PeachBlossomGoddess

Thank you for your good comments. I also found the first 5 episodes quite difficult. TBOY has a better dialogue and even though IMHO LHY is a very average actor, he had a terrific voice dubber that papered over all his flaws. Give it another try some time. I think the plot is good although it smacks a bit of NIF.

Well I actually think that the merchants are super aggressive to the gentry and as it turns out equally culpable in the case. But LLF keeps apologizing for his biases when SWM also is equally biased in his own way.

Well it’s not like they were arresting them or something, they were gonna just murder anyway so why alert them by killing other merchants first when they were the ones they were really after.

Yeah I would also rather skip them.

Cruel times - the worst ones are when the kids get executed along with the rest of their clan.

I remember my heart sank a little bit with dread at the opening scene of the case when the sister said - who am I marrying today? But then when the focus shifted to the merchants I didn't think about it anymore.

Best slap - it was heard through all four corners of Chang'an.

There was no justice in that case. It was ugly and incredibly sad. What I don't understand is why they didn't go after those two first instead of killing off the lesser offenders. I guess it was opportunity driven.

Well he is LLF of the Lus of Fanyang. I don't think this aspect of him will ever change that much. 😅

I could be wrong but I suspect in this case there will be a reversal where the merchants are shown to be indefensible and SWM's biases against the gentry also gets called out. I think the merchants did something heinous to Wei's sister.

All the Judge Di would be ashamed of you bits were for impersonating him. Judge Di was a staunch believer in law and order as codified by the Tang Code - he would never approve of what SWM did out of expedience. After that they got into the debate about gentry vs commoner which is a key aspect of not only this case but the season.

Well I don't think LLF is wrong to chastise SWM for impersonating him. I mean even in today day and age, its a crime to impersonate a cop. As for the gentry debate, it was a big point of social discourse during that age . It makes sense to have SWM and LLF present opposite sides of the discussion and illustrate that each side have their biases against the other. But they are ultimately aligned in the goal of serving the common folk .

All the writer is saying is that this series in its entirety will be set in the Kaiyuan era which was from 713 to 741 AD. The Kaiyuan era was the golden age of Tang and it began right AFTER Princess Taiping's death. So at this point in S3, we should be at the brink of the Kaiyuan era. The writer does not want to write about the irreversible decline of Tang which began with the An Lushan rebellion in 755AD. He didn't mean he would not respect history, just that he will focus on the good parts of it. He explicitly rejects the traditional approach of killing off LLF for example at the Battle of Chentaoxie which happened during the An Lushan Rebellion.

So he is going to keep the characters in a brilliant and self-sufficient world during Kaiyuan like a world in a pillow book. He has 28 years to work with, that is a long time he can write many seasons where the empire was thriving. After all Li Longji was a great emperor until he got bored and became infatuated with Yang Guifei, setting the empire on its long and irreversible decline. SWM should already be about 40, he probably doesn't have more than 28 good years left in him.

Yes I was responding to the OP. Maybe it was a google translate error but I am quite sure this writer likes to stick with history, that is indeed one of the main reasons why all 3 seasons are rated so highly rated on Douban.

I think this season is deliberately written this way to highlight the class divide in Changán and how LLF and the rest of the team gets caught up in it. I haven't watched last night's episodes but so far LLF is consistent with his time and place in society. He is more broad minded than most as a result of his adventures with the team but when he returns to Changán all the social strictures he was able to ignore comes back into play forcefully. This is what I would expect - I wouldn't enjoy this show it turns into another one of the run of the mill ancient dramas where everyone runs around spouting so much nonsensical nonexistent 20th century values that they all must be time travelers.

Hmmm 🤔 that doesn’t sound right - may I ask where did you see that? Li Longji reigned for 44 years - he is currently in his first year. And he was not the last Tang emperor just the longest reigning one. Tang lasted more than 150 years after his long reign - by the time Tang dynasty ends, SWM, LLF etc should be long dead.

Seems Sheriff Wei is getting his own STOTD vertical drama spin-off case. I wonder if Sheriff Du will get one too. The drama seems to be experimenting with different lead detectives with different methods in this latest case.

Yes i can see that too. He is a proper historian that specializes in Tang dynasty.

Me too but so far he has taken these quick turn lower budget stuff bc most of his calendar is occupied by STOTD. He can't commit to any big budget stuff with longer shooting schedules.

Of course it won’t be the same without him. But at the moment he can’t shoot other dramas only STOTD. It’s not great for his career so at some point he is going to have to say enough is enough. I think the production is just preparing for that eventuality by elevating other characters.