Showing posts with label King Makers. Show all posts

The King Makers - Lee Sing Cheung

Lee Sing Cheung is a dependable supporting actor, who've been in tvb for years! If you've noticed, he've been in so many series this year? Almost all! To be honest, I don't really like that because it can get tiring seeing him in one after another. But overall, I still enjoy watching him onscreen because he's a great actor!

In The King Makers, I initially thought that Lee Sing Cheung landed himself in another villain role (trouble maker, sly etc) because he was always against Kristal Tin in the beginning. Turns out, his character was a little more than that. So now, let's talk more of the characters.

Shek Sau is the leader of the Water Way Gang and Lee Sing Cheung is second in lead. Kristal Tin is well respected by the gang members, since the Water Way Gang is originally her father, who died along with her husband. Lee Sing Cheung and Kristal often comes to disputes, but he never crosses any lines because he felt indebt to her husband....who died in order to protect him. As for Kristal's relationship with Shek Sau, she really trusts him, as her father told her that he's a very trustable man.....therefor the gang was handed over to him to lead.

Now back to Lee Sing Cheung. Like I said before, he seems dispicable at first because he's always backing up his brothers (of their wrong doings) and often had arguments with Kristal. What we did not find out until later though....is his loyalty to the gang. He often disputed with Shek Sau and Kristal, not because he was a trouble maker, but rather because he did not trust Shek Sau. Back then when Kristal's dad and husband died...he've found Shek Sau suspicious but never found the evidence to prove his guiltiness. Lee sing Cheung have just been waiting all these years to seek revenge for Kristal's dad and husband.... And as the series unveils, we get to know that Shek Sau truly planned Kristal's dad's and husband's death!!

Now the epic part happens in episode 20! After Shek Sau's evil doings were uncovered, of course he was no longer the leader of the gang. A gang can't be leaderless and this is when Lee Sing Cheung stepped up. He told them that they have to select a new leader and according to the rules, the second in demand would be the one to take over the position. He told them, considering merits, position or seniority, he's the one eligible to become the leader. This is when I scratched my head and wondered....he really wanted the position afterall? All my thoughts about him being loyal etc...kinda sunk. To be honest, I was kinda upset. Anyways, he then came over to Kristal and told her that he only admires 3 people in his life. First of all, he said even though Shek Sau was the chief before, he have never respected him and since Shek Sau sided with her all the time, she too did not won his respect. This is the moment where I did a palmed my face....can he get any worse than this? Even though he showed loyalty at first...he's taking the advantage to ascend the "throne"? =.+

What happens next? I thought he was just going to take the position but in the end, he praised Kristal for saving the gang and told everybody, no matter how capable he is, he's still unable to compete with her and swore her loyalty. And when Kristal refused, he told her that if she doesn't say yes, the gang will dissolve. He won my respect in that single scene. He's such a loyal character. On the contrary, the scene did lack some power....the lines could've been written better and the execution to be done a bit better too (I think it's missing an emotional connection between Kristal and Lee Sing Cheung, to showcase their respect and appreciation towards each other...therefor making the scene a bit bland and not that heart-felt), but overall...it's still good.

Beside acknowledging Lee Sing Cheung's character, I also wrote this post because the scene really reminded me of Wayne's scene with Steven in Safe Guards :)

An extra note, if you've been watching Divas in Distress, you would also love Lee Sing Cheung in there! He's got such a cute and caring role ;) A nice change from all the recent seriousness he've been at! haha

The King Maker Thoughts 2

I've finished up to episode 4 and so many things have happened. Just he beginning is so long that it's hard to consume at the moment. I'm anxious to watch the next episodes though because I'm curious how Wayne's and Pierre's life is going to be like at camp and Jin. I also want to know more about Kent's character...can't seem to figure him out! Also looking forward to more of Fred Cheng's character....hopefully he's a good guy :) Also crossing my fingers in hope that Eric Li's character will only be impulsive, not "bad".

So the series start with the disputes between Yu Ching (Wayne Lai) and Tung Chiu (Kent Tong). Then it rewinded back to 12 years ago, when everything started. So Yu Ching and his siblings were seeing their father for the last time before he get exile. We also found out that it is Tung Chiu who framed his father, resulting in the tragedy for the Yu family.

Before this event though, the Tung and the Chiu family were very close. Tung Chiu was a student of Yu Ching's father and Tung Yuk Kiu (Elaine Yiu), the daughter of Tung Chiu was betrothed to Yu Ching. They loved each other deeply but Yu Ching was unable to accept the fact that her father betrayed his father, therefor broke off the betrothal. He even began to work for the despicable magistrate, Yueng Chi San (Lee Kwok Lun), in order to avenge his father.

Chi San is the "tutor" for Prince Woh (Chris Lai) and Tung Chiu is the mentor for Prince Sing (Pierre Ngo). Now you can see why they are against each other. To further explain the relationships, Wai Fei (Florence Kwok) is Prince Woh's mother and she's also Chi San's sister. Empress Gongshu (Kingdom Yuen) is Prince Sing's mother, who is the elder prince. Usually the throne would go to the elder prince, but in here, neither is named the crown prince (official successor of the throne) yet. Seems like the emperor favours Prince Woh more though.

Florence looks so pretty in her costume! Like usual though, she plays an evil character. As for Kingdom Yuen, happy to see her back! But wow...that is alot of makeup on her face o.O Must be tiring to put in on every day at work. Anyways, her character is rather...interesting. You can say that she's kind, but at the same time...she' not to be underestimated. She doesn't easily show her emotions...hard to predict.

What are the two princes like? Well, let's say Chris Lai plays the unlikable one while Pierre is actually likable! I was so afraid that Pierre would get the "baddie" role but thank goodness that's not how it is! Prince Woh is rather immature and often acts in a rushed matter. On the other hand, Prince Sing is kind and cares alot for the people. When the fire cauldron burst, he did not think of his own safety but instead rushed into the fire to save the people. Prince Sing's bravery and kindness made Yu Ching rethink his own actions (helping the wicked etc).

After the serious fire explosion (Prince Woh and Chi San was in charge of the project), Chi San told Yu Ching to frame Prince Sing and Tung Chiu for causing it. Yu Ching was in conflict since Chi San had held his siblings captive. In the end, Yu Ching chose to expose Chi San and Prince Woh instead. After that, Tung Chiu suggested Yu Ching to the emperor to help Prince Sing with the iron project (the one Prince Woh and Chi San failed to accomplish). He also pleaded for Yu Ching's father to return from exile.

Wasn't Tung Chiu evil? Turns out he's not! Yu Ching's father's exile was actually planned by Yu Ching's father, himself! Why? Yu Ching's father was originally the emperor's mentor. This original title made him feel high and mighty and so after a slip of a tongue, he angered the emperor. He then found out that the emperor wanted to get rid of him because of that and so told his loyal student, Tung Chiu to frame him...in order to get a lenient sentence. So after all this, Yu Ching finally found out the truth about Tung Chiu's help.

Through Wai Fei's setup, Prince Sing was sent to negotiate a peace treaty with the Jins (whom have been suppressing the Songs for generations). This is a dangerous mission but Yu Ching and Tung Chiu were sent to go with the Prince too. At first everything was kinda sketchy since the Jins were really trying to create trouble. They served the guests lamb which the Songs were to never eat. Why? Back then the Jins humuliated the Songs by asking their ancestors to act like lambs for their entertainment. After Yu Ching's big speech and Tung Chiu's bigger speech, the two parties finally calmed down. (The Jin's second Prince (King Kong) is abit unsettling though.) The peace treaty was on it's way when both the Jin Prince (Tsui Wing) and Prince Sing were ambushed. Luckily Prince Sing was fine but the Jin Prince was killed.

Of course the accident caused disputes between the two nations. Jin's 2nd Prince then imprisoned Prince Sing. So yah...this was a plan all along. Wai fei allied up with the 2nd Prince to get rid of Prince Sing and to his advantage, he also got rid of his elder brother who was the crown prince. Now it's Yu Ching's and tung Chiu's turn to get into trouble because of the failed mission. Yu Ching ended up taking all the blame because he wanted Tung Chiu to stay and fight Chi San. In the end Yu Ching was sentence to exile while Tung Chiu was taken away from his post.

Yu Ching's father was right after all. He told Yu Ching to never go into court but he didn't listen. And not his son is getting exile, just like he did. It's actually so sad because he just came back from exile, but now his son is getting exiled. *sigh* Yu Ching's dad couldn't take it and died too.

Even though he is not exiled, Tung Chiu still have his issues because Chi San is eager to get rid of him. What I did not mention before though is his lust over Yuk Kiu. Seems like he really wants her and of course Tung Chiu is against that. In order to get what he wants though, Chi San framed Yuk Kiu's brother of something and got him imprisoned. He then implied to both the father and the daughter that he can help them...if only they were "family". Helpless, Yuk Kiu decided to tell her father to let her marry Chi San because she knows that he will not stop until he gets her.

On the day that Yu Ching got exiled is also the day that Yuk Kiu got married. I felt so bad for her!!! Omg...Yu Ching didn't even know since neither her or her father wanted him to be upset! Why does Elaine have to get these tragic roles? To be honest, I'd rather if her character died of than marrying the rascal. Oh!

Did I mention Eric Li is her younger brother? I don't know if his role is good or bad yet, but knows that he's not on good terms with his father, Tung Chiu. He thought his father sent him off because he didn't want to his success. What he doesn't know though, is that Tung Chiu sent him away in order to protect him. Omg..he was so ignorant when he came back and was even full of praises for Chi San, who he thought "rescued" him. If I wasn't so distracted by his outfit (worn by Moses Chan in Can't Buy Me Love), I'd give him a few slaps. Please let Eric play a good guy though....please. I love this actor way to much...don't break my heart Q.Q

Yu Ching arrived at his exiled camp! I seriously wonder how he's going to come back. As for the camp itself, full of corruption. I'm curious though, why didn't the officers just take his money? Yu Ching was told to bribe the magistrate in order to be excused from the hitting, but he refused. Some gold then dropped out from his body, which showed that he got money. When the officers was reaching for it though, Yu Ching told him and the magistrate that if they were to keep the gold, it's be stealing...blah blah. What I don't get why the magistrate was afraid of what he said? Sure it's against the law and stuff to keep the gold, but seriously, who's going to "file a complaint" about it....seeing the camp is surrounded by water...the magistrate is in FULL power. Why were they afraid of Yu Ching's words? I don't get it...hope you guys got what I was saying though...

Guess who's Yu Ching's camp mate? Haha the character played by Fred Cheng! Totally an underrated character...who immediately caught my eyes. I'm very curious to see more of his character...hehe He's acting so mischievous ;)

Worse than being exiled? Staying at Jin as a prisoner. Humuliated by the Jins like his ancestors did, I wonder what's going to happen to Prince Sing. Throughout his torture though, he kept in mind of what Tung Chiu taught him. Along the lines of, "Before god entrusts a man with a task, he'll first have to endure many hardships (mentally and physically) in order to strengthen himself." I loved how this scene was put in. It showed that Prince Sing is no ordinary man and his determination to overcome these obstacles that are put upon him! Can't wait to see more of him!

I don't get Tung Chiu. This man is so...unpredictable. After Yu Ching's exile, Wai Fei summoned Tung Chiu and asked him to help Prince Woh instead. She even asked him to impersonate Prince Sing to write a letter to the emperor, asking him to replace him with Prince Woh as the crown prince. And Tung Chiu did. Empress GongShu had suspicions though and in the end, proved that the letter was fake. When I thought that Tung chiu was going to exposed Wai Fei and Prince Woh, he ended up taking the whole blame by saying that it was what Prince Sing told him back in Jin! I seriously wonder what Tung Chiu is thinking....I just can't get him figured out.

King Makers Thoughts 1

Yah, it's time to take out my confusion arrow. I really think tvb should of have someone else to play Wayne's "younger" version. Honestly, when I was watching episode one...all I could think of was how Wayne won't age in the series!! It's...tvb magic!

Another "confusion" is the synopsis. Seriously, if you read the synopsis and had watched the first 4 episodes...it's confusing. I don't even know what to say because I am so confuse. The age thing doesn't help either.

On a side-note, the series is not bad so far (I've watched up to ep04). I just thought using four episodes to explain just the "beginning" is a bit too much. Overall, my biggest irk is how Wayne played his "younger" version...other than that, it's all good.

***this is just my "confusion" post, I'll write another one in more detail about what I thought of the first four episodes :)