EPISODE 3

This episode started off with Onn Sin happily sewing away when her eunuch friend, Siu Luk Tzi walked in and on behalf of fellow colleagues wished her a happy birthday. She quickly hushed him because that day was also I think the Emperor's mother's birthday, so a lowly servant can't be seen to celebrate her own birthday on such an occasion. Siu Luk Tzi offered to comb her hair as a present. Whilst he was expertly combing her hair, she said to him he had such skills it was a pity he was spending his days in I think the literature department? I don't know what you call that but anyway you can say library. But Siu Luk Tzi was cool about it and he said (and this perhaps could be tonight's most memorable line); "Does it matter if I have such skills? In the palace whereever we may serve, we are still considered lowly servants...". True. And Onn Sin agreed and to her she wanted to leave the palace (automatic release I guess for those who are not picked by the Emperor where this maid can then go home after 10 years of service presumably to marry) to live the rest of her days with her beloved grandmother and Siu Luk Tzi, whom she
called her sworn brother was reluctant to let her go wished her well. I am intrigued by Onn Sin; someone so all out to avoid any trouble and yet in the end she succumbded to the trouble itself. One wonders why? I know her grandma was killed by the Empress but why would the Empress bear such grudge against an old woman?

Anyway next we have...I can't quite remember the right sequence. I think it was about the snooty noisy scheming candidates of would be concubines and yes, so very sorry to say Miss Shrieking Woman was at it again and this was how it happened, that shriek I mean.

They were all practising walking on that high heeled shoes and Yuk Ying as usual complained the whole time until the eunuch had to tell her that she may not like she was doing but he knew what the Emperor liked and this was what he liked. So Yuk Ying shut up, went on practising but Yee Sun did the evil dead by kicking her heels and Yuk Ying sprained her ankle and yes, complain complain complain.

Now before I proceed to the next scene I wonder when was foot binding practise abolished amongst the nobilities and prominent families? Because I always thought Yuk Ying's feet should have been bound and therefore she should have gotten used to walking in those shoes. And let's just say I am wrong and her feet was never bound, I wonder though how come Yuk Ying felt so uncomfortable walking in those shoes, in fact how would any of them feel uncomfortable wearing those shoes since...

a. their father is like somebody of somebody

b. they would have probably in most possibility have entered the palace once or maybe joined some parties which had other high officials or played with the nobilities (maybe not the Emperor himself) so they would have wore official attires which would include that shoe

c. they would have practised wearing them since forever since please, in the 1st episode they already said they were destined to marry the Emperor so to speak where they're chosen once every 3 years and since they knew what they were supposed to do or at least were trained to do what they were supposed to do or maybe have known that this was what they were supposed to do for some time now, wouldn't all of them have practised the imperial etiquettes and walking in that shoes since like forever? Especially Yuk Ying? Does one wake up one day and say "Hmmm I want to marry the Emperor and become his concubine" and 2 hours later travels to Beijing to be selected? I am sure all candidacy comes with recommendation and behind that recommendation is of course backing by seriously powerful people for those candidates walking into the palace guaranteed a place in the imperial concubine system. So I wonder, why show Yuk Ying as such an inadequate whining complaining stupid idiot that she was in these past few episodes? I am not saying her innocence or her naiveness, I am saying such things also she can't do?

Anyway she suffered from sprained ankle. In her room she was loudly crying for her bowl of hot water and Yee Sun was so concerned that she cornered a maid and took the hot water meant for another candidate. So both candidates argued and
the HOT water was poured onto Yee Sun's body but she was ok with that. Onn Sin appeared and quickly diffused the situation but Yuk Ying, her royal whining highness was not pleased. Yee Sun looking rather wimpish the whole time.

I must pause again. A major technical mistake here. Remember HOT water? So how come Yee Sun didn't jump when her body got poured the hot water? Neither did the other candidate and Yuk Ying who all should have been scalded by the hot water,
but Yee Sun should be crying in pain, either loudly or silently it didn't matter but she should have been in pain. I look at Yee Sun's reaction and my first impression was water wasn't hot, it must have been cold and 2nd impression, all of them did so badly in this scene technically and 3rd impression, Charmaine Charmaine Charmaine...not consistent at all.

Ok, continue.

Now we have Hung Mo and sworn brother introduced by that officer to become labour outside the palace. Not guards yet but rather you know kuli? Yeah construction worker lar! Sworn brother complain and complain, that in the end they were still building houses and that made no difference to him whether he was building a house in their village or in the capital. Hung Mo however was very positive about this and was very happy he was slowly reaching his ambition to become a somebody. He climbed to the top of the roof of that house he was building (I was quite afraid for Moses as I saw cracks in the walls, thought the building might
collasp but you know what? Once at the rooftop it was all CGI stuff) and he turned his back to the view behind the house they were building and what he saw amazed him so much that he was stunned into silence.

Now I will pause again. Exactly what stunned him into silent awe was not shown because like I said, this has got to be TVB's worst cinematographer or maybe they did not hire one. I know what he saw. He saw the top view of the big huge forbidden city but that wasn't shown to us. This scene should have that zoom pan circle 3D whatever effect to highlight the awe inspiring vast huge probably intimidating Forbidden City (as opposed to Ep 2 the zoom pan should have highlighted the secrets, dangers and loneliness of the city) but none of that. So I assume it was what was so awe inspiring.

I do feel there are 2 sides to what one can see of the Forbidden City and perhaps more careful planning should have been employed to highlight that. Like Yu Fei, Onn Sin both would have seen a huge city but filled with secret chambers, huge red
walls all of which can give an impression of a big confined space like a cage or a prison that is beautiful and yet dangerous and also lonely whilst to Hung Mo the effect would have been opportunitym ambition, probability of realising his goal, power. None of that unfortunately. This series could have been beautiful but in the end so many wasted opportunity which makes me realise however interesting the story may be, however interesting the storytelling may be, the shots in this series could not be seen as art but plain WYSIWYG. Disappointing when this series tried to show many levels to human frailty, human obsession, human deception, human whatever and yet the atmosphere is not portrayed in such a way as well. I mean look at Zhang Yi Mou's movies. Even the wind on the grass was meant to enhance a particular scene to create a certain mood. Look at Winter Sonata and the scenes of a big tree with white snow in a faraway shot was so beautiful and so profound, even if the characters were just sleeping on the bench the entire thing looked meaningful and really beautiful. So far this series is ugly in my personal humble opinion.

Back to Miss Shrieking Woman.

Yee Sun was having a great time with her two fellow god sisters eating watermelon when Onn Sin came knocking and Yee Sun had to hide. But Onn Sin later told Siu Luk Tzi that she knew Yee Sun was in there because she could smell the medicine that Yee Sun applied on Yuk Ying's leg. So Onn Sin deduced with Yee Sun in the room of rival gangs (yes they were supposed to be rivals) eating watermelon and hiding when she came into the room meant they were on the same team. Siu Luk Tzi asked "Are you worried about the candidates?". Onn Sin answered "What is there to worry? These candidates are perhaps the brightest but I am worried about Yee Sun; she may be quiet but looks can be deceiving, she is not as simple as she looks. Yuk Ying is the fairest of them all, I am not surprised they will outdo one another to gain attention from the Emperor as it has always been the case. I just hope Yee Sun doesn't do anything that may cause serious harm..."

The Empress was planning to watch a performance that night and as required all candidates, selected concubines and even Yu Fei would be there. Everybody heard of a rumour where one candidate wore the same colour dress as Yu Fei and she was later nowhere to be seen. So everybody was extra careful in choosing their colours. Yuk Ying was smart enough to say bribe the eunuchs and get info but still very dumb to entrust this on Yee Sun. So the eunuch and the maid next to Yu Fei gave info as Yu Fei chose her colours which was golden yellow. This was communicated to Yee Sun via a box with yellow flowers in it. Yee Sun gave to Yuk Ying a box with purple flowers ad indeed Yuk Ying wore yellow colour. Then came the news that Yu Fei changed her mind and wanted I think blue colour. So Yee Sun pretended to be very sick, Yuk Ying poured water for Yee Sun who pretended to accidentally poured it into Yuk Ying who gave the LOUDEST TIMED shriek ever in the history of TVB series. But Yee Sun said "Why don't you take my dress since I am not going?" and indeed it was blue colour. Yuk Ying wore the striking colour and arrogantly walked to the hall.

Onn Sin meanwhile realised something was amiss when she saw the box with purple flowers coming out of Yee Sun's room, that Yee Sun was sick and wasn't going and that she lent Yuk Ying her blue dress. Onn Sin immediately knew Yee Sun had done something horrible and she ran to stop Yuk Ying from going in that dress. But Yuk Ying scolded Onn Sin and said "Are you accusing my God sister of wishing harm on me? How dare you!" and she huffed and puffed and walked away and into the hall smiling like a total idiot whilst everybody was laughing at her. Even the concubines there said "Do you have a lot of money?" and Yuk Ying said "Yes, I specially made this dress for this occasion" and the concubine sniggered and said "Perhaps you should have used your money wisely". So everybody knew except dumb woman.

And in came the Empress looking spectacular in red and very obliging, but we all know she's mean deep down inside of her. Then came Yu Fei, spectacularly later and alas! She was wearing gold and red! Not blue everybody hushed? Then I think it was Yee Sun's God sister who said "Of course! The Empress is wearing red and Yu Fei has always tried to upstage the Empress. This is her way of saying no one can dare to dress in the same colours as her but Yu Fei can do that on the Empress because of her status!". The Empress didn't look like she minded at all. Interesting show of power through fashion eh?

And so Yuk Ying went right back to Onn Sin and literally screamed at Onn Sin for falsely accusing her godly innocent kindly beautiful naive compassionate god sister, Yee Sun and huffed and puffed she went away. Onn Sin was silent because she knew she screwed up. Frankly I don't know why she cared. Let Yuk Ying dig her own grave I'd say.


Next we have Suen Bak Yeung's story. He successfully stabilised Yu Fei's pregnancy. And then he had to rush off to home to pay respect to his dead mother. Once at home, he rudely ignored his father, the other Dr Suen (Suen Ching Wah) and they ended up arguing. In came a young woman called Hau Shu who was actually Suen Bak Yeung's wife of 3 years but younger Suen just walked away. Older Suen told younger Suen not to damage the family's reputation as doctors by lying to Yu Fei about her condition, that she was close to miscarriage and he said "Is ambition that important to you? Do not be foolish! I wouldn't want you to miss your mother's death annivesary next year!" and younger Suen said "Yes! I take risks, I do what I can unlike you who was never even there to save your own sick wife! You yourself placed ambition above all else, remember?" and off he stomped out of the house, ignoring poor Hau Shu.

Then we know what happened.

Older Suen said to Hau Shu 3 years before his wife became very sick. He wasn't able to reach home on time to let her see him one last time and for that younger Suen became very angry and estranged from his father, thinking that his father placed career above all else. Before that younger Suen married Hau Shu because Chinese believe that wedding celebration may be able to uplift the spirit of the dying to make them better but well she died anyway. Older Suen said he was sorry to have put Hau Shu into such a position as he knew "He is ignoring you, staying in brothels instead of home to spite me" but Hau Shu didn't blame Bak Yeung or older Suen. Hau Shu said please don't be angry with Bak Yeung but older Suen said "How can I blame a filial son? I wasn't even there for my wife, I have no right to be angry with him".

Next we have Bak Yeung having dinner with eunuch Tsui who tried to bribe him but couldn't. But he offered Bak Yeung expensive herbs and Bak Yeung accepted and to Tsui this was an indicator that Bak Yeung was saying Yu Fei's pregnancy is stable and the rumours were all wrong. I wonder who Tsui's master is? The Empress?
Later that night Tsui was having a bath and he talked about his worries about his 3 god daughters and Suen Bak Yeung. When his wife was drying him, she tried to avoid looking at you know where where you know what which was supposed to be there was not there. Tsui became very angry and said "Why are you glancing away from me? You're nothing but a whore I married, you have no status, do are not even my wife so you don't you dare glance that way!". Something like that. So we know
now she was a prostitute. I mean if not who would marry a eunuch eh?

And last scene was a rather romantic one.

Onn Sin was very upset by what that shrieking woman said and she was playing the flute when a fellow maid walked in and asked her to teach her how to play that song. And so she played and zoom away Hung Mo was at the rooftop and he heard the song and he too played a song in return and zoom away and Onn Sin heard Hung Mo's song and there they were communicating with one another through music and didn't know each other. It was like pre destined. But I wonder though; if her music is loud enough for Hung Mo to hear, like so far far far away how come the Emperor never heard that lovely tune? Wouldn't it be better to show the Emperor seduced by her music but didn't know who she was?

3 episodes straight each episode ended with Onn Sin as the last shot. Coincidence?

Anyway tomorrow major problems for Yu Fei and Suen Bak Yeung.

So far Yu Fei has yet to move beyond scary and mean. The Empress still nice and understanding. The bitching however has started on Yee Sun's side but she has yet to do anything more than scheming. We see her in a lighthearted mood today but
really still two demensional (as in better than one dimenasional). The guys have more personality thus far but quality of performance is debatable. Yuk Ying is still as one dimensional as ever.

So far Onn Sin has become my favourite. She has displayed far more personality than the rest and yet not as restricted as Yu Fei. I am sure Yu Fei's role will be more and better since she was the most popular in here but somehow the character of Onn Sin was very intriguing. For one she goes all out to avoid controversies but she cares enough to stop Yuk Ying from self doom. Maybe it was for own self preservation but she was leaving anyway so she didn't have to do that. She realised her lowly status and she was not ambitious. I find her conversation with Siu Luk Tzi very revealing and through Onn Sin I could see the danger of the palace and the weariness of people in her position. Like I think she said (can't remember who exactly) that "If we serve well we do not get recognition but if we fail in our duties, we will never see tomorrow". Something like that. So for me Onn Sin is an important
role because she showed us why the palace is not that great a place since the cinematographer failed miserably.

Hung Mo on the other hand showed us the optimism of someone who doesn't know the hidden dangers of the imperial palace. So very attractive and yet so deadly, like the women in it. I think Hung Mo will be a useful character as the stories go by and I can't wait for him to meet Onn Sin.

As for Suen Bak Yeung, still not much. I mean got loads of emotion today but I just don't feel for him. He just seems bratty and he puts himself in whatever position he may be anyway. But it would be nice to see the parts where he is the errand boy for the concubines and eunuch. I find that his father has more integrity than him and the way he ignored his soft spoken wife didn't really change my opinion of him in the first place.

Still no sign of the Emperor.

So far the plot itself is getting interesting although many parts illogical and some rather dumb, most of which involves Yuk Ying. I just don't like Yuk Ying nor am I bothered with her character. But I am curious though. She is supposed to be the daughter of some powerful governor and yet she is so alone in the palace. How come the father never send any man or woman to assist her like Yee Sun has Eunuch Tsui? Is it because she is not teh favourite daughter and the father disapproves of what she was doing? I guess only later we will know.

Performance wise, I will just be honest.

Gigi Lai is the most over dramatic actress in this series and because of that she is also the worst actress in this series and in most series I have seen. Her Yuk Ying would never have done all that and I wonder, did she know what she was doing? I don't mean she should be cunning like Yee Sun. Stupid yes but she should at least be stupidly graceful, childishly naive but still elegant, arrogantly lady like and most important of all, a lot more quiet. But there she was shrieking jumping complaining out loud...a lady and a daughter of a high ranking officer would never behave that way. Her performance was god awful and getting more and more unbearable each day. If she is praised for doing a good job I have yet to see the good job part and I can only say that perhaps no one understood how Yuk Ying should be like. For me Yuk Ying should be like Yee Sun, quiet but maybe not as cunning and deceptive. I can't stand this woman. I am curious though; can her eyes get any bigger?

Charmaine Sheh on the other hand was too subdued. You can interpret that as quiet and cunning and whatever, I can only see a poor performance thus far because she has yet to bring out her character. I find her character flat, without much personality and in some scenes poorly acted, like that hot water scene and also that scene where she told Yuk Ying to wear her blue dress. Of course Yee Sun is a very fake woman but to tell you the truth I can't decide if Yee Sun was fake or Charmaine Sheh's acting was fake because all I could see was a very opera-ish acting in that one single moment and fake. Then there she was eating watermelon and spitting happily with her God sisters. That scene was supposed to show her happier lighthearted side, that she may be mean to Yuk Ying but she is kind and considerate to her sisters which meant whatever she was doing on Yuk Ying wasn't
because she was innately malicious but because she was told to do it, which means dear Yuk Ying, it's just business girl! But that scene was so long, so fake, so badly acted, so not real, the laughs so forced, I thought even with her sisters Yee Sun was still as conniving and so insincere as ever. But really not as bad as Gigi Lai's performance. No one in this series can be THAT bad.

So we have overacting to underacting.

Sheren Tang hardly had any scenes today so no comment.

Maggie Cheung had more scenes today and so far I have no complaints whatsoever.

Moses Chan had little to do today so no comment.

Surprisingly, Bowie Lam wasn't that good. I mean he is one of TVB's best actors and yet today in those scenes he was arguing with Chan Hung Lit he was like very uncomfortable with his lines and he didn't do it naturally. In fact I find his performance seriously lacking. I hope he gets better as he gets used to his lines.
Loh Hoi Pang was great and yes, Chan Hung Lit was ok although I didn't understand a word he was saying. Really should dub his voice. Ok maybe a bit too much for me to say that. I could understand him but really should dub his voice.

Everybody else was ok since they had little to do.

I must say though best costume today is Rebecca Chan's Empress and best head gear is Gigi Lai in that blue do on her head.

By the way, I am still waiting for the real bitching to begin. And when a viewer expects that and nothing else, I can only conclude this series at this moment of time that is ep 3 is still not happening for me, yet.

I want to say this though to end my thoughts for this episode as I was thinking about this throughout 3 episodes of this series.

Why they all talk so much?? This is like a series with most dialogue thus far because some scenes just refuse to end, just linger on and on and on and the dialogue went on and on and on. Very tiring to watch sometimes.

A question though; Does anyone know why this series is set during winter?

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