The Double (2024) Episodes 12-14
So the soap opera continues… all the way to the palace. There the catfights resume with vengeful spite because the sore losers can’t take defeat lying down. This time too Princess Wanton Nutcase obliges by misbehaving gleefully at the celebration for the top graduates just because she can. It starts with A’Li “flirting” with Shen Yurong — apprarently that’s what she’s doing in that situation — to bring out the mastermind behind her near death experience. Princess Wanton Nutcase obliges and the lights comes on for A’Li. Princess Wanton Nutcase immediately recognizes A’Li as having an uncanny resemblance to Shen Yurong’s allegedly dead wife and devices a cheap William Tell parlour trick after A’Li claims impulsively that she has a penchant for archery. Shen Yurong suffering from an attack of conscience volunteers to be part of this circus act. Fortunately, it’s the indomitable Xiao Heng to the rescue and Shen Yurong gets off with a scratch. More or less. Clearly the duke is the only person in that room capable of telling Wanton Nutcase to take a hike. Politely of course. And in a way that doesn’t embarrass her too much.
Princess Wanton Nutcase is patterned after the obsessive so-called second female lead that pervades the C drama landscape. Whenever there’s a de facto love triangle in C short dramas which there almost always is, this type of female character is the intrusive third party 小三 for whom lying is second nature. She lies to the extent that she starts believing her own press. Like ideologues this type of character refuses to see the object of her obsession as her primary obstacle toward conquest but rather the women around him. Like all pathological liars there’s nothing she wouldn’t do to get “her” man. Murder would be the least of it. In a revenge narrative she would be instrumental in stealing what rightfully belongs to the female protagonist. Wanton Nutcase is the epitome of that entitled female trope. Incidentally it’s not just daughters of rich families that fall into the trap of solipsistic thinking but occasionally young women born out of poverty do as well. At least Wanton Nutcase has the decency… so far… to refrain from using the word “love” within hearing.
There’s little doubt Shen Yurong knows the Jiang Li imposter is formerly his A’Li. At least it’s what the flashbacks indicate. He allows himself to be A’Li’s sitting duck by way of penance. No doubt he feels his cowardice and knows that he owes her massively. Wife killing is a sin, as Tong’er reminds us lest we forget. Could he have done anything differently at the time? Perhaps. But he’s a man who cares about dignity and reputation on top of the fact that his own mother and sister are involved. More importantly Princess Wanton is notably persistent. In his mind killing A’Li would be an act of mercy compared to the mudslinging that A’Li would have to live with labelled as an adulterous wife for the rest of her miserable existence.
The script assumes that A’Li’s risky plan to draw out the mastermind from behind the shadows would work. It does but only because Wanton Nutcase is the possessive type who can’t help herself. She considers herself untouchable as she sees His Majesty’s subjects as game fodder, scrambling around helplessly for her entertainment. In her early to mid twenties, A’Li is already quite the psychologist apparently.
Noble Consort Li hatches a plot with stepmother Ji Shuran to deflower Jiang Li in an attempt to publicly shame both her and cousin Ye Shijie. Fortunately for them A’Li catches on. So does Shijie so they both escape excoriation. Their enemies fail again. But desperate and dateless cousin Jiang Yu’er gets a whiff of the plot and inserts herself into the scheme by becoming Zhou Yanbang’s willing bedfellow. Mayhem ensues. Zhou Yanbang and Yu’er are caught in a compromising position much to Jiang Ruoyao’s chagrin. It’s hard to know if Jiang Ruoyao is more upset about the fact that Zhou Yanbang betrayed her or that her socially inferior cousin got the jump on her.
It’s an unmitigated mess. But no one really cares aside from some huffing and puffing. There’s a sense underlying the fiasco that those involved deserve what’s coming to them. Greed or covetousness is the sin that binds these people. It’s also a set-up for A’Li’s hasty departure. There’s also a sense that Ruoyao is a Princess Wanton Nutcase in the making. She’s an example of how it all begins as someone who gets her own way. Accustomed to things handed to her on a platter, Ruoyao throws a big and expensive tantrum without having to clean up after herself.
All of this occurs in a context where “face” 脸面 trumps everything. This is the air they breathe 24/7. Although The Double is an anachronistic period story with manga-like elements, there’s that familiar sensibility which gives it a slightly more traditional flavour. Reputation, dignity, pride and honour matters in this world to an extent that is unrecognisable to ours. Respect and respectability is the highest good. It’s the idea which few can attain. The downside to that is hypocrisy. Appearances matter more. To the detriment of sincerity and affection. The word hypocrisy is based on a Greek word that has its origins in theatre — to play a part, to pretend to be someone you’re not. An actor.
There’s a lot of talk in the narrative about putting on a show. Everything is for show. Everyone is on display. That’s what tantrums are for. The trap set up by Noble Consort Li and Ji Shuran is meant to be another piece of theatre to humiliate. The only thing worse than committing a sin is to be exposed/caught in the act. In the case of the opera-loving Xiao Heng, all the world’s a stage. It’s more than a metaphor, it’s his world view, his lens for making sense of the contradictory impulses in front of him. He walks the tightrope of vigilance, justice and ruthlessness. He may be the emperor’s closest confidant but that doesn’t give him carte blanche to act wilfully because his enemies would love nothing more than an excuse to pounce on him for a pound of his flesh. Still whatever power he has does mean something. Enough to open doors and dig up dirt.
Xiao Heng’s liking of A’Li is genuine although he is keen to stage manage her involvement in the big picture that goes beyond her revenge. The stakes are far higher than what she knows. It is also because he genuinely cares that he feels compelled to stage manage her role in the rough and tumble of palace shenanigans. She takes huge risks. Some of them unnecessary. All she has to do is ask. But there’s insufficient trust on her part towards him. She perceives he has an agenda but who doesn’t? He gets cantankerous when she misunderstands his good intentions for expediency and this sees him in a bad mood in front of the big man himself.
There’s a supposedly sinister figure known as King Cheng that’s at the root of a conspiracy directed at the throne. I’m inclined to think that he’s Prince Cheng although the character can refer to a king. He’s in league with Wanton Nutcase and Minister Li while raising an army. Plots against the throne are par for the course in this type of period piece. It is simplest way to raise the stakes and lecture the youngsters about doing their bit for the good of the common people. At least the emperor here seems prepared for that eventuality. Does he really trust Consort Li? I have to ask because I have to wonder why he fell for his father’s concubine.
Please share, like or leave comment if you enjoyed this post. Thanks for reading.