EPISODE 2 RECAP
The next day, the court officials go to work, giddy and excited because they all believe Cao Cao has gotten rid of Dongzhuo.
But their dream is cut short when Dong Zhuo walks into the hall. The poor guys, I’m sure they were getting confetti and balloons out to celebrate and everything.
Dong Zhuo stands in the center of the hall and cries murder about what Cao Cao did. This idiot. It’s obvious he’s only in command here because he’s got muscles on his side.
Dong Zhuo scares all of the court officials and when Minister Wang comes home, he’s like: send the servants away, burn the house, I’m about to die, actually you know what, I’m gonna kill myself.
Here we know that Wang has an adopted daughter named Diaochan.
Side notes: Diaochan is known as one of the Four Great Beauties of ancient China, though her existence in history is debatable. Nonetheless, in legends and fictional accounts, Diaochan is usually described as a beautiful woman. How beautiful? Beautiful enough to bring down a tyrant.
With my expectations for Diaochan off the roof, I confess I was a little disappointed when she first appears here. While the actress isn’t bad looking at all, she’s a little too ordinary to be “the Great Beauty Diaochan”. But watching for a bit, I can see why she got the job, her acting is really good. She conveys the elegance and innocence of Diaochan effortlessly and I can see why the men who are going to fall for her will, well, fall.
Anyway, upon seeing Wang freaking out, Diaochan reminds him that Dongzhuo has no evidence of his involvement in the attempted assassination.
And Wang is like: huh, that’s right, sorry I overreacted.
Compared to all these incompetent old guys who cry on a daily basis, Diaochan is very level-headed and smart.
By Dongzhuo’s order, Lu Bu and his men barge into Minister Wang’s residence for a search.
Lu Bu is all gung-ho at first but you’ll never guess what happens — I mean, unless you already know the story, then you probably know what’s gonna happen — he comes face-to-face with the beautiful Diaochan.
One look at her and he’s a goner. He’s just gone. All we see now is a dumbstruck face.
Diaochan tells Lu Bu some things in Minister Wang’s favor and Lu Bu is just like: ok, uh-huh, I guess so, whatever you say, alright, all done here.
Before leaving, he stole a glance at Diaochan.
Back to Cao Cao. He gets captured. But luckily for him, he official who captures him is Chen Gong. Chen Gong is a reasonable man, so in secret, he and Cao Cao bond over their hate for Dong Zhuo and decide to run away together to recruit people for the rebellion effort.
At one point, Cao Cao asks Chen Gong what his family are going to do if he runs away. And Chen Gong’s answer? I’ll pretend they have never existed. WTH, dude? What about your kids who will surely be executed if Dongzhuo finds out you’re gone?
Cao Cao and Chen Gong arrive at the estate of Cao Cao’s uncle, Lu Boshe. The man takes them in despite knowing they’re being hunted. Cao Cao vouches for this Lu Boshe’s trustworthiness.
As Lu Boshe goes out to get some wine for his two “guests”, Cao Cao and Chen Gong rest inside a room. Chen Gong is a little nervous about it all so when he hears some strange noises from outside, he freaks out big time.
They listen from their room as the servants outside talk. They hear things like: lock the gate, get the knife, tie it up. Then both Chen Gong and Cao Cao are like: OH MY GOD THEY’RE GONNA KILL US.
Chen Gong is like: what are we gonna dooooo…
Cao Cao is a lot calmer, he says there’s no choice but to kill all the servants and escape. OK, I’m scared.
Now Chen Gong is freaking out even more. No one told the guy what life as a fugitive was gonna be like.
So they both charge out and kill all the servants. It’s a horrific scene that’s even more horrific when they realize that the servants weren’t talking about them at all. They were talking about slaughtering A PIG for food. Oh #$@!%!$@!%!%#$@!% Cao Cao, what have you done???
Now, somewhere in this episode, we get a scene of three other main chracters: Guan Yu, Liu Bei, and Zhang Fei. They put on a ceremony in a peach blossom garden to become sworn brothers.
Yeah I can see why book purists are mad about this. While Cao Cao, the supposed antagonist, has gotten a whole chunk of screen time, the three “heroes'” most important scene happens in like thirty seconds. But keep in mind, guys, the name of this drama is Three Kingdoms, not “Romance of the Three Kingdoms”. It’s a mix of fiction and history and makes a point to delve into what has been overlooked in the original novel.