An assassination attempt was made on Taiwan's incumbent president, Chen Shui-bian, on the day before the 2004 presidential elections. He suffered non-life threatening injuries and narrowly won the election the next day. There was speculation that the incident was staged in order to win sympathy from the citizens. (Wikipedia)
During the 2012 US presidential elections, Hurricane Sandy hit the east coast of USA. President Obama's reaction to the storm was widely praised and is said to have contributed to his successful re-election. (Wikipedia)
The Commissioner of Police personally visits Yip Ching (Angelica Lee) to discuss Lee King Shun's (Wu Kwing Lung) demand to see her. Yip Ching finally recalls where she had encountered Lee before. Eight years ago, when she was a radio broadcaster, she uncovered a scandal in which he used his police officer status to obtain free sexual services. Her persistent coverage of the story eventually led to his arrest. Realizing the cause for Lee's resentment, she agrees to his request.
Sum Suet Lai (Violet Li) sets up an interview for Song Man San (Liu Kai-chi) to comment on the hostage situation. He puts the blame squarely on Yip Ching for failing to defuse the situation earlier when Lee had committed other hostile actions.
At the hostage site, Yip Ching speaks to Lee from outside. He tells her to come inside the building or else he will kill the hostages. He gives her 30 minutes to consider her options. A gunshot is heard coming from inside as she retreats.
Meanwhile, Cheung Kwai Lung (Gregory Wong) meets up with Poon Tsz Wan (Eunice Ho), who has dug up information from Lee's police career. Cheung takes interest in a particular bank robbery case from 2010. Grabbing the information, he rushes to get to the hostage site.
Song watches the unfolding situation with Sum in her office. He reckons that Yip Ching is in a lose-lose situation whether or not she decides to go inside. If she does, she will probably not make it out alive. If she doesn't and anything happens to the hostages, she will have to shoulder all the blame.
Back at the hostage site, the police have decided that it would be too risky for Yip Ching to go inside. Just then, they receive a call from one of the hostages, who says that she will be the first one to be killed if Yip Ching does not come inside soon. Yip Ching decides that she must go inside, because as she puts it, "It is not that I don't fear death, but I have no other choice."
Yip Ching slowly walks into the building where Lee awaits her. He is quite aggravated at first, but she gradually calms him down by appealing to his sense of duty to protect citizens as a police officer. Just as he appears to be softening, two hostages make an escape through the back door, prompting Lee to fire a shot.
Cheung arrives at the scene and pushes his way through the police line. He shouts to Lee that he wants to talk to him. He says that they have seen each other before, during the 2010 bank robbery case. Lee slowly edges outside, holding Yip Ching as hostage. Cheung, claiming to be one of the hostages in the robbery case, describes Lee's heroics on that day, including how he said that one must be courageous in the face of difficulty. Cheung points to Yip Ching and says that she is doing exactly that by standing for election. Lee is touched by these words and drops his gun.
Later on, they get word that an elderly man had died from a heart attack after being held in the hostage situation. HKMG arranges for the man's daughter, Kwan Suk Mei (Candy Chu), to give a tearful interview in which she blames Yip Ching for indirectly causing her father's death. She alleges that Yip Ching aggravated Lee, causing him to fire the shot, which in turn, triggered the old man's heart attack.
The media gather outside Yip Ching's campaign office. She tries to explain her decision to negotiate with Lee, but Kwan suddenly appears and continues to argue that Yip Ching is responsible for her father's death.
Song meets with Ho Chun Pak (Samuel Kwok) to discuss their deal again. He tells Ho that this is the perfect timing to resign from the DALP. It will deal another blow to Yip Ching while she is already facing huge pressure from the aftermath of the hostage situation. Ho wants a higher position than what was previously offered, which Song agrees to.
Yip Ching and Cheung receive another anonymous text message telling them that Ho will quit the DALP tomorrow.
Ho holds a meeting with his supporters in the DALP and announces that he will officially resign from the party tomorrow morning. He is interrupted by a phone call from Song, who abruptly calls off the deal. Ho returns to the meeting room and grudgingly tells everyone to forget about their whole plan. Meanwhile, in his office, Song is furious as he watches a video clip of his wife in bed with C.K. So (Shek Sau).
Election countdown: 49 days
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