Nothing much. She is still a doctor in Eastern Country. Last scene we see her in the bar alone after the war ended
Right. ninidolphin wanted to know "what happened"; you believed that meant "a general idea if Pei is fine" although you wrote about where she was in the last scene with her. That is the one scene where I think she had abandoned hope of anything else than toiling on as a professional doctor. She was in the bar not for simple relaxation but because of B. and what he left for her, so It was not a random filler neutral scene and to me, it looked like she was not that fine, but bottling her problems up in both senses of the phrase. We seem to see things differently, but that's fine : anybody can have their own thoughts and freely share them. That's what the comments are for... -- Did you mean you know about a rule here for what is allowed to be written under spoilers which specifically were asked for, and that I somehow annoyed you for transgressing it through offering another reply that did not go along your lines?
it's somehow open ended, the pictures can be interpreted differently, so some may hope they did not... immediately at least. We don't know how long time went by after "February 2019" when they travelled back to their home country and chosen or blood family members. After all, there's only one certainty in life : it will eventually end in death.
Nothing much. She is still a doctor in Eastern Country. Last scene we see her in the bar alone after the war ended
Not exactly alone, she refuses to socialize with a guy who offers a drink to start to get closer : she has totally given up on the hope to find "a good man". She had been "burned" in the past and suffered from "avoidance" symptoms ever since, although he had slightly let down her guard around B. So his death made her relapse into her own form for depression, seeking solace in alcohol.
You know what that's why miltary men undergo mental evaluation before deployment and also the psychiatrist in…
even then, there are many accounts of Vietnam war or other war veterans being discharged to "civil life" with PTSD. But this war was more depicted as a civil war with rebel forces perhaps infiltrated by ruthless agent provocateurs like "Ark" from abroad for destabilization, and brainwashed terrorists with no heed for human lives like "Abu". This is what many countries deal with now, and even training and evaluating cannot preclude the risks of physical (mutilation) and mental wounds for anyone. Psychiatry is not miraculous ; some patients never emerge from the "cuckoo's nest" and can remain a danger, like unexploded bombs or landmines from past century, to society. The answer to the most severe cases was at one time physical mutilation : lobotomy, but since human rights defenders rose up after the publication of Clockwork Orange, only chemical barriers are allowed in many countries, since a mass murderer can be judged as not responsible for his or her acts... The transformation from "benevolent and detached minded" volunteer to violence in reactions from a sufferer faced with triggers was well depicted in the umbrella incident, as was the reaction by the bystanders.
Watch it for yourself and make your own decisions. Just a word of warning if you have anxiety or PTSD or anything…
Warnings for the easily triggered. Yes, but it still is a good drama. You wrote you suffered yourself from PTSD and depression, Enigma05, but you stayed on ?
Haven't watched the drama yet. Did they both die as they did in the novel?
No... You may think they lived on till old age as they hoped they would, or that they died one way or another not specified and remained whole and young in their common afterlife until their atoms vanished into the air.
the main couple run away..ML has mental,issue... FL take care him...they live together...In the novel they got…
well after many years anybody dies, one way or another... In the novel the author wrote it as tragic endings remembered by their children in forewords or epilogue. In the drama, the production wanted a lighter note, less blunt.
Here my interpretation. 🍂 In the final episode, the actress tells Azan that she does not want him to save her.…
I think the white olive tree is not in the backyard. Olive trees don't grow fast. Li Zan and Song Ran eloped somewhere undisclosed to a place with an olive tree that reminded them of their past story, but went further "away from the world", which is why the pictures of them with the white olive tree are ghostly. We will not know exactly how, but they will stay "forever together". It is the fantasy they left readers and watchers with as goodbye before a "future reunion", probably on "another plane of existence" after the atoms of the physical bodies disperse, to stay and circle the Earth, and recombine differently : this is the non religious view from science about the afterlife.
The marriage part was real. It happened just before they decided to go away together, soothing their families with the letter. Li Zan has two missing fingers on his hand holding the wine glass and serving a shrimp to Song Ran. (Although one picture missed it so it looks like he has a whole hand, before - but we may think this is when fantasizing about their future started, as a symbol that they would be whole again physically and mentally).
The fantasizing starts in earnest after timestamp 36:47 episode 38, where Li Zan is seen from above looking down at the tiny sapling emerging from the circle delineated with stones in the backyard. The writing their pledge to elope on whole hands is perhaps a fantasy (although only one hand, the right one, was mutilated and he wrote on his left palm if I am not mistaken?)
The book is real, Song Ran said she had retitled the book about the East Country which she had been writing, to be published by Mr Luo the editor, seen a couple of times after episode 18 where she decided to rewrite her first draft. Presumably, she would have drawn on Li Zan's journal notes, and make it into a testament to be sent to their real and chosen family members first.
I have now completed watching this drama ; the ending episodes accelerated into a fitting end that soothes the readers who felt too bereft by the tragic epilogue in the novel. As promised it gives a feeling of eternity without the despair. I have also near completed the Companion piece, https://kisskh.at/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more
with more info, among which - an expanded Music section with a Gif of Liang Jie singing and performing the Moonlight Dance song, - completing the notable character gallery, by order of appearance with the names and micro bio of actors and actresses including a short list with links of the OST sung by Liang Jie, and a link to my Chen Zheyuan ongoing Profile (latest updates there are for the illustrations of upcoming dramas) - pictures and Gif for the PTSD and depression parts and explanations - a subsection about the olive tree symbolism - pictures and Gif for the Ending (those who prefer to avoid spoilers should wait to go there although I tried not to be explicit about the expected sad parts, keeping pictures only of "memorials and memories" without giving the names of the "fallen" (you will find them by clicking on the pictures which link to more). - I checked the link for the novel which can be read by those who would like to compare, now.
Although the main information there is now completed, I may keep adding more in the last section 7 about interviews and livestreams that have been subtitled, about the Benjamin/Sasin strong brothers of choice relationship. Perhaps I shall add a list of more resources on the Net for those who would like to explore the copious threads about the drama there. Of course I will keep adding the info about the standing of the drama in section 6 Such as this week's standing in top ten when it is announced ,and Douban rating when it is published. A lot of new dramas have been vying for top spots ; these are easier and less angsty than this unusually deep themed drama, so I don't expect The White Olive Tree to stay on top weekly spot for pure entertainment, but it may perhaps linger still for a while among the top ten. It would deserve it !
There's The First Frost soon on Feb.18, even if it will be Bai Jingting playing Sang Yan, instead of Victor Ma…
mmm; you are right, thanks for correction, I was too rash in reading credits, did not even look at the pix These two girls don't even look alike, and mixing up He Ran from The Forbidden Flower with Cheng Yao from My Boss ? facepalming... I stayed up too late, so my eyes are playing tricks on me. will go for a nap asap. :)
It looks like there will be an express package released. I saw iQiyi's post for it on iQiyi Malaysia's YouTube…
There's The First Frost soon on Feb.18, even if it will be Bai Jingting playing Sang Yan, instead of Victor Ma Boqian, the funny rapper. It ought to be rather fluffy... It will be starring Zhang Ruonan too, so she will be competing against herself if The Best Thing happens on 25th 😂
Alternating heavy and light themes is a good idea. I was watching Perfect Match to balance TWOT with some fun... Not to see them in competition against each other, so I was rather pleased when both were topping charts in weekly views for their respective category (online ; TV) for the week ending last Sunday.
So next, I'll probably have to look for some differently flavored themed drama to stave off too much candy floss. Perhaps the costume thriller with Liu Shishi ; it's not a romance but not too dark either.
But TWOT is not over yet and I intend to stick with it till end, while finishing soon the Companion piece, to which I found some interesting info for the Music section, added yesterday after someone asked about the Spotify link, which I had already included but was not very well showcased.
On the way, I illustrated the composer singers and lyricists (except "Dorothy" who probably is in the crowd of Chen Xueran too, but who I did not spot decisively ; if someone knows for sure who she is, it would be nice to complete the section). I also added two representative songs with GIFs linked to MV of "the master", in addition to the modern classic song Ganlanshu (The Olive Tree) that predates Chen Xueran music (he was still in kindergarten then ;) but the song was sung even on stages, by many singers up till recent years, so it is nice to know about it). https://kisskh.at/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more?pid=3244784&page=1#p3244784 (music section) ; I also added some more in the other sections.
But take heart, you desperate seekers. I did find it elsewhere (I am a relentless explorer of the IT jungles where cool places still survive). Try the bg extension and search. Hopefully it will still be in those archives when I get back to watch it. The download option is disabled, unfortunately, although I did not plan to use precious and costly space on disk to store it. And there's not a big demand for it on p2p platforms.
Annoyed that my Amazon Prime subscription did not get me to watch it at ease: they likely scrubbed the drama from catalogue (well I seldom use Amazon Prime for watching Chinese dramas anyway, it's ok that they deliver stuff I need on time and have free games to download to kill time).
And there are only 27 eps on YoYo but you have to use Chinese title in search box to find them + the subs are reportedly mismatched, so I did not persist in sampling the "forbidden fruit" there. If you can do with "raw" and don't plan to watch it in total, it may be an option.
2 
4 
1 
That is the one scene where I think she had abandoned hope of anything else than toiling on as a professional doctor. She was in the bar not for simple relaxation but because of B. and what he left for her, so It was not a random filler neutral scene and to me, it looked like she was not that fine, but bottling her problems up in both senses of the phrase.
We seem to see things differently, but that's fine : anybody can have their own thoughts and freely share them. That's what the comments are for...
-- Did you mean you know about a rule here for what is allowed to be written under spoilers which specifically were asked for, and that I somehow annoyed you for transgressing it through offering another reply that did not go along your lines?
After all, there's only one certainty in life : it will eventually end in death.
But this war was more depicted as a civil war with rebel forces perhaps infiltrated by ruthless agent provocateurs like "Ark" from abroad for destabilization, and brainwashed terrorists with no heed for human lives like "Abu". This is what many countries deal with now, and even training and evaluating cannot preclude the risks of physical (mutilation) and mental wounds for anyone.
Psychiatry is not miraculous ; some patients never emerge from the "cuckoo's nest" and can remain a danger, like unexploded bombs or landmines from past century, to society. The answer to the most severe cases was at one time physical mutilation : lobotomy, but since human rights defenders rose up after the publication of Clockwork Orange, only chemical barriers are allowed in many countries, since a mass murderer can be judged as not responsible for his or her acts...
The transformation from "benevolent and detached minded" volunteer to violence in reactions from a sufferer faced with triggers was well depicted in the umbrella incident, as was the reaction by the bystanders.
In the novel the author wrote it as tragic endings remembered by their children in forewords or epilogue.
In the drama, the production wanted a lighter note, less blunt.
I linked it to the book cover picture on my Companion piece, updating that link today with the S K link
https://kisskh.at/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more?pid=3244724&page=1#p3244724
Li Zan and Song Ran eloped somewhere undisclosed to a place with an olive tree that reminded them of their past story, but went further "away from the world", which is why the pictures of them with the white olive tree are ghostly. We will not know exactly how, but they will stay "forever together". It is the fantasy they left readers and watchers with as goodbye before a "future reunion", probably on "another plane of existence" after the atoms of the physical bodies disperse, to stay and circle the Earth, and recombine differently : this is the non religious view from science about the afterlife.
The marriage part was real. It happened just before they decided to go away together, soothing their families with the letter. Li Zan has two missing fingers on his hand holding the wine glass and serving a shrimp to Song Ran. (Although one picture missed it so it looks like he has a whole hand, before - but we may think this is when fantasizing about their future started, as a symbol that they would be whole again physically and mentally).
The fantasizing starts in earnest after timestamp 36:47 episode 38, where Li Zan is seen from above looking down at the tiny sapling emerging from the circle delineated with stones in the backyard. The writing their pledge to elope on whole hands is perhaps a fantasy (although only one hand, the right one, was mutilated and he wrote on his left palm if I am not mistaken?)
The book is real, Song Ran said she had retitled the book about the East Country which she had been writing, to be published by Mr Luo the editor, seen a couple of times after episode 18 where she decided to rewrite her first draft. Presumably, she would have drawn on Li Zan's journal notes, and make it into a testament to be sent to their real and chosen family members first.
I have also near completed the Companion piece,
https://kisskh.at/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more
with more info, among which
- an expanded Music section with a Gif of Liang Jie singing and performing the Moonlight Dance song,
- completing the notable character gallery, by order of appearance with the names and micro bio of actors and actresses including a short list with links of the OST sung by Liang Jie, and a link to my Chen Zheyuan ongoing Profile (latest updates there are for the illustrations of upcoming dramas)
- pictures and Gif for the PTSD and depression parts and explanations
- a subsection about the olive tree symbolism
- pictures and Gif for the Ending (those who prefer to avoid spoilers should wait to go there although I tried not to be explicit about the expected sad parts, keeping pictures only of "memorials and memories" without giving the names of the "fallen" (you will find them by clicking on the pictures which link to more).
- I checked the link for the novel which can be read by those who would like to compare, now.
Although the main information there is now completed, I may keep adding more in the last section 7 about interviews and livestreams that have been subtitled, about the Benjamin/Sasin strong brothers of choice relationship. Perhaps I shall add a list of more resources on the Net for those who would like to explore the copious threads about the drama there.
Of course I will keep adding the info about the standing of the drama in section 6 Such as this week's standing in top ten when it is announced ,and Douban rating when it is published. A lot of new dramas have been vying for top spots ; these are easier and less angsty than this unusually deep themed drama, so I don't expect The White Olive Tree to stay on top weekly spot for pure entertainment, but it may perhaps linger still for a while among the top ten. It would deserve it !
These two girls don't even look alike, and mixing up He Ran from The Forbidden Flower with Cheng Yao from My Boss ? facepalming...
I stayed up too late, so my eyes are playing tricks on me. will go for a nap asap. :)
It will be starring Zhang Ruonan too, so she will be competing against herself if The Best Thing happens on 25th 😂
Alternating heavy and light themes is a good idea. I was watching Perfect Match to balance TWOT with some fun... Not to see them in competition against each other, so I was rather pleased when both were topping charts in weekly views for their respective category (online ; TV) for the week ending last Sunday.
So next, I'll probably have to look for some differently flavored themed drama to stave off too much candy floss. Perhaps the costume thriller with Liu Shishi ; it's not a romance but not too dark either.
But TWOT is not over yet and I intend to stick with it till end, while finishing soon the Companion piece, to which I found some interesting info for the Music section, added yesterday after someone asked about the Spotify link, which I had already included but was not very well showcased.
On the way, I illustrated the composer singers and lyricists (except "Dorothy" who probably is in the crowd of Chen Xueran too, but who I did not spot decisively ; if someone knows for sure who she is, it would be nice to complete the section). I also added two representative songs with GIFs linked to MV of "the master", in addition to the modern classic song Ganlanshu (The Olive Tree) that predates Chen Xueran music (he was still in kindergarten then ;) but the song was sung even on stages, by many singers up till recent years, so it is nice to know about it). https://kisskh.at/discussions/bai-se-gan-lan-shu/123595-shooting-location-cast-and-crew-and-more?pid=3244784&page=1#p3244784 (music section) ; I also added some more in the other sections.
Annoyed that my Amazon Prime subscription did not get me to watch it at ease: they likely scrubbed the drama from catalogue (well I seldom use Amazon Prime for watching Chinese dramas anyway, it's ok that they deliver stuff I need on time and have free games to download to kill time).
And there are only 27 eps on YoYo but you have to use Chinese title in search box to find them + the subs are reportedly mismatched, so I did not persist in sampling the "forbidden fruit" there. If you can do with "raw" and don't plan to watch it in total, it may be an option.