022, had an open ending, leaving the audience with many unresolved questions and dissatisfaction.
The series finale starts with the central character Chung Ka Po betraying her once-good friend Lee Ching Yee for 2 billion dollars. This sudden backstab causes Ching Yee a huge reputation loss, and the main lead even offers ten million to keep her mouth shut. The once sweet and warm Ka Po offers her close friend money to get her inside the bar. Lee Ching Yee was put in a tough situation, but she was rescued from this mess by Fu Kwai. The finale gets tense as Lam Siu Mei gets stabbed, an accident caused because of Ka Bo. She revealed to Yu Zeun that his right arm was amputated because of Siu Mei.Lee Siu Mei’s unexpected death causes a rift between the already wounded friendship of Ka Bo and Ching Yee.
There were many loose ends and unresolved plot holes that left the audience in a state of confusion and in dire need of explanation. Toward the end of the episode, we saw Zan Yu, Ka Bo’s Ex-Husband, appear before her. By then, we figured out that Zan Yu’s dad Kwok Dong had disappeared mysteriously, just like that! We know pretty much nothing about his mysterious disappearance. The final episode also saw the sudden return of Ka Kei. We haven’t seen her on for a while on screen, and this sudden appearance could hint at a future revenge plot between the sisters.
Will There Be A Season 2 For The Beauty Of War?
The open ending left a lot of loopholes in the plot, making the audience dissatisfied and confused. There were no proper answers to Kwok Dong’s disappearance, the mystery with Tong Yan, and the unresolved tension between Ka Bo and Ching Yi. The revenge plot line between Ka Bo and Ka Kei is also left unanswered. The show producers said that this open ending is a bold way of ending a story and did not hint at a season 2. But for the plot to feel complete, a season 2 is a must, so let us hope we get season 2 news soon!
Though this series started great, as the episodes progressed, the quality dropped low, and the acting of the main character was definitely on the weaker side, but Angel Chiang stole the show with her acting as the evil sister Ka Kei. This show, in no way, can live up to the expectations of Penthouse, but this definitely could be salvaged if all these plot details could have a satisfying wrap-up. Let us hope we can have that in the next season.
