The Apothecary Diaries Season 2: Episode 15 FULL LENGTH Reaction!
Added 2025-04-23 13:00:20 +0000 UTC*ICY SPICY HEADPHONE WARNINGS*
This episode had SO MUCH going on! We had Xiaolan in "hot water" over something quite the opposite -- and MaoMao may need to ask Jinshi for help! And he's QUITE happy about this!
But we also have many things being set up with potentially Suirei, Gyokuyou and her soon-to-arrive baby, and MaoMao's family!
LINK TO REACTION: https://share.vidyard.com/watch/pyEQMikgJ5esHWMvMKPRU6
Thank you for watching with me and for all the support!
Comments
Yes, The Quack doctor is so kind with Xiaolan, what a sweetheart – like Luomen, eh? Jinshi and MaoMao flirt/mess with each other in different ways, but they both can handle each other. Good to know that Suiren is scary to ALL, even someone as experienced as Hongniang! I love Gyokuyou accepting Luomen as trusting based on MaoMao! There is certainly trust here! I also love that MaoMao can talk freely about Luomen and they accept him as her “dad,” too. That is interesting about the food types with spicy vs. sour! Hmmm…interesting! It’s good to finally get confirmation that MaoMao knows about Lakan and Luomen’s relationship. I also find it neat how and when she chooses to talk about Luomen’s “relationship” to her - whether as her adopted father or just “father.” Thanks for clarifying that! I definitely will have to talk about that note on the birth in a future episode! I do love the growth MaoMao has had with Xiaolan! Thank you for the comment!!
Romaniablack
2025-05-03 23:04:51 +0000 UTCI absolutely adore our quack doctor all the more for the way he is with Xiaolan 🥺 Jinshi definitely enjoys teasing Maomao, but I completely agree with you that he never takes it too far 🥰 Like you said, there are some other male characters that would take advantage of this situation to take it in a sleazy direction, but Jinshi tries to use it as a form of payback after Maomao refused to listen to him twice (once in the cave, and then in her room after he gifted her the ox bezoars). I definitely don't blame Hongniang for her reaction to the possibility Maomao was thinking of Suiren as the person to help them 😆 She can definitely be one scary old lady! I really do love how logical Consort Gyokuyou is about the possibility of trusting Luomen, and not basing her opinions on him as a person/doctor on how the fact he was expelled from the Imperial Palace by the previous generation. It also truly shows how much she trusts Maomao's opinion, but at the same time her reasoning is not simply coloured by her feelings about Maomao 🥰 I absolutely adore that moment of the Jade Pavilion ladies-in-waiting talking with Maomao about Luomen, especially coming immediately after an episode showing us a completely different kind of set-up for a High Consort and her ladies-in-waiting. The camaraderie, and Consort Gyokuyou's almost child-like enjoyment at the whole scene, is so completely different to the feeling the Diamond Pavilion gave off with Consort Lishu and her ladies-in-waiting. It also gives an added feeling of the Jade Pavilion being almost like another Found Family for Maomao with them teasing her in this manner 🥰 An old wives' tale in China for pregnancy, similar to the idea of the way the pregnant person carries the baby supposedly determines the sex, is that if the person craves sour foods then it will be a boy, whereas if they crave spicy foods then it would be a girl. For human pregnancies, like with cow pregnancies, there is the possibility of the baby being forcefully turned to encourage it to come out the right way. Just, unlike with cow pregnancies, it involves only using external pressure rather than internal trying to shift the baby. In some pregnancies that the baby is presenting breech like this, the baby can pop into the correct position because of this external pressure, or like what Maomao says that it may choose to move into the better position for birth in the time they still have until Consort Gyokuyou's due date. We have never got confirmation exactly that Maomao is aware of the relationship between Luomen and Lakan, but in Season 1 Episode 24 when Maomao is explaining Lakan's face blindness to Jinshi and Gaoshun, she tells them that what she knows is just what her adopted father explained to her. And we also get a flashback to Luomen considering Lakan "an unfortunate fellow" because of this issue. So there is definitely the understanding on Maomao's part that Luomen knows Lakan well, but this is the first that we get confirmation she knows of their familial connection. Also I forgot to say in my comment for Episode 14 that Maomao has referred to Luomen as her adopted father ("youfu/養父") several times in Season 1 and Season 2 when talking about him to others in the Imperial Palace. When speaking to Luomen though or thinking about him she typically refers to him as her Dad, specifically using a very familiar term in Japanese ("oyaji/親父"), while when she calls him her father to other people she typically uses the term "chichi/父". In Season 1 they state that Luomen was pulled away from Lady Ah-Duo's labour to see to the Empress Dowager's labour because of the risks of complications after her first birth, the current Emperor, having to be a Caesarean. Because of that I inferred that meant that the current Emperor's brother's birth was a natural birth, otherwise a physician would have already had to be present to perform a Caesarean, potentially before she went into labour. And there is a risk of complications, especially back then, having a natural birth after previously having a birth via Caesarean. As for the reason Luomen was expelled from the rear palace, Maomao did make some suppositions back in Season 1 Episode 11 when she confronts Consort Ah-Duo's head lady-in-waiting, Fengming. Maomao theorises that because of the difficult labour Lady Ah-Duo lost her uterus at that time, and then the death of Lady Ah-Duo's baby boy, were the reasons for Luomen being expelled. We don't get confirmation that Maomao's theory is correct, but Fengming also doesn't refute Maomao's supposition. And Maomao uses this reasoning, that her theories are simply conjecture, to avoid telling Consort Gyokuyou what might actually be the reasoning behind Luomen's removal from the rear palace. Like you said about Maomao putting herself forward to help Xiaolan shows the growth she's made, I see the same thing with her relief that the quack doctor will get to keep his job. She still refers to him as "the quack doctor" and has continued to disparage some of his skills and overall demeanour, but her relief that he can remain even though Luomen is the more skilled of the two shows how much their relationship has also progressed on Maomao's side of things 🥺
Anime Annie
2025-05-02 20:55:04 +0000 UTCI really love Season 2! It’s “different” than Season 1 and I love them for various reasons so far - It will be fun to compare when we actually finish the seasons! I love MaoMao’s growth this season! And YES, her growth does lend to the concept that while this will be a MASSIVE slow burn…she could end up with Jinshi waaay, way down the road! And hopefully he stays patient, too! ;) I just love Gyokuyou as well! She’s so much fun hassling Jinshi! She has so many good qualities and I’m hoping for a son as well, but we shall see! I’d be happy with Lihua having a son as well, honestly. It’s going to be wild to see where the story takes us with these two! Thank you for the comment and the kind words! 😀
Romaniablack
2025-04-25 20:33:01 +0000 UTCI’m VERY curious to see what we will get with the headstones, but yeah, dark indeed! I loved Gyokuyou in this, though! She’s so divine! While I love that Jinshi feels more open to flirt with MaoMao and not on edge around her all the time, I do feel for MaoMao not having self-worth increase like I think it should for her - I hope that Jinshi can help show her through his actions that she is worthy of being respected and loooooved! :3 I LOVE when shows kind of overlap, and the ice cream making part was SO Dungeon Meshi coded! Glad there were no ACTUAL ghosts in it, though! MaoMao would probably LOVE and thrive in that universe! I’m happy to see Luomen there as well - I hope that he’s able to help out! There’s so much mystery, but I agree, it keeps me on my toes! Thank you for the comment and kind words!
Romaniablack
2025-04-25 20:28:57 +0000 UTC"Gyokuyou positions herself as someone who's worthy of being the empress" - I agreed with that part of the discussion so much!! It really captures the way she handles the situation so well; a less worthy consort might let it play out one-sided or not even acknowledge someone who isn't the official doctor giving their input. I also liked the graveyard theory, but wow is that a dark and sad thought. I was puzzled by the tombstones initially and that sounds like a good theory! Jinshi giving Maomao those playful smirks, thinking she was going to owe him big time was fun, though I got a little worried when she said to him there's nothing I have to give you - Maomao... in many ways she's changed so much, but still, one of her remaining obstacles is seeing herself as someone important, and worthy of a higher rank than lowly servant. But there's still plenty of time! The ice cream making session brought me back to Dungeon Meshi - although no spirits in this ice cream! However, I'm sure Maomao wouldn't say no to trying a little hard ice cream! I did not expect to get to see Luomen back in the rear palace again, let alone as a temporary doctor! Happy for him getting to visit, even if it's to fulfill a duty - delivering a child; there's no one better, or at least more experienced. So much mystery each episode, one of the things I love most about the show - I truly never know what to expect!
L Freya
2025-04-24 01:07:51 +0000 UTCI just have to start this post saying season two, so far, has been as good or better than season one and I look forward to each new episode. i will say that I can't give any spoilers from the written material as i have not read it and will not read it as long as they are making anime seasons as i don't want to spoil it for myself lol. I agree that Mao Mao has grown a lot as a person. You do see it with Xiaolan and how she has come to value you her as a friend. You can see it how much much she has come to care for everyone at the Jade pavilion too. Even Shisui, though she annoys Mao Mao in some ways but still treats her as a friend in many ways. She legitimately cares about Lady Gyokuyou as well as we see in this episode willing to put herself out there when she fears the baby will be a breech and even willing involve her adoptive father, who she loves dearly even if she doesn't out right say it, despite the risks involved with his past in the rear palace. Her growth makes think that Jinshi actually has a chance with her. Lady Gyokuyou has become one of my favorite supporting characters. I love her sense of humor throughout the series as we see when she and Jinshi are discussing Mao Mao at the start and then again when she calls Mao Mao her stray cat. She is also wise, intelligent and kind with a healthy dose of humbleness. She clearly is shipping Mao Mao and Jinshi too. I am hoping for a boy as I think that would more or less put her as the empress and she is well deserving of that role. Really, two of the concubines are worthy to be the empress now. I would have Lady Gyokuyou as Empress candidate 1a and Lady Lihua as empress candidate 1b. Both are worthy of the role of officially being the empress, but I favor Lady Gyokuyou. I can't wait for the coming episodes.
C. D.
2025-04-23 15:06:20 +0000 UTC
