In [Beyond the Realm of Conscience] episode 7, the story continues to heat up! We start to see another side of Tavia.. a side which was probably always hidden deeply within her.
Mandy Cho, a concubine candidate for the Emperor seeks help from Michelle and Susanna. She hopes they can make her stand out amongst the other girls by creating a remarkable outfit and jewellery. However, they reveal many other girls have also done the same thing (and have paid a lot more money). Mandy is extremely saddened but is persistent. She has been in the Palace for 8 years and has never had the opportunity to even lay eyes on the Emperor. If she doesn’t grab his attention now, she will wither away and grow old with no sense of worthiness. Seeing Mandy’s very pitiful background, the two agree to see what they can do for her.
For this project, Tavia and Charmaine were put in charge of creating the pieces for Mandy. June, Susanna’s assistant; becomes jealous over her choice of Tavia.
One night, Tavia discovers June sneakily in her room replacing her make-up! Tavia walks in on her and June is absolutely terrified by her discovery. June intended to replace the make-up with one that would infect Tavia’s face, making her ugly. She admits she wasn’t thinking properly, fueled by her jealousy of Tavia who she saw as a threat. She begs Tavia not to tell Susanna and promises she will never bully her again. Tavia tells her she will forgive her if she wiped some of the infected make-up on her own finger. June is relieved and upon printing her finger on it, promptly leaves the room.
The next morning however, Tavia’s face is all red and infected! She immediately dobs June in for intentionally harming her! June is absolutely horrified by Tavia’s backstabbing, but no one believed her claim. Her own finger was infected; evidence she was handling with the make-up. Susanna is extremely angry and sends June out of the Palace Proceedings. As June is seen leaving with a backpack, an extremely amused Tavia approaches her. The two confront and Tavia happily expresses out how pitiful her current state is. The truth is unveiled between them through exchange of bitter dialogue. Just when Tavia leaves, she discovers Charmaine standing there, who heard the entire conversation! :O
Charmaine takes Tavia by the well where their Mother’s ashes laid.
Charmaine: “So what June said is the truth.”
Tavia: “I only did that to protect myself”.
Charmaine: “We’re all part of the Palace Proceeding, we should be good friends. Mother always told us to bring out the goodness inside of us.”
Tavia: “She’s the one who wanted to harm me first. She’s been our senior for all this time, when has she ever been nice to us? Since I was young, she was always picking on me, time and time again she tries to set me up. This time her scheme failed and backfired, she brought it upon herself!”
Charmaine: “Everyone is working together, learning together- so why can’t we all just get along?”
Tavia: “The Palace is so complex. Originally if no one bothers me, I won’t bother them. But if people are plotting against me, I’m not even allowed to defend myself? I’ve been holding it in, but she just keeps pushing further and further. Everyone has a limit- leaving her here is like leaving a wolf by your side. If I want to survive, what can I do?! If I don’t fight back, June will just eventually kill me. With a senior like that, we would never have good days. I’d rather change to a new one”.
Charmaine: “So if she is gone, do you want to take over her position?”
Tavia: “I have faith, if I get her position, I will definitely do better than her. I will look after everyone.”
Charmaine: “Fine, no matter what I say you’ll think you’re right. There’s no point further arguing.”
What do you guys think of this scene? Who do you agree with more? Charmaine or Tavia?
I personally feel a bit frustrated by Charmaine being so naive. Sure, what Tavia did was not a good thing, but why can’t Charmaine see where she’s coming from? A bit of empathy instead of persistently brushing it aside would be nice I think…
Meanwhile, Tavia and Charmaine present to Mandy the finished hair pin and robe. She is absolutely thrilled by how beautiful they were and claims she’s never been able to wear something so pretty. Unfortunately, Tracy shortly enters and snatches both the hair pin and outfit for herself! What an absolute bitch! After degrading Mandy with nasty words, she gives Charmaine and Tavia money for Susanna and Michelle, ordering them not to work for anyone. She unnecessarily pulls Mandy’s own hair pin from her head and throws it to the ground… How jealous and bitter can these people get?? Very.
Later that night, Charmaine sneakily helps Mandy create a new hair pin. Tavia knew Charmaine would be doing that, and comes in to help her. The two start off a bit awkward but Tavia tries hard to make it up to her. Tavia reiterates she will only be nasty to evil people and will do everything for those kind-hearted, like Charmaine. Even if she hated the rest of the world, Charmaine will always be her closest friend. The two seem to be in good terms with each other again 🙂
Charmaine successfully creates a master piece, with her clever use of glow-in-the-dark powder, making it extremely eye-catching. Upon presenting it to Mandy that night, Edwin (the Emperor) instantly notices it on Mandy’s head! He becomes completely mesmerized by Mandy and takes her in as his concubine!
Tracy of course, is extremely pissed off that Mandy is now the Emperor’s favourite. She causes a scene and demands Charmaine’s hand is chopped off. This is brought to Hor Wai’s attention and consequently brought to Susan. Instead of punishing Charmaine, Susan is extremely impressed by her skill and talent. She promotes Charmaine into June’s previous position, into the Jewellery department!
Tavia is devastated! What will happen now? Not a good sign..not a good one at all.
Click here to read Episode 8 Synopsis >>
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There is no doubt that June will harm Tavia again if Tavia did forgive this time. However, how Tavia got back on June(making her believe she forgave her and making a scene out of it after) was just simply a wrongdoing.
So I guess I dun agree with the method Tavia used, I think it’s right that you have to know what others are up to and learn to protect yourself. So I dun blame Tavia for what she’d done (+ I actually enjoyed watching June finally got punished.) =)
Although I know Charmaine’s character could be too fictional sometimes since she’s ‘too’ nice at times (more like, ‘all-the-time’), I still enjoy watching her. Especially her friendship with Tavia, close sisters, it’s just great to watch!!
Yeah, I don’t blame Tavia for wanting to protect herself (and yes, June was evil anyway so it’s good that she’s gone now XD)- but the method.. it’s so evil, lol. It’s totally something a villain would think up of..
Honestly, I didn’t see that coming from Tavia I really thought she forgave her. Dunno if it’s because I’ve always liked Tavia as an actress, but I found myself still loving her in the series although she seems to be or IS turning evil!
Yes, that gave me a shock too! The pure evil thought really gave me chills! @___@!!
I actually really like tavia character so far. she seem more realistic, other than charmaine. i mean i might not go that far but i would definitly do something tooo. and i thought the acting between tavia and june when they were fighting was really good. idk why they always give june a very minor role. i love watching her. and i think she’s a pretty got acttress. they should definitly promoted to supporting acttress…….oh and i though mandy acting wasnt that good in here either……she was better in “you’re hired”…..but i did felt really sorry for her at first. she was sooo poor. maybe even poorer than all the maid….i was so happy when she finally become a concubine…..it was kinda like a cinderella story……well im on episode 15 chibi……
haha, so ahead… If I didn’t have to write blog entries, I probably would be up to episode 15 too, instead of..7, lol.
I agree, June’s acting is quite good, whereas Mandy..err… pretty bad. But June probably doesn’t have the good looks to play supporting characters (even though I personally don’t think Mandy looks that stunning).
Thanks for reading 🙂
yeah that’s what i though too. i mean mandy look good. i mean i would probally date her…but in the episode where mandy drop the lantern and the emperor put the lantern on her face. i know tvb was going for like the she’s so gorgeous at that moment but i was actually just like ehhh….she look really funny at that moment….but i think june look fine.(but do you really need the good look to be a supporting acttress)
Gosh, so many villians in this series! But at least some are getting punished and are out of the story! One down, a whole palace full to go!
haha yeh! Getting one down is better than one up! xD
Hey Chibi! Thanks again for your thoughts on ep 7!
Mannn, I was waiting for the other side of Tavia to appear!! Makes me go ‘Ooooooohhhh!’ I too was surprised by her actions but hey, it got June fooled so.
I’ve never liked Mandy’s acting, but I guess you’re right in saying that she did better in ‘You’re Hired!’
It’s probably these little resentments and jealousy that will make Tavia turn against everyone!
I wanna shake Charmaine’s character silly! Oh well, i just hope she develops into a more interesting character.
😀 Thanks for reading again!
I think the things Tavia go through might not be as small and petty as these. I get the impression it will just get worse and worse until she’s pushed off the limit. But yeah..every little thing contributes..and we all know girls remember everything!!
XD
I think sometimes Charmaine’s character can be a little annoying shes a little too nice. Its the start of Tavia’s Evilness =)
i know!!! really, Charmaine is really making me go wacko…how can anybody be so nice???…Tavia’s cahracter is certainly more believable
I will be writing up a post in the future on my thoughts on Charmaine’s character 🙂
Keep an eye out for it!
well i have to say i’m not surprised by tavia’s response. from the very beginning you know she is not the most honest person. from the beginning I mean from the time that she lied to charmaine about not knowing what happened to the hair stick… and not that the drama series starts off 20 years before and showing tavia and charmaine as foes.
i bet even up to this point, charmaine still doesn’t know that tavia is responsible for her mother’s death…which i think foreshadows what will be the last straw that rips apart their friendship. i could see charmaine forgiving everything but that.
to digress on your question of who to agree with…I would support charmaine. Why? Simply because it is the right thing to do. Which is why her character is so awesome. it’s not that she is being naive to the situation and believes in fairytales and happily ever after…etc. time and time again during the episodes you see her pointing out others’ wrong doings and play on words and schemes and being strict and to the point of playing those individuals, but she is not uncultured… in fact she does it with tact and grounds herself in righteousness. she is not turning a blind eye to what is happening. in fact she is very smart and observant, and the best part is…is that she is using those abilities for good.
tavia made a good point, BUT it is just an EXCUSE…an excuse to not do the right thing and to benefit herself. what tavia did was selfish. if she really was confident as she said she was….then she would not have to do that and she would be rewarded for her good acts sooner or later. who knows even, if she had left june as is, june prob would not bully her again out of respect. then she may eventually take over june’s position and charmaine would not have been placed in june’s position. karma
Also might i add that the title of this series speaks all… a title is not simply made up bc it sounds good, though u do want it to sound good too ^.^. a title is a theme, a plot, a description of the work as a whole all summed up in a few words or phrases. this title was well thought out.
i also forgot to mention that charmaine’s character is the way she is because she is portrayed as the ‘buddha’. i don’t believe in buddhism but several times during the series she is referred to as the buddha. just bc charmaine doesn’t act the way most people would, doesn’t mean that she is naive or what not. it just means that she does not let the grey areas confuse her of where she must stand and to stand firmly at that. she is responsible for her actions and does not waste away with excuses to get herself out of her responsibilities (whether chosen by her or not) maturity on a whole new level.
ahhhh this is all just my opinion and speculation and my critic of the drama, please do not be offended by my response… i’ve only watched up to episode 7.
and lastly, i think calling charmaine unrealistic is uncalled for. it’s unrealistic to us bc many of us choose to not do the right thing…no matter how much we try to justify it…
it’s like letting those individuals who say, ‘well…i was so over come by my emotions that i didn’t realize what i was doing until i shot and killed that person…please!! i claim my actions as a mental disorder….’ u get what i’m saying?
Thanks for sharing your views 🙂
Wow! another awesome episode with excitement XD
The 2 scenes which were the most exciting were definitely one where Tavia backstabs June (and Charmaine finding out) and Charmaine ends up being promoted to replace her!
I always knew that Tavia had some ‘evilness’ in her but much of this is not revealed before this. She continued to be a happy person around Charmaine and while the scene about Tavia letting off June when she caught her on the spot seemed a little suspicious, somewhere I had hoped Tavia really did forgive her etc. We can definitely see the different effect if Tavia dobbed June in that night, or the next morning. It’s a much more serious crime since it was “committed”.
I would agree with Charmaine more. That’s pure evil of Tavia to seek revenge like that- even having those nasty thoughts. Tavia can’t just justify everything as self-defense.
i was comforted when Tavia told Charmaine that she will always be nice to those who treat her nicely, because she seems genunine (at this point in the story anyway XD)
Charmaine’s promotion (which she truly deserved) seems to stir up anger/jealousy again though..for Tavia, and Michelle.
p.s: Nice summary 😀
somewhere I had hoped Tavia really did forgive her etc.
yeah..me too! I was slightly disappointed by her actions.. it’s so mean…. Good characters would never even think of backstabbing like that- it’s uncalled for. We didn’t see this coming because after Tavia let of June she seemed normal- not smirking or anything o_o If Tavia let her off, perhaps June would change and not bully her anymore (but at the same time we can never be sure…June MAY actually continue to bully Tavia, seeing she has been a bitch all this time- you can’t change overnight)
i was comforted when Tavia told Charmaine that she will always be nice to those who treat her nicely, because she seems genunine (at this point in the story anyway XD)
Yeah 🙂