Unknown The Series - Tumblr Posts
I'm finally watching the new episode of "Unknown" and
THEY SENT HIM AWAY FOR 4 YEARS????
I thought it was only like a couple months/a year but FOUR?????
[Special Ver.] Yuan finally got what he wanted! Qian’s moaning will make…
Having no flashbacks during that scene is perfect. Watching SP11 right now on the Youku App.
"Hey, handsome? You have a blood clot pressing on your cranial nerves, not on tofu." OH MY GOD?? 😭
Here's the "Special Version" of Qian & Yuan Love scene without the flashback...enjoy 😉
That "You don't even know what I dream of at night" still gets me everytime 😎🙌
funniest fanart by theaya1108
San Pang: Wei Qian, what's that on your neck?
Qian: !!! Uh, this...erm...BOXING! YES I GOT INJURED FROM BOXING!!
Bao: Er Ge, what happened to your neck?
Yuan: Oh, this? (pulling down his shirt) Do you really want to know?
Bao: Ummmmm...not anymore...
Yuan: Look, Xiao Bao, Da Ge gave me this necklace of strawberries*! (pulling down his shirt more) There's more inside!
Bao: Er Ge, I don't want to know...
Yuan: Da Ge was so cute he even practiced! I named it the Chain of QianYuan**~~
Bao: AHHHHHH I DON'T WANT TO LISTEN MY EARS ARE BLEEDING
Qian: WEI ZHI YUAN! 😡
*euphemism of hickeys = strawberries. planting strawberries = planting hickeys
**謙遠之鏈 = QianYuan's chain/necklace, which sounds the same as 謙遠之戀 QianYuan's Love
Qian might as well become a stay at home husband now that all his braincells were fucked out by Yuan, he won't get any work done no more
EDITED Unknown nc scene (2.0). The flow of this scene has been bothering me, I think it was the flipping of positions every few seconds mixed with flashbacks so I've attempted to edit it again. It's not perfect but I can't stop watching.
I’m not usually into mafia dramas or brother shipping but this was such a compelling first episode—the future angst is going to be amazing.
Excited to see what happens next.
Parts of what was once lost was found again. Stay alive. Live on so you can find your home, so you can go home. Even if you have nothing, you'll still have me.
Unknown Episode 1
*******
I changed the translation for the third gif because I felt like the nuance was a bit off. The literal translation of "誰叫你是我弟啊" would be something like "who told you to be my little brother." As for the original subs, they say:
Well, I did it for my brother.
In this context, it's more like this happened because you had the misfortune of being my younger brother/you wouldn't have had to go through this if you weren't my younger brother.
Unknown's Red Thread of Fate
@chicademartinica already pointed out the significance of red in Unknown, but I'm here to offer some more visuals to support that the red symbolizes the connection between Qian and Yuan.
The entire first episode is about fate.
Qian leaves his house simply stating he'll be back and takes a path down a red lit street.
Throughout the episode, he talks about how rich kids have the luxury of innocence but poor kids are left to fate.
And at the end of his journey, we meet Yuan for the first time sitting in front of a red wall.
Which is exactly the same path Qian took when he found Yuan the first time he met him.
They head back to the house together up the same red path Qian just walked alone.
Once they get back to the house, Qian gives his siblings red envelopes. It isn't for a ghost marriage like in the Taiwanese film Marry My Dead Body nor does it mean trouble is brewing like in the Taiwanese series Oh No! Here Comes Trouble. It's simply a New Year's tradition to wish prosperity and happiness on the receiver.
But the first time Qian received a red envelope while staring hungrily at a group of men eating, he took it for his family knowing the conditions that came with it.
And Yuan, although not as dire, did the same. Unlike Lili, he put the money aside, for the family.
(But fate has other things in store for Lili)
Because although they are all family, Qian and Yuan are connected, so while Qian runs to his family without hesitation,
Yuan runs for his family without any thought of himself.
And that's exactly what San Pang points out. Not only is Yuan named after Qian making their names the same, but they are the same. They are both stubborn. They are both smart. They both do everything for their families. They never think of themselves. They only listen to each other.
But somewhere along the way, something changed. They are no longer exactly the same.
Much like Yuan, Qian has always been intelligent, but when he was younger, he was abused.
And that abuse haunts him.
So red bothers him.
Because it reminds him of the abuse.
And the people who caused it.
To him, and his family.
Yet when it comes to Yuan, the red never bothers Qian.
It's the thing that ties them together.
Even when Qian pushes Yuan away after Yuan confesses what has changed between them,
The red thread of fate will still connect them.
So when Yuan is gone, the bond between them will remain.
Because they are bound together.
It's fate.
Unknown (2024) visual analysis (ep. 1-8): How to film heartache
This show.
The writing and acting continue to be fantastic, but I feel like I haven't seen enough appreciation for Unknown's cinematography, which captures the heartache of Qian and Yuan's changing relationship so beautifully.
Here are some of my favorite moments of visual storytelling so far...
Framing & Composition
Something that I immediately noticed about Unknown is how much dirty framing it uses. "Dirtying the frame" is when a cinematographer uses architecture, nature, objects, or even people in the foreground to add depth to a shot. In earlier episodes, we often see Qian and Yuan framed together by everyday household objects.
These shots emphasize the uniqueness of their relationship: they are brothers because of the domesticity surrounding them and yet at the same time the framing almost tucks them away into a private space of their own. Their relationship is born from yet separate from the familial space they share with Lilli.
So when Yuan drunkenly confesses his feelings and shatters any lies Qian might have been telling himself about their complex relationship, the camera language loses its earlier intimacy.
We suddenly see more medium and long (versus close-up) clean shots where the characters are surrounded by tons of negative space, isolated from each other.
I also don't think it's an accident that we start seeing more dirty frames again once Yuan leaves for America and Qian realizes how much he misses him.
The New Years scene is a perfect example of this. As Qian miserably cheers an absent Yuan, we see the camera subtly pans to the side of the table where he'd usually sit. No one has been able to occupy that private space at home or in Qian's heart.
Visual Parallelism
In a previous post, I've talked about how visual parallelism (when we link characters, events, storylines, etc. through a shared image) can signal major changes in the relationship between two characters, and the show uses this technique in multiple ways. (Yuan’s cheeky and completely satisfying “is there something you want me to do?” in Episode 8’s seatbelt scene, for one.)
But I think the most striking moment is when Yuan asks Qian to confront his own feelings at the end of Episode 8.
When we look at the composition, camera angles, and actor blocking (how the actors are positioned in relation to one another) we can see that the scene directly mirrors the moment that Yuan gifts Qian with cufflinks in Episode 6. In that episode, Yuan is shot from a high angle, making him look even younger and more vulnerable, while Qian cups his face from above, anchoring him as he tries to give misguided advice:
Qian: I actually feel sorry for you. Isn't it tiring to love him? Yuan: It is. It's so tiring to like someone you shouldn't like. Qian: Then what are you doing? Why are you limiting yourself?
It's notable then that during the last scene of Episode 8, the roles are reversed and the blocking and camera language changes accordingly. Throughout Episodes 7-8, we can see the ways Yuan adopts a more mature approach to his interactions with Qian. He has made it clear that he still cares about him but he will only make another move if Qian clearly expresses his desires. Now it's Qian who is the most unsure and vulnerable, with Yuan anchoring him:
Yuan: Wei Qian, don't you like Wei Zhiyuan? If you do, is it only because we're brothers? This thing about us, is it that you don't want it or that you don't dare?
Like Qian had advised him years ago, Yuan now asks why Qian insists on limiting himself by denying what he wants.
Bonus Parallelism:
Both Yuan and Qian's kiss fantasies mirror each other as well.
Love this overview 💙
Side Note: This post made me realize how much I really like the ways this show utilizes mirror shots.
They not only reflect (lolz) Qian's moments of growing awareness but also the nuance of all the emotions he feels because of that awareness.
Whether it's the freedom he feels in drawing boundaries against a potential love interest or the claustrophobic panic he feels over his undeniable attraction to Yuan, we the audience always get to see what Qian is about to admit to himself.
LOSING MY MIND OVER UNKNOWN EPISODE 8
Another week, another incredible episode of Unknown, another shout into the ether that they do not fuck this up for me in the final four episodes. Chris and Kurt are so good together as scene partners, but I am definitely dubbing Episode 8, The Chris Episode because holy hell was Chris juggling so many different emotions from Qian throughout the entire episode in all its tense and awkward glory.
I think I want to talk about eyes. Because I just recently rewatched Episode 6, and was losing it all over again at Qian’s complete refusal to make eye contact with Yuan from the moment Yuan says he’s suffering until he returns from the United States. Especially because in Episode 8, he barely makes eye contact with Yuan but for very different reasons.
Bedroom
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
Qian wakes up the morning after Yuan’s return to find Yuan sleeping at his side. Now, knowing that Yuan is really only pretending to be asleep, and that he will continue to terrorize Qian throughout the episode, Yuan has positioned himself in such a way that the very first thing Qian has the ability to see when he wakes up is Yuan’s face. In the initial moment of wakefulness, Qian uses this private, quiet moment to study Yuan’s face, after years.
And similarly to the end of Episode 7, we look through Qian’s eyes via close up of Yuan’s face on screen only to hear Yuan say “seen enough?” Which is where we get a very good microexpression from Chris because Qian’s eyes go slightly wider, surprised that Yuan is a) actually awake and b) able to tell that he is Looking. But Qian does not look away.
Yuan opens his eyes, and Qian shifts, lifting his head up slightly as if he’s dialed in…but he is only able to maintain eye contact with Yuan for (literally) 2 seconds, before snapping himself out of it and sitting upright to take himself out of physical line (or plane) with Yuan. But he immediately looks back down at Yuan looking very dazed and at least slightly confused, and from my perspective a lot of that is informed by the fact that Qian is having to adjust to Yuan being back home. But the longest Qian can bear to look at Yuan is approximately 5 seconds.
gif by @thecasualfkfan
Qian, man of few words, tries to cut the thick silence with a caregiving question ‘are you hungry?” cut to the mirror where we see a reflection of only Qian, a jarring site because typically when Qian and Yuan are in the same room, they are framed together. “I’ll take you to the hotpot place,” and Yuan says nothing, so Qian tries to cut the tension again by saying he’ll message San Pang and Xiong.
“No need for the trouble. We can eat at home.” Yuan replies, and it gives Qian pause. Years have passed since he last saw Yuan, Yuan is established in his adulthood, successful, independent, confident, and sure. Qian has not been coping well, and the easy relationship, the familiar dynamic that he once had with Yuan is gone, he has no idea how to exist around Yuan right now. Qian turns his head slowly, to look at Yuan once more, but Yuan is up and out the door, leaving Qian to just stare at the space he left behind for a moment.
We get the second isolated framing of Qian in the mirror as his eyes move from the space by his bed where Yuan sat towards the door that Yuan just walked through.
So what I love about this episode is that Yuan knows his feelings, and I think he has a pretty good understanding of where Qian’s feelings rest now that Qian has called him home. Yuan has a goal, Yuan knows what he wants, the distance has very much helped to calm the storm of feelings that Yuan was having a hard time keeping a handle on when he was younger. Qian on the other hand, has a few more crises to work through before he can feel grounded in his changing feelings for Yuan. Which is what I think we are watching him parse through right before the intro when his eyes follow Yuan out the door and then close accompanied by a deep intake of breath. A moment to process what just happened.
This episode is very aptly titled The Distance Between Us and Love because Yuan is doing nothing but playing with distance. He is being petty, he is pushing buttons, he is- I would claim -essentially edging Qian by getting just close enough to inspire physiological responses in Qian without completely closing the distance.
Dinner
And that distance also includes a demonstration to Qian about how Yuan is capable of maintaining an emotional distance from him now that Yuan’s priorities have changed and he is no longer blindly, overwhelmingly devoted to Qian. And it’s funny in the show because it feels petty, because it is a little petty, but under the surface there is a lot of richness in understanding that Yuan’s position as an adoptee, as a traumatized child, as someone that was saved and probably felt the need to maintain his place, who didn’t have the same level of security in the household as Xiao Bao has had, Yuan has made Qian his number one priority for a significant part of his life, so much so that Qian has fallen right back in to the routine of anticipating being cared for by Yuan upon his return, but it is subject to change. To me, this entire episode reads like Yuan telling Qian “you have the choice not to engage in a relationship with me, but the emotional distance and deprioritization you are experiencing right now will be the new normal, can you bear that?”
gif by @ueasking
Qian walks up to the table and sees a truly impressive layout of food in front of him, and he looks somewhat shocked between the food and Yuan, the food and Yuan. Yuan has always been a helpful person, he has been trying to ease Qian’s burdens his entire life, but he’s an adult now and thus his reciprocated care means actually being able to provide for and support Qian holistically. Yuan walks out of the kitchen with a hangover cure, and Chris performs an inspired bit of improv and reaches for the glass, because Qian has slipped back into a world where someone cares about him first. But like I said, Yuan isn’t acting that way right now.
I love that Qian looks to his right to see if San Pang caught his #awkwardmoment and that is sustained throughout the dinner as Qian keeps stealing glances at Yuan, but looking away before he can have any silent interactions with Yuan at all. My favorite part of this scene is Yuan’s interaction with San Pang who is also absolutely awkward with Yuan. In this scene we get a massive dig from Yuan to both San Pang and Qian, and on the surface it’s petty but if you look in an additional layer, there is so much disrespect behind Yuan’s words.
gif by @ueasking
“San Pang. Thank you. I’ve thought a lot during my time abroad. If it weren’t for you, I wouldn’t have the chance to go to the US and get what I have now. I’m grateful to you. Thank you.”
It is important, in my mind, that the end of this statement is followed with a cut to Qian’s face and not San Pang’s because it wasn’t San Pang that sent Yuan to the US. He was the one who delivered the news for sure, but it was the money Qian had saved over the course of years that sent Yuan abroad. There is soooo much disrespect in this statement because Yuan is ignoring Qian’s contribution to his time abroad and he is telling San Pang, essentially, that anything that happens between Yuan and Qian moving forward is directly because of him.
And now, a commercial break for the funniest scene in the show to date:
Bedroom 2
Here we start with the hands :) Yuan enters Qian’s room and immediately moves behind him, putting a hand on his shoulder. Qian is mad about San Pang and Lili and he is fully not making eye contact with Yuan, barely even turns in his direction when he enters the room, puts as much distance between himself and Yuan as he can in his room.
“Ge. Have you ever thought that we can’t accept changes because we’re too used to the way things were?”
gif by @ueasking
And we get Qian finally and slowly looking in Yuan’s general direction, Yuan moves to the bed, to Qian’s side and over the course of the conversation Qian looks towards Yuan about three more times, but he never turns completely, he never looks directly. Not even when Yuan calls him “Wei Qian” which was a brilliant fucking move on his part when he’s trying to drive home the point that the nature of people’s relationships to one another can change. Yuan leaves and the camera cuts to him leaving exiting Qian’s room and entering his own and a few seconds later, Qian opens his door, standing in the doorway in a similar fashion to how we saw him at the end of Episode 6 right after Yuan had left the house to go to the States.
At the Computer
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
As time continues, and Qian has not verbalized his own feelings for Yuan, Yuan starts pushing him a little harder. At first there was distance, then touch, and now he is getting bolder, literally getting in Qian’s face when he isn’t paying attention so that Qian is forced to look on in surprise and he’s asking Qian a question with his face so close there is literally no where for Qian to turn to. And Qian responds not only by looking at him, but by scanning his face, eyes flitting down to Yuan’s lips two separate times. Yuan lets the moment hang long enough for Qian to show his uncertainty around what is about to happen (is Yuan going in for a kiss?) before he breaks the tension by asking Qian a business question. But he’s been successful in shaking Qian because Qian looks back at Yuan twice in ten seconds, while Yuan just continues to stare directly at Qian to prevent Qian from stealing glances.
Being Fed
gif by @ueasking
We cut to probably my favorite scene of the episode with Yuan feeding Qian, mostly because Qian has no fucking idea what to do about it. Also because it has absolutely one of my favorite blocking moments when Qian reaches for the bowl in Yuan’s hand at the same time Yuan leans forward to feed him. I love this moment a) because the execution of the motion is so smooth and b) because of the concept of food as love. Qian here is trying to take the food from Yuan while Yuan is reaching out with the spoon to feed Qian his love. Qian takes the proffered bite apprehensively, and then rejects the continued action by taking the bowl from Yuan.
And Yuan as he usually is, spends all his time staring straight at Qian, so that Qian is forced to catch his eye if and when he looks in Yuan’s general direction. Qian is really struggling with his feelings for Yuan this episode so he rushes to finish his food and get the fuck out of dodge. Between each bite he looks to Yuan for just a second before turning his head further and further to the side so as not to catch Yuan in his periphery.
“They say if you like someone, even if you wear a mask you can see it in their eyes” Qian cannot look at Yuan, because Yuan is bleeding his feelings for Qian. Qian cannot look at Yuan because Qian is bleeding his feelings for Yuan. But unfortunately for Qian, it is not just his eyes that give him away. Because he has not reckoned with his new feelings, Qian is incapable of interacting with Yuan without being the most awkward motherfucker alive. Because Yuan is confident in what he wants and Qian is still having to adjust. Qian finishes the food and hands the empty bowl back to Yuan, and just as he is about to remove himself from the situation, Yuan scoops up the very last remnants of the meal and starts to feed it to Qian.
gif by @coffeelover5eva
Qian for just a second jerks his head back, in the same way that he moved his head slightly backwards when he turned to find Yuan staring at him in his bedroom. Much in the same way that he will take a step back later when Yuan moves to fix his collar. But because Qian does have feelings for Yuan and is fighting a losing battle, that instinctual reaction to put some distance between them, to not be cared for, quickly makes way into a deflated submission as he lets Yuan feed him those last little morsels. Yuan walks away as Qian just sits in quiet, annoyed, resignation. Chris’ face throughout this entire scene is just absolutely hysterical.
Yet another commercial break, because I am dying at Yuan being a menace
I do think it is worth noting that Qian’s reaction to this is very similar to his reaction to Yuan saying he liked him in that first attempt where he physically and emotionally disengages, gives him a little pat and tries to remove himself from the situation at hand.
Car
gif by @ueasking
Absolutely the most normal and relaxed Qian has acted around Yuan for this entire episode is in the scene where Lili is bailing on the family trip and he and Yuan are discussing what to do next. Is that little hand stopping the trunk from opening all the way a little desperate? Yeah I think so. But holy shit is it the least tense Qian has been with Yuan in quite some time.
That does not last long though because once they get in the car, Qian sits there expectantly, waiting for the charged sexual tension that would come with Yuan reaching over him to buckle his seat belt. I love this show for giving us the parallel fishing trips, because Yuan originally tried to pull the BL Seatbelt Staple years prior without complete success, Qian does not get the luxury of a second chance to get butterflies in his stomach having Yuan that close. It’s fucking brilliant to have had the buckle before, because it means the audience very clearly knows what Qian is thinking and expecting when he makes no move of his own to buckle up.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
What I love so much about this moment is that Qian has been trying to avoid these feelings time and time again since Yuan returned. And here we know he’s lost because for the first time in the entire episode he is waiting for Yuan to make a move. He wants Yuan to buckle him in. He can’t say it out loud, it’s embarrassing for him to have Yuan not buckle him in while having Yuan passively calling him out on his expectations.
If Qian’s absolute inability to function with Yuan gone was not enough of an indication that Qian has lost this fight already, this is absolutely the point in which we know Yuan has won. Because after all the avoidance, those split seconds of jumping back, of adding distance, of trying to shorten the time the two of them are alone together, Qian doesn’t bail on the trip and Qian waits for Yuan to make a move.
Fishing
First, it must be acknowledged that under the sunlight, Qian’s hair is very red. In other words. The boy has uke hair.
“When did you get so good at fishing” Qian asks
“When I was abroad I used to go hiking and fishing by myself. I didn’t feel lonely when I imagined you were by my side,” Yuan replies
and Qian furrows his brow slightly because Qian did that too. Not the hiking-and-fishing part, but the curbing the loneliness by imagining-Yuan-was-there part. We can see it in Episode 7 when he smiles and toasts the air at his side with his beer can after Lili and San Pang leave for the Christmas market, and if you didn’t catch that moment the first time (I did not) we get it again in the flashback Qian has, remembering the brightness and the chaos of Lili and Yuan being in the house.
“Ge, do you have something to say?”
“Zhiyuan, don’t keep your feelings for me anymore. Nothing will come of them” Yuan chuckles, which like…valid buddy, cause that is fucking hilarious. Not because Yuan doesn’t have feelings for Qian, but because something will definitely come of them. Because this is Qian’s last attempt at trying to maintain the status quo. Trying to be responsible and keep their feelings for each other at a non-romantic level. But it’s too late, Qian, you’re a goner. Qian looks at Yuan, but only in his peripheral vision, he dares not look at Yuan flat out at this point.
“What makes you think I still have feelings for you?” Qian looks at Yuan immediately after he says that, and not just looks at his face, but down his body, and then out in to his own thoughts.
“Ge, do you remember a long time ago you asked me what I would do if the person I liked got married?”
“You said you’d go crazy”
“My answer’s changed.”
And with that Qian has the sharpest, fastest head turn we’ve seen from him all episode but for the first time in the entire episode, Yuan is not looking a Qian. He is giving Qian the space to look, to think. He tells Qian that he will be happy as long as the person that he likes is happy, and we immediately see this tension release itself from Qian’s forehead. Qian is looking pensive throughout the conversation, and his eyes only move once Yuan moves again that Qian’s eyes follow the motion of the lid. Yuan moves to sit on the container, which places Qian not only below him, but the camera angle shrinks Qian down so he appears even smaller than usual next to Yuan.
Qian looks at Yuan when he sits down
“Wei Qian. Don’t you like Wei Zhiyuan?” Yuan asks, and the moment his question finishes, Qian looks away, because Qian has been incapable of maintaining eye contact where any romantic feelings are involved, but he is actually thinking here. You can see that question weighing heavy on Qian’s mind. And he can’t just run away from it so he closes his eyes and looks away again.
“If you do, is it only because we’re brothers?” and Qian’s jaw tenses considerably as he processes the question. You can see his lip move, you can see the twitching of his cheek as he clenches his teeth. But Yuan is done teasing Qian. Qian has become increasingly more obvious in his reactions to Yuan and now that Yuan has successfully riled Qian up over the past few days and they are alone where they had their first conversation about Yuan’s crush on an unknown boy. @romchat has already pointed out the reverse imagery for the parallel here but Yuan reaches out and clasps Qian’s cheek, the same way that Qian has done for Yuan countless times.
gif by @wanderlust-in-my-soul
When Yuan’s hand first makes contact, Qian looks at it but keeps his eyes trained downward. But the second time that Yuan’s thumb slides gently across his cheek, Qian looks up, looks straight into Yuan’s eyes. He does not tense any further, he does not fight against it, he does not shy away from Yuan’s touch or Yuan’s gaze. (@respectthepetty has a very lovely little breakdown of this scene herself here)
“This thing about us, is it that you don’t want, or you don’t dare?” Yuan asks and we move back to a wide angle shot that closes out the episode with the little title card. But Chris doesn’t stop acting just because there isn’t a close up on his face, oh no. No. Instead Qian’s face relaxes eeeeeever so slightly, and you can see him swallow hard. This is not a question he wants to be faced with because we all know what the answer is, and the answer is that he does want, but doesn’t dare. And the second that his fear of losing Yuan for a second time becomes stronger than his fear of changing their relationship? Game over.
This show is putting so many worms in my brain, I love it so much, and I am so looking forward to episode 9 where I get to see my boys being put through hell at the hands of the gang. Torture my boys! They don’t have enough angst!!
Unknown (2024) visual analysis (ep. 9): Life comes down to a few things
I adore how this show layers meaning through its visuals.
I was wondering when we'd get a cross doorway shot with all those scenes in previous episodes showing Yuan and Qian walking back-and-forth across the hall to each other's rooms, and of course it happens when Yuan tells Qian:
"Life comes down to a few things. Where you come from, where you linger, what you want, what's left."
We know that the show loves using how it frames the characters in their rooms to represent the ebb and flow of their relationship. Here, the doorways to their rooms act as frames within frames, visually directing our attention to what matters in the conversation: them. Qian is all those things Yuan lists off so it's fitting that the doorway frames him as the main subject--he is our focus as much as Yuan's.
And despite Qian's hesitation and their physical distance across the hall--the depth enhanced by these frames within frames-- Qian is also looking directly at Yuan through the door.
They are each other's family (where they come from), home (where they linger), desire (what they want), and all they can rely on (what's left).
And because of this, the fight with Le doesn't end with a shot of Qian once again carrying Yuan but instead clinging to him. They're holding up the world together, fighting against the dark that surrounds them.
Taboo and Metaphor in Unknown The Series: A Serious Take on a Silly Post
(I have been going insane about this show for a while now, and it caused me to make this silly little post a few days ago. Since then, I thought about it too much, and realized I had more to say... and here we are. This meta is basically that post again, but This Time For Serious.)
First of all... does Unknown have the right to be this good?? It feels so deliberate and so sincere - not only the writing, the acting, the cinematography, the pacing, the framing, the choices... what a series so far. I know I'm not the only one feeling insane about it.
Something that struck me when comparing this to other Taiwanese offerings I have enjoyed is the deeper presence of internalized and externalized homophobia within the narrative. I have no presumptions that Taiwan lacks homophobia societally and culturally - even with its relatively liberal view on queer relationships for the region - but to compare Unknown with, say, Kiseki: Dear To Me (which I am currently watching for the first time alongside Unknown), in which everyone is more or less openly queer, from the dedicated student baker to the baddest feral gangster... The filter for strawberry cake is rather pastel, whereas Unknown likes its dark blues and shadowed greys.
Some of this made more sense when I learned that the story originally comes from Da Ge by Priest, a Chinese author. I have admittedly not read the novel (and I would love those of you that have to weigh in!), but it caused me to think a lot about adaptation, and the context of the choices made to give this Chinese story a Taiwanese setting.
Like I joked in my silly post, China is, somewhat famously, troubled by queerness, politically and culturally. Many explicitly queer narratives from China end up censored and rewritten, to specifically exclude the romantic implications of their protagonists' relationship. It's not that China lacks creators willing to tell these stories, or audiences willing to engage with them, it's just the sociopolitical reality is one of censorship. Taiwan, for its embrace of queer culture, still possesses homophobia; China, for its discomfort with queer culture, still possesses passionate and outspoken advocates. We acknowledge the inherent complexity.
So to dive a little into the themes of Unknown, the choices that were made about this adaptation - I love what is being said here.
The story is about brothers who fall in love. Sure, they aren't blood related, but they are unquestionably family. So much of what makes Wei Qian and Wei Zhiyuan good partners is exactly the same as what makes them good brothers - mutual devotion, willingness to sacrifice for each other, a deep understanding of what the other needs and how to show up for them again and again, in spite of everything. And Unknown really makes its audience sit with this! The exploration is layered and meaningful and the entire point. What is taboo, and what is acceptable? Where are the boundaries? Why do we draw them that way?
This is not to say that I am a fan of incest storylines, or even that I seek out pseudo-incest as a trope in general... it's understandably a complex theme, and it really takes a lot of care and intention to navigate it well. But that is what Unknown is doing, every episode so far. The dialogue, the acting choices, the camera shots, the narrative beats - they've thought it through very thoroughly, at every step of the game. No detail is overlooked, and the intentionality is delicious. (Some additional required reading here, with my sincere thanks.)
A handful of pointed questions and statements from the dialogue which drive this theme home, and which for the most part, the audience is left to find their own responses for:
Yuan: I don't and I never will [make things difficult for Qian]. That's why I'm suffering by myself. I haven't told anyone about this. What more do you want from me? (ep 6)
San Pang: What's right with this? / Yuan: What's wrong with this? (ep 6)
Lili: Why can't I [be with him]? San Pang has been protecting me and treating me well since I was little. I like him! (ep 8)
Yuan: Ge. Have you ever thought that we can't accept changes because we're too used to the way things were? (ep 8)
Yuan: Wei Qian, don't you like Wei Zhiyuan? If you do, is it only because we're brothers? This thing about us - is it that you don't want, or you don't dare? (ep 8)
For a Chinese author, through a Taiwanese lens, to ask a bunch of insistent questions about what makes a relationship societally unacceptable... an author whose own works have been the subject of censorship and recontextualization, whose own creative content had to undergo revision prior to being deemed worthy for cultural consumption; to have a platform in which her chosen subject IS a relationship taboo, a metaphor for the way queerness can be as taboo as incest... I've been losing my mind over this implication.
In conclusion, China may continue turning lovers into brothers for a while yet. But sometimes, Taiwan will give us brothers becoming lovers, too. Because isn't it a good thing when two men are as close as brothers? Should the exact nature of their love surprise and discomfort us?
Is it anyone's business but their own?
(tagging some of the Unknown meta squad: @wen-kexing-apologist @lurkingshan @heretherebedork @respectthepetty @romchat Thank you all for your thoughts and for pointing out details about everything, I am lovingly throwing all of you meat buns in my mind)
I might ship them now. It's hopeless and a useless ship but dear lord I love gangster x doctor romance as a concept and the 'done with your shit doctor' who's seen him at every spot in his life and the 'retired but still more than a little psycho' gangster feels like a romance tailor made for Taiwan.
Love confession? Love confession.
... Yup, I ship it. @absolutebl Only me. Only me.
It's the way Lili whines "Geeeee" as Qian chases Sang Peng around the house for me. Perfect comedic timing
It was truly perfect family. Lili knows she is loved and that Qian wants what's best for her. She does. But she also needs him to show it to San Pang.
It was perfect and truly encapsulated their vibes as a family. Lili is the peacemaker but more passive, Qian is the fighter, Yuan can actually bring the peace and San Pang causes trouble for all the right reasons. It's perfect. They're perfect.
OMG SHUT YOUR FACE UP 😅
been thinking about the changes in some of the furniture during the 4 years Yuan was gone and how they reflect the changing dynamics of the Wei family
before: round table, single big painting over the long couch, dark red/brown couches
after: rectangular table, 3 plant pictures, lighter color couches
the round table facilitates interaction between all parties, but it may place too much emphasis on the whole family unit at the expense of each individual. the rectangular table seems a more neutral setting for individuals to come together and allows for 1-on-1 direct communication like this:
the single big painting reinforces the whole family unit, which makes sense when they're all still growing up. maybe the 3 plant paintings symbolize that Qian, Yuan, and Lili have grown up to be individuals and their family dynamics have changed but they're still part of this family unit. they're distinct pieces that make the family whole
and then the couches. so much trauma associated with those couches they really needed to be gone. (and the grey and green make me think of plants growing through cracks in concrete which seem fitting but i know nothing about colors)
all this to say, a family can change and take in different shapes and forms and split into individual pieces and in the end it's still a family. whatever that looks like is up to us
I'm constantly thinking about how qian asks yuan if his gift is a ring and the way he has zero, absolutely NO anger in his voice, he even seems pleasantly surprised I—
He is super drunk and could get absolutely furious about yuan daring to give him such a thing but all he does is almost happily whisper "a ring?"
I struggled really hard to see a romance with mutual feelings develop between them because all qian did so far could be classic big bro things but in this moment, this tiny little moment, he let himself get whooed for the first time in his life, he didn't reject it and didn't hate it and it means so insanely much to me.
In the novel are a million more moments of those and I absolutely love all of them because it makes their relationship palpable and real and even my 3 braincells can sense that qian may need a LOT more time but it can only be yuan who opens his heart for a million different reasons I just.....fhxgsgsfdsh