Slo-Mo Rewatch: Guardian episode 15, part 1

[china_shop]

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

Here are the previous weeks' rewatch posts.

Episode 15, up to 23:56

Summary
Cong Bo hacks into the university CCTV and hits paydirt when he sees Shen Wei use dark energy and talk to a smoke messenger from the Regent. Cong Bo goes to Zhao Yunlan and threatens to expose Shen Wei and the SID. The Apology Scene!!! Shen Wei has taken off his glasses; Zhao Yunlan sprawls barefoot on a barstool. Also, Zhao Yunlan has a plan: Lin Jing remotely wipes Cong Bo's hard drive, and Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan pay Cong Bo a visit, showing him the error of his ways and inviting him to join them. Zhu Jiu is still wounded and still holding a grudge against Zhao Yunlan. Zhao Yunlan and Shen Wei celebrate their success with a toast (water), and Shen Wei explains his power. Zhao Yunlan attempts a do-over of his request for compensation last episode, and this time he gets it right by asking Shen Wei to tidy his not-very-messy flat. Changcheng writes in his diary. In the SID lab, Zhao Yunlan contemplates groping the Hallows again, but Shen Wei catches him and offers a better strategy for finding the missing two Hallows. Zhao Yunlan takes him out for a meal (no drinking!), which tragically happens off-screen. Zhu Hong is drunk and crying because Zhao Yunlan doesn't want her; Da Qing and Guo Changcheng offer comfort. The next morning, an old man arrives in Dragon City, nearly gets hit by a delivery van, and is rescued by a solicitous Changcheng. They meet again a few minutes later, whereupon the old man asks for directions to 4 Guangming Rd. Dun-dun-DUNNN!



Quote
Da Qing to Zhu Hong: You're good in all aspects. You have a special physique that can provide a promising talent: warm in winter, cold in summer.

Detail
I love that when Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan toast having dealt with the Cong Bo threat, Zhao Yunlan as well as Shen Wei is drinking water.

Also, I don't think I've registered before that Cong Bo was also spying on Ya Qing and that this had constrained her movements. (I'm impressed she didn't just kill him!)

Questions
Any thoughts about Zhao Yunlan's changed hairstyle? (Is it why Zhu Hong is drinking?) Do you think Zhao Yunlan had forgotten about the banner cam, or he just hadn't come up with a way to take it down without admitting he'd put it there in the first place? When Shen Wei sees the smoke filtering through the blinds, he immediately summons his blade: who or what does he think it might be? What is Zhao Yunlan's first thought when Cong Bo shows him the blackmail material? How do you feel about Cong Bo and his motives? What's your favourite thing about the apology scene? Do you like Cong Bo's apartment? After the averted-Hallows-groping scene, does Zhao Yunlan take Shen Wei out for street food, or do they go somewhere nice? (How date-like is it??) What was your first impression of the Regent? Does he deliberately target Changcheng (and if so, what does this say about his information networks in Haixing)?

Did you see any parallels in these scenes with other parts of the drama? If you're familiar with the novel, any thoughts about how the drama adaptation compares, if at all?

(As usual, 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. We'd love to hear your thoughts!)

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Comments

[china_shop]

Yes! Isn't that neat? :D

It's very cool! And it makes sense of why Ya Qing isn't just killing them. ;-p

> And yes, I love ZYL silently confessing his feelings, taking that risk.

YES, exactly! :D :D :D

Though with plausible deniability. *pets him*

I think he's being hypervigilant, and also messengers are comparatively rare and/or usually come on a mostly-regular schedule to bring reports from Dixing?

*nodnod* That makes sense. There's something later on about the Dijun expecting him, isn't there? So they must have regular meetings.

He does write something down about powers! And yeah, possibly - "law enforcement guy from weird agency has weird powers" and "respected professor has weird powers" isn't quite the same thing. But you'd think when he's looking for the SID's secrets, that he'd go after that angle more. Idk, it's just all weird.

Yeah, I think it's more that he went from "weird secret agency" to "this pillar of the community is associating with that weird secret agency, and also has his own weird secrets." It's more clickbaity that way, perhaps?

> Good cop, bad cop!! :DDDDDDD

Indeed! And not so heavy-handed that it's immediately obvious that's what they're doing, but clearly there all the same.

Yes -- all very low-key, and both of them being 100% themselves, but specific aspects of themselves. <3

Oh, yes! I'd forgotten that, I should reread that fic ...

<3 <3 <3

[trobadora]

There's something later on about the Dijun expecting him, isn't there? So they must have regular meetings.

Yes! Excellent point.

It's more clickbaity that way, perhaps?

Haha, definitely Cong Bo's number one priority! *g*

all very low-key, and both of them being 100% themselves, but specific aspects of themselves. <3

This! It's so good. :D