The Double (2024) Episodes 19-25

On the surface it’s the elites vs. the people. With all the grandstanding from A’Li, one might be lead in thinking that’s the case. But behind A’Li is the ever watchful Xiao Heng and behind him is the emperor anxiously looking on. Dukes and emperors typically belong to the elite class last I heard. So when the layers are peeled away, it boils down to elites vs elites. Which has always been the case. Some measure of power has to be amassed to defeat the forces of evil. On the surface it looks like a sappy underdog story. A’Li manages to persuade and then inspire the good folks of Huaixiang to testify to the good character of Magistrate Xue. But once the feel good campfire singing passes by, it’s really a power play. No doubt the emperor took no small amount of pleasure in putting Princess Wanton Nutcase under house arrest. That moment got a chuckle out of me. Someone putting her in her place. Whatever that might be. Up to this point, I am still baffled about her importance in political matters and why the usually arrogant Minister Li for instance would be so obsequious in her presence. This is where the world building falls short. Why would the daughter of the former emperor have this much sway in this power struggle when the emperor a grown man views her as a threat? Women in high places who have any kind of political power usually get it from sleeping with the right men and/or eliminating all opposition single-mindedly. Then there’s the Prince Cheng that’s been mentioned unfavourably as a possible contender for the throne

Apparently it’s a given that the eldest princess, daughter of the former emperor, is a force to be reckoned with but the reasons aren’t forthcoming at this point in the narrative. Still, I can’t imagine any explanation being adequate to the task of why she’s such a loose cannon.

So Princess Wanton makes an appearance during Magistrate Xue’s appeal and accuses A’Li of being the supposedly dead Xue Fangfei. She’s right of course but she has to prove that the pudding exists. Xue Fangfei is supposed to be dead. Everyone knows it. There was even a grandiose funeral procession on the main street. And of course, her husband Shen Yurong isn’t going to admit that the wife he tried to kill is sauntering around the capital pretending to be somebody else’s daughter clamouring for justice in the public square. Besides he feels a mix of guilt and love for the wife he abandoned to save his undeserving mother and sister. The entire so-called trial is something of a circus… a clown show in effect. It’s noisy with plenty of fanfare. On the surface it’s supposed to be about restoring justice but in actual fact, it’s really a power struggle where the fault lines have already been drawn. The supposedly neutral Shen Yurong has yet to toss his vote and hat into the ring but when he gets A’Li’s response, he immediately turns vindictive.

It’s a strange turn for the character. Guilt to spite is a long bow to draw. From a writing point of view it doesn’t quite make sense. He did try to kill her. He was racked with guilt over it. He even sharply chastised his mother and sister for going hysterical over the dead woman’s ghost. So why would he decide to work against her after being justifiably called “pathetic”? Why would throw his lot with the people he once spoke so strongly against?

So it seems that the emperor and his loyal duke are looking for a miracle. Apparently that miracle is Jiang Li or Xue Fangfei. The dead woman who has come back to life. She is the embodiment of a walking talking miracle that’s rocking the boat, ruffling feathers and making noises about “the people” and “justice” wherever she goes. The ultimate chess piece that distracts and misdirects. She can do what even the highest in the land can’t achieve because she has nothing to lose but everything to gain.

I can’t remember if I’ve said this before but this show is much better when it remains where it’s most comfortable — a soap opera with a sprinkling of political elements. The crazy goes down much more easily. When A’Li returns to the Jiang household, all the deliciously salacious antics of the overindulged entitled offspring of the upper class resume. Days of our lives with Jiang Ruoyao, Zhou Yanbang and the cousin continues. Or is it the young and restless men and women who throw life altering tantrums because things don’t go their way. There are many lessons to be gleaned from all of this. Which one expects of a fairytale. Much of this is mirrored in the short douyin dramas. The intractable love triangle that brings out the worst in someone or everyone. It’s hard to feel sorry for anyone in this fiasco. On some level they are all getting their comeuppance for their greed and bad choices. Sure the cousin jumped the queue by bedding and then marrying the much desired Zhou Yanbang but even with the respectability of matrimony done, she’s not loved. Like Leah in the Old Testament story of Jacob, Leah and Rachel. The cousin got what she want but she’s not only unhappy but abused. Zhou Yanbang was keeping his options open by trying to get A’Li to bed him. And Jiang Ruoyun was trying to sully A’Li’s reputation by putting her in the same bedroom with her cousin Ye Shijie. They’re all reaping what they’re sowing and I’m here for it with my macadamia nuts.

There are all kinds of lessons that can be gleaned from this. But it all boils down to covetousness. That desire for something that someone else has. Or to put it more negatively desire for something you shouldn’t have. Short-term gain that ends up causing long-term pain. The children aside, stepmother Ji Shuran has a bit of a past. An old paramour has emerged from the shadows. A painter missing his muse. Her overly ambitious father no doubt thought a mere artist was too lowly for his family. This is perhaps one of the most consistent aspects of the show. Self-interest is the default position. Ji Shuran abandoned Liu Wencai ruthlessly and now he’s back in her life with a vengeance to collect the debt.

The greed that leads to self-interest is not the worst of it if one is able to take responsibility for one’s actions. If not, the self-deception takes hold, the refusal to accept blame persists even eventually leading to murder most foul. Once a person deceives themselves that they are not responsible for any of the choices that they make, then murder is certainly fair game. Sooner or later a life of lies will lead to murder.

Perhaps this is Shen Yurong’s ultimate trajectory. An idealist that made one wrong move and daily lives with the consequence of his actions. He tried to kill Xue Fangfei… “tried” being the operative word. Out of guilt and a little bit of love he saves her not once but twice from sticky predicaments. But when he realises that she despises him — the husband she had once put on a pedestal had feet of clay — the image of him as a good man is forever shattered. His pride is crushed and disqualifies himself from any redemption.

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