An interesting episode with a lot of twists and turns. We skip out on the revolutionaries today to focus more squarely on the court intrigue, which is heating up something fierce.
Feeling he has no other option to control Imperial Guardian Ngo Bye, the emperor takes up the official reins of his throne, assuming power from his remaining regents. But Ngo remains a thorn in his side, and the emperor starts looking for other strategies to deal with him. Wai Siu-bo’s loyalties to the emperor strengthen, but his new friendship may be at odds with his own self-interest.
First of all, Ngo Bye continues to be a villain of the all-but-literal mustache-twirling variety. Here, class act that he is, he kicks a pair of women kneeling at his feet as they beg for mercy for their aging patriarch. I like, though, that his machinations aren’t wholly unbeatable. The emperor has been onto him pretty much from the jump, and this episode feels some nice “I know that you know that I know”-style scenes between them.
Speaking of the emperor, while he started the show more interested in his martial arts practice than in ruling the nation, he’s definitely stepping up. With his trusted advisors dwindling, he realizes that he needs to grow up and do his duty. But that doesn’t mean he immediately flips the script to be the noble ruler giving of himself for the sake of his country. There are still some growing pains—even though he doesn’t let Ngo Bye see him get rattled, he takes his anger and fear out on others later, and there are moments where playing the game involves moving some pawns across the board to protect their king while he hangs back.
We spend a fair amount of time getting into the political rivalry with the emperor and Ngo Bye, so it takes a while before we get to Wai Siu-bo, but when we do, he doesn’t disappoint. There really is some neat stuff at play with this character. His primary goal is generally his own self-preservation and personal gratification—see: his tricky maneuvering to get himself out of trouble or the way he positively stuffs his face with food at every opportunity he gets, as a peasant who finds himself in the imperial palace. But at the same time, he’s very loyal very quickly, and that becomes a problem when some of the people he’s loyal to are at cross purposes. He was devoted to the emperor even before he learned the true identity of his sparring partner, and even though his arrangement with his new master Hoi Goong-goong began with a lot of threats and coercion, he does seem fond of the old man. But when his master wants him to spy on the emperor? When the emperor proves their friendship might not quite go both ways? What’s a gambling rascal disguised as a eunuch and thrust into a political vipers’ nest to do?
I continue to enjoy the comedy of the role too. Tony Leung Chiu-wai really has a knack for going broad in a way that somehow still feels grounded. Wai Siu-bo sucking his thumb as he takes a nap, for instance, could’ve easily been an overly-goofy attempt at a cheap laugh. But Leung weirdly makes it work. In this episode, he also displays a really nice back-and-forth with Andy Lau (it’ll be fun to revisit Infernal Affairs sometime after I finish this series.) In addition to good character drama, they get some fun humorous moments together, like when the emperor scolds Siu-bo for speaking too indiscreetly about a court conspiracy and they both start shushing each other. Lots of fun!
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