Beyond The Realm Of Conscience [TVB][E]

This is quite possibly the 2nd best episode which clearly shows it takes a WOMAN to do a man's work, and a pregnant woman at that. And I will say this here first and foremost; Charmaine Sheh displayed some of the best acting in her career in this episode which shows she should be given more "angry", "authoritative" female roles. And I disagree with the masses that Tavia is to be worshipped. Nope, she should be whipped for her OTT acting, which Chinese also has a saying for her type; "gan chut meen" meaning so evil it is so darn obvious. And yes Sam Hou is angelic, look at her pastel pink lipstick but I am Team Sam Hou here.

Ok, recap.

Susanna and Michelle alone and Susanna said "You knew Siu Shun isn't my son?" and Michelle said "Yes" and Susanna wasn't angry when she asked "Where is my son now?" and Michelle said "Gut Cheong sent him out of the palace, I do not know where he is". I hope there would be a reunion scene but practically there shouldn't be. Susanna asked "But Siu Shun was found by the river..." and Michelle said "He wasn't. His mother was a prostitute who abandoned him, Gut Cheong found him and took him into the palace".

You know, Eunuch Bo was a great man. A pity his role was so limited when he had done so much behind the scenes. So Michelle knew all along Siu Shun's past, just decided to use him in place of Susanna's real son. Question is why and that will be answered next.

Susanna asked "Why did you lie to me?" and Michelle said "At first, I thought you killed Gut Cheong so I decided to use this to hurt you but then you didn't kill Gut Cheong and .." and Susanna finished off "You think it would be too cruel to tell me the truth?" and Michelle nodded and Susanna said "That was what you meant when you said it is better to have than none at all?" and again Michelle nodded. Siu Shun was outside and he walked in, surprising the 2 women as he said emotionally "I am such a lucky guy, to have such a kind godfather, and another great godfather in General Man and now, to have 2 great godmothers" and Susanna gently touched his cheek as she said "Siu Shun, you're a good son, I am proud to call you my godson" and all were happy.

Empress Dowager wasn't pleased with what Kam Ling did as she said "How dare you use my name to assert your authority? And to put such accusations? Do you think I would not know of this? Luckily Concubine Tak was there to save the day, if not the damage would have been irreversible!" and Kam Ling kneeled and cried "I really thought it was a scandal! I am sorry for making such a mistake!" and Empress Dowager removed her headpin made by Sam Hou's mom and said "This was put on me by Empress Dowager Kwok so as to remind me to preserve the life of the empire and here..." she placed on Kam Ling's hair "I place it here to remind you to be careful of your conduct from now on!" and Kam Ling cried "I swear I will remember that!"

No power and all arrogance. Dumb.

Kam Ling wasn't pleased, of course and so plans her revenge.

Empress Dowager is sick so Kam Ling personally took care of the medicine and in voiceover we hear the corrupt royal doctor explained the effect of the poison she put into it, which will cause delusions and will slowly and painfully kill the drinker, that is the empress dowager.

Petty, didn't I say she is?

Meanwhile, the emperor was at General Ma's stronghold and they had a talk at night, which was revealing. They toasted one another and General Ma, now rather honest asked "Is your majesty trying to make me drunk?" and Emperor said "How could I? I am only toasting you" and General Ma stood up and said "It was not too long ago I had helped you gain this throne, I would think your majesty would show a bit of gratitude than to plan for my downfall here at my stronghold..." and the emperor knew the secret was up as he said "I have allowed you to keep your power and your wealth. It is only you who feels you never had enough, and never satisfied. I am only trying to regain my authority to save my empire from the likes of corrupted officials like you" as General Ma still rather calm said "How honourable, knowing how dangerous it is to enter into the lion's den and yet so you did, right now" and the emperor said "I do what I had to do for the cause I believe in" as General Ma said "I was hoping the day your son was born will be your death. But now, now that you're here, you're the idiot to step into your own trap. I have removed all explosives you have hidden..." and emperor shocked as General Ma said "Yes, you planned to use explosives, but I have found them all! Today, here will be YOUR DEATH! GUARDS!! ARREST THIS IMBECILE!!!!!!!!!!!"

That's the General Ma I know. No dialogue delivered without

a. a sneer

b. raised eyebrow

c. widened eyes

d. intake of breath

e. close up to some majorly thick powdered face

f. delivery of lines which includes some constipated look, voice and the !!!!!!!!!!!! that follows

Emperor jumped back and shouted for his trusted eunuch and took out an explosive under the table (was there such an explosive looking so modern back then? Why not just whip out a pistol then?) and said "Ah ha! I have one left! Ha ha ha ha!!!'. No he didn't, I wish he did but he actually said "I still have this one! Ma Yuen Tzi, it is you who will die here today!" and he lit the dynamites and tried to throw at General Ma but his 2 assistants who were there, one of them pushed the chair at him trapping both emperor and eunuch and BOOM!!!!!!!!!!!! as General Ma and 2 sidekicks jumped out of the room.

Later assistant who pushed the chair said "We found 2 charred bodies inside". Kinda said charred, not blown to bits. Shouldn't they be blown to bits? Anyway, "...no one else in there" and General Ma thought they died and his assistant said "Should we announce the death of the emperor?" and General Ma shouted "NO! We shall not announce such things! The emperor isn't dead!"

Back at the palace, General Ma gathered the officials who all finally showed SOME personality other than robots where he said "His majesty has decided to stay on at the temple to offer prayers and blessings for the nation. He has entrusted me to decide on all matter on his behalf whilst he is away" and one minister ask "When will he be returning?" and General Ma said "I do not know, it is a decision for the emperor to make, not for me to question" and another general asked "But the emperor wouldn't just not return?" as General Ma said "Do you doubt my words? I have said so, the emperor has entrusted me and therefore it is as such".

Yeah right, but for how long?

General Ma visited Empress Dowager who was very pale and he noticed something was wrong with her, and looked at Kam Ling intently who could not hide her self satisfied smirk.

Kam Ling came to see General Ma as she said "You have asked to see me?" as General Ma said "You have been in charge of the empress dowager's medicine?" and Kam Ling said yes as General Ma said "How dare you try to poison the empress dowager!!!" as Kam Ling cried "No I didn't!" and he said "Don't lie to me! I know! I am an expert in poisoning and I can even identify the herbs used. And I have questioned the royal doctor before I had him executed and he said he was under your orders!" and Kam Ling knew it was dead end and she kneel as she said "Please, it was his idea! Not mine!" but General Ma softened and said "But of course you were misled. And now that you're pregnant with the emperor's child, you were just foolish" as Kam Ling stood up and looked at General Ma intently and said "But I am not pregnant" and General Ma said "If I say you're then you are pregnant. And a few months later when you give birth to the crown prince, he shall be emperor and you, the respected and honoured Empress Dowager who holds power in the palace" and Kam Ling said "But what if the emperor returns?" and he said "IF he returns..." and Kam Ling smiled and said "And my son shall call you his godfather!" and they both laugh like evil laugh.

Kam Ling is so one track mind, such an idiot! He will kill her when he is done with her! How many times have I said idiot? IDIOT!

Sam Hou rushed to see Kam Ling and saw her and said "Kam Ling ...".. I swear she stopped calling her sister in here. Anyway, maybe I am just delusional, rewriting this series as I go along. Where was I, ah yes... "Kam Ling, why did you move the empress dowager to another quarters?" and Kam Ling now no longer hiding her contempt said "She should rest and not be disturbed by the likes of you so I moved her" and here is the first scene we see in episode 1 but with less urgent music so therefore makes this scene less dramatic and interestingly better.

"But she is weak, you can't move her around. Moreover she is fine at where she was. I promise his majesty I will take care of her whilst he is away, with her in another quarters and I can't see her, this is impossible! I demand you move her back!" and Kam Ling sneering said "Why should I? Moreover I too am tasked with taking care of her. She will stay where she is and since I said so, and so it shall be"

Cra-zy

Sam Hou, now temper rising and that is a good sign raised her voice "Kam Ling, we are both of the same rank. If you can make such an order, I too can order she be returned to her quarters!" but Kam Ling said "Oh stop it with your fake concern Sam Hou! This is no longer about that 3 principles you practice! So you can stop faking it! Moreover I have the right to do so, General Ma is now holding power and I shall be made in charge of the 4 depts and all about the palace maids and affairs, so I shall order as I did! Moreover, I am pregnant now... I shall be empress dowager when my child is born, General Ma said so" and Sam Hou said "What? Kam Ling, you know Ma Yuen Tzi is up to no good, he probably caused the emperor's delay in returning to the palace. How can you make him your ally?!" and Kam Ling said "Why not!!" and here goes the at least once an episode quote "The palace is full of scheming people and concubines! It's all about grabbing of power and I am only protecting myself! You! You're a hypocrite! You with your 3 principles! None of those you applied to me. How I suffered for you, slapped for you, experimented on for you and what did you do? You seduced the emperor and is now pregnant with his child! I have decided a long time ago I shall henceforth do everything for myself, I will no longer care for others or what others think! I shall think of myself first!" as Sam Hou cried "I have never wanted to take anything away from you! Kam Ling, we are sisters, we promised to take care of one another!" and Kam Ling cried "I HAVE CHANGED!! When I am empress dowager, I shall bend these heads of depts to my will, I shall change them all if I have to" as Sam Hou said "They're our friends! How can you do that to them? I should never had let you go the last time. I should have never let you burn that yellow paper! Now you're unstoppable! You're unreasonable!" and Kam Ling looking slightly alarmed composed herself and back to sneering as she said "Lau Sam Hou! You listen here. If you behave and do as you're told, I may let you live on in the palace peacefully as Concubine Tak. If you cause me trouble, don't say I didn't warn you!" as Sam Hou stared at her intently, a single tear fell down her cheeks as Kam Ling continued to sneer.

Sam Hou at the well and crying she said "Mother, before you die, you made me promise to live by the 3 principles, speak good words, do good deeds and show good will. I swear I have done just that. But with Kam Ling, I don't think I can do that anymore. Kam Ling.. has.. changed. She is no longer the Kam Ling I once knew" as she cried more.

Sam Hou at night, ready for sleep as she remembered Hin Yeung and then she recalled what the emperor told her before he left, giving her the handkerchief. And then he did something not shown then, so FLASHBACK!!

Emperor gave Sam Hou a huge box and he said "If I am unable to return on time or if something happened to me, Sam Hou, I want you to take this item I am giving you and mother as well and run away from the palace"

Sam Hou opened the box and it was the imperial seal.

As we all know, see imperial seal, see emperor and is the right to govern.

Late at night, Sam Hou by that favourite tree of hers, very troubled and alone.

I tell you, this emperor now has to depend on a WOMAN to save his empire. One woman against everybody else. How lar?

Sam Hou was standing there and in times of trouble, whoever she sees is the one she loves most and she turned around and there was Hin Yeung, smiling at her as Sam Hou said "Hin Yeung, you're here"

Actually this scene is rather touching.

Hin Yeung smiled "Something's troubling you?" as Sam Hou said "The emperor is missing, the empress dowager is sick and Ma Yuen Tzi is holding court. Hin Yeung, I have the emperor's seal but I don't know what I should do?" and Hin Yeung said "Didn't you always say there is always a solution to any problem? You know what to do Sam Hou and remember, I will always be there for you" as Sam Hou tears in eyes said "I know Hin Yeung" as we see Hin Yeung wasn't there, she was speaking to herself.

Morning, General Ma with robots or rather awakening robots as he said "Concubine Lai shall hereby run the imperial household in place of the sick empress dowager, as dictated by the emperor who informed me as such by letter" and one minister asked "If the emperor dictate as such by letter, perhaps General Ma may be inclined to write a letter to his majesty and ask when he is coming back" and General Ma said "The emperor has decided to stay at the temple longer" or as we know, until the fake pregnancy looks convincing enough but the ministers and generals continued to question General Ma who has had enough and said he was acting on the orders of the emperor and he sneered "And do you doubt the emperor's orders?" when suddenly the eunuch called out "THE EMPEROR ARRIVES!!!!" and all was shocked, General Ma the most shocked but we see Sam Hou walking in, doing what she does best, carrying a tray. Kidding! The tray was covered, she looked determined and pause here...

This scene is where it is ridiculous but dramatically great. Why? Why didn't the emperor did just what Sam Hou was about to do? And Sam Hou was right! It takes a woman, a pregnant single lone woman without any political ally to do what the emperor should have done long long time ago.

Let's see how Sam Hou show us all how it is done.

"What are you doing here? This is no place for a woman!" as General Ma thundered "Ma Yuen Tzi, do you not recognise the imperial seal and have you forgotten when you see the imperial seal, you see the emperor and therefore you shall kneel before this seal?" as she revealed the seal and all was shocked and kneel and reluctantly so did a panicking General Ma. He then said "How did you get this seal?" and Sam Hou, classily ignored him and strolled to the emperor's seat and... SAT DOWN!

You go girl!!

She said authoritatively and fiercely "The emperor has left me his imperial seal before he left and he ordered that should he not return in time, I shall govern on his behalf" and General Ma challenged her "Who is to say the emperor gave you his seal and said what he said? Who are you to assert that?" and Sam Hou looked at General Ma with laser eyes and rightly retorted "And who are you to assert his majesty decree that you shall govern in his absence? I at least have the imperial seal. Pray do tell us here General Ma, do you at least have the imperial decree or a letter to state as such?" and General Ma really silenced this time as Sam Hou continued "Therefore I hereby shall govern the imperial household matters on the empress dowager's absence and all state affairs, decree, documents and such shall be vetted by me in the absence and until such time his majesty shall return" and he laser eyes him, she looked on determined and the robots nodding like well.. robots.

Pause here.

Sam Hou, FIERCE! That's how do you it! And Sam Hou, knifeeeeeeeeeeee himmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmmm!!!!!!!!!!!

I tell you the writing here is just drama. Surely the emperor has imperial uncles, etc to take over. However the drama itself is rightfully dramatic. Sam Hou displayed a quality of fearlesness and determination to do good when given unlimited power whilst Kam Ling, at the whiff of such power displayed arrogance, ego, pettiness and cruelty.

So TEAM SAM HOU here. Kam Ling can sneer to the corner for all I care!

Guess who's not happy?

"THAT SLUT! She even got the imperial seal!" thundered Kam Ling as she asked General Ma "You can't let her walk all over you! We must do something to get rid of her!" and General Ma thundered "Don't you dare do anything to her!" and Kam Ling said "of course, of course" as he said "I have calculated my every moves, I have planned them well, that imbecile is dead and yet I didn't see this coming! Well, let her bask in her glory for a while, and then we shall make our move"

Sam Hou, Susanna, Michelle and Kara together as Michelle said "Thank heavens the emperor left you his imperial seal, now that Ma Yuen Tzi is in power and Concubine Lai is his ally and half the imperial court is his men" as Sam Hou said "I was told to leave the palace with the imperial seal and the empress dowager if he does not return but with the empress dowager so sick, I have no choice but to stay and fight" when Kam Ling arrives, and she didn't greet Sam Hou nor did the 3 heads greet her from what I can remember her and sneered "The 3 heads having a chat with our Concubine Tak. Madam Chung, you must be happy now Concubine Tak is at the helm?" and Michelle said "We are servants and we are here to do our jobs irregardless who is at the helm" as Susanna said "We serve without asking questions" and Kara said "We do not care who is supported by who" as Sam Hou coldly said "What are you doing here?" as Kam Ling smiled and said "I am here to visit the empress dowager, as I promised the emperor I shall take care of her in his absence" as Sam Hou blocked her and said "That won't be necessery, listen here everyone, no one shall be allowed to see the empress dowager without my order" and Kam Ling smiled and said "My my my, what have we have here? With the imperial seal it seems you really do think you're emperor!" and Sam Hou tired said "Enough with the insults. Kam Ling, please go back to your quarters" as Kam Ling sneered "I am just worried for you Sam Hou. The imperial seal is very very heavy to carry, be careful that it won't drop on your feet and you're hurt because of it" as Sam Hou looked at Kam Ling fiercely and said "Don't you worry for me. I am more than able to carry the heavy imperial seal and continue to carry it for as long as I am needed to" and Kam Ling smiled and left as Sam Hou looked at her, angry and frustrated.

We see a general walked into a room and ta-daaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa emperor and eunuch very much alive as Emperor explained "Luckily General Ma's assistant was on our side. When he was told to poison General Man, he knew of General Ma's devious nature and didn't put the full poison in. He liased with me and planned my escape.Thanks to General Ma's impatience, I escaped" as we see the general signalled him, he threw the dynamite away and escaped through a trap door or something.

So... I was wrong.General Ma couldn't even ask someone to poison General Man properly. A complete failure.

The guard said "But the Prince of Qi may refuse to see your majesty" as the emperor said "Then I shall wait here until he is willing to see me"

oi! Sam Hou can't wait lar!

Guard came in, delivered a letter, emperor read it and smiled and said "It seems the wait may soon end. The Prince of Qi may be willing to see me soon"

So much hope placed on Prince of Qi.Hopefully he has a huge army.

So all those assassinate General Ma at the stronghold is just red herring. He has planned with that loyal general (gomen! Thought you were scum! How convenient the story plays out and since this is fiction, of course it should be convenient) to escape and see Prince of Qi (or in cantonese Kei Wong or the Duke of Kei) to help!

Back at the palace,Empress Dowager woke up, everyone was missing, Kam Ling walked in and on cue..

guess...

guessssssssssss...

YES! SNEER!

And Empress Dowager scared said "You are not supposed to be in here!" as she cried for her maid and eunuch and Kam Ling said "Can anyone stop me if I want to go anywhere I wishes?You can stop calling, they won't come" and empress dowager scared said "What do you want?" and Kam Ling said "All those poison didn't kill you, I thought you would recover but look at you, still sick!" as Empress Dowager said "You! You poisoned me! What are you doing here now?" as Kam Ling said "I am not here to send my greetings, I am here to send you my farewell, so that you may join your son in hell!" and Empress Dowager fell to the ground in shock and in grief "My son! My son is dead! My son!!" as Kam Ling held her chin and said "And so shall you be, soon enough! And don't worry! Concubine Tak will follow shortly!"

and again we are not shown Kam Ling doing the killing. This is getting too self censored for my taste when bad writing and some god awful acting should get this series R rating.

Morning, Sam Hou floated in (well she looked like she did) and discovered everyone was missing. She should have stationed her fellow maids from 4 depts there as guards I tell you. She rushed inside, calling the names and saw empress dowager on the floor, forehead with blood and she rushed to her, found her dead and cried in anguish, more crying in anguish than the time her father or Hin Yeung's father died as she said "Empress Dowagerrrrrrrrrrrrrrr" and Kam Ling walked behind her and knocked her unconscious.

General Ma walking left to right with some minister and general when eunuch said they found the empress dowager's eunuch and maid in the pond, very very dead. General Ma pretended to be worried and rushed to empress dowager's place.

Sam Hou woke up, a heavy object in her hand with blood as she continued to cried for the empress dowager when Ma and men arrived, shocked and said "ARREST HER! SHE KILLED THE EMPRESS DOWAGER!!"

and I was like seriously you want people to believe she is capable of that?

as Sam Hou scared and angry said "I did not! I arrived here and she was dead. Then I was knocked unconscious and when I woke up, you are all here!" as General Ma shouted "I will have you arrested, now!" but the eunuchs moved and stopped as Sam Hou said "I have the imperial seal and the imperial edict to govern. Who dares arrest me without proper investigations?" as General Ma said "Not for long. I shall have you arrested and I shall have the imperial seal!" and he sneered at her and she looked at him, very angry and yet scared at her predicament, tears in her eyes, due to emotions rather than fear.

Next episode is the last episode and no preview shown.

I shall not talk much. This is the 2nd best episode thus far even if it is far fetched. Whilst Tavia did well, I find her sneering and all just way too obvious and not much self control. I find she had a poorly written character to begin with and her acting, just too over expressive spoils the show. She was never good at subtlety anyway and whilst we see Kam Ling going crazy and losing control and sense, she should be a bit OTT but the thing is there is not much difference between now and eons ago so I find her performance consistently OTT. Frankly Tavia is given too much credit for her performance when like I said, she should be whipped for making Kam Ling, not only such an obvious villain but such a caricature.

Charmaine Sheh deserves the praise tonight. The way she carried herself as the fierce and determined Sam Hou and yet still retained her classiness and gentleness without being too fake to the point of sugar overdose means Charmaine Sheh herself deserves the credit. She didn't pout much, she didn't pretend or act gentle, she just stood her ground and delivered her lines with panache. Her last scene was certainly her best, when she knew she was cornered, the frustration, the anger, the fear, all was there in her very expressive eyes. I find her very expressive tonight and yet a very controlled performance that could have gone OTT but she didn't. She is at her best when she is asked to give a character some fierce personality, quiet moments, when she knows subtlety is the answer and she practiced that. I feel it is time Charmaine is given again a villainous role in a costume series like she did in HSDS but this time as she is older, maybe she will pout less and dagger stare more which she is good at. Something unapologetically evil, like Kam Ling but better written. I thinkCharmaine will do very well indeed. Compared to Tavia, where their showdown scenes are always enjoyable to watch, I feel Charmaine was at an advantage acting wise. Tavia can just sneer and sneer and sneer but to what end? Charmaine moved from pitiful looks and pouting to what I have already adequately described as her best performance in this series todate. She may be inconsistent, but looking at this episode in itself, she is the best in here and I applaud her performance. If only she is more consistent. Hopefully this carry through to the last episode, so at least 3 or 4 episodes of good performance as compared to the rest is better than nothing. My only complain in this episode is her rather unsurprised dull bland reaction when she saw Hin Yeung. I know he is her imagination, and she knows it too but at least a mild surprise at seeing someone who's not there?

Lee Kwok Lun just OTTall the time. He is also saddled by the most incompetent villain ever.

And to say Kam Ling is a good replacement for the villain earlier on that is Empress Dowager Kwok is just wrong. What series are you watching? Don't be too swayed by the drama, which I am guilty of also. Anyway I shall write a summary or a review after the last episode as I gather my thoughts.

3 questions remain

1. Where is General Man?

2. Where is Susanna's real son?

3. How old is Prince of Qi now?

As for where is Hin Yeung, yes he was loyal, gallant, brave and sad scene when Sam Hou saw Hin Yeung in her mind but I really don't care what happens to him.

As for General Ma, oh let him have 1 glorious success for 1 episode since he has failed for so long. We all know he is doomed.