EPISODE 2

And so the torture continues...

Maggie, or here she is called Onn Sin walked into the Chan Fei's room and Yuk Ying was shocked. No make that so shocked I thought her shriek can get like 10 octaves higher and thus blasting all glasses within 10 mile radius. Onn Sin quickly told Yuk Ying the history of the forbidden room and the fact that Chan Fei's ghost was lurking around. Yuk Ying was so scared she literally and dramatically shrieked as she fell down. Plat!

Anyway Onn Sin told Yuk Ying there was a way to get rid of the spirit and that was to draw some protective spells on her face. So as Onn Sin drew that on Yuk Ying's face making her looking like to total fool, Onn Sin explained she had been a palace maid for 10 years so she knew the ins and outs of the palace. She told Yuk Ying to quickly walk back to her room but unfortunately Yuk Ying fell into the pond on her face and her face got totally smudged. Bad news that Yu Fei was nearby and Yu Fei who have heard of Yuk Ying was furious because there was this mad looking woman crying about Chan Fei's spirit whom she hated but she didn't look like it but she looked like she was ready to basically do Yuk Ying some serious harm as Yu Fei's assistant, an eunuch and a maid called Onn Sim began to poke fire. Onn Sin quickly came and apologised profusely, saying that she had tried to teach Yuk Ying some manners but Yuk Ying was foolish, silly and in other words poor dumb. Yu Fei let Yuk Ying go and Yuk Ying was furious at Onn Sin for being made a totally asshole of herself in front of all people, Yu Fei. But Yu Fei wanted to see Onn Sin personally.

Once in her chambers, Yu Fei was furious with Onn Sin who tried her best to diffuse the situation by emphasising how benevolent and good Yu Fei was for letting go of that stupid Yuk Ying who was unfortunately under Onn Sin's care. Yu Fei shot her a look and said "You have done so much, said all the right words but why do I have this feeling you're not trying to win my favour but trying to protect someone? Your master Yuk Ying?". Onn Sin denied of course but Yu Fei said "I am not foolish you know. You have been in this palace for so long..please don't tell me you have known me well as before I became a concubine you were not in this sector and after I become the concubine you have never served under me so in short, I do not know you and neither do you know me...sometimes it will be very smart of you to know your place ... do not ever do that again..." and so Onn Sin was dismissed.

Of course Miss Poke Fire that is Poh Shim was like saying things like "My lady, why did you let her go?" and Yu Fei was like "She is not a simple palace maid, she has been here long enough to know her way around...I had my say tonight and I have saved my own face...I'll just let it be ..."

Here I must pause for a while. I was very confused what was going on here as the dialogue was deeeeeeep. But after some thoughts and discussions, I managed to decipher what was meant between the two as above. Basically Onn Sin is the caretaker or you can say matron of the
young would be concubines such as Yuk Ying and Yee Sun and gang. So she was entrusted with the duty to teach them manners. So when Yuk Ying stupidly went into the forbidden room and wandered around crying "ghosts! ghosts!", Onn Sin knew for a fact it will reach Yu Fei's ears and that will not only cause trouble to Yuk Ying but to Onn Sin and her people as well. So to diffuse the situation she made Yuk Ying looking like a fool and so it was like "See Yu Fei, that Yuk Ying is so stupid..don't bother with teaching her, she is hopeless" type of solution. And so we continue.
Yuk Ying was crying as she thought she was bullied. Yee Sun was playing nice but deep down she wanted to see Yuk Ying fail so very much.

Suddenly Onn Sin appeared and Yuk Ying in front of everybody scolded Onn Sin by saying "Why did you make me look like a fool?!" and Onn Sin was like trying to explain the situation in a very "Really woman, shut up and listen" way but Yuk Ying was saying "You should not treat me that way, after all I am your master and you're nothing but a lowly palace maid!". Onn Sin was cool about that and then she gave her lecture which I applauded...

"It is true I am nothing but a lowly palace maid and you're all of higher rank than me and my kind. But please do not forget I have been around for 10 years and I know the palace in the ways that you will never know and you will depend on my knowledge. Moreover, you're not yet a concubine so technically you're not yet my master. You will not be my master until you're selected to be a concubine by the Emperor and then we shall see .. so for now, you will refer to me as KuKu (like matron since she is in charge of the palace maid who are supposed to take care of these spoilt brats) ..."

Yuk Ying huffed and puffed but she couldn't blow away Onn Sin!

Back in the room, Yee Sun and her two other god sisters were happily chatting away and Yee Sun said "It is better Yuk Ying crossed the path and earn the wrath of Yu Fei ... we will just see her downfall and since she still treats me as her sister, I shall know what to do.."

And so the scheming begind and miss dumb dumb still didn't know a thing!

Next scene we have Tsui Man Tin the eunuch walking back home and having this rather long conversation with fellow eunuch about the necessities of marrying a woman eventhough they can't you know, do it. And back at home Eunuch Tsui discusses with his wife and worries very much that his 3 god daughters, specially selected to seduce the Emperor and specially trained in the fine arts of seduction were sent in to specifically earn the heart of the Emperor so as to divert the attention of the Emperor.

You see many years before Eunuch Tsui backed on the wrong horse so to speak and that horse happened to be the Emperor's most hated person. He got rid of that horse and Eunush Tsui was given a reprieve. But nowadays there are corrupt officials who are bringing back those memories of the past and he is afraid the Emperor might one day remember what happened in the past and get rid of him! So he thought a woman might befuddled his mind, like love potion I guess. Exactly who did what to who when where and why not yet explained. Emperor still not seen.

Next scene a mysterious figure who was fiddling something in his hands, I think a jade ring and we don't get to see his face and he is in a brothel/restaurant/gambling den and he looked out and he saw a table full of people cheering. Of course I guessed that mystery guy is Bowie, I mean who else?

Anyway long story short Moses and brother as in Hung Mo and sworn brother was busy gambling but lost everything but happy walked away although Bowie that is the mystery guy betted "small" in the gambling table and it turned out to be "big" so Hung Mo lost everything and he refuse to take mystery guy's money. Back out there they were attacked by the jealous gambler who lost some money. They bought old dress and without much money in them went to deliver a letter written by Yuk Ying only to be told the master had died.

At this point I will add that I was wrong in Ep 1. Yuk Ying did write them a letter of recommendation, like help these guys who helped me but the letter was of no use since Yuk Ying's relative died the night before.

Hung Mo and brother then went to see the local court officer who forced them to repay the mango's cost (the one they threw off the cart/carriage in ep 1) and they had no money. Brothers ended up fighting with one another as they had no money and was so hungry that they ate free food and got beaten as a result. Then Bowie appeared and gave them money saying he was returning the money and told them "This is not the place for you. Go home and buy a land, live comfortably, you will never survive here" and Hung Mo was so angry that he said "Who said I can't make it out you? Who do you think you are? I will make it some how!" and secretly he said to his brother "If this spoilt brat can make it so can I!". Well he couldn't as he staggered along a bridge and his sworn brother was busy fighting with him over his good coat so that they can sell it and buy food to eat but Hung Mo wanted to hold on to his one good coat and it ripped and inside fell into his hand a beautiful pink handkerchief with words sewn on it. Then Hung Mo heard someone fell over the bridge. He jumped in to save that guy who turned out to be the officer who was drunk then. The officer in thanks offered them to take them into palace and find them jobs but they must repay the mangoes thru their salary deduction. Sworn brother was not happy but for Hung Mo that was exactly what he wanted and he was finally getting somewhere. And he looked upon the pink handkerchief and count it a blessing that he found this pink handkerchief. Last scene was someone sewing and it turned out to be a smiling Onn Sin.

BIG GUESS WHO SEW THAT PINK THING? Huh? Huh?

Aiyah who else?

Back track a bit. A doctor, Dr Suen who is the chief imperial physician was sent by the Empress to check the stability of Yu Fei's unborn child. The man was not happy with the results but said nothing. Once back with the Empress, he reported the baby was showing signs of miscarriage and the Empress looked concerned. Back track just a bit and this time Yu Fei was very upset with the snooping Empress whom she called a two faced liar. She was bleeding a bit and he warned her eunuch not to tell anyone. He fetched another Dr Suen, that is Bowie who examined Yu Fei and he told what Yu Fei already suspected. And Bowie said he will have to report to the medical department. Yu Fei cooly looked at him and said ..."Dr Suen, you must tell me, is my baby in danger? You're the best physician in the palace and I will listen to you. If you tell me my baby is fine, there is no need to report to the imperial physician. If my baby is in danger, you're the best physician here and if you're of that opinion, then there is no point in telling others as well since they can't do anything which you yourself could not do...do you understand me Dr Suen?" and she gave Dr Suen a gift which he reluctantly accepted and Yu Fei told Suen "I have a favour to ask of you..." and Suen was alarmed.

Back with the Empress, the younger Suen, whom I think is the estranged son of the older Suen arrived and he told the Empress that he was sent here by Yu Fei to assure the Empress the baby was fine. The father was upset and said "Are you accusing me of misdiagnosing the condition of her unborn chiild? Even with my decades of experience?" and younger Suen pensively replied "Even a trusted medical remedy of thousand years of reputation can be wrong, more so you of merely 30 years of experience?". The Empress stopped their argument and said to younger Suen to take good care of Yu Fei and the baby. And so they left.

I think that was what Yu Fei wanted anyway.

Once outside the older Suen called the younger Suen and asked him "Why did you do that? Why did you lie about her condition?" and Bowie was like "I was merely stating the facts" and the older Suen said "We are doctors, we are supposed to heal people, not play politics" and the young Suen said "I know what I am doing, I am not you" and younger Suen left. At this point my impression was older Suen is straight faced and will not play politics whilst the younger Suen who may have wanted power or maybe in a way stucked in his situation had to become the errand boy. But then younger Suen could have said no and Yu Fei could not have done anything to him...

Which brings me to one big round to that scene where Hung Mo was told by Suen to leave town and that he can't survive in the city. I understood then why he said what he said. This is one man often being pushed around by the powerful forces and probably he was sick of it but he was smart enough to not do things as asked and not dumb enough to find way to do what he was told without being hurt. Hung Mo is a bit too straight and he may in the end get burn.

Ahhh politics, this time men get pushed around by women! Power to the women!

I must say though this is one series that gave women such high position and so much motives. Whilst Desperate Housewives may be about housewives who aren't that desperate, I feel this series should be renamed Desperate Concubines because they all look like it.

Overall a better episode than last night but sometimes quite dumb in some place and in most too much talking using lines that 8 out of 10 words I can't understand. Too deep without the necessity of having to be so and yet some scenes they used quite modern language. Very confused. From what I could understand, I wrote it all above, my interpretation.

Anyway characters.

Yu Fei just seems desperate to hold on to her position but the one character I find most intriguing is Onn Sin. In this episode she is about to leave the palace already so I wonder what made her power hungry and how can ONE LOWLY PALACE MAID every rise up to become a powerful concubine?

I really do wish the focus is narrowed a bit and concentrating on Onn Sin and maybe Yu Fei because these two are the most interesting. Onn Sin especially.

I still think that all the actresses (the 3 main ones) are too old for their characters. But then who else?

Performances wise, no doubt Maggie looks the oldest (I don't count Sheren Tang since she is a veteran and therefore a class on her own) but she looks the most beautiful if you ask me, although albeit too thin. I like her performance, like her pensive looks but her eyes, you can see she is weighing the situation. I don't like her habit of moving her head too much when talking or pointing left right and centre but luckily she cut down on these in here and to me that is a great thing. She gave a convincing performance of a very intelligent and shrewd palace maid who knew where she stood and didn't want to cause trouble to herself. In fact I am so happy she appeared because one more minute of that shrieking woman, I would have switched off the TV. I have said this before and I will say this again; whatever the brief character may be, Maggie has certainly learned over the years to maximise her character. I always sense there is a past to her character, even when it is not shown, like her performance of a character is built upon facts about this character which may not exist. It takes year to reach that stage so basically truth be told, apart from Sheren Tang, Maggie is the best in here. I hope her performance gets better.

Charmaine had little to do in here tonight except looking smug or kindly. So far nothing much and not very stand out yet.

Sheren Tang was amazing with her laser beam eyes and cold way of talking but yet you can detect fear. This is one very fearful concubine but she tried not to show it. Less oily face today which is great.

Gigi Lai aka that shrieking woman really had me so annoyed within 10 minutes of this series. Not only me, my sister sitting next to me was saying "She is like TVB's most overacting actress" and I corrected her by saying "Just make that out as the worst actress in this series". Her worst scene was when she fell into the pool and I can't even describe how she sounded and looked. Her eyes bulging, she looked like she was trying to outdo the opera stars. Imagine Michelle Ye but 10 times that much and you will get my picture. I was thinking why? Why? WHYYYYYYYY herrrrrr? But for a 34 year old she looks the best, nice figure but oh my God, her acting, she was like trying to outdo herself. She was always a competent and stable actress but in here she is like uncontrollable. The worst tonight.

Bowie finally appears. Ok, not bad. Kinda overacting in that scene with Moses outside the gambling den, he looked like too much sighing too deep. And some parts he looked like he was merely reciting his lines, but then that scene with the Empress he is supposed to be as such I guess since he is reciting what Yu Fei told him to recite.

Chan Hung Lit should have been dubbed. Can't understand a single word he was saying. Ok I can understand a few words but why strain my ear? I am sure JDG will speak better Cantonese than him. He looked ok. I wonder why he didn't get to be the Emperor? He looked fierce enough.

Wai Ka Hung was quite ok, prone to too long a dialogue which bores me. Not his fault. This series has simply too much words that most of which I can't understand. Reminds me of Justice Pao but Justice Pao was really deep, this one pretends to be deep with unnecessary flowery words.

Moses was surprisingly ok tonight, especially when he was venting his anger at Bowie outside that gambling den. I thought he really looked down but not quite out. I find Moses' performance tonight above average.

Rebecca Chan looked like a benevolent Empress but I knew behind that friendly kindly smile is one deadly woman. Good performance, but too short to say more.

The rest except for Loh Hoi Pang were forgettable.

Loh Hoi Pang had a difficult scene where he was chatting with fellow eunuch and I was thinking what is this relevance of this scene? Next scene we know but that scene played out so long and the next scene was like repeating so many times how much he trusted/believed/knew the capabilites of his 3 god daughters he wasn't worried. So Mr Eunuch, why then you looked so worried? Ahh because you can calculate everything but how do you calculate the Emperor's reaction? Anyway poor Mr Loh. Should have cut short the dialogue because I lost my attention half way.

Frankly if not for the bitching and all, I would have lost my attention many times in tonight's episode. Some scenes are just too long.

Tonight you will also see more of the Forbidden City. If they took only one day to film all that, I must say dividing between who film what at which part must be very difficult. I still have a complain; I still can't feel it is the forbidden city eventhough I know it is. The cinematography is beyond bad, it just can't capture the silence, the loneliness, the vastness, danger lurking at every corner type of feel of the particular place when it should be so because in the end each character will feel just that.

And the costumes are amazing! The Empress one especially.

Tomorrow get ready to vomit blood with the stupid Yuk Ying and her stupid antics and get a dose of Gigi's bad performance and Charmaine's inadequate one, her opera moment. Yes, just 2 minutes preview I knew...I knew.......I KNEWWWWW...

Oh God, why? Why Gigi? Please let her get better...Charmaine, please do get better....the dialogue, please let it be easier to understand...half the time my reaction was "Huh?".

Not good, not good at all. Anyway good episode despite the flaws because if not, what else?

- For screencaps of this episode do check out Sehseh's WAB page -