Sleuth of the Ming Dynasty: episodes 2-4
Sep. 28th, 2020 09:14 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
selenayWe are so far watching this at a sedate pace (unlike other shows *ahem*Untamed*ahem*), so there were three episodes watched over Friday and the weekend and I've only just found time to react to them.
So, Tang Fan is basically a bottomless pit who requires feeding every half hour or so, preferably with good food rather than your common muck. I now understand why his salary is too low to live on.
Also, I'm incredibly amused that his side-hustle is writing erotic novels, because he's such an adorable baby in so many respects. And then there he is, multiple erotic novels published under a (not difficult to find) penname.
Which unfortunately gives Commander Wang a hook to not-quite-blackmail-but-it-sure-looks-similar him into doing investigative stuff.
I am still undecided on whether Commander Wang is the bad guy of this. He's definitely not good and I strongly suspect he's operating on a side that is entirely his own and aimed at whatever will benefit him the most, but that doesn't make him the bad guy. More of a morally flexible guy with a lot of ambition and a very loose ethical code. So while I don't think he'll go out of his way to murder or maim our heroes, I also don't think he'd stop it happening if it benefited him and he definitely wouldn't help anyone else if it couldn't be used in some way later, either.
I am also on the sidelines about whether he's actually doing things to benefit the emperor if it doesn't benefit him, too. He's an interesting character. Not at all likeable, but definitely interesting and impossible to pin down.
Sui Zhou is also an interesting character. In some ways, he's the opposite of Commander Wang: he seems to have a moral and ethical code that he holds to, one that aligns more closely with Tang Fan's but isn't completely the same, either. He certainly has a strong sense of justice, whether that aligns with what's politically savvy or not.
And it's interesting because Tang Fan seems to be more invested in knowing the truth than dispensing justice, but he's also got a sense of what's right and wrong that isn't quite the same as justice? When the courtesan killed herself because her lover had died, he didn't stop her because he recognised that she'd lost everything that made her keep fighting to live. He didn't see any point in trying to stop her and force her to keep living.
Sui Zhou looked at it differently, maybe from the perspective that she needed to face the consequences of what she'd done, but also from the perspective that she didn't need to die. It was a senseless death to him, and yet he seemed to accept it when Tang Fan explained.
I kind of think that's one part of the dynamic between them: Sui Zhou sees things initially in simpler black/white terms, and Tang Fan sees the complexity behind it.
Which is then interesting because Tang Fan is terrible at all those nuances of humanity when people are interacting with him. It comes up pretty much any time Dong'er is talking to him, his entire interaction with the lady chieftain, and every time he talks to Sui Zhou about anything other than the facts of a case.
Darling boy, what are you doing?
He's even politically savvy when it comes to getting his boss out of trouble...and utterly unable to work out (until it's pointed out) why he doesn't get a promotion and Sui Zhou does. It's a very Sherlock-y trait: not bothering to retain information or skills that aren't useful to the case at hand. Except it includes not bothering to retain anything that relates to himself.
I'm starting to feel very protective towards him, because he's clearly incapable of managing his life in any sensible fashion even if he is very good at his job.
Now that the mystery of who killed Zhang Cheng is over, we're left with the mystery of just about everything else.
But at least we're starting to get the hang of some of the names and relationships! That's helping! :-D
So, Tang Fan is basically a bottomless pit who requires feeding every half hour or so, preferably with good food rather than your common muck. I now understand why his salary is too low to live on.
Also, I'm incredibly amused that his side-hustle is writing erotic novels, because he's such an adorable baby in so many respects. And then there he is, multiple erotic novels published under a (not difficult to find) penname.
Which unfortunately gives Commander Wang a hook to not-quite-blackmail-but-it-sure-looks-similar him into doing investigative stuff.
I am still undecided on whether Commander Wang is the bad guy of this. He's definitely not good and I strongly suspect he's operating on a side that is entirely his own and aimed at whatever will benefit him the most, but that doesn't make him the bad guy. More of a morally flexible guy with a lot of ambition and a very loose ethical code. So while I don't think he'll go out of his way to murder or maim our heroes, I also don't think he'd stop it happening if it benefited him and he definitely wouldn't help anyone else if it couldn't be used in some way later, either.
I am also on the sidelines about whether he's actually doing things to benefit the emperor if it doesn't benefit him, too. He's an interesting character. Not at all likeable, but definitely interesting and impossible to pin down.
Sui Zhou is also an interesting character. In some ways, he's the opposite of Commander Wang: he seems to have a moral and ethical code that he holds to, one that aligns more closely with Tang Fan's but isn't completely the same, either. He certainly has a strong sense of justice, whether that aligns with what's politically savvy or not.
And it's interesting because Tang Fan seems to be more invested in knowing the truth than dispensing justice, but he's also got a sense of what's right and wrong that isn't quite the same as justice? When the courtesan killed herself because her lover had died, he didn't stop her because he recognised that she'd lost everything that made her keep fighting to live. He didn't see any point in trying to stop her and force her to keep living.
Sui Zhou looked at it differently, maybe from the perspective that she needed to face the consequences of what she'd done, but also from the perspective that she didn't need to die. It was a senseless death to him, and yet he seemed to accept it when Tang Fan explained.
I kind of think that's one part of the dynamic between them: Sui Zhou sees things initially in simpler black/white terms, and Tang Fan sees the complexity behind it.
Which is then interesting because Tang Fan is terrible at all those nuances of humanity when people are interacting with him. It comes up pretty much any time Dong'er is talking to him, his entire interaction with the lady chieftain, and every time he talks to Sui Zhou about anything other than the facts of a case.
Darling boy, what are you doing?
He's even politically savvy when it comes to getting his boss out of trouble...and utterly unable to work out (until it's pointed out) why he doesn't get a promotion and Sui Zhou does. It's a very Sherlock-y trait: not bothering to retain information or skills that aren't useful to the case at hand. Except it includes not bothering to retain anything that relates to himself.
I'm starting to feel very protective towards him, because he's clearly incapable of managing his life in any sensible fashion even if he is very good at his job.
Now that the mystery of who killed Zhang Cheng is over, we're left with the mystery of just about everything else.
But at least we're starting to get the hang of some of the names and relationships! That's helping! :-D
