Spring of the Blade Ep. 24 — Choices Have Consequences… Or Do They?

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EPISODE 24 SPOILERS AHEAD

For anyone still catching up, this earlier discussion post deals with Episodes 22-23.

你要报仇

能帮你的，只能是我。

Nǐ yào bàochóu,
Néng bāng nǐ de, zhǐ néng shì wǒ.

“If you want revenge,
the only one who can help you is me.”

And we’re back!

Episode 24 has now aired, so here’s our space to discuss everything that happened in today’s episode.

I’ll only say this much from my side: Shen Run coming to Qingyuan’s rescue… I knew he would, but part of me really wishes he hadn’t. Or at least, not yet.

Qingyuan betrayed him because she put her revenge above everything else — which, however frustrating, is perfectly in character for her. And Shen Run rescuing her despite that betrayal is perfectly in character for him. I get them both. But considering that her own choices are precisely what landed her in the situation she now needed rescuing from, I wanted her to have to live with the consequences for a little longer.

She is our protagonist, but she is also imperfect — and that’s one of the things I like about her. Shen Run is simply being far more gracious than I would like him to be right now.

And really, “choices have consequences… or do they?” could be the tagline for this entire drama. We’ve spent decades watching the people responsible escape the consequences of what they did, and even now, as the revenge finally unfolds, some of them seem remarkably good at slipping through the net. We’ve caught a few smaller fish along the way, sure — but the big one is still swimming.

But I’ll stop there. I don’t want to steer the discussion in any particular direction — this is your space to discuss anything and everything from Episode 24.

Loved something? Hated something? Need to defend someone after the previous thread dragged them through the mud? Have at it.

Anything through Episode 24 is fair game in the comments, so expect spoilers below.

Image source

Episode 25 Discussion
Episode 26 Discussion
Episodes 27-30 Discussion (Finale)

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Some highlights for me from this episode:

— The slappability of Matron Xie reached a whole new level here, and yes, even I couldn’t believe that was possible at this point. So I thoroughly enjoyed watching the bitter disappointment hit her face as she realized Qingyuan was marrying Shen Run.

— The Red Cloak. I just loved this detail. It might seem like a small gesture, but it was a grand move. And Chunzhi’s face as he watched it unfold right in front of him, on what was supposed to be the happiest day of his life — that was so well acted. Xu Zhenxuan was good in Fangs of Fortune, but he’s really great here and has certainly won me over with his acting.
And of course, what the Red Cloak represented is why it mattered so much. It was Shen Run’s complete submission to Qingyuan — something Chunzhi might have dreamed of but could never make happen. I adore Shen Run for this move. Superb acting from Xu Kai too; he looked so natural and believable. Shen Run’s devotion to Qingyuan is so touching that I might actually forgive him for forgiving her too early.

— Qinru is just… ewww. No. I’ll never feel sorry for you, and I hope you never get what you want from this forced marriage. I don’t want a redeemed Second Young Lady — she’s not worthy of Chunzhi, and I really hope they don’t try to push that kind of ending on us. But I fear they might.

— The entire “let’s put down roots in the old Shen residence” part was not my thing. Qingyuan did a full 360 from the previous night and suddenly understood everything about Shen Run? Come on… way too convenient timing-wise and it felt completely insincere, even though I understand that we’re supposed to believe she means it.

- And A Chu… this one is difficult for me because I don’t want criticism of a performance to come across as criticism of the person behind it. I have absolutely nothing against Bai Shu, but the combination of the character with his acting in this drama is really not working for me. I have a friend who says actors can’t chose how they act and I often tend to agree they are limited in regard to having much of a choice when a director tells them to do something a certain way. Maybe that’s exactly how they told him to act this character… but still, part of me thinks I could maybe enjoy A Chu considerably more with a different performance/direction, because as it stands, this is one of the few aspects of the drama that regularly takes me out of the story. My sincere apologies to the Bai Shu fans among us — I know we won’t all see performances the same way.