A Fistful Of Stances [2010][TVB][E]

This is the episode where we see Wing Tak does more than sit and eat, the innocence of Jeung, the difficulties of Kuen and the burden of being Tong. I would say if you just ignore the inconsistent acting, the story is actually better than many many of the previous episodes.

In fact I would say I really enjoyed this one, and would have wished for better actors of the drama kind.

And so Jeung and Ming left to Fat Shan to seek a master who can teach Jeung the iron fist.

Meanwhile, Tong is being pursued by Cham for the money. He wants to collect the money before the wife comes back. Tong was cornered in the shop but Tong said "Look, I have no money to pay you. You can kill me in hundreds of ways, but there is only one way for you to get back your money; that is to lend me more money so I can produce more pills to meet demands by the Health Ministry. That is the only way" and Cham thought for awhile and finally agreed but said with a warning "You better pay up by the, all $6000, it not your ass will be as dented as this wall" and he punched the wall and left. Tong, Yan saw the wall imprinted with Cham's fist and swallowed hard.

I KNEW IT! HE IS THE MASTER OF IRON FIST IN RETIREMENT!! Very excited to know how he will agree to teach Jeung with Tong owing so much debt.

With the money, Tong met the demands of the Health Ministry and the chief said "Thank you for being very honest about the last supply. The government has decided not to pursue any claims for compensation. As per the contract, I will pay you $2000 first, the balance $2000 at the end of the month" and Tong smiled and said thanks and Yan panicking said "Brother, this is only $2000. And even if we collect the other $2000, we are still short of $2000 owing to Leung Cham. How?" and Tong said "No worries, I will handle it".

Tong, the maths don't add up!!

Tong was so stressed he was having an asthma attack.

Pause here.

This series has a very funny (unintended) moments, like everytime small illness, they will go to Master Wong the TCM doctor, big illness they will go to hospital!

Anyway Tong had to line up, many patients when Ching saw him and asked "Hi, are you ok?" which is a redundant question when Tong said "I can't breath, so I thought I better come here, so many people..." and Ching motioned him into her office and in the office Tong said "I thought I was supposed to line up like everyone else" and Ching said good naturedly "From now onwards, you are special, you don't need to line up, you can walk right in here and I will attend to you personally" and Tong teased "Don't tell me, you like me?" and Ching said "Of course not, I am just doing this because you have done so well for the patients at the village, I am merely thanking you for your generous acts" and so Tong felt like an idiot. He likes her already, she of course likes him. Then Ching was told she will have the half day off since the senior doctor have left and so Ching said "Since I am free, why not I give you a ride home on my bicyle, my way of thanking you again" and Tong agreed. Halfway he saw Kuen and immediately shouted at Ching to "STOPPPPP!!!" and she did. I know it wasn't supposed to be funny but it was comical the way he said it.

Kuen is having a very bad day. I knew there was a catch! When Ho Yin's family found out the pharmacy is facing difficulties

, they demanded a refund of their $3000 investment and Ho Yin is so spineless. He was pressured by his mother who was presurred by his siblings so he pressured Kuen and kept asking "Ask your brother when he is repaying my family!" in a very naggy sort of way and Kuen frustrated said "You care only for your family. My brother is having a very hard time already! He has to pay off the debtors!" and Ho Yin nagged "Tell him to pay my family first then!" and Kuen said "Fine! I will tell my brother to ignore all debtors and pay your family first!! Moreover your family insisted in investing in our pharmacy, we didn't ask them, and now we are in trouble, they want their money back! How thoughtless of your family!" and Ho Yin said "I don't mean to pressure you but if this is not settled, when you marry into my family, my family will have a bad impression of you" and Kuen very upset said "I will make it easier for you! We are over!" and she walked off as Ho Yin called after her and who she saw but her brother Tong and Ching.

Back at home Tong followed Kuen into her room and he asked "What is it Kuen? Why were you two arguing?" and Kuen couldn't say it and so she said "He didn't let me have my way.. so I became angry with him" and Tong sighed "Kuen, you're not a little girl anymore. You will marry soon, Ho Yin is a good guy, his family has helped us, try to be gentle with him, you may be our princess here but once you're married, you are someone's wife, and you can't act so spoilt" and Kuen cried and said "I know! I know!" and Tong said "Kuen, we have a lot of problems already, debtors coming to us, don't add to our worries" and Kuen cried "I won't!"

Poor Kuen. This family is not as close knit as we like to think, since when faced with problems, nobody tells anyone anything.

Yan I think rushed in and said "Brother! Leung Cham is here with 2 dogs and his wife!"

Outside Leung Cham with his 2 dogs and his wife plus a few men and Wai Lan and gang were attending to patients who grew very scared as Cham said "Where is Tong? I demand he pays the debt now, if not I will release the dogs!" and the patients all ran awa as Cham said "Alright, I shall count to 3. 1...2...3... release the dogs!" when Tong ran out smiling said "Oh hi! Here here, the money, $600" and Cham said "You owe me $6000 and you're paying $600 only?" and he threw the money at Tong's face who continued to smile as he said "I can only afford this money now" and Tong saw his wife and his wife double take on Tong since she probably thought he was handsome as he teased "And who is this beautiful woman?" and Cham answered "My wife" and Tong smiled "Ahhh, your reputation precedes you" which is funny as hell! Cham said "Officers, arrest him!" and Tong said "Arrest me? I can't even afford to pay the workers' salaries! One is even cursing me since his wife is having a baby! I can't pay the amount now! I can however pay you 2 weeks later when the government pays me! Who am I to dictate when the government pays me or not pay me?" and Cham said "Arrest him!!" and Tong frustrated said "Fine! ARREST ME! HERE! CUFF ME! and since you're at it, might as well kill me! I won't be able to pay you now anyway!" and he grabbed the gun and pointed to his own head as he cried "KILL ME NOW! KILL ME NOW!!" and Cham was lost as to what to do and suddenly his wife said "Cham, give him another 2 weeks" and Cham said "Isn't that too generous? KOO YUE TONG, I GIVE YOU ANOTHER 10 DAYS!! IF NOT I WILL HAVE ALL OF YOU ARRESTED!" and so they left and Tong smiled as everyone asked "But how can we pay in 10 days' time?" and Tong said "Don't worry, things will be fine, I will deal with each problem as they come" and he walked into the room as Yan asked "But brother, don't we have $2000?" and Tong said "We need to pay the workers" and motioned for Kuen to help to distribute the money as Kuen looked at the money desperately. Tong said "Remind the workers don't tell anyone they got their salaries. In fact tell them to curse me and say I am the meanest boss" and all agreed.

Kuen met with Ho Yin who gave her flowers and Ho Yin happily said "I told mother that your brother agreed to repay $2000 first and she was very happy" and Kuen said "I'm sorry, my brother can't pay you" and Ho Yin shocked said "But he promised" and Kuen said "Actually I did not even ask him, he has too much troubles already, I can't bother him with this" and Ho Yin nagged "But... you must tell him! He must pay! Or is he refusing to pay? Oh yes, he is a cheat isn't he? He wants to cheat my family of our money" and Kuen very angry scolded "How dare you speak that way about my brother and my family!!!" and she ran away.

Ho Yin is such a wimp. I hope she doesn't end up with him.

Tak received a call and rushed home. Yau was going out when Tak said "What is the point of all the education when you're not learning anything of use and keep getting cheated?" and Yau didn't understand her father when Tak made it clear "You want to lend $1000 to those Koos didn't you?" and wife, Ching were shocked as wife shouted for the servant when Tak said "You don't need to lecture her. I told her to keep an eye on all of you" and Ching angry said "Father, how can you have servants spy on us? You don't even trust us!" and Tak said "I don't blame Yau, she is young, impressionable but you (wife) and you (Ching) should know better! You 2 should look after her and yet you let Yau being cheated. Those Koos are disgusting!" and Yau said "Father, they never asked me for money, I am giving them voluntarily!" and Tak shouted "Don't you know they accused me of murdering their family? I have tried to help them, I have given them money, and other ways of helping them, all of which they rejected and now they want to cheat my family?!" and wife said "Stop it Tak! Stop arguing!" and Tak said "You are forbidden from helping them, stop being cheated by them!" and he left and Man Kwan said "Where's the money?" and he grabbed a handbag and took the money. Yau was very angry and cried as Ching was angry too and wife hugged Yau and said "Why you want to make your daughter cry? Why make such a big fuss over such a small issue!!!"

True! Tak is so so so petty.

Jeung went to the city of martial arts that is Fat Shan and ended up with a hack. In the restaurant he was very disappointed, when he and Ming overheard some kung fu master in iron fist being pursued by another master , they fought and all. Jeung was very impressed. However the moment the so called master went at lengths to discuss his style or something to the opponent, I knew they were cheats. And indeed, Jeung was cheated into paying $30 for some banquet of admitting Jeung as the student, he went there at night and nothing there. Jeung knew he was cheated, he was very upset and I think Ming shares the blame since she is supposed to be smarter or at least more exposed and she was eagerly being cheated as well. Jeung angrily said "I feel so useless. Tong is now deep in debt and still he scrapped $30 for us and what did we do with that money? We ended up being cheated. I can't even help him, I am now adding to his burden" as Ming said "I too share the blame. We were both cheated. Maybe we should go home" and Jeung agreed as Ming said "Let's finish this meal fast, we have to get to the last bus home"

Did I hear BUS? I remember she said BUS. Not train?

Anyway Jeung looked and saw the cheats. Angrily he went to them demanding for his money back, they denied knowing him, fight ensued, Ming cried for them to stop and Jeung punched someone who fainted immediately. Police came, one of the cheats bribed that police and all were taken to police station and yet only Jeung was arrested. Angry, he protested but he was dragged away as Ming cried desperately for Jeung.

At home, Kuen returned quite late at night. Tong saw her and she looked upset as he said "How come you're home so early? I thought you're going to watch a movie with Ho Yin?" and Kuen lied "We argued, so I left" and Tong said "Another argument?" as he followed her into her room and she sat on her bed, tears flowing as she said "I wanted to eat western food, he refused so I left" and Tong angry scolded poor Kuen "Kuen, you must not be so spoilt anymore! If you keep being so spoilt, Ho Yin will break off the engagement" and Kuen cried hard as she said "No need, I have broken off the engagement" and Tong shocked said "WHAT?" and Kuen cried "Just leave me alone" and she lied on her bed and covered herself with the blanket as Tong pulled the blanket off...

This scenes shows how father figure-like Tong was to Kuen

"Kuen, don't cover yourself with the blanket. Don't tell me you don't love him anymore?" and Kuen cried and said "NO! I don't love him anymore!" and Tong sighed "I remember 2 years ago when Ho Yin broke off with you because of his father, I saw you like this, crying, covering yourself with the blanket and I asked you the same question and you said you loved him very much. Now you have this second chance, Kuen, what happened? Tell me" and Kuen cried "I was at his house for dinner and his sister in law said we are a family of cheats, his sister and brother nagged about the money and his mother accused us of cheating them! And Ho Yin just sat there, very quiet, he didn't even defend me. How can I be with a man who lets my family be insulted? How can I?" and she cried very hard and Tong knew why Kuen was so upset.

In the family room, the uncle was very angry as he shouted "They were the one who wanted to join in. When things were fine, they were reaping profits, they said nothing. Now that we are in trouble, they want their money back? Despicable!" and everyone agreed but Tong said to Kuen "Don't worry Kuen, I will think of something" and everyone went back to their room as uncle said "Think of what? You can hardly repay that Leung Cham's money! You will go to jail! What more can you do?!" and Tong was alone in the end, his health getting worse and he was having difficulty in breathing when Ming rushed in shouting "Brother! Brother!" and Tong asked "Ngan, you're back. Where's brother?" and everyone walked out and Kuen was standing behind the door when Ming explained what happened and uncle said "Oh no! Die! Die! Everyone knows the police there are most corrupted! Jeung is dead!" and Wai Lan immediately said "Ming, pack some clothes for me, we go to Fuk Shan together!" and Tong said "Mother there's no train now" and she said "We will take the boat, I will enquire who will take us" and Tong said "Mother it is too late right now" and Wai Lan said "If I don't hurry now, it will be too late for Jeung!" and Yan said "I will go with you" but Wai Lan said "No, you stay here and help Tong when the debtors are here" and so everyone went about doing what they had to do, Kuen at the back not sure what she was thinking and last shot was on Tong, breathing heavily and looking as if the world was about to crash on top of him, which it will be.

Poor poor Tong.

Next episode, exciting stuff, as Leung Cham came for the debt and he fought with Jeung!

This episode has some great moments, mostly related to 3 characters; Kuen who finally had more to do than those MR moments and I do pity her. She is stuck between Ho Yin and her family and her loyalty for her family means she can never agree with what Ho Yin say and Ho Yin is such a wimp! I like the scene where she cried to Tong and Tong found out why she was so upset. Poor poor Kuen. The next character is Jeung and him being cheated and his guilt of not being able to help Tong. I like his character is developing, he wants to ease Tong's burden, he was never jealous of the amount of respect Tong is given by the family, how he is running the family and that is a nice aspect. And it is true. Jeung may be the eldest, but Tong is the one everyone goes to since he has adopted the role of a father to his siblings, albeit a goofy one. And last but not least, Tong. This episode highlights his burden and how he is handling them one by one and I really pity him, so much troubles on his shoulder and he is sick as well.

Again, I HATE THE FACT HE HAS ASTHMA! I find the illness such a degrading illness for Tong. It is expected that he tries to avoid crisis and each time his illness threatens to render him useless. I hate that! Tong is actually a very strong character. I'd rather he walks with a limp.

Overall this is the episode where 3 characters shine. And I am really curious about Leung Cham and his wife.

Performances wise, Kevin Cheng didn't screw things up, and I think he did well when not much is on him. When he appears once in a while, that's when I feel he did best. And he was very good in the scene which shows his frustration.

Kenneth Ma is not a good dramatic actor. I like the fact his Tong can still be lighthearted in the face of total annihilation and he did those scenes well, but when in more dramatic scenes, like when he knew why Kuen was crying hard or Jeung being arrested, etc, I find his performance falters when he still had that lighthearted sort of feeling. That scene, where he refused to pay the debt, confronting his sister, etc, reminds me a lot of Safe Guards and a little of Rosy Business, such scenes are hallmarks of Lee Tim Shing's production. However this is more Safe Guards than Rosy Business and those scenes would have had more impact if the actor is someone capable of looking like the whole world is on his shoulders, something Kenneth Ma could not convey properly. Which is why I like Steven Ma's performance in Safe Guards. He really looks like the whole world was crashing on him as he fought for the business to stay afloat. The moment the debtors left, you could see him stop smiling and the burden of being the one everyone depends on. Kenneth Ma could not portray that heaviness at all and that I find disappointing.

You're right to think Tong is the lead character in here. Every scenes seem to centre on him, Jeung is the 2nd lead in my opinion. Kenneth Ma is cute when in cute moments, he is still cute when in dramatic moments and that's where the problem is. I find him a bit fluffy, not as fluffy as Selena Li whose every performance seems too fluffy, too lighthearted as opposed to Natalie, so darn serious in everything. I think I have said that many times already.

Kara Hui who is special guest star in here finally appears briefly but did very well. I enjoyed her performance, I find her character rather brave to scold back Wing Tak.

Dominic Lam has more to do, but his character is so badly written, his villain role is so petty, I just find his Wing Tak such a small small man. Not interesting at all.

Everybody else was ok, with special mention to Ram Chiang and Angela Tong for bringing in the style as in mysterious style.

And finally, Jacky Heung. Less role in here, role getting lesser which is something I won't complain since his acting is terrible but still as mesmerizing.

This series right now is Episode 15 and I believe 10 more episodes to go. Somehow I find the pace a bit slow. With so many things happening, it sould be episode 20 already. The storytelling is still a problem, too dramatic, too MR, the characterisation is too inadequate but in the end, even at this point for all my criticisms, this series is far more entertaining than sayyy Beyond The Realm Of Conscience and at Episode 15, the contents is twice the contents of BTROC.

Are you watching this series? Still got time to follow the story!