Lan Ling Wang 《兰陵王》 - Feng Shao Feng, Ariel Lin, Daniel Chan

[panda-pop]

can somebody translate what was XW screaming when YWY is around here. The first time was when they had to get the arrow out of her and the doctor said something. my mandarin isn't good but i kept hearing child is she pregnant? and the second time her cursing at the king and zheng er right?

Thought I'd answer your question before posting a summary of episodes 36-38. The first time, Xue Wu is begging the doctor and Ah Guai/Yu Wen Yong to save the baby. "Lan Ling Wang left me this child. If the child dies, then I don't want to live either!" The second time (after she wakes up from her dream of Xiao Dong bidding her farewell), she cries that she's never hated anyone in her whole life, but she hates Zheng Er and Gao Wei and wants to kill them.

[thisisablackout]

This is exactly why I do not watch dramas before all the episodes are aired. I cannot take the suspense! But after many episodes of unrealistic-lovey-dovey-not-worthy-of-my-time scenes, episode 36,37 and 38 snapped me right out of it.

Let me first rant about LLW's death scene, which I actually was not too interested in because I had already read a spoiler about how the queen (who seems to be suffering from PMS or bipolar disorder or early menopause) decided she wanted LLW to live and be with him while he is vulnerable and unable to fend her off while she does unspeakable things to him.

Let me just insert a mini shipping comment about the scene between ADW and the maid. He-he, I am kind of a ADW fan and I think his face is gorgeous but his awful permed hair does not do him justice.

Moving on, I guess because I was not too excited or depressed over his death scene, I did kind of chuckle at how he "died". Like the way he just fell on his back, which I'm pretty sure under other circumstances he would've died of head trauma if not of the poison.

And whoa, YXW is preggers!

Now onto the King. I have mixed feelings about that man-boy. I mean, sometimes I want to freaking flush his head down a toilet(or whatever they shat in back then) but then there are times where I want to give him a huge hug and pinch his cheeks and, oh I don't know, spank him.

Before I go onto anything else, let us pay a tribute to the adorable and loyal HXD.
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Boy, did he make me cry my eyes out. First it was his death and when I thought the worst was over, I see him again in YXW's dream and that made me cry even harder! It was so sad because I never really noticed his character much before but now when I look at the flashbacks I want to travel back in time and take those arrows for him.

Finally, let me reminisce the super cute drunken ADW. Holy Mother-of-Qi he looks good as a depressed and vulnerable individual in need of a good cuddle from yours truly as oppose to his usual giddy and cheerful self. I just wish he had cried more tears. I don't know if it is just me but do those crying scenes with him and the maid seem a bit forced?

[lovedramas]

finally, YWY.. the YWY that everyone loves.. best scene is probably when he declared that XW will be his concubine.. so much power in those words... he DOES seem really disappointed that LLW is dead so that is some really nice bromance there.. and he was spot on when he said LLW was showing idiotic loyalty and that he should've put up a fight!

I agree with this. I thought that particular part was really excellent. I repeated it a few times earlier when I was watching it.

I thought about commenting on the storyline/script but I think we all know that it's now completely ridiculous in so many ways. I read all the episode synopses although i don't know if they are going to end up being correct. Just couldn't help but get an idea of where in the world this drama is heading. I agree with the general sentiment here and maybe it's the extension that killed it?

Poor FSF. Even with the death thing, his LLW character is just soo poorly written. It's hard for me to really care for his character. I definitely see some very cute moments between the OTP but there's still nothing really for me to pull for them. He is quite wasted in this role cause I think he could do so much better with a better written character. But we all know that too.

I actually think Xiao Dong/Dong Dong (Daniel) is not a very good actor, and also not that great of a singer either. But for some reason, to me, his songs have always just caught my attention and he's easy on the eyes. And plus, my much younger self really liked him. I must say that I did not know I had it in me to be such a loyal fan after all these years. LOL So definitely some bias there, but this drama makes it so easy to be biased by making LLW such a poor character so YWY stands out in the sea of meh. But hopefully this will give him a stepping stone to make a good comeback.

Ariel - love her. But don't love her character. Goodness, as the show drags on, I frankly couldn't care less if she's hanging out there in Zhou Guo. Sometimes I am not even sure why YWY would do all those things for her. Ok, I do know why yet sometimes I feel like I can't see XW's sincerity. Either in the acting or the script, I'm not sure, but something is just a little off for me. I don't expect her to like YWY at all, as her heart is clearly with LLW and that makes sense. It's also a little hard to care for her too as the show goes on. I blame it mostly on the haphazard script.

Xiao Dong (the character) - was really lovely in his last scene. I loved that he saved her. Brave man!

I am sitting here thinking that I should mention something that stood out to me in the last 3 episodes, but I came up blank other than the rescue scene & the YWY's declaration. LLW's goodbye to XW was ok, but while I saw XW's pain when she declared she wanted to kill those 2 over there in Qi Guo, I didn't really feel it. Maybe I just need to watch the last 20 episodes with a different filter or marathon it when it has finished airing.

YWY has a queen/empress. So I am looking forward to seeing what that brings w/XW.

And FXL - she is crazy. Enough said.

[windox123]

YWY has a queen/empress. So I am looking forward to seeing what that brings w/XW.

I wouldn't be surprised with the development of the drama post ep 20 that YWY's queen/empress follows in the footsteps of Liu Liancheng's wife, Ma Xiangyun in Qing Shi Huangfei. Since throwing XW over a cliff's not an option, because falling off cliff scenes been used already - most likely the drama would take the Snow White route & send a henchman to try & kill XW in a forest.

[adjani]

I think in this arc, the ones that stood out at Ariel's Xue Wu and Xiao Dong, so much character development in a short scene. And many of the comments show how versed everyone is with drama scripts as they are. HAHAHA. Pity that Zheng Er turns out to be entirely one dimensional, she is nuts, stalker crazy type and delusional. She does not love LLW, she just wants him and wants to be his wife. She doesn't have a clue what love is. But thats the way she is designed to be I assume.

[panda-pop]

Hahahaha, you guys are so dirty It's awesome to see how many people have joined in the conversation. Watching Lan Ling Wang wouldn't have been as fun without all of you around!

I have mixed feelings about episodes 36, 37, and 38. One one hand, the majority of the cast delivers on the emotional intensity you'd expect to see in anticipation of/response to Lan Ling Wang's "death." On the other hand, this show never passes on an opportunity to insert a flashback sequence.. or fifty. Cut it out with the sepia-toned memories, show! The acting and storytelling is arguably better than in yesterday's episodes, but today's three are much more meandering and less entertaining (I don't mean entertaining just in the fun sense, either; tragedy done well can be entertaining, too).

After Xue Wu passes out from drinking the wine, Lan Ling Wang and the others spring into action. Xiao Cui distracts the palace's guards who have been tailing LLW so that Xiao Dong can sneak away with an unconscious Xue Wu in tow. Even LLW isn't silly enough to believe that the queen would let Xue Wu off the hook after LLW's death, which the queen confirms by making a point of telling LLW that she'll be sure to find Xue Wu and kill her. She personally pours him the poisoned wine as the prince's adviser wastes his time setting things up to make it look like LLW was guilty of stealing from the government or something. It's pointless and I don't really care (even Gao Wei points out in a later scene that "even a three-year-old could see LLW wouldn't be guilty of any such thing"). Lan Ling Wang drinks the wine and appears to die, falling to the ground with a slow-mo thud. My eyes get a bit misty, but I'm holding up okay at this point. It helps that we know (thanks to AcrossTime's hypothesis and adjani's spoiler!) we'll see him return eventually.

Meanwhile, the queen's men chase after Xue Wu and Xiao Dong. Xue Wu's awake by now and is told that the king means to kill LLW. Naturally, she freaks out and wants to go back to save him, but her own survival is kind of an issue. She and Xiao Dong split up, with Xiao Dong speeding off on a horse to deliver a letter to Yu Wen Yong on LLW's behalf. Xue Wu winds up unconscious (she's unconscious a lot these three episodes) on a riverbank, having evaded the queen's men for now. She gets rescued by a young man and his mother, who recognize her as LLW's Tian Nu/wife. You might recognize them as the old woman who stopped Xue Wu and LLW on their way back from battle; her son was one of LLW's soldiers and the only one of her three sons to survive the war. Xue Wu had taken the time to mend her son's shoes for good luck back then, and these two don't hesitate to bring her home and take care of her. It's a nice tie back to an earlier episode, and the old woman who's experienced the pain of losing two loved ones is the right person to comfort Xue Wu when she learns that LLW has died. She also learns that -- after making many, many figurines with the clay from Nu Wa's temple-- she's pregnant! Ariel is fantastic as she depicts her character grappling with immense guilt, sorrow and new purpose. It almost makes up for the fact that Xue Wu is a huge dummy and insists on visiting LLW's grave, even though everyone knows it's a trap set especially for her. Sure enough, Zheng Er/Feng Xiao Lian/the Queen (with all these identities, no wonder she's got a personality disorder) and her mini-army confront Xue Wu there. The queen makes that classic villain's mistake of taking too long to talk to the victim(s) before killing them, and Xiao Dong and Yu Wen Yong arrive on the scene to rescue Xue Wu.

Xiao Dong had made it all the way to Zhou to deliver LLW's letter to YWY. In it, LLW declares his undying love for YWY-- hee, just kidding. He lets YWY know that by the time YWY receives the letter, LLW will have already died, and requests that YWY take care of Xue Wu. YWY laments LLW's passing, commenting that LLW should have joined forces with him to get rid of Gao Wei. It's another scene where YWY is portrayed as "softer" than perhaps he ought to be, but there's something refreshing about these two rivals' respect for each other. It's not all about Xue Wu, either; they're two men who see each other as worthy opponents, impossible friends.

The problem with Xiao Dong and YWY's rescue team is that they could only bring a small group of people so as to not alert the Qi soldiers of their presence. Outnumbered by the queen's men in enemy territory, Xiao Dong ends up making the ultimate sacrifice to ensure Xue Wu's safe escape. Everyone's posted a lot about this already, so I won't say much more. Just don't watch this while you're on the treadmill at the gym, tears make it hard to see/run straight (you'd think I'd have learned not to watch this show in public by now). Xiao Dong gets killed, but the actor kills it in this scene.

YWY and a wounded Xue Wu (she was hit in the back by an arrow during the escape) get back to Zhou, where Xue Wu and baby are treated by doctors and make it through the worst of it. When Xue Wu wakes up from a dream of Xiao Dong telling her they're in two different worlds now, and she has to eat well and sleep well because he can't take care of her anymore (*sniiiiiff*), Xue Wu has a fantastic outburst of anger. Definitely one of Ariel's stronger scenes in this whole drama. And who isn't tired of the heroine with the heart-of-gold who can't find it in herself to hate anyone?

A few other things are in motion to set us up for the remaining episodes. YWY convinces his court that their kingdom should take in Xue Wu because she's the Tian Nu, she has special powers, she once saved YWY and Zhen Er, etc. When one of his officials challenges him and asks what the Tian Nu's role will be if she is to remain in Zhou, YWY declares that she is now his royal concubine. This is bad news bears for the queen of Zhou who is currently sane but based on previews, will eventually try to off Xue Wu out of jealousy. In Qi, Zheng Er keeps sneaking off in the middle of night to visit "someone." We all know by now that "someone" is a very alive, very much chained-up Lan Ling Wang. Only six more episodes to go!

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Ariel said in an interview that Feng Shao Feng is particularly good with crying scenes, and I have to agree. He can turn on the waterworks effortlessly. It's far too late to save LLW's character, but good job with the preparing-to-die stuff, FSF.

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Chicks dig the rumpled look. Poor An De Wang's wives and servants abandon him after LLW's death. He drinks and cries a lot. He cries a lot in these episodes.

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See? Crying again. thisisablackout, you're not the only one who thinks Xiao Cui (the maid) and An De Wang's scenes were awkward. It's another great example of an opportunity this show missed. I would have loved to see the drama develop the relationship between An De Wang and Xiao Cui beyond a few scenes of him flirting with/teasing her. If we got invested in them and were actually rooting for them to end up together, this scene of her slowly inching towards him would have so much more impact. Instead, my reaction here was more like, "Oh, so this is happening, huh? It's sweet, I think?"

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More mourning. When Xiao Dong had to remind YWY to stop talking about LLW and go save Xue Wu, I laughed thinking about what terrible things you guys would say.

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Zheng Er gives good face. This is the scene where she prepares to kill Xue Wu in front of LLW's fake tomb. She's crazy, but there's truth (at least, the drama suggests there is) to what she says: if Xue Wu didn't exist, Zheng Er's life would be totally different. She would be LLW's wife. She would die with him at Gao Wei's hands, but she would have experienced love and happiness with LLW before that. If Xue Wu messed up anyone's fate, it's Zheng Er's. Am I crazy if I continue to see Zheng Er's point?

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Ariel Lin is an emotional powerhouse. You think you're going to get tired of her crying or mourning, but she draws you into the epicenter of her suffering each time.

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Cheer up, Xue Wu! Things can't be that bad if you wake up to this face.

[coricori]

I agree with you CuteBabyAngel17: wow... everyone did an EXTREMELY amazing job these few episodes... i know like 75% of pepo here are YWY and XW shippers, but hey! its not really FSF's fault that the scriptwriter came up with the 2 idiotic episode where he sided with JE.
I love this drama, really really like this show, mainly because LLW existed en real life, as well as most of the other characters. I wonder, in real life why did he take the poison? he could escape, he could easily dethrone the king, since he was a great warrior, loved by his people and his soldiers, he knew what kind of king had his country. According history, the king was awful, idle,weak,inept, bad ruler, partying and wasteful, in real life his people and military army suffered, and this is seen in the drama (this king reminds me Queen Marie Antoinette of France, she was also killed for bad queen), before LLW the king killed another great general and his enemy was happy YWY, in real life I imagine LLW knew about all this situation, then why did he passively accepted his fate? he died so young, he didn't even reached 30 years, maybe because he was so virtuous, such a perfect man, such a noble and gentleman man, that to knew his country fell gradually and it will be conquered and destroyed eventually by his enemies he decided to die with his country. He never was hungry for power or ambitious, but he was very talented in his profession: warrior, such a talented warrior that he couldn't go unnoticed by the king; if he would wanted to take the throne he would have to kill the king and all his family, then LLW had been a murderer like his mad family, no matter how good was the excuse, like: to save his people from suffering, if it was so he would no longer be the special man he was.
History say, the king sent concubes to LLW but he rejected and only accepted one as a courtesy to the king, he wasn't a lascivious man, too it's mentioned he was generous, kind and fierce warrior, some of this features we can see in the drama, that because I say the scriptwriter approximated a little to the personality of LLW and circumstances around him but they weren't accurate. For the time in which he lived he was a special and mysterious man like a saint, in real life all saints suffered terrible deaths.
That's why I like LLW and XW, in some scenes they lived a simple life, only him could live like that although he is a prince. History don't mention about his love life, in this point I like XW' love for LLW: a generous love, noble, detached, pure, an undying love,such a special man deserve a love like that (this kind of love is like JESUS describe in the bible, even there is a poem), now I understand a little;proof of it is when she rans to LLW even when he hurt her, I liked that scene (even when I was a little angry at that time), but that is her love, pure and deep, the same goes for LLW. I want to think that in real life was like that. This episodes really liked me very much, when LLW said goodbye to his wife and later and he died I cried, I don't cry so easily but this time I couldn't help, also when Xiao Dong died, such a beautiful love, Xiao Dong' love is no less than LLW and YWY' love. The last scene between LLW and XW were sooooo sweet, especially when together are in the bedroom.
I would like to have this kind of love, but I don't think my heart is prepared, because I am very selfish when someone hurt me I hate that person and I don't forgive so easily, I think all of you are the same, proof of this is when at the first mistake of LLW, all of you, want to pair YWY and XW, if she had run into YWY' arms what kind of love it will be? a selfish love, with the depth of a glass of water. I prefer an undying love, unique, this kind of love is epic and beautiful, even if it's tragic, just like Butterfly lovers.

[AcrossTime]

Panda-pop I've been looking forward to your recap all day! The FSF crying scene was quite touching, but as you said, his character was ruined in the Zheng Er arc. I just can't get over his stupidity to so easily give up his life like that. As Yu Wen Yong said, it's '愚忠' (which would translate to foolishly loyal, I think...). As refreshing as seeing the whole respect bromance thing between Lan Ling Wang and Yu Wen Yong, did he really have to mourn for him in such a soft way. I mean it seemed to me that it could have been the start to some yaoi fanfiction: At that moment when Yu Wen Yong received the letter he learned that his lover, Lan Ling Wang had decided to take the poison. *Inserts flashback of all the times they've encountered and how slowly Lan Ling Wang's noble actions have captured Yu Wen Yong's heart* And despite hearing the heartbreaking news that his love has died, he has to take the responsibility of ensuring his lover's love stays alive because it's his last wish. Another unrequited love for Yu Wen Yong. Okay, I don't know where that came from, I just started rambling about yaoi. The last sentence made me crack up so hard though: "Cheer up, Xue Wu! Things can't be that bad if you wake up to this face."

I assure you that you're not the only one who gets the point, which is why I don't really hate the Zheng Er character as much anymore except for the excessiveness in her killing-everyone-in-sight-rampage. But as lovedramas said, it's hard to care for Xue Wu, and for me even Lan Ling Wang anymore, I blame it on the scriptwriter or the directing of the scenes, it just doesn't capture the emotions properly. Heck, I feel that the only well written characters are Yu Wen Yong and surprisingly Gao Wei since there was a back story to support their behaviour and personality.

And we have a LLW XW shipper coricori! It's nice to hear the opinions from that ship. But I don't think it would be 'selfish' love if Xue Wu did choose Yu Wen Yong in the end. Just because she falls for someone else doesn't mean she didn't love Lan Ling Wang at one point. In this drama, Xue Wu is just adamant on her love for Lan Ling Wang. My poor poor Yu Wen Yong.

[adjani]

I always love to read Across Time and Panda pop's posts! Hahahha. I must be the only one that really dislikes Zheng Er, I don't actually Xue Wu as the one that ruined her life, I see her as delusional from the beginning, if one truly loved someone, then one will not attempt to drive wedges into that person's life if she knows he is happy and she knew that LLW loved Xue Wu (well he already married her). I find it is mostly her own ambitious and desires that cause her to react the way she did. And she heaped all her misfortune onto what she cannot get. The only time I felt bad for her was the fact she was tricked into hurting LLW and then she should have blamed the Queen.

As for shipping, oddly, this is the first time/drama, I am torn much like the poster. Initially, I liked the love between LLW and Xue Wu and considering, they were together through life and death so much (of course driven initially by "Destiny") then as YWY developed, I really liked his feelings for Xue Wu and his respect for her decision and love for LLW. I was also moved by Xiao Dong's love. YWY in a sense is bound by his pride as Emperor and his respect for LLW as a rival and friend, Xiao Dong's love was encased in his station because he will always feel "beneath" Xue Wu and LLW.

Plus the bromances in the air really got to me too! So well.. I don't quite ship anyone or ship everyone :P

Unlike Joe Chen's DFBB, seriously I was so disappointed with the ending and yeah I didn't like Ren Ying Ying or Wallace's Linghu Chong at all! I shipped Joe's DFBB all the way. Ok guys .. a few more to go...

[adjani]

Attachment 9537 Saw this on weibo, hope I managed to get picture posted this time. Its what happens after Xiao Dong goes to heaven!

[redenzione]

I can't believe there are only a few episodes left! I will miss reading all of your amazing insights and debates.

I still wish more time had been dedicated to other characters, as much as I found it hurt when XD died, I still think we could have seen more of him - same with a lot of the secondary characters.

There really hasn't been a lot of fleshing out of the characters, all we see is face value. To be honest, I think the best character for development has been Zheng Er, her journey and what she's been through to what she has become - you're meant to hate her, that much is certain and it shows. However, to some degree I can feel little stirrings of sympathy...not too much! But some.

These finale episodes are going to be chocka! Full of action (hopefully not too many stupid decisions) and probably a lot of crying. Looking quite forward to it.

[Fairytale_Angel]

gahh i rushed home from work to watch it and let me say alot of YWY these 3 episodes. And we get Zheng Er visiting LLW who is chained to the bed... very awkward but she did nothing but cried and talk. I wonder did she try to u kno him lol and YWY wife its understandable why she did what she did. The man she devoted to put all his affection and love on another woman and change his personality and everything just for her. At least she regrets it can somebody summarized at the end of 41 what they said about her? im guessing they are talking about her fate what happen when YWY found out what she did and LLW escape lol i must say those must be really cheap chains haha

[CuteBabyAngel17]

well for the minority LLW and XW shippers, to reassure you guys, i have also been a LLW and XW shipper from beginning to end. I find YWY's character admirable, no doubt about it, but like a previous post said i like the purity of XW and LLW's love. From the very beginning, they knew that each other was "the one", and they couldn't live without each other- its like that duck analogy that XW said in 39. And i guess its this kind of love that makes you forgive each other's shortcomings (ie. LLW's stupidity in the previous episode). Also, I don't think LLW's love for XW was ever tainted by his previous mistake, because he felt responsible for JE's reputation. It's not like he ever loved her. So i can look pass that. im on epi 39 right now ... so why he became that black ninja beats me.. they better come up with a REALLY good explanation.

on the other hand, fifth prince and maid's relationship- ya... kinda awkward.....

[panda-pop]

I mean it seemed to me that it could have been the start to some yaoi fanfiction: At that moment when Yu Wen Yong received the letter he learned that his lover, Lan Ling Wang had decided to take the poison. *Inserts flashback of all the times they've encountered and how slowly Lan Ling Wang's noble actions have captured Yu Wen Yong's heart* And despite hearing the heartbreaking news that his love has died, he has to take the responsibility of ensuring his lover's love stays alive because it's his last wish. Another unrequited love for Yu Wen Yong. Okay, I don't know where that came from, I just started rambling about yaoi.

That’s a music video just begging to be made. Complete tangent, but I remember looking for episodes of the Young Justice Bao 3 series on Youtube and finding a bunch of MVs pairing up the main two guys instead. If I hadn’t seen the show, I really would have thought they were the OTP! Talented fans haha.

It’s weird to think there’s just two more days of new episodes (today and tomorrow) before the drama ends. Like memory86, I look back on the first 18 episodes and see that as the show that got me hooked. Everything after that hasn’t been terrible, but it’s more the momentum of getting new episodes every day that’s kept me watching rather than actual excitement about what’s happening/going to happen next. I don’t think I realized that until I was summarizing yesterday’s episodes and thought all of a sudden, “Huh, this isn’t as fun to write about as it was last week.” Maybe it’s obsession-overload, too.. 46 episodes is so much more to take in than the typical 16-episode drama I’m used to! It sort of feels like eating too much candy in one sitting and then getting a tummy ache.

All that being said, Lan Ling Wang is still my favorite c-drama to come out since Bu Bu Jing Xin. There’s really not that much competition; Jin Yong novels are remade too often to interest me (that’s going to sound like blasphemy to adjani), dramas like Legend of Zhen Huan are too long/melo/”realistic,” and dramas like Legend of Lu Zhen lose me with the killer combo of bad plotting and mediocre acting. So I’m grateful that Lan Ling Wang came around, but I’m also annoyed that it didn’t live up to its potential.

Sorry to be a wet blanket! I’m sure today’s episodes will be cute. First we get little Zhen Er and her antics, and then Lan Ling Wang in a mask secretly protecting Xue Wu. There’s something about guys and masks.. probably because I grew up crushing on Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon

[redenzione]

That’s a music video just begging to be made. Complete tangent, but I remember looking for episodes of the Young Justice Bao 3 series on Youtube and finding a bunch of MVs pairing up the main two guys instead. If I hadn’t seen the show, I really would have thought they were the OTP! Talented fans haha.

It’s weird to think there’s just two more days of new episodes (today and tomorrow) before the drama ends. Like memory86, I look back on the first 18 episodes and see that as the show that got me hooked. Everything after that hasn’t been terrible, but it’s more the momentum of getting new episodes every day that’s kept me watching rather than actual excitement about what’s happening/going to happen next. I don’t think I realized that until I was summarizing yesterday’s episodes and thought all of a sudden, “Huh, this isn’t as fun to write about as it was last week.” Maybe it’s obsession-overload, too.. 46 episodes is so much more to take in than the typical 16-episode drama I’m used to! It sort of feels like eating too much candy in one sitting and then getting a tummy ache.

All that being said, Lan Ling Wang is still my favorite c-drama to come out since Bu Bu Jing Xin. There’s really not that much competition; Jin Yong novels are remade too often to interest me (that’s going to sound like blasphemy to adjani), dramas like Legend of Zhen Huan are too long/melo/”realistic,” and dramas like Legend of Lu Zhen lose me with the killer combo of bad plotting and mediocre acting. So I’m grateful that Lan Ling Wang came around, but I’m also annoyed that it didn’t live up to its potential.

Sorry to be a wet blanket! I’m sure today’s episodes will be cute. First we get little Zhen Er and her antics, and then Lan Ling Wang in a mask secretly protecting Xue Wu. There’s something about guys and masks.. probably because I grew up crushing on Tuxedo Mask in Sailor Moon

Panda-pop I'm the same with regards to BBJX - don't know how i'm feeling with regards to BBJQ! But I think CDrama's need to keep the stories as long, but air them 1-2 episodes a week or something, giving other dramas more time to flesh out and write/direct better dramas for the future. Three episodes mon-fri is INsane!

[AcrossTime]

Panda-pop I'm the same with regards to BBJX - don't know how i'm feeling with regards to BBJQ! But I think CDrama's need to keep the stories as long, but air them 1-2 episodes a week or something, giving other dramas more time to flesh out and write/direct better dramas for the future. Three episodes mon-fri is INsane!

Definitely! But the story does progress very quickly, I don't know how we'd take it if they only aired 1-2 episodes for this drama. Strategy wise, I think the airing schedule of this drama is quite clever. It keeps us engaged even though certain plots aren't very interesting (aka Zheng Er - Gao Wei - Zhu Ting parts) but we watch because there's a lot of content. The episodes today did fill my much needed YWY XW ship but it doesn't keep me on my toes for some reason :x It's weird, currently rewatching to see if I missed anything.

[adjani]

Panda pop: actually no. I agree Jin Yong's novels are remade so oft that some are just plain .. er... and once they are done so much, they become Yu Mama's version which neither goes all the way nor does it retain the original flavour. "_".

I have the same thoughts, other than BBJX, this is the other drama that I fervently "Wake up" to and "hound the sites". I liked Zhen Huan for all the dramatics but its hella "heavy" and LONG.....

And totally, tuxedo mask!!!! Sailor MOON!!!

[adjani]

Redenzione: I know what you mean about BBJQ but let's give it a chance. To be honest, the trailers and even that super hot music video seems to put the characters in an "odd" feel, very unlike BBJX so who knows. But let's get together again and comment when that airs and see how we feel about it.

[AcrossTime]

Episodes 39-41 had tons of screen time for Yu Wen Yong. It's such a sweet treat after so much of the Zheng Er overload. The episode starts out with Xue Wu confronting Yu Wen Yong about her new concubine status, then she learns he's only doing this to protect her and her child despite going to be gossiped for stealing another's wife and such. He's a king for god's sake, his pride and 'face' is important but he's willing to do this for her. Where else do you find a man like this. TELL ME! My heart aches for YWY Okay, Daniel's lips are a bit awkward in this scene so the feelings kind of fall short. The whole, I'm the king thus can't be crying out loud, but silently tearing yet trying to keep composure doesn't quite fall through in this scene but I'm still touched. But hey how can you resist a good looking tearing Yu Wen Yong.

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The appearance of Xue Wu seems to make women go a little crazy. First Zheng Er, now the Zhou Guo Queen. I do feel bad for her, watching her husband fall in love and do so much for another woman. She's introduced as a buddhist follower so I would have preferred if the script didn't have her go down the same road as Zheng Er did. But obviously Yu Wen Yong, being the intelligent hottie of a king he is, predicted that the queen would resort to such measures of assassinating Xue Wu so he sent some people to protect her at the temple. Sadly since the drama is pro- LLW&XW, they have him coming in dressed as batman to save her. You guys should see on Weibo! The official page for the drama only discusses LLW and XW's relationship, they even payed some tribute to Xiao Dong, but they never utter a word about how great a guy Yu Wen Yong is.

Little Zhen Er cutie pie really ties Xue Wu and Yu Wen Yong together, giving them the cute moments. It really paints a picture of a perfect family to me. I especially loved how happy Daniel looks while he's with Xue Wu, especially the scene where she gets ink on her face. Just simple and sweet despite the Queen flaring with jealousy on the side.
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I just love how YWY and Xue Wu looked at each other during the fireworks. Can we safely assume Ariel's fluttering heart for her old time idol is showing on screen through how she looks at him. :
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Then we fast forward to Yu Wen Yong protecting her from the fire incident. And then ba-bam, a partially clothed Yu Wen Yong confessing once again to Xue Wu. How can you even resist that?
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Am I the only one feeling that Zheng Er is quite pitiful in these episodes?
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What I don't get is after Lan Ling Wang wakes up from his 'death' he all of a sudden becomes cunning and manipulative. Talk about a quick personality change. All of a sudden he cares about Xue Wu now? No more, sending her off away to Zhou Guo for Yu Wen Yong to protect? Lan Ling Wang's character just bounces back and forth between being logical and stupidity. First winning wars with battle strategies to falling for Zheng Er's traps, stupidly dying for a pathetic king, and all of a sudden using Zheng Er's feelings to trick her. These inconsistencies frustrate me to no end!

[panda-pop]

You guys, this show is making me grumpy. AcrossTime already did a nice job of summarizing what happened in episodes 39-41 so I'll jump straight to the things that bugged me.

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Gao Wei, it was interesting at first to see you struggle with your conscience, but after the 14325th time watching you not being able to sleep/calling out for Zheng Er/whining about the nightmare you had, I'm over it. You feel bad and you have insomnia, can we move on now?

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Zheng Er is pitiful but mostly I want to smack some self-respect into her. The guy got you out of a tight spot once! There's other fish in the sea! Have you seen his dreadlocks?

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To be fair, we all knew that some way or other, Yu Wen Yong's previously dignified and reasonable queen was going to turn into a green-eyed monster. But with this many episodes left, couldn't we have seen that transformation happen more realistically? As in, not within the span of 20 minutes? We go from "I see you as a little sister, Xue Wu" to "XUE WU MUST DIE" in so little time, and for not that much cause (I'm sure half of us posting on this forum could write better situations for the queen to get jealous over).

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This is the source of grumpiness that made me the saddest. Yu Wen Yong/Daniel, you're supposed to be one of the few things in this show I can consistently count on to make sense! Some of you called it last week when you said the YWY's probably going to be a lovesick puppy towards the end, and you clearly had more realistic expectations for this drama than I did. I just can't see YWY being smart enough to anticipate his queen's jealousy, but not smart enough to make sure it didn't get to that point in the first place. It's also the first time I've had problems with Daniel's acting. Something just felt off. Like in this scene, when he gets really mad at the queen, the way he looks at her is how he looked at Yu Wen Hu. A bit too intense/unsuitable for the person he's talking to, even if he's furious with her. He was also almost too emotional in that first scene in episode 39 with Xue Wu. I'll call it a fluke if Daniel goes back to delivering the nuanced performance I've appreciated up until now, but a part of me also thinks that the more the drama focuses on YWY, the more we'll notice the weak spots in Daniel's acting. I still think he's an impressively expressive actor, but I also think he needs a good director to remind him when he needs to dial it down a notch.

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And Shen Ju just bugs me because he's had this exact same expression in every other scene since the start. Are you concerned? Angry? Constipated? Do I still care?

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Fortunately, Zhen Er is adorable all the time. (Well, except for that one time when she almost ruined everyone's plans and got them killed.) I love that the script doesn't make her talk like a little girl, but like a mini-grown up. So cheeky.

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I've never seen someone so happy to hear that the love of their life is going to give birth to someone else's baby in a day or two. Sigh, I guess that's love for you.

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How does scruffy Lan Ling Wang/ compare to scruffy An De Wang?