So, after surviving a crappy year, I decided my reward would be yet another rewatch of Desire Catcher. I know this fandom is kinda tiny, but I always enjoy reading other peopleās random thoughts and observations so I thought Iād throw mine out there too.
There are, of course, a bunch of different crime-related plot lines in the show, but this is basically going to just be me yelling about Luo Fei and Lu Fengping, seeing as I remain obsessed with them. Iām always up for discussing these two nerds in love, so feel free to tag me or message me (*waves to @thinkonce-acttwice!*). Iām at about the halfway point now, so Iāll post again once I finish the rest of the episodes.
Overall, I really like Desire Catcher - the various bits of plot donāt quite come together in the end, but for me itās more about the relationships and themes of revenge, regret, and forgiveness. So, lots of angst, which Iām always a big fan of, and which I suppose says something about meā¦
Luo Fei! Light of my life, the silent, broody, lone wolf cop - ACAB, of course, but heās firmly in sad (not-so-little) man territory, which is catnip to me. Plus he has a collection of black leather jackets - need I say more?
Lu Fengping! Other light of my life - Luo Feiās future boyfriend, I mean consulting hypnotist, the more outgoing, āquirkyā one. Heās always in light colors, dashing around with a lollipop in his mouth (I know there's a cute connection with his mom about them, but that aside, āoral fixation vibesā anyone?), teasing everyone around him - contrasted with Luo Feiās dark colors, grim expressions, and workaholic nature. Though itās interesting that as the show goes on it becomes clear that some of Lu Fengpingās affectations are really a mask he puts on to hide his pain (yay, angst!).
Their first real meeting happens over a meal; itās dark, itās raining, thereās thunder in the distance - foreboding and romantic all at once. Thereās definitely a teasing/flirty vibe there, though Luo Fei seems wary of Lu Fengping - in fairness, Lu Fengping is sort of using him for info on his momās murder case, though it gets a lot more complicated than that as time goes on.
While thereās a lot of emphasis on their differences (e.g., dark vs. light), itās interesting to note how similar Luo Fei and Lu Fengping actually are, even if they donāt see it yet. For example, Luo Fei has trance-like visions as he imagines what happened at a crime scene, much like how Lu Fengping sort of walks around in someoneās mind/memories when heās hypnotizing them.
So I know this is mainly about the boyfriends, but I want to say that I love all the other members of the investigation team too, especially Liang Yin - definitely not a fan of the āwoman suffers for man painā thing, but they do give her a couple of moments of reclaiming her agency, which I liked.
Luo Fei and Lu Fengping kind of dance around the whole I-know-you-know-more-about-my-momās-death thing for most of the first half of the show, at least until it all comes out when Lu Fengping hypnotizes Luo Fei (and WTF suggesting that Zhang Yu - you were supposed to be the showās moral compass!). Like I get that by this point theyāre becoming closer, feeling more open to each other, but still - youāre just rooting around in his brain without permission, my guy. Yikes.
Iām a big fan of parallels and I think we get a pretty significant one here between Luo Fei/Lu Fengping and the story of the relationship between Xiao Xifeng and Tu Liansheng. While you could certainly read it as just two longtime friends, the flashback scenes of them raising the abandoned kid together certainly give off a ācouple-yā vibe. Given that the show canāt come right out and say anyone is actually gay/queer, to me itās a way of floating the idea out there and letting people draw their own conclusions.
Speaking of reading into things, I had to go there and look up the various books shown strewn around Lu Fengpingās apartment. There were two romance novels (āCrimes of the Heartā by Allie Harrison and āYesterdayās Brideā by Charlotte Walker), another female-centric novel (āThings to Make and Mendā by Ruth Thomas), a financial memoir (āThe Age of Turbulenceā by Alan Greenspan), and, my personal fav, some gay French shit (āRemembrance of Things Pastā by Marcel Proust). Kind of an odd combo of things, but there are some bits that do seem to fit with the themes of the show - lots of misunderstandings, mistakes, not wanting to lose the people close to you. The Greenspan book is more of an outlier, but it does have the theme of āthe invisible handā - itās mainly an economic term, but you could extrapolate it more generally to people acting on instinct, rather than in a calculated way, sort of like how Lu Fengpingās mom acts to save Liang Yin, setting off a chain of events (kind of a stretch, though). And I guess I donāt have to say much about the Proust - feels like the kind of book youād use as shorthand for āsome gay stuff is happening here, folks.ā Plus, the book deals with memory and how people can perceive the same thing in totally different ways, which seems relevant to the momās death story line.
Getting back to the gay stuff, there were definitely a few things that made me š. First, when Lu Fengping says āno problemā a little too forcefully when Luo Fei tells him to wait outside while he changes - like, ādonāt worry, bro, I totally donāt want to see you naked, nope, not at all, hahahaā (combine that with his comment āYou donāt like men? Haha, neither do I!ā in a later episode to Liang Yin - feels like heās protesting a bit much). Second, theyāre always kind of flirty with each other, even if itās subtle. There just seems to be a bit of subtext in a line like āYouāre in a pretty unique situationā when Luo Fei sees Lu Fengping facedown on the floor at one point, not to mention the looks they give each other when Lu Fengping ends up stumbling to his knees in front of Luo Fei (and you canāt tell me that that was a totally accidental push on the part of Lu Fengpingās mentor - he totally ships them too, IMHO). Third, you canāt overlook the jealousy that rears its head when Luo Fei sees Lu Fengping getting flirty with the (eventually evil) nurse, or when he thinks Lu Fengping brought a girl home to his apartment. Fourth, there are several bits of convo that play around with subtext and seem aimed at the audience with a wink and a nudge. For example, thereās the bit in the car where Lu Fengping brings up marriage (sure, itās in reference to a different character, but Luo Fei has a justifiable WTF reaction), asks if Luo Fei has a girlfriend, and basically tries to set him up with a female client of his (who, it should be noted, sounds suspiciously like Lu Fengping himself - āvery outgoing; your personalities complement each other very wellā) in the span of about 10 seconds. Luo Fei gives him his best ābitch, pleaseā look and ditches him - Iām with you on this one, boo. Then thereās a weird bit of dialogue when theyāre searching a suspectās very neat and orderly apartment - Lu Fengping says āA man living by himself can keep a place like this clean. He wouldnāt be that thingā¦ā - long pause, pointed look at Luo Fei - āOCD or something like that?ā The audience knows at this point that Luo Feiās apartment is just as well-kept, and there seems to be an implication that Lu Fengping is actually referring to the stereotype of gay men being very neat. And how could I not mention the fight scene in the gym - beyond the groping, grunting, and full-body contact of their grappling session, the looks they give each other afterward, the small smiles when the other isnāt looking, Lu Fengping thanking Luo Fei for bringing flowers to his momās grave - itās a lot.
DATE NIGHT! (Sorry, I just get really excited about this part.) So here we have Mr. Uptight, known-to-not-drink-with-his co-workers-ever Luo Fei agreeing to go out with Lu Fengping after work and proceeding to get shitfaced (or does heā¦? He seems suspiciously sober after Lu Fengping puts him to bed and leaves the room). Itās tropey (drunken piggyback ride), itās sweet (Lu Fengping tearing up when he sees heās been added to the work group chat), itās typical man shit (drinking instead of talking about feelings). Theyāre both just so tender and raw right under the surface and it makes me slightly feral, ngl. Also, the bit with Luo Feiās parents there in the morning - I love how Lu Fengping immediately charms them and how they rush off like, āoops, sorry son, didnāt realize you brought a 'friend' home - we didnāt mean to interrupt!ā And, of course, Liang Yinās knowing smile when she sees them show up to work together the next morning; at this point in the show Iām not sure thereās any character who doesnāt ship itā¦
On a sad note, poor Xiao Liu - all he wanted was for his boss Luo Fei to be proud of him. Sure, he fucked up a couple of times, but he still didnāt deserve to get stabbed to death like that, nor just become another brick in the wall of Luo Feiās āman pain.ā (Also, WTF Luo Fei - do not throw papers at your subordinates - not cool, bro.) Iām probably reading too much into things, but there was kind of an undercurrent of Xiao Liu having a little bit of a crush on Luo Fei - he seemed so sad that Luo Fei had drinks with Lu Fengping almost immediately after meeting him, while Xiao Liu had been waiting to do that with Luo Fei for years. Interesting to note too that Xiao Liu also favored lighter-colored clothing, much like Lu Fengping (more of the light vs. dark trope).
Alright, well, this got away from me a bitā¦ Looking forward to the second half of DC and all that delicious angst. š¤
