Shiguang Dailiren Episode 10 Discussion

IIashII said:
This episode actually blew away all my expectations and blew my mind. Maybe it's because I'm too hype for this show, maybe it's because I'm unhealthily obsessed with this story, but god this show manages to hit all my preferences and favourites in the genre.

Okay so onto the episode itself, I have SOOO much to talk about! I really liked that we finally get a bit more of Cheng Xiaoshi's backstory, and I just wanted to give him a big hug the whole time man, although we still don't know what exactly happened to his parents. It's heartwarming to see that Qiao Ling was there for him the whole time. I also loved that we got more of how Lu Guang and Cheng Xiaoshi actually became friends (and the BL tease left me screaming, I am a shipper at heart I suppose)! It was obvious that Cheng Xiaoshi had deep emotional scars with something that happened in the past, so I'm glad that it was explained further.

And onto the conflict, I thought that Liu Min did have time-travel related powers too, but now that I think about it, the murder attempt happened the day before Liu Min entered our photo studio. And his motivations too, so I just think he went psycho after the online harassment and got involved in something way over his head, competing with people with time travel powers lol. But why can he walk again though? His medical records seem fine, so it's unlikely that he was faking his injury the whole time. I do think maybe there's something that I'm missing, enlighten me if you guys have any ideas lol. The mystery with Emma still has to be resolved in the next episode, I'm not sure if they'll be able to close off all the plot threads in 24 minutes (hoping that the final episode is longer!)

Can we just talk about the galaxy brain level stuff Cheng Xiaoshi's pulling rn? I didn't know he had it in him lol, but I'm definitely excited to see what he does and what his plan is after taking the lead himself. This has to be the most brutal cliffhanger this show has pulled lol, I'm desperate to see the next episode!

All in all, this episode is definitely my favourite till now, and this boosted my whole impression of the show itself. I think this might turn into one of my all time favorites!!!

Edit: Oh my gosh, the events of Ep 8 also make sense now. At 1:30 in the morning, Liu Min went to kill Xu Shanshan, but she was possessed by Cheng Xiaoshi, so Xiaoshi then delivered his message to the murderer. When Qiao Ling tried to call her the following day, the murderer's messages "Clue recieved, my new friend." make sense! Liu Min figures out the clues through the photo of Shanshan in front of the studio, and then replies that he will be there as scheduled. At 1 the next morning, Liu Min arrived at the photo studio and was caught by Lu Guang in the darkroom, where Cheng Xiao reappeared.

ilalochezia said:
The show has fallen into the trap of spending a lot of time on flashbacks and it may be getting repetitive. And, um... yes, some hints of BL seems to be going on. The ending is satisfying, though, but will the last episode explain it all? And why does Cheng Xiaoshi appear wherever he wants to?

ilalochezia said:
And ilalochezia posts a discussion comment yet again after thinking about the show for some more time. Clearly, ilalochezia is mentally invested in the story, even though ilalochezia rates it 6 / 10 (maybe unfairly). This time, ilalochezia would like to raise a question: does Lu Guang foresee the success of Cheng Xiaoshi's plan when he initially dived into Shanshan's selfie? Why, then, does he still warn Cheng Xiaoshi to be prepared for the worst? And is there some kind of 'time node' that make all this possible?

cloudslonging said:


He doesn't! He appeared in that room at the end because he was shown developing photos there earlier. So he very likely dived into the photo while being in that room

HelerWz said:
Can we all agree that the Ending song is there to help us stop panicking at every cliffhanger? IT DOESN'T DO A MARVELLOUS JOB ANYMORE

IIashII said:
I'm not sure if they'll be able to close off all the plot threads in 24 minutes (hoping that the final episode is longer!)

cloudslonging said:

He doesn't! He appeared in that room at the end because he was shown developing photos there earlier. So he very likely dived into the photo while being in that room

EverlastingChaos said:
He was calling the police. Idk what Cheng will do inside the room.
But you seem to have forgotten that Cheng Xioshi can enter the photo only one time. Lu clearly said this a few eps before.

qwqpwp said:
not sure if you're replying to me but I didn't imply he used the same photo twice. I was thinking maybe he took a photo of the development room for his second diving. Not sure why he did that but just he appeared to have golden eyes. (When he was developing photos earlier, his eyes looked dark even in red light.)

IIashII said:


About your questions, we as the audience aren't that informed on Lu Guang's abilities, but I have a theory.
We did see what Lu Guang saw while looking at Xu Shanshan's photo the first time, the original timeline where she was killed. However his connection was broken when the knife struck, idk why it happened but Lu Guang assumed that it meant something bad was going to happen to her, probably her dying which probably did happen in that timeline.
So I thought that Lu Guang basically sees what happens in the original time line but then I remembered, in Ep 9 he did see Cheng Xiaoshi sneaking around in the parking lot, which obviously isn't the original timeline. But we can assume that Cheng Xiaoshi dove into the photo before Lu Guang did his thing on the CCTV photo.

So what I concluded after some thinking was that Lu Guang sees what the past looks like at his point of time. I know this sounds a bit confusing, but let me explain.
Let's assume that Cheng Xiaoshi dove into the photo before Lu Guang reached the police station. When Lu Guang looked at the CCTV image of the parking lot in Ep 9, he saw the timeline with Cheng Xiaoshi in it, because Xiaoshi had already dove in i.e. modified the past by the time Lu Guang activated his ability. If he looked at the photo before Xiaoshi did his thing, he would've seen the OG timeline WITHOUT Xiaoshi sneaking around.
Now onto Xu Shanshan's situation. When Lu Guang looked at her photo, Cheng Xiaoshi didn't dive in yet --> which means he did not modify the past yet --> thus, Lu Guang saw the OG timeline where Shanshan perished. Thus, he couldn't see what Cheng Xiaoshi's actions would lead to at that time.

About the time node, while reading the bilibili comments on this episode, I'm led to believe that the time node here is Cheng Xiaoshi's possession of Xu Shanshan. Although I didn't understand the logic of the commenter clearly due to mistranslations by Google Translate, basically the gist is that the cycle began with Xu Shanshan's death, and our protag's wanted to fix this by diving into the photos. This is an established fact. So Cheng Xiaoshi possessing Xu Shanshan is an inevitable event, and is the core of the cycle and will not change. Him possessing Shanshan is the node and prevents the cycle from falling into a paradox.

qwqpwp said:
not sure if you're replying to me but I didn't imply he used the same photo twice. I was thinking maybe he took a photo of the development room (after the killer's locked in, via security camera maybe?) for his second diving. Not sure why he did that but just he appeared to have golden eyes. (When he was developing photos earlier, his eyes looked dark even in red light.)

giveup-the-ghost said:

I also saw some screencaps from both versions, and the Bilibili subs vs. Funimation subs are very different in the scene when Lu Gung is talking with Qiao Ling about CX. Although I always see lots of complaints about the Funimation subs, and that the Bilibili subs are much better.

EverlastingChaos said:

But if not, then maybe it is a countermeasure against the killer's ability? that we don't know about?

EverlastingChaos said:

And it's clear that cheng came up with that plan and decided to do it only after he entered the photo.

qwqpwp said:


What are LG's lines in Funimation subs? I've only watched on bilibili and thought the translation quality can really vary by episode. I often spot lines that I think are better than what I can come up with, but sometimes it's shit. I think with better subs the ratings here could be even higher. (Although I would only give it 7-8 because there is some 'Chinese' cheesiness in the show that may look cheesy to the Chinese but is fresh to other countries.)

In Chinese what LG said doesn't sound like confession to me. The way QL asked him is suggestive of a romantic relationship but the same phrase (看上) can also be used in situations like "I fell in love with this dress on first sight" and it also wouldn't be weird if straight men use it jokingly to describe friendship, like bromance. Then QL also emphatically used the word 'friend' to purposefully de-gay it. The whole show in Chinese felt like whenever it creates that BL/GL atmosphere it is to please the audience, so personally even though I like watching/reading LGBTQ stuff, I actually think the BL/GL moments detract from the show because it feels commercial.

giveup-the-ghost said:

QL asks LG what he likes about CX: and in the Funimation sub he responds "What do you mean, what I like about him" vs. the Bilibili subs where his line is "What do you mean I crushed on him?" Which is kinda weird wording but to "like" someone is very different than to "crush" on someone. So that's why I thought Funimation tried to take out the romantic subtext.

qwqpwp said:


In bilibili subs:
QL: How did you crush on CX? Over these years you are his first best buddy besides me.
LG: What do you mean I crushed on him? Actually, he invited me to play basketball first.

QL used the word "crush" first, and LG's question was protesting QL's phrasing, although LG's focus was more on the order (he invited me first, not the other way around). He's denying the initiative more than the word "crush" itself.

In Chinese, as I explained above, "看上" does have romantic overtone in this context, but it can also be used in a cheeky way to mean friendship. Actually I think the same can be said for "crush" because my friends use "crush" too😂. QL said "best buddy" and "friend" immediately after, so she was purposefully given ambivalent lines..

In the most literal translation, QL's "你到底看上我家程小时哪点了?" is "what do you see in my CX (that you have your eyes on him)?" And LG's reply is "what do you mean 'I have my eyes on him?' He asked me to join the game!"

PaninaManina said:
Quoting Hideo Kojima, "I'm back!".

But first, remember what I responded on that little discussion about if and how Link Click is good? What we could point to say that this is an "above average" series?
Do you agree that those qualities are at display here, @ilalochezia @HelerWz ?

Yes, now we are seeing "the plot unfolding", but can't we deny that the events are unfolding because the actions of the characters and not the contrary? That's why it's hard to predict what was happening, but now that we are seeing what really happened (in the end) "makes a bit of sense" knowing these characters.
It's fascinating for me that we are seeing both Xiaoshi and Lu play for and against the rules at the same time. Xiaoshi is making an effort to be composed and let the past be and this meaning let the dead stay dead, and Lu is finding a way to change the past and bring the dead back to the living.

I don't thing that Qiao fully understood the significance in Lu words when she went out from the studio in the middle of the episode, that Xu was dead. But Xiaoshi understood and it's just beautiful that this information just dropped and there was no screams, no tears, no scandal. Lu very in character controlled the situation and Xiaoshi just sat there, breathing. Just beautiful. Then he left Lu alone to do the thinking and went to be alone himself to let the reality sink in and be prepared for what would come next. I still not sure if Lihua (Emma) will remain dead or if she'll be saved, but what matters is that Xiaoshi made his farewell to her. He need to do this to be able to take whatever would happen in the end with Xu.


But now...
The characters sense, if you think just about the characters you can follow the events, but there are so many detail that you notice and point and "holes"... that's why I'm writing this without reading any comments. I want to put my thoughts to words without external influences.

The murderer, Lin, it's really him.
Having money he just purchased the hospital to give him an alibi. But it's because he feared Lihua could denounce him to the police or because he went after her do finish the job? Either way works.
But seeing how much he is lying and that he want after Xu for the reasons he did he may very well be the serial killer. Someone will need to put a timeline of events in the end because it's hard to understand the detail. Some details simple don't feet. When we see Lin in his house looking at the news about Xu on his phone, he end talking about "my friend". How is this possible before Xiaoshi talked with him? It's just a plot hole and is this just a detail that we can't understand yet that it's important to way he didn't appeared a single bit shocked to Xiaoshi talking to him through Xu? It's because he really isn't just a ​normal person, it'a because he also have supernatural powers and was already aware of more people like him and the main duo out there?


We ell have to way and see if the ending explains everything in a way that makes sense, for now we can at least marvel at the brilliance of everything else. ​I mentioned before, how Xiaoshi and Lu dramatic roles are reversed. Xiaoshi was prepared to let Xu die, but Lu found a way to same her. The called again the police to make sure that Xu body wasn't found and not one still suspected that she had been killed. Exploiting this opportunity he thought a way to save her while her death is still not acknowledge by the world, right? She is probably tied somewhere waiting for the rescue. But what exactly will Xiaoshi and Lu do with Lin? Kill him? Because, how can they sillence him about their powers?

There's so much, so many feelings, better stop now and read the comments.

ilalochezia said:

Quite apparently, the focus of the story is on Cheng Xiaoshi, and not so much the photo-diving aspect. But on what aspect of Cheng Xiaoshi, specifically? Is it his past? His mental state? Or more plausibly, how these and his personality change (maybe too abruptly)?

IIashII said:
I really liked that we finally get a bit more of Cheng Xiaoshi's backstory, and I just wanted to give him a big hug the whole time man, although we still don't know what exactly happened to his parents.

PaninaManina said:
Quoting Hideo Kojima, "I'm back!".

But first, remember what I responded on that little discussion about if and how Link Click is good? What we could point to say that this is an "above average" series?
Do you agree that those qualities are at display here, @ilalochezia @HelerWz ?

Yes, now we are seeing "the plot unfolding", but can't we deny that the events are unfolding because the actions of the characters and not the contrary? That's why it's hard to predict what was happening, but now that we are seeing what really happened (in the end) "makes a bit of sense" knowing these characters.
It's fascinating for me that we are seeing both Xiaoshi and Lu play for and against the rules at the same time. Xiaoshi is making an effort to be composed and let the past be and this meaning let the dead stay dead, and Lu is finding a way to change the past and bring the dead back to the living.

I don't thing that Qiao fully understood the significance in Lu words when she went out from the studio in the middle of the episode, that Xu was dead. But Xiaoshi understood and it's just beautiful that this information just dropped and there was no screams, no tears, no scandal. Lu very in character controlled the situation and Xiaoshi just sat there, breathing. Just beautiful. Then he left Lu alone to do the thinking and went to be alone himself to let the reality sink in and be prepared for what would come next. I still not sure if Lihua (Emma) will remain dead or if she'll be saved, but what matters is that Xiaoshi made his farewell to her. He need to do this to be able to take whatever would happen in the end with Xu.


But now...
The characters sense, if you think just about the characters you can follow the events, but there are so many detail that you notice and point and "holes"... that's why I'm writing this without reading any comments. I want to put my thoughts to words without external influences.

The murderer, Lin, it's really him.
Having money he just purchased the hospital to give him an alibi. But it's because he feared Lihua could denounce him to the police or because he went after her do finish the job? Either way works.
But seeing how much he is lying and that he want after Xu for the reasons he did he may very well be the serial killer. Someone will need to put a timeline of events in the end because it's hard to understand the detail. Some details simple don't feet. When we see Lin in his house looking at the news about Xu on his phone, he end talking about "my friend". How is this possible before Xiaoshi talked with him? It's just a plot hole and is this just a detail that we can't understand yet that it's important to way he didn't appeared a single bit shocked to Xiaoshi talking to him through Xu? It's because he really isn't just a ​normal person, it'a because he also have supernatural powers and was already aware of more people like him and the main duo out there?
EDIT (forgot a bit, they got the time of Xu photo wrong. If you rewatch the other episodes you'll see by the shadows, and they use shadows to tell the passage of time, that Xu and Qiao arrived at the studio during the morning, but they pretend that she took her photo at the door during the afternoon)


We'll have to way and see if the ending explains everything in a way that makes sense, for now we can at least marvel at the brilliance of everything else. ​I mentioned before, how Xiaoshi and Lu dramatic roles are reversed. Xiaoshi was prepared to let Xu die, but Lu found a way to same her. The called again the police to make sure that Xu body wasn't found and not one still suspected that she had been killed. Exploiting this opportunity he thought a way to save her while her death is still not acknowledge by the world, right? She is probably tied somewhere waiting for the rescue. But what exactly will Xiaoshi and Lu do with Lin? Kill him? Because, how can they sillence him about their powers?

There's so much, so many feelings, better stop now and read the comments.

Kathrina_Shade said:

But why do you think it was Lu Guang who came up with the plan to "rescue" Xu? It seemed to me that the episode clearly shows that this was Xiaoshi's idea, and Lu initially advised him to simply rip off the mask of the culprit. It seemed strange to me that Lu Guang supported such a risky plan, which implies games both with time and with a criminal, but, as already mentioned, perhaps this move itself was a node that had to happen in order to avoid a temporary parodox ( otherwise the plot of episode 8 would not have happened).

Kathrina_Shade said:

I love your theory that Lu Guang knows something but is hiding from Xiaoshi about his parents. It would be a dramatic move, it would be what I fear the most about their relationship, because I can't stand betrayal (and that would be a great betrayal on Lu's part towards Chen, no matter what was trained). However, I think that this trust issue was already a little signaled this season, when Xiaoshi did what he liked in photography and when he unauthorizedly climbed into the picture from the parking lot, and when Lu Guang did not tell him that no one was saved after the earthquake - at these moments, their trust in each other was tested for strength. However, if their relationship survived all of the above, then hiding the secret about the disappearance of his parents is something more serious and unforgivable for Xiaoshi, I think. If they raise this topic, then already in the 2nd season, if it will be.

PaninaManina said:

Just because Lu may know don't mean that he need to tell.
Isn't normal, to hid bad things from those you care?

giveup-the-ghost said:
Not that I have anything against viewers wanting to ship LG and CX. And if viewers want to see their relationship has romantic, well they can if they want to, it's a piece of fiction.