A Little TLC(w): The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Season 1, Episode 34 (1986)

*Episode premise spoilers, which include spoilers from episode 33.*

Quick side note: major shoutout to La Máquina on Hulu. I’ve been waiting for this new Diego Luna/Gael García Bernal miniseries for a while, and it’s finally here! First of all, it’s excellent—once I finishe The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre, my Diego Luna reviews are going to take this weekly slot on the blog, and I already have write-ups for all six episodes locked and loaded. Second, the show has also given my brain something wonderful to obsess over while I wait for more Bucky-Yelena content for Thunderbolts*. Truly, the hero we need in these times!

Okay, onto The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre.

Big happenings today! In both the martial arts dealings and the interpersonal relationships, we get some major shakeups. I’m looking forward to seeing where we go from here.

In an attempt to prove his devotion to Zhou Zhiruo once and for all, Zhang Wuji suggests they move up their plans to get married. But wouldn’t you know it, Zhao Min crashes the ceremony. Interestingly, she’s not just there to stop the wedding—she has an important message for Wuji while also coming to collect her second command from him. In other news, a spurned Miss Zhou is not someone to mess with, and we discover where Xie Xun has been the past few episodes.

I’ll touch on the Xie Xun stuff quickly. Zhang Wuji’s godfather finds himself on the ropes once again, but as usual, he’s not ready to be counted out. Bonus points to his captors, who have the audacity to tell him, “Please don’t misunderstand. We are not trying to trap you. The three of us are just protecting you from harm.” Oh, you guys are so dead when he escapes/is rescued!

With the way the love polygon plot has been going, I knew we weren’t going to wrap it up with six episodes left in the series, so it’s no surprise that Zhao Min swoops in when she does. But I really like how this whole scene plays out. Rather than doing the whole “I object!” thing, she comes with crucial information that Zhang Wuji is desperate to know—her intel is time-sensitive, and while she’s obviously not going to feel guilty about crashing his wedding, she knows he very genuinely does need to come with her immediately. She also offers him some cover by making this the second of her three commands. Even if Wuji really wants to come with her, due to her intel as well as his conflicted feelings about the wedding, she presents it so he’s not technically choosing this quest over Zhou Zhiruo. Instead, she’s ordering him to come, and he’s just fulfilling his honor-bound duty to do as she says.

Still, it’s not not about the various feelings involved. When she first orders him to leave the ceremony, Zhang Wuji argues that she’d agreed she wouldn’t command him to hurt or betray anyone, which walking out on Zhou Zhiruo would do. In response, Zhao Min replies, “If you marry Miss Zhou today, you’re not only betraying yourself, you’re being unfilial too.” Brr! And between these two women, Miss Zhou has generally been portrayed as the softer, more “innocent” one, but when she realizes what’s happening, she is ready to throw down. There’s an interesting reveal about Miss Zhou knowing moves that someone from a righteous sect shouldn’t know, and I’m curious to see where that leads.

At this point, Zhang Wuji basically knows his heart is fully on board the Zhao Min train, but his head has been preventing the rest of him from following suit. Moving up the wedding when he was having doubts was a supremely bad move, and honestly, he kind of deserves to have it blow up in his face like this. Even if Miss Zhao hadn’t shown up and he’d gotten married, it wouldn’t have fixed the real problem, and then where would he be?

Tony Leung Chiu-wai does a terrific job throughout this whole extended scene. It’s clear that part of Zhang Wuji wishes he could think of Zhao Min as just a villain—a “demoness,” as a lot of other characters call her. But he can’t fully quit her either, and I think there’s also a tiny part of him that’s just a little relieved to hit “pause” on the wedding. Once they run off together, they do have serious martial arts business to address, but there’s some definite flirting too. Wuji tries to demure, claiming that he’s unworthy of a princess like Miss Zhao, and he busts out a bit of patented Tony Leung Yearning with the line, “I wonder which lucky prince consort would get to marry you.” Miss Zhao replies, “You can still be lucky if you want.”

Honestly, I don’t know if I’d be so interested in these two if The Acolyte hadn’t been canceled and I hadn’t been missing my favorite new enemies-to-lovers ship. Maybe it’s just good timing, but either way, I’m really enjoying this dance between Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min!

Other Doctor Lives: Jessica Jones: Season 1, Episode 12 – “Take a Bloody Number” (2015)

*Returning character spoilers.*

If you read many episode reviews on this blog, you know I like a good penultimate episode. With a finale, there can be a question of whether or not you’ll stick the landing, but a penultimate episode can just go big, raising the stakes to a fever pitch. Because this season of Jessica Jones is so exciting, action-packed, and emotional anyway, I wouldn’t say this episode stands out in particular with the tension it brings, but it’s still a great episode that, I remember, left me sitting on the edge of my seat for the finale when I watched it for the first time.

Kilgrave’s making moves, and Jessica feels her window to catch him closing—if she doesn’t act soon, he could become too powerful for her to take him down. Luke has just come back into the picture and joins her pursuit, and together, they prepare for a showdown. Meanwhile, Trish does some digging that uncovers more secrets than she bargained for, and Malcolm questions whether he should stay in the fight.

Both the supporting-character subplots are good here. I like Trish in investigation mode, and she’s also forced to stand up to some personal demons along the way. The show takes Trish to all sorts of places over the course of the series, but I like pretty much everything about her character in this season, qualities and flaws alike. And while Malcolm is mostly outside the fray, he has some big personal stuff going on too, and I appreciate seeing how his driving force is consistently the care he shows other people. He doesn’t have powers, and he doesn’t have influence or special skills to contribute to something like stopping Kilgrave, but that doesn’t stop him from helping in whatever way he can.

It’s good to see Luke again. I’ll admit that, of the main Netflix Marvel actors, Mike Colter isn’t at the top of my list, but he really brings it in the action scenes. Both he and Krysten Ritter tear it up here, and I enjoy the different angle that his powers add to the proceedings. Also, I stan a moment where he and Jessica are heading into a dangerous situation, Jessica wants him to hang back so she can protect him, and he listens to her/respects her wishes. You love to see it.

Episode 11 didn’t have any Kilgrave in it, but he’s back with a vengeance here, just being so Kilgrave. Being petty and punishing someone in a completely outsized way for mildly irritating him? Check. Being staggeringly deluded about his perception of his “relationship” with Jessica? So much so. Being creepy as all get-out, unpredictable, and casually menacing? Absolutely. He hasn’t fully rebounded from a recent run-in with Jessica, and yet he’s more dangerous than ever, going for bigger gambits and fueled by rage and obsession. What a terrible human being. David Tennant plays all of this expertly.

Big Neurodivergent Energy Shows: 11-15

Mostly sitcoms today. I feel like sitcoms in general lend themselves well to neurodivergent interpretations, with lots of quirky characters who have outsized reactions to things. But there’s a difference between “yeah, I could see that” ND interpretations and “omg, autistic/ADHD AF!!!” ND interpretations. And these shows? Far more the latter!

 

Abbott Elementary

I went into this show knowing that a lot of autistic folks claim Gregory, and he’s positively spectacular—episode about safe foods! Not a drill! But I wasn’t prepared to get bowled over by the rest of the cast, especially my beloved Janine. She and Gregory are my favorite workplace sitcom will-they-won’t-they since Leslie Knope and Ben Wyatt (surprise, surprise!) A beautiful show with room for all kinds of brains, including Melissa being canonically dyslexic!

 

Community

It’s not just Abed, which it is. It’s not just some of the other characters, which it is. It’s the lovingly intricate pop culture references and long-game commitment to bits. It’s the theme of broken, lonely people who are better when they’re together. It’s the turn of the jokes and the depth of the existential crises. A beautifully autistic show that’s often brilliant and sometimes messy, one that resonates with me on so many levels.

 

Good Omens

Production on season 3 has paused for now, which is good (ugh, Neil Gaiman, why?), but even if my feelings about the show have grown more complicated due to behind-the-scenes issues, I still really love these characters and their relationship. I love how Aziraphale and Crowley both feel autistic to me in completely different ways, which contributes to them fitting so well together despite having such different sensibilities. Really excited to see these two find their happy ending!

 

The Good Place

Like Community, this is a show with a great “freebie” autistic-coded character in Chidi, but he’s just a gateway to discovering how neurodivergent the show feels as a whole. I love every single one of the characters and how they interact with one another, the wordplay is delicious, and I love the notion that people aren’t “good” or “bad” but are always capable of better, especially with the love and support of those around them. And come on, this is a network sitcom that regularly features ruminations on moral philosophy! You love to see it.

 

We Are Lady Parts

I feel like there’s some strong overlap between neurodivergence and punk, so this show might’ve had Big ND Energy no matter what, but the neurodivergent coding is definitely strong with this one. Most of the characters give off a vibe, but most especially Amina and Saira. Like Aziraphale and Crowley, they have such polar-opposite traits but fit together so well. I love both of them so much, and I adore the show’s heart, bite, and quirkiness.