Three Kingdoms 2012, episode 8

The Chief of Jiangxia, Huang Zhou  has been murdered by Sun Quan.  Will he attack and capture Jingzhou next?  OK… I’ve to admit, I’m not good at all with these  names of people & cities, so if there’s any mistake, pls forgive !!!!! Right now I don’t even know who they were referring to hahha…..

According to Z,  Sun Quan &  Huang Zhou  didn’t see eye to eye,  so this may just be something personal. OK…. Whatever…… lol…… Then  seik park pour’s sick husband  Lau Biu wants to see Lau Bei. Hmmm…. What’s happening everyone wonders!  Lau Bei and Z went to  meet Lau Biu.

Greeted by Seik Park Pour & son with unusual friendliness….. Z looks suspicious! Lau Bei went off to see the old man alone & left poor Z with Seik Park Pour…. Oh Boy!!!! She started bad-mouthing  Lau Kei,  (Lau Biu’s the eldest son) & discounted him as  the successor to his father’s position!

Meanwhile Lau Bei sees  Lau Biu – who is still sick! He even apologise for not helping earlier with the recent battle with CaoCao….. certainly up to no good…..  Lau Biu analyse the situation – since Sun Quan has killed Huangzhou, he will  attack and seize Jingzhou.  Once Jingzhou falls, Lau Bei  will be in danger as he’ll be next on the list! Therefore Lau Biu suggest Lau Bei to join forces with him! He demanded that  Lau Bei goes to  Jingxia and keep Sun Quan in check! Lau Bei made excuses & left asap!!!!  Then he saw Lau Kei, the eldest son  who pleads for help as Seik Park Pour is after him, maybe even killing him soon so that her own son can become the successor!

According to Z, Lady Choi must be behind all these ,  her plan is to appoint Lau Bei as Chief of Jingxia  so as to get him out of Xinye and reclaim Xinye. Z’s solution : Get Lau Kei to take up the post at Jingxia instead…. that way Lau Bei can be excused, &  Lady Choi would have gottan  rid of Lau Kei and Lau Kei would be safe being far away from her! Smart…..

So Z goes to tell Lau Kei this plan & found out that he’s under much surveillance planted by Lady Choi. By the time Lady knows of this, Lau Kei has already gone! Initially mother & son were mad, but Lady Choi began to appreciate the talent of Zhuge Liang & decide to get him as an advisor for her son!  Z receives that invitation at night & leaves to see her. Meanwhile he was spotted by Shun &  Kan at their usual haunt under the courtyard tree! Shun was curious so they followed Z.  Z said NO to her .  Anyway Seik Park Pour is really devious, she meant for everyone to know abt this. This would make Z’s life in Lau Bei ‘s side difficult as everyone would be wary of him now as in would he or would he not go to someone else as an advisor since he’s so popular now!

Meanwhile  Shun was  in park, saw a  beautiful  girl ( Mei Yu, niece of Lau Bei, daughter of Lau Bei’s second wife’s older brother). Then Z appear with Yuet Ying they were  strolling. She was really sick & eventually fainted! Then new comer Mei yu to the rescue. Shun was so impressed by her & wished his idol Z would have married someone perfect like her instead of the sickly Yuet Ying!!! We kept seeing his shallow personality this way… feel like slapping him!

What follows makes me want to kill him! He told Lau Bei ,If they were to  let Mei Yu marry Z then they were be related  thus Z would be obliged to stay. Then he went on to sham poor Yuet Ying & convince Lau Bei that this is indeed a good plan! The news quickly links back to Yuet Ying

Thoughts;  I feel so sad by now. Shun’s action is really sickening.
 

Three kingdom, episode 7

When Shun realised Song Yau has turn down the marriage, he thought that it’s because she’s not “chaste “ anymore- the scene is hilarious! Then this small matter turn into a big matter because of Shun, I wont elaborate here as it’s kind of tiresome.

In short Lau Bei & everyone were mad & in those days, marriage is being arranged by parents & cant be refuted so easily. Then Shun came up with something brilliant. He pointed out that Lau Bei though loves Song Yau as his own but there’s never a legal adoption so, legally he’s not her father, thus has no rights to decide anything for her! Thus the matter is resolved & Z was very impressed with Shun! Shun was so happy!

Then…… Someone noticed that  all the prisoners seem to be extra  respectful towards an older ordinary prisoner. After  they found that he is actually  General Yingshun, one of Cao Cao’s most trusted general. 3 years back Yingshun had  buried alive hundreds of Cheung Fei’s men so Cheung Fei wanted revenge! But Guan Yu had owe Yingshun his life so he’s against it! Dead lock! How?

They decide to vote, & most of them voted for execution! And  Guan Yu since he cant help the prisoner decide to retire. Everyone was shock & I was thinking …omg…. Isn’t this a bit too much????Anyway how abt his  pledge of  loyalty to Lau Bei & gang & what abt those soldiers  Yingshun has killed recently before he was being captured? So whatever happened between Yingshun & Guan yu 13 years ago is bigger than all these????????

Anyway Guan Yu goes to the prison and sort of apologise to Yingshun who got very mad. And when  someone accidently dropped a knife, he  grabs  it, held it to Guan Yu’s throat. Guan Yu of course didn’t react as he took it that his life is a repayment Towards his  debt to  Yingshun. Yingshun demands to be set free , & a horse if not he’ll snap Guan Yu’s throat. Guan Yu became mad that Yingshun  is using him to threaten Lau Bei & gang, he moves & the knife snaps at his neck! They arrested Yingshun and Guan Yu  is saved.

And  all was a plan by Z & Shun (to the surprise of Hon!)- the drop of the knife, all staged!

Thoughts:    The oath of Guan Yu towards Yingshun is scary, it’s beyond logic. It’s a war & this guy is the enemy of your side so how can one prevent others from killing him. Fine Guan Yu don’t have to kill him but someone else can, & he has no rights to prevent that since Yingshun owes people like Cheung Fei. The whole scene is tiring & almost too painful  to watch!

 

Three Kingdoms 2012, episode 6

Z and gang returns to huge welcome… Shun especially was moved to tears! Kenneth Ma I’ve got to say did well here!!! The rest now realized Z’s talent.

Meanwhile at Camp Cao Cao, not only did Cao Cao not kill Har Hau Dun, he doesn’t even punish him. Instead he kills the 2 assistants who tried to warn Har Hau Dun about the Bok Mong Slope’s tricky terrain. CaoCao insisted that the 3 times they warned were not enough! They should have killed themselves just to prove their point! OMG !!!!! It’s horrible but interesting!

 Meanwhile Shun goes looking for his buddy Fan Kan & thought he died! Later he cried at their usually haunt under the tree at the courtyard when Fan Kan appeared looking all ghost like!!! He had carried a wounded soldier all the way back!!! Cute scene!

Meanwhile Z asks Song Yau abt the origin of the mantau hamburger. Though she didn’t reveal, he knows & gave her a big pearl to present to this person. Shun was so disappointed that Song Yau didn’t reveal it’s him to his idol!... funny here!!!!!! Nevertheless he loves the pearl. When he sees Z later he deliberating drops the pearl, & strike up a conversation with Z. Z acknowledge he has over look Shun’s ‘talents’ & he was please as hell that his idol finally apologise & all is forgiven. This is probably the moment they became friends.

This is an impt episode as this is where Shun “corrupts” Song Yau’s traditional mind with freedom of choice, for marriage! This would turn her world upside down later. Infact Lau Bei’s wives had their own ideas abt her marriage, that’s to the Ministry of Domestic Affair’s son, Yeug Tzi Him. Song Yua wasn’t too keen as her mind has been corrupted by Shun earlier! Anyway Shun still went to check the guy up! Indeed he’s a great guy, handsome & with good virtues! In the end Song yau turn the proposal down- all because of Shun & his BIG MOUTH!!!!

 Thoughts:     I like the plot here, the mantua thingie was interesting, the way Caocao killed the 2 men too was surprising. Fan Kan’s reappearance was funny. I just can’t help but have to mention again, Raymond here is just too subtle, don’t know whether a ZhugeL character should be flamboyant or not but this quiet dignity sort of thing just don’t look too good!  Tavia as usual is good. I know many people commented on her age appropriateness for this role, but that’s a small issue.

 

Three Kingdoms 2012, Episode 5

This episode saw Hon taking back his staying quarters  which he has given to Z before. This is supposed to be a humiliation to Z. Z is concern abt CaoCao, he advised Lau Bei the need  to strengthen their army, by recruiting 3000 strong young men for new training by Z himself! He was faced with opposition on this from everyone but finally Lau Bei gave in & Z got what he wanted.  Now he needs to think of a way to train these men. Yuet Ying display her intelligence & capability here as she’s very knowledgeable abt other forms of war formation.  Besides advising Z she translates all kinds of foregin books for him.  Z trains the men using the new formation.

Meanwhile they receive news that  Cao Cao is advancing towards one of their cities with 100,000 strong men led by general Har Hau Dun.  Hon quickly blame Z for causing this aggression with the training of the 3000 men!  But to fight back, they need to  borrow army from Lau Biu which means they have to go through Lady Choi.  But the very sick Lau Biu refuses to help Lau Bei. So they are on their own now. Both Hon & Z wanted to be the  strategist. Again everyone is oppose to Z again!

Both Cheung Fei and Guan Yu were against but in the end promises  to Lau Bei they will follow Z’s lead with no questions!!! Hon on the other hand decides not to sabotage but adopted a  hands off & observe stance-  believing strongly that Z will fail miserably as he’s inexperienced . Plus the terrains  is very harsh-  the army will have difficulty in transporting food.  And no one can fight if there’s no food!  Shun is worry for his idol! He decides to help secretly. He taught Song Yau how to make a mantau hamburger. She was to let Lau Bei 2^nd wife know as her brother is in charge of the army supplies. Meanwhile  Yuet Ying fell very sick, but did not tell Z for fear of distracting him.  She in fact moves with the pretense of seeing her parents . When the whole army left,  she wants to return So that she can get first hand news of her husband.

 Z’s plan is to send 200 men as sacrificial to lure CaoCao’s  30,000 men to the narrow valley  to trap them, whereby their own men will surprise attack from the top. Once this is done, this will weaken & disturbed the military mindset of the other side. Someone disagree  and insists on sending at least 1000 strong men , but Z reason that since there is  no chance of return  for these men, why sent more? They all finally followed Z’s orders! They won of course & sealed Z’s reputation to Hon’s dismay!

Thoughts:    I like Kenneth Ma but his character is not written that well. And I don’t understand his hair, shouldn’t by now he has to take off his fake hair piece & start going around in his short HK hair? Wouldn’t that be more accurate. To think that no one notice abt this bit is just plain careless.  Raymond’s Zhuge L is too subdue for my liking, again they should have someone else more prominent play opposite him as Yuet Ying- maybe Tavia. Song Yau’s role here is almost like a supporting role so could be given to someone else rather than Tavia. Come on, Tavia is after all TVB no 1 or 2 fadan now.

 

 

Three Kingdom 2012 Episode 4

Lady Choi  and her son, Lau Chung  came to visit Lau Bei & made a scene! She wanted to increase taxes from 20 to 40%. She  hates Lau Bei because he is a supporter of her husband’s (Lau Biu)  elder son (Lau Kei). This leads up to one of those funny moments…. Everyone was really frustrated with her & Shun in his anger shouted  & calls her “Seik Pak Pour”. He explain this is what they call a total BITCH in his home town HK. And from then through out the show all this ancient characters will refer her as the “seik park our” it’s really funny!!!!!! 

Next day , Lady Choi and son is back demanding. The method was finally resolved with the help of Shun again smsing his sister for some info. Now that Seik Park Pour ordeal is over, Lau Bei has trouble in his home front. First wife has just given birth  and needs  Song Yau- the no 1 maid. The second  Wife refuses, as  Song Yau  has served her for the past 10 years.

Finally Cheung Fei  threaten to chop Song Yau into two, & let them each  have half of her . That totally silenced the 2 ladies who in actual fact loves Song Yau very much.  Problem resolved! Again the idea comes from Shun.  I like the lady playing the 1^st wife, she’s elegant.

Shun finally met Song Yau & wasn’t very impressed with her as he sees her as only a maid, he totally overlook all her good qualities which is plenty. She on the other hand was intrigued by him & his strangeness & all the weird things he tells her from his home town HK.

Thoughts: Kenneth ma is too tall for his costume. Height is good if he is playing someone royal perhaps-  where the costume is more elaborate. Also his insensitivity is getting to me, Plus his “chok” reference is way too much- ok we cant fault him on that, that’s the writer’s fault. But that got to stop

Three Kingdoms Episode 3

The first few mins of this episode focus on how Lau Bei went to seek Z ‘s help- with Shun’s help. To cut long story short,  both Lau Bei & Z were impressed with each other, thus Z agree to help Lau Bei. Meanwhile Shun is very happy & is expecting Z to appoint him as one of his assistant. Also good news for him as his sister sms him telling him he’s off the suspect list, as they caught the real culprit & also confirm a date for his possible return thru time travel. But his happiness is short lived as Z didn’t choose him to be his assistant. HE was very sad & angry & wanted Z to pay for his mistake. He joined Advisor  Hon , whose very jealous of Z’s status.

Meanwhile Guan Yu and Cheung Fei  thought nothing much of Z  since he has no solution to their immediate problem. They are more familiar with  Hon & at least he could provide a course of action.  But Lai Bei, has great faith in Z, he highlighted that  Z may not have a solution now but he is not afraid to admit he doesn’t have one- that’s wisdom. Meanwhile Kan joins the Lau Bei army.

Next day they found a Cao Cao spy & killed him. Someone is a double agent in their own camp & has been passing maps to this spy. Z came out with an idea of how to smoke him out. The place these 2 men met is overgrown with a certain kind of grass/shrubs only found in that region, so they can start by eliminating those who does not have these grass attached to their clothes. They finally narrow down to eight. They would have to kill all 8 of them if not for Shun. He remembers  a TVB series back home the one where Bowie is the detective that reads people’s body language ( a rip off from Amercia’s “lie to me”) . He pick out the real culprit by reading his body language….haha… score some points here. Even Z was impressed!

Thoughts:   I’m a little disappointed that they didn’t use a more prominent actress to play Yuet Ying as she has quite a big role here, & after all she pairs up with RL !  even though they tried hard, there don’t seem to have chemistry between the two. Simiarly I find Tavia & Kenneth ma to be ill matched as well.

 

Three Kingdoms 2012 Episode 2

Shun agree  to follow Kan (the young man he accidently saved)  back to his place after Kan tells him at night that mountain is full of wild beasts.Their conversation is a little hard to translate but it’s funny!!! Anyway as they walked back they passed the farming villagers and Shun was so surprise when he saw a lot of free roaming pandas . He told Kan that in HK (his home town) they call them pandas and they have  only 4 and they’re protected species, like national treasure. Now it’s Kan’s turn to be surprise…. Why would anyone want to call these lazy slow bears national treasures?  and Shun says “Beats me! I mean I am lazy and slow too, and I am not called a national treasure!” I thought it’s so funny here! Priceless….. Ok to be honest my usual practice is to watch all episodes at one go… this is the funniest part in this whole show! This panda reference is brilliant.

They went back to Kan’s home, Shun was not used to everything obviously, some laughs here as he learn to adjust. Dinner time he was served some meat which is quite delicious & when ask, Kan said it’s panda’s meat…. Funnie…….. 

Their village is in trouble. Some warlord or general  has 2 warring sons, Lau Kei and Lau Chung and the 2nd son, Lau Chung is coming into the village and will demand their crops and food like he does every year. They were at the village head’s place to discuss this situation. Then Raymond Lam makes his entrance looking very handsome as always…lol…. He didn’t offer an immediate solution, Shun was disgusted not knowing who he was. But when he finally know that RL is Zhuge Liang? He got very excited as he’s a big fan… then he goes like  oh “ he’s so chok etc…” I didn’t like this part, they should tone this down… the chok reference is OLD, it’s not funny anymore…. Too bad! 

The army came, & upon orders from  Zhuge  Liang aka Z  the villagers gave them cart loads of food. Shun was shocked & disappointed with his idol & thought he’s a coward!!! Then the army found signs of CaoCao’s army  & the villagers said yes CaoCao’s army were here ready for invasion.  The village head then told the army that now everyone is happy that this army can save them from CaoCao!!! This frightens the army & they left asap! Shun is once again impressed with his idol! 

By the way, it’s Z wedding soon!  Shun finds out Z is marrying the daughter of a rich man and happy for his idol, he volunteers to help with the wedding. Wedding day, Shun helps to deliver wedding gifts  and discovers the bridge connecting two lands are broken. The auspicious  timing is almost up.  Shun help to resolve the problem!

In the mansion, Shun  happens to see   Z’s future wife, Yuet Ying , he thought she’s no match for his idol as she’s plain & sickly. Wedding night,  Yuet Ying was waiting for her groom feeling very inadquenat . Meanwhile in a very very funny scene, Shun losses  a  finger game he introduced (obviously from HK)  with everyone from old to the very  young  and  got seriously drunk.  He left & while outside  Yuet Ying’s room he started mouthing off how incompatible the couple is, she being so sick & plain & Z so handsome & smart! She heard everything & felt very hurt.

Meanwhile the insensitive  Shun  found out that he still can sms his sister !!!! She’ll ask her professor for help to bring him back! And Finally he met the 3 historical figures Lau Bei,  Cheung Fei , and Guan Yu .

Thoughts:  Episode 2 didn’t disappoint. Kenneth Ma is OK but I much prefer him in more serious roles. He looks more handsome that way. This show focus on him rather than RL which is a pity really. RL plays Zhuge Liang with quiet dignity but in every show isn’t the funny one more watchable in the end?

 

 

Three Kingdoms 2012 Episode 1

Three Kingdoms 
Cast: Kenneth Ma, Raymond Lam, Tavia Yeung, Sharon Chan, Ruco Chan, and Ha Yu.

 Kenneth is Sima Shun,  a slacker, who does nothing but plays video games all the time. Shun is the eldest of 3 children. His 2nd brother is a smart nerd & his youngest sister who obviously loves the older brother,  is a science enthusiast. Har Yu plays his father, owns a café where Kenneth ma works on-off- usually off. He also  works as a part time ke-le-fe in a 3 Kingdoms production.

Shun wanted to  buy over a profitable computer games shop for HKD $200,000. His strategy  involves persuading his father by, first asking, then pleading and at last begging. That failed of course, his dad is too smart & knows his son too well.

Incidently there is a 3 Kingdoms RPG game competition, 1st place is HKD $200,000! He & his 2 buddies joined….  Unfortunately he lost!!!!! During the competition, he met an arrogant guy & had a tiff with him. After the game, he sees that guy again, and with his 2 friends decides to play a trick on him by breaking into his car,

When one of them pops open the glove compartment  a big bag of pills drops out!!! Scared, they run away and the guy comes back into his car, just when 2 policemen came by  and so he got busted. His smart-ass  lawyer’s  noticed that  there are signs that the  car was broken into this shows that someone could have planted those pills. True enough, during investigation,  witnesses say they saw 3 guys broke into the car and they could identify one of them. So that leads to our 3 slackers  and each told the truth about what happened. The other 2 got bailed whilst Shun waited for a long time. He was mad that his dad took so long, & his dad was afraid he did do it!

 Anyway he goes back to work as part time ke-le-fe, incidently that day Typhoon Shark is heading their way. He got a message from his sister - police are out to arrest him because both his friend’s says he was the one who planted the bag of pills! He calls them & they  admitted.  His best buddies had betrayed him. Since police were looking for him, he sneaks away. But since the typhoon is coming, he runs into a cave to hide. He sees some big bubble, curious he steps into it,when the earth underneath him opens up and he falls. He was transported into the 3 kingdom era. His fall was broken by a guy. It took him sometime to noticed he has time travelled back to the past. He of course was in total shock!!!

Thoughts:    Cant help but to compare with the one that Louis Koo did which was so good. This shows promise. It’s different as Koo’s  character was a real smart guy that went to the past . Kenneth ma on the other hand is a slacker. Hmmm…. We’ll see how it goes…..

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