*Spoilers from episode 27.*
The theme of today’s episode is Zhang Wuji and the Women Who Love Him. There’s cool martial arts action and lore stuff going on as well, of course, but the throughline of the story is the relationships.
Before I get started, a quick housekeeping reminder: Zhao Min/Miss Zhao is the princess and martial artist who captured the sect leaders. Zhao is the shackled servant woman who’s devoted to Zhang Wuji.
In the last episode, Ming sect helped to free the martial artists who’d been captured by Zhao Min. Now, Zhang Wuji is accompanying Miss Zhao to find the Dragon Sabre, as part of an oath he took to accomplish three tasks for her. On their way, they encounter the villainous Granny Golden Flower as she’s threatening Ermei sect, especially Zhou Zhiruo. Wuji is torn between fulfilling his mission for Miss Zhao and protecting Miss Zhou.
Other than a brief section following Master Song of Wudang, we stick with Zhang Wuji for the whole episode, even if he’s sometimes just in the background observing. So I’ll drop right into it, arranging my thoughts according to the different important women in the episode.
Zhao has been pretty ride-or-die for Zhang Wuji since they met, and while Wuji clearly regards and respects her, that’s often extended to wanting her to stay behind in order to be safe. That is not what Zhao is about at all. When she hears that Wuji is going to be making a dangerous journey to find the Dragon Sabre, she insists on joining him, saying, “I’m not afraid, as long as I’m with you. I’m not afraid of anything.” And when she realizes that he’s doing this at the instruction of Zhao Min, she’s even more determined to come along. Understandably, she doesn’t trust Miss Zhao, and despite Wuji’s obvious martial arts prowess, she still wants to be there to look after him.
It's been clear for a while that Zhao hero worships Zhang Wuji at minimum and most likely has feelings for him. This is the first episode where I’ve seriously wondered if Wuji is into her as well. When he comes to tell her he’s leaving, they open on some sweet banter that feels kind of flirty on both sides. I still think Zhou Zhiruo is probably foremost in his affections, but it seems like there might be some feelings here as well. He acknowledges the “it’s complicated” nature of the whole thing, asking Zhao if he’s an ingrate for receiving affections from multiple women. I appreciate this consideration he shows to his servant, not wanting to treat her unfairly in all this. Tony Leung Chiu-wai strikes a nice tone with his performance here: a little flirtatious, but also respectful and sensitive.
During the escape in episode 26, one notable casualty was the Ermei Priestess, who named Zhou Zhiruo her successor before she died and made her swear never to get involved with Zhang Wuji. Miss Zhou has been trying to live up to her new role, but she can’t fully give up Wuji, and the Ermei disciples accuse her of going to look for him. That’s what they’re arguing about when Granny Golden Flower rolls up, along with her acolyte Zhu’er—we don’t really see anything of Zhu’er’s relationship with Wuji in this episode, but I still wanted to mention her.
While all this is going down, Zhang Wuji is observing in secret with Zhao Min and Zhao. Leung face acting has always been strong, and he does a lovely job here showing everything that’s going through his head as he watches Zhou Zhiruo’s predicament: first being confronted by her own sect, then being maliciously toyed with by Granny Golden Flower. He’s plainly upset to see her in trouble, but it also definitely registers that she’s been defying the late Priestess’s orders not to associate with him. Not to mention, his reactions are tempered by the fact that the possessively jealous Miss Zhao is right beside him. So it’s not just Leung showing us what Wuji is thinking. It’s showing us what he’s thinking while he’s trying not to give it away.
Which, of course, brings us to Zhao Min. Despite Zhang Wuji’s efforts, he can’t fully disguise his feelings, and while he and Zhao are watching the unfolding drama in front of them, Miss Zhao is studying his face for his response. And he knows it.
But rather than her go-to move of threatening to kill or disfigure Zhou Zhiruo, Miss Zhao’s own response is more measured. She’s making a greater effort to make Wuji happy here, perhaps because her family would rather have him killed than attempt to win him over to their side—her loyalties are more conflicted now that she knows they’re gunning for the man she clearly likes. This leads her to do a few fairly un-Miss-Zhao-like things in this episode, surprising Wuji more than once.
The race for Zhang Wuji’s heart is still up in the air, or at least it is to me. Zhou Zhiruo seems to have been the strongest contender on his side so far, but I could easily see a few different endgame paths here.
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