EPISODE 8

Another uneventful episode (to me, that is nothing dramatic, nothing too emotional). The case of the cheating wife continues.



The Case Of Mrs Cheng's Secret Life

Confirmed. Ivy is Mrs Cheng's lesbian lover. Even when confronted with this piece of info, Mrs Cheng refused to say her hubby was the culprit,not her. She badly wants to free herself of her guilt of cheating her husband, so she thought the best way to show she still love him is to take the blame for him. She actually parted with Ivy. Ben couldn't stand this. So he went to see Mr Cheng personally who at first told Ben to get lost. But Ben convinced him that Mrs Cheng still loved him and that he being so angry and hurt meant he still loved her. More so Mrs Cheng was pregnant (I was shocked because I didn't notice!). So Ben left, hoping Mr Cheng will come to his senses.



On the day to plead guilty, Mr Cheng suddenly appeared and happily reconciled with his wife who promised to wait for him and he was sentenced to 3 months in jail. I don't think there could be a much happier man going to jail than Mr Cheng. Anyway he thanked Ben and said since his wife was pregnant, he knew he still loved her at which point Mrs Cheng and her mom looked clueless. Then Mr Cheng knew Ben lied but forgave him, thanked him and off he went to jail, smiling.



A very happy man indeed.



Then came the new case, also involving Mrs Cheng.



Breach Of Doctor-Patient Confidentiality Case

Mrs Cheng saw Vincent and Jess to sue the Dr for revealing her story in his book thus causing the breakdown of her marriage (I mean who caused it for real right? Defamation maybe but the way Vincent argued, it was because she thought the Dr by revealing her secrets and her husband reading it led to her husband beating the crap out of Ivy and he going to jail). Then things got rather illogical.



Vincent said she wanted



a. the Dr to issue a written apology

b. the Dr to collect back all published books

c. to pay her damages not exceeding $100,000-00.



I am sure for C you go HUH?! NOT EXCEEDING? Yes , you read right. She wanted to punish him, but not to really punish him. Money ain't important. The Dr actually thought



a. she was a friend seeking advice, not patient (to which Vincent intelligently rebutted saying though no payment was given, the so called advice was sought in his clinic, and that infers Dr-Patient confidentiality)



b. the names were removed (to which Vincent intelligently rebutted saying yes, true Mrs Cheng became Mrs C, Ivy became I and her husband became known as a successful businessman but anybody who knows her knows that's her and her husband happened to be one of them_



c. he genuinely didn't know Mr Cheng will read that book (well Vincent didn't answer him but I will answer for Vincent, "TOUGH LUCK!".



So in the end Mrs Cheng got $30,000-00, a written apology, and the court ordered the Dr to take back all publications, changed the names to something else and well I guess republish them. I think I heard the last part right. My question now is is he supposed to collect all books, published, in the midst of publishing, sold and sold out of HK? Then the logistics problem is a nightmare you see. Poor Dr, $30,000-00 is nothing compared to what he will have to spend to take back these books.



The thing is there is a case in England where similiar facts happened and you know what the court ordered? No injunction, cannot stop the sale of the book I think in England because everywhere in the world was selling the book, so whatever the book had to say, the world already knew and so England knew. Good decision actually.



I think maybe not many people read a Dr's case studies so maybe he can collect back his books. Probably sold only like 10 copies? Who knows.



Anyway Mrs Cheng looks, talks, walks, weights, smiles, frowns and breaths like Faye Wong don't you think? For a moment I thought it was Miss Ice Queen Death Stare Cold Demeanour I Don't Care Attitude herself! I wonder maybe this is her sister?? Maybe not.



Ok, relationship. A few things happened.



1. Vincent challenged Ben to a fair fight for fair maiden Ling's heart. Well Ling already set her side on Vincent with their frequent flirting. Of course Ben tried to pursue her with the traditional way; like knitting her handbag, and yet not telling her it was him BUT Vincent got it better with style by giving her an expensive handbag (which Ling prefers) AND taking her to a cafe, and proceeded to brew her a nice cup of coffee. How can Ling not want this guy?



2. Jessica finally presented her first case (as in closing arguments) at the insistence of Vincent who was so confident he won Mrs Cheng's case that for closing he trusted Jessica to close it for him, good or bad it was one victory in his bag. Jessica fumbled but did better towards the end. The progression is nice to watch. At last Jessica is useful though she was reading from a note. But I pity the client and the judge to had to endure her for the first few seconds. Vincent seemed to have full confidence of her. Wonder why?



3. Sister Na couldn't stand Master Hung's wife (didn't catch her name-played by Winnie Yeung) trying to buy a new house that she scolded Hung's wife. Wife then knew husband was in deep trouble and ran to the office demanding to see the accounts book, saw it and fainted. Master Hung was very angry and scolded people unreasonably but apparently the wife suffers from some heart disease I think. The wife woke up and insisted on asking her father to help her husband. So now I know she is a rich man's daughter. But Hung refused and told her he will settle the debts, he will become a lawyer again and the firm will survive. The wife listened carefully and did the unexpected. She walked outside to the staff and bowed and apologised to them for her ignorance. I thought that was a very good scene, a bit shocking actually. The wife then promised to help the firm and to work to repay the debts. Everybody united there and then and everybody was happy again.



Everything else, well nothing much happened. Except ... oh yes, Ben's mom and dad got cheated again. This time big cheating case which I believe will be tomorrow's main story.



Now ther performances. I must talk about the characters first.



So far no real villain, but potentially one villain and I believe forced by circumstances.



I am beginning to like Vincent. For every stare he gave Ben everytime Ling was on Ben's side and for every smug smile (which made me dislike him), I am beginning to like Vincent for the way he treated Jessica (really he was the only one who ever pushed her to believe in herself, no spoon feeding, he was like "Jessica I think you can do the closing" and all he did thereafter was to sit and smile smugly). He is a man full of confidence and yes yes, Sammul Chan did a good job in today's episode in his confidence, in his self assured manner. I do think he will make a great pair with Jess/Bernice Liu. So I am ready for his downfall though will be disappointed because for all his weaknessess and his dirty tactics and his MUST WIN AT ALL COST attitude, he is actually really a decent fellow who loves his dad, very encouraging to his colleagues and nice to people less fortunate. Anyway back to Sammul Chan. Look at him, look at what a little suntan will do to a guy, make him more manly, more handsome.



Ben is his usual nice goofy self. I like the fact that he goes beyond the duty of a lawyer and helped the couple in this case. This is what I call real justice and real lawyers. But in real life it's too difficult to get so emotionally involved that sometimes you feel guilty for failing to get what your client wants when you know the law is the law. Raymond Lam still rules acting wise but Sammul has an advantage; it's true, Vincent is a far more interesting character to watch.



Ling has little to do in today's episode. Likewise Myolie has little to do today.



I really like Jessica despite her low self esteem and low confidence. She is a really nice hardworking girl who can actually do bette than she thinks she can and funny thing, Vincent being so good at what he does has the patience to tell her she can do it, has the confidence in her to let her do it and has got the insane idea that she can actually do it. I think he's in love with her without knowing it. Bernice Liu is such a pretty lady, such a sunshine. Despite her Jessica's uselessness sometimes, Bernice Liu has enough charisma to make viewers like her character. A very pleasant performance.



Juno is still the worst actor, whilst today we see a little of Ruby Wong. Didn't do enough for me to comment but I love the scene she snatched the cheque away and started scolding Hung's wife in public. I think the stupid wife deserved that.



I am also glad that a calibre actor like Lok Ying Kwan (Hung) is at last given a role that he is almost the centrepiece amongst the younger cast, like Ai Wai lending his experience and credibility as an actor's actor to an ensemble of newbies in Aqua Heroes (except for Leila Tong, a very capable actress herself). Such a delight to watch.



What else? Well nothing else. To recap, favourite couple is Vincent and Jessica, favourite character today is Vincent and whilst Raymond Lam still rules, I believe this episode totally belongs to Sammul Chan and his smug smiles. I am not saying this simply because I was criticised for criticising him too much in my previous thoughts but I am saying this because I actually liked his character and his performance in today's episode.



I SWEAR!