*Episode premise spoilers, which includes major spoilers from episode 30.*
Another strong episode. The love polygon stuff continues to shift in engaging and interesting ways, and Zhang Wuji goes through the emotional wringer in today’s episode. Difficult for him, but it’s super compelling to watch!
In the last episode, Zhang Wuji was marooned on Granny Golden Flower’s island with his godfather and his lady friends. However, it seems they were betrayed by Zhao Min: she disappeared overnight, and when the others woke, the Dragon Sabre and Heaven Sword were gone, Zhu’er’s face had been brutally slashed, and the others had been weakened by poison. When Zhu’er succumbed to her injuries, all evidence suggested that Miss Zhao had signed her own death warrant with her villainous actions.
But not everything is as it seems. Zhao Min sends boats to retrieve Zhang Wuji and his companions, and when they arrive back home, it’s time to investigate. After recent revelations about Beggar Sect, Wuji spies on them, but a surprise encounter with Miss Zhao leaves him confused. He tells himself that she has to die for what she’s done, but as she deflects the accusations, he’s not sure what to believe.
The big theme here is that Xie Xun and Zhou Zhiruo are set in their convictions, but they both sense that Zhang Wuji is less certain than they are. Miss Zhou worries that, despite everything, Wuji still has feelings for Zhao Min and that will dash any hope of him getting together with her. Meanwhile, Xie Xun thinks his godson is a bit too soft and noble for what needs to be done. There’s an early scene where Xie Xun gives Wuji a bait-and-switch on a plan they’ve agreed to, maneuvering Wuji into a position where he can’t stop his godfather. Against Wuji’s protests, Xie Xun declares, “One has to be vicious and do what is needed to protect himself.”
This episode helps clarify some of the stuff going on with Beggar Sect for me. When a show has so many characters and a lot of them are giving kind some of subterfuge, it can be hard to follow everything at times. But as Wuji spies on them here, I get a better sense of what they’re doing, both on their own and with the aid of a traitor they’ve strongarmed into helping them.
More than anything, this is an episode about Zhang Wuji and Zhao Min. Maybe part of this is just my sadness at The Acolyte getting canceled (why?!?), but the enemies-to-lovers vibe they have going on is really working for me. Miss Zhao doesn’t pretend to be righteous, and it’s clear that she’s not pro-good guys—she’s just pro-Wuji. But she’s hurt when she realizes what she’s accused of doing, and in between trying to help Wuji on his mission, she tries to suss out whether he really believes she’s capable of that. At more than one point, she tries to save him from his own nobility, pointing out the underhanded tricks that are being perpetrated against him and urging him to go on the offensive.
Meanwhile, Zhang Wuji is dealing with a lot. He’s still reeling from everything that happened on the island. Between Xie Xun and Zhou Zhiruo telling him Zhao Min has to die and Miss Zhao insisting there’s more to the situation than he knows, he’s not sure what to believe. When he confronts Miss Zhao, even as he accuses her, it sounds more like he’s trying to convince himself. He tells her, “I’ve never seen someone as cruel as you are. I must punish you today.” But he doesn’t really fight her. He says, “Luckily, Godfather was less stupid and righteous than I am. He didn’t fall for your trick.” But he’s not entirely sure if he can trust his godfather.
Throughout the show, Zhang Wuji has been trying to do what’s right, but it’s not always clear what that is. Tony Leung Chiu-wai does a nice job capturing his conflicted feelings here, the way Wuji is pulled in a few different directions. He’s trying to take charge, and he’s trying to pretend he has more resolve than he does, but he also doesn’t want anyone innocent to get hurt, and he’s being pricked at by doubts. There are moments in the episode where he’s just trying to keep his head above water and figure out what’s going on. You can feel his confusion and desperation, the slightly panicked undertone beneath his calmer nature.
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