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sid_guardian2019-03-15 08:15 pm
extrapenguin) wrote in sid_guardian2019-03-15 08:15 pm
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Guardian Episode by Episode: 04
Welcome to episode 4 of the Guardian rewatchalong! The icon battle is still ongoing until April. This post has notes on characterization and cinematography. Imgur screencaps album. Only 48 screencaps this time. Please excuse any typos, I'm running on not enough sleep.
Previously on:
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3
This episode concludes the "face-stealing powers" case introduced last episode.
Introductions
Wang Xiangyang and his wife make their first appearance, as the harmless greengrocer who gives Zhao Yunlan some apples and his pregnant wife.
Characterization
The SID has caught on that Shen Wei's nerves really are too steely for a mere university professor (and he looks too alert to be the "I am blithely unconcerned about anything save my research, including personal safety" archetype) and basically they all think that something's up with him. Then he confirms their suspicions by going on the attack against Zhu Hong, intentionally toying with Chu Shuzhi while he creepily wipes off his doll's face, and in general doing a very bad job at acting like a hapless professor. Then he screws up and has to heal an injury in front of Zhao Yunlan.
Really, Shen Wei, would a university professor try to do this?
This is the episode in which Zhao Yunlan is shown to start piecing the clues together. I'm pretty confident he's figured out Shen Wei is some sort of Dixingian, but confirmation is not yet at hand, and the actual identity 1+1 is not yet there. He's got some serious clues, though, and he wants to know who the hell Shen Wei is.
"It's not one suspicious thing, it's many." [flashback montage] *sound of brain ticking*
Investigative methods include going for moonlit walks with the ex-suspect while the children are working. *g* Of note is that they walk in lockstep all throughout.
Zhao Yunlan is a slippery eel, as usual; he's a cynical bastard when need be, but he does protect xiao-Guo's ocular innocence and prevent him from looking at the faceless corpse. (Or maybe he just didn't want Guo Changcheng to faint again on his watch.) He goes full-on anti-vigilante with Lin Yusen, then switches tack and gives a spiel on how he was "just like you in my youth" except not, because had he been that naïve, he'd never have survived this long. It's all very interesting from a characterization perspective, and he expertly handles people. I'm pretty convinced that the promise he gave to Lin Yusen at the end was at heart empty: he'd have gotten Lin Yusen the interview, but I doubt he'd have hired him due to the kid's personality. Also, Zhao Yunlan hates vigilantes, unless they're Shen Wei.
These resemble some "tired/wired" image meme about vigilantes Zhao Yunlan approves of.
The Envoy was playing cat and mouse games with Zhu Jiu and only arrived at the scene late, which Zhao Yunlan was justifiably annoyed at. Shen Wei's overreaction is hilarious – he calls Chu Shuzhi over to basically ask whether he was being unreasonable!
The Envoy could've stood to arrive earlier. Note the mirrored poses he and Yunlan have.
Chu Shuzhi's creepy doll makes another appearance! We're told he doesn't like anyone touching it. He also says his vaguely ominous threat of "Some lives are already tainted. Those should be treated like a doll – utterly sundered." He then told Shen Wei that he doesn't compare to the Envoy's toes. Later, we learn that he learned espionage from Zhao Yunlan, who likes to fish. Chu Shuzhi is still annoyed by everything Guo Changcheng does.
This is a pretty decent "shots of Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan" episode.
I really like how Zhu Hong told us that they would have to lure the dude out and then immediately volunteered as bait, even if it would have been hilarious to see e.g. Guo Changcheng try to crossdress. The red dress and lipstick were overkill, yes, but effective. We also got to see her use her Yashou powers, even if she was drugged.
Pow!
This episode, we're told that Zhu Jiu gave the bit piece villains a task. Based on the evidence, I suppose that the task was to make Lin Yusen turn into a vigilante who'd be an annoyance and then blow up in a huge kaboom so that Zhu Jiu could waltz into the crater that once was the SID and pick up the Longevity Dial. However, he just had to go and boast about his plan to the Envoy, leading to Lin Yusen being neutralized before he could make the SID crew go kaboom. Unless his plan was to blow up the Envoy and he just miscalculated the size of the explosion.
Canon details
Dragon City in the middle, but we also see a Cold City, Thousand Cities, ?? Mountain, and three other clocks.
About the freeze thing that came up last episode: IIRC that and this are the only two times it's used, and in this episode we do see Zhu Jiu show his face after its use, and if it were Zhao Yunlan's, he'd have used it on Lin Yusen instead. (But confusingly, both of the times it's used, it's Zhao Yunlan who's yelling "Stop".)
There is another thing I would also like to touch upon, even if solely due to another recap series that shall not be named. That is the paralyzing fog. The paralyzing fog gives us zero plot holes, because as we can see, it's there very close to the Jeep, while fake Zhang Danni is ten meters away and unaffected. We also see Chu Shuzhi recover enough to come over and participate in the action again, all before the Envoy turns up, so no, the Envoy being able to move is not a fucking plot hole.
Cinematography
Mostly dark and moody, but with slightly more shots from a bit above or below sight line!
I also really like this shot:
Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
Zhao Yunlan wears the same leather affair two days in a row.
Shen Wei shoe watch
These are workhorse shoes I recall seeing on him often!
A bit of heel but not stilettos.
Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
No.
Previously on:
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3
This episode concludes the "face-stealing powers" case introduced last episode.
Introductions
Wang Xiangyang and his wife make their first appearance, as the harmless greengrocer who gives Zhao Yunlan some apples and his pregnant wife.
Characterization
The SID has caught on that Shen Wei's nerves really are too steely for a mere university professor (and he looks too alert to be the "I am blithely unconcerned about anything save my research, including personal safety" archetype) and basically they all think that something's up with him. Then he confirms their suspicions by going on the attack against Zhu Hong, intentionally toying with Chu Shuzhi while he creepily wipes off his doll's face, and in general doing a very bad job at acting like a hapless professor. Then he screws up and has to heal an injury in front of Zhao Yunlan.
Really, Shen Wei, would a university professor try to do this?
This is the episode in which Zhao Yunlan is shown to start piecing the clues together. I'm pretty confident he's figured out Shen Wei is some sort of Dixingian, but confirmation is not yet at hand, and the actual identity 1+1 is not yet there. He's got some serious clues, though, and he wants to know who the hell Shen Wei is.
"It's not one suspicious thing, it's many." [flashback montage] *sound of brain ticking*
Investigative methods include going for moonlit walks with the ex-suspect while the children are working. *g* Of note is that they walk in lockstep all throughout.
Zhao Yunlan is a slippery eel, as usual; he's a cynical bastard when need be, but he does protect xiao-Guo's ocular innocence and prevent him from looking at the faceless corpse. (Or maybe he just didn't want Guo Changcheng to faint again on his watch.) He goes full-on anti-vigilante with Lin Yusen, then switches tack and gives a spiel on how he was "just like you in my youth" except not, because had he been that naïve, he'd never have survived this long. It's all very interesting from a characterization perspective, and he expertly handles people. I'm pretty convinced that the promise he gave to Lin Yusen at the end was at heart empty: he'd have gotten Lin Yusen the interview, but I doubt he'd have hired him due to the kid's personality. Also, Zhao Yunlan hates vigilantes, unless they're Shen Wei.
These resemble some "tired/wired" image meme about vigilantes Zhao Yunlan approves of.
The Envoy was playing cat and mouse games with Zhu Jiu and only arrived at the scene late, which Zhao Yunlan was justifiably annoyed at. Shen Wei's overreaction is hilarious – he calls Chu Shuzhi over to basically ask whether he was being unreasonable!
The Envoy could've stood to arrive earlier. Note the mirrored poses he and Yunlan have.
Chu Shuzhi's creepy doll makes another appearance! We're told he doesn't like anyone touching it. He also says his vaguely ominous threat of "Some lives are already tainted. Those should be treated like a doll – utterly sundered." He then told Shen Wei that he doesn't compare to the Envoy's toes. Later, we learn that he learned espionage from Zhao Yunlan, who likes to fish. Chu Shuzhi is still annoyed by everything Guo Changcheng does.
This is a pretty decent "shots of Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan" episode.
I really like how Zhu Hong told us that they would have to lure the dude out and then immediately volunteered as bait, even if it would have been hilarious to see e.g. Guo Changcheng try to crossdress. The red dress and lipstick were overkill, yes, but effective. We also got to see her use her Yashou powers, even if she was drugged.
Pow!
This episode, we're told that Zhu Jiu gave the bit piece villains a task. Based on the evidence, I suppose that the task was to make Lin Yusen turn into a vigilante who'd be an annoyance and then blow up in a huge kaboom so that Zhu Jiu could waltz into the crater that once was the SID and pick up the Longevity Dial. However, he just had to go and boast about his plan to the Envoy, leading to Lin Yusen being neutralized before he could make the SID crew go kaboom. Unless his plan was to blow up the Envoy and he just miscalculated the size of the explosion.
Canon details
- Dragon City is large enough to have "sides". The University is in the north, while the crime scenes are in the south.
- Zhao Yunlan's mother died "a long time ago", and would be proud to see her son keep such intellectual company.
- This is the episode we're told about the "Haixing energy + Dixing energy = big kaboom" recipe.
- You know that "the vast mountains connect to the seas" thing Kunlun named Shen Wei after? I just realized that baby Shen Wei later said he came from the mountains, and Haixing means "sea star".
- The other clocks on the wall are also for imaginary cities, and I can only conclude that the entire planet uses solar time.
Dragon City in the middle, but we also see a Cold City, Thousand Cities, ?? Mountain, and three other clocks.
About the freeze thing that came up last episode: IIRC that and this are the only two times it's used, and in this episode we do see Zhu Jiu show his face after its use, and if it were Zhao Yunlan's, he'd have used it on Lin Yusen instead. (But confusingly, both of the times it's used, it's Zhao Yunlan who's yelling "Stop".)
There is another thing I would also like to touch upon, even if solely due to another recap series that shall not be named. That is the paralyzing fog. The paralyzing fog gives us zero plot holes, because as we can see, it's there very close to the Jeep, while fake Zhang Danni is ten meters away and unaffected. We also see Chu Shuzhi recover enough to come over and participate in the action again, all before the Envoy turns up, so no, the Envoy being able to move is not a fucking plot hole.
Cinematography
Mostly dark and moody, but with slightly more shots from a bit above or below sight line!
I also really like this shot:
Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
Zhao Yunlan wears the same leather affair two days in a row.
Shen Wei shoe watch
These are workhorse shoes I recall seeing on him often!
A bit of heel but not stilettos.
Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
No.
Zhu Hong and Shen Wei
*record scratch* Do we ever learn when/how they were acquainted before? Does this reflect something in the novel, or what?
Or maybe he just didn't want Guo Changcheng to faint again on his watch.
Or puking! Or screaming, or just being someone they'd have to *deal* with.
The absolute #1 thing I love about Zhao Yunlan (in a crowded field) is that no-one praises his intelligence, he's not IDed as The Smart One or like Sherlock Holmes-- but we can SEE him thinking and being smart, we can see him putting the evidence together without cheating. SO refreshing compared to the Crime-Fighter Team Leaders in American TV.
When they walk side-by-side the shortness of Zhu Yilong's arms is hilariously obvious to me.
I think I saw someone say that the interrogation scenes in this ep are where Chinese fandom jerked upright and said, "OMG! He's not just super-pretty, he can really act!"
[also, what is the Chinese equivalent of OMG? 不可思议?]
Re: Zhu Hong and Shen Wei
Good point about Zhao Yunlan being intelligent in a less lampshaded way than American media would present him. A lot of cdramas are more understated in that way, AFAIK.
Re: Zhu Hong and Shen Wei
What are the implications of Shen Wei asking if Zhu Hong is "not fully evolved"? And of her saying that she's what's holding back the Snake Tribe?
Re: Zhu Hong and Shen Wei
Shen Wei's basically dissing her for her not having the full Snake Yashou power of hypnotism. Zhu Hong storms off and does the dramatic exaggeration thing of "Yeah, sure, I am the thing that is holding back all of human development, fuck you!" – I don't know how to really explain it better than that.
Re: Zhu Hong and Shen Wei
AHA, now I see what he was talking about! nothing to see here, just my brain ...