Permanently Provisional

Hi, welcome to this week's instalment of the Guardian drama Slo-Mo Rewatch! Watch half an episode a week, and then come and chat about it here in comments. Or you can just jump into the comments without rewatching, of course!

Here is last week's half-episode. On to the second half!

Episode 5, from 23:04

Summary: By the lakeside, Wu Xiaojun appears in front of his father, accuses him of wanting him dead, and reveals the truth of what happened to him. Wu Tian'en is shocked, but begs him to let the kidnapping victims go, and eventually convinces him he's sincere. They reconcile - only for Wu Tian'en to take an arrow for his son. Wu Xiaojun goes after Papa Huang, but Zhao Yunlan catches up with him and tells him to worry about his father. Guo Changcheng wants to use the Sundial to save Wu Tian'en; Zhao Yunlan takes it instead - but once the Sundial activates, the Envoy appears. Everyone begs the Envoy to save Wu Tian'en - Shen Wei notes the SID has changed.



The Envoy takes Wu father and son to Dixing, has to immediately protect them from an attack by palace guards, and questions Wu Tian'en about what happened with the Dixing team he used to be a part of. Wu Tian'en knows nothing, but when the Envoy mentions the captain wasn't dead as he thought, he tells the Envoy the captain's wife was pregnant.

In Haixing, in the SID lab, the Sundial projects an image of the Mountain-River Awl, Shen Wei has moved into Zhao Yunlan's building, and Guo Changcheng tries to learn how to tail someone from Chu Shuzhi. And we head into the next case - where there is another bathroom disappearance, and Guo Changcheng very reasonably wonders if Wu Xiaojun has returned. *g* Zhou Weiwei's fiancé remembers her fighting with a woman in their bathroom, except then the woman disappeared. And now she has disappeared too.

Quote:

Chu Shuzhi: "Since time began, no matter the country, or whether human or not, wherever creatures live in groups there will always be a hierarchy. And that is why there will always be killing and oppression."

Detail:

Wu Xiaojun's ring (this case's significant jewellery representing his connection with his father) gets thrown away twice.

The first time, he himself throws it into the lake as "proof" that he doesn't care about his father - but in the scene following their reconciliation, he promptly has it back.

The second time, in that very scene where see he has it back, Huang Chaoyang takes it away again, mocks its worthlessness and throws it into the pool. But again, in the following scenes - at the SID (though it's hard to see there), and in Dixing - Wu Xiaojun promptly has it back. :D

Questions:

What's your favourite moment in this part of the episode? What happened to little Wu Xiaojun after he was abandoned? How does Zhu Jiu find all these people? Do you think the Huang and Li fathers suffered any consequences for what they did? Do you think it's meaningful which of the SID members beg the Envoy to save Wu Xiaojun (Guo Changcheng, Lin Jing, Zhao Yunlan), and which don't speak up (Zhu Hong, Chu Shuzhi, Da Qing)? Is there anything in the Wu Xiaojun case that comes from the novel? Why is Zhao Yunlan suddenly insisting on jogging? Is Guo Changcheng uniquely bad at tailing people, or are Chu Shuzhi and Zhao Yunlan bad at teaching him? How many different kinds of bathroom disappearances can there be?

(These are all just conversation starters - feel free to answer all, some, or none, and to say as much or as little as you like! You don't have to be keeping up with the rewatch to join in!)

And here is our new schedule for the next batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!