The Long Season 1.06

Episode 6

Hualin, 2016. Bei notices that Xiang's sweater has holes in it. He suggests that he could buy him a new one. 

Hualin, 1997. Xiang tries on the sweater for the first time. Yang bought it for him. It is made of wool. He finds it itchy and takes it off. 

Shen Dongliang, Shen Mo's uncle, goes to her boss at the hotel and explains that he doesn't want her working there anymore. Yang sees the exchange and asks his boss what that was about. His boss explains who he was just talking to. Yang runs after Dongliang and asks him about her.

Shen Mo's uncle asks Yang why he wants to know about her. He asks if he is her boyfriend. He tells Yang that he isn't good enough for Shen Mo and tells him not to see her again.

Yang reaches out to Shen Mo. They meet at night. She tells him that they can't see each other anymore. He does something desperate. It gets her attention. She says that she believes in fate. He says that she has control over her life.

Luo Meisu encourages Xiang to offer a bribe to Song Yukan, the manager at the Hualin Steel, in the hopes that it will help Yang get a job there. Xiang has a reputation as an honest man and doesn't want to do it but he ultimately capitulates and does as his wife asks. Song Yukan ask him in a round about way what he wants in return. Xiang says nothing.

Shen Mo goes to talk to her uncle. She explains to him that she doesn't want to see him anymore. He gets angry and beats her. He tells her that they won't be through until he is dead.

Luo Meisu sends Yang to Hualin Steel with a meal for his father. Xing Jianchun plays a trick on Yang and accuses him of trying to steal from the company. He has security grab him.

They are getting ready to turn Yang over to the police when Xiang shows up. He doesn't believe the story. He tries to get Jianchun to release his son. He offers to do whatever Jianchun wants. He publicly says that his son was wrong. Jianchun wants an apologize from Yang but Yang refuses.

Hualin, 2016. Xiang comes home only to find Xing Jianchun waiting for him outside his building. He invites him inside. He gets Biao and Ma Desheng to come over. They ask him about the man to whom he sold the license plate with the same number as the one on Biao's taxi. He describes him to some degree.

Bei comes home. Xiang gets him to sketch a face based on Xing Jianchun's description. Xing says the face in the sketch looks very much like the one he recalls. Biao, Ma Desheng, and Xing leave. Biao and Ma Desheng head to the area where Xing Jianchun met the man to whom he sold the fake license plate.

Xiang and Bei have dinner together. Bei asks him if this is about his brother. Xiang admits that it is. Bei tells his father that he doesn't want to move away. He wants to stay nearby.

Xiang has another dream or vision. He is on a bicycle riding down the dirt road on a bicycle. There are cornfields on either side of the road. Xiang's hair is dark. There is a young boy on back of the bicycle holding on to Xiang's waist. Suddenly the boy is gone. Xiang calls for Bei and then for Yang but no one answers.

Thoughts

About three quarters of this episode takes place in 1997. The rest of the episode takes place in 2016. There are no scenes set in 1998 as far as I could tell. Fu Weijun (Shen Mo's brother) and Sui Dong (Fu's friend) are not in this episode. 

The image that Bei sketched was only shown for a moment but it looked like Shen Dongliang. This is the first indication that he might be still alive in 2016.

I have watched about half of this show now. The episodes vary in length quite a bit. The six episodes that I have watched are a total of about 6 hours of television. The six episodes that I have yet to watch are a total of about 7 hours of television.

Xiang at one point says something in 2016 to Xing Jianchun about why he hasn't moved. He explains that it is because he wants to be there if Yang tries to come home. I'm not sure if that means that Yang is still alive or if Xiang is talking about Yang's spirit.

This episode was dark and had some moments that were hard to watch. I am thinking mostly of the scene between Shen Mo and her uncle and then the scene where Xing Jianchun accuses Yang of stealing from Hualin Steel. It was on the whole not an easy one to watch. I was relieved that they seem to make some progress in the case in 2016.