Discussion post - episode 9

[yantantether]

Tang Yi and Chen Wen Hao face away from each other as Meng Shao Fei brandishes Tang Yi's birth certificate between them and we go into a FLASHBACK. Li Li Zhen and Tang Guo Dong are visiting Chen Wen Hao in prison. Li Li Zhen has obviously recently learned that her boyfriend didn't just pop out for some milk and never come back, but is in fact a convicted mobster. She angrily breaks up with him and claims to have had an abortion.

Back in the present, Meng Shao Fei seems to be trying to effect a family reunion between Tang Yi and Chen Wen Hao and unsurprisingly Tang Yi is unimpressed. Chen Wen Hao denies killing Tang Guo Dong.

Another flashback! Chen Wen Hao finds Li Li Zhen and Tang Guo Dong dead, but doesn't clearly see who shot them. He then shoots Tang Yi (by accident?) when he suddenly appears.

In the present, Tang Yi is desperate to kill Chen Wen Hao, but Meng Shao Fei tries to reason with him. Tang Yi shoves him pretty roughly and drives away. Meng Shao Fei follows him home and finds him sitting in the bath fully clothed (this made me giggle even though it's a serious moment. Sorry, Tang Yi!) Tang Yi kisses him desperately, violently. Kissing turns into crying and Meng Shao Fei cradles him.



Jack meets with his Interpol contact by the river. He hands over info on Xin Tian Meng and Chen Wen Hao, and then offers to go infiltrate Chen Wen Hao's drug-smuggling operation. I wonder why he does this right now when he's obviously so stupid over Zhao Zi. Does he genuinely think that Zhao Zi doesn't like him back so he may as well go and be dangerous in Cambodia?

Zhao Zi comes home in the rain and finds Jack waiting for him.



Zhao Zi is obviously worried about him, but when Jack asks him if he likes him back he doesn't reply and he ducks away when Jack tries to kiss him. (Jack! In this particular circumstance, maybe waiting till you're not right outside your shy, would-be boyf's front door in full view of any neighbours watching would have been a better plan.)

BUT THEN. Zhao Zi tells him, "When I saw you outside just now it already cheered me up... my heart felt warm."



Zhao Zi is smiling with his whole self and THAT is him making his declaration. They cook together and it's super sweet.



Next, Captain Shi and his daughter are wedding dress shopping. He cries when he sees her in the dress and it unexpectedly makes me teary (awwww, Captain Shi.) Then Jun Wei brings the news to the rest of the police department that the captain had turned himself in. Ah-Zhi leaves, sharpish. Zhao Zi (perceptive as always) works out that the captain's perfidy must have had it's origins in his daughter's need for a bone marrow donor, five years before.

Meng Shao Fei gets up to find Tang Yi cooking and being determinedly cheerful. Meng Shao Fei tries to make him hand over Tang Guo Dong's killer to the police, if he finds out whodunnit.

The cops set out looking for Ah-Zhi, who is currently in karaoke hell with a mobster who he's trying to persuade to help him leave the country. Next up doing unenthusiastic singing in a different room is Chen Wen Hao. Coming out of gangster karaoke central he runs into Ah-Zhi and recognises him as Li Li Zhen and Tang Guo Dong's killer. (Hilariously, I had completely forgotten about this plot point, so I was like "...ooh!" Don't ask me who I thought killed them, I have no idea.)

Meng Shao Fei runs into Tang Yi's house to find him beating up Ah-Zhi.



Ah-Zhi confesses, Tang Yi tries to shoot him, and Meng Shao Fei throws himself in front of the bullet!

Comments

[clevermanka]

I'm with Skuld on why Jack does that...mostly bc nothing else would make sense to me. He's not used to being this person, so he does what he'd normally do and then realizes that wasn't maybe what he really wanted to do.

Re-watching this episode on Monday, I'm leaning more toward my interpretation that it's Lizhen keeping Chen Wenhao in prison--for his own "safety," for hers, or for their son, I don't know.

I like the circularity/cohesiveness of the mob boss that Ah-Zhi's been working with is the one who gets arrested in the first episode. I bet that dude wasn't feeling real friendly toward his contacts in Unit 3 after that.

The angry kissing/crying scene is so powerful. And then the calm-but-still-fraught tone of them in bed afterward. *heartbreak*

[bonibaru]

It seems like boss Tang wanted out of the mob biz, and CWH perhaps wanted to stay in - I gleaned this from all the conversations about boss Tang wanting Tang Yi to move the gang to legitimacy in his wake - so that's another possible reason to keep CWH out of the game and away from his son, the next generation hope of the family (both biological, adopted, and gang related).

[clevermanka]

Why do you think Chen Wenhao was so supportive, do you think? At least that's the impression I got from their conversation on the river front. Was he biding his time, hoping Tang Guodong would give up on the idea eventually? Did he plan to keep his entire life secret from Lizchen if he continued the illegal side of their business?

I gained a lot of respect for the complexity of Chen Wenhao on this most recent watch. Not necessarily for him as a character (honestly, I like him less now), but he's so well-layered. I also appreciate how he, as the physically smallest of the gangsters we see, he's the most vicious/ruthless (that we see, anyway).

[bonibaru]

OK is it just me but did you find yourself wondering how Tang Yi got so TALL, lol

[clevermanka]

All. The. Time. XD

Tang Guodong's good cooking?

[bonibaru]

He did feed him very well!

[her_cool_aunt]

I believe this is biologically correct. Which is why second generation immigrants tend to be around the height of those from their (new) country of birth rather than the (old) country of origin of their parents.

[doctorskuld]

Did he plan to keep his entire life secret from Lizchen if he continued the illegal side of their business?

I got the impression that CWH missed his window on telling LLZ what was really going on, and then it's just...you just gotta ride that out as long as you can and hope?

[clevermanka]

I'm starting to lean pretty hard into my theory that Lizchen is the reason Tang Guodong couldn't get Chen Wenhao out of prison.

[doctorskuld]

Yeah, that's the only reason that feels real to me. I think that TGD might have been torn between his loyalty to his friend, and his wanting to do LLZ and her child right, and I can see him coming to the conclusion that CWH would have sacrificed everything for his wife and their child, so now they're in this situation, this is the only way out?

[clevermanka]

That might explain why the two of them were meeting--another "what the fuck do we do now that he's out" conversation?

[doctorskuld]

LOL, yes, that, in addition to the "I think my police guys are selling drugs to your mob guys" agenda item. XDDDDDD

[clevermanka]

Oh right! It just now occurred to me that this was (possibly? probably?) at the very start of that business. I'd been thinking corrupt cops selling confiscated drugs had been going on previously, just maybe not in this particular precinct, but that's not necessarily true.

[doctorskuld]

I wasn't sure how recent the TGD wanting to get out of the mob business thing was, but if Tang Ye had been quite ambivalent about it the whole time, I can see this being convincing enough for LLZ not to bring him in for a while?

[bonibaru]

I wonder if he really did fall in love with LLZ and she was the impetus for him to finally get off the fence.

[clevermanka]

Oh I like that.

[bonibaru]

It would explain his affection for Tang Yi from multiple angles, and I like the idea that he and Gu Dao Yi were out looking for him on purpose just in case his mother had been told he'd run away. This is all just headcanon, of course, lol.

[clevermanka]

And makes good sense why he'd encourage Tang Yi to take his name because can you imagine what Lizhen would do if she found out her son was being raised in the mob???????

[her_cool_aunt]

Can I check - am I the only one here who doesn't think Tang Guodong knows that the kid he adopts as Tang Yi is Li Lizhen's child? I see that as (narratively useful) coincidence.

[clevermanka]

IDK! A good question to ask--maybe if someone does a post on Tang Guodong?

[doctorskuld]

It's not at all clear to me whether TGD knew that TY was LLZ and CWH's child, and whether LLZ knew either. It's plausible to me either way, as an audience we never get to see what type of relationship LLZ and TGD had, and how much information they exchanged.

I think one's take really depends on how they see TGD.

If TGD is generally a decent dude, he wouldn't have let Tang Yi take his surname. That is like, a BIG DEAL in Chinese culture. Taking someone's surname means that you essentially sever all ties with your previous family. You are abandoning your bloodline. Married women in China do not change their surnames the way it is common in Western cultures to do. To actually take on someone's name is becoming a part of their family and throwing away your own. If you read TGD as a fundamentally decent character, I can't imagine that he would have let Tang Yi take on his name knowing whose son he actually was.

I think the fact that we're never really quite sure who TGD is or why he left CWH in prison for 24 years is one of the most narratively annoying things in the story because we never get it resolved. XD

[her_cool_aunt]

If TGD is generally a decent dude, he wouldn't have let Tang Yi take his surname. That is like, a BIG DEAL in Chinese culture. Taking someone's surname means that you essentially sever all ties with your previous family. You are abandoning your bloodline.

Wow! I didn't realise this was so significant. Thank you for explaining. We only see a "decent" version of Tang Guodong from the flashbacks. He may be a mob boss, but he's all very cerebral and sensitive. Which makes me think we're not supposed to see him as evil. Which backs up my original thinking that TGD doesn't know TY is LLZ and CWH's son.

I think the fact that we're never really quite sure who TGD is or why he left CWH in prison for 24 years is one of the most narratively annoying things in the story because we never get it resolved.

Aargh! So, so true.

[joatamon]

A month too late, hey ho. But wouldn't Tang Yi originally have had the name of his grotty adoptive father, who abused him? Would that not be a good reason for TGD to be happy for TY to take his name even if he knew whose son TY really was? (Plus it was Tang Yi's choice, since ZHY doesn't change her name.) And if he did know, maybe the prospect of explaining the whole parentage saga to TY was just too complicated and fraught with danger to TY's stability & happiness, and to LLZ, and potentially the syndicate. Better a fresh start?

(I have no idea if TGD knew or not, it's an interesting mystery :D)

[doctorskuld]

But wouldn't Tang Yi originally have had the name of his grotty adoptive father, who abused him?
If Tang Yi had his name, then yes, that's a good reason for Tang Yi to take "Tang" instead of whatever he had previously.

Would that not be a good reason for TGD to be happy for TY to take his name even if he knew whose son TY really was?
I think knowing vs not knowing is the key. It's really awful for TGD to give TY the surname of "Tang" if he knew whose son he really was.

(Plus it was Tang Yi's choice, since ZHY doesn't change her name.)
I mean, yes, it is Tang Yi's choice, but also...traditionally, no. Children take their father's names. Wives do not. There's a huge difference.

So yeah, even given that, if TGD knew whose child TY was, it would be perceived as a horrible thing to do to cut him off entirely from his true bloodline.

And if he did know, maybe the prospect of explaining the whole parentage saga to TY was just too complicated and fraught with danger to TY's stability & happiness, and to LLZ, and potentially the syndicate. Better a fresh start?
This is a plausible reason, particularly if there was LLZ's influence, and she was pretty intent on cutting off CWH's access to his son, by lying to him about the abortion.

Ah, the forever mystery about this show.

[joatamon]

I like gaps that give us space to speculate :D