GUARDIAN REWATCH - Episode 1

[trobadora]

Beginning of episode: Opening narration ("Haixing, an ancient planet ..."); then Professor Shen holding a lecture
Ending of episode: the Black-Cloaked Envoy's appearance on the rooftop; then Li Qian and Zhao Yunlan, leaning over the edge of the roof looking for Professor Shen

Important scenes/developments:

• Professor Ouyang tries to recruit Professor Shen
• Guo Changcheng's introduction to the SID
• Shen Wei sees Zhao Yunlan looking out of a window
• Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan shake hands ("Good name!")
• flashback to young Shen Wei and Kunlun
• Li Qian: "Is it really worth giving all you have to protect someone?"
  Shen Wei: "It's worth it."
  
• Zhao Yunlan: "I really don't know why, but the moment I saw you you seemed very familiar somehow."
  Shen Wei: "Who knows, maybe we have indeed met before."
• Shen Wei protects Li Qian from the Shadow Man
• the Black-Cloaked Envoy appears on the rooftop

I hadn't rewatched this episode in one go in forever, only bits and pieces here and there, so I had forgotten just how many important scenes are in this episode already! *flails*

Thoughts:

Rewatching this gave me so much joy! This drama is just perfectly designed to make me go :D :D :D every time. After we finished watching, I was so tempted to just keep going with the next episode! (And lose my whole weekend to watching 40 episodes non-stop, LOL.) So instead I put on up my favourite Guardian vid, Man on a Mission, which it perfectly captures that joy and that energy. ♥ ♥ ♥

Have a few random thoughts, feelings, and pics:

• "We Won't Be Falling": every time I hear the intro song, I feel compelled to sing along. "The story will keep on going ..." Same with the end credits song, tbh - "到底都分离 ..." The songs are so good! ♥


• I really like the visuals in the opening narration. So pretty!


• Our respective first look at our main characters:
  
  
  
  They both get such ominous intros! Shen Wei's practically screams "this is a very suspicious person", and Zhao Yunlan's entrance is all him being vaguely dangerous and threatening. :D
  
  (Something that didn't occur to me before: Shen Wei is the one with the black mask, but Zhao Yunlan is the one we see with the black motorcycle helmet first, obscuring his face!)


• The intro to the SID has more special effects than usual, and they're very effectively deployed! Such a good introduction to everyone's peculiarities: Zhu Hong's tail, Wang Zheng's ghostliness, Lin Jing's whole Mad Scientist thing, and Da Qing being very cat. It's a lot, even without Zhao Yunlan being all Maximum Weird™ at him! Poor Xiao-Guo. ♥ ♥ ♥


• Guo Changcheng's intro hits my embarrassment squick, but not as badly during this rewatch, which was great to discover. *g*
  
  


• Shen Wei finds Kunlun again ... and he's so very not Kunlun! And Da Qing doesn't recognise him either. So many feelings ...!
  
  


• Also, I always love this bit with the handshake where a) Shen Wei forgets to let go of Zhao Yunlan's hand, and b) when he does let go, Zhao Yunlan totally forgets to put down his own hand. *g*
  
  


• Our first flashback! And how do I love that the lollipop is right there? The show is totally playing fair, and yet I don't think anyone realised what was really going on when it was first airing ...
  
  


• Zhao Yunlan lounging on everything is always great, but him reclining on his motorbike is a particular delight:
  
  


• Guo Changcheng seems to be afraid of almost everything in this episode, but he takes to Chu Shuzhi so fast! Already he's clinging to him:
  
  


• I love the way Shen Wei tries to help Li Qian, physically protects her, and is totally prepared to expose himself on that rooftop by fighting the Shadow Man, until he notices the SID arriving:
  
  


• Zhao Yunlan recognising Shen Wei on the phone just from "It's me"!


• The whole scene with the Envoy's first appearance! Stopping time! Zhao Yunlan being all passive-aggressive and complainy, right until Xiao-Guo puts his foot in it, and then he's immediately stepping up to try and appease the Envoy. So good!

Discussion starters:

• What's your favourite moment in this episode? Which moment had you totally forgotten was already in the first episode?
  
  I have a hard time choosing a favourite thing, but I think it's probably the conversation that I'd count as the proper beginning of the cat-and-mouse game between Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan, where Shen Wei very conspicuously dangles his knowledge of Dixingren in front of Zhao Yunlan, and Zhao Yunlan then claims Shen Wei seemed familiar to him ... - That, or the Envoy's appearance. But then I'm weak for that cloak and mask. *g*


• Speaking of Zhao Yunlan claiming familiarity - do you think that's just a line? Is he just trying to tease some info out of Shen Wei, or does he genuinely feel something?
  
  (Leading theories for how he could be feeling something despite not actually having met Shen Wei before: Hallows interference; having seen pictures or video of the Envoy; having seen the Envoy from a distance as a kid while sneaking around. Thanks to oracularmayhem for that last!)


• Zhao Yunlan talks about new offices for the SID - why do you think he wants them? The SID set is such a delight!


• If you've rewatched this episode just now, did you notice anything you never thought about before?
  
  One thing that occurred to me was that the flashback has Kunlun putting a lollipop in the young Envoy's mouth, while earlier in this episode, we see Zhao Yunlan pull a lollipop away from Xiao-Guo's mouth. Apart from drawing attention to the Significant Lollipop™, do you think there's something in that parallel/contrast?


• Last night, shadaras pointed out there's a parallel between Li Qian's necklace here and Shen Wei's in the mugging scene (episode 6/7). The way Li Qian touches her necklace definitely is reminiscent (foreshadowing?) of Shen Wei ...
  
  Of course Guardian has three Emotionally Significant Necklaces™ - Shen Wei's lollipop pendant, Li Qian's Sundial, and Da Qing's bells. I'm going to pay more attention to that during this rewatch, to see if there are more parallels ... Thoughts, anyone?


• What's your favourite fanfic or fanart relating to this episode? What fanart or fanfic do you wish existed?

Let's talk about episode 1!
Come and talk about this episode - anything from favourite scenes or lines of dialogue to notes/questions about continuity or translation, most gorgeous (or angsty) smile, or anything else that strikes your fancy! And share links to your own and/or others' episode-related meta, picspams, and fanworks, new or old!

Comments

Links to episode 1 fanworks and meta go here!

[trobadora]

Please reply to this comment with links to:

• any other episode reactions or related meta
• fanworks, picspams, squee, etc, relating to episode 1 generally or to specific scenes, characters, or events in this episode

Link to your own works and/or others'. Help us build as comprehensive a collection of links as possible!

Re: Links to episode 1 fanworks and meta go here!

[trobadora]

I'll start with a first bunch of links!

Previous rewatch on this comm:
Guardian Episode by Episode: 01 by extrapenguin

Scene discussions on this comm:
the intro narration by trobadora
Professor Ouyang attempts to recruit Shen Wei by trobadora
Guo Changcheng arrives at the SID by china_shop
The Envoy's first appearance by china_shop

Re: Links to episode 1 fanworks and meta go here!

[china_shop]

More links:
- shadaras' episode reaction post.

And some episode-related fics by me:
- Stranger than it should have been is a canon divergence AU of episodes 1 and 2 in which Da Qing is Shen Wei's best friend instead of Zhao Yunlan's.
- Defence Policy and Liaising is Zhao Xinci receiving the request for Zhao Yunlan's file
- till my heart bruises is Shen Wei poring over Zhao Yunlan's file
- Disguise is a drabble about Shen Wei's thoughts during the Envoy's first appearance.

Re: Links to episode 1 fanworks and meta go here!

[trobadora]

Yay! We need to collect more links ... :D

[miss_ingno]

They both get such ominous intros! Shen Wei's practically screams "this is a very suspicious person", and Zhao Yunlan's entrance is all him being vaguely dangerous and threatening. :D

*gasp* they do! I never gave it much thought beyond amusement about how much they are hamming up Shen Wei's suspiciousness for the audience (ahh, looking forward to interrogation scene my beloved *hearts*). But Zhao Yunlan's, on a meta level, really introduces us (and Guo Changcheng) to his surface impression huh? A smarmy gangster who's all pushy-creepy with the rookie, all motorcycle and leather jacket and smoking. This is the act Zhao Yunlan puts on for the world, and it's interesting how we're first introduced to this side of him before slowly, over time, diving deeper and deeper into his character, peeling back the layers of armour to reveal the vulnerability within him (as he allows himself to become vulnerable with Shen Wei 💖)

Also being introduced to the Envoy with such a dramatic entrance is super effective on a cinematic level, but on a character level it amuses me. Is he trying to impress Zhao Yunlan/Kunlun? Us he using thunderclouds to distract from Shen Wei vanishing mid-fall? XD

(I'm sure I'll have more thoughts later but I wanted to share these before I forget <3)

A good post and excellent pic choices! Thank you~~

[trobadora]

But Zhao Yunlan's, on a meta level, really introduces us (and Guo Changcheng) to his surface impression huh? A smarmy gangster who's all pushy-creepy with the rookie, all motorcycle and leather jacket and smoking. This is the act Zhao Yunlan puts on for the world, and it's interesting how we're first introduced to this side of him before slowly, over time, diving deeper and deeper into his character, peeling back the layers of armour to reveal the vulnerability within him

OOoh, you put that so well! Yes, that's exactly it, we see the image he presents to the world, from kind of the most unflattering angle possible (aka poor Xiao-Guo's POV, who is being exposed to all of that, LOL). And then two things happen - the outer layers slowly get peeled back so we can see the person beneath, and Zhao Yunlan goes through some character development. And the end result is the Kunlun that Shen Wei knew back in YOHE. ♥ ♥ ♥

Also being introduced to the Envoy with such a dramatic entrance is super effective on a cinematic level, but on a character level it amuses me. Is he trying to impress Zhao Yunlan/Kunlun? Us he using thunderclouds to distract from Shen Wei vanishing mid-fall? XD

Yeah, it's a pretty big show he puts on there! I wonder if part of it is also him playing up his image, the same way Zhao Yunlan does with Guo Changcheng? Really leaning into it, at least in part to see how the other person reacts to it. Idk.

Btw, this reminds me that I originally wanted to put a question into the post about Shen Wei's time stopping power, and whether anyone can think of some later event where that power would have come in handy ... but then the post was already getting too long, LOL.

[donutsweeper]

I really want to know if that motorcycle lounge was something Bai Yu just did or if he was directed to do it and if he fell off the first time he tried it. :)

[trobadora]

Given Zhao Yunlan's tendency to lounge on things all over the place, I think it must have been scripted! Haha, would be totally hilarious if he fell off the first time he tried. But he looks so good stretched out like that, OMG. :D

[autodach]

I totally forgot we get a flashback to ye olde Haixing that early on!

Shen Wei dropping the pretense, preparing to protect Li Qian and The Envoy’s dramatic appearance are tied for my favourite moments – though one could argue it’s the same scene anyway.
It’s so funny to see the big show Shen Wei puts on, knowing it’s not necessary at all. I wonder what the SID thinks of the Envoy’s dramatic antics once they realize he could just portal in without the fanfare?

[trobadora]

Yeah, I had forgotten it was right there from the start, too!

The whole rooftop scene is so good! Shen Wei and Li Qian! Chu Shuzhi in action! All the ... everything ... between Zhao Yunlan and the Envoy! Xiao-Guo being worried about what happens to the Shadow Man! And the final "... oops, Professor Shen?!" too. :D

I wonder what the SID thinks of the Envoy’s dramatic antics once they realize he could just portal in without the fanfare?

Haha, good question! Now I want them all to have a reaction the first time they see him appearing without any great fanfare. :D

You know, thinking about it, when it starts, Zhao Yunlan kind of goes "ugh" before the Envoy even properly appears - he recognises what is happening. So Shen Wei must have done that before. Maybe he felt he had to up his game to impress his power on Zhao Xinci, because back then the SID was uncooperative? *ponders*

[miss_ingno]

Okay, having now done my own rewatch, here's my thoughts!

• The intros being ominous still cracks me up, especially the music cues. And Shen Wei does the unsettling smirk thing too, it's so hammed up and what for? xD
• I have so many feels about the intro, so I'm moving on to the intro meta post right after this lol
• random aside, speaking of meta posts: I really wanna do a scene discussion of the Li Qian bench scene now! There's so much good stuff happening there! (Should I wait until after the Rewatch is over or just throw it up as soon as I'm done?)
• ZYL looks so done approaching Guo Changcheng, almost like he's thinking "damn, this is the new recruit? why do I have to put up with this shit" lol
• I wonder about the Chinese at Timestamp 12:15 "I'll dock your dried fish" ZYL @ Da Qing. The translated phrasing makes me wonder: Is Da Qing literally being paid in fish instead of a salary? XD Or is it more a threat along the lines of "no more treats for you"?
• ZYL using his lollipop to measure the length of the fingerprints (tip to joint is one lollipop! Unnatural indeed) cracks me up every time
• More Chinese translation questions: What exactly does Li Qian call Lu Ruomei at Timestamp 30:43? (Sorry, I don't have the Chinese subs on hand and no ability to download them until my internet is fixed :') )
• I feel like the customing department matched Shen Wei's and Li Qian's outfits on purpose, they always go well together in each scene they're in. Something about establishing a visual affinity between them :D She wears white pants as does Shen Wei in the first scene, and later the blue-white sporty dress fits A+ to Shen Wei's blue suit + white dress shirt.
• It's interesting that Shen Wei manages to push the Shadowman back with just a flimsy painting to the point the guy gets thrown through a window. Is he using dark energy subtly?
• everyone inclines their heads, but GCC is the only one forced to bow lol
• Roof Scene My Beloved 💖💖💖

What's your favourite moment in this episode? Which moment had you totally forgotten was already in the first episode?

Roof Scene, probably, but there's SO MANY good ones! Shen Wei protecting Li Qian... all the Weilan interactions... nggggggggh <3 (also yes, I constantly forget we have our first YOHE flashback in this episode, no matter how often I've seen it - and it's my most rewatched Guardian episode!)

Speaking of Zhao Yunlan claiming familiarity - do you think that's just a line? Is he just trying to tease some info out of Shen Wei, or does he genuinely feel something?

Ohhh, good question. It makes more sense as a line in the novel (with it being subconscious memories of past incarnations, and Shen Wei's answer is actually backed up by a case they met at before, but ZYL still wonders why he didn't notice such a pretty man - because Shen Wei observed him from a distance like the stalker he is in the novel lol). I'm not sure where I land for drama canon? A mixture probably of attraction, Zhao Yunlan being a man who puts a lot on his intuition, being drawn to him by both mystery and attraction and suspicion, but also a line he thinks might work both as a test for his suspect but also to test if Shen Wei's open to the idea of dating 👀 Nothing Zhao Yunlan ever does is simply so it wouldn't surprise me if there's at least 5 reasons motivating him xD

Zhao Yunlan talks about new offices for the SID - why do you think he wants them? The SID set is such a delight!

They are! It's also surprisingly space-y, or I'd suggest it's to be able to hire more staff and have a workplace for them. Maybe Bright Avenue is far off from the city center and the new place would be closer to Xingdu Bureau? Closeness to goverment could be a signifier of importance for such a department, I think.

One thing that occurred to me was that the flashback has Kunlun putting a lollipop in the young Envoy's mouth, while earlier in this episode, we see Zhao Yunlan pull a lollipop away from Xiao-Guo's mouth.

Ohhh I didn't think about that! Nice foreshadowing of intimacy, to show us that ZYL usually isn't freely sharing his lollipop but Kunlun did with Shen Wei... making the act already significant before we know why it should be!

I never noticed how much Li Qian clutches her sundial necklace before. Like, sure I took note of it distractedly, it's decent set-up for the reveal pay-off, and it's important for the case build-up. Also some minor facts about Professor Ouyang I never cared enough to pay attention to! (But I'm deadset on paying attention to all the villains this rewatch xD)

Last night, shadaras pointed out there's a parallel between Li Qian's necklace here and Shen Wei's in the mugging scene (episode 6/7). The way Li Qian touches her necklace definitely is reminiscent (foreshadowing?) of Shen Wei ...

I think it's training the audience to pay attention to significant necklace clutching for sure! Especially since this is the first case. And I think Shen Wei also notices it during the Bench Scene when she does the clutching, and that's kinda when he decides to run interference with Zhao Yunlan's observation of her... so I think there's definitely some significance for him. (Similarly, he mentions "it must mean a lot to you" (paraphrased) when speaking to her about the sundial just before the Shadowman shows up...)

What's your favourite fanfic or fanart relating to this episode? What fanart or fanfic do you wish existed?

I *live* for variations on the Roof Scene, ngl.

[trobadora]

I have so many feels about the intro, so I'm moving on to the intro meta post right after this lol

Yay! I saw you commented already, looking forward to reading that later! :D

random aside, speaking of meta posts: I really wanna do a scene discussion of the Li Qian bench scene now! There's so much good stuff happening there! (Should I wait until after the Rewatch is over or just throw it up as soon as I'm done?)

Oooh, yeah, that is a great scene and I'm kind of surprised no one's done it yet! There's SO much in it, I would love a scene discussion! And no need to wait - that would be a LONG wait, and who wants to wait for that long?! NOT ME! :p

I wonder about the Chinese at Timestamp 12:15 "I'll dock your dried fish" ZYL @ Da Qing. The translated phrasing makes me wonder: Is Da Qing literally being paid in fish instead of a salary? XD Or is it more a threat along the lines of "no more treats for you"?

The Chinese is 否则扣你小鱼干, the relevant verb being 扣 (confiscate, deduct, detain). I think he's threatening to take Da Qing's fish snacks away. *g*

More Chinese translation questions: What exactly does Li Qian call Lu Ruomei at Timestamp 30:43?

If you mean 30:34, she calls her 梅子, Meizi, a standard form of nickname based on her given name.

I feel like the customing department matched Shen Wei's and Li Qian's outfits on purpose, they always go well together in each scene they're in. Something about establishing a visual affinity between them :D

Yes, I think so too, and that makes a lot of sense!

It's interesting that Shen Wei manages to push the Shadowman back with just a flimsy painting to the point the guy gets thrown through a window. Is he using dark energy subtly?

Maybe he reinforced the painting with black energy so it would hit much harder than it should have?

everyone inclines their heads, but GCC is the only one forced to bow lol

No lie, I really love Lao-Chu forcibly making him bow. :D

and it's my most rewatched Guardian episode!

Oooh, that is fascinating! I've rewatched SOME parts of it (*cough* roof scene *cough*) more times than I can count, but definitely not the whole episode ... I've watched some later ones more often. And episode 4, too, because it's got so much great stuff!

It makes more sense as a line in the novel

Yeah, for reincarnation it makes more literal sense! But I love how it still ends up working well in the drama, whether you think it's Hallows shenanigans or Zhao Yunlan just feeling Shen Wei out on multiple levels, trying to get under his skin. (I really love the whole cat-and-mouse game between them in the first bunch of episodes; giving Zhao Yunlan "professional" reasons/excuses to be constantly after Shen Wei was such a brilliant stroke of adaptation! And tbh I like it much better than novel!ZYL's pursuit.)

A mixture probably of attraction, Zhao Yunlan being a man who puts a lot on his intuition, being drawn to him by both mystery and attraction and suspicion, but also a line he thinks might work both as a test for his suspect but also to test if Shen Wei's open to the idea of dating 👀 Nothing Zhao Yunlan ever does is simply so it wouldn't surprise me if there's at least 5 reasons motivating him xD

Haha, yeah, it's definitely all of that! But also, there's a scene in (I think?) episode 2 where Zhao Yunlan is all, "damn, where have I seen you before?", so there's some genuine thing involved as well. Déjà vu or something. (For the record, I wrote a ficlet about my own take once: At First Sight)

Maybe Bright Avenue is far off from the city center and the new place would be closer to Xingdu Bureau?

Haha, but wouldn't that be a bonus for ZYL, being out of his superiors' eyes? *g*

Nice foreshadowing of intimacy, to show us that ZYL usually isn't freely sharing his lollipop but Kunlun did with Shen Wei... making the act already significant before we know why it should be!

YESSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSSS

I never noticed how much Li Qian clutches her sundial necklace before.

Yeah, it's really striking once you start paying attention to it!

Also some minor facts about Professor Ouyang I never cared enough to pay attention to!

My favourite bit about the Ouyang scene is the mention of Lin Jing! :D

I think it's training the audience to pay attention to significant necklace clutching for sure!

Yeah, they're putting in a lot of resonances and parallels that guide the vieweer to what's important, don't they? It's so well constructed! :D

And I think Shen Wei also notices it during the Bench Scene when she does the clutching, and that's kinda when he decides to run interference with Zhao Yunlan's observation of her... so I think there's definitely some significance for him.

Oooh, yeah, I hadn't thought about it that way, but yeah, it does look that way, doesn't it?

I *live* for variations on the Roof Scene, ngl.

Oooh, got any recs for good ones?

[elenothar]

Barely related, but I was looking at that header image and couldn't help but think that that's the only time we see Shen Wei with one hand in a pocket iirc. Not a hands in pockets kind of guy (possibly because it'd make him one step slower in a sudden crisis?).

[trobadora]

Ooooh, that's a great observation!

There are occasions where he has his hands (both) in his coat pockets, at least - I can definitely remember it from this scene.

Damn, now I have another thing to pay attention to during this rewatch, watching what Shen Wei does with his hands ...

[nnozomi]

Such a good post (and a good episode) and I don't have much in the way of reactions except to nod along. In retrospect I love the tension you can see among all the different faces Zhao Yunlan wears, right from the start--Bai Yu, so good.
I hadn't remembered that Xiao Guo instantly gloms onto Chu Shuzhi like that, talk about imprinting. (I wonder if he had met Chu Shuzhi at the SID on his first day, sitting there with his feet on his desk all in black and glowering at him, whether he would have, er, imprinted as much as he does meeting him in the middle of an emergency?)
Also Shen Wei's care for Li Qian breaks my heart; he knows something's wrong and he can't get her to admit it, so he can't do anything for her (which is a taste of his own medicine, God knows). And poor Li Qian in survival mode, and if she says one word about how she's not okay she'll break down, so she doesn't, even though everything about Lu Ruomei's death is a nightmare on top of her already awful situation...
sorry, I didn't mean to start writing fic in your comments!

[elenothar]

Also Shen Wei's care for Li Qian breaks my heart; he knows something's wrong and he can't get her to admit it, so he can't do anything for her (which is a taste of his own medicine, God knows)

The parallels between Li Qian and Shen Wei really do just come for my heart every time, and people keep pointing out more. I wonder how deliberate that was on the show's part...

[trobadora]

Yes! Zhao Yunlan's different faces, and the slow reveal of him as a person - all that is so good!

And ooh, good point about how Xiao-Guo meets Chu Shuzhi, differently from all the other SID members. He's the only one who wasn't involved in that intro scene, and then on top of that he saves him, so it makes sense he'd cling to him as the safest person around! :D

So so true about poor Li Qian; he wants to help but can't; she won't say anything - you're so right about her being in survival mode. And he can't push too hard without making things worse. ♥ ♥ ♥

sorry, I didn't mean to start writing fic in your comments!

Nonono, never apologise for that, I love it when people do that!

[china_shop]

My notes from watching with a friend on Monday (right through, so I couldn't stop and get too much down):

• Professor Ouyang saying, "Lao Zhou was right: no one knows what you are thinking." feels like such a thematically fitting introduction to Shen Wei and all his secrets.
• Zhao Yunlan smugly dusting off his shoulder after getting through the police line at the murder scene gets me every time. It's so performatively cool. *hearts his dorky self*
• I'm still confused about the connection between the little metal box at Li Qian's house and the Shadow Man. Was he in the box until Changcheng disturbed him? Did Yi Yufen used to keep the Dial in the box? Presumably the Shadow Man is searching the house when they arrive home -- why does he hide? (And can he really make himself that small?)
• I remember it took me several watches to realise that when ZYL stakes out Li Qian on his motorbike, Shen Wei deliberately comes to talk to Li Qian to protect her and run interference, to stop him tailing her. (I love that nearly everything Shen Wei does has more than one purpose behind it, and one of the purposes is almost always "get close to Zhao Yunlan.")
• Lin Jing calling and saying, without explanation, "We have a lead!" never fails to delight me. I wholeheartedly approve of this plotting strategy. *g*
• Chu Shuzhi gets all the action hero moments in this episode: at Li Qian's house and on the rooftop. The camera loves him!
• The contrast between Zhao Yunlan saying to Professor Shen of Guo Changcheng "Despite his skinniness, he's highly trained" and then saying to the Envoy, "This child is new. He doesn't have much sense or experience." LOL!

And your post is really great! I especially love your observation about the mask/bike helmet -- so cool, and it really has to be a deliberate part of the story-telling! Everyone's wearing masks (literal or metaphorical), and both leads have identity shenanigans. ♥

It's a lot, even without Zhao Yunlan being all Maximum Weird™ at him!

HEE! He should definitely trademark that.

Guo Changcheng's intro hits my embarrassment squick, but not as badly during this rewatch, which was great to discover. *g*

Oh, that's excellent. :D

Zhao Yunlan lounging on everything is always great, but him reclining on his motorbike is a particular delight

asfajsdlfkajshdf He's ridiculous, I love him! But also, there must be a particular strategy there. He's on a stakeout! So I think he's curious to see what will happen if he's openly surveilling Li Qian. He still looks miffed at being intercepted by Shen Wei, though. (Or is that, too, part of the performance, given he told Guo Changcheng to be sure not to lose eyes on Shen Wei?)

Zhao Yunlan recognising Shen Wei on the phone just from "It's me"!

Yessss! And Shen Wei being sure enough that he will that he says it!

Speaking of Zhao Yunlan claiming familiarity - do you think that's just a line? Is he just trying to tease some info out of Shen Wei, or does he genuinely feel something?

I think in episode 2 he talks to himself about it, so there has to be some sincerity behind the line. I think any of the explanations you list could work. Or maybe it's just soulmates/timeloop/his heart tugging him forward...

Zhao Yunlan talks about new offices for the SID - why do you think he wants them? The SID set is such a delight!

We've talked about that before and speculated that he might want to move to a better part of town?

My two favourite things about the episode are a) the ensemble -- I love how they're all introduced, and the hints at their relationships (like Zhu Hong pranking Lin Jing, and Da Qing fuming about being left on door duty), and b) the two leads: Shen Wei being smacked between the eyes with the appearance of his love, and how quickly Zhao Yunlan is intrigued and suspicious and taking him seriously. ♥!! /100% cheating *g*

Overall: it's such a good episode! It made me want to immediately keep watching, too. :-)

[trobadora]

Yay for watching with a friend! Were they new, or was it a rewatch for them as well?

Professor Ouyang saying, "Lao Zhou was right: no one knows what you are thinking." feels like such a thematically fitting introduction to Shen Wei and all his secrets.

Haha, right? The whole sequence introducing Shen Wei is really good at making you aware this man has secrets. :D

I'm still confused about the connection between the little metal box at Li Qian's house and the Shadow Man. Was he in the box until Changcheng disturbed him? Did Yi Yufen used to keep the Dial in the box? Presumably the Shadow Man is searching the house when they arrive home -- why does he hide? (And can he really make himself that small?)

I thought the box was where the Sundial used to be kept, and the Shadow Man wanted it because he thought it was still in there. Which makes me wonder if that's because of residual energies, or because of something more mundane (like Zhu Jiu having tracked down the Sundial via that box's provenance) ...

I'm not sure about the Shadow Man's abilities, but in the chase sequence at the university, when he slips and falls he dissolves into smoke/shadows entirely for a moment, so he has to be able to do more than just maintain a human-shaped shadow body.

I remember it took me several watches to realise that when ZYL stakes out Li Qian on his motorbike, Shen Wei deliberately comes to talk to Li Qian to protect her and run interference, to stop him tailing her.

That is such a good moment! Protective Shen Wei for the win, and yes, obviously doing double duty by putting himself into Zhao Yunlan's path again! You can see him looking at ZYL before he sends Li Qian away, and then he intercepts ZYL when he tries to follow. So good! :D

Lin Jing calling and saying, without explanation, "We have a lead!" never fails to delight me.

LOL! I feel like this happens way too often in procedurals, but at least Lin Jing is the sort of character who absolutely would. *g*

Chu Shuzhi gets all the action hero moments in this episode: at Li Qian's house and on the rooftop. The camera loves him!

I love him too. ♥

The contrast between Zhao Yunlan saying to Professor Shen of Guo Changcheng "Despite his skinniness, he's highly trained" and then saying to the Envoy, "This child is new. He doesn't have much sense or experience." LOL!

LOLOLOL, I hadn't even thought about that, but you're so right, what an amazing contrast! And I applaud Shen Wei for managing not to roll his eyes underneath his mask. (But also ouch, because it's more evidence of everything ZYL says being performative to some degree ...)

Everyone's wearing masks (literal or metaphorical), and both leads have identity shenanigans. ♥

Yes! So delightful, so thematically appropriate!

He still looks miffed at being intercepted by Shen Wei, though. (Or is that, too, part of the performance, given he told Guo Changcheng to be sure not to lose eyes on Shen Wei?

No, I think he's generally annoyed. He clearly didn't expect it. He switches gears quickly enough, but maybe he thought Shen Wei, being aware that Zhao Yunlan already had some suspicions, would avoid him? I mean, he definitely couldn't have expected Shen Wei to dangle himself and his suspiciousness and his knowledge in front of ZYL like bait. *g*

I think in episode 2 he talks to himself about it, so there has to be some sincerity behind the line.

Yeah, agreed. There is something genuine there. My theory is it's the time loop resonating, via the Hallows, but there could be multiple reasons at the same time!

We've talked about that before and speculated that he might want to move to a better part of town?

Yeah, but I'd still hate to lose the SID set, so I disagree with him on principle. *g*

the hints at their relationships (like Zhu Hong pranking Lin Jing, and Da Qing fuming about being left on door duty)

Yes, that's all so great, this episode really does a good job introducing us to the characters and their relationships in broad strokes, so things can be explored in more depth later.

the two leads: Shen Wei being smacked between the eyes with the appearance of his love, and how quickly Zhao Yunlan is intrigued and suspicious and taking him seriously. ♥!! /100% cheating *g*

It is! But also, it's probably almost everyone's favourite thing on the larger scale. *g*

[facethestrange]

SOOOOO I'm the newest of all newbies and I started watching this show solely because of the fandomcalendar post advertising the re-watch (because organized re-watches of any show are like my favorite thing ever and extremely tempting), and I'm so glad I did. :D

I don't care about spoilers at all, I normally seek them out on purpose anyway, and now I read all the comments on this post also on purpose so you really don't need to worry about spoiling anything for me. xD

IMPRESSIONS!

This show is CUTE, it's CUTE AF and I didn't expect that at all. :D

I absolutely and unironically love the dramatic opening song! :D

I LOVE DA QING THE ASSHOLE CAT. And I love Guo Changcheng the adorable terrified dork, they're my favs for now and I can't even choose between them. :D Therefore my favorite scenes are any of their scenes, especially when it's both of them in one scene because that's COMEDY GOLD.

Li Qian is also a fav because omg she's not okay and she needs a million hugs.

I'm already halfway through the second episode so for the next re-watch post I will be on time, as opposed to this one. :D

[trobadora]

Woohoo, you watched it! :D :D :D

This show is CUTE, it's CUTE AF and I didn't expect that at all. :D

Hee! It's a lot of things, and cute is definitely one of them. Da Qing: BEST CAT. And Li Qian does need all the hugs. And Xiao-Guo is SO overwhelmed and terrified, poor guy. *g*

The opening song is excellent indeed. Chen Xueran is always good, but this is definitely one of his catchier songs!

Welcome aboard! And don't worry about being on time, within the week is great, and even after that is perfectly fine. That's what's best about DW, we don't all need to be on the same schedule to still have a proper conversation. :)

[china_shop]

Ahh, yay, welcome! So glad the fandomcalendar post tempted you! :D :D :D

I absolutely and unironically love the dramatic opening song! :D

Haha, I'm like that about the whole show. I'm with you on Da Qing and Guo Changcheng, too. They're both the best! :D :D :D

[kate]

Okay, I'm just catching up, so I'm not going to leave much of a comment, but I've always wondered: why does Zhao Yunlan's business card say "Stewart Mark"? And also SDI, instead of SID? Seriously, I stared at that card SO LONG the first time I watched it trying to make sense of that.

[china_shop]

Hi, you! Welcome to the rewatch, yay!

There's some explanation/discussion of the business card here. tl;dr "The answer appears to be that the Guardian grapic designer was in a great hurry when adapting Zhao Yunlan's business card from a different show". :-)

(I'm so impressed with myself/the comm's tagging for finding that post. *g*)

[trobadora]

Yay, you're here - welcome aboard! :D

Yeah, the answer is sloppy prop design and reuse of a previously used template. Looks like "Mark Stewart" is a placeholder name they just didn't bother to change on either show (to the best of my recollectin, no English name comes up on SCI either), and "S.D.I." seems to be a holdover from "S.C.I". They did at least paste in Zhao Yunlan's name - the only part they presumably expected the viewer to notice because it's in Chinese characters. *g*

(Feel free to comment as much or as little as you like; we're always here for more comments!)