One of my observations about The Apothecary Diaries<\/em> (I\u2019m pretty sure I\u2019ve written it) is that this show is usually better when the stuff that\u2019s happening matters. Idle hands are indeed the devil\u2019s workshop here. The series\u2019 less appealing tendencies tend to assert themselves when it\u2019s spending time on trivia and nonsense. It\u2019s very good at slipping important stuff in under a layer of fluff, undeniably. But even those occasions tend to be more arresting than when there\u2019s nothing underneath but more fluff.<\/p>\n This episode, however, swept all that aside. It was important front beginning to end, almost glaringly so. It\u2019s appropriate that it started with Loumen, as that was a pretty big matzoh ball served up last week. Luomen remans a fascinating character. He\u2019s whip-smart about most things, but with the gentlest of demeanors that can really throw you. Maomao clearly loves him and it irks her that he seems to have so little regard for his own lot in life. He and Guen (and Miaomiao<\/a>) seem to be getting on famously (Luomen even scolds his little girl for using a mortar and pestle without asking) and this is the very picture of domestic tranquility.<\/p>\n Things take an interesting turn when Luomen writes up a list of concerns<\/a> about what\u2019s going on in the Rear Palace. Clever as a fox (though another fox is in the coop this week), he sends Maomao off to the school (after making sure Guen can get him scrap paper for cheap) to see if he students can \u201cpractice writing\u201d using his dictum. The teacher is an old friend<\/a> (and seemingly admirer) and susses out Luomen\u2019s intentions immediately. It seems he wrote a similar list \u201cmore than 20 years earlier\u201d too, in fact. This concerns Xiaomao for a couple of reasons. Obviously anything her oyaji does that seems risky is a worry. But as well, in telling people what to avoid around pregnant women, he\u2019s also telling those with nefarious minds what can harm them.<\/p>\n This is interesting to me in and of itself. Luomen is certainly smart enough to have thought of that, but I can\u2019t imagine he would have had any ill intentions himself. But large events come fast and furious so there\u2019s no time to dwell. Maomao heads off to the clinic to drop off some alcohol she\u2019s whipped up, and she and Shenlu<\/a> sit down for tea. Maomao, inquisitive by nature, expresses curiosity about there being so many ladies of long standing at the clinic. The harsh truth comes out \u2013 they were children brought into the Rear Palace at age 10 and younger, used and discarded by the former emperor. Having been touched by him they can\u2019t leave, and they have no one waiting for them outside in any case.<\/p>\n Maomao resolves not to further press the suspicions she\u2019s beginning to form \u2013 for now. But on the shelves she finds an insect book, which she soon realizes was likely brought in by Suisei. This sets her to wondering why a servant girl like Suisei came in knowing how to read and write \u2013 not to mention that she was taking notes in a book of real paper. I think we\u2019re almost at the \u201ccertainty\u201d point with Shishui being Loulan, but I\u2019ll hold off on a flat declaration for now. And again there\u2019s not much time to ponder, as the rock star eunuch arrives \u2013 and immediately tells Shenlu that Maomao is on to her.<\/p>\n This is Suirei of course, and if she\u2019s not the mastermind of whatever larger plan is going on here, is at the very least intimately involved. Is this just a matter of the lingering resentments of those wronged girls, or is there something more (political) going on here? Again, no time to dwell \u2013 Suirei threatens Maomao and then produces none other than Shishui, as a hostage<\/a> who she\u2019ll grievously harm if Maomao doesn\u2019t go with her to the outside. Maomao isn\u2019t in a position to say no here, and she effectively becomes Suirei\u2019s prisoner again.<\/p>\n Another observation I\u2019ve made before \u2013 Kusuriya no Hittorigoto<\/em> is better when Lakan<\/a> is in it. And he hasn\u2019t been all season, which sucks. But he finally returns to the scene here, attending a meeting with \u201cKa Zuigetsu\u201d and Shishou<\/a>. After which he requests that they join him for tea, producing silver chalices so they won\u2019t need a taster (not 100% reliable in practice, of course). Lakan produces a diagram he\u2019s produced<\/a> after disassembling a \u201cfeifa\u201d, which is revealed to basically be a flintlock rifle\/pistol. He also pretty much unmistakably accuses Shishou of being the mastermind of the plot to assassinate the younger brother, though never in so many words. He then produces a go match record and proceeds to gush about his wife (whose condition apparently hasn\u2019t worsened, at least) \u2013 but not before taking pains to show Ka Zuigetsu that Shishou is color blind<\/a>.<\/p>\n Lakan is pretty much the smartest guy in the room no matter who else is in it, so any time he\u2019s cooking you know it\u2019s going to be delicious. With he and Loumen in the picture things can\u2019t but get more interesting. And there\u2019s one final twist here \u2013 this time around Ka Zuigetsu isn\u2019t Jinshu, but his mom. Ah-Duo<\/a> has been missing even longer than Lakan, and hers too is a welcome return. She\u2019s covering for her son because he\u2019s off searching for Maomao, who\u2019s now missing \u2013 something I would imagine Lakan is probably aware of too. This may have been the single most eventful episode of the entire series, but even so it asked far more questions than it answered.<\/p>\n
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