EPISODE 13

I said yesterday's episode was the worst. I was wrong, this one has got to be the worst in terms of logic, common sense and simple human emotions. I have no problems with the sad parts like Queen being thrown into jail, Sing Hing, Sai Hin beaten half to death by the King or even Cheung Ping crying when she found out her mom was in jail. Put into a modern context this episode would have been a tragic episode. But this is a story about the celebrated legendary (maybe even mythical) Princess Cheung Ping. So every time Cheung Ping cried, I felt like throwing the TV out of the house, every time she laughs happily I feel like throwing the TV out of the house and one more time I see her pining for Sai Hin whilst Sing Hing pines for her and Yoke Han likes her but fears that Sai Hin may not want her, I feel like throwing the TV out of the house. I told this to my sister and she said she pitied the TV. What is the problem you ask?



One scene Sing Hing went to the King and begged the King to release the Queen and to investigate Tin and the dead Prince. The King said in the episode before that he will chop off anyone who said "Please reinstate investigation". Sing Hing thinking the King is a nice guy and was even like an uncle to him just a scene before got the shock of his life. He was ordered to be beaten until he was paralysed. Sai Hin came in time, begged the King and he too got beaten. Then Cheung Ping came and dramatically she was pushed aside, swirled twice and fell to the floor, again beaten. Sai Hin jumped on top of her and then Yoke Han came and jumped on top of Sai Hin and then Sing Hing stood up and jumped on top of Yoke Han. So poor Cheung Ping, crushed underneath all the people who tried to protect the person right below them. It was quite a messy scene and almost too funny to describe. Then the Empress Dowager came and begged the King to stop and he screamed stop and then sulked and walked away. What did the guys do? Especially Cheung Ping, she tearfully cried whilst laying on the floor on her stomach "Thank youuuuuu daddddddd" in the most pitiful voice.



I must pause here and breath a little before I explain why this scene irritated me so much.



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Maybe I am just too used to my idea of Cheung Ping. Maybe I expect to see a strong Cheung Ping standing up whilst being beaten and tearfully cried to her father and said in the strongest voice, "Dad, why are you doing this? Please stop, please stop, why are you doing this?". Because I like to believe the real Cheung Ping if in such a situation would have been puzzled with two issues:-



1. She knew dad loved mom, mom was wrongly accused, dad imprisoned mom, dad was acting unreasonably beating her innocent friend half to death and yet she said nothing, not one word except pleading the father to stop.



2. She had suffered so much in her life, and her mom if not Sai Hin was the most important person in her life, and to see such injustice being perpetrated, she would have been angry if nor dissatisfied. She would have been the one to approach the king to reopen the case, not Sing Hing. In fact this episode insults Cheung Ping by showing Sing Hing approaching the King for her mother's problems. It was like as if useless defenseless kind hearted Cheung Ping who did not have any mean bones in her could not for once do something on her own, that a man or a woman must do so on her behalf. At least Superman did all the scheming herself though again a stupid Superman. What position would she get or even respect when her mom was imprisoned or made to become probably the oldest servant in the palace?



My idea of Cheung Ping would be someone who grew to be strong, not pretending to be strong but is strong. This episode highlights a Cheung Ping that I feel I would love to kick for being so dependent and useless. No wonder her mom will never seize the day because Superman is useless, Cheung Ping is useless, father is useless and even the King is useless.



One other scene which made my blood boiled is this one;



Yoke Han was pretty sad because Sai Hin was too busy with his work and not too keen on the preparation of the upcoming wedding. So she was sulking and then Sing Hing and Cheung Ping came and they discussed about Sai Hin and an opera singer Yoke Han could not get because Sai Hin forgotten to do so. So Sing Hing and Sai Hin did something ridiculous in an opera-ish tone to make her smile again and they ran off happily, 3 best of friends. This scene in itself is quite ok as it highlights the friendship between these 3 characters. But seen with earlier scenes I find this scene trivial and petty especially with regards to Cheung Ping. I blame this on the lack of scenes between mother and daughter, because when Cheung Ping found out mom was in jail, wouldn't she rush to the prison to see her mom? But we see instead Superman doing so, though for a motive. When mom was being made into a servant (which is a great insult) wouldn't Cheung Ping try to change the situation or at least spy a bit on her mom to ensure she is ok? For all the concern Cheung Ping showed to her family in the beginning, I did not sense them at all in the last few episodes. So to see her trying to make poor miserable Yoke Han laugh was a joke, because they should make her laugh. So is a wedding that important? I feel Cheung Ping should be more burdened, be more determined and be more furious with her irresponsible father, stupid grandmother and concubine Tin. Being kind hearted and compassionate is one thing, to show her so darn docile and doing absolutely nothing in light of all her mom's suffering, I find it insulting to the viewers' common sense. Shame on the writers.



Her mother fared no better. Such a docile daughter meant what a docile mother. Being so falsely accused, imprisoned, her witnesses' heads all chopped off, having to say thanks to your enemy and made into a lowly maid, would that count as great injustice? I do think Gods of Honour showed one scene which I felt the Queen in here should have made. I think the Queen in that series went through many hardships and at last gouged out her own eyes in the face of injustice. So why didn't the Queen do the same in here? Of course because the writers want to show some pining between the king and queen, and we all know she will be vindicated later on. But at this point of time, how could she still take all these and be so darn patient? I would have stuck a knife in my heart in front of Tin and gang to prove my innocence. If that worked, then it will be great and my daughters will be alright too. If not, well at least I am dead so no eyes see.



So if the writers wanted to show some emotional scenes between the king and queen, I find that contradictory. One minute he did not question his mom or Tin to jail the love of his life or made her into a servant. No doubt he loved her as he repeatedly asked if anybody was giving her a hard time when she was serving him as a maid would to her master. She replied, "No". The correct answer should have been "Yes, you!". If he really loved her that much, he would have reopened the case. What was he scared about? And suddenly he showed concern for Cheung Ping when earlier he beaten her severely.



I think there could be a fair explanation for this king's sudden change in attitude. In the face of enemies, Qing and Lee Chong the rebel, low resources, useless ministers, poor health ..this series may show he was going senile. There were early signs in this series.



Overall the scripting and the story were totally way off in this episode.



Performances wise, Sonija Kwok showed no malice, hatred nor glee in her passion-less wooden eyes, Steven Ma was quite alright, Michael Tong was ok, Annie Man gave a decent performance, Maggie Siu was excellent of course, Jan Lau was also simply evil and excellent and Moses Chan was inadequate. In fact he was too young to play this role. It should have been given to an older actor, something approaching 50s to give this character more weight in terms of emotions, looks and substance. Now he was like just a scared little kid.



I absolutely detested this episode and how meek Cheung Ping was. I want to see a stronger Cheung Ping, not an action packed Cheung Ping. This was like see Cheung Ping sad, see Cheung Ping cried, see Cheung Ping laugh .... yes, but the real point is what is Cheung Ping doing? Nothing.



For entertainment and dramatic value, this episode and the last were interesting. For story and characterisation value, this episode especially was meek and weak. For the bastardizing of everybody's idea of Princess Cheung Ping, this episode proved only one thing; total disrespect to the viewers' intelligence. There were many things she didn't do I bet you all will do, because at least you're doing something.



I am not a feminist but I feel Cheung Ping is not paralysed or dead, so she herself should start doing something useless other than pining for Sai Hin, making Yoke Han laugh or avoiding Sing Hing.



Now I look forward to Ng Sam Kwai's appearance, because I hope at least something interesting will come out from this character that is truly the character that has the right to pine for another.