I definitely do think that scene should be held a little outside any estimation of the characters, if only because it was pushed to comic relief and to do that often means tilting the characters a bit. Then, too, Shen Wei’s comfort tends to be quiet—more a matter of being there than performing consolation. I read that as the exact opposite of Zhao Yunlan’s approach, which is to flawlessly perform social expectations while always holding the deepest part of himself apart (I blame Zhao Xinci so very much). So that whole scene also feels to me like Zhao Yunlan expecting Shen Wei to do what he would, and Shen Wei being completely unprepared to do any such thing.
And, as I wound up pondering above, I really feel like Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are about equivalent in both their capabilities and their difficulties in re interpersonal relations—just in ways that are unfortunately complementary. They’re both wearing masks most of the time, and they both have a real problem relying on other people. So it’s fascinating to watch how readily they rely on each other, while still wearing those masks so much of the time.
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I definitely do think that scene should be held a little outside any estimation of the characters, if only because it was pushed to comic relief and to do that often means tilting the characters a bit. Then, too, Shen Wei’s comfort tends to be quiet—more a matter of being there than performing consolation. I read that as the exact opposite of Zhao Yunlan’s approach, which is to flawlessly perform social expectations while always holding the deepest part of himself apart (I blame Zhao Xinci so very much). So that whole scene also feels to me like Zhao Yunlan expecting Shen Wei to do what he would, and Shen Wei being completely unprepared to do any such thing.
And, as I wound up pondering above, I really feel like Shen Wei and Zhao Yunlan are about equivalent in both their capabilities and their difficulties in re interpersonal relations—just in ways that are unfortunately complementary. They’re both wearing masks most of the time, and they both have a real problem relying on other people. So it’s fascinating to watch how readily they rely on each other, while still wearing those masks so much of the time.