The Untamed, Episodes 11-15

[galaxysoup]

So this took me a while, partly because of the holidays but mostly because of the bronchitis I got during the holidays. You would think that a week and a half spent on the couch hacking up a lung would be the perfect time to watch the entire Untamed series, but instead what I did was watch only the first episode of every TV series I’ve been meaning to watch for the last five years. As you do.



Episode 11

• ...Wait, hang on, was there a time skip? How is Meng kid delivering news of the battle to a crowd that includes Wei Wuxian, who was captured in the battle? I am so confuse.


• Now Wei Wuxian has gone back to Lotus Pier. Did I just hallucinate the whole part of him being captured by the Goth Gang?


• ...Jiang mom gets seriously ominous villain music for her entrance and I was not expecting it.


• Aw dang, now there’s a second Psycho Goth Prince who BETTER NOT GO ANYWHERE NEAR LAN BIG BRO YOU JERKFACE


• ...Okay, if they can retreat to the cave and be safe because no one without a headband can get in, down’t that seem like the safest place to keep the library, too? Not that I’m opposed to a storyline where Lan Big Bro the Badass Librarian goes on the run with his magic books, but...


• Not gonna lie, it’s a little disappointing to see the badass Cloud Recesses guys get taken down so fast.


• YES FLYING LAN WANGJI WITH STRINGED INSTRUMENT FTW


• Lan Wangji that was very noble and suuuper dumb, now they have both you and the Yin Iron you noodle


• I do feel a little bad for how often Whatsisbro gets shown up by Wei Wuxian


• Ahahaha omg that was a legit upswelling of romantic strings when Wei Wuxian turned and saw his boyfriend Lan Wangji

Episode 12

• I am so impressed by how well Lan Wangji can convey DIE IN A FIRE, MOTHERFUCKER with just his facial expressions.


• Yes... Wei Wuxian being surrounded by harsh rules that he disagrees with, traditionally a situation that has gone smoothly for everyone involved. Possibly the Goth Clan should have thought through force-inviting all the other clans a little more thoroughly.


• Omg yes Wei Wuxian, he actually memorized the Lan rules! I’m crying this is perfect


• Aw, Lan Wangji... I knew you couldn’t ignore him forever


• Good job to Wei Wuxian’s actor for conveying pretty convincing fear against that... um... slimy muppet werewolf?


• Aw, Wen Ning... good job, kiddo.


• I like the way the Tragic Goth Siblings are set up to show what the Wen clan should stand for, if it hadn’t gotten all corrupted and evil.


• I really like the conversation that Wei Wuxian has with Whatsisbro before going to help Lan Wangji


• If she turns out to be something else then I will retract this name, but until I know better the new girl will be Wen Floozy. She doesn’t get a Goth name.


• LET WEI WUXIAN CARRY YOU LAN WANGJI. DO IT FOR THE FANS.

Episode 13

• Jfc Lan Wangji will you just let Wei Hearteyes help you for once?


• Wei Wuxian falls off cliff part one


• Going into a cave, unarmed, to fight monsters, with a bunch of extras. This should turn out well for everybody!


• *chinhands* I do love watching Lan Wangji fight


• Ahahaha yessss Wei Wuxian showing Psycho Goth Prince up with his own clan rules, good job kiddo


• BASILISK! Okay, who’s got the Sword of Gryffindor?


• Certainly not the Goth Clan. Yikes. (Goth Girls gets a pass, though. She’s trying to go back and help.)


• The Sanctity Of The Headband Is Violated, part II


• WEI WUXIAN: How to make Lan Wangji’s blood flow? I KNOW, I’LL STRIP :D :D :D


• LAN WANGJI: *nearly kisses Wei Wuxian* WEI WUXIAN: Hee hee, you have a crush on MianMian! LAN WANGJI: *screams internally*
  

Episode 14

• Ahahaha I love Wei Wuxian marking time by whether Lan Wangji falls asleep and wakes up by Lan Clan schedules


• The. Tortoise of Slaughter. That’s. No, I’m okay. I’m okay. I can walk this one off. The slimy muppet werewolf was worse.


• How the fuck did he just get inside the tortoise’s shell???


• Well that sword seems like terrible evil news.


• I don’t remember if I know where the fourth Yin Iron shard is, and I don’t remember who Xue Yang is. Wait, was he Psycho Goth Smirkface?


• Aaaah yes give me that sweet sweet h/c


• sINgiNG and a MONTAGE aaaaaaaaaahhhhhhh


• Well! Jin Trust Fund Baby for the unexpected assist!


• Wei Wuxian collapsed dramatically like three times in this episode. It was fine.

Episode 15

• Okay. I’m probably about to bring too much reality into this scenario, but how the hell did Goth Clan get so surprisingly strong that they’re effortlessly massacring everyone else? Is it the Yin Iron? Was there just a gentleman’s agreement not to kill each other, so the other clans were caught by surprise? By the numbers they should be evenly matched or, assuming a few of the clans could band together, completely outnumbered. I’m willing to buy into the fact that they’re a terrifying evil murder machine, but I would like for it to make some kind of sense.


• I feel like Scary Mom will take really well to Wei Wuxian and Whatsisbro being left in charge together


• There is an overhead shot of Psycho Goth Prince walking into the throne room to talk to his dad and due to the angle it was shot at I spent a minute thinking the rotating Yin Iron pieces were in fact some kind of wuxia rubber duckies floating in the aesthetic throne room lava pool


• Does. Does Goth King have an evil hand that’s trying to kill him? That’s very Angel season two.


• Okay, I don’t like her much, but I’m pretty sure Scary Mom could wipe the floor with Wen Floozy in a bitchfight and I hope I get to see it


• Wow. Scary Mom is so much more awful and more badass than I was expecting her to be.


• Jfc Scary Mom, this is not Wei Wuxian’s fucking fault!


• Their boats are so pretty.


• I know it’s all angsty and tragic, but I am mostly loling at how Scary Mom and Jiang Dad both fall back on ‘tie sobbing children together and shove them in a boat’ as a plan in times of stress

Okay, I know I usually ask rhetorical questions knowing you guys will laugh supportively at my naivete and wait with bated breath for me to find out the answer on my own, but... I know that at some point this story will go from the Tragic Backstory part and wind up back in the Reanimated Present, and would someone be willing to tell me which episode that happens in? Waiting for everything to go horrifically wrong is making me a little anxious and I think I'd feel better if I had a vague idea of when it will happen.

Comments

[stultiloquentia]

You'll get bumped back to the Reanimated Present a few minutes into ep. 33. Getting there is a bit of a slog, but the payoff is worth it!

[galaxysoup]

Thank you so much! That does give me an idea of how to pace myself. :D

[xparrot]

I believe the flashback is 30 eps long, so it gets back to the present around ep 32?

Hope you're over the holiday bronchitis! I'm only coughing a bit now at least 😅

[galaxysoup]

I am mostly over the coughing part, but at some point I pulled several of my coughing muscles so that has been an extra bit of joy. :\ I'm really glad to hear that yours is mostly gone too!! I have had many commiserating thoughts of you in the past few days. :D

[xparrot]

Like half the people I know were sick this holiday, I don't know what was going around! and oww no, pulled lung muscles suck! I mostly managed to avoid that this time at least. And I finally put away the humidifier so now my cat will stay in my room again!

[galaxysoup]

Oh wow - putting away the humidifier is a milestone indeed! :D I think mine is killing my cactus atm.

It's crazy how many people have been sick, I've been hearing the same thing, too. It does make me feel a little less wimpy for coming down with it, though. :D

[rheasilvia]

Hee, I love this! :-)

Since you already know that the flashback is somewhat longer than one might hope for (it reeeally dragged for me in places), let me pass on a helpful tip I was given, and a spoiler-free warning so you can brace yourself.

Helpful tip: Once the flashback is over, it helps to stop mid-ep and re-watch the first two eps to get back into the swing of present things, and only then resume watching the post-flashback ep. With the flashback knowledge, this also provides quite a lot of interesting new info and perspective!

Spoiler-free warning: There are several eps ahead that are, for my tastes, *extremely* heavy on murder and grief porn. This is not my thing, so it was a bit tough for me to get through, but it's clearly meant to push viewer buttons, Sadly, I lack these particular buttons, but your mileage may vary!

There is an overhead shot of Psycho Goth Prince walking into the throne room to talk to his dad and due to the angle it was shot at I spent a minute thinking the rotating Yin Iron pieces were in fact some kind of wuxia rubber duckies floating in the aesthetic throne room lava pool

LOL! OMG, I love this so much. I so, so want this to be the reality of the Wen clan - evil rubber lava duckies.

Well! Jin Trust Fund Baby for the unexpected assist!

Let me tell you: In my personal experience, those Jin Douches make a horrible first (and second, and third) impression, but improve quite dramatically and astoundingly on closer acquaintance. :-)

ETA: Also, I hope you are feeling better! Argh, meant to say that first.

ETA2: OMG typos.

[galaxysoup]

Oooooh, thank you for the tip and the warning!! Those are both very good things to know, and I've been thinking for a while that I'll want to go back and rewatch those first episodes now that I won't have a mental 'wtf' commentary running the whole time. I've definitely been bracing myself for The Point When Everything Goes Wrong, so it's helpful to know it won't be forever (and that parts of it will be pretty over the top).

It is also good to know that the Jins have redeeming qualities. :D And thank you! I still have a lovely cough that makes everyone excited to sit next to me on public transit, but I am feeling much better now!

[dancing_serpent]

Once the flashback is over, it helps to stop mid-ep and re-watch the first two eps to get back into the swing of present things, and only then resume watching the post-flashback ep.

Yeah, that's the universally recommended action. *g* I did just as rheasilvia said, and it both offered some new information and understanding, and put some things into perspective.

[glymr]

those Jin Douches make a horrible first (and second, and third) impression, but improve quite dramatically and astoundingly on closer acquaintance.

Depends on the Jin... :)

[rheasilvia]

Ah, I should have explained! Not every Jin - douchy or otherwise - is an authentic Jin Douche (TM). Only the Original Jin Douche and Jin Douche.2 have earned this particular accolade - no other Jins need apply. ;-)

[galaxysoup]

I'd forgotten about 2.0! I'm glad to hear that he improves, because boy was he annoying.

[trobadora]

Once the flashback is over, it helps to stop mid-ep and re-watch the first two eps to get back into the swing of present things, and only then resume watching the post-flashback ep. With the flashback knowledge, this also provides quite a lot of interesting new info and perspective!

Definitely seconding this! Not the least because despite having a 30-episode flashback, the show doesn't do much to remind you of what last happened for the characters when it's back in the present ...

[dancing_serpent]

Hey, you're back! I'm glad you're feeling a bit better, and hope you'll fully recover soon.

BASILISK! Okay, who’s got the Sword of Gryffindor?
The basilisk swallowed it. *g*

Jfc Scary Mom, this is not Wei Wuxian’s fucking fault!
OMG, I scream that at the screen every time I watch! And to the other characters who are blaming WWX for things he didn't do.

[galaxysoup]

Right??? It's so aggravating!!!

(Also thank you for the well wishes!)

[trobadora]

I am so impressed by how well Lan Wangji can convey DIE IN A FIRE, MOTHERFUCKER with just his facial expressions.

Hee! I love his expressions.

I don’t remember who Xue Yang is. Wait, was he Psycho Goth Smirkface?

I'm sure I mentioned before that I love your nicknames for the characters, but it bears repeating. :D

due to the angle it was shot at I spent a minute thinking the rotating Yin Iron pieces were in fact some kind of wuxia rubber duckies floating in the aesthetic throne room lava pool

WUXIA RUBBER DUCKIES I AM DEAD

I know that at some point this story will go from the Tragic Backstory part and wind up back in the Reanimated Present, and would someone be willing to tell me which episode that happens in?

Episode 33. Yes, this show has a 31-episode flashback. It's ... something. (Honestly, when I watched it the first time I kept hoping it would return to the present soon, and I'm pretty sure if someone had told me it was THAT LONG I would have thrown in the towel then and there. But I hope knowing when will be helpful to you!)