The Long Season 1.12

Episode 12

Hualin, 1997. Family and friends come over to Wang Xiang and Luo Meisu's apartment after Wang's body has been found. Xiang fusses over where to hang the picture of Wang. Meisu doesn't want to talk to him.

Ma Desheng stops by during the meal. He talks briefly to Xiang in private. He explains that all evidence seems to indicate that Wang committed suicide. Xiang refuses to accept that.

Ma Desheng returns to the office, dressed in a uniform. He wants to take a look at the case again but his boss has the file and refuses to give it to him. His boss tells him that he needs to get back to work. Ma Desheng takes off his uniform and quits.

Xiang is outside seeing some of his family and friends off. He goes back inside. He calls for Meisu but she doesn't respond. He finds her in the bathroom, dead. She hung herself.

Hualin, 2016. Huang Liru goes to see Gong Biao's body. She's brought some cosmetics to help clean him up.

Ma Desheng wakes up in the hospital. He's not himself. Wang Xiang comes to see him. He gets him to calm down. He cuts his hair and promises to come back and see him that night after he picks up Wang Bei from the train station.

Xiang takes Ma Desheng to the police station where he sits down and talks to Li Qun about the case he worked on back in 1997. Ma Desheng still isn't entirely lucid or making sense.

Shen Mo returns and visits her aunt in the hospital. She makes it clear that she holds her guilty for not saying anything. She pulls out an IV bag and hooks it up to her aunt's tube and leaves. She sees the police coming and escapes by getting in a cab.

The cab driver is Wang Xiang. He recognizes her. He asks her questions. She tells him that Wang didn't kill anyone. She was the one who killed Lu Henzhong and Ying Hong. He asks her about what happened to his son.

Shen Mo replays the moment in her head. When she doesn't respond to his question he drives off the road into an area near the river, near where Wang's body was found. She recalls what happened back in 1997. She jumped off the bridge. She tells Xiang that Wang saved her life.

Xiang loses control of the car. It crashes. He gets out but Shen Mo remains inside, unmoving. The car catches fire. He works desperately to get her out of the car. He gets her clear of the car just before the fire spreads.

Thoughts

The last 20 minutes of the episode and the series get very dream like. There is a montage of scenes that ran for several minutes with characters from 1997. I think that some (possibly most) of the last 20 minutes is supposed to be taken as what really happened.

There are other moments like the montage and the final scene which calls back to the scene that opened the first episode, which are more dream like.

I enjoyed this episode very much although it got me very emotional several times. It didn't wrap everything up neatly with a bow. It did give Xiang a happy ending despite the loss of his son (Wang Yang), his first wife (Luo Meisu), his friend (Gong Biao), and the rapid mental decline of his other friend (Ma Desheng).

What happened ultimately to Shen Mo, Ma Desheng, and others? I guess I'll never know. This story was a little too big to wrap everything up neatly and satisfy me. I'm glad I watched this show. It ran about 13 hours.

It was a bit of a chore reading the subtitles at times. At times the subtitles didn't make much sense and I had to guess at what was meant.

Is this noir? I'm not sure. It has some very dark elements. It has a reluctant hero. I'm not sure if it qualifies as noir or not.