[Fish Sandwich]

Fell behind for a bit there, but I'm all caught up to thread again at the moment. I guess it's probably not even worth mentioning that I greatly enjoyed these five episodes with this show's track record, but well, there you go. The big thought I kept coming back to all throughout 17-20 was just how nice it was to see the heavy emphasis on Liu Bei and Gongsun Zan as a duo, because I really like those two together. They have this perfect dynamic where his kindness balances out her aggression while her intelligence balances out his foolishness, and I would watch a million plots about them scrambling to scrape together the cash to keep the lights on.

They're a pair that's endlessly fun to watch, so, uh, of course, when I got far enough into 20, it kinda quickly became apparent why the show was shining such a spotlight on all this! I'm sort of mixed on that plotting decision, but I can definitely see the merit in it, since removing THE major source of support for Liu Bei, even temporarily, is naturally going to make room for him to grow as a hero and all that, something nicely touched upon in 21 when we see him talking about how far he's already come from way back in the very beginning. Having Liu Bei take up her powers is the kind of plot point I am way into, as well, so all of the things I have misgivings with at the moment are more a matter of needing to see where the show is going with everything. Sun Ce in particular is a bit of a question mark for me right now; he's got a fun enough boisterous personality going on, but he's also a thin enough character that it's currently hard to see him being a third pillar for the show alongside Liu Bei and Cao Cao, even with his own set of supporting characters clearly set up for future drama with him.