In a way, this show is highly serialized, with new challenges and opponents arising and the main characters gradually figuring out how to deal with them. But on another level, at least where Wai Siu-bo is concerned, it falls into a pattern of him staying just ahead of the danger and conspiracy nipping at his heels, usually enjoying brief periods of comfort and confidence before he’s back in trouble again. I don’t know if that’s a good or bad thing, but it’s an interesting structure for the show. It’s always moving forward while simultaneously feeling familiar. Even as this episode introduces a big shakeup, I expect Siu-bo is gonna Siu-bo regardless.
After weighing some fraught deliberation but mostly thinking of the well-being of his friend, Wai Siu-bo confides in the emperor, sharing a few big secrets he thinks the emperor needs to know. These reveals set wheels in motion, with the emperor immediately starting to formulate strategies and sticking Siu-bo right in the middle of them.
For the most part, we stay tightly focused on the palace intrigue today. We check in with Green Wood Lodge, along with Princess Muk and Fong Yee, but those are quick side plots. The empress dowager has been struck a blow, but she’s not down for the count, and the good guys need to stay on their toes to anticipate her next move.
Fortunately for me, though, Wai Siu-bo remains in the thick of the palace intrigue. Within the usual bluffing like his life depends on it (because it often does) and the mental ducking and weaving, there are some good scenes for Tony Leung Chiu-wai. Even though Siu-bo and the emperor are close, and even though the emperor insists that there’s no hierarchy between them when they’re alone, Siu-bo can’t afford to give way to that fully. As such, confiding to the emperor is a big deal, and it gets dicey in moments. In a scene that manages to be both tense and charming, Siu-bo prepares to take a secret (immediately) to his grave to protect the emperor’s honor, but his own honor stalls, playing chicken as he insists that he really is going to commit honor suicide, no messing around, he means it!
I also really like a tag-team between Wai Siu-bo and the emperor as they shake someone down for proof of the conspiracy they’re investigating. It isn’t the first time Siu-bo’s demonstrated a talent for throwing his weight around to manipulate someone, but he threatens so cheerfully here, positively buoyant as he pretends he’s about to end this guy. And once again, Siu-bo proves himself to be a total clothes horse, relishing the hell out of a new uniform that comes with a new title. He’s in his glory as the other eunuchs fawn all over him.
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