If you’re lost on any of the characters, I did a quick rundown of them at the top of episode 1 that you can consult.

Recap
Song and Tian are locked up in a shed by Ma, who is showing signs of Beetle Orchid poisoning.

Jiu takes everyone who escaped into the forest to Dr. Qi! He saved both himself and Jiu from the Beetle Orchid poisoning. Jia collapses because the poison has entered her cut hand.

Yang and Jiu are now buddies. Jiu vows to save Tian and talks of his importance to him. Li overhears.

Privately, Li confides to Bua that everything is her fault. She cries about her worries about Tian and wanting to protect him. Bua points out Tian is strong and begs her to give Tian a chance to live life as he wants.

Jia is too far gone to save, but she’s relieved to see Qi alive. Li comes running and sobs as Jia asks her to beg Tian’s forgiveness and save him, then dies.

Ma can’t find the antidote but declares he’ll get it and then kill everyone. 

Bua listens to Chan and Li blame each other and claim they did it for their sons until she can’t take it anymore and asks if their sons wanted any of this. 

Pin brings Jiu’s siblings and news about Tian and Song being held prisoner. Li admits she and Jia didn’t actually have the antidote. Qi is making some but needs to leave to get herbs for Jiu’s sister. He asks Li, Bua, and Chan to finish making it. 

Ma kindly relieves Xiaotong of the burden of her business. Xiaotong is so not-grateful. There’s a note on the door from Li, offering the antidote in exchange for Tian and Song. 

Li helps Jiu’s brother after he falls. Jiu’s siblings tell her about having fun with Tian. Li realizes he was always unhappy and afraid with her and that’s her fault. She cries and Jiu’s siblings hug her.

Pin brings supplies and Yang gets serious, saying if anything happens to him– Pin says she’ll get a new boyfriend. So he can’t die. Pin wins. 

Mud and Xiaotong learn from the Japanese soldiers that come to Xiaotong’s ‘teahouse’ that they aren’t totally loyal to Ma.

Tian’s best mom, Bua, encourages and supports Jiu and gives him advice on not accepting others’ judgment. Li hears part of it and comes out to share tea with Bua and Jiu silently. It isn’t poisoned tea, it is tea of acceptance. Jiu drinks.

Jiu sneaks under the shed, talking to Tian and holding hands through a hole in the floor. He comforts Tian and promises to help his father. Jiu leaves and we see Song was awake to hear them talk. 

Mud sees Jiu leave and she and Xiaotong follow him to the group in the forest. They warn about Ma and, after some mistrust, talk about working together.

Song dreams about being with Zhang at a Chinese opera and thinks he’s died. Zhang says all he wanted was respect from Song, which Song recognizes Tian also said. 

Song wakes and apologizes to Tian, blaming himself and his narrowmindedness for Zhang’s death and Li’s actions. When Tian still blames himself, Song says he placed too much of a burden on Tian. If they survive, he wants Tian to live his own life.

The antidote is ready and Ma is getting ready to burn the Song house down with the remaining people there inside.

Xiaotong arrives with a crate of supplies and a dozen women for Ma and everyone. She convinces him to get the party started.

Outside everyone else waits to sneak in, Mud comes out to give the go-ahead. Yang and Jiu get inside big crates.

Thoughts
Jia got a nicer death than Nuan. There was a certain amount of poetic justice in her death from the poison that she used to make. Jia was pretty awesome with the way she kept hitting people with blocks of wood, but also pretty sad with her devotion to Li and Qi and no real life of her own.

Ultimately it seems, she and Li only succeeded in killing one person though they tried to kill four others (Qi, Jiu, Yang, and Ma). I’m not going to give them extra credit because they failed.

Li got more punishment for her actions in this episode, losing Jia, not knowing if Tian was still alive, and having to face the reality of what she’d done to her son. The scene with Jiu’s sweet siblings who clearly know a different Tian than her was a satisfying way to make that last part happen. 

I love how often tea is a part of this show. From a vehicle for poison to Bua’s constant calling for it as though it is a cure-all. Here it’s used to reconcile Jiu and Li. Part of me wanted Li to give a sincere apology out loud to Jiu, but to be absolutely fair while she did try to kill him, he came pretty close to killing her son/his lover that one time. Li owes Tian many apologies, but I think acceptance is enough between her and Jiu.

I think Jiu is part of the reason I’m okay with Tian being so forgiving of his parents. Tian accepts that the people that he loves sometimes kill other people and still loves them.

Tian and Jiu holding hands through the crack and then Tian pressing his face against Jiu’s hand is far more romantic than the skinship that BLs often force onto characters. They are so desperate just to touch each other at that moment.

The woman continue to rock while Song whines about his business being ruined and lies down in useless self-pity. Bua stood up for Tian and Yang, Pin wouldn’t let Yang make a noble self-sacrifice speech, Mud and Xiaotong were the power couple of the episode and even Chan offered to help for once.