Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 4, part 2

[trobadora]

Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!

Episode 4, from 22:30

Summary: Zhao Yunlan finds Lin Yusen laying traps in the park, and scolds him about the danger. Shen Wei pricks his finger, and Zhao Yunlan scolds him about tetanus. Zhao Yunlan offers Lin Yusen a job interview some day in the future if only he goes away now. :p Zhao Yunlan et al. try to track down Zhu Hong's and Da Qing's kidnappers, and Zhu Hong breaks free just as they arrive. Jia Hui proves devoted to fake!Zhang Danni. Zhu Jiu has figured out who Shen Wei is, taunts him about his secrets, and threatens the SID; Shen Wei manages to injure him. Fake Zhang Danni confronts the SID and demands an exchange - Da Qing for Jia Hui. Jia Hui wakes up, tries to protect her, and ends up knocked out at her feet after Chu Shuzhi snatches Da Qing back. She summons her powers - and then Lin Yusen arrives with a Molotov cocktail and blows them all up. The Envoy arrives just in time to contain the explosion, and takes the bodies away. Later he explains to Chu Shuzhi that Lin Yusen had been turned into a bomb due to black and white energy in his body.



Quote:

"Once a promise is made, even mountains must move. I promised you, for the sake of the people, for the sake of peace on Haixing, even if my burden is heavy and I walk an eternity alone, I will go on."

(translation meta about this line)

Detail:

I love the deliberate way Shen Wei pricks his finger on Lin Yusen's trap - and most of all, the way he does it without reacting at all, and then after a moment does that little "ouch" indrawn breath to draw attention to his "injury"!

Also, the way he can't help himself and has to laugh when Zhao Yunlan goes off about tetanus! ♥ ♥ ♥

Questions:

What's your favourite moment in this part of the episode? Did anything stand out to you as coming from the novel, apart from Shen Wei's name? Did Zhao Yunlan take Shen Wei to the hospital for his pricked finger? Which SID member has the best moment? Do you have any sympathy for fake Zhang Danni and Jia Hui? What do you think Zhu Jiu hoped to achieve by turning Lin Yusen into a bomb? What was his plan in this episode? Do you agree with Shen Wei taking Lin Yusen's body away without explaining? Any thoughts about the foreshadowing?

(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

[trobadora]

Zhao Yunlan is very beleaguered, LOL. First there's Lin Yusen who won't get out of the way of the investigation and makes everything more complicated - he's very determined to catch the killer on his own, and doesn't seem to realise at all that he's not equipped to do so. Then there's Shen Wei pricking his finger - and I'm pretty sure Zhao Yunlan didn't expect to have to worry about Shen Wei on this level! And then it turns out two of his team got kidnapped while he wasn't looking babysitting them. It must feel like he needs to do everything by himself! *pets him*

Shen Wei thinks about Zhao Yunlan's earlier pointed words while pricking his finger, very clearly drawing the connection for the viewer between Zhao Yunlan's suspicion and Shen Wei's "I'm totally a vulnerable human; look how I bleed" actions. ♥

Next scene we have Zhao Yunlan and Lin Yusen walking towards the SID and encountering Wang Xiangyang. So did Zhao Yunlan take Shen Wei to the hospital and leave him there? My headcanon: yes! Or rather, Zhao Yunlan took him there and Shen Wei insisted he not wait, so Shen Wei could walk out again without seeing a doctor. *g* Though I do wonder why Lin Yusen is still still with Zhao Yunlan ... did he just not manage to ditch him, no matter how hard he tried?

As for Wang Xiangyang, I really appreciate how his story arc is set up so well in advance, with him and Bai Suxia appearing in scenes like this! And Zhao Yunlan clearly knows them as neighbours, which makes the world feel more lived-in, too, even without taking the later arc into account, so this scene does double duty.

Lin Yusen wants to be a hero. Zhao Yunlan first claims he was just like this when he was young, "an ignorant youth who believed in love and justice after reading too many comics", and when Lin Yusen naturally jumps on that, he tells him no, of course not. And (with very good reason) calls him out on underestimating the baddies. Lin Yusen's lips do a little wobble! And Zhao Yunlan, who can see he has his heart in the right place even if the same can't be said for his reasoning abilities, is touched enough by all that genuine feeling to take pity and offers him a job interview after he graduates. Awww!

It's a shame that all we get for Zhao Yunlan finding out about the sting gone wrong is Xiao-Guo coming outside and saying something happened. We never see how he reacts to anything, which is a huge shame.

Zhu Hong's communication bracelet has always bothered me. Clearly Lin Jing couldn't find her until she shook her wrist and activated it. Why was it off? Is it motion-activated for some reason? What purpose does it even serve? Zhu Hong is already wearing it in the alley at the end of the previous episode - why does she need a separate communicator?

When Zhao Yunlan and Chu Shuzhi find the real Zhang Danni dead at the place where Da Qing was previously watching fake Zhang Danni, I'm not sure what draws Chu Shuzhi to the wardrobe. The key pendant seems to be moving, but I'd thought that was just from air movement in the room. Surely it can't mean fake Zhang Danni only just stuffed the corpse in there and left? Then where was the corpse kept previously?

Jia Hui is so totally fixated on fake Zhang Danni. I wonder if he just never had any actual ethics - he does offer to use his powers for her very quickly! - or if his situation was so awful that he's clinging to anything that makes him feel a little better. And she's the one who wants him to keep using his powers and killing women for her, but she does genuinely care for him despite the way she's jerking him around. They're such a dysfunctional pair, and we know so little about their background. (And they both have powerful black energy abilities, but both are ones that would be perceived as dangerous by other Dixingren, so that probably played a part in both their decision to escape to Haixing ...)

Zhu Hong, despite still being drugged, tries so hard to use her powers to break free! And it takes her a while to make it work, but she gets there. Go, Zhu Hong!

Xiao-Guo is very brave again, getting right in Jia Hui's way and stopping him from running! And then when Zhao Yunlan teases him for "killing someone" after Chu Shuzhi pulls Jia Hui back and he gets knocked out, Xiao-Guo totally freaks out about it! Hee!

The interplay in the car is so fun. Xiao-Guo rambling, Chu Shuzhi snapping at him - and Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan bantering. Especially that - they're not just working together; they're visibly warming up to each other.

Also, SLANDER!!! Zhao Yunlan claims, "Damn Cat's no good at anything, but he's good at surviving. How else could he have lived that long?" But Da Qing is plenty good at things! And I don't just mean eating fish and falling asleep. He's very competent when he's motivated.

The scene with Zhu Jiu taunting Shen Wei establishes not just that Zhu Jiu has figured out who Shen Wei is, but also that Shen Wei is worried that revealing his identity to the SID would endanger them, and that he's not wrong about that because Zhu Jiu is targeting the SID at least in part because of Shen Wei's association with them.

And when Zhu Jiu threatens to tell Zhao Yunlan the truth about Shen Wei's identity, Shen Wei can't help himself, he snaps at him to leave Zhao Yunlan alone, even though that gives something away.

Like Gao Tianyu in episode 2, fake Zhang Danni knows who Chu Shuzhi is: "Puppet Master Chu Shuzhi, whose name makes Dixingren tremble" - I wonder if she recognises him, or if Zhu Jiu told her. (I'm still not sure what the task Zhu Jiu gave her was - kidnapping Zhu Hong and Da Qing might have been involved? But it's unclear what the purpose might have been.

Zhao Yunlan's frustrating sexist "No matter what, she's still just a woman" makes me want to slap him.

In the the tiny look we get at their backstory, fake Zhang Danni says, "We Dixingren struggled to get up here, but life here is more miserable than we imagined" - is that the first time Zhao Yunlan hears about Dixingren coming upstairs because they're trying to escape their situation downstairs? He doesn't yet know anything about the situation in Dixing.

And the flashback to the alley where the SID found Shen Wei last episode shows that the blood on the scene was the real Zhang Danni's - Shen Wei and the SID both arrived on the scene just after they murdered real Zhang Danni. Ouch!

Fake Zhang Danni says she wants to collect all the beautiful faces in the world, to use whenever she pleases, which makes me wonder about how Jia Hui's power works. Does this mean he can switch between various faces once he's collected them? Damn, that would have been super powerful in Zhu Jiu's hands! I really don't understand Zhu Jiu's plan in this episode. Why did he weaponise Lin Yusen when he must have known that weapon would be aimed at fake Zhang Danni? Did he intend for Lin Yusen to take fake Zhang Danni out of the equation, so Zhu Jiu could then swoop in and weaponise Jia Hui's desire for vengeance against humans? If so, he really shot himself in the foot!

The scene with the Envoy, who arrives just in time to put a shield over the explosion, is so tense! Zhao Yunlan is so pissy and angry and struggling to maintain his self-control even before the Envoy announces he's taking Lin Yusen's body away too. But he doesn't argue with the Envoy's interpretation of the Guardian Treaty regarding a human who killed Dixingren. Which makes me wonder what would happen to a human who was caught killing a Dixingren ...

Anyway, poor Shen Wei, coming too late to be able to save Lin Yusen, knowing he needs to take the body away before it explodes again, knowing part of this is because Zhu Jiu is targeting him personally - and then having to deal with Zhao Yunlan's anger too!

The meeting between Chu Shuzhi and the Envoy is so fascinating, from Shen Wei asking if Chu Shuzhi also thinks he's unreasonable, to the slow wordless lift of his arm showing off his damaged sleeve, to the explanation about black and white energy that's foreshadowing something that will be crucial at the very end of the show! There's so much in it - and we get Shen Wei thinking back to Zhao Yunlan's question about his name! This time, because we're in Shen Wei's POV, with the flashback to YOHE. And the way Shen Wei takes his name as a promise ...! AHHH!!!!!!

[facethestrange]

"Then there's Shen Wei pricking his finger - and I'm pretty sure Zhao Yunlan didn't expect to have to worry about Shen Wei on this level!"

Hee, I feel like at this point Zhao Yunlan wouldn't even expect himself to worry about Shen Wei at all when Shen Wei is totally fine, but that's the situation he found himself in. ;D He's so gone on Shen Wei srsly, ahhhh. :D

"I'm totally a vulnerable human; look how I bleed"

LOL AW! ♡ And instead of just dispersing the suspicions as planned, he gets Zhao Yunlan who goes 'but I don't want to see you bleed'. xD

"So did Zhao Yunlan take Shen Wei to the hospital and leave him there? My headcanon: yes! Or rather, Zhao Yunlan took him there and Shen Wei insisted he not wait, so Shen Wei could walk out again without seeing a doctor. *g*"

Yessss! *wants* :D And I feel like it must have happened, otherwise Zhao Yunlan would be worried that he didn't get to do this before all the chaos really started.

"Though I do wonder why Lin Yusen is still still with Zhao Yunlan ... did he just not manage to ditch him, no matter how hard he tried?"

I think so, I don't think it was possible to just ditch him - Zhao Yunlan's promise to give him a chance was necessary for him to leave.

"Zhu Hong's communication bracelet has always bothered me. Clearly Lin Jing couldn't find her until she shook her wrist and activated it. Why was it off? Is it motion-activated for some reason?"

There's a close-up on her bracelet at 21:10 (before she gets kidnapped) that I couldn't figure out the purpose of - is the turning it off then, or was it already malfunctioning and she's trying to turn it on?

"When Zhao Yunlan and Chu Shuzhi find the real Zhang Danni dead at the place where Da Qing was previously watching fake Zhang Danni, I'm not sure what draws Chu Shuzhi to the wardrobe. The key pendant seems to be moving, but I'd thought that was just from air movement in the room. Surely it can't mean fake Zhang Danni only just stuffed the corpse in there and left? Then where was the corpse kept previously?"

He was checking the other wardrobe before, so I figured he was going to check this one too after he finished talking to GCC. And then Zhao Yunlan said what he found out about Zhang Danni, and I guess CSZ figured out that what they're looking for is a corpse, and there doesn't seem to be much more furniture left to check? (But the moving pendant confused me too, for the same reasons! Plus it wouldn't even be moving for this long no matter what - they've been there at least long enough for GCC to go upstairs and come back.)

"Jia Hui is so totally fixated on fake Zhang Danni. I wonder if he just never had any actual ethics - he does offer to use his powers for her very quickly! - or if his situation was so awful that he's clinging to anything that makes him feel a little better."

Yeah, I think he just completely imprinted on her, and would have imprinted on literally anyone who would give him some safety and purpose.

"And they both have powerful black energy abilities, but both are ones that would be perceived as dangerous by other Dixingren, so that probably played a part in both their decision to escape to Haixing ..."

Oh, that's a great point! Anything was better than staying, even if Haixing is not in any way good for them either.

"Zhu Hong, despite still being drugged, tries so hard to use her powers to break free! And it takes her a while to make it work, but she gets there. Go, Zhu Hong!"

Yessss! ♡ (Hah, she really proved that she's not as weak as Shen Wei thinks she is, just not in the way she hoped to prove it.)

"Why did he weaponise Lin Yusen when he must have known that weapon would be aimed at fake Zhang Danni? Did he intend for Lin Yusen to take fake Zhang Danni out of the equation, so Zhu Jiu could then swoop in and weaponise Jia Hui's desire for vengeance against humans? If so, he really shot himself in the foot!"

Damn, that's a really good point, and I think you're right! Plus if Jia Hui had survived and Zhu Jiu was really nice to him, he would have imprinted on Zhu Jiu instead. (Especially if Zhu Jiu never let him know that getting rid of fake Zhang Danni was a part of his plan. And tbh I feel like it could have worked even if Jia Hui found out - he would stop mourning fake Zhang Danni if he had someone else who was even better to him.) And the power is super useful indeed - I think the faces are definitely reusable.

[trobadora]

Hee, I feel like at this point Zhao Yunlan wouldn't even expect himself to worry about Shen Wei at all when Shen Wei is totally fine, but that's the situation he found himself in. ;D He's so gone on Shen Wei srsly, ahhhh. :D

Awww! Yeah. He probably does worry about an attack - he was very worried when Wang Yike attacked him! But the little things, those must hit him by surprise. I can't imagine ZYL thinking of himseslf as someone who worries about pricked fingers, LOL.

I think so, I don't think it was possible to just ditch him - Zhao Yunlan's promise to give him a chance was necessary for him to leave.

Haha, yeah, you're not wrong there.

There's a close-up on her bracelet at 21:10 (before she gets kidnapped) that I couldn't figure out the purpose of - is the turning it off then, or was it already malfunctioning and she's trying to turn it on?

Yeah, very good question! I have no idea what that means either. She kind of clutches it when they hear the screams, and I just can't see the connection either way. *scratches head*

He was checking the other wardrobe before, so I figured he was going to check this one too after he finished talking to GCC.

There's just such a dramatic shot of Chu Shuzhi suddenly looking at the wardrobe! It makes it look like something else is going on, doesn't it?

But the moving pendant confused me too, for the same reasons! Plus it wouldn't even be moving for this long no matter what - they've been there at least long enough for GCC to go upstairs and come back.

Yeah, good point, it really can only be moving from vibrations/air movement in the house.

Yeah, I think he just completely imprinted on her, and would have imprinted on literally anyone who would give him some safety and purpose.

I guess. I just wish he didn't offer it quite so freely right away, you know? At least a little bit of hesitation before deciding to go out murdering?

Hah, she really proved that she's not as weak as Shen Wei thinks she is, just not in the way she hoped to prove it.

Does he even think she's weak? I didn't really think so, though of course she believes that he thinks that!

Damn, that's a really good point, and I think you're right!

Yay! So glad that theory works for you! Absolutely agreed that Jia Hui would very likely have imprinted on Zhu Jiu once he got away from fake Zhang Danni. And Zhu Jiu likes to weaponise other people's grief and anger, so of course he wouldn't even think abouit trying to seduce him away; he'd go straight for murdering fake Zhang Danni.

(It's really frustrating to me that we don't have an actual name for her, ugh!)

[china_shop]

I can't imagine ZYL thinking of himseslf as someone who worries about pricked fingers, LOL.

*tries to untangle the knot of thoughts in my head* This is partly about my not getting h/c, but I don't think it's the tiny wound itself that has ZYL reacting so strongly. The wound itself is nothing -- that's why Shen Wei laughs. It's about what the wound represents: SW proving himself vulnerable, SW being a free agent who can ignore safety instructions, and who apparently runs towards crime scenes to help (cf, the start of the ep). They're in the middle of a terrible case -- so ZYL jumps to worst case scenario.

If it were one of the others who'd pricked their finger -- Guo Changcheng, for example -- ZYL would be able to cuff him on the back of the head and order him to go get a tetanus shot, case closed. (Similarly, if LYS were already working for the SID, ZYL would be able to order to him to back off. As far as ZYL's concerned, presumably the rest of the SID team are safely back at the SID?) So I think SW's finger-pricking combined with LYS's fate (= this work is super dangerous) is what starts the ball rolling for ZYL wrt recruiting Shen Wei to the SID. Not just that ZYL wants to protect SW from the Envoy (though that must be part of it, as his suspicions firm up), but that he needs to keep everyone safe (for the avoidance of future regret, if no other reason). And he feels like he can only do that if he's in charge. (This must also be one of the many reasons SW turns him down.)

tl;dr, I don't really see ZYL's reaction to this as romantic. I think he's drawn to SW by the mystery, AND he likes him, AND he's attracted to him, but I just don't think the injury is significant enough for him to react to for itself: it's what it represents that has him agitated.

And having reached that point, my head exploded a little. I was like, ohh, this whole episode is a) to demonstrate to ZYL how terribly things go when he's not in control (your whole list of beleaguerment), so he really is going to have to up his game and drill some discipline into his team, and make sure there aren't civilians shoving their way into the firing line. And also, in terms of narrative structure and parallels, b) the combo of fresh-faced LYS getting tangled up in the case, wanting to be a hero and getting himself blown up, plus CSZ being black-clad, competent, and then drained of his powers by not!ZDN's gas, equals Shen Wei's two identities and where they end up by the end of the show. Which means the fact that CSZ regains his powers to rescue DQ is really important!

I just wish he didn't offer it quite so freely right away, you know? At least a little bit of hesitation before deciding to go out murdering?

Maybe he's like Zhu Jiu and doesn't really see humans as people.

And Zhu Jiu likes to weaponise other people's grief and anger, so of course he wouldn't even think abouit trying to seduce him away; he'd go straight for murdering fake Zhang Danni.

Oh gross, he really would. /o\

[facethestrange]

"There's just such a dramatic shot of Chu Shuzhi suddenly looking at the wardrobe! It makes it look like something else is going on, doesn't it?"

It definitely does! Like something is moving inside it, which makes no sense, lol. So I'm assuming it's dramatic because they just realized that there must be a corpse somewhere, and that's the likely place.

"I just wish he didn't offer it quite so freely right away, you know? At least a little bit of hesitation before deciding to go out murdering?"

Damn, I rewatched and his offer was instant, ITA, something is really wrong with him beyond desperately imprinting on people. Now I'm wondering what he did with his power before - he only says that it's useless to him, but did he use it at all? Has he always thought that casually using it would be totally okay, it's just that he's never had a reason, and now he does?

"Does he even think she's weak? I didn't really think so, though of course she believes that he thinks that!"

Yeah, I don't think Shen Wei thinks about her much at all, but now she thinks about him a lot, hah. He said she's not fully evolved, but I don't think it was a value judgment, just a fact. (This is where Xiao Guo, who accepts facts as facts, would do much better. xD)

"And Zhu Jiu likes to weaponise other people's grief and anger, so of course he wouldn't even think abouit trying to seduce him away; he'd go straight for murdering fake Zhang Danni."

This made me realize the obvious - Zhu Jiu weaponizes people the same way Ye Zun weaponized him. Ouch.

"(It's really frustrating to me that we don't have an actual name for her, ugh!)"

Yeppp, and not just because it would be more convenient, but also poor real Zhang Danni doesn't deserve to have her name taken like this too.

[china_shop]

1. he gets Zhao Yunlan who goes 'but I don't want to see you bleed'. xD

LOL, I find this reaction so OTT and unrelateable that I keep trying to find other explanations. Like, a scrape here, a bit of blood there is no big deal in the general scheme of things. Shen Wei isn't even acting like the injury hurts or inconveniences him. It's the equivalent of a gnat bite. (Which is not to say you're wrong at all! Maybe ZYL does have that feeling! But I don't understand whyyyy. ;-p)

2. I think so, I don't think it was possible to just ditch him - Zhao Yunlan's promise to give him a chance was necessary for him to leave.

Agreed! He's like a burr!

3. Yeah, I think he just completely imprinted on her, and would have imprinted on literally anyone who would give him some safety and purpose. and the stuff about Zhu Jiu.

This all rings so true! JH could totally have been ZH's henchman. /o\

[china_shop]

1. It must feel like he needs to do everything by himself! *pets him*

This makes me wonder if his reaction to the fingerprick fed into the Envoy's decision to hide Zhu Jiu's scheme from him. That whole "ZYL's emotions run deep to his bones" bit... It's the sense of responsibility that runs deep, and SW totally recognises that.

2. Zhao Yunlan first claims he was just like this when he was young, "an ignorant youth who believed in love and justice after reading too many comics", and when Lin Yusen naturally jumps on that, he tells him no, of course not.

Going by what ZYL then says to himself, after LYS has left, I thought the no, of course not, was a lie.

3. Zhu Hong's communication bracelet has always bothered me. Clearly Lin Jing couldn't find her until she shook her wrist and activated it. Why was it off? Is it motion-activated for some reason? What purpose does it even serve? Zhu Hong is already wearing it in the alley at the end of the previous episode - why does she need a separate communicator?

Maybe it powers down to conserve power? ;-p I wonder if the tracker is part of how they persuaded CSZ and DQ to play along with the sting without involving ZYL?

4. When Zhao Yunlan and Chu Shuzhi find the real Zhang Danni dead at the place where Da Qing was previously watching fake Zhang Danni, I'm not sure what draws Chu Shuzhi to the wardrobe.

Enhanced sense of smell? ;-p

5. Especially that - they're not just working together; they're visibly warming up to each other.

Yes, I love that. I wonder if ZYL semi-working with SW a little has made him want a work-partner and made him open up a little. CSZ is the obvious choice, after all. (And there are some obvious parallels between CSZ and SW/the Envoy, which he might be making subconsciously.)

6. Also, SLANDER!!! Zhao Yunlan claims, "Damn Cat's no good at anything, but he's good at surviving. How else could he have lived that long?" But Da Qing is plenty good at things! And I don't just mean eating fish and falling asleep. He's very competent when he's motivated.

Hee! I think he's just worried.

7. I'm still not sure what the task Zhu Jiu gave her was - kidnapping Zhu Hong and Da Qing might have been involved? But it's unclear what the purpose might have been.

I think ZJ wanted her to immobilise as many of the SID as possible (under the guise of kidnapping, maybe), so ZJ could blow them all up with his walking bomb. And I don't think he cared at all about collateral damage (ZDN and JH).

8. The "just a woman" line is terrible, yeah.

9. It was SW's power that set off LYS's second explosion, though, right? LYS's corpse wouldn't have just exploded on his own. (Not that there aren't still good reasons to take him away.)

[trobadora]

1. This makes me wonder if his reaction to the fingerprick fed into the Envoy's decision to hide Zhu Jiu's scheme from him.

Ooh, great point, yeah! I can totally see that.

2. Going by what ZYL then says to himself, after LYS has left, I thought the no, of course not, was a lie.

I thought he wasn't lying, he was just being hypocritical. As in, he wasn't in fact just like Lin Yusen, but he was just as stubborn in his own way!

3. Maybe it powers down to conserve power? ;-p I wonder if the tracker is part of how they persuaded CSZ and DQ to play along with the sting without involving ZYL?

Yeah, maybe! Damn, I really want to know how that conversation went, how Zhu Hong talked them all into this!

5. I wonder if ZYL semi-working with SW a little has made him want a work-partner and made him open up a little.

Awwww! I love that. :D

7. I think ZJ wanted her to immobilise as many of the SID as possible (under the guise of kidnapping, maybe), so ZJ could blow them all up with his walking bomb. And I don't think he cared at all about collateral damage (ZDN and JH).

Yeah, that sounds about right!

9. It was SW's power that set off LYS's second explosion, though, right? LYS's corpse wouldn't have just exploded on his own.

Shen Wei says to Chu Shuzhi that it could have blown up any time. The way I understood it, the secondary explosion was always going to happen at some point, so Shen Wei deliberately set it off rather than keeping a time bomb round. And it was stronger than he expected.

[facethestrange]

- Shen Wei pricking his finger and Zhao Yunlan being all protective, that's it, that's all, I LOVE THEM SFM. ♡♡♡ At least half of all my feels about this part of the episode are about this scene. xD Like, Zhao Yunlan is completely defeated by his adorable blinky face asdfghjfdksjkl; He's so gone on Shen Wei already I can'ttttt. And Shen Wei knows exactly what his Xiao Wei expression does to Zhao Yunlan. :D

- I also love that pricking the finger is the result of Shen Wei knowing exactly what Zhao Yunlan was thinking - it may be obvious, but I just love that following what the other one is thinking is something they can do so easily, which will really pay off when they execute the 'pretending to be hypnotized' plan. :D

- And Shen Wei straight-up laughs when Zhao Yunlan talks about tetanus, AW! That's exactly what a soldier would worry about. ;D (Did they end up going to the hospital after all? Why did I never wonder about that before? :P)

- Btw they continue playing two dads to Lin Yusen. xD

- What is the part of the trap that Zhao Yunlan kicks? I can never figure it out, but it doesn't look particularly dangerous to me if it can be kicked like that. :P

- OUCH about Lin Yusen in general - he was so excited to get a chance to work at the SID! :( He skips away so happily when he gets his promise! Pull at my heartstrings, why don't youuuuu.

- It's funny to me that when Zhao Yunlan says that he wasn't like Lin Yusen when he was young, he means that he was more careful and less innocent/idealistic in general (I can believe that), and completely avoids the fact that he would totally put himself in danger if he decided that he has a really good reason (I wouldn't believe him for a second if he tried to say that, not when he was young and not in the present, lol). Which is what Lin Yusen is doing! But he is also doing innocent/idealistic thing, so it's easy to criticize him for that instead. :P And then obviously Zhao Yunlan admits it to himself that he's full of shit because he is self-aware after all. :D

- "I have a wonderful life of my own!" ZHU HONG ILY, possibly my favorite quote from this part of the episode. ♡♡♡ SHE SAVED HERSELF. So good!

- Zhao Yunlan's crinkly-eyed smile when he makes his 'faceless' pun, I may have taken a lot of screencaps of that. :D :D

- Zhao Yunlan protecting Xiao Guo from looking at the body! (And he went to look at it anyway and he was fine, and then he was SO BRAVE stopping Jia Hui, YAY XIAO GUO, you're doing amazing! ♡)

- Damn, Zhu Hong is so exhausted in the car that she can't even hear all the bickering. (And it's Zhao Yunlan's fault that Xiao Guo is freaking out, lmao, he caused this problem for himself. :P)

- Zhao Yunlan plonking down on the bench, all cool and charismatic, over Da Qing's unconscious body, lmao what the hell. :D

- Are Dixingren harder to kill simply because they're Dixingren? (Shen Wei says it's suspicious that Lin Yusen could kill them so easily, but I feel like a Molotov cocktail would kill pretty much everyone?)

- And when does the flashback in this scene come from (Lin Yusen's body exploding)? Did Shen Wei bring him back to the park later?

- The promise is hinting at the novel so much without any of the novel background, but they did make it work in this universe as well as they could. :D

"the way he does it without reacting at all, and then after a moment does that little "ouch" indrawn breath to draw attention to his "injury"!"

Yessss! :D And everything else you said toooo, definitely my favorite scene! ♡♡♡

"What's your favourite moment in this part of the episode?"

Hah, see above. :D :D ♡

"Did anything stand out to you as coming from the novel, apart from Shen Wei's name?"

Wang Xiangyang and his fruit stand! I like it so much better that in the drama he would never hurt his family, not even for their own good, and they can just be really adorable until everything falls apart. ♡

"Did Zhao Yunlan take Shen Wei to the hospital for his pricked finger?"

I hope soooooo. ♡

"Which SID member has the best moment?"

Zhu Hong freeing herself! And Xiao Guo being super brave. ♡

"Do you have any sympathy for fake Zhang Danni and Jia Hui?"

So much sympathy for Jia Hui, he was basically adopted by someone who used him and manipulated him, and he had absolutely nowhere else to go unless he decided to go back to how things were before (and he wasn't strong enough to do that). And fake Zhang Danni made up a fake problem for herself when she had a real one, because this one was easier to deal with? (Not that people don't judge others by their appearance, but having to scavenge for food had nothing to do with that, like, Jia Hui was literally right there in the same situation.) Which is kinda sad, but the way she went about it doesn't particularly get any sympathy from me.

Btw the parallels and differences between them and Wang Yike/Zhang Ruonan are so interesting to me! Like, sometimes you get 'adopted' by someone who is genuinely a good person, but you never know until you know.

"What do you think Zhu Jiu hoped to achieve by turning Lin Yusen into a bomb? What was his plan in this episode?"

He wanted to explode the entire SID team, didn't he? He said he had a surprise for them, so that's what I assumed - if the explosion wasn't contained by Shen Wei, they would have all died.

"Do you agree with Shen Wei taking Lin Yusen's body away without explaining?"

I don't think he was in the wrong or anything, but I do like how protective Zhao Yunlan was of Lin Yusen at this point. (And Shen Wei knew he was going to get even more protective if he knew the whole story!)

"Any thoughts about the foreshadowing?"

On my first rewatch it punched me right in the gut because I didn't realize it was there! Now I just go 'ouch' quietly. :P Objectively it's really well done!

(And thank you for the translation meta link! ♡)

[trobadora]

Shen Wei pricking his finger and Zhao Yunlan being all protective, that's it, that's all, I LOVE THEM SFM. ♡♡♡

:D :D :D

It's a fantastic scene, I love it too. :D

I also love that pricking the finger is the result of Shen Wei knowing exactly what Zhao Yunlan was thinking - it may be obvious, but I just love that following what the other one is thinking is something they can do so easily, which will really pay off when they execute the 'pretending to be hypnotized' plan. :D

Damn, that's an excellent point, I hadn't even thought about it this way! I love that kind of understanding, it's one of the things that makes Weilan so good. ♥ ♥ ♥

Did they end up going to the hospital after all? Why did I never wonder about that before? :P

Headcanon says yes! :D

What is the part of the trap that Zhao Yunlan kicks? I can never figure it out, but it doesn't look particularly dangerous to me if it can be kicked like that. :P

Idk what it is either! But even if that particular bit isn't dangerous, all the spiky stuff definitely is.

It's funny to me that when Zhao Yunlan says that he wasn't like Lin Yusen when he was young, he means that he was more careful and less innocent/idealistic in general (I can believe that), and completely avoids the fact that he would totally put himself in danger if he decided that he has a really good reason

Yeah, he knows he's being a hypocrite, what with the "what right do you have to scold others" bit. He wasn't that naive and innocent, but he was absolutely just as stubborn and willing to risk himself! Totally agreed on all of that.

Are Dixingren harder to kill simply because they're Dixingren? (Shen Wei says it's suspicious that Lin Yusen could kill them so easily, but I feel like a Molotov cocktail would kill pretty much everyone?)

Good question! I don't know either, though of course the explosion that did happen was way overpowered.

And when does the flashback in this scene come from (Lin Yusen's body exploding)? Did Shen Wei bring him back to the park later?

I figured when he took the body away, he just put it elsewhere and set off the explosion because he knew it was a time bomb.

The promise is hinting at the novel so much without any of the novel background, but they did make it work in this universe as well as they could. :D

Yeah, it's not as specific or well-defined in the drama, but as far as vibes go, it absolutely works!

Wang Xiangyang and his fruit stand! I like it so much better that in the drama he would never hurt his family, not even for their own good, and they can just be really adorable until everything falls apart. ♡

Yeah, agreed! I'm not exactly a fan of Wang Xiangyang in the drama either, but he's so much better here. And I really like the way the fruit stand is just present through so many events before Wang Xiangyang ever becomes important to the plot.

And fake Zhang Danni made up a fake problem for herself when she had a real one, because this one was easier to deal with?

Oof, yeah, that's a good point. She's fixated on this when it's really the least of her problems.

And comparing Jia Hui/fake Zhang Danni to Wang Yike/Zhang Ruonan - damn, you're completely right about the parallels/contrasts! I'd never thought of that before, but it really works as a thematic resonance.

He wanted to explode the entire SID team, didn't he? He said he had a surprise for them, so that's what I assumed - if the explosion wasn't contained by Shen Wei, they would have all died.

Yeah, Shen Wei really arrived in the nick of time. (I have a fic where he doesn't - it's the premise of Worst Case Scenario. Well, the fic is a fix-it for that scenario, but it also tells it in flashbacks.) And Zhu Jiu wanting to blow up the SID would absolutely make sense.

On my first rewatch it punched me right in the gut because I didn't realize it was there!

Yeah, it's one of those things you can really only see in retrospect! I remember the first time I realised, I was so "OMG! it's here already!!!!" delighted, it's so well constructed!

[china_shop]

1. Like, Zhao Yunlan is completely defeated by his adorable blinky face asdfghjfdksjkl;

LOL! I feel like that makes it much worse for him. *pets ZYL* (If SW were being more srs adult and brushing it off, maybe ZYL could too? Idk.)

2. I also love that pricking the finger is the result of Shen Wei knowing exactly what Zhao Yunlan was thinking - it may be obvious, but I just love that following what the other one is thinking is something they can do so easily, which will really pay off when they execute the 'pretending to be hypnotized' plan. :D

Ah, that's such a great point!! *a billions hearts*

3. "I have a wonderful life of my own!" ZHU HONG ILY, possibly my favorite quote from this part of the episode. ♡♡♡

Oooh, yes! Great line!! *hearts her so much*

4. Hee! I had to go back and re-examine ZYL's crinkly smile in detail. <3

5. And it's Zhao Yunlan's fault that Xiao Guo is freaking out, lmao, he caused this problem for himself. :P

Ha, so true. But he's worried about DQ, so he gets a pass.

6. Are Dixingren harder to kill simply because they're Dixingren?

I've always assumed so. Partly because of their powers, of course, but isn't that why the SID can't use conventional weapons like tasers?

7. Wang Xiangyang and his fruit stand! I like it so much better that in the drama he would never hurt his family, not even for their own good, and they can just be really adorable until everything falls apart. ♡

Oh, yes, great point! I love them as background characters (Bai Suxia is so great) -- what happens to them is such a tragedy.

8. Btw the parallels and differences between them and Wang Yike/Zhang Ruonan are so interesting to me! Like, sometimes you get 'adopted' by someone who is genuinely a good person, but you never know until you know.

Oooh, I love thinking about those parallels. I hadn't even considered it. Thanks for that!! (And it lines up nicely with Ye Zun and Zhu Jiu, too!)

9. I don't think he was in the wrong or anything, but I do like how protective Zhao Yunlan was of Lin Yusen at this point. (And Shen Wei knew he was going to get even more protective if he knew the whole story!)

Yes, all of this!! *smishes them both*

[china_shop]

Yay, great post!! :D

1. LYS saying, "I'll take responsibility if I hurt someone accidentally" has to make ZYL think of his mother's death, I think. That's one reason he replies so sharply.

2. I will never ever get enough of the fingerpricking: ZYL's obvious physical agitation about it, Shen Wei's bambi eyes and then his genuine, surprised laugh. 100% LOVE! I'm curious about SW's pensive face afterwards, though. Is that the first time he's deliberately misled ZYL? Or is he just wondering if his ruse worked?

3. LYS has gone from avenging his not-gf to wanting to be a hero and work at the SID. Those are... quite different things. And then ZYL saying to himself, "ZYL, ZYL, what right to you have to criticise others?" is, I think, proof that he was just as bad as a young man.

4. I'm not sure why they're working so hard to keep GCC out of it. Is it just to protect his delicate sensibilities and stop him passing out again? Maybe it's too dangerous a case for someone so connected? CSZ seems kind of cranky with him, too.

5. I'm confused about the lair. Is it the real ZDN's place or an abandoned building. It's reasonably nicely furnished, but all that exposed concrete makes it look not-domestic. Is the furniture just stolen/salvaged? And where is the separate building where Zhu Hong is tied up? (Go, Zhu Hong!!)

6. I'm interested in the way CSZ restrains Jia Hui (pushing his hands against JH's own body to stop him using his power on others?), and also the fact that JH still manages to break free. (I'm assuming JH's power would also work on Dixingren?)

7. ZYL uses Changcheng to look after Zhu Hong the same way he uses others at other times to look after women in distress...

8. Zhu Jiu IDed SW as the Envoy based on SW using dark-energy vision? Just the fact that SW has multiple powers? Or his tone when he said, "I'll find you"?

9. I love everything about the way CSZ and ZYL work together, from them ganging up on CC in the car (lol) to their basically being cop partners at the scene. CSZ is immobilised (how much must he hate that??) and puts his trust in ZYL. (Obligatory picspam link.)

10. And ahhhh, I love ZYL's negotiation style: he sits down just like he did with the Shadow Man, he's very cool and serious, not at all conciliatory but somehow using his manner to de-escalate. LOVE IT! I'm not quite clear why he walks away mid-negotiation, though. She's the one who offers the trade... Oh, is ZYL just buying time? And then CSZ butts into the conversation to indicate his powers are back online?

11. The Envoy citing the treaty as an excuse to take LYS's body -- surely that just reminds ZYL of his dad? /o\

12. And then SW and CSZ meet in the park and conspire to stop ZYL from acting out. <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3 <3

13. I don't especially care about either ZDN or JH, but their backstory highlights some pretty upsetting conditions for Dixingren in Haixing. :-(

Thank you for the link to the meta! (Also linking here my question post about what Shen Wei's promise actually is.)

Questions:

Favourite moment: a tie between the finger-pricking and CSZ & ZYL working together. <3

I think ZYL definitely took Shen Wei to the hospital.

Zhu Hong's escape is excellent, and so is everything CSZ does. ;-)

I think Zhu Jiu hoped to blow up as much of the SID as he could. (Image how differently things would have gone, then!!)

I've written at least six stories set in and around the end of this ep. :D

[facethestrange]

"LYS saying, "I'll take responsibility if I hurt someone accidentally" has to make ZYL think of his mother's death, I think. That's one reason he replies so sharply."

Oh damn, yes! He generally never wants anyone to get hurt on his watch, but it probably all comes down to that. And it's easy to say 'I can handle it' for someone who has never had to do it. (Then again, some people who are not Zhao Yunlan could potentially handle it better, but obviously he's projecting, and also Lin Yusen is not one of those people. :P)

"I will never ever get enough of the fingerpricking: ZYL's obvious physical agitation about it, Shen Wei's bambi eyes and then his genuine, surprised laugh. 100% LOVE!"

Yessssss, all of this! :D ♡♡♡

"I'm curious about SW's pensive face afterwards, though. Is that the first time he's deliberately misled ZYL? Or is he just wondering if his ruse worked?"

He kinda looks away at that point, and looks around, so I thought he wasn't thinking about this anymore and was worried about Zhu Jiu again. But I could also see the other two reasons!

"LYS has gone from avenging his not-gf to wanting to be a hero and work at the SID. Those are... quite different things."

Maybe he has always wanted to be a hero, and avenging her was his opportunity, and then he also met people who could help him achieve it.

"And then ZYL saying to himself, "ZYL, ZYL, what right to you have to criticise others?" is, I think, proof that he was just as bad as a young man."

Yeppp, and when it comes to putting himself in danger (vs. idealism, which he doesn't do anymore and possibly never really did), he is just as bad still. xD

"I'm not sure why they're working so hard to keep GCC out of it. Is it just to protect his delicate sensibilities and stop him passing out again? Maybe it's too dangerous a case for someone so connected?"

Oh, I didn't think of the second possibility, but I can see it - they really don't want to get him accidentally killed. (I love that when they protected him from seeing the body in the wardrobe, he ended up seeing it - or at least the angle looks this way to me - and he was completely fine. :P)

"I'm confused about the lair. Is it the real ZDN's place or an abandoned building. It's reasonably nicely furnished, but all that exposed concrete makes it look not-domestic. Is the furniture just stolen/salvaged? And where is the separate building where Zhu Hong is tied up? (Go, Zhu Hong!!)"

I think it's an abandoned building, and people squat there so it has furniture. (No idea about the other building, but GO ZHU HONG indeed. :D ♡)

"I'm interested in the way CSZ restrains Jia Hui (pushing his hands against JH's own body to stop him using his power on others?), and also the fact that JH still manages to break free."

Ooh, I didn't wonder about this at all - that's probably the way to restrain people to stop them from using powers. And yeah, it didn't work, but I think that's just because he was suddenly very emotionally motivated to break free.

"ZYL uses Changcheng to look after Zhu Hong the same way he uses others at other times to look after women in distress..."

He already did with Li Qian. :) (Changcheng is always the best choice ngl. Though Wang Zheng would do okay too, and this was at night, lol, but obviously she wasn't there.)

"Zhu Jiu IDed SW as the Envoy based on SW using dark-energy vision? Just the fact that SW has multiple powers? Or his tone when he said, "I'll find you"?"

I've never wondered about that either! Multiple powers are probably enough.

"he sits down just like he did with the Shadow Man"

And now I'm wondering when does he not sit down? ;D

"Oh, is ZYL just buying time? And then CSZ butts into the conversation to indicate his powers are back online?"

I thought so, yep! He's letting her villain-monologue, waiting for CSZ to be okay again. They even do a secret look and nod thing. :D

"Also linking here my question post about what Shen Wei's promise actually is."

Oh neat, thank you! ♡ It's so obviously from the novel, but they did what they could to make it work, and it does. :D

"I think ZYL definitely took Shen Wei to the hospital."

Did someone write this scene yet? :D

"I think Zhu Jiu hoped to blow up as much of the SID as he could. (Image how differently things would have gone, then!!)"

I think so too, yep! (And I'd rather not. ;D But yes!!)

"I've written at least six stories set in and around the end of this ep. :D"

Ahhhh, I'm so tempted to ask you which stories, but I'm only just settling back into reading fics again, so I probably won't end up reading them and I know your arms are not cooperating. ♡ (But if you ever want to share them in the future, I am very curious. :D)

[trobadora]

and also Lin Yusen is not one of those people. :P

Yeah, this! And it's really obvious that Lin Yusen doesn't have a clue and isn't about to buy one any time soon.

Though Wang Zheng would do okay too, and this was at night, lol, but obviously she wasn't there.

Team "take Wang Zheng out at night"! It would be so useful to have an energy being that can just stop being solid, too.

And now I'm wondering when does he not sit down? ;D

LOL, he even arranges for a chair on a rooftop when they're capturing Zhu Jiu. :D

[china_shop]

1. And it's easy to say 'I can handle it' for someone who has never had to do it. (Then again, some people who are not Zhao Yunlan could potentially handle it better, but obviously he's projecting, and also Lin Yusen is not one of those people. :P)

There's a difference between handling it and taking responsibility, too. (Is this a different subs thing?) Taking responsibility includes shouldering the blame and making restitution to the affected parties. It's a lot!

2. He kinda looks away at that point, and looks around, so I thought he wasn't thinking about this anymore and was worried about Zhu Jiu again.

Oh, good point! *rewatches* Yeah, maybe thinking about the wider case and wondering how to manage his involvement without arousing ZYL's suspicions again?

3. Maybe he has always wanted to be a hero, and avenging her was his opportunity, and then he also met people who could help him achieve it.

Yeah -- she seems pretty incidental to it all. I wonder if he even really knew her, or if he just happened to witness her murder and then confabulated their backstory. ;-p

4. vs. idealism, which he doesn't do anymore and possibly never really did

He's pretty idealistic in a later flashback to his childhood. :-) (Versus novel!ZYL who had good reason to be cynical all along, having been destined to fight evil at a young age.)

5. I love that when they protected him from seeing the body in the wardrobe, he ended up seeing it - or at least the angle looks this way to me - and he was completely fine. :P

Hee! I assumed if he'd been able to see, he would have reacted. It even freaked LJ out in his dream last ep.

6. He already did with Li Qian. :) (Changcheng is always the best choice ngl. Though Wang Zheng would do okay too, and this was at night, lol, but obviously she wasn't there.)

He did, but he wasn't there at the time. This is him explicitly going, "I'm not doing this." (LOL, idk, I think WZ can be pretty callous when she likes? ;-)

7. And now I'm wondering when does he not sit down? ;D

To quote Trobadora: It's from an actor interview – here, at 2:21, the question calls him, "Zhao Will-not-stand-if-can-sit Will-not-sit-if-can-lie-down Yunlan". :D
(Just in case you haven't come across it before.)

8. They even do a secret look and nod thing. :D

I love that so much!! *rolls around in it*

9. "I think ZYL definitely took Shen Wei to the hospital."

Did someone write this scene yet? :D

Idk, but I was thinking about it some more, and I've changed my position. Tetanus shots aren't urgent (you have to have it within 48?? hours), and SW must be desperate to get out there and chase Zhu Jiu before things go more wrong. So I think SW would have "serious adult" promised to get one, and asked ZYL to drop him off somewhere -- maybe the hospital or maybe the uni. (Honestly, I think it would be overkill for ZYL to escort SW into the hospital when SW has literally just pricked his finger.) (Sorry! ;-)

10. Fics! Yesterday I made sure they were all tagged "Episode 4" -- there are eight of them (unless I missed some), but probably the only ones you'd care about are post-case team group mutual comfort, remix of that from SW's pov, with Weilan, and upset by the outcome of the case, ZYL goes to talk to SW at the uni. This is post-ep4 casefic with ZYL trying to do everything himself and pre-Weilan, but it's a bit longer.

(Hi, my arms are still crappy, so I'm numbering so I can refer to things without quoting as much. C&p is part of what messes them up. /o\)

[trobadora]

1. LYS saying, "I'll take responsibility if I hurt someone accidentally" has to make ZYL think of his mother's death, I think. That's one reason he replies so sharply.

Oof, yeah, you're totally right - that's definitely part of what makes him react like that. He knows first hand how very wrong these things can go. (And Lin Yusen just doesn't get the actual stakes, despite this being a murder case.)

2. I'm curious about SW's pensive face afterwards, though. Is that the first time he's deliberately misled ZYL? Or is he just wondering if his ruse worked?

I think he's reacting to ZYL's reaction - he didn't expect him to care that much about such a minor thing! Not after how short they've known each other. Awww. ♥

3. LYS has gone from avenging his not-gf to wanting to be a hero and work at the SID. Those are... quite different things.

Yeah, I always got the impression that it was never really about the girl, and more about his self-image. He wants to be a hero; she's just the fridged woman at the beginning of his story. (I guess that impression is part of why I never quite warmed up to him - though of course he himself isn't very self-aware and doesn't realise. But she's not really a person, you know? And how he - the only onscreen character who knew her - talks about her is part of why.)

And then ZYL saying to himself, "ZYL, ZYL, what right to you have to criticise others?" is, I think, proof that he was just as bad as a young man.

Just as bad but not in the same way, I'd say. I don't think he had the same heroic delusions.

5. I'm confused about the lair. Is it the real ZDN's place or an abandoned building. It's reasonably nicely furnished, but all that exposed concrete makes it look not-domestic.

Yeah, it doesn't look like a real flat, and it seems to be open to the elements! I figured it's not actually Zhang Danni's, but fake Zhang Danni's lair.

And where is the separate building where Zhu Hong is tied up?

Idk, but fake Zhang Danni must have realised the SID knew about the other place. So perhaps that's the lair they were moving to after abandoning the old one?

6. I'm interested in the way CSZ restrains Jia Hui (pushing his hands against JH's own body to stop him using his power on others?), and also the fact that JH still manages to break free. (I'm assuming JH's power would also work on Dixingren?)

He breaks free by using black energy - I guess he's stronger than Chu Shuzhi expected?

And yeah, I expect his power would work on Dixingren! He's trying it on Zhu Hong, and he's confident it'll work on a Yashou.

8. Zhu Jiu IDed SW as the Envoy based on SW using dark-energy vision? Just the fact that SW has multiple powers? Or his tone when he said, "I'll find you"?

I figured it was multiple contextual clues, and then he confirmed it by addressing him as the Envoy.

10. I'm not quite clear why he walks away mid-negotiation, though. She's the one who offers the trade... Oh, is ZYL just buying time? And then CSZ butts into the conversation to indicate his powers are back online?

Stalling, yes, until Chu Shuzhi recovers - but also he's trying to get her to give away as much as possible. If he ended up having to go through with exchange and Zhang Danni got away with Jia Hui, they'd still need to catch the murder duo.

Totally agreed about his negotiation style, btw.

11. The Envoy citing the treaty as an excuse to take LYS's body -- surely that just reminds ZYL of his dad? /o\

I'm not seeing the connection?

13. I don't especially care about either ZDN or JH, but their backstory highlights some pretty upsetting conditions for Dixingren in Haixing. :-(

Yeah, that's my takeaway too. :(

I think Zhu Jiu hoped to blow up as much of the SID as he could. (Image how differently things would have gone, then!!)

Yeah. But imagine the consequences if ZYL died ... if the time loop broke! (You remember I wrote that story. *g*)

I've written at least six stories set in and around the end of this ep. :D

Go, you! :D

[china_shop]

1. Does LYS know it's a serial killer case, or does he think it's just that one murder, I wonder...

2. *nodnod* That does make sense.

3. b) Yeah, good point. ZYL is very much a public *servant*. (Otherwise, why work for a secret organisation? ;-p)

5. I feel like she and JH could have found somewhere that *wasn't* open to the elements. ;-p

but fake Zhang Danni must have realised the SID knew about the other place

Why? When?

6. and he's confident it'll work on a Yashou.

He could be confident and wrong. But yeah, I think you're right.

11. ZXC used the Treaty to justify his ruthless actions (as we see in the Bao Laosan flashback); now the Envoy is using the Treaty to justify taking away the body of a dead Haixingren for no good reason that ZYL can see. It feels legalistic, lacking compassion. Don't you think he said, "The Black-Cloaked Envoy enforces laws impartially" with angry/bitter irony?

That's right! I'd forgotten your timeloop story! \o/ (I was imagining how differently things would have gone for Haixing generally with the SID out of action so early. Shen Wei would have had his hands so full!)

[china_shop]

I was just rewatching the part around 31:20 when Shen Wei is searching for Zhu Jiu with his dark-energy vision. I wonder if he partly responded to Zhu Jiu's taunt about ZYL as a distraction, to make ZJ careless? SW definitely doesn't lose focus on what he's doing...

[trobadora]

Ooh, that never occurred to me before! *rewatches*

Yeah, I think you really caught something there - he does talk to Zhu Jiu in order to distract him as he aims! And presumably he doesn't think he's giving anything away, since Zhu Jiu is already threatening to tell his secrets to Zhao Yunlan ...

[china_shop]

Glad you see it, too! Yeah, Zhu Jiu is already targeting the SID. And it's a bit of a gamble, but if SW thinks he can defeat ZH completely, then it doesn't really matter if he hints at ZYL's importance to him, at that point.

[salamandras]

There were several major things I think I noticed for the first time this watching of the episode, and I think the lack of images of the faceless women were part of my initial confusion watching this case.

Zhu Jiu's quick reference to Shen Wei self-limiting his powers, SW's comment about mixing dark and light energy causing an explosion, and Lin Yusen being contaminated without his own knowledge were all things that jumped out at me this watch through that I hadn't remembered (and probably didn't notice) from past viewings.

Xiao Guo throwing his arms out to stop the face stealer is probably the best SID member moment for me. I love how brave he is, although I wish he had the skills to make stunts like that less self-sacrificing.

[china_shop]

and I think the lack of images of the faceless women were part of my initial confusion watching this case.

That makes sense!

Zhu Jiu's quick reference to Shen Wei self-limiting his powers

Oh, does he say self-limited? That's really interesting! I still haven't got a handle on how his powers work in Haixing (or, more specifically, how Haixing affects his powers, and how much that's because of the Treaty).

Xiao Guo throwing his arms out to stop the face stealer is probably the best SID member moment for me.

Oh, yes, that's awesome. He is unstoppable! (And will gradually get more capable, too. ;-) :D :D :D

[salamandras]

Oh, does he say self-limited?
I didn't go back and write exactly what I read, so I may have gotten that wrong, but that was what I remember was either said or implied. Not terribly useful for me to further speculate without going back and reviewing the subtitles, but I seem to remember ZJ continuing with some reference to SW not wanting to expose himself (his identity?) to the SID, thus the limiting.

[trobadora]

I think the lack of images of the faceless women were part of my initial confusion watching this case

Oh, that's a good point! The only real visual we get is in Lin Jing's dream, right? Such an interesting way of going about it.

SW's comment about mixing dark and light energy causing an explosion

I remember when I first noticed this! It comes up so early, it's amazing - set-up for the ending built right into the early episodes already!

I love how brave he is, although I wish he had the skills to make stunts like that less self-sacrificing.

Yeah, I love that he's so brave right from the start! He develops more skills over the course of the show, but the bravery is just innate. :D

[salamandras]

He develops more skills over the course of the show, but the bravery is just innate. :D Yes, one of my favorite things about him.

SW's comment about mixing dark and light energy causing an explosion

I remember when I first noticed this! It comes up so early, it's amazing - set-up for the ending built right into the early episodes already!</i? I'm really impressed with you and others who pick up on these kind of things right away. I guess it's really how I sit back and let media wash over me that affects how I notice these things (or don't notice).