A Little TLC(w): The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre: Season 1, Episode 40 (1986)

*Spoilers for episode 39.*

At long last, here we are! The series finale of The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre. As far as finales go, especially for a martial arts show, it’s a bit understated, but I enjoy it.

In the last episode, all the sects teamed up to fight the Mongolians, led by Zhao Min’s family. Here, Zhang Wuji seeks guidance for how they might be defeated, while also getting in just a little more romantic drama before the final buzzer.

I went into this episode expecting it to be, like 75% battle, with bits of character stuff wedged in between the cracks. But actually, while the final battle with the Mongolians has a prominent position within the finale, it doesn’t take over the episode. A lot of screentime is devoted to the more personal storylines, and we’re allowed a lengthy denouement. Within the battle itself, I enjoy seeing some of the tricky war tactics, and both the Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre play key roles, although not necessarily in the way you’d expect.

But again, this isn’t ultimately a battle episode. We spend time with the warriors of Wudang sect. In particular, we see them wrestle with the question of what to do about Master Song—he betrayed Wudang in a horrible way, but he was also severely injured during the lion-killing event, and while some of the Wudang brothers are focused on revenge or punishment, others think there’s nothing more to be done. We get a bit more sentimental stuff with Xie Xun, and we catch up with the major disciples of Ming sect.

I’d thought that episode 39 fully settled the love polygon question, with Zhang Wuji both realizing and declaring his love for Zhao Min, but the finale needs to inject a bit more suspense into his love life. Zhou Zhiruo is hurt trying to defend Miss Zhao, who’s definitely quick to comment on the tender exchanges between Wuji and Miss Zhou at her bedside. And as much as Ming has been ride-or-die for Wuji, their hatred for the Mongolians runs deep, and they don’t know if they can accept their sect leader being romantically involved with one.

This final point is crucial. As I said in my episode 39 write-up, when Zhang Wuji chooses Zhao Min, it’s an incredibly rare instance of him acting based on what he wants rather than what he thinks he’s supposed to do. Wuji is a character who’s given a lot of himself to others, and it feels like the one time he prioritizes himself, going after the woman he loves without regard for others’ expectations, he’s almost immediately asked to give her up to preserve harmony within Ming sect.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai plays this really well. Goodness knows he can play besotted and yearning well, and Zhang Wuji’s strong sense of duty/honor has been evident throughout his time on the show. I like watching that noble inclination towards duty wrestle with his love for Zhao Min. He insists, “That’s not fair to Sister Min. She has left her family and her people because of me. How can I leave her because my brothers are mistaken about her.” What Ming is asking of him, he feels, is “not just a difficult position. It’s unjust and immoral.” But he’s still conflicted about it, because of course he is. He’s Wuji, and considering the needs of others is kind of what he does.

I won’t spoil the ending, of course. I’ll just say this, on a personal note: my DVD copy had some quality issues at the end of the finale, and for the last five or six minutes, the video was choppy and the subtitles were intermittent. Argh! I could see enough to know what was happening, and I picked up the gist of the unsubtitled bits from context, but it was a frustrating way to finish out the series.

Before I get to final thoughts, I want to mention that this will be the last weekly A Little TLC(w) post for now. Hopefully I’ll be able to get my hands on some of Leung’s other early TV work someday—the shows that are available to watch but have no English subtitles are the ones that really haunt me. And I’ll still review new films from him as I’m able to access them. But for my weekly actor reviews, I’m switching over to Y tu Luna también. My La Máquina write-ups have been burning a hole in my pocket, and I’m excited to start posting them!

All right, last thoughts on The New Heaven Sword and Dragon Sabre:

Recommend?

In General – If you like martial arts stuff and don’t mind special effects from the 1980s, sure. This is a dense series with dozens of characters, but it’s entertaining, and I had a good time watching it.

Tony Leung Chiu-wai – I think so. When it comes to Leung’s TV performances, I’d probably rate this below both The Duke of Mount Deer and The Yang’s Saga. Still, he was quite enjoyable as this character.

Warnings

Violence (including references to sexual violence,) drinking, strong thematic elements (including suicide,) and disabled characters played by nondisabled actors.

Other Doctor Lives: True Detective: Season 4, Episode 5 – “Night Country: Part 5” (2023)

*Spoilers from episode 4.*

Penultimate episode! Worthy of that label, I’d say—we get major revelations in the case, significant complications, and a high-stakes ending. And while I am going to be watching the season finale, this will be my last episode review, since it’s the last one featuring Christopher Eccleston/Connolly.

Danvers and Navarro found Otto Heiss, the man who survived injuries similar to those of the dead scientists, and Danvers thinks he can lead them to where Annie was killed. But as they get closer to the truth, larger forces try to stop the investigation. Meanwhile, the police respond violently to a protest at the mine and Prior’s wife is fed up with his job always coming first.

I really like how things come together here. The whole protest sequence is done very well, a mix of drama, politics, and character moments, and it’s especially interesting when Navarro comes on the scene. As for the central mystery, I don’t have too many guesses going into the finale, but we get some good clues here—I can feel the knot tightening on the investigation. In this episode, new information is uncovered that could point toward motive, and we’re given insight into both the “Night Country” title and Annie’s tattoo, a symbol that’s been cropped up throughout the story.

But even as Danvers and Navarro fight to find answers, someone else is fighting to stop them. A bunch of cold water gets thrown on the investigation through bureaucratic obstruction and a suspiciously convenient forensics report. It’s clear that someone wants the case swept under the rug, and pushing through that will be easier said than done—there are incriminating secrets involved, and continuing to pursue the case is putting a target on their backs.

By the way, there’s a character named Kate who has a prestigious job at the mine. I thought in earlier episodes that I recognized the actress, but I couldn’t place her. Well, I looked her up, and it turns out it’s Dervla Kirwan, who played Miss Hartigan on the Doctor Who Christmas special “The Next Doctor.” She played opposite David Tennant, not Christopher Eccleston, but it still makes it fun to see them in a scene together here.

Eccleston ends his time on the series a bit unceremoniously. Connolly is only in a couple scenes here, as part of the “all right, let’s get this case sewn up all neat and tidy” faction of the episode. Even though he hasn’t been a huge presence on the show, this feels like a shift from how he’s been established. On some level, it makes sense for his character that Connolly would play politics and go along with one of the most influential people in the town, but we’ve previously seen him more in Danvers’s corner. And Danvers’s reaction backs up the notion that he's acting out of character. Whereas before she would complain and bust his balls, in this episode she outright says, “What happened to you?” Since Eccleston isn’t in the finale, it’ll be interesting to see if the last episode sheds any further light on Connolly’s actions here.

All right, this is where we get off! Final thoughts on “Night Country”:

Accent Watch

Generic American, pretty good.

Recommend?

In General – I would, provided you’re okay with violent imagery and horror elements, and you’ve made your peace with the inherent copaganda of a show like this. It’s a strong show with great acting and an engaging mystery. I’m excited to see how it ends!

Christopher Eccleston – I’d put it at a maybe. Eccleston isn’t really in enough of the season that it’d be satisfying to watch it purely for his appearances, but if you have any interest in the show otherwise, his contribution definitely adds to the proceedings.

Warnings

Graphic violence/gore, sexual content, drinking/smoking/drug use, language, and strong thematic elements (including Missing and Murdered Indigenous Women and parental violence.)

A Few Thoughts on Big Neurodivergent Energy Stories: Theme Edition

*Spoilers for an assortment of BNE stories.*

I’ve loved all the common traits I’ve talked about so far for Big Neurodivergent Energy stories, and pretty much all of them contribute to my love for these stories. But I think today’s entries are the biggest key for me. It’s the themes that take them from stories I love to stories I need, the stories that sit inside me and warm my soul.

 

Found Family

This one’s maybe a bit obvious, but that’s okay. Found family dynamics aren’t exclusive to BNE stories, of course. But they’re such an important factor in many of them. Frequently, these are characters who haven’t belonged anywhere else, a ragtag band of disparate misfits who lovingly get on each other’s nerves and will defend each other to the death. We see it with ensembles, like Community, Our Flag Means Death, and Maya and the Three. We see it in smaller configurations too, a few characters who become one another’s everything. This relationship might have a romantic bent (more on that another day!), like we see with Elizabeth and Calvin in Lessons in Chemistry or Crowley and Aziraphale in Good Omens. But they can be more familial too: think Matilda and Miss Honey in Matilda, or my beloved Nimona and Ballister in Nimona. Whether a big group or just a duo, these found families make it safe for the characters to be who they are.

 

Broken But Worthy of Love

Some subscribe to the notion that, before someone is ready to love someone else, they need to learn to love themselves first. That they have to work on themselves, get their own house in order, and then they’ll be ready. But BNE stories don’t tend to follow that idea. Instead, they often take the view that the people least “ready” for love are the most in need of it. Someone doesn’t need to “fix” themselves before they can be loved—they can be met where they are, messy and broken but still deserving. On Pushing Daisies, Ned is riddled with trauma and trust issues, but he still gets to be with Chuck. On Our Flag Means Death, Ed is convinced he’s an unlovable monster, but Stede loves him just as desperately when he’s at his lowest. On Crazy Ex-Girlfriend, throwing herself into ill-advised relationships has been a toxic pattern for Rebecca, and once she gets into a good therapy program, she needs to be convinced that she still deserves real love along her way to healing. In A Wrinkle in Time, Calvin compliments Meg’s “dreamboat eyes” right after she breaks down crying in front of him and emphasizes what a mess she is. For a familial example, let’s look at Everything Everywhere All at Once: Evelyn complains that Joy is getting fat and never calls in the same breath that she says she’d rather be standing in a parking lot arguing with her daughter than anywhere else in the multiverse. 

 

Forgiveness is Given, Not Earned

Related to the paragraph above, this one really hits me hard. I don’t know why, but fandom involves a lot of judgment: which character is in the wrong, how much do they need to be punished for what they’ve done, and what do they have to suffer before other characters should forgive them or they can be considered “redeemed”? From Ted Lasso, “Nate doesn’t deserve to come back to AFC Richmond after how he betrayed Ted!” From Our Flag Means Death, “I can’t believe Izzy apologize to Ed, the man who shot him, at the end of season 2!” From Good Omens, “Aziraphale better grovel before Crowley forgives him in season 3!” And so on and so on. But so often, BNE stories reject that punitive mindset in favor of grace. AFC Richmond invites Nate to come back. Izzy recognizes that the hurt Ed caused him doesn’t erase the hurt he caused Ed (and vice versa.) The Twelfth Doctor immediately forgives Clara for a deep, grief-stricken betrayal on Doctor Who, and a major thesis of The Good Place is that humans will never be “good enough,” but condemning them for that robs them of their chance to always do better.

 

Radical Compassion

Following the last paragraph, this is a storytelling theme I’ve loved for years, and it’s something I’ve written about before, but it’s only much more recently that I connected it to BNE stories. It goes beyond forgiving friends/former friends who’ve wronged us, seeing hostility and antagonism and instead choosing love and empathy. It’s Moana singing to Te Kā in Moana. It’s Waymond begging Evelyn to “please, be kind” during the final battle in Everything Everywhere All at Once. It’s Kipo repeatedly trying to connect with her opponents in Kipo and the Age of Wonderbeasts. It’s Meg realizing that the only way she can fight IT is by loving Charles Wallace in A Wrinkle in Time. I just love it so much.

 

Radical Change to Make Life Worth Living

This is an important component. A major theme with neurodivergent-coded protagonists is that they don’t fit in with the larger world around them, not just because they’re “weird” or “socially awkward,” but because they have A Thing. Something inside of them that needs to come out, or something calling to them that they need to follow. When this happens, their story is almost always about going against everything society tells them they’re supposed to do/want in order to pursue their Thing and hold it close to them. It’s why so many Disney princess resonate on an ND level, from Ariel to Moana to Mulan. On Doctor Who, we see it in how the Doctor runs away from Gallifrey to travel in the TARDIS, seeing the universe and helping people in trouble. Amélie becomes a full-time do-gooder, concocting elaborate schemes to better people’s lives in inventive and whimsical ways. In Polite Society, no one understands Ria’s fierce dedication to becoming a stuntwoman, and she won’t let anybody tell her that she can’t succeed because of her size. On DuckTales, Scrooge leads the family on expeditions, not just to find treasure and increase his wealth, but because adventuring is in their blood and they couldn’t be content with “ordinary” lives. On We Are Lady Parts, Amina keeps telling herself everything “proper” she’s supposed to be doing with her life, but playing with Lady Parts unlocks something in her that she never knew was there. On Our Flag Means Death, Stede literally runs away from his life as a wealthy landowner to become a pirate!