Guardian Episode by Episode: 05

[extrapenguin]

Welcome to Episode 5 of the Guardian rewatchalong! If I am only somewhat coherent, it is because work has been hectic and I haven't gotten enough sleep lately. This week's imgur screencaps album has 69 images. In this episode, we meet Dixing, get characterization, and I also bring up cinematography, as usual.

Previously on:
Episode 1, Episode 2, Episode 3, Episode 4

This episode starts and concludes the bathroom kidnappings case and starts the mirror girl case.

Introductions
We're briefly introduced to Dixing!

Dixing! In front and on the left, some sort of town/city/village; on the right, what's probably the palace atop a mountain that's halfway into becoming lava. Doesn't it look like a wonderful place to live?

Dixing is foreboding, Dixing is dark, Dixing looks like a primordial hellscape. We see some geometric-ish buildings and large gates. The light is a bit bluish.

Characterization
This episode, we see Shen Wei start to be affected by his association with the SID: the Dean comes to his office and tells him he has to move out for a bit but continue teaching and research as usual. Shen Wei's expression is curiously blank and a bit sad at moments, but he already anticipated this development or decided he absolutely must move opposite to Zhao Yunlan for other reasons.

They meet in Shen Wei's office over tea at 9 sharp.

He also later does some plainclothes envoying by meaningfully walking past Butler Wu (while he's being interrogated by Zhao Yunlan – Shen Wei, it's almost as if you want him to suspect you) to draw him out, then ominously gives him a few days to finish up business here before transporting him back to Dixing. I'm a bit unclear on how Wu Tian'en broke the treaty, but maybe it was due to him not reporting back to Dixing from the sojourn? Another intriguing tidbit is that Wu Tian'en must've seen the Envoy unmasked, because how else would Shen Wei taking off his glasses make him recognizable as the Envoy?

He finishes up by unfreezing the onlookers while not even looking at them like a badass.

Zhao Yunlan, on the other hand, has been doing his job of being very good at getting people to open up. He also spotted it when Shen Wei very meaningfully walked past the interrogation in the café. Later on, when Da Qing suggested calling up the Envoy, he declined (probably didn't want to call on the Envoy just because), but called Shen Wei instead. It was a very interesting conversation: light in sentiment, feeling almost playful and flirty at times, and then it contains stuff like Zhao Yunlan saying that whatever is fishy with Shen Wei, Zhao Yunlan will certainly get to the bottom of it.


Zhao Yunlan also continues on the anti-vigilante track started last episode. He tells Wu Xiaojun, "For the crimes these people committed, the law will punish them." Then there's a cut to the scene of the SID and Wu Tian'en, which I'll talk about a bit later.

Some thoughts on Chu Shuzhi: we see him start to correct Huang Chaoyang over the Special Investigation Department's name, and he tells Guo Changcheng that "No matter whether they're human or not, wherever there are groups, there is class and hieararcy, and thus there is endless killing and oppression." (He may or may not have gotten his dramatic speech skills from the Black-Cloaked Envoy.) However, we're informed that he's changed – he pokes fun at Zhao Yunlan and then Zhao Yunlan comments that he didn't used to do such things.

Smug face after making fun of his boss.

Next, two pieces of pictorial evidence I would like to present:

Lin Jing is a giant.

In the manner of all cats everywhere, Da Qing goes for the high ground, even when jogging.

Now, some thoughts on the SID as a whole! We see Lin Jing with a popcorn machine feed everyone (except Chu Shuzhi), and Zhao Yunlan not only tolerates this, but eats all the popcorn. (A few episodes ago, he stole a cake, and now he steals the popcorn!) When Zhu Hong comes to complain about wasting SID resources, Guo Changcheng brings an offering of popcorn, and she is appeased. It's very domestic and kind of cute.

Zhao Yunlan hops onto the table like a civilized person who was in no way raised by cats.

When Wu Tian'en is injured by the dart Huang Chaoyang's men shoot him with, he's dragged to the SID couch (via bodily lifting and a car trip?) and then Guo Changcheng, the pure soul he is, is very much moved by the father-son display of affection and requests to use the Longevity Dial. Zhao Yunlan chooses to use it himself, however, and the moment it activates, the Black-Cloaked Envoy turns up to scold him. (Did he rig up some sort of alarm system on Zhao Yunlan and/or the Dial? If not, how else did he get this timing – did he assimilate a Dixing power that lets him know when Zhao Yunlan is doing something stupid?) Shen Wei then asks whether it's worth it for Zhao Yunlan to shorten his life to save a Dixingian, to which Zhao Yunlan replies that a life is a life. I'd say this is a capstone to the conversations the two of them have been having about whether Dixingians are people: Zhao Yunlan doesn't evade the question and instead resoundingly answers with "Yes, you are."

Shen Wei gets a bit misty-eyed at it all. The SID really has changed from Zhao Xinci's day.

Then the Envoy saves Wu Tian'en out of gratitude, and we get to see more of the troubles of Dixing we've been told about: someone sent people over with orders to kill the witnesses. It might even have been the Lord of Dixing.

Zhu Jiu's involvement is easy to guess: he incited Wu Xiaojun into villainy, and hoped he'd get the father in as well.

Canon details

• Wu Tian'en has been employed by Huang Chaoyang for 20 years and 7 months. Wu Xiaojun disappeared 20 years ago. ("I watched him grow up as well" my ass, Huang Chaoyang!) The Envoy also sent Wu Tian'en upstairs on an expedition 20 years ago. I suppose this is maths-able as the expedition being 20 and change years ago, after which Wu Tian'en's wife took their son to search for dad, the wife died due to some reason, and then let's say 19 years and 10 months ago Huang Chaoyang made Wu Xiaojun disappear. This timeline would be very compact, and mean Wu Tian'en had one very crappy year.
• The expedition captain also survived, but lived on to commit crimes and then was shot dead before Shen Wei got to him. (Maybe he betrayed the rest of the expedition?)
• Wang Zheng suggest that maybe the Hallows are sentient.
• The SID has several databases of Dixing abilities they've encountered.
• The SID has a robot spider.

What they all call each other
Guo Changcheng at one point refers to Lin Jing as "Lin Jing-ge".

Cinematography
This show isn't afraid of being colorful and saturated! We also see lots of shots from afar...

...and from above...

Look at this scene composition! It is amazing. Green, saturated, and a V-shaped outline.
...and below.

Showdown at high noon.

We also see lots of shots via mirrors.


Zhao Yunlan jacket watch
We see one very nice vest thingy that I want to own stat, worn for two days in a row, a repeat of the leather jacket of last episode, and jogging gear, then back to the nice vest thingy.



Shen Wei shoe watch
No clear close-ups of his shoes this week, but his black ones definitely have some heel, and his brown ones seem to have some as well.


Did Shen Wei take off his glasses?
Yes, to intimidate Wu Tian'en/reveal himself as the Envoy.

Comments

[jo_lasalle]

Zhao Yunlan hops onto the table like a civilized person who was in no way raised by cats.

THIS! The shoes on the table!!

I have to come back to this post when I'm properly awake and fangirl the jackets, but I wanted to leave Shen Wei's cute smile as he walks away from Zhao Yunlan and Da Qing here...

[extrapenguin]

Aww, Shen Wei! So charmed by meeting Zhao Yunlan. ♥

[abyss_valkyrie]

YES YES YES!This bit was just super cute!So glad to see it gif-ed!

[jo_lasalle]

They've really done a good job making it obvious why so many of the Dixingians want to move to the surface. I mean, who would want to live there?

(I really appreciate your documentation & presentation of the show's more striking visuals in these posts, btw. It's very cool.)

Shen Wei's expression is curiously blank and a bit sad at moments, but he already anticipated this development or decided he absolutely must move opposite to Zhao Yunlan for other reasons.

I think as early as episode 2, he's making phone calls about moving, actually. This is very convenient for him. *g*

Another intriguing tidbit is that Wu Tian'en must've seen the Envoy unmasked, because how else would Shen Wei taking off his glasses make him recognizable as the Envoy?

The thing with the glasses in this specific scene is a bit amusing to me, and leaving everything aside, looks a little drama pony with the Dramatic Taking Off of Glasses that conceal exactly nothing.

Lin Jing is a giant.

HE IS.

I find Zhao Yunlan's running gear interesting. I've mostly seen that kind of running gear when it's about UV protection, which would be interesting given that Zhao Yunlan isn't much of a safety stickler (all the SMS reading while driving OMG!!!). That being said, I have no idea if this is just a standard sports outfit in China and not saying anything much. (Looks good on him, in any case.)

Did he rig up some sort of alarm system on Zhao Yunlan and/or the Dial? If not, how else did he get this timing – did he assimilate a Dixing power that lets him know when Zhao Yunlan is doing something stupid?

Given that Zhao Yunlan chewed him out and made him all emo over always arriving a battle late and a scythe short last episode, he might be working on ways to fix his timing!

I'd say this is a capstone to the conversations the two of them have been having about whether Dixingians are people

I had actually not remembered this line well, so I was quite AHA! on the last rewatch. The fact that Shen Wei is so clearly aware of the pre-ZYL SID having been run very differently (and in a way that he considers unpleasant) gives some fodder to the theory that Shen Wei was actively avoiding interacting with the SID. (On the subject of "Why on earth has the BCE not met the SID chief in three years?") Still not without question marks, but Shen Wei's >.< face at the previous incarnation of the SID is really very clear here.

The "expedition" plot always feels to me like a majorly dropped or rerouted plot every. single. time. I know it technically gets picked up again in the next episode, but this ep makes it sound SO important that there was this expedition and there might be leftover people from it, and a child, that it really pings me as 'attention! this will be our subplot in the second half of the show!' Which would have been super interesting, IMO - Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan trying to cobble together a mystery to do with a mission from Shen Wei's early days as the re-woken Envoy. It still puzzles me why that never went anywhere except that super-quick and slightly odd-feeling bow they put on it in episode 6.

Zhao Yunlan jacket watch: the vest is EXCELLENT. The exact match of the early vest combo and the latter vest combo might be a continuity error, as it's still too early for Shen Wei to do Zhao Yunlan's laundry. >_>

You are a brave person for looking closely at Shen Wei's shoes in the episode where his pants barely cover half his calves. MY EYES.

[bonibaru]

GOOD I'm not the only one seeing the Gunslinger vibe in the alley showdown (how about that cross in the upper right corner of that walkaway shot? And the duster length coat! And the lighting! I NEED OLD WEST MARSHALL SHEN WEI ON THE TRAIL OF TRAIN ROBBERS AU PLEASE)

[extrapenguin]

It's so very badass! Good point about Shen Wei's coat being a duster-length one.

[mecurtin]

The expedition captain was *shot*=> I am certain that he was the Dixingian Zhao Xinci shot, killing ZYL's mom via collateral damage.

Since the Envoy was on the expedition captain's trail, I think he learned a) that Zhao Xinci killed him, cutting the captain off as a source of info, and b) that Zhao Xinci chose the "need" to kill a Dixingian *over his own family*. That's one HELL of a lot of bigotry, and definitely explains how he might avoid the SID as much as possible thereafter.

When does someone say the expedition was 20 years ago? I thought it was more like 30.

ETA: Zhao Yunlan hops onto the table like a civilized person who was in no way raised by cats.

I don't care what backstory they give for Daqing later, I am firmly of the belief that Daqing met and lived with bb!ZYL.

ETA ETA: Thank you SO MUCH for the screencaps! I am saving them as you upload them.

[solo]

The thing about the expedition captain and Zhao Xinci is definitely my headcanon now!

[extrapenguin]

Given the "shot dead", Zhao Xinci is almost certainly responsible, though it might not necessarily be during the case where Shen Xi died. Your interpretation is disturbingly plausible, though, and I'll see if the show comments upon it in later episodes.

Shen Wei outright says "twenty years" in one of the conversations he had with Wu Tian'en. (This is in my first watch notes rather than rewatch notes, so I don't have the scene.) It's possible to mentally judo the timeline into other shapes, but those all require interpretation and selectively ignoring some pieces of canon. (My solution is hilaribad, but sort of incorporates all the canon?)

[riventhorn]

Dixing--the vacation spot of the year!!

The depiction of Dixing--or rather, the residents of Dixing--is my biggest disappointment from the show. They live underground, surrounded by lava and empty plains with pillars harboring 10,000 year old villains, and yet almost everybody wanders around in Haixing/Earth fashions and haircuts and apparently are well-versed in things like electric guitars. Where are they getting t-shirts and tennis shoes?!? At least they had the Yashouren dress kind of differently. Even if I feel immensely sorry for Ying Chun having to wear her Disney-fied flower dress.

[solo]

Since it seems fairly easy for Dixingians to get to Haixing (at least when Sha Ya and her sister do it), maybe there's a kind of smuggling ring that brings the latest Haixing fashions and implements to Dixing? And fashion magazines... somewhere in Dixing there's a guy whose special power it is to copy Haixing hair cuts.

I got the feeling that Haixing is what many ordinary Dixingren aspire to (or would, if they didn't know the treaty forbids it), so I could see that kind of thing happening. A bit like people in Soviet Russia wanting to buy your jeans! The people at the palace do dress very differently.

[extrapenguin]

It's almost certainly budget issues, but I wish they'd asked the extras to come to set in their most unfashionable, old-timey, mix-and-match clothes, which would at least give some time depth to the clothing and emphasize that it's not Haixing. The biggest problem is that they have enough energy to power electric guitars but not to power eleventy billion LED lights to make the place bright...

[abyss_valkyrie]

And the fake flowers in her hair. O_o! Chinese traditional clothes are so beautiful and flowy,they could have,I dunno,used some of those to bring out the pretty,flowy,swishy movements of the yashouren.

[qikiqtarjuaq]

Did he assimilate a Dixing power that lets him know when Zhao Yunlan is doing something stupid?

This made me laugh too hard and is now the headcanon I choose to have.



OMG those pretty Envoy eyes. Somewhere in Dixing is an unofficial fanclub for the Envoy and his beauty.

[extrapenguin]

The real reason everyone remembers the Envoy after 10k years is that in addition to the treaty, he was seen as a legendary beauty whom everyone wanted to gaze upon! The real reason he wore the mask was that if he didn't, everyone would have been too busy swooning to get any fighting done!

[solo]

Zhao Yunlan hops onto the table like a civilized person who was in no way raised by cats.

With his shoes on!

I swear, the shoes in this show. I'm very used to Jdrama and this was my first Cdrama ever, and I swear, on first viewing, when I wasn't going "OMG Zhao Yunlan..." or "OMG Shen Wei...", I was shrieking "OMG Shoes!!!" On the table. On the carpet. On the couch. On the bed. Everywhere in the house.

I find it most distressing.

I love that vest thingy too.

Shen Wei pants watch: the blue stripey ones look very short in the meeting with the Principal, but sort of okay in the shoe picture. If it's the same pair. The pale ones are just fine. :)

I don't think I ever noticed the robot spider. Where is the robot spider??

[extrapenguin]

I think the shoes are a function of it being a TV set and thus having a dirty floor; regular Chinese people take off their shoes indoors.

It has to be the same pair of pants, because it's the same suit with the same chest pin thingy. Pants do ride up a bit when the leg is bent, but yes, it's a bit disconcerting. Especially since with the socks, Shen Wei isn't flashing his ankles so much as flashing his shins... Based on the way they sit, he might've rolled the pant legs up a bit for some baffling reason, but so that the extra fold is on the inside. More investigation is required.

The robot spider was used to check the exterior of the building for suspicious things:

[china_shop]

I swear, the shoes in this show. I'm very used to Jdrama and this was my first Cdrama ever, and I swear, on first viewing, when I wasn't going "OMG Zhao Yunlan..." or "OMG Shen Wei...", I was shrieking "OMG Shoes!!!" On the table. On the carpet. On the couch. On the bed. Everywhere in the house.

Ha, I was like that too, after a steady diet of Kdramas. WHY ARE YOU WEARING YOUR SHOES INSIDE?!! (I believe it's because China traditionally had chairs and tables and beds, whereas Japanese and Korean people traditionally did most of their eating and sleeping on the floor.)

The table is the most egregious example by far.

[firestar]

Zhao Yunlan hops onto the table like a civilized person who was in no way raised by cats.

Da Qing is perched on the table too. XD Clearly ZYL came by this honestly.

[lynndyre]

I love their phone-flirting, they're so transparent. XD

I also really love the whole team in the popcorn scene (and I keep wanting to make a "popcorn.ghost" joke about Wang Zheng)

Zhao Yunlan was 300% raised by cats and would like to rub his whiskers all over Shen Wei to prove it.

[extrapenguin]

The popcorn scene is so light-hearted and humorous and I love it! The SID truly does hang together, even if only by power of food. :P

Zhao Yunlan was 300% raised by cats and would like to rub his whiskers all over Shen Wei to prove it.
Oh no, now I want fic where Zhao Yunlan rubs all over Shen Wei to get his smell onto Shen Wei and Shen Wei is just. so. confused. None of the humans at the University do this???

[abyss_valkyrie]

Haha!!That popcorn scene is one of my faves! <3
That vest is one I too want to own right away,it's very flattering on him and looks SO FREAKIN GOOD!
Zhao Yunlan doesn't evade the question and instead resoundingly answers with "Yes, you are." OOHH!!That's a great way to see that bit.

[extrapenguin]

I love the camaraderie of the early-episodes SID! ♥

We start even as early as episode 1 with Shen Wei asking Zhao Yunlan whether Dixingren are human. From then until now, Zhao Yunlan evaded the question, but now, Zhao Yunlan is willing to rebuke the Envoy and give some of his own lifespan so a Dixingren may live. When push came to shove, Zhao Yunlan answered, and the answer was "Yes, you count as human just as much as I do." No wonder Shen Wei went all misty-eyed!

[trobadora]

This episode, we see Shen Wei start to be affected by his association with the SID: the Dean comes to his office and tells him he has to move out for a bit but continue teaching and research as usual. Shen Wei's expression is curiously blank and a bit sad at moments, but he already anticipated this development or decided he absolutely must move opposite to Zhao Yunlan for other reasons.

I don't think he anticipated this? He'd just already decided to get as close to Zhao Yunlan as possible. But yeah, he's definitely sad this is happening, because he does love his job, and he doesn't enjoy having it negatively affected by the rest of his life.

Also, is that Shen Wei's office? I thought it was the Dean's.

He finishes up by unfreezing the onlookers while not even looking at them like a badass.

That's such a great moment. ♥

However, we're informed that he's changed – he pokes fun at Zhao Yunlan and then Zhao Yunlan comments that he didn't used to do such things.

I wonder if that's because he, too, can see the SID's attitude about Dixingren has changed? (I mean, for one, it's hard to notice that change if there aren't any cases where that might become obvious, and also, I do think there's a noticeable change even over the course of the first several episodes.)

Shen Wei then asks whether it's worth it for Zhao Yunlan to shorten his life to save a Dixingian, to which Zhao Yunlan replies that a life is a life. I'd say this is a capstone to the conversations the two of them have been having about whether Dixingians are people: Zhao Yunlan doesn't evade the question and instead resoundingly answers with "Yes, you are."

Yes! He's not prevaricating any more. When the Envoy pushes the issue, Zhao Yunlan passes the test.

I love that little scene so much because it's not just Zhao Yunlan; it's everyone – they all beg the Envoy to help Wu Tian'en, and you can see how touched Shen Wei is by that.

Btw, the heels on Shen Wei’s black shoes (and most of the shoes he's been wearing) look perfectly normal to me for that kind of men's style? Not remarkable at all, unlike the ones in episode 1.

[extrapenguin]

I'm pretty sure it's Shen Wei's office, because it looks a lot like the office Shen Wei has in prior episodes, but it could also be that all the offices are identical due to the architecht just planning it that way (the heathen).

One of my favorite bits of Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan's relationship is that they both wear masks – Shen Wei's are on occasion literal as well as figurative. He puts on the role of Envoy, he puts on the role of Professor, and the real person is somewhere behind it all. (I have long and involved theories about how everyone is but a collection of masks we wear in different contexts, all the way down like an onion, but Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are very good at wearing masks.)

I wonder if that's because he, too, can see the SID's attitude about Dixingren has changed? (I mean, for one, it's hard to notice that change if there aren't any cases where that might become obvious, and also, I do think there's a noticeable change even over the course of the first several episodes.)
DAMN I didn't even think of that. Yeah, that's ... depressingly plausible. And the SID being a terrible working environment for Dixingians would explain why Chu Shuzhi wasn't present for the popcorn scene, why he's so grumpy and standoffish, why he's such a colossal Envoy fanboy (he's doing this for the Envoy, so to make the pain lesser, he'll just put the Envoy on a greater and greater pedestal to justify it all), and it's all so very depressing. Of course he'd be relieved when his boss starts seeing him as a human.

Btw, the heels on Shen Wei’s black shoes (and most of the shoes he's been wearing) look perfectly normal to me for that kind of men's style? Not remarkable at all, unlike the ones in episode 1.
This might depend on the region, but from my observations the heels on his shoes are on the taller end of normal here. He does own shoes with more heel on them, though, even leaving out the ones from episode 1.