Last Madame

Overall I think for Singaporeans to speak English and not singlish seems to be unnatural for many. Similar to little nyonya last time but the little nyonya had more realistic expressions and I guess it was in chinese..that perhaps was their mother tongue.

I loved the premise and unlike some of the reviews, found the juxtaposition of both storylines compelling where we get both the "old" story and the modern day plot. It gave the show some tension and interesting subplots that carried its own weight. Characters were also fleshed out well and you can understand and empathise with the motivations of the leads. Joanne Peh is AMAZING, her best role ever, and the rest of the cast were convincing and very solid and did well - for the most part. However, the main female lead (Fiona Fussi) for the modern day storyline was absolutely awful. It was painful to watch her, sadly. I wish they casted better. Pretty sure she only got the role for her looks because she really cannot act. This could have been a perfect 10 show, if not for her awful acting. I hope to never see her on screen again.

This is quite well made but the biggest problem is weaving the two time period stories together. The modern tale is a sweet predictable Hallmark romance, the 1940s story is gory and full of sexual violence. You'll need a very broad taste to accept both ends of the spectrum - although the time cuts work for the pacing.

This is mostly interior shots - a tragic irony given the show is about preserving an historic building. I'm guessing there's not of a lot of WWII Singapore left to shoot sweeping period outdoor scenes that would have helped with the epic reach.

The leads are stand out actors - very easy on the eye, doing the best they can with compromised script choices.

I'd like to note Jeff Chou (Inspector Mak), great, reserved and VERY sexy performance. With a screen version of Fonda Lee's award winning novel "Jade City" in the pipeline, the folk casting for that coming series would have to have rocks in their heads if they didn't consider him for the role of Kaul Lanshinwan!

All the lead actors have done reallly well. When is season 2 expected.

This show is surprisingly well-produced and executed. Joanne Peh's performance is truly the highlight of the show for me. Brandon Wong's performance as Master Seh was also a treat. However, I think the narrative of Fung Lan is sufficient to stand on its own two legs. The to and fro to the present timeline seems redundant/ rudimentary and takes away from the tone of the story (but maybe some national heritage organisation funded this film - I don't know and haven't done any research on the film's background haha). So nostalgic for me as it took me back to the good ol' Channel 8 days where I grew up watching the gripping 7pm and 9pm shows screened daily on TV e.g. The Unbeatables, Price of Peace etc. Not done with season one and am hoping a season two is in the cards. In addition, I loved how the accents of the characters weren't psuedo-American (like many other Singapore-produced films/shows that struggle between sounding Singlish or "step ang moh") and delivered realistically what well-spoken Singaporeans sound like. Not sure if this was intentional but kudos to all in the cast and production team - I'm a fan!