In this episode of Shuttle Love Millennium, our heroes are still stuck in the wrong time period. We learn more about the sequence of events in the past and get some answers to time travel, but the episode is very bogged down by tears.
Recap
We last left off with Zhi Gang and Wang Lin viewing old video footage of a studio burning in flames, and Zhi Gang in shock after catching a glimpse of himself carrying Zi Yi in the flames. The video cuts off with Elder Gao saying that the footage ends there. His grandfather went to help the people in the fire and everyone perished. He mentions that he has some old photos of the actresses and brings them out for them to look at. They see a photo of Zi Yi walking in to a movie studio and we flash back to 1936.
Zi Yi meets Chen Xun who insists that she become an actress. He gets her a role as an extra on his film, but she gets bashed by the director for her bad acting. Upset, she leaves, but Chen Xun convinces her to come out to his own film that he’s directing. She goes back home and cries to Qi Long, who comforts her and and encourages her to pursue her acting career. He follows her to the movie set, gets all bro-y with Chen Xun, and brings his toast business to the hungry extras of the movie set.
Back in 2016, Zhi Gang and Wang Lin see a photo of Zi Yi and Qi Long, taken by Elder Gao’s grandfather. They realize that the photo was taken exactly 80 years ago and try to find out when the fire was. Wang Lin finds a Wiki article of Chen Xun that lists his death as December 1936. While in the car, they pass by a park that Zhi Gang remembers from the past, and he stands in the rain, staring at the pavilion while lost in memory and grief. Zhi Gang goes to visit Grandma, full of questions. He’s given an old album of her, showing her at the big house with the white-haired grandma from one of the previous episodes (one of the houses that Qi Long went to when searching for his grandma in 1936.) Grandma wakes up and tells Zhi Gang the secret to time travel: his jade necklace, the moon, and the wine.
Wang Lin cries at home while making soup, thinking about Zhi Gang and his impending death. Zhi Gang returns home and shares his happy discovery with Wang Lin about how to time travel. Upon knowing that the wine is a key component, Wang Lin feels conflicted, and seems unwilling to hand over the wine, fearing that Zhi Gang will die.
Zhi Gang believes he has understood why he has been fated to switch places with Qi Long: he has learned the future and thus he must have been chosen so that he could prevent the fire from happening. Wang Lin cries and internally thinks, “Maybe you were brought here so that you could meet me.”
Upset, she shoves her wedding wine at Zhi Gang, but upon touching her, he realizes that she has a fever. He turns away from her and opens the fridge, probably to prepare some soup for her or something.
Thoughts
I really am not enjoying the female characters in this show and this episode served to further lower my opinion of them. They both cry all the time. Zi Yi is slightly more bearable because she seems to have a purpose beyond moping over a man, but all Wang Lin does is cry and think about Zhi Gang. She wants to keep him with her and prevent her from going back to 1936 out of selfishness. It’s kind of unbearable.
I’m not loving Zi Yi and Qi Long’s relationship either. He seems purely motivated by a pretty face, and their every interaction is built on dishonesty and her belief that he is her Zhi Gang ge. He’s taking advantage of her vulnerable situation and her misconception of him.
Neither of the budding romances seem particularly healthy, and the only remotely healthy relationship is the one we don’t see, between Zi Yi and Zhi Gang. I would be much happier if we see some more plot action and a little less attempt at romance.
The Drama Llama 