rewatching the waipa scenes and just thinking about how blurry the camera work is through their first meeting...
In the shot where Wai first sees Pa, the camera is unfocused, like it has been shaken around with the force of them bumping into each other. Wai himself has also been emotionally thrown off balance - he was ready to fight (he's always ready to fight) but now that he's seen her, all that fight suddenly drains away.
He's been physically up-ended, emotionally shaken, and his world has been rocked too. Now that Pa is in his life, Wai has a new priority and one that prompts a change in how he comports himself.
In contrast, look at the first shot of Pa we get during this scene:
Look how crisp and steady the camerawork is for this shot in comparison to the shots of Wai. Pa doesn't change much over the course of the show, except to blossom further into the confident young woman she is. This camera choice also emphasizes how for Wai, Pa is a moment of clarity and stillness. His world has shifted and now he has a new focus which calms him down and mellows him out.
This scene in episode 7 marks the beginning of a change in Wai that continues for the rest of the show. So far we've seen Wai angry and spoiling for a fight, but now he has something else that catches his attention, something that brings out his soft side. We start to see more and more of that soft Wai as the show goes on: he gushes over Pa, he helps Pat with his gun possession case, he welcomes Pat into the faculty and helps organize the public claiming on the stairs, he becomes part of the Pat/Pran/Korn friend group, etc. This all culminates in episode 10, where his feelings and esteem for Pa prompt him to do the single most respectful thing we've ever seen him do.
