Nirvana in Fire, eps 29-32

[extrapenguin]

Well that escalated quickly.

29 had a nice bit with using the people's opinion as Jing's weapon against Yu. You go, Jing! Go be competent and honest.

Marquis Yan's interaction with Yujian is adorable. He allows Yujian to listen in on MCS's offer, and then the interaction at the end of that was <3. Seeing Marquis Yan be shown that not all Princes are as bad as the Emperor was nice, and Marquis Yan is perceptive. He's not quite at the MCS = Lin Shu place, but he'll probably get there.

Qin Banruo outdid herself. It was painful to watch (I hate watching my faves fail), but her surgical strike was well-done. (Had MCS not been ill, he probably would've caught some stuff quicker, but still a setback.) Tong Lu getting suckered was aurgh, yet surprisingly sweet. Normally I'd haaaate the hints of Fourth Sister falling in love with him, but it actually works here! (Tong Lu: secretly adorable.) I liked that Tong Lu, even in his must-save-love-interest state, gave the old address and was able to convincingly bullshit Qin Banruo off the track. I hope he gets rescued, either by Fourth Sister or MCS.

Yu's plot against Jing went all too well, despite Meng's attempts at saves. Eunuch Gao saved Jing at the end, though I wonder whether it was more saving the Emperor's blood pressure. I hope Jing gets a chance to talk to MCS about Jingmom's suffering (read: storms over to see MCS so that MCS hears of this aspect of the plot). Xiao-Xin is almost certainly one of Qin Banruo's agents. I hope Jing, MCS, and Old Master Su and their entourages sit down, take a breath, and figure out how best to tackle this. Alas, it's ep 32 out of 54, there's bound to be further setbacks.

What most intrigues me at this time is how Xia Jiang got involved with Qin Banruo. Is he part of Princess Xuanji's peer group? Xuanji had reason to take down the Chiyan army, but what's Xia Jiang's motivation?

Prince Yu's birth mother was brought up. Concubine Xiang must have some sort of plot significance – mayhaps she's Princess Xuanji? It would explain why Qin Banruo went to his side, though I'm not sure the dates match – Qin Banruo doesn't look that much older than Yu.

Jingmom is probably the best at political games in the whole cast. Her setting up a shrine for Consort Chen with the Emperor/burning her offerings is interesting. Something will come up from it.

Xia Dong still has friends in the Bureau, but Xia Jiang seems intent to keep everything from her. Hm. I wonder what scandal could unseat him from office.

Comments

[schneefink]

How could you stop there! Episode 33 is one of my favorites of the whole series, I hope you enjoy it, I think you will :)

[extrapenguin]

I had some work to do, okay? And what if the next ep is painful??? How could I cope with that?

*goes watch, bites nails a bit*

[schneefink]

...okay, yeah, good point, I can't honestly say it's not painful... I applaud your self control ;)

[extrapenguin]

Well, less painful than the prior ones. They do make up, sort of! And the convo in the snow was beautifully done. MCS actually raised his voice!

...and now, because of my ridiculous obsessions, I must watch ep 34. Yay Asperger's and even numbers.

[schneefink]

I love the conversation in the snow so much :) And the scene right before in the tunnel.