One of the (many) major triumphs of The Apothecary Diaries is how it manages to make such emotionally potent storylines out of a mystery-of-the-week style format. However, the series finds the right mix in how it layers and builds upon existing stories and other episodic capers. No story is superfluous or one-offs. This makes for endlessly enticing stories about intrigue and political drama that mean more than a simple flimsy mystery.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 14 follows suit with “The Dancing Ghost.” The central story allows Maomao (Aoi Yūki) to demonstrate her considerable intellect while fleshing out a secondary character’s time. This helps give the world greater depth.
Maomao, alongside Jinshi (Takeo Ōtsuka)and Gaoshun, investigates the reported ghost that Lishu said she saw while bathing. The mystery in and of itself is one of the more Scooby Doo adjacent ones of the series though it makes sense when we remember just how young Lishu is. At only 15 years old, it makes sense that seeing a billowing curtain before seemingly seeing a pale face reflected in the darkness would startle her into wanting to only bathe in public places.
The cruelty of humans trumps ghosts.
It proves an easy solution for Maomao. The “ghost” in question is actually an optical illusion. Maomao discovers that it’s created by the steam escaping through the rotten floor and the face being a reflection from a magic copper mirror, an heirloom from Lishu’s late mother. The steam causing the curtains to move and the mirror reflecting the moonlight creates the perfect concoction of terror for Lishu.
But it’s less about the ultimate mystery and more about what Maomao discerns while trying to assemble the pieces. While it’s been clear since Season 1 that Lishu’s ladies in waiting hold no abundance of affection for her, in Season 2 we learn that, aside from her main attendant, the others are still relentless in their cruelty. They understand enough about how they ought to behave to slip under the radar, but also play Lishu’s naivety against her.
Everything from the mold in the bathroom, which other servants for other Concubines would’ve cleaned, to the dismissive, hostile attitude Lishu garners when talking about her fears, indicates a hostile environment. And while Maomao silently seethes at this, especially as Lishu wails about her mother’s heirloom, worried her mother is mad at her from beyond, it’s Jinshi who takes action.
“The Dancing Ghost” lets Jinshi loose.
Jinshi oscillates so often from outright silly and petulant to calm and otherworldly that it’s fun to see him somewhere in the middle. In Season 2 Episode 14 he outwardly weaponizes his beauty for good. First, in getting rid of the ladies waiting so that Lishu might be more truthful. And, later, when he tears down the former head for her cruelty and ego.
It’s a well-earned and deserved moment of comeuppance for a woman who purposefully allows her jealousy and bitterness to aim at a teenage girl. Someone who never asked for the position she holds. Lishu is a tragic figure in the series. It reminds us that for all the opulence the Concubines have and the riches they’re given, here’s a girl who never got to be a child and misses her mom.
Not to be repetitive, but it’s always amazing how much The Apothecary Diaries manages to fit into a single episode. Beyond the central mystery, “The Dancing Ghost” sets up key pieces to central storylines. From a new, popular, and beautiful eunuch gaining attention, to Jinshi figuring out how to tell Maomao the truth, many smaller threads are running throughout. The latter in particular adds a sense of urgency. Because why is it that Jinshi is so concerned with telling Maomao about his status? And why does he worry about her biological father, Lakan, disagreeing?
It’s almost more interesting than the main mystery.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 14 might lack in some of the dynamic animation of prior installments, but it’s no less engaging. With intelligent and dense writing, the series continues to shock and delight in the ways in which it evades our expectations.
The Apothecary Diaries Season 2 Episode 14 is out now on Crunchyroll.
Images courtesy of Crunchyroll/OLM.
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Rating - 7.5/10
7.5/10
Based in New England, Allyson is co-founder and Editor-in-Chief of InBetweenDrafts. Former Editor-in-Chief at TheYoungFolks, she is a member of the Boston Society of Film Critics and the Boston Online Film Critics Association. Her writing has also appeared at CambridgeDay, ThePlaylist, Pajiba, VagueVisages, RogerEbert, TheBostonGlobe, Inverse, Bustle, her Substack, and every scrap of paper within her reach.
