Last week, I was surprised to see how fast things were moving on the Ngo Bye plot, but this episode reminds me that there are still plenty of other places for the story to go. This episode takes a subplot that had wandered away from the main action and brings it back into the fold.
Wai Siu-bo demonstrates his talent for being in the wrong place at the wrong time when he has an encounter with the Green Wood Lodge, a brotherhood of the anti-Qing Heaven and Earth Society. At the same time, he demonstrates his talent for keeping on his toes to stay alive, as well as his talent for falling upward. When a group of well-trained rebels kidnaps you and brings you back to their secret base, things generally aren’t stacked to go in your favor, but as usual, Siu-bo will grasp at any toehold he can find to press his limited advantage.
We haven’t seen much of the Heaven and Earth Society these last few episodes, and while I’ve enjoyed the cat-and-mouse political games between the emperor and Ngo Bye, it’s good to revisit the rebels. Not only does it reunite Wai Siu-bo with his friend Fatso, it also introduces a further complication of Siu-bo’s loyalties. He’s devoted to the emperor but works for him at the behest of Hoi Goong-goong, who’s definitely up to something sneaky, and now the Heaven and Earth Society want Siu-bo to be their man on the inside at the imperial palace. That’s a lot of conflicting allegiances for one man to juggle.
But so far, Wai Siu-bo is still keeping his head above water. His go-to move for attempting to talk himself out of trouble—which is essentially, “Just keep talking really confidently and forcefully until everyone stops questioning me”—is probably the most Siu-bo has in common with the many charming-scoundrel types Tony Leung Chiu-wai played later in the ‘80s and ‘90s. I love the complete BS he starts spouting when he’s with the brotherhood. At one point, he exclaims, “Now you remind me of my tragic past!” and launches into all sorts of nonsense with a seamlessly invented backstory. He always manages to avoid the most immediate danger in the situation, but his means of doing so have a way of pivoting him into a position even more complicated than his previous one. Siu-bo now has a bunch more people he’d be wise not to cross, or else.
I mentioned some of Leung’s onscreen physical business last week, and that leaps out again to me here. While he of course remains very expressive, I just love the amusing little physical choices he makes as Wai Siu-bo reacts to the action around him. I’m sure some of these moments are scripted. For instance, when the Heaven and Earth Society abducts Siu-bo, they carry him to their headquarters in a barrel, and when they dump him out on the floor and he realizes where he is, he tries to climb right back in again. But there are other little things that don’t have such a clear in-story purpose, things that seem more like choices Leung makes as an actor. I enjoy the self-conscious way he sits in a chair picking at his knee while the brotherhood’s helmsman is addressing the group. Or there’s the moment when the helmsman places his hand on Siu-bo’s shoulder and Siu-bo reaches up to awkwardly tap his fingers. These moments are odd and, on the surface, seem random, but they’re so specific that they feel intentional, and they wind up creating a really interesting impression of the character.
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