Episode 20: Many Unhappy Reunions

[wshaffer]

 Zhanalytics

Brooding Stares: 15

Intense Eye Contact: 5

Facial Twitch: 1

Fist Clench: 0

 

And it's the eyeballs again. 

Wen Chao is not doing well. 

Wei Wuxian is playing the flute outside. 

 

And Wen Chao stabs Wang Liangjiao. Which doesn't seem to stop her at all. 

 

And Wang Liangjiao is cutting up her own face with a broken pottery shard. This is hard to watch. 

 

Wen Chao is losing his shit but is rescued by Wen Zhuliu. The long-suffering Wen Zhuliu. 

 

Jiang Cheng smashes open the door of the supervisory office with Zidian and then looks at Lan Zhan like, "Damn, bro, why do we find corpses wherever we go?"

 

CSI Yiling determines that they all died from different causes. 

 

Hmmm, do you recognize the handwriting on that talisman? I get the feeling that Lan Zhan thinks he recognizes the handwriting on that talisman, and he's not happy. 

 

A survivor in the dungeon? Just one? Where's my cinnamon roll? 

 

Starting off trying to convince Wen Qing to join the Jiang Clan by listing off all of the reasons he has to hate her clan has big Mr. Darcy energy. I still don't understand what happened when he got his golden core back, but clearly no flirting lessons were learned. 

 

Jiang Cheng is like, "Shoot, this marriage proposal is harder than I thought." To be fair, if Mr. Darcy had had to wrap up with, "But of course I will have to abandon your sweet cinnamon roll of a younger brother and the rest of your clan to their fates," Eliza Bennet probably wouldn't have been impressed either. Aw, but Jiang Cheng does give her the comb. That was sweet. 

 

On the road to Qishan, they come across more dead Wunderlings. 

 

I love how Lan Zhan keeps expressing unease at this strange person slaughtering Wen clan left and right and Jiang Cheng keeps basically insisting that "The enemy of my enemy is my friend." Ironic, given how things turn out. 

 

Through a conveniently placed hole in the roof, Lan Zhan and Jiang Cheng get to observe Wen Chao losing his shit. And apparently, all of his hair. WTF. 

 

Wen Chao is still an asshole, though. 

 

Someone with a flute is walking very slowly up the stairs. It's Wei Wuxian.

 

Wei Wuxian plays the flute. Wen Chao freaks out. Lan Zhan looks horrified. Everyone's a music critic these days. 

 

A lady in red with long red fingernails attacks Wen Zhuliu. I don't know who she is but AAAAAAAAH! 

 

We may need to add "sweaty upper lip" to the Zhanalytics. 

 

Finally, Lan Zhan has had enough and just busts a hole in the roof. Jiang Cheng gets to nab Wen Zhuliu. 

 

I kind of feel sorry for Wen Chao. A little bit? I mean, I was genuinely looking forward to him getting his comeuppance, but this is just pathetic. 

 

"You prick, where have you been for the last three months?" Jiang Cheng, never change. 

 

"I should call you Huangang Jun now." Is that cultivator-speak for "Let's just be friends"? The expression on Lan Zhan's face suggests so. 

 

Actually, I think this is the greatest amount of dialogue Lan Zhan has uttered up to this point. To summarize...

Lan Zhan: Wicked tricks are bad!

Wei Wuxian: You're not the boss of me! (With strong subtext of, "And you ditched me at Danger Turtle cave, WTF")

Jiang Cheng: Yeah, and you're Lan clan, it's none of your business. 

Silent stare from Lan Zhan that says, "Dude, I practically married him, why does no one understand this?"

 

Interesting that that is one of the few times I've heard Lan Zhan use "Wei Wuxian" rather than "Wei Ying". And one of the few times Wei Wuxian uses "Lan Wangji". I'm reading it as Lan Zhan switching to a more formal (and thus more distant/less affectionate) name, and Wei Wuxian retaliating by using the more informal name, implying less deference. (See: "You're not the boss of me!") Or something like that. 

 

And so we end with no happy reunion. Maybe next time? 

Comments

[teleidoplex]

Characters: Use each other's full names/titles
Fandom: Nooooooo! Why my OTP breaking up wuwuwu (wuwuwu is the Chinese onomatopoeia for crying)

The irony is super ironic. And Jiang Cheng is totally Angry Grape Darcy <3

And that scene of the red ghost drifting up the stairs is one of my favorite shots for being so pretty/creepy