Side dish: If Tai Shu had thrown a Hong Kong style Pineapple Bun at the pedophile, instead of a pineapple, this episode may not have had such a happy ending. Make your own, throw them at criminals, and see for yourself how light, tasty and useless they are. Recipe for Bolo Bao at China Sichuan Food.
Episode Recap
Undercover policeman, Apple (Priscilla Wong) has dark circles under her eyes after a night of hearing ghosts. She is woken up by the cheering of her fake husband, Tai Shu (Edwin Siu) and their guest, Maruko watching football on TV. Maruko’s mother is not due back until night time, so Tai Shu butters Apple up until she agrees to pick Maruko up after school.
Apple, Tai Shu, and Maruko go to the local restaurant for breakfast. They run into some of their neighbours, and it is clear that Tai Shu is considerably more popular than Apple. Apple is reprimanding Maruko for taking too many sauce packets when Dan Dan (Mandy Wong) decides to butt in. It escalates until the women are back to arguing about the disappearance of Apple’s precious pillow. Tai Shu is forced to step in, and drag Apple and Maruko out.
Dan Dan and fellow housewife, Lin Heung (Rachel Kan) take advantage of the departure of Tai Shu and Apple to return to the apartment of comatose criminal, Wan. They attempt to retrieve Lin Heung’s phone and radio control car, and Wan’s documents wallet with a fishing rod, but fail.
Apple stops by the beauty shop of Fung Nei, digging for evidence of any connection with Wan. Undercover cop, Ga Lun is doing his rounds as an estate security guard when he catches Apple looking through Fung Nei’s phone. They retreat to a public washroom, where Apple outlines her reasons for suspecting Fung Nei. Ga Lun is dubious, because he and Fung Nei came from the same hometown, but Apple orders him to use this personal connection to dig for information.
Apple and Ga Lun are caught exiting the women’s washroom by Tai Shu’s father, who is an estate security guard. Apple and Dad hit it off, and he continues to sweet talk her as he leads her to the local school to pick up Maruko. Apple notes that Dad is nothing like his son, and has to catch herself. However, Tai Shu and his Dad do share a turn of phrase involving decapitation, which causes Apple to titter.
Tai Shu’s father sends some hooligans packing, but they get their revenge when they suddenly stop an escalator, causing Dad to take a tumble. He refuses to go to the hospital or to notify his son, because he does not want to be forced into retirement. Apple suddenly realizes that she is late picking up Maruko.
Apple fails to find Maruko, and gets an earful from a worried Tai Shu. When he asks why she was delayed, Apple cannot reveal his father’s accident to respect his wishes, and suffers more abuse from Tai Shu.
Maruko was spotted with someone who matches the description of a reported pedophile. Dan Dan uses the housewives network to spread the word about the missing girl. Then, Dan Dan and Apple put their grudge aside to follow a lead.
Maruko is being threatened with a box cutter by the pedophile when Dan Dan and Apple come around the corner, bickering. They converge on the pedophile, and after overwhelming him with their arguing, Maruko manages to escape. Apple uses her police skills to subdue the pedophile, but slips and gets blinded by some flour. She is at the mercy of the pedophile when Tai Shu jumps in, and beats the pedophile down. Apple stares through flour caked eyes in adoration.
Apple, Tai Shu and Dan Dan are all hailed as heroes by the estate residents. Maruko is safely back with her mother, and the neighbours all make arrangements so that Maruko will not be left home alone in the future.
Rather than accolades, Apple and Tai Shu get grief from their boss, Wu Sir, for almost blowing their cover. This does not stop Apple and Tai Shu from bickering and blaming each other.
Lin Heung and Dan Dan come up with an idea to get Tai Shu to unlock Wan’s apartment for them. They flood the apartment entrance with buckets of water, then go pounding on Tai Shu’s door, claiming a burst water pipe. While Tai Shu is investigating, the housewives grab the radio control car, the cellphone, and Wan’s document wallet.
Tai Shu is not as clueless as he looks. He reports the suspicious behaviour of Lin Heung and Dan Dan, as well as the missing objects from Wan’s apartment to Wu Sir. The connection between the housewives and Wan warrant further investigation.
Tai Shu and Apple spread rumours of Wan being out of his coma. Dan Dan, Lin Heung and Fung Nei rush to the hospital, and a nurse confirms this news. The housewives all seem resigned to suffering to repay their debt.
Dan Dan failed to find any of the compromising photos that Wan was using to blackmail her in his documents wallet. After sending off the other two housewives, Dan Dan returns to the hospital room with a box cutter, threatening to kill herself if Wan forces her to prostitute herself. However, it turns out that the patient is not Wan.
Wu Sir reports success, having captured surveillance photos of the three housewives visiting the hospital where Wan is housed. Tai Shu is surprised, but it only confirms Apple’s suspicions. Wu Sir announces that the undercover operation will now focus on the three housewives.
Comments
Those bitches at the estate sure do have long memories. I cannot believe that they are still bullying Apple about her theft allegations against Dan Dan with their underhanded remarks. Then, Apple gets reamed out by Tai Shu for not picking up Maruko in time; it is just her luck that street smart Maruko decided to walk off with a pedophile on that very day. Poor Apple is not getting any breaks.
Unfortunately, Apple proved herself to be incompetent when it really counted. In the middle of arresting a criminal, the very thing she was trained to do, she slips and falls, and begs for mercy after being blinded by flour, of all things. They couldn’t have made it lemon juice or raw onions or even durian? Maybe this is the HK-drama version of the gauntlet of humiliation that K-drama heroines must face. One can only hope that Apple can finally get some respect and dignity after the first quarter of the series.
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