#jiang bing

When A snail Falls In Love Episodes 16-21 Recap

Oh, this drama. It had its good moments and it had its bad moments and it had those lovely in-between mediocre moments. Overall as I have finished this series, I don’t hate it. It’s one of those dramas which leave a person with that slightly dissatisfied feeling—especially since you don’t know if there will be a season two coming down the road or not. I tell you, I sympathize with Romeo right…

Basically this trio of episodes involves the sting operation. The police are going for quite the bust. They are trying to hit the drug trafficking hard as well as the human trafficking ring. Zhao Han worries over Yao Meng’s safety and warns her not to try to be a hero and remember that safety does come first. Meanwhile, Ji Bai is restless the night before, but he sends Xu Xu home by herself. Of course, before she leaves, she scolds him for drinking coffee late at night when it can ruin his health and keep him up when he should be resting. She then gives him a glass of milk (which he pours into his coffee mug after she leaves, lol).

Zhan meets with Ji Bai and says he doesn’t want the same thing that happened several years ago to happen again (referencing the operation where Zhao Han’s father, Zhao Lang, went missing and was presumed dead in Myanmar). Everything must be neatly wrapped up. We did get to see flashbacks of Zhan and Zhao Lang. The two were quite close and Lang thought very highly of his disciple (Ji Bai, not his son, lol) being the only one who could ever surpass him. Anywho, it looks like Lang decided to go undercover against Zhan’s wishes and was last seen in a car that ultimately ends up bursting into flames. Ji Bai feels agitated I guess and just sits at the training grounds. Xu Xu can’t seem to fall asleep, though Yao Meng has no problems doing so after she gushes about how great Ji Bai is. So Xu Xu puts on her running shoes and heads out. She sees Ji Bai and sits next to him. He tells her he’s okay and has slept on the street or worse doing operations. He doesn’t want to talk. Xu Xu honors his wishes and leaves him be…but again not before taking care of him! She puts her jacket over him before heading back in.

It’s a beautiful day when the operation starts. It looks like Zhan is still receiving intelligence from Myanmar, but from who exactly, we don’t know. The drug busts go down without a hitch, so that just leaves our kidnapping ring. Yao Meng is left alone with the guy she believes is Lu Ge and easily takes him down as the team moves in. And…why is it that the SWAT-like team gets all the gear while Ji Bai’s major crimes team gets nothing? They aren’t even wearing bulletproof vests which you would think they should be…shakes head. Everything appears to be going well and the bad people are caught and the victims found. But there’s a catch. There always is, you know.

It turns out Lu Ge is NOT a man, but a woman. During the craziness, Lu Ge disguises herself as a hostage and is taken to be checked out at the hospital with the others. Xu Xu comforted her at first, but only realized something was wrong when she noticed Lu Ge getting into the bus wearing some fancy high heels. She then rushes to where Lu Ge was found and sees Lu Ge’s fancy clothes had been shoved under the bed. Just like when Xu Xu had issues in the first arc with Zhang Shiyong’s kidnapping, she flips out here. She cries in the car with Ji Bai as the woman’s body who Lu Ge is impersonating is found. She feels badly. But since the body was already decaying, it’s not like her slip-up led to that woman’s death.

Zhao Han and Yao Meng are at the hospital. When Lu Ge goes to use the restroom (and is followed by a rescued little girl), Yao Meng seems to sense something wrong. As she’s discovering the body of the little girl (did Lu Ge really need to slit her throat?), Zhao Han comes out of the x-ray room and calls Ji Bai back. He learns what happens and rushes to the scene where Yao Meng is trying to save the child. Once the emergency staff take over, she gives chase to Lu Ge who steals a motorbike. When Lu Ge sees a nurse trying to get into a car, she stops her bike and goes to steal the car, but Yao Meng is there. Of course Lu Ge takes the nurse hostage and Yao Meng is left trying to figure out what she should do. Lu Ge begins a countdown and Yao Meng puts down her gun in an effort to save the nurse only to have Lu Ge slit the woman’s throat (Yao Meng is then covered in her blood). Enter Zhao Han. He yells out Yao Meng’s name and Lu Ge shoots him with Yao Meng’s gun. Yao Meng then struggles with Lu Ge and ends up getting stabbed in the back. Lu Ge then gives up on stealing the car and gets back on the motorbike just as Xu Xu and Ji Bai arrive on scene. Ji Bai calls for help as he tries to stop Zhao Han’ bleeding and Xu Xu looks after Yao Meng.

Both survive, although it didn’t look well at first. The hospital was short on blood so Ji Bai technically donated over the safe limit. He was relieved to hear Yao Meng was out of danger because he couldn’t afford to donate any more really. Xu Xu complains about how thin he looks and he, of course, insists he is fine. Right. Bad Ji Bai. He nearly passes out trying to get up (he did ignore the stuff the nurse brought him to help him through his blood donation, like yogurt, water, etc.). Somewhere in all of this, Ji Bai tells Xu Xu about Zhao Han. I guess Ji Bai is older and looks upon him as his little brother. Once Zhao Lang disappeared, Zhao Han and his mother moved in with Ji Bai’s family. When Zhao Han wanted to become an officer, Ji Bai was firmly against. He stole Zhao Han’s register and said only if the younger man could get it back then Ji Bai would accept him. In the end, it was Zhao Han’s mother who got it back. I’m sure she wasn’t happy with her son’s choice after her husband disappeared, but this way at least Ji Bai and Zhao Han could watch out for one another.

Yao Meng once conscious, immediately worries after Zhao Han. Xu Xu visits her and she tells Yao Meng that even though she’s a psychologist, she doesn’t know how to comfort Yao Meng who feels guilty for what happened to Zhao Han, the nurse, and the little girl. Xu Xu cries as she believes everything is her fault for profiling Lu Ge as a man. Speaking of this vicious, evil woman. Lu Ge evades the Chinese police only to be caught by authorities in Myanmar. Of course, she is saved by the arrival of someone higher up. She clings to his leg while he says that he has kept his promise to let nothing happen to his woman. Lu Ge is pure evil, but I think even she fears this man…whoever he is. So if she’s afraid of “her man”—how bad must he be?

Our higher-ups are not happy with the bust. Sure, they struck a hard blow to both the human trafficking and drug trafficking rings, but two officers severely injured and the ring leader escaping in unacceptable. They want Ji Bai suspended to reconsider his training methods of interns and they want the two interns fired. Ji Bai takes full responsibility and wishes to have Yao Meng and Xu Xu spared. Zhan concurs with this and tries to take the responsibility all on himself as well, but Ji Bai stubbornly won’t let that happen. He’s then sent away while the administration discusses what the punishments will be. He’s happy to hear that Xu Xu and Yao Meng will be able to stay on while both he and Zhan will face some form of punishment. Zhan then starts talking about the case that Ji Bai has never stopped investigating (the one where Zhao Han’s father disappeared and Ye Zi Xi’s father was killed). Zhan has not stopped either and Ji Bai is shocked to learn that it has been Zhan helping him behind the scenes all of this time. He hands over a stack of files to Ji Bai and says Xu Xu and he will be joining a Myanmar team to bring this all to a close. Ji Bai is taken back. He doesn’t want Xu Xu as she’s physically a liability at this time even though he does believe in her mental acuity. Be that as it may, only Xu Xu is in good health and knows what Lu Ge looks like, so she has to be in on the investigation.

So, what happens next is a lot of montages of Ji Bai stepping up his training of Xu Xu and her sketching out everything that happens. Despite how hard everything is, the girl seems happy. This is probably in part because she gets to spend so much time with Ji Bai. Of course, Xu Xu is still suffering over the incident, but she can’t rest until things have been righted. Ji Bai is noticing many similarities between his personality and hers.

Now the problem with this drama, and a lot of dramas really, is the concept of time. How is it that Zhao Han is practically recovered and Yao Meng can be released? There is only one month to go for the Myanmar mission as well…so…time…? I don’t quite get how much time has passed between Ji Bai stepping up Xu Xu’s training (includes firearm and self defense practice) and Yao Meng coming to join them. Oh, well. Not as bad as this one Thai drama where one week is like…6 or 7 episodes and feels like a month or more has passed.

Ok. So Yao Meng’s mommy is upset that Yao Meng became a policewoman and was nearly killed. Can’t blame her, can you? So when Yao Meng was still in the hospital, she visited Zhao Han with Xu Xu. Zhao Han is on the mend and says doctors are amazed at how fast his condition is improving. He’s already sent his caretaker home, saving the department money (which he wants in cash…that Zhao Han). He then continues the story of the little pig and the hippo, which only makes Yao Meng feel worse and she starts crying while Zhao Han has to turn away from her tears. During Yao Meng’s hospital stay, Xu Xu also turns their sad failure into a comic strip and tells it to Yao Meng. End result is…failure for all.

Ok, so back to Yao Meng being out of the hospital. She wants to track down and be the one to kill Lu Ge. There’s only one problem…she’s now suffering from PTSD. Every time she hears a gunshot she sees Lu Ge shooting Zhao Han with her gun and she sees red…blood everywhere! Ji Bai stops her from trying to shoot anymore at the target range. He tells her that she does need to heed the psychologist’s advice and take time off to heal. It will be a long process. Yao Meng then goes to turn in a letter of resignation. Ji Bai takes it from her, but does not accept it. Yao Meng is an officer. She doesn’t stop being one because of PTSD. Again, take the time to get help and heal. Ji Bail will let her decide afterward if she can face her demons and come back or if she has to stop being a cop. Why does she think killing Lu Ge will solve her problems? It won’t.

After Yao Meng departs, Ji Bai gives the crying Xu Xu the gun. Even through her tears, the girl practically hits the center of the target. She has to be strong for the upcoming mission. She needs to right her mistakes. She’s as ready as she’ll ever be. Interesting to note, even if things are successful in Myanmar, if Xu Xu still can’t pass the physical, Ji Bai is kicking her out. Yep, he won’t change his mind. I did like when Zhan talked about being highly trained in self defense and offense won’t stop you from getting hurt. It’s very true. Unexpected things can happen. Still, Ji Bai is making sure that if he’s forced to take Xu Xu on this dangerous mission, she’s as prepared as she possibly can be.

I do have a bone to pick with the plot. They synopsis for the drama, which reads like a carbon copy of the blurb for the book, talks about the serious detective who falls in love with the clueless genius psychologist and has to slowly woo her until she realizes her own feelings when a serial killer suddenly reappears. Yeah. That is SO not right. Sure, you could say that Ji Bai might like-like Xu Xu right now, but I don’t think so. He respects her deductive reasoning and intuition and looks on her as a bright student who is close to equal footing. But with his casualness even with his playfulness, I don’t think he’s trying to pound he likes her into her thick skull. Sure, it takes a conversation with Yao Meng for Xu Xu to realize her feelings since she’s never experience love before, but I think it’s safe to say she fell for Ji Bai hard first.

So Xu Xu is all on her lonesome in Ye Zi Xi’s condo. She’s imagining things about the crime and startles herself. Then, of course, she hears something and gets more freaked out. It’s only Ji Bai. She’s surprised that she beat him to the house. He then gives her a thorough scolding for coming to the scene of the crime all alone. It can be dangerous, you know? Will Xu Xu ever get her physical prowess and knowledge of proper protocol up to snuff for Ji Bai, lol? Though, he is right. That’s why you see most cops/detectives working in pairs. She then tells him to sit and wait while she gathers together her thoughts on just why Ye Qiao isn’t the criminal since his presence will distract her. She walks through the happenings of the night, but there is just now way that Ye Qiao could have overpowered Zi Xi with no signs of a struggle. They are two women with similar builds.

While Xu Xu is trying to figure out what exactly happened that night, Yao Meng goes to Zhao Han about just what was disturbing her about the case as well. The two then get into a discussion about Ye Qiao and just who she was trying to protect. Zhao Han thinks its possible she did everything for Zhang, but Yao Meng doesn’t think so. Ye Qiao was a proud woman and would not take Zhang back after he offs his girlfriend to get back with this wife. Ah, Yao Meng made a comment about how bad men are, but takes that back. Her Teacher is an awesome man who would never treat a woman that way. Zhao Han then makes the equivalent statement that Yao Meng is wearing rose colored glasses (or blinders) to think that way. Their discussions can be just as cute as Ji Bai and Xu Xu’s. This sets the whole crew working on a case they thought just might be open and shut. Oh, and let’s not forget about that kidnapping ring. It never goes away. And while they are trying to figure out the real killer for Ye Zi Xi, Zhang Shiyong is kidnapped for a second time. Oy vey.

Xu Xu gets certain things worked out. She knows that the killer wants to hide the correct time of death, but her deductions on how have Ji Bai negating her. So if it wasn’t the air conditioner lowering the body’s temperature, what could it be? She then remembers the syringes in Zi Xi’s fridge for her digestive issues. Something to do with that is possible right? She goes to the fridge and sneezes as she stands with the door open. Ji Bai takes his coat off and puts it around her. She tells him it isn’t necessary and he replies it is troublesome if she gets sick in the middle of a case when they are striving to solve it. She then begins jumping up and down, see she can keep herself warm? She does admit she’s not accustomed to wearing someone else’s clothes.

Ji Bai then asks her to write down who she thinks the killer is and he’ll do the same. Just as they are about to show their sticky notes to each other, they are interrupted by Ye Lan Yuan [Jiao Ti Yi] who has come with is faithful sidekick. Why is he there? Someone needs to honor his niece and send her off, don’t they? Lan Yuan tells Ji Bai that it is impossible for his daughter to have killed her cousin as Zi Xi isn’t the first woman Zhang has had on the side, plus Qiao was planning on getting a divorce. Ji Bai won’t listen to stories. He needs hard evidence to back up what Lan Yuan is saying. Uncle Ye then tries to get clothes for Zi Xi’s funeral, but is rejected. Nothing must leave the house. He then decide to take Lan Yuan into custody and demands that his son Ye Zi Qiang be brought in as well.

On the way to the station, Lan Yuan begins blabbering about the past and how Zi Xi brought Ji Bai to him and her father and introduced him as “san ge” (third brother). Zi Xi’s father then had Ji Bai investigated and deemed him a worthy match for his daughter. So much time had passed and people had changed. It was 15 years, wasn’t it? Ji Bai had a more accurate count…I think it was like 14 years and then x amount of months and days. And who said men don’t have memories for dates like that?

Of course, Ye Zi Qiang has one hell of a temper. When he sees that his dad was brought in by the police he angrily confesses that he is the killer, not his father. He even pulls a knife out and starts running towards where Xu Xu is standing. Just like when she was held hostage by Yang Yu, she is thrown by Ji Bai, and he gets his upper arm cut by Zi Qiang’s knife. It’s quite the tussle, but the crazy Ye is finally subdued. Ye Qiang is not happy to see her beloved ge ge in custody.

Xu Xu helps take care of Ji Bai’s knife wound. He tells her its nothing. He even managed to catch a criminal after getting shot in the stomach, so this “little” scratch is nothing in comparison. Yowza. He is the ultimate detective, isn’t he? But Xu Xu is insistent in cleaning the wound and getting it bandaged. While doing this, Ji Bai steals her sticky note and sees that she wrote down Zi Qiang. He then shows her his which had Zi Qiang’s name with a plus sign and question marks. Why did he write that (meaning Zi Qiang had to have an accomplice)? As always, Ji Bai won’t tell. When Ji Bai goes to get new clothes out of his office, the startled little snail makes a beeline for the door. She’s sooo cute, really, isn’t she?

Ji Bai and Xu Xu then go to talk to Ye Qiao who does admit she lied about killing Zi Xi. Her cousin was DOA. Qiao was frightened that her brother, after learning of Zi Xi’s reneged deal on the financial issues with the company, might have harmed her cousin so she rushed to Zi Xi’s love nest only to find her cousin bled out on the living room floor. She thought that just possibly Zhang was the culprit and that is why she sent him a text using Zi Xi’s phone. If he was the killer, then there is no way he would come since he’d know it was a setup, but he came. Thus, Qiao decides since her life was already over, the least she can do is save her older brother and take the rap for him. Ji Bai says that since he committed a crime, her brother must pay. He also tells her that it is not easy for another person to destroy your life…was that supposed to be comforting?

Xu Xu and Ji Bai get a confession from Zi Qiang, but both don’t believe it. After expressing suspicions to the coroner, he looked again and did find a syringe mark on Zi Xi’s body. This would take medical knowledge and a level head, both things that Zi Qiang obviously doesn’t possess. Even if he’s a possible druggie and alcoholic, it doesn’t mean he’d be able to do that. After letting Zi Qiang hang out with his nerves and addictions getting to him, they go in when he starts totally losing his composure to talk to him some more. He admits he discovered Zi Xi didn’t keep the end of her bargain, so he got the address to her other home from Zhang and went over there. He lost his temper and accidentally sent her over the landing. Enter Sidekick Dude whose name I keep forgetting. He tells Zi Qiang that he killed Zi Xi and sends him packing. The only thing was Zi Xi was still alive when he left. I think it relieves Zi Qiang that he didn’t actually kill his cousin, but he’s still in big trouble as is Ye Qiao for the crimes they have committed. Anywho, Lan Yuan’s closest ally is the one who injected Zi Xi with a cold saline solution to fake her time of death and then stabbed her with all of those blades. What a sick, twisted man.

So Sidekick goes on the run and eludes the police. This gets Lan Yuan thinking. He asks for warehouse personnel changes made in the last two years. It turns out that all warehouse managers who replaced during this time. Sidekick approved these changes as did Lan Yuan, didn’t he? Lan Yuan then goes to every warehouse. When he gets to the final one there is a closed off section. In that section there is not the stone stock, but rather drugs. Lan Yuan says to deliver the information to the police. There is no way he can possible save the Ye Corporation after all is there?

So, while all this is going on, they are still investigating the kidnapping and human trafficking ring. They go back to Guan (whatever the rest of his name is) and agree to reduce his sentence if he can give them more information. He says that whoever’s girls Lu Ge chose when he came would be blessed with lots of riches. Ji Bai then asks if Yao Meng would be Lu Ge’s type. They then create an undercover operation where Guan will take Yao Meng in as a potential woman to be sold off. There will be not working over time as their operation will start bright and early with Yao Meng going with Guan to Jia He market.

That night Xu Xu winds up at Ji Bai’s dorm. He is completely surprised to see her there. She has brought him congee and herbal tea since he’s been injured. She also says that for the next two days if there is nothing going on, she will buy him healthy soups and congee and herbal teas to help him heal. So sweet. He sits down to eat and is surprised when she joins him. She starts eating at her normal snail pace and says she will stay to clean up since he’s injured. While Ji Bai goes over case information and photographs, Xu Xu finishes cleaning up and pours him some more herbal tea. She heads towards his door, but then turns and asks him if he thinks there is a relationship between all of these things. Ji Bai says she doesn’t have to butter him up like this to bounce her ideas off him. This surprises Xu Xu. What is Ji Bai saying? She only did this because she wanted to help him, nothing more, nothing less. What weird things is her teacher saying? She then takes her leave while Ji Bai looks at the door in puzzlement. What just happened?

Xu Xu draws out this scene in her sketchbook. A confused lion wonders why the snail is sharing something with him. Yao Meng comes in and looks at the drawing. She smiles and says it is obvious what the snail’s motive is, although the snail hasn’t realized it yet, has she? Eh? The snail loves the lion! Yao Meng saying all this with her knowing little smile is cute. Looks like she doesn’t mind that the snail has fallen for the lion. But this is news to poor Xu Xu who just doesn’t know how to handle it, lol.

So morning comes and the operation begins. Guan takes Yao Meng to meet the female contact in the market (oh, by the way, Yao Meng and Zhao Han had done a reconnaissance mission earlier as a couple and took video and audio and they had a cute conversation where Zhao Han bought Yao Meng a pig statuette and told her a fable to boot that had Yao Meng laughing at its absurdity). He introduces her as a friend’s daughter in desperate need of work to pay hospital bills for her cancer-stricken parent. As a cover, Xu Xu and Ji Bai are acting as a couple while listening in on Yao Meng. Xu Xu is definitely flustered with Ji Bai having his arm around her and feeding her food (she fed him some, too and he complimented her great acting skills…it wasn’t acting, lol!). Xu Xu asked Ji Bai if he thought she was a burden to the team (you know she’s physically weak and hopeless in a fight, right?). Ji Bai is so cute, there’s no need to worry since Teacher is by her side so she won’t be a drag to the team!

Anywho, back to Yao Meng. The market aunt says she has work for a demanding old man and the pay is good since they can’t find anyone to take his temper. Yao Meng agrees to apply and demands half the pay upfront. The aunt says that is impossible and Yao Meng storms out with Guan telling her to cool down and come back since she really needs the money. The Aunt then sends Yao Meng to a back room to fill out an application while she and Guan discuss Yao Meng’s price. Guan is not happy with what the aunt puts Yao Meng’s value at and says he will show her to the boss himself. The aunt then tells him Yu Ge will be there early the next day if he wants to do so. Guan agrees and leaves with Yao Meng once she’s done with the application.

Ji Bai and Xu Xu make their way back out of the market and Ji Bai wonders what is wrong since Xu Xu’s face is very red. She’s not allergic to the food they were eating is she? Xu Xu claims it was because he got so close to her. He’s a man and she’s a woman after all. Shifu shock! He lightly knocks her in the head and says there is no gender differences for a monster. And… a personal pet peeve for me. DO NOT USE THE WORD GENDER UNLESS YOU MEAN GENDER!!! In this case, I more think that you would want the term “sex”. Gender is societally accepted normal behaviors, etc., usually associated with a person’s sex (what physically makes you male or female). Ok, done ranting. Having been a sociology minor in college (and an English major to boot), I angry on how people use the terms synonymously when they aren’t. Poor Xu Xu. Ji Bai didn’t get it was because Xu Xu is aware of her feelings and him as a man. Clueless teacher. Just like when he thought she was buttering him up. I can’t believe he actually thought that she had the skills to suck up to people, lol. What about Xu Xu makes him think she has “normal” interpersonal skills? Shakes head.

So we end essentially with the gang making plans to bust Lu Ge and his ring the next day. They have to flawless and perfect. Lu Ge is a smart man who has managed to elude all police (and clear photographic evidence) until now. They need to make sure they bring him down and hopefully they will get a lead to Zhang’s whereabouts and Sidekick’s (Hu Zi Shan…that’s Sidekick’s name).

So…besides kidnapping, human trafficking, murder, cover ups, anger issues, and relationship issues, we can add drug trafficking as well. Nothing’s ever simple, ne?

When A Snail Falls in Love Episodes 7-9 Recap

Again, plots within plots within plots. Everything is related and everything goes back to the Ye family. It’s cute, in all of this melodrama, to see Xu Xu trying to comfort Ji Bai. I also like how we get to learn more about Xu Xu and why she is the way she is. (more…)