In episode 29, there were a lot of big things happening while simultaneously feeling like it was taking a beat to prepare for whatever was coming next. This episode doesn’t feel quite as focused or purposeful, but there’s still some interesting stuff going on here.
Wai Siu-bo is being pulled in every which way. Cheng Hak-song, his snooty rival for Or’s affections, has been stirring up trouble, and the helmsman of the Green Wood Lodge is one of his biggest targets. The Devine Dragon sect is back in the picture as well, putting the screws to Siu-bo about locating the sutras. And back at the imperial court, the emperor does his best to move forward with the intelligence Siu-bo has sent him about Ng Sam-kwai.
Earlier in the series, even as the plot kept clipping along at a quick pace, we had plenty of episodes that dedicated its main focus to one side of the plot: the Green Wood Lodge, the emperor dowager’s machinations, Wai Siu-bo stuck at the Purity Temple on Wutai Mount. This episode features a lot of separate sides of the plot nudging up against one another. Even though there are still ten episodes left to go after this, and I know The Duke of Mount Deer will be able to cover plenty of ground in that time, I wonder if this next series of episodes will see everything converging.
Part of that may very well be Wai Siu-bo’s chickens coming home to roost. He’s been working a lot of different sides from various angles throughout the series, and as the different factions get closer together, certain questions get asked that make it trickier to maintain his assorted ruses. This is especially true where the sutras are concerned: everyone wants them, and he can only send the different groups chasing each other’s tails for so long. For the time being, though, he’s still clinging on. I love seeing how fast he adopts a sort of affronted defiance when the Devine Dragons accuse him of holding out on them, using the patented Wai Siu-bo method of saying a lot of things really fast until his doubters are cowed into submission.
On the Green Wood Lodge side of things, he’s more earnest. When he finds out what trouble Cheng and his shifu have been causing, he’s furious on behalf of his helmsman and is ready to exact vengeance, only to be chastened when the helmsman arrives and takes him to task for his rash actions. It’s the epitome of, “I’m not mad, just disappointed,” and you can tell Wai Siu-bo is crushed to have done wrong in the helmsman’s eyes.
Then there’s the emperor. Last time Wai Siu-bo made it back to Beijing, he barely had time to cool his heels before he was being sent off again, so it’s good to see him get a few significant scenes with the emperor here. Where Ng Sam-kwai is concerned, the emperor is playing a subtler game than Siu-bo is used to, and it completely throws him for a loop. Despite the power dynamic that has a clear effect on their relationship, Siu-bo spends a lot of his time with the emperor feeling assured in their friendship. That foundation is shaken here, and it’s interesting to see how he reacts.
Oh, and there’s a moment during a fight scene with Wai Siu-bo ends up getting tossed headfirst into a barrel. Maybe it’s easy laugh, but I love the sight of him flailing his legs in confusion until someone comes to help him out.
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