#making this post is how i just found out the guy who plays uncle tong directed kinnporsche? okay

[itwoodbeprefect]

starsky & hutch throwing their badges into the ocean is etched so very deeply into my brain that every time i get to the part in bad buddy where pran wanders to the ocean shore while a sad piano score plays and then he looks down at the little box holding a set of earphones pat gave him, like this:

i can HEAR myself thinking "NO. do NOT throw those into the ocean in a ZERO WASTE VILLAGE" even though he's never thrown them into the ocean before and it probably doesn't particularly look like he's going to if you're not someone who is always on some level thinking about starsky & hutch targets without a badge: part 1, which aired on march 6th 1979

[trishmilburn]

An Exploration of The Untamed’s Romance & Mystery, Episode 3

Disclaimer: This post and others in this series will be filled with loads of spoilers if you haven’t seen The Untamed, the Chinese drama based on Mo Xiang Tong Xiu’s novel, Mo Dao Zu Shi (The Grandmaster of Demonic Cultivation). My chief interest in doing this series as I re-watch the drama is to chronicle the development of the romance between Wei Ying and Lan Zhan, but I also highlight the progression of the mystery that helps bring them together. Keep in mind that I’m writing these posts with the knowledge of what’s going to happen throughout the series and having read the novel.

On to Episode 3...

We’re still in the past, when our main characters are teens. Wei Ying and his adoptive brother and sister, Jiang Cheng and Jiang Yanli, are at an inn, wanting to rest for the night before proceeding onto the Cloud Recesses, where they are headed for a lecture series. But the inn’s owner is telling them that they can’t stay there because another lord has booked the entire place. When two young women, disciples of the Jin Clan, arrive to make sure all the arrangements have been made for their lord’s arrival, Yanli realizes who must have booked the inn – Jin Zixuan, the only legitimate child of Jin Guangshan, head of the Jin Clan. Zixuan is also Yanli’s fiancé, though we realize the relationship is strained because it’s a marriage arranged by their mothers, long-time friends, when Zixuan and Yanli were very young. But more on that later.

Determined to get a room for the Jiangs’ party, Wei Ying pulls out his charm and his adorable, mischievous smile and starts flirting with Mian Mian (remember that name), one of the two Jin disciples. Gradually, he convinces her to let him have a room. But that new arrangement quickly changes when the inn owner comes to the room and says they have to leave. When Wei Ying and the Jiangs step into the hallway and come face to face with Jin Zixuan and his entourage, there is a brief moment of truth on Zixuan’s face before he hides it. When he saw Yanli, it’s obvious he likes her. This is something that is more obvious to me on this second viewing, though easily missed when you’re still trying to figure out who everyone is and how they relate to each other.

As they are leaving, Jiang Cheng and Wei Ying note how sad their older sister is after the encounter with Zixuan, and Wei Ying wonders what Jiang Fengmian (Cheng and Yanli’s father and his adoptive uncle) was thinking to arrange a marriage between their sweet senior sister and that flowery peacock.

When we first see the Cloud Recesses from a distance, it looks cool and verdant, the exact kind of place you’d expect the Lan Clan to reside. I kind of want to live there, except for all those rules we’ll soon learn about. When Wei Ying and the Jiangs arrive at the gate, they realize they accidentally left their invitation to the lecture series at the inn during their hasty departure. Wei Ying is trying desperately to get the Lan at the gate to let them in because is a long trip back to town and it’s going to be dark soon. But the gatekeeper says they can’t enter without the invitation.

Cue the entry of Lan Wangji, aka Lan Zhan, the man who will eventually become the most important person in the world to Wei Ying, though he hasn’t the first clue about that yet. Neither of them do. But the look on Wei Ying’s face when he sees this incredibly handsome man with the cool, emotionless exterior reveals at least some interest. It’s just curiosity at this point, but I believe a little seed of attraction just sprouted somewhere inside Wei Ying, one that will grow and grow in the days and months and years ahead.

The Lans who are accompanying Lan Zhan carry in a man on a stretcher. Jiang Cheng wonders how the man died, but Wei Ying says he’s not dead, just possessed by evil sorcery. This observation draws Lan Zhan’s attention, seeming to surprise him, though he says nothing.

Wei Ying shifts his argument for allowing them entry to the Cloud Recesses to Lan Zhan, since he has the power to overrule the rule. But Lan Zhan maintains the whole no invitation, no entry stance. Frustrated, Wei Ying continues to argue until Lan Zhan puts a muting spell on him and walks away. The original Lan at the gate tells Wei Ying the spell can only be removed by a Lan Clan member but if he doesn’t struggle against it, it will dissipate on its own in five minutes. But Wei Ying, being Wei Ying, continues to try to talk. Lan Zhan, who is a bit up the path now, stops and partially looks back over his shoulder at the sound of Wei Ying’s struggles. That right there is his own curiosity planting the seed of something more within him. He will deny this…until he doesn’t.

After night falls, we see the Jiangs sitting around a campfire as they wait for Wei Ying to return from town with the lost invitation. Surprisingly, Lan Zhan arrives at the campsite and lets the group in despite their lack of an invitation. When Wei Ying returns to find his family gone and no one guarding the gate, he tries to enter only to find there is an invisible barrier. But Wei Ying easily passes through after drawing a spell/talisman in the air. He’s pleased with himself as he heads into the Cloud Recesses with not only the invitation but also two bottles of Emperor’s Smile, an alcoholic beverage famous far and wide for its taste. But he’s already started breaking several of the many, many Lan Clan rules. First, he broke the barrier to enter. Then he has alcohol. And finally, he climbs over the wall surrounding the Lan compound. And his entry does not go unnoticed. Once atop the wall with his alcohol, he notices Lan Zhan watching him emotionlessly from nearby. When Lan Zhan informs him of the rules he’s broken, Wei Ying replies that he’s never been to the Cloud Recesses before so how could he possibly know about those rules? And then he proceeds to break another by trying to bribe Lan Zhan with the Emperor’s Smile.

When Wei Ying tries to drop into the courtyard below, out comes Lan Zhan’s sword, Bichen, to stop him. Soon they are engaged in a sword fight on the rooftops under the moonlight as “WangXian” plays in the background. That’s their song, though we haven’t gotten to its creation yet. I mean, who doesn’t engage in a bit of swordfighting before falling in love, right?

In the midst of this, Lan Zhan thinks that Wei Ying is “impenetrably thickheaded,” while Wei Ying tells Lan Zhan that he’s “heartless, unreasonable, pedantic and old-fashioned.” This string of adjectives earns Wei Ying a second dose of the muting spell.

Next we see Lan Xichen, Lan Zhan’s older brother, examining the “dead guy” and telling their uncle, Lan Qiren, how strange the marks on the guy’s body are and how this situation is something they’ve never seen before. (Oh, but it’s not going to be the last, dear Xichen.) Xichen tells Qiren there have been reports of disappearing cultivators, and Lan Zhan was asked to investigate. When Xichen hears someone outside, he covers the guy with a cloth before Lan Zhan brings the misbehaving Wei Ying before his two elders. After hearing what happened, Lan Xichen tells Wei Ying that while it’s understandable that he didn’t know the rules yet, he’ll still be punished. Okay, not fair, but that’s the breaks in the Cloud Recesses. (But if the Lans are that strict and unyielding, this also gives us a hint of how out of the ordinary it was for Lan Zhan to let the Jiangs in without their invitation, and you have to wonder if he thought Wei Ying would be with them when he did so.) Xichen asks his younger brother what he thinks will be a suitable punishment for Wei Ying’s infractions, and Lan Zhan responds with copying the house rules 300 times. There are a LOT of rules for the Gusu Lan Sect – as in more than 3,000 of them. Imagine how unexcited Wei Ying is at the prospect of copying them 300 times. He struggles to say so though he’s still under the muting spell, at least until Xichen tells Lan Zhan to release him from the spell.

But after Wei Ying tells Xichen and Qiren about the whole disagreement at the front gate regarding the lost invitation, Xichen reveals to Wei Ying that not only has his family safely arrived in the Cloud Recesses but it also was Lan Zhan who allowed them to enter. Lan Zhan tries to prevent his brother from revealing that latter fact, likely not wanting Wei Ying to know he caved and that Wei Ying’s protests might have had something to do with him changing his mind, but it didn’t work. Wei Ying approaches Lan Zhan to apologize, but Lan Zhan grips Bichen tightly and backs away from him. At this point, Lan Zhan is not only cut off emotionally, he’s also uncomfortable with physical contact with other people. This boy is holding a lot inside, as we’ll see in the future.

Wei Ying spots the covered body and asks if he’s dead because he wasn’t earlier. All three of the Lans seem surprised when he says this.

Cut to the Heavenly Nightless City, home of the Qishan Wen Sect. I personally think this place is inappropriately named because it looks more like Mount Doom and tells the audience in no uncertain terms that these are the bad guys of our story. Wen Ruohan, head of the sect, is speaking to a pretty young woman named Wen Qing. He’s instructing her that she’ll be going to the Cloud Recesses the next day, accompanied by Wen Chao. Her task while there isn’t so much to learn but to find one of the shattered pieces of Yin Metal like the one found at Great Brahma Mountain (which is also sometimes translated as Dafan Mountain). This metal, if all the parts are brought together, is tremendously powerful. Wen Ruohan wants to use it to subdue and rule over all the other cultivational sects. Yes, he’s a very bad guy who has a very dark and uncomfortable looking throne. Wen Qing asks if she can take Wen Ning, her younger brother, who has been weak since he was young, with her. Wen Ruohan asks if she thinks he’ll be mistreated if she leaves him behind, and though she says she’d never presume to think such a thing, that’s exactly what she’s thinking. Must protect cinnamon roll Wen Ning at all costs! Wen Ruohan agrees, saying that Wen Ning’s unique body might actually help her. I didn’t realize this statement was a clue and foreshadowing when I watched The Untamed the first time.

After Wen Qing leaves, we see Wen Ruohan snap his fingers. Instead of it being a Thanos-type dusting, this snapping actually activates the dead-ish guy back in the Cloud Recesses. He opens his eyes to reveal pure white and he sits up. Wei Ying and the Lans come to the conclusion that he’s a ghost puppet. When Lan Xichen and Lan Zhan step outside, Xichen tells Lan Zhan that the person who is using evil sorcery to control the ghost puppet may have great ambitions and that the disappearing cultivators may be just the start of their evil actions.

Then we have a lovely moment of brotherly conversation in which Xichen tells Lan Zhan that he’s never had to worry about him, that he’s mature and dependable, but wonders if his expectations for him are too high. He then tells Lan Zhan that among the visiting cultivators are several who are Lan Zhan’s age and he should make some friends. When Xichen says that he thinks Young Lord Wei isn’t bad, Lan Zhan looks surprised – or as surprised as Lan Zhan ever looks. This early in the first viewing I hadn’t yet grasped how very good actor Wang Yibo was at conveying Lan Zhan’s feelings through microexpressions. He was, in fact, a perfect casting choice for this role, though early feedback from fans was reportedly less than enthusiastic. Well, he showed them. Ha ha! Wang Yibo IS Lan Zhan now. I’ll never be able to picture anyone else in that role.

Xichen continues, saying that though Wei Ying acts out of bounds, he is also clever, quick-witted and has a bright personality. He is likely thinking these qualities would be good influences on his quiet, serious and closed-off younger brother. He notices Lan Zhan is once again gripping his sword tightly. When he asks Lan Zhan if when he fought with Wei Ying if their skills were evenly matched, Lan Zhan doesn’t answer and simply walks away. Instead of thinking his brother rude, Xichen actually smiles in amusement. He likes seeing that someone has finally gotten under Lan Zhan’s skin and cool exterior, making him act out of character. We have just witnessed the first step in Xichen becoming WangXian’s biggest shipper.

Finally we see Xue Yang, a beautiful but deadly and kind of crazy dude, with several of the ghost puppets (the missing cultivators) at Mount Doom…oh, I mean Heavenly Nightless City. Seriously, this is the most colossally misnamed place ever. It literally looks like it’s night all the time and is about as heavenly as, oh yeah, Mount Doom. Wen Ruohan tells him to help him find the other pieces of Yin Metal so he can subdue the other sects, mwahahaha. Xue Yang has agreed on the condition that Wen Ruohan keep his promise to give him what he wants, something that at this point remains unrevealed.

And thus ends Episode 3. First steps toward true love have been unknowingly taken while the baddies are being bad.

If you’d like to read my examinations of the previous two episodes, you can find them here:

Episode 1

Episode 2