*Episode premise spoilers.*
As usual, the latest episode finds Wai Siu-bo trying to dodge disasters while navigating his conflicting loyalties. Just another day in the life of a fake eunuch-turned-commander!
Back at the palace, Wai Siu-bo struggles to readjust after his time away. The emperor is worried about the encroaching threat of Ng Sam-kwai, who has designs on the throne and is building support. Siu-bo wants to help, as usual, but he has other concerns as well—secrets he learned with the Reverend and messes inadvertently left by his past actions.
Even though most of the action takes place in and around the imperial palace this week and we’ve set aside the Revered/Or/Cheng plot for now, there’s still a lot going on here. Reckonings are coming due for the Green Wood Lodge—the group is attacked by an adept who’s after their helmsman, and I get a kick out of the scene where he efficiently hits everyone’s acupoints, leaving him free to stroll past their immobilized bodies.
Meanwhile, things are heating up for the emperor. It seems there’s always someone scheming against him, and in this episode, he learns a surprising discovery about one enemy as he plots his next move against another. We also see his recurring habit of going hot-and-cold on Wai Siu-bo. Sure, when things are good, he’s all, “Call me Little Yeun! No need to bow when we’re alone!” But the second something’s going on that he doesn’t like, he’s awfully quick to play the monarch card. There’s a scene here where Siu-bo accidentally divulges more than he meant to, and when he tries to walk it back without explaining, his old pal jumps straight to, “You know lying to the emperor means execution?” Siu-bo is incredibly devoted to the emperor, but scenes like this are why he often can’t fully let himself relax in the emperor’s presence.
Some fun stuff for Wai Siu-bo in this episode. There’s a great scene of him making up a lie about how he “escaped” the Reverend, the story getting more and more implausible until he just shouts, “Let us not talk about it!” and changes the subject. Speaking of his penchant for stretching the truth, he also makes up an absolutely ridiculous lie to cover up some imperial family drama to the eunuchs, which is utterly transparent but still succeeds by how firmly he sells it. And now that he’s making headway with the sutras, he’s thrown for a loop when he realizes that someone else is paying the consequences for his light fingers, and he puzzles over how to make things right.
One thing I want to note about Tony Leung Chiu-wai’s performance is how well Wai Siu-bo has taken to authority. There are the personal perks, obviously—of course a peasant is going to be all too pleased to have a perpetually-full purse and the ability to order a lavish meal whenever he wants it. But even though Siu-bo’s methods of achieving what the emperor wants him to do are often unorthodox, he’s very comfortable giving orders, getting strict and even making threats when he needs to. At the same time, he’s equally chummy with eunuchs, advisors, and noblemen, with little sense that he feels awkward or uncertain among his societal “betters”—again, it’s only when people like the emperor really throw their weight around that he gets nervous. By the way he frequently carries himself, Siu-bo could fool you into thinking he’s been doing this his whole life. It’s a nice aspect of the character, and Leung conveys it really well.
No comments:
Post a Comment