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sid_guardian2021-05-09 12:00 am
trobadora) wrote in sid_guardian2021-05-09 12:00 am
Entry tags:
Focus on: Professor Ouyang attempts to recruit Shen Wei (episode 1)
Location of scene: episode 1, 5:04 - 6:59
Context
This is at the very start of the show, before we know anything about anyone: there's the opening narration ("Haixing ... an ancient planet ...") explaining the set-up; then there's Shen Wei holding a lecture ("Investigating Species Variation from a Genetic Standpoint"), and then comes this scene, with Professor Shen, Professor Ouyang and Li Qian after the lecture:
After that, we're introduced to Guo Changcheng and Zhao Yunlan and the SID, but this comes first.
The Scene
Professor Ouyang has unexpectedly come to listen to Professor Shen's lecture. ("I didn't know you were coming today," says Shen Wei.) They don't seem to know each other well, and engage in some mutual complimenting and deflecting of compliments while Li Qian stands there in the background, zoning out.
Ouyang: "I have a favourite pupil of my own. When there's a chance, maybe you can talk to each other."
(A rewatch easter egg: it's an irrelevant aside at first, but in retrospect you realise he's talking about Lin Jing. :D)
Shen Wei smiles and agrees. Professor Ouyang makes as if to leave, then prompts Shen Wei to send Li Qian away so they can talk in private. (Well, semi-private, because Ouyang's driver is standing only a few metres away. *g*) Shen Wei has to call Li Qian's name twice to get her attention - something is clearly going on with her.
Ouyang: "Shen Wei, you and I both have access to first-hand information. I won't beat around the bush. You should be clear, that your supposed genetic mutations have already appeared in reality. They've been here for a long time. If I told you that your teacher and I are in the middle of investigating this, would you be willing to join us?"
Professor Ouyang is, unknowingly, attempting to recruit the Black-Cloaked Envoy for an investigation into Dixingren. :D
Here's what I find really interesting: Professor Ouyang makes it clear he knows what's really going on, and that he knows Shen Wei knows it too - but more than that, he hints at how they know. They both have access to information that others apparently don't.
And Shen Wei, in the face of being told that a) Professor Ouyang knows these things, and b) there's a group of scientists actively looking into this subject, either has very little reaction, or else has a pretty good poker face going on. All he does is swallow visibly, once. And then he smiles and refuses Ouyang's offer.
Shen Wei: "Professor Ouyang, you jest. I am just an ordinary scholar," he says (his go-to phrase, apparently, not just for deflecting Dixing-related suspicion, aschina_shop recently discovered), "doing research as part of my job. This path you mention is not for me."
He's very blunt - he's essentially politely slamming the door in Professor Ouyang's face. Ouyang is clearly not expecting this response - he says Shen Wei is the first person to reject him like this.
Ouyang: "Lao-Zhou is right, no one knows what you're thinking."
Our Shen Wei clearly has a bit of a reputation as a mystery, and/or as an eccentric. :D
Ouyang makes no second attempt; he essentially shrugs and tells Shen Wei, "fine, just keep doing whatever the fuck you're doing, kthxbai" (except more politely), and gets into his car to drive away. Shen Wei looks after him with a serious expression.
Some random things
There is a lot going on in this scene! Some of it is immediately relevant for this episode - something's wrong with Li Qian; Shen Wei knows things and something's up with him - but other things won't be relevant for many episodes: the entire plotline with the Ministry lab, and Lin Jing's connection to Professor Ouyang. It's a great scene that works both as an introduction to Shen Wei (his professor persona, his deflection, the fact that there's clearly something else going on under the surface) and, on rewatch, offers additional rewards. I love these things. :D
What I also love is how smooth Shen Wei and self-possessed is in this scene - he must find what Ouyang tells him about research into Dixingren concerning, and he shows none of it. He also very firmly and calmly he rejects Professor Ouyang's offer, even though it must be unexpected. He's very good at being politely distant, and at firmly insisting on his own path - I wonder how much practice he's had at all of that. And of course it matters that we see him like this first, before he gets completely knocked sideways by encountering Zhao Yunlan. That scene wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without the contrast!
Also, trivia: The car Professor Ouyang drives off in has a red 特 tè in its number plate - it's an official car. The same 特 as in 特别调查处, aka the SID! However, Zhao Yunlan's jeep and the other car they're using in episode 18 both appear to have a red 调 in their number plates instead.
(Normal cars have blue number plates with a 龙 lóng at the start (for 龙城, Dragon City).
Questions
So, come and talk to me about this scene! Or share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, if you have them - I couldn't think of any that directly referenced this scene, but there must be some. ♥
Context
This is at the very start of the show, before we know anything about anyone: there's the opening narration ("Haixing ... an ancient planet ...") explaining the set-up; then there's Shen Wei holding a lecture ("Investigating Species Variation from a Genetic Standpoint"), and then comes this scene, with Professor Shen, Professor Ouyang and Li Qian after the lecture:
After that, we're introduced to Guo Changcheng and Zhao Yunlan and the SID, but this comes first.
The Scene
Professor Ouyang has unexpectedly come to listen to Professor Shen's lecture. ("I didn't know you were coming today," says Shen Wei.) They don't seem to know each other well, and engage in some mutual complimenting and deflecting of compliments while Li Qian stands there in the background, zoning out.
Ouyang: "I have a favourite pupil of my own. When there's a chance, maybe you can talk to each other."
(A rewatch easter egg: it's an irrelevant aside at first, but in retrospect you realise he's talking about Lin Jing. :D)
Shen Wei smiles and agrees. Professor Ouyang makes as if to leave, then prompts Shen Wei to send Li Qian away so they can talk in private. (Well, semi-private, because Ouyang's driver is standing only a few metres away. *g*) Shen Wei has to call Li Qian's name twice to get her attention - something is clearly going on with her.
Ouyang: "Shen Wei, you and I both have access to first-hand information. I won't beat around the bush. You should be clear, that your supposed genetic mutations have already appeared in reality. They've been here for a long time. If I told you that your teacher and I are in the middle of investigating this, would you be willing to join us?"
Professor Ouyang is, unknowingly, attempting to recruit the Black-Cloaked Envoy for an investigation into Dixingren. :D
Here's what I find really interesting: Professor Ouyang makes it clear he knows what's really going on, and that he knows Shen Wei knows it too - but more than that, he hints at how they know. They both have access to information that others apparently don't.
And Shen Wei, in the face of being told that a) Professor Ouyang knows these things, and b) there's a group of scientists actively looking into this subject, either has very little reaction, or else has a pretty good poker face going on. All he does is swallow visibly, once. And then he smiles and refuses Ouyang's offer.
Shen Wei: "Professor Ouyang, you jest. I am just an ordinary scholar," he says (his go-to phrase, apparently, not just for deflecting Dixing-related suspicion, as
china_shop recently discovered), "doing research as part of my job. This path you mention is not for me."He's very blunt - he's essentially politely slamming the door in Professor Ouyang's face. Ouyang is clearly not expecting this response - he says Shen Wei is the first person to reject him like this.
Ouyang: "Lao-Zhou is right, no one knows what you're thinking."
Our Shen Wei clearly has a bit of a reputation as a mystery, and/or as an eccentric. :D
Ouyang makes no second attempt; he essentially shrugs and tells Shen Wei, "fine, just keep doing whatever the fuck you're doing, kthxbai" (except more politely), and gets into his car to drive away. Shen Wei looks after him with a serious expression.
Some random things
There is a lot going on in this scene! Some of it is immediately relevant for this episode - something's wrong with Li Qian; Shen Wei knows things and something's up with him - but other things won't be relevant for many episodes: the entire plotline with the Ministry lab, and Lin Jing's connection to Professor Ouyang. It's a great scene that works both as an introduction to Shen Wei (his professor persona, his deflection, the fact that there's clearly something else going on under the surface) and, on rewatch, offers additional rewards. I love these things. :D
What I also love is how smooth Shen Wei and self-possessed is in this scene - he must find what Ouyang tells him about research into Dixingren concerning, and he shows none of it. He also very firmly and calmly he rejects Professor Ouyang's offer, even though it must be unexpected. He's very good at being politely distant, and at firmly insisting on his own path - I wonder how much practice he's had at all of that. And of course it matters that we see him like this first, before he gets completely knocked sideways by encountering Zhao Yunlan. That scene wouldn't work nearly as well as it does without the contrast!
Also, trivia: The car Professor Ouyang drives off in has a red 特 tè in its number plate - it's an official car. The same 特 as in 特别调查处, aka the SID! However, Zhao Yunlan's jeep and the other car they're using in episode 18 both appear to have a red 调 in their number plates instead.
(Normal cars have blue number plates with a 龙 lóng at the start (for 龙城, Dragon City).
Questions
- Does anyone remember watching this scene for the first time? I'm so curious about what people thought about Shen Wei, based on this. *g*
- Given that Professors Ouyang and Zhou are working together at the lab, why is it Ouyang and not Shen Wei's teacher himself who's trying to recruit him here? (Besides introducing a villain for later in the show, that is.)
- What "first-hand information" is Ouyang referring to that he has access to, that he knows Shen Wei has access to, and that would have given both of them the knowledge of what's really up with Shen Wei's supposedly-theoretical mutations?
The Viki subs translate this not as "first-hand information" but as "top secret information," but the phrase in question is 接触第一手资料, literally access to first-hand information. And even if we go with the "top secret" interpretation, that clarifies nothing. Indeed, it only throws up further questions regarding why a professor of bioengineering with no government affiliation should have, and be known to have, such access! - Also, at this point, do they both know they're talking about Dixingren (and Yashou), or does Ouyang at this point only know that people with mutant powers exist? I always thought that in this conversation they both know they're talking about Dixingren-related research, but now I'm not so sure.
- Building on this - do you think it's possible the existence of people with mutant powers, or even the existence of Yashou and Dixingren, is more widely known in scientific circles? Professor Ouyang doesn't mention it until Li Qian has left, and even with Shen Wei the way he talks suggests this is generally not spoken of, but is it spoken about behind closed doors? To what extent is that possible without leaking and eventually blowing up in public?
- More generally, who knows what, in Haixing, outside the Ministry? Clearly the university's chancellor has no idea, and it's not meant to be common knowledge - but at the same time, there are people like Tan Xiao and Cheng Xinyan who are close with Dixingren (Zheng Yi and Zu Ma respectively) and know they're unusual, and we don't get many people being genuinely shocked.
- Is Shen Wei's minimal reaction to Professor Ouyang's research group due to his well-practiced "ordinary professor" mask, or is it because he already knew there were people working on related research, even if he wasn't aware of this particular project?
- What do you think Professor Zhou means when he says no one knows what Shen Wei is thinking?
- Professor Ouyang seems to shrug off Shen Wei's refusal very quickly. Is that him saving face, or was he just not very invested in recruiting Shen Wei? Was it mostly mostly Professor Zhou behind this recruitment attempt? (After all, much later at the ministry lab we'll hear Professor Zhou bring up Shen Wei at every turn, wishing he were there with them. *g*)
Or was Professor Ouyang not planning to recruit him at first? Was he just checking him out based on Professor Zhou talking about him a lot? Was he genuinely about to leave and then changed his mind? - What is Shen Wei thinking at the end as he watches Professor Ouyang's car drive away? Is he worried? Does he sound out Professor Zhou when he goes out drinking with him a few episodes later? Why doesn't he investigate in more depth, since the serum the lab develops is clearly a surprise to him?
(I would love to read the AU where Shen Wei finds out about the lab and what it's up to much earlier ... I have no idea what domino effect could result from there, but it would be very cool to find out!)
So, come and talk to me about this scene! Or share links to meta, picspams, and related fanworks, if you have them - I couldn't think of any that directly referenced this scene, but there must be some. ♥
no subject
Even then, I'm not sure investigating the lab as the Envoy would be justified, unless diplomatic relations have broken down to the point they're effectively at war. Which I don't think is the case? (Team Ye Zun doesn't represent Dixing, after all; they're insurgents in their own land, too.) I mean, I think the Envoy portaling into the lab and poking around would be seriously crossing a line, and maybe Shen Wei thinks taking a job there without disclosing his identity would be a bit like that.[1] Investigating the lab as part of the SID, otoh, seems less escalatory/boundary crossing, given that Zhao Yunlan has clearly decided the SID's remit is "whatever he thinks is important to protect everyone"... idk...
[1] assuming he even wanted to, which I don't think he does.
no subject
(Totally agreed that he doesn't want to take the job in the first place.