What a view | In Triad Princess, the latest original Taiwanese series from Netflix, entertainment and the underworld unite
- The daughter of a gangster kingpin becomes the bodyguard for a celebrity couple – what could possibly go wrong?
- Jasper Liu and Eugenie Liu take the lead in this tale about satisfying your ambitions, no matter what or who the obstacles
So it’s not Kevin Costner and Whitney Houston – but it doesn’t have to be. Triad Princess, the latest original Taiwanese series from Netflix, might not quite be television series royalty either, but it’s loaded with enough high-class action and wit to constitute an upper crust crime-romance-comedy caper.
Stealing the show is Eugenie Liu as Ni An Qi, aka Angie, who inveigles her way into a bodyguard’s job specifically to cosy up to her idol, superstar actor Xu Yi-hang (played by Jasper Liu). Officially, Angie is the muscle for Xu’s girlfriend, actress Ling Yun (Cecilia Choi), who is being blackmailed by a mysterious antagonist.
Ling and Xu are Taiwan’s favourite, shiniest celebrity couple, although Ling is cold, arrogant and disdainful, especially towards Angie, and her relationship with Xu is soon revealed to be a sham to guarantee salivating press coverage and high ratings. Which would seem to clear the way for Angie to win the heart of her handsome hero; what could possibly go wrong?
So far, so cheesy. But Triad Princess has much more to it than the immaturity of Angie, who, at 25, protests her worldly wisdom to her overbearing father before retreating to her bedroom, where posters, pillows and cardboard cut-outs feature Xu’s boyish physiognomy. And it’s not as though Angie isn’t qualified to comprise a formidable, one-woman personal protection detail: an Asian taekwondo champion, she is also the daughter of triad kingpin Boss Ni (Michael Huang), surely the most even-tempered and restrained godfather ever to ruminate over a fat cigar.
His inept foot soldiers, adding comedic value, look as intimidating as girl scouts; and further exemplary support is lent by Tien Hsin as pushy showbiz agent Sophia Kwong, who’s never short of a devious scheme or two.
This meeting of the underworld and the entertainment world is less a clash of unrelated kingdoms than a dovetailing of means of satisfying your ambitions, no matter what or who the obstacles. The knockabout slapstick, meanwhile, reminds us not to take hero-worship too seriously.
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