I feel like if the director never lead us on to thinking he would be okay and heal we wouldn’t be so negatively…
If we assume that he did die by suicide, I think the show portrayed aspects of it accurately, even though I personally don't believe that was what happened.
I don't think we were misled by the director. I think we were misled by the character and by our own hopefulness.
As viewers, we were led to believe that Qing Tian might be getting better, just like all the people who were close to him. But when I look back at his character, I don't think he ever showed signs that he believed things were getting better. Instead, he behaved the same way he always had, pretending that everything was okay. We believed him, just like the people around him did.
For that specific moment, I think we became so invested in the story that we entered their world and experienced it as reality. At least, that's how it felt for me. I cried, and for a moment, I genuinely felt like I had lost someone I knew.
I am not sure if Qing Tian actually killed himself just because of the place and timing.
I am sure he might have had suicidal thoughts, but I do not think he actually killed himself. I don't think he would have done it while his brother was around him, and I don't think he would have disappeared into the woods when there were still people nearby.
While leaving one's shoes behind is sometimes associated with suicide, I still doubt he would have done it under those circumstances. It would have been more believable if it had happened at night rather than in the middle of a walk with a group of people after telling someone he was going ahead.
There is also a scene where Qing Tian where he is taking a close-up photo of the ghost flower and he says that he is going to show it to Xu Wen Shu.
Another thing that stood out to me is his phone. After taking the close-up picture of the ghost flower, Qing Tian throws his phone away. If that's the case, was the phone ever recovered? I don't remember it being found and it should be near the flower and the shoe.
This also looks like they only burned one shoe, not the body. That makes me think the body was never actually found.
I would also expect that, in most cases, they would continue searching for the body so they could recover it and hold a proper funeral, rather than simply giving up.
Or maybe I'm just trying my best to convince myself that he's still alive.
I don't think we were misled by the director. I think we were misled by the character and by our own hopefulness.
As viewers, we were led to believe that Qing Tian might be getting better, just like all the people who were close to him. But when I look back at his character, I don't think he ever showed signs that he believed things were getting better. Instead, he behaved the same way he always had, pretending that everything was okay. We believed him, just like the people around him did.
For that specific moment, I think we became so invested in the story that we entered their world and experienced it as reality. At least, that's how it felt for me. I cried, and for a moment, I genuinely felt like I had lost someone I knew.
I am sure he might have had suicidal thoughts, but I do not think he actually killed himself. I don't think he would have done it while his brother was around him, and I don't think he would have disappeared into the woods when there were still people nearby.
While leaving one's shoes behind is sometimes associated with suicide, I still doubt he would have done it under those circumstances. It would have been more believable if it had happened at night rather than in the middle of a walk with a group of people after telling someone he was going ahead.
There is also a scene where Qing Tian where he is taking a close-up photo of the ghost flower and he says that he is going to show it to Xu Wen Shu.
Another thing that stood out to me is his phone.
After taking the close-up picture of the ghost flower, Qing Tian throws his phone away. If that's the case, was the phone ever recovered? I don't remember it being found and it should be near the flower and the shoe.
This also looks like they only burned one shoe, not the body. That makes me think the body was never actually found.
I would also expect that, in most cases, they would continue searching for the body so they could recover it and hold a proper funeral, rather than simply giving up.
Or maybe I'm just trying my best to convince myself that he's still alive.