Susan

Hi, welcome back to our 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 the first half of episode 16. On to the second half!

Episode 16, from 23:53:

Summary:

In Dixing, the Envoy discovers Ding Dun's filed have been destroyed. Zhao Yunlan is still on the run from An Bai and friends. He finds a bar, steals a mask and chats up the barkeeper - dropping unfamiliar terminology and talking about the surface, immediately making himself suspicious. When An Bai et al. arrive and start a fight, Wu Tian'en saves him with his teleportation power. Wu Tian'en warns him about the Regent, who Zhao Yunlan is underestimating as weak and harmless. The Regent appears, and they return him to the palace, where they learn Shen Wei has just left.



In Haixing, the case isn't progressing, and Zhao Xinci criticises Zhao Yunlan's methods and suggests dismissing him as chief if even one of the team agrees. Guo Changcheng is the last one Zhao Xinci talks to, offering a lot of leading questions and provocation. Xiao-Guo stands up to him, and Zhao Xinci is satisfied. Then his eyes are yellow, and Zhang Shi tells Xiao-Guo he's his hand-picked weapon. New developments appear in the case: a street has been torn up. When the team arrive at the site, they also learn the security guard witness from the first site has disappeared ... In fact, he's outside the SID right now with Zhu Jiu, who's convinced him destroying the SID will let Dixingren live freely in Haixing.

Quote:

Zhao Xinci to Guo Changcheng: "Da Qing has worked at the SID the longest. The others either possess a risky identity or don't have potential for greatness. Only you have a clean communist background. So if Zhao Yunlan were to be demoted ... You understand my meaning, right?"

Detail(s):

Every time I watch this episode, it stands out to me how many of them notice something off about Zhao Xinci, but they don't talk to each other, so nothing comes of it:

• Lin Jing's black energy detector goes off (in last week's half-episode)
• Sang Zan notices him switching between being left-handed and right-handed
• Xiao-Guo sees him turn all yellow-eyed
• and Chu Shuzhi says in the lab: "This father of Zhao Yunlan's, I keep feeling a bit ..." so he's picked up on something too!

Questions:

Which this your favourite part/scene/moment in this half-episode? Any favourite lines? What's going on with the masks at the bar? How often do An Bai et al. start a bar fight? What would have happened if Wu Tian'en hadn't been there to save Zhao Yunlan? What does the Regent think happened to the Dijun Register? How much do you think Zhao Xinci means his criticism of Zhao Yunlan? Did he concoct this loyalty test on the spot when it turned out Zhao Yunlan was absent, or would he have done something similar regardless? Why do none of the team talk to each other about Zhao Xinci's suspicious traits? Did Zhu Hong shout at Zhao Xinci in their one-on-one interview? What did Zhao Xinci ask Chu Shuzhi?

And finally, any thoughts about how any of this compares to the novel? Does any of it have any direct relation, besides Papa Zhao having a hitchhiker?

(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!)

Here is our schedule for the current batch of episodes - please do sign up to host a post if you can!