#xialou

And that’s a FUCK THAT.

Well, this whole finale is extremely depressing but at least that seemed to temporarily snap Zhang Haixia out of it and let him briefly regain control from his possession.

I love how this show started as a comedy

The fact that Haixia was going to write a note so Hailou thought he was still alive and off himself is so dark. But it also shows how much he knows Zhang Hailou since that man did immediately try to kill himself when he thought Zhang Haixia was dead the first time.

Well that’s fucking heartbreaking. I’m genuinely surprised that possession apparently isn’t enough to get around the ‘evil doers must die’ part of the censorship regulations.

On the flip side, I love that the three are able to help each other still. Even if this is all just memories via a snake… sentences are being written that have never been wrote before.

Also, let’s not turn Haixia into a multi headed centipede please. I could do without that nightmare imagery.

I truly appreciate this show’s commitment to the bit that there really isn’t a problem Zhang Hailou can’t throw a stick of dynamite at.

I don’t think the writers kissed the brick when they threw it at me.

also, is this one of the nine meteors mentioned in Time Raiders???

Well, at least Zhang Hailou got some disciples who haven’t died yet. But he should be raising them with Haixia.

WU XIE, HEY!

I mean, I appreciate that Zhang Haiqi is alive but come on Qiling, save the boyfriend too. Listen, I know you’re not going to get it right away. But in like seventy years you’re going to have an amazing gay love story so could you please go and save the gays down in the caves??

Final Thoughts:

Saddened but not surprised.

I’m hoping we either get a season 2 or a bonus episode but China is never one for letting bromance dramas have a happy ending. I think it’s got to be a written rule somewhere into the terms of release that any show that falls into that genre can’t have a good ending. Sometimes it works (like Guardian 2019) and sometimes shows get around it with bonus episodes (Word of Honor, Fangs of Fortune) but this one irritates me because the cure was right there. If we’d been shown Dark!Haixia crushing it I would have accepted that. But nooo.

Apparently evil doers or morally ambiguous characters have to die as well according to the censorship laws so I was genuinely surprised that even possession wasn’t able to really get around that :(

Also, it probably fell into a case of writer’s not thinking about the implications because “men can’t be assaulted” (*stares in the camera like I’m on the Office*) but I can’t believe the female (implied serial) r@pist got a good ending — with her victim! Like fuck that bitch I wanted her to die multiple times. My hopes were so high when she fell in that pit at the end. The show tried to make her likeable but nope. Ain’t gonna happen. I think I would be less irritated if she had died as well. Truly I think that is the only misstep in the whole show.

I do like the finale, however maybe it’s just how my brain works but there’s a couple of ways I would have improved upon the ending if you want me to fully accept it. And funnily enough one of them links back to BTVS (a show I reference in my Episode 31 post).

1. Go full Buffy vs Angelus and wake Haixia up but you’ve got a situation where it’s too late to stop the bronze bell opening because Dark!Haixia started opening it. Something like the end of season 2 or the end of season 5 ‘once the blood starts flowing’ rules. Then it comes down to only killing Haixia will stop it from opening. (Although I did find solving the problem with modern explosives pretty funny)

2. Romeo and Juliet each other. I did love the detail that Haixia regained just enough control not to kill Hailou but they could have both ambiguously died in the cave collapse. Look, you already showed that Hailou was suicidally depressed after Haixia died the first time it would have worked.

Lastly, as much as I love Zhang Haiqi and yay Zhang Qiling, I think if Haixia is staying dead she should have also stayed dead. Because you’re telling me that Zhang Qiling could somehow fix a rapidly aged and beheaded corpse but not a stabbed possessed boyfriend?

Not Zhang Hailou calling out for Zhang Haixia in his sleep.

Yup, man is definitely not okay. What are the side effects of the Romeo & Juliet fake your death potion? I feel like they’re pretty significant. Or is it because they were late in giving him the antidote?

This show is turning into a pretty intriguing case of ‘Came Back Wrong’ for a former ‘Dead Wife Haunting the Narrative’. Does the evil god have something to do with this?

Meanwhile Zhang Hailuo is oblivious and just happy his husband is back. So, this is going to gut him again when he finds out something is off. He’s already having retirement esque plans for them.

BECAUSE HE WAS IN LOVE. He went because he was in love. Haiqi, you raised these two codependent freaks I feel like you gotta take some responsibility here. Also thanks for the confirmation that Haixia is still fucking dying. That’s great. ;-;

Can the gays please have a happy ending. Like can the power of gay love pierce through the veil of death and save the day?

Are you kidding me that his husband literally shows up on a horse to save him.

Action husbands are back in the present day this time.

Finally we get a confrontation and Zhang Hailou really is too smart to not notice something is up with his husband. :( not my man’s heart starting to break all over again. This show started out as a laugh out loud comedy and now we’re sliding into heavy depression. What happened???

IM SORRY WHAT?!????

WHAT IS HAPPENING TO HAIXIA. CAN MY MEN CATCH A BREAK?????

Finally a confrontation about all of this. I’m glad Zhang Hailou finally knows all the details. Although I’m expecting an angsty ending I’d love it if Zhang Hailou could save Zhang Haixia. They’ve more than earned a happy ending at this point.

You couldn’t pay me to care about this het couple after that drugged wine scene. I’m honestly cool with Zhang Haixia murdering her if it really comes to it. Just because she’s a woman it doesn’t stop her from being a creep.

I will say that as much as I want a Xialou reunion, Zhang Haiqi getting to experience what Zhang Hailou is like on cases firsthand is absolutely hilarious.

And for once he wasn’t lying lmao.

I don’t think Zhang Haixia likes it when you threaten his husband. But hey at least the old Haixia is still in there, we saw a glimpse of him when he suddenly seemed to regain his sanity momentarily ;-;

He says to the man who is in love with the man he was raised with.

Oh we’re back to the evil snake god yay! I was wondering when that would come back.

She’s honestly amazing.

STOP CLIFF HANGERING MEEEE I WANT TO STOP WORRYING ABOUT HAIXIA. Also, he might want to stop following Zhang Haiqi because at this rate his husband’s going to get bride sacrificed.

Haiqi istg. But no wonder she’s so bad at dealing with Xialou’s romance.

It would hurt less if you just shot me. I find myself repeating myself here but this was a FUNNY SHOW. I WAS CRACKING UP. Now all that’s cracking is Zhang Hailou’s heart every episode.

Omg Mo Yungao let it gooooo. Although if this is set Pre-DBMJ main timeline I’m gonna find it so funny when I start watching the other shows remembering that Zhang Qiling canonically had a man obsessed to stalkerish and unhealthy levels during the Republic era.

He might be evil now but he’s still gay and married, Your Honour.

Well, at least we got some wacky hijinks again.

Sharing the above for no reason. ^

I mean he’s trying to help??? In his own murdery type of way.