Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 11, 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 11, from 22:22:

Summary: The SID is back in Dragon City, though Guo Changcheng and Chu Shuzhi brought back diarrhoea and Zhao Yunlan has been brooding ever since. Zhao Yunlan is going over every clue he caught, and some he didn't at the time, about Shen Wei and the Envoy. He hasn't contacted Shen Wei since they came back from the mountains. When Da Qing comes to bring him out of his brooding, he asks him about the Envoy too, but Da Qing doesn't know much.

At a lab, a sonic experiment is carried out and vaporises a fish. The lab's boss has brought his stepdaughter and wants her to play the violin; one of the scientists tries to protect her, and is fired for his troubles. Later that evening, the lab's boss and the two remaining scientists are attacked by sonic waves. And the SID has a new case: what appears to be a triple suicide. Two people are missing: Zheng Yi, the stepdaughter, and Tan Xiao, the fired lab worker. And it turns out that one of the victims' last phone call was to Shen Wei.

Meanwhile, Zhu Hong and Guo Changcheng are sent to the Snake Tribe to ask about the origins of the Hallows, but Fourth Uncle isn't keen on the subject. He drugs Zhu Hong.



Quote:

Zhao Yunlan: "Do you think it's possible the Black-Cloaked Envoy actually stays in the human world, and even uses a human face?"

Da Qing: "Don't you think you're talking nonsense? Dixing has the Regent and the Dijun as administrators, but the Black-Cloaked Envoy as a major decision maker and commander of Dixingren is of pivotal importance. Why would he come up here? To see his lover?"

Zhao Yunlan: "But going by his appearance, he doesn't look like someone who has a lover."

Detail:

When Da Qing talks about Dixing powers that could make someone commit suicide, he says they don't know through what medium that power was activated - setting up a major element not just for this case (Zheng Yi vs. Zhao Yunlan's earplugs) but also for the eventual defeat of a major opponent (Zhu Jiu vs. blackout).

Questions:

What's your favourite bit in this half-episode? Or your favourite clip from Zhao Yunlan's Shen Wei/Envoy flashback sequence? The sonic lab: bad work environment or worst work environment? Do you think Chu Shuzhi has permission to read Guo Changcheng's diary? When Zhao Yunlan asks Da Qing if the Envoy might actually live in the human world, does he actually still have doubts? What is it he's finding so hard to wrap his mind around? How does this post-reveal sequence compare to the novel? What does he mean when he says the Envoy doesn't look like someone who has a lover? What's going through his head when Shen Wei answers the phone? How much does Fourth Uncle actually know about the Hallows, and where does he know it from?

(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!)

Here is our schedule for the next batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!

Comments

[china_shop]

Great post! Huge LOL at your choice of screencap. ;D

• It's kind of hilarious how clueless Guo Changcheng is about the sex doll, even now. (I wonder if Lin Jing actually uses it? That seems pretty skeevy, given its previous use.)

• Aww, everyone's out of sorts.

• Sonic lab fish torture scene. /o\ (Why is Zheng Yi even there at night? And also, I wonder if Zheng Yi ever goes back to playing the violin, when she's older...) (Weirdly, she's wearing different clothes in the lab (a dress) versus when they're leaving the building (jeans).) (Also, given what we learn about her step-dad later, it's impressive that Zheng Yi has never previously used her power to protect herself. Ugh.)

• Wang Zheng facing the enormous mountain of teaching Sang Zan to read and write. <3

• LOL at Chu Shuzhi reading Changcheng's diary. Like, why is he? Was it just the closest book to hand, or does he actually care what Changcheng thinks of him?

• Da Qing eating on the couch, eavesdropping on Zhu Hong and Lin Jing's gossip session, aww! ♥

• At first I thought the odd memory out in ZYL's flashback montage was the Envoy saving Wu Tian'en, but I guess that ties in to Shen Wei saving Zhang Ruonan. (I love how smart he is, putting all these pieces together. <3)

• Also love the way Wang Zheng announces new cases.

• Dragging Changcheng out on a field trip when he has the runs seems mean. (I hope the Snakes give him some medicine.) What on earth did he see that made him pass out??

• As you also noted, Da Qing talking about a medium for hypnosis. <3

• I wonder how CSZ knows Tan Xiao was fired. Did they really process the paperwork immediately?

• Zhu Hong seems to want to hide the emergence of the Hallows from Fourth Uncle (she cuts Changcheng off when he starts to tell). Maybe she doesn't want him to know things are getting dangerous?

What's your favourite bit in this half-episode?

ZYL mulling in his office with his lollipop, putting the pieces together. <3 <3 <3

Or your favourite clip from Zhao Yunlan's Shen Wei/Envoy flashback sequence?

The Envoy asking after Li Qian. <3 <3 <3

Do you think Chu Shuzhi has permission to read Guo Changcheng's diary?

LOL, definitely not. I think he's starting to be curious about Changcheng's inner life, but I'm not sure what prompted that.

When Zhao Yunlan asks Da Qing if the Envoy might actually live in the human world, does he actually still have doubts? What is it he's finding so hard to wrap his mind around?

I think he's still not really used to thinking of the Envoy as a person. And Shen Wei is very much a person. How to reconcile the two?!? And the fact that Shen Wei has been flirting with him / befriending him / showing a personal interest must make that extra confusing.

What does he mean when he says the Envoy doesn't look like someone who has a lover?

I'm so curious about that! Like, is he talking about the Envoy (epically cool and unapproachable) or Shen Wei (buttoned up and/or seemingly available for flirting)? Does it actually say "appearance" there?

What's going through his head when Shen Wei answers the phone?

"Again? Can this seriously be another coincidence?" and also "Ahh, I've missed your voice!!"

How much does Fourth Uncle actually know about the Hallows, and where does he know it from?

He knows whatever the Flower Historians recorded and passed down from the ancient war. /headcanon