Wenxia

Just finished ep17: The experiment arc was fantastic! Kept me at the edge of my seat and made me emotional with everyone working together. The Shande x Su Liang brotherhood is surprisingly growing on me:)) I also loved the short intro about Shande meeting his wife. She's funny. I finally feel like the plot has direction and isn't going in circles. Generally, I have the same feeling as I did with the last Cao Dun drama I watched (Hunter) - when it's good it's amazing, when it drags it's like sucking litchi jelly through a straw.

Wow this is a blast from the past! and a full-length adaptation?? Nice! I'm not in the mood for Chai Jidan's brand of humour right now, but someone please tell me if that scene where WSW pelts glass dildos at Chi Cheng’s father through the window made it into the drama. I always felt it had great cinematic potential;)

Afaik Spirealm got taken down in China within an hour. One person managed to download it and shared it with the world:)

Why this drama was censored twice is anyone's guess really.

I finally got to watch the last episode and What. A. Beautiful. Ending! It honestly exceeded my expectations. I probably look like Du Jia right now crying into my ice cream but I'm just so happy everyone got closure and so grateful we got to see the full story! That last shot will stay with me for a long long time❤️❤️❤️

No apaths but the book touches on the subject of nature vs nurture and the inheritability of criminal behaviour. Plus book FD feels similarly about whatever genetic predispositions he inherited from his father, so that mutation doesn't really change the plot of the drama in a significant way.
Also, I don't think it was ever confirmed in the show that PS or his father were apaths. In one of the early eps Tao Ze tells as much to Lan Qiao. The testing is not mandatory and the results don't seem to be conclusive. I think they wanted to leave it to our own interpretation.

Ep28 was fantastic! Deeply emotional from the first scene to the last …and PS's smile when they talked about passwords😍 The words remained unspoken but I sure could feel the sentiment in that look.

Ep29: they're closing all the threads very quickly, which is a pity, because I quite liked that part of the book and hoped to see more of it on-screen. But I'm glad they didn't linger on the brothers. Poor WZ, just one step behind 🥺

I'm all caught up! Sooo excited about the finale. I hope no bs open ending🙏

Can't believe PS has Zhang Donglan saved in his phone as ‘philosopher’😂 I missed that guy! He’s hilariously sincere. If he and Du Jia got a spinoff, I'd totally watch it:D

Same! Those scenes of Xiao Wu radiantly smiling and taking care of Yang Xi were such tearjerkers. I was wondering why they made her an intern at SID, cause she didn't really do anything there. I guess it was all so they could kill us with those scenes later😭

Yeah, it all seems to always circle back to the theme of free will vs determinism, but I have a hard time accepting the way she shot him. She could've threatened him first, so they could run away... I'm starting ep28 now fully prepared for more gut punches;)

Haha true! And it worked, it made me wonder right away;)

Interesting, I haven't considered it. That'd make their relationship even more complicated.
I completely agree with you about the reasons for his resentment towards Shande - it's the resentment towards his father that got me puzzled.

Thank you:* I wonder if they left the number four on purpose, so we go looking in the script:)

Sorry, I didn't make it clear. I can read Chinese. In ep27 WZ's phone shows he received 4 messages from PS but one was blacked out in post-production, that's why I was asking. Anyway, I already found the answer:)

You mean Shande hid the news of her sickness from Pingan too? Yes, I think I took his words about her dying without medicine too literally. It’s probably just that he thinks his sister would've had better care if she had her old high status and feels resentful. I'm treating that guy as an unreliable narrator from now on:)

Thank you, what you wrote makes perfect sense to me. After I thought on it more, I also felt him being a teenager fit best. I can definitely see him clinging to those friends for a while, unwilling to accept his change in status. I think I put too much stock in what he said to the boss - forgot he's not a reliable narrator and was probably exaggerating his standing with those guys.
Teen angst and being a spoiled brat would also somewhat explain his feelings towards his father and blindness to what was afoot.

Ep27: I’m glad I delayed watching this ep, it was intense and heartbreaking. I loved the suspense and the way that shootout scene was directed but why on earth did they enter that building before backup arrived? I could understand it if they thought YX was in danger, but in this way it just felt like they were risking their lives unnecessarily. They should've just staked out the exits. Gah! my emotions are all over the place.
Also, fantastic acting from FXB in this episode!!

Haven’t watched Guardian yet. WOH was a bit of a phenomenon because at that time so many dangai dramas were in production, people barely paid attention to it. It had one of the lowest budgets (jitd has at least twice the budget and it shows), less famous actors and was mocked online a lot - then it just blew up exceeding everyone's expectations! I'd say it was a case of poor in money, rich in heart;) Personally, I adore both and won't compare them. But your comment made me think about the different experience watching both dramas. I caught WOH airing early and it was the best drama chasing time I ever had. The fandom was crazy fun and creative, and there was sooo much content. When I compare it to today, it just makes me sad. I hope jitd team is getting recognition at least unofficially. They deserve it.

Hah, I'm tough! I still haven't watched ep27 cause the comments scared me. I'm thinking I can watch the last 4 together but probably the curiosity will eat me alive 😅

Now it's clear:) and thanks for the summary, I was thinking of writing sth like that but I'm way too lazy.

I've never seen an adaptation that novel fans would not complain about:) Personally, I try not to mix the two or I inevitably get disappointed. I've said many times before that I regret reading Modu first, because drama PS has a much more ambiguous and mysterious aura, and I would've loved coming up with different theories about him. Honestly, this is too rewatchable... The episodes are so packed, and leave me with so many thoughts and feelings, I constantly get an itch to rewatch for missed details or emotional moments. It feels like I've already watched 100 episodes of this drama, which normally would've sent me running, but here I am ...hoping it gets re-aired so I can watch it again;)

I'm mid ep9 and a bit confused about the timeline of Pingan’s backstory. How old was he when he was ousted from the Zheng family? Because that dumplings story and Konglang made it sound like he was still a kid, but then how would he be in the position to help his ‘sworn brothers’ in Changan? I also think it a bit strange that he would be so quick to believe in his father's guilt but harbor no ill feelings towards the Zheng family. At first I thought he was too little to remember him, but it sounds like they had a good relationship, so why didn't he already suspect foul play? Also, he said his sister died because they had no money for medicine but shouldn't he be already working and earning a lot by that time? Guys, what did I miss?