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Plot Rating: 9.25/10

Artist Rating: 9/10

The Breaking Point was one of Leon and Deric's better series. It contains 40 episodes and had a really great plot.

The series begins with Leon and Kathy in Taiwan. Leon is chasing his wife (well, technically they're not married but they had been living together for 7 years and had a son) onto a train and he was asking his wife not to leave him but she complained that in the 7 years she had been with him, he never matured. Meanwhile, Kathy was on the train and she overheard all of this. Then, Leon's wife gives him back the ring which falls on the ground and rolls to Kathy's foot (I think this is a premonition of what's to come).

The next scene moves back to Hong Kong and shows Leon's family (his dad and his younger sister). They own a small interior decorating/construction place. Apparently, Leon left his family in his late teens because he was upset at his dad. What had happened was that when Leon was younger, his mom was very sick and his dad went to a fortuneteller who told him that Leon and his mom weren't compatible. Therefore, Leon was sent to boarding school (where he met Deric) and he was angry at his dad because he had to leave home. Although Leon's dad misses him a lot, he never took the initiative to find him. Therefore, his sister, Louise, takes the matter into her own hands and goes to Taiwan.

Louise and Kathy were good friends in elementary school and when Louise gets to Taiwan, Kathy helps her find her brother. They do end up bumping into Leon but Leon doesn't go back to Taiwan with her. He goes back to Taiwan on the day of her college graduation and their dad is thrilled to see him but tries to hide that fight. Father and son initially go through some problems, but soon things are worked out between them.

Leon bumps into his best friend, Deric at their old boarding school and they renew their friendship. Deric is an architect in a big company and soon Louise ends up working in the same company as a secretary and falls in love with him. However, Deric sees Kathy in a shampoo commercial and falls in love with her when he sees her.

Kathy soon comes back to Hong Kong after her mother's death and the shocking news that her father was still alive and was living in Hong Kong. Therefore, she goes back to Hong Kong and stays with Louise's family. With her mother's note in hand, she goes to her dad's (Kwan Hoi San) company to find him. However, she sees that he is an untrusting and cheap old man who trusts no one. Instead of giving him the letter, she applies for a position at his company so that she could get to know him better.

Kathy has been in love with Leon ever since she met him in Taiwan. However, Leon meets Maggie, a Vietnamese refuge, and falls in love with her instead. They are very happy together but Maggie's application for citizenship in Australia has finally been accepted, and she leaves him. Well, actually it was probably all fate because Leon's father was in the hospital during this time and Maggie couldn't find Leon. Therefore, she just left a note in his mailbox. He was planning on proposing to her but he arrived at the refuge place too late and she had left already.

Kathy does date Deric for a while but she soon realizes that she was just lying to herself because she only loved Leon. Hence, on the day of their engagement party, Kathy breaks off their relationship and Deric is really upset. He later marries Leon's sister because he gets her pregnant and not because he loves her.

The turning point in the story is when Deric overhears Louise and Kathy's conversation about Kathy liking Leon. From then on, he sees Leon as his enemy. Later, when Leon turns Deric over to the police for buying improper construction materials and causing the death of a worker, Deric ends up going to jail and he vows revenge on Leon.

Leon finally finds out that Kathy has been in love with him and he doesn't know how to react so he is very uncomfortable and tries to avoid her. Kathy realizes this and goes back to Taiwan but Leon comes to the epiphany that he actually likes Kathy, so he takes the next flight to Taiwan and goes to find her. They have a great time in Taiwan.

When Deric gets out of jail, he finds a job at Kathy's dad's company and soon earns his trust and becomes his godson. However, it was Kathy that was supposed to end up as the goddaughter but Deric uses dirty ways so that he could become Kwan Hoi San's godson. To his disbelief, the truth finally comes out that Kathy and Kwan Hoi San are father and daughter and that Kwan was going to change his will so that Kathy would get his property. Therefore, Deric kills Kwan before the will is changed. Kathy takes him to court but they still end up losing the case.

Deric also tries to get Leon in jail by framing him for carrying drugs. Leon's cop friend and long time neighbor, Michael, tries to help him. Although Leon is guilty of the crime, he does not have to go to jail. However, Deric furthers his revenge and causes the death of Leon's father. Leon's sister tries to poison herself and Deric but Deric does not dies from the poison but Louise does die. Leon is very sorrowful after their deaths.

Maggie later comes back from Australia hoping to be with Leon. However, Leon only sees her as a friend now. Maggie risks her life to save him and gets run over by Deric. She also gets amnesia from this incident and Leon feels compelled to care for her. This brings a rift into Kathy and Leon's relationship and they were on the verge of breaking up. However, Maggie regains her memory and on the day she leaves for Australia, she gets shot by Deric when she stands in front of Leon to save him.

In the end, Deric and Leon are on top of a building fighting and Deric falls off the building and dies. Leon tells Kathy that he needs some time alone to recuperate from all the tragedies.

I'm not quite sure what the meaning of the end of this series is. I'm assuming that Leon will go back to Kathy after he's had some time to heal his internal wounds, but it's really odd because during Michael's wedding, Kathy catches the bouquet of flowers which means she should be getting married next. However, she leaves the flowers behind in the church after Leon tells her that he needs some time alone. Therefore, I'm confused about the outcome. Will they end up together??

8/28/98

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