Link Click is certainly off to an enigmatic start this season. It hasn’t quite recaptured the full magic of the first for me (some of that may be due to the sheer surprise effect S1 had). But it’s really fascinating, no question about it. While there aren’t a ton of similarities (there are a few) I flashed back to Revenger watching this episode, in that it gave me the same sense that a very talented writer’s work was on display here. As I’ve repeatedly asserted, with original anime (or whatever you want to call Shiguang Dailiren) the writer is the most important figure. And sometimes it’s clear that a show is just different from 95% of what we usually see.
Of course with Link Click the writer is also the director, and this series is very much Haoling Li’s baby. It’s always been clear that he was dealing from a full deck – that a master plan was in place. That was true even with the episodic first season, and it’s even more true now. There was, however, stuff happening this week that I didn’t immediately grok. Like, for example, who were that trio that showed up to save Cheng and Qiao from the hoodlums? I’ve seen in postulated that it was the martial arts master from Episode 5.5. and his daughter and son-in-law. That’s a clever tie-in, as it was thought to be a purely stand-alone “extra” episode, but I confess that didn’t even “click” in my mind as I was watching.
OK, so that explains who the “Three Star Warriors” are, anyway. They (well, mostly the old dude) make short work of the gang members, who we next see being interrogated with their faces bashed in. A new element is introduced here – apparently Chen was on the take, or at least a large sum of money was found in his house. That could have been a setup, but it’s certainly not impossible it’s legit. A young cop worried about supporting his growing family on that salary would have motive, and in this setting opportunity for graft would be basically endless (there are probably fewer clean cops than dirty ones). Captain Xiao refuses to accept it of course, but he’s got scar tissue – one disciple has already gone over to the dark side…
Next the scene shifts to Chen’s memorial service – which coincidentally (?) is being held adjacent to that for Liu Min. Neither of these deceased men are closed cases with Shiguang Dailiren, that’s pretty clear – both are going to continue impacting this season’s storyline. Liu Min’s idiot father makes quite a spectacle of himself, basically looking at his son’s death in police custody as a chance to cash in, and given who his right hand man is this is especially grating for Xiao. Eventually things get physical – Cheng tries to land a punch on the father, before Qian intervenes. But Qiao puts the exclamation point on the encounter with this season’s best bitch-slap.
The memorial ends with Chen’s wife making a grand entrance and venting her anger about what’s happened for all to hear. If I’m honest this scene didn’t really work for me – it seemed overwrought and artificial in a way the emotional crescendoes of the first season never did (and there were a lot of them). That aside, Cheng wants to “help” Chen and his wife – that’s almost a given, as getting emotionally drawn in is what Cheng does. But what does that mean exactly, in this case? Changing the past carries all the usual taboos, so maybe in the end it will come down to clearing Chen’s name (assuming his name should be cleared in the first place).
Finally we have the cliffhanger, with the mysterious ability user showing up at Lu’s room (actually, this moment was the cliffhanger two eps in a row – don’t see that every day). Apparently he wasn’t there to threaten or attack, but to deliver this. I won’t pretend I could read what it said, and it wasn’t translated in the subs. In fact it reads “I can’t stand losing my beloved brother” or words to that effect. Who is the brother – Liu Min, maybe (we’re supposed to think it’s Chen but I doubt it) – and who are the pair in the photo? And why is the ability user drawing Lu into the situation? This may in fact be the first episodic “case” of S2, though still clearly connected to the main storyline.
Panino Manino
July 22, 2023 at 11:18 pmWhen episode 2 ended, I didn’t knew who had arrived to save Xiaoshi and Qiao, but that it was those three shouldn’t be a surprise. In episode 1 during the fight with possessed Qiao there was a flashback reminding us that Xiaoshi was receiving CQC lessons from Siwen, and episode 2 explained that Lu was registered at the hospital as member of their family.
Even for those who didn’t watched episode 5.5 they appeared often enough.
I have many theories and thoughts.
First, yes, the tearful scene this time didn’t hit like before because there was little development. The creator plays a dangerous game with his fetish to make the public cry. Eventually there will be a time he will simply fail to convince his audience to get emotional.
But more importantly, I suspect that from episode 1 up to half of episode 3 not only was just a single long episode, but also, maybe, what was originally intended as the ending to the first season. If partly true would explain why many scenes of these episodes were done so fast after the first season ended and were shown in trailers more than a year ago. That would also explain why the quality was lower, it just didn’t received the same care as the rest in an effort to just get it done, but with the second half of this episode the second season truly starts and there is a noticeably increase in quality. I hope this quality will be the standard for the season, would be truly great to watch.
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Panino Manino
July 22, 2023 at 11:22 pmNow, talking about the story, this is not uncommon, to introduce new characters to contrast and make parallels with the older characters. Our main duo are against another duo. And isn’t simply a situation where the other side are “the villains”, as it seems like one of the two is a unwilling participant and can cooperate with the “heroes”. Your theory about Bin Chen side money being legit is probably right. Good because this makes the characters more complex, bad because this makes the situation so much more complicated. People put their personal interests first, that mysterious character that made contact with Lu probably is also only thinking about her own interests.
Talking about interests…
I still don’t now what to think about that ending…
I know I’m obsessed with this but I don’t care, the only single thing I want to see this season is Emma alive! But it’s hard to imagine how this could be possible because like many time travel histories this one also gives that sense that the “current” timeline is the “final” timeline. What Bin Chen’s fiancee said at the funeral about “meeting” in the next life is a result of Xiaoshi going inside their photo and making that promise.
But I have hope at least.
As for Qian Jin… I just don’t know. He could very well be “the boss”, the mastermind behind all evil in this story.
mcspicy
July 24, 2023 at 2:32 amHere’s my take.
Officer Chen was set up. The money was found hidden under a table from where a box was pulled out. Remember when Qian dropped by for a visit, his hooligan sidekick brought with him a box of fruits and headed for the kitchen while Qian kept Chen’s wife busy chatting with her in the living room. The hooligan probably placed the money there and he also took a photograph of the couple which the wife belatedly finds out it is missing but doesn’t think too much of it. The photograph was later passed to an ability user sitting in a car and Chen died shortly after. I still don’t know when he got possessed, in the car or at the hospital but I think it’s more likely at the hospital. The ability user seems to like killing people by making them jump off buildings.
Really curious about the mysterious pink hair character. I get the feeling she’s got something to do with the teddy bear we keep seeing in the opening song. What is the teddy bear? Chen also bought a teddy bear for his unborn child. Hmm…
Panino Manino
July 25, 2023 at 6:56 amYes, the money was planted there. I rewatched latter and is clear it was a set up.
JoeyG
July 27, 2023 at 5:15 pmSuch a stellar season to follow the incredible season 1. I actually really felt Chen’s wife’s tearful speech. It definitely got to me since they’ve built her up so well in just a handful of scenes.