Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 1, part 1

[china_shop]

Hi, and welcome to the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Join us to watch half an episode a week (at your leisure) and then come and chat about it here in comments. If you already know the drama, of course you can jump in without rewatching if you prefer!

Episode 1, up to 22:28

Summary
The prologue explains Haixing's history. Professor Shen Wei presents a public lecture and turns down a job offer. Guo Changcheng reports to the SID in the middle of the night, where Zhao Yunlan is outrageous and the rest of the team scares Changcheng into fainting. Twice. An unseen threat chases Li Qian through the night. Zhao Yunlan investigates a murder at the university, where he and Da Qing dangle Guo Changcheng out a window while they discuss the case. Guo Changcheng's cries draw Shen Wei's attention. Cat!Da Qing gets strokes. Shen Wei is very intense, and Zhao Yunlan notices. Afterwards, Zhao Yunlan interrogates Li Qian about the murder; Shen Wei comes to pick her up for class and further arouses Zhao Yunlan's suspicions in the process. Zhao Yunlan sends Guo Changcheng to tail Shen Wei.



Quote
ZYL: By the way, I'm Zhao. I'm handling this case. What's your name, sir?
SW: No "sir". I'm Shen. Shen Wei. I teach here.
ZYL: Shen Wei? A good name.

Detail
I love the contrast between:

Zhao Yunlan: Damn Fatty.
Li Qian: What a fat black cat!
Guo Changcheng: It can speak?! *faints*
Shen Wei: *strokes* This is a very intelligent cat.

:D :D :D

Questions
Do you have any thoughts or feelings about the prologue? What was your first impression of Shen Wei -- good guy or bad guy? First impression of Zhao Yunlan -- would you trust him? Do you empathise with Guo Changcheng's fear? (If someone turned into a cat in front of you, would you be terrified, delighted, or both?) When Guo Changcheng falls from the window, is he unhurt or does Shen Wei surreptitiously heal his ankle? From Zhao Yunlan's POV, what is the most suspicious thing about Shen Wei at this point?

Do you have a favourite scene or quote? If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation starts? The absolute perfection of the casting? :D :D :D Anything else?

(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)

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Comments

[facethestrange]

"HI!!! Yay rewatch! :D"

:D :D :D *BOUNCES*

"Just starting the episode and seeing the opening credits - the hand of the clock moving! And We Won't Be Falling. Chen Xueran is so good, I love this song."

♡♡♡! Random fact: I have the song on repeat most times when I go for a walk. :D I also can't resist watching at least a part of the credits (opening or closing or both) pretty much every time I rewatch any part of an episode, which is most days. :D

"the narrator's "we", situating us in a Haixing POV"

Ooh, I didn't pay attention to that, thanks for pointing it out!

"For the last point, I wonder if that's the last remnant of how the YOHE sequence was originally envisioned, when they thought they'd have the budget for it, and it was all rewritten and cut down to the bare essentials before it ever got to filming. And come to think of it, I wonder if the Dixing woman might have turned up there, too ..."

Oh wow, I LOVE this idea, and now I'm basically 100% sure that this must be the case, yes! ♡ This time when I watched it I only went 'hey, all the scenery looks quite novel-like' (and in general I always appreciate it for this tiny bit of info about how the YOHE war looked) and didn't think further about it, but YES, I'm convinced that this is what they actually wanted to film, but in the end they only got to make the animation. It would also go with DQ being there in his YOHE outfit. :D And yes, ITA too that maybe the woman and any OCs are not OCs after all, just characters who got scrapped! Ahhhh, I want this part of the story even more now, and I've already wanted it a whole lot! ♡

"I love that both Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan get very ominous intros!"

Hahah, right? And both in slow-motion too (though Zhao Yunlan less than Shen Wei). :D

"But back a step first, I always love that Professor Ouyang mentions his favourite student in his conversation with Shen Wei, giving us some foreshadowing for the later reveal about Lin Jing!"

Yesss, this is such an early foreshadowing, I forgot that it was there and I was very impressed to see it now. :D

"And when Professor Ouyang quotes Professor Zhou as saying no one knows what SW is thinking, it makes me want so much more Shen Wei from Professor Zhou's POV!"

ITA and tbh I just want to see Shen Wei from everyone's POV. :D

"Favourite line: "I need to have something in my mouth", AAAAAAHHHHHHH!!!!"

Heeee, GODS YES, let's all be very normal about this line! xD *HIGH FIVE* ♡___♡ :D :D

"I'm always so fascinated with the police guy explaining to the newbie about the SID, right in front of all these bystanders - clearly the SID's existence isn't particularly secret, only what the "strange" cases they handle actually are about."

This makes me wonder if regular people think that 'strange cases' are the regular kind of supernatural (like in the novel), which doesn't seem to exist in-universe, so the SID mostly just gets ignored by people who rightly don't believe in any of it? And no one knows that there's mysterious scientific stuff actually happening around them.

"ZYL measuring the handprint with his lollipop stick, hee!"

One of my favorite random details! :D

"Anyway, Shen Wei turning up and calling Xiao-Guo "student", asking what he's doing - yeah, he's seen some students doing weird inadvisable dangerous stuff, LOL. :D"

Lol, awww! :D (The novel basically confirms it - "School rules strictly forbid climbing on buildings. It’s too dangerous. Now, I won’t give you any demerits this time. Let me take you to the school clinic?" And obviously Shen Wei doesn't care about any punishment because he's worried that Xiao Guo is hurt - which I totally see in the drama scene too, it doesn't need to be said out loud. :D)

"Shen Wei musts recognise Da Qing in cat form, since he's got the bells on, right? Especially since he's just seen "Kunlun" in the window."

Definitely! :D

"I always adore the handshake. Shen Wei forgetting to let go of Zhao Yunlan's hand ... and then after he does let go, Zhao Yunlan standing there still sticking out his hand for another long moment, hee! ♥ ♥ ♥"

♡♡♡! AW! ♡ It kinda turned into one of Zhao Yunlan's confused gestures, but it does look like he wouldn't mind for the handshake to be even longer. :D

"And he absolutely subconsciously recognises Shen Wei for a moment, doesn't he?"

Definitely looks like that to me! (Poor Shen Wei, Kunlun doesn't remember him, and Da Qing doesn't remember him either! For completely different reasons but it's not like it changes anything.)

"I always wonder about "the technology explosion 10,000 years ago" that Shen Wei mentions. And very cool that Haixing history not only goes back that far, but is well enough known that he can casually mention this, without it being suspicious in its own right!"

Ooh, neat, I didn't think of that potentially being suspicious!

"Yeah, about that - do we think he actually thinks Xiao-Guo can do that? Or is he setting him up to fail?"

I think he's just giving him a job that he thinks is not too hard (so maybe GCC can actually do it) and not too important (so it's okay if he can't).

"I'd think it was some elaborate kind of prank at first, some kind of Candid Camera thing, tbh."

Lol yes, I didn't even think of that, but that would definitely be the reasonable reaction. :D

"I think even if he doesn't heal him, he definitely does check him out to see if he needs healing!"

AW, I love this idea, I'm sure he does! ♡

[trobadora]

Oh wow, I LOVE this idea, and now I'm basically 100% sure that this must be the case, yes! ♡

Yay! &heart;

I'm with you, just thinking about what it could have been like going by the prologue, I want it even more! And there's a lot of good YOHE fic around, but I haven't found one yet that hits exactly what I want, which admittedly is difficult to pin down. *g*

I forgot that it was there and I was very impressed to see it now. :D

Right? I remember the first time I rewatched and noticed this, I was all, wait, what? that's here already???? :D :D :D

This makes me wonder if regular people think that 'strange cases' are the regular kind of supernatural (like in the novel), which doesn't seem to exist in-universe, so the SID mostly just gets ignored by people who rightly don't believe in any of it?

Haha, I'd totally buy that some people at least believe this about the SID!

The novel basically confirms it - "School rules strictly forbid climbing on buildings. It’s too dangerous. Now, I won’t give you any demerits this time. Let me take you to the school clinic?"

Oh! I'd totally forgotten about that! Yeah, that uni doesn't have a rule against climbing the building just for no reason, it's very "this has happened often enough that it needed to be a rule", LOL.

For completely different reasons but it's not like it changes anything.

Yeah! And the two of them not remembering for different reasons is also great at obfuscating the real reason for the (first-time) viewer!

not too hard (so maybe GCC can actually do it) and not too important (so it's okay if he can't)

Oh, that's an excellent way of putting it, that makes perfect sense!