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sid_guardian2023-02-19 11:38 am
china_shop) wrote in sid_guardian2023-02-19 11:38 am
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GUARDIAN REWATCH – Episode 6
Beginning of episode: Zhao Yunlan interviews Mirror Girl's fiancé (Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing and Guo Changcheng are also present).
Ending of episode: Shen Wei is "mugged", AKA accosted by two lowlifes, and maintains his dignity to an infuriating-to-them degree.
Important scenes/developments:
- Da Qing and Guo Changcheng are tactless while interviewing Mirror Girl's fiancé, Ji Xiaobai, and Zhao Yunlan stomps on Da Qing's foot. (♥!)
- Guo Changcheng gives more of his tragic backstory and reminds Chu Shuzhi of his twin brother (who we see in a flashback).
- Shen Wei talks to Flower Yashou Ying Chun for the first time and voluntarily reveals (ie, connects) both of his identities to her in exchange for info.
- Zhao Yunlan goes to Shen Wei for
a cosy night-time chatadvice about the case, and Shen Wei points out this is their first not-a-suspect consultation. They both enjoy it. - Changcheng successfully thwarts someone stalking him... who turns out to be Ji Xiaobai, who's actually looking for him.
- The Envoy and the SID agree on a new policy, ie, that only Dixingren who've misused their powers will be deported.
- Zhao Yunlan confirms that Ji Xiaobai's real fiancée was the Dixingren who was taken away by the Envoy.
- The Envoy rebukes Mirror Girl, and she gives him a clue re the Mountain-River Awl.
- Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing sprawl around delightfully and gossip about Shen Wei. Da Qing says Zhao Yunlan has changed.
- Lin Jing figures out the location of Shen Wei's flat, and Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing search it. Da Qing mentions his ex-owner, Zhao Yunlan finds a file about the SID, and they both nearly get caught by Shen Wei.
- Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing send a message to Dixing enquiring about Shen Wei by name.
- Chu Shuzhi brings Shen Wei an ugly banner from Zhao Yunlan, and Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing watch via a camera hidden on the banner.
- Shen Wei confronts the Chancellor about Li Qian dropping out of university, and Zhao Yunlan overhears and talks to Shen Wei about it.
- The start of the mugging, and our
firstsecond glimpse of Shen Wei's pendant!
Thoughts
I've said a lot about this episode in other posts and fic (which I'll link in the comments below; please link to yours too!), but here are some things I particularly noticed this time.
- When Guo Changcheng gives his tragic backstory, Chu Shuzhi catches a tiny feel at learning he's an orphan, and a bigger one at "When everyone is happy, I am happy as well," which reminds him of his brother.
(I still love that Chu Shuzhi is walking around with two cans of beer in his pocket and is completely unapologetic about not having enough for Changcheng.) - I will never not love Shen Wei portalling back to his office to meet Zhao Yunlan, and Zhao Yunlan being just about to give up and leave.
This whole conversation is so enjoyable -- a little verbal sparring, some Dixing-related theorising, and a lot of flirting. Open enjoyment of each other's company. Zhao Yunlan being at least as intrigued by the phenomenon of Shen Wei speaking authoritatively about Dixing things as he is about the case. - When the wrong Weiwei comes back, Changcheng physically pushes Chu Shuzhi out of the room to give Weiwei and Ji Xiaobai some privacy. LOL. (Original Weiwei is mean. And look, the wedding ring is another significant jewelry item!)
- At 16:07, while investigating the mirror, Zhao Yunlan says, "It seems he was right again." 看来又被他说中了 I love when he references Shen Wei without saying his name -- it's a great way of showing how much Shen Wei is on his mind. (Also, there's a great Scooby Gang vibe to this scene, and I love how unhesitatingly Zhao Yunlan goes through the looking-glass. ♥!)
In the mirror dimension, Chu Shuzhi's powers don't work, but the Envoy doesn't seem to have any trouble. - 22:30 - The Envoy: For everything, if there's yin, there's yang. If there's good, then there's evil. Whether it's people of Haixing or Dixing, identity is just a flesh covering. But one's heart cannot be judged by one's identity alone.
万事万物有阴币有阳 有善必有恶海星也好 地星也罢身份只不过是一张皮囊可人心却不能只靠身份来判别
Partly, he's able to say this because of the SID asking him to save Butler Wu, Wu Tian'en last episode. I wonder if he's also partly driven by Zhao Yunlan's cutting response at the end of episode 4, when he said, "Hei Pao Shi daren enforces laws impartially. I spoke out of turn." 黑袍使大人秉公执法算是我多嘴了 Trying to balance Zhao Yunlan's view of him?
After the Envoy leaves the SID, Zhao Yunlan has a complicated expression. Is he dissatisfied at the outcome of the case? Feeling caught between what he knows is right and official Haixing policy? - Zhao Yunlan visits original Weiwei and catches her out. When she says, "But all of this should have been mine!" the camera crosses the line, as it so often does when people are mistaken or twisting events to suit themselves. (From the linked site: “When you [cross] the 180 degree line, you break the 180 degree rule and signal to the viewer that something is wrong.” It can be used to depict unease or a feeling that things are disorienting or out of control.)
Original Weiwei: Do you think this is my fault? 你说 这难道是我的错吗
Zhao Yunlan: I cannot judge if you are right or wrong, but, at the very least, there is someone with the same thoughts as you. 你错没错我也不好说 但至少有人跟你的想法是一样的
(I want him to be more judgy. ;-p) - The Envoy blames Mirror Girl for being like her father ("Greedy for prosperity. Encountering disaster because of love." 贪慕繁华因爱生劫) but he hasn't even heard her side of the story, and only last episode he was wrong about Wu Tian'en... I think there's some projection going on. And then she gives him a clue to the location of the Mountain-River Awl: "Forever guarding the territory (mountains and rivers) at the southern sky." 山河永镇 天南一方
(Btw, Google Translate turns 他曾是我的得力部下 肩负重要的职责 into "right-hand man" rather than "competent subordinate", which sounds better to me.) - Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing being casually physical and adorable on the couch and gossiping about Shen Wei!!! So much love!! (And ha, Zhao Yunlan says, "The person who can drug me hasn't been born yet," all unaware that he's going to be drugged in, like, three episodes.)
Da Qing observes that Zhao Yunlan has changed. "Didn't you say that you would arrest every Dixingren you see?" 不是说地星人见一个抓一个吗 - Da Qing quotes his ex-owner, which is one of those moments that is so much more meaningful on the rewatch, ahhhhhhh.
- 35:44 - Chu Shuzhi brings Shen Wei the banner. They're both kind of awkward and pained about it. How weird it must be for Shen Wei to have Chu Shuzhi show up in his office like this! (Especially when he's supposed to be distancing himself from the SID in the eyes of the university.) And how does Chu Shuzhi feel about being used as a messenger instead of a field agent? It's obvious the banner isn't sincere -- if it were, Zhao Yunlan would have delivered it himself (or given a much better thank-you gift!).
Watching on the video feed, Zhao Yunlan subconsciously starts to connect Shen Wei and the Envoy via Chu Shuzhi's attitude. I love this! It's smart, but very inconclusive, so it makes sense he discounts it to start with. And then Da Qing teases him by calling out, "Hei Pao Daren, Mr Zhao misses you!" and Zhao Yunlan kicks out at him, and I love them. - Zhao Yunlan listening in from the doorway on the Shen Wei & chancellor conversation about Li Qian dropping out -- makes me wonder how his school reacted to him after his mum died, especially if he suddenly Got Attitude. (Why is Zhao Yunlan ostensibly there, anyway? Just to hang around Shen Wei? Shen Wei doesn't ask -- so maybe Zhao Yunlan dropped in to tell him how the case unfolded, then Shen Wei heard about Li Qian and rushed over, and Zhao Yunlan followed along and lurked outside? But really, this is not helping with the chancellor's "professors shouldn't be seen with the SID" agenda.)
Discussion starters:
- What's your favourite part of the Mirror Girl case? How about the rest of the episode?
- In the first scene, when Zhao Yunlan stomps on Da Qing's foot (which I love), Chu Shuzhi doesn't laugh, just looks away. This is in contrast to him laughing at Zhao Yunlan getting zapped by Changcheng a few episodes later. Does he only laugh if it's an accident, or only if it's Zhao Yunlan? Or has he not unwound enough to laugh yet? (I think probably the latter?)
- Does Chu Shuzhi always carry beer in his pocket?
- When Shen Wei asks Ying Chun to help him find someone, does he mean the Mirror Girl or her father? Or the Awl?
- What does the Envoy mean when he says, "As you can see, it's usually a human heart that can defeat another heart." 你也看到了能过打败人心的往往只有人心自己? And do you think he should have let Mirror Girl stay in Haixing?
- Lin Jing finds Shen Wei's address, and Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing search the apartment. Zhao Yunlan says, "Not only does he live in our neighborhood, but he lives right in front of my apartment. How come I only saw him recently?" 原来他不仅住在我们家小区还跟我是对门那怎么这两天才碰到他呢 ... but Zhao Yunlan knows that Shen Wei only just moved, right? Is he speaking more existentially?
- Do you think Zhao Yunlan has any qualms about spying on Shen Wei? Does finding the SID file in Shen Wei's flat really justify any and all means of investigation?
- What's your favourite theory (headcanon or from fic) about how ZYL and DQ escape from Shen Wei's balcony?
- Re the mugging: why does Shen Wei carry so much cash? Is it just because everyone else pays via their phones, and he doesn't have one?
- Zhu Jiu keeps acting like he's orchestrating things, but how differently would most of these cases have gone without him (except for the face stealer one)?
Let’s talk about episode 6!
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!
no subject
Oh, that makes more sense! Because you said "SID" and not "Zhao Yunlan", it sounded more official to me. Yeah, that's a good question, I'd love to know what everyone else thinks about all of this, Zhao Yunlan's shifting attitudes and the way it affects all their work ... Da Qing explicitly comments on it in this episode, how Zhao Yunlan used to be all "arrest every Dixingren" and now he's "but he did nothing wrong", but the others must be noticing it too.
I wrote fic about CSZ explaining it to him, fwiw.
Oh, yes, I vaguely remember that!
There must be some narrative causality in there, so we can pick up on the switch.
And so we don't sympathise too much with her, too?
I think Zhao Yunlan definitely knows when Ji Xiaobai chooses her, and he's testing them.
What makes you think he knows in that moment? I'm not disagreeing, I'm just not entirely sure myself, and I'm curious what decided you.
(I'm not sure he's testing them. We've already talked about how he's not been showing much empathy early on, both with Li Qian and especially in the Wang Yike case until the very end - how he's more focused on figuring things out and exposing the truth than worrying about the human consequences. I wonder if this isn't another case of that.)
If Ji Xiaobai had stood by her anyway, I wonder what ZYL would have done.
I don't know what he could have done, even if she'd never tried to explode anything and the Envoy had never appeared. The real Zhou Weiwei is right there as well, after all, and they can't exactly make her go away. Or take her identity away from her.
Oh, I wonder if Shen Wei is comparing everyone to the gold standard of Kunlun, who showed up and was 1000% admiring and supportive and on his side? Ha.
Haha, yeah, there's probably a bit of that in there! :D
I thought he initially approached Wu Tian'en as if he were an antagonist. He was all, "You betrayed me twenty years ago, but it's water under the bridge now, and I'm not here for retribution. Just don't touch ZYL." And then Wu Tian'en fell to his knees, and Shen Wei realised he wasn't disloyal after all?
Ah. I didn't read it quite that way. I thought he approached Wu Tian'en with suspicion, but that's not the same as being wrong, so I didn't catch your meaning. I see what you mean now!
Still hurt by JXB's calling her a monster, I think. Aware the time's up on her deal with original!Weiwei.
Yes, absolutely! Her reaction, or lack thereof, is completely understandable.
It's such a complicated situation, because she is trying to break her deal, but original!Weiwei is such a pill and so greedy for things that don't belong to her... it's much easier to sympathise with Mirror Girl.
Yeah, this. It's hard to sympathise with someone who's behaving so appallingly.
Yeah, true, like when they're looking at the CCTV of the mugging. I was thinking about that, too. I think, on CSZ's side, they're actually becoming as-close-to-friends-as-CSZ-has-experienced-in-Haixing. Whereas Zhao Yunlan has Da Qing, so for him it's less of a big deal, I think?
And I remember a bit in the Hanga arc, and in the cage fighting case, and probably more I'm not thinking of right now! Yeah, I think for CSZ, it matters a lot more than it does for ZYL. Though IMO it's not just the friendliness, it's also the respect.
Still, it seems a pretty pessimistic/bitter stance for the Envoy to take, especially if he's also applying it to himself, you know? Especially when he and ZYL are starting to reach an accord. Hm.
Idk, it doesn't read as pessimistic or bitter to me, because if you're doing it to yourself, you have some control over that and can stop yourself, unlike outside circumstances which you may not be able to change ...
(I'm thinking of an AU by teaotter and the comments thereon.)
Thanks for the link! Not my sort of AU, but the comment thread is exactly what I'm picturing, yeah. :D
That might explain why Xiaojun turns on Shen Wei later, too. Maybe Zhu Jiu turned him into a sleeper agent (like Changcheng later in the show)? Because he does seem here like he's repented and reformed, and should be on good terms with the SID and the Envoy for saving his dad.
I thought Wu Xiaojun turned on Shen Wei because he was under Ye Zun's mind control power. But his previous contact with Zhu Jiu could have made him more susceptible to that ...
no subject
Yeah, I'm sure that's part of it.
What makes you think he knows in that moment? I'm not disagreeing, I'm just not entirely sure myself, and I'm curious what decided you.
Before that, they overhear the two women arguing. Weiwei asks for the ring, and Mirror Girl says, "I gave you everything. Why can't you leave me with a souvenir?" Weiwei says, "It's impossible between you and him." I think ZYL has enough info at that point. And then Weiwei runs to JXB, and when MG comes into view, ZYL holds CSZ back from intervening. Plus I think ZYL is too insightful not to realise that Mirror Girl's "You don't recognise me?" is genuine. When JXB walks towards MG, you can kind of see ZYL working it out/confirming it for himself in the background.
When he catches Weiwei out later, it's more for JXB's benefit than his own, imo. I think he already knows.
I'm not sure he's testing them. We've already talked about how he's not been showing much empathy early on, both with Li Qian and especially in the Wang Yike case until the very end - how he's more focused on figuring things out and exposing the truth than worrying about the human consequences. I wonder if this isn't another case of that.
But a lot has happened since the start. I think he's curious to know if there's genuine feeling between them (whether there can be genuine feeling between them, or whether Wang Yike and Teacher Zhang were an anomaly). He has to consciously or subconsciously be drawing parallels with his suspicions about Shen Weii and his feelings for him, too, I think?
I don't know what he could have done, even if she'd never tried to explode anything and the Envoy had never appeared. The real Zhou Weiwei is right there as well, after all, and they can't exactly make her go away. Or take her identity away from her.
I guess it depends on whether they can both exist outside the mirror (it looks like they can, but maybe that's only for short periods of time?). If they can both live in the world, surely it's easy enough to give one or the other of them a new identity?
> Still hurt by JXB's calling her a monster, I think. Aware the time's up on her deal with original!Weiwei.
Yes, absolutely! Her reaction, or lack thereof, is completely understandable.
Rewatching, I realised he doesn't actually call her a monster -- that's all Weiwei. JXB reacts with fear, but he doesn't denounce her or anything.
Idk, it doesn't read as pessimistic or bitter to me, because if you're doing it to yourself, you have some control over that and can stop yourself
Only if you can control your heart -- and who can? Idk, it sounds kind of fatalistic to me.
But his previous contact with Zhu Jiu could have made him more susceptible to that ...
Yeah, that's what I meant. :-)
no subject
That makes sense, thank you!
He has to consciously or subconsciously be drawing parallels with his suspicions about Shen Weii and his feelings for him, too, I think?
Huh, I never thought of it that way. I'm not sure he's putting himself into Ji Xiaobai's place here ...
I guess it depends on whether they can both exist outside the mirror (it looks like they can, but maybe that's only for short periods of time?). If they can both live in the world, surely it's easy enough to give one or the other of them a new identity?
Yeah, I'm pretty sure they can both exist outside the mirror, but that's the thing - it wouldn't just be a case of letting her go. Zhao Yunlan would have to actively help Mirror Girl get a new fake identity, all the while hiding her existence from the official record and his own superiors at the Ministry, including falsifying the documentation for the case. That would be a lot, especially this early on! I don't think he's anywhere near ready to make that kind of decision yet. Not to mention that all of would depend on original!Weiwei's cooperation, which she doesn't look likely to give.
no subject
Not explicitly. I didn't mean that. But curious about personal relationships between the races, and about Dixingren generally, I think? And it does have personal implications.
it wouldn't just be a case of letting her go. Zhao Yunlan would have to actively help Mirror Girl get a new fake identity, all the while hiding her existence from the official record and his own superiors at the Ministry, including falsifying the documentation for the case.
Plus the Envoy would have to agree. ZYL currently has no reason to think he might. It would be complicated, but ZYL was prepared to risk personal harm to save Wu Tian'en, and he did tell the Envoy, "No matter if it's a regular person or a Dixingren, a person is a person." If JXB and MG were both pleading, I think he'd try to do something. ETA: And if it was an unorthodox solution that made him seem sneaky and clever, I think he'd enjoy that side of it, too. ;-p
Btw, in terms of fatalism, I meant a passing sense of it, like in the car in episode 2, when he says perhaps there's no turning back. I don't think he's fatalistic by nature. (I was going to ETA my comment, but didn't get there in time. :-)
no subject
Oh, yeah, definitely!
Plus the Envoy would have to agree. ZYL currently has no reason to think he might.
Yeah, and ZYL would have to bring it up to the Envoy himself, because without Mirror Girl's explosive power the Envoy wouldn't be involved. Even later, when he definitely had more reason to think the Envoy would be sympathetic, he was pissed off about the Envoy taking Zheng Yi away but didn't actually try to stop it.
And yeah, if Mirror Girl and Ji Xiaobai were pleading and Zhao Yunlan had a brilliant idea that could actually help them without opening another whole can of worms, then he might, but I really have trouble coming up with anything. Sometimes there's just no good solution.
(Besides, I like the thematic mirroring - separated lovers is another recurring motif, after all - so it's even better if they do get separated and then find each other again! *g*)