Wang Juan（screenwriter）: It is not going to be a bad ending. However, there is not going to have ‘Young Blood Season 3’

“Together, Live or Die.” ‘Young Blood 2’  is and oldie but a goodie

After 4 years, the 2nd chapter of "Young Blood" is finally online. In 2019, this suspense TV drama set in the Song Dynasty, with zero publicity on social media platforms, but with a refreshingly uncluttered plot has received countless followers on its own. The first season is currently scored by nearly 24w of Douban, with a stable rating of 7.8, and is located in the top 10 of the most highly acclaimed Chinese dramas in 2019.

When writing the first season, the screenwriter Wang Juan had the beginnings of a follow-up story in mind, and the thousands of calls from this drama's fans really got the second season off the ground.

In the minds of many "Tian Hu" (a short name for fans of "Young Blood"), The six-member team in Season 2 should be roaming the countryside in Xi Xia, reaping the rewards of new friendships and growth. But at the beginning of the second season, Zhao Jian (Zhou Yutong) father died suddenly, Yuan Zhongxin (Zhang Xincheng) and Yuan Hao (Hai Yitian) became "relatives".Three-member team is where the popular supporting actor Fu Qingyu at, the team has all gone...... strong sense of ‘Bad Ending’ let a lot of "Tian Hu" caught off guard, "This is typical Wang Juan’s style, always leave no mercy to the audience"

A new variant of the traditional detective: walk or stay

Which main characters will die in the second season? If there is a follow up to this original IP, will it be about the other stories of the Secret Pavilion under the basic worldview? Recently, Film and Television Exclusive spoke exclusively with Wang Weili, who has just entered a new drama series, and listened to him share his thoughts on Song Erzhi's writing journey, as well as his views on the subject of ancient costume suspense.

Youth fade, memory stays

After the completion of the first season of ‘Young Blood’, Wang Juan quickly began writing scripts for the second season. The airing of "Joy Of Life" and "Sword Snow Stride" made Wang Juan more and more famous, and more and more jobs came to him. The 27 episodes of "Young Blood 2" are only two-thirds of the length of the first season, but because of the debt of the scripts, it took Wang Juan a lot of time to write the second season.

"At the outline stage, the big threads of the story after the six-member team's trip to XiXia were all set. Compared to the first season, the workload of the second season wasn't that big." Wang Juan recalled, "But after all, it's the finale. Each character of the six-member team has to accomplish new growth, and all the ambushes buried in the previous unit case have to be settled, so the writing is no less difficult than in the first season."

The current main thread of Season 2's the six-member team is to uncover the traitorous enemy Yuan Tianguan (Yuan Zhongxin's father) and kill Yuan Hao. Because all the clues point to the ultimate mystery, and because of the limited length, the narrative of the second season has not been strung together with unit cases, but rather has opted for a main line stretching out and a rhythmic narrative.

Compared to the bright, light tone and atmosphere of the previous season, the tone of the second season's story is obviously much heavier. Less lively school, more a line of lurking, life and death struggle of tension, just 12 episodes, the six-member team has been several times "desperate to survive".

When the team just arrived in Xixia and comprised by the new head of Xixia (Lu Nanshan) to murder Yuan Hao, three people nearly got killed; just when they got released back to the Song, Yuan Zhongxin is being suspected of collaborating with the enemy incarcerated, Wang Kuan (Wang Youshuo) in order to protect the team, Wang Kuan take the take of letting the emperor know ...... a few teenagers to solve the crisis, the thrill of the night index multiplied.

The shift in the tone of the story was inevitable, in Wang Juan's opinion. "In the first season, the team were still students, they were doing missions and fighting the enemy, but they were still essentially at the stage of understanding and exploring the world, with the protection from their parents and their teachers. But with the death of the headmaster and the disbanding of the Secret Pavilion, they are like graduates who have to leave school, with changes at home and a turbulent country pushing them to grow up."

Although the sense of youth has faded, the passion and youthfulness of "Young Blood" has not weakened. "The heart of youth will not be changed by any cruel setbacks." Wang Juan talked about, the team's youthful heart has nothing to do with the situation and age stage, it is a kind of human attitude, a kind of inner perseverance.

This youthfulness is first reflected in their trust in each other. Xue Ying (Zheng Wei), a military family member, completely ignores Lu Nanshan's (Chi Jia) "rebellion" and bluntly states that "friends are more important than military orders"; in the face of his father's disparaging remarks about The team, Wang Kuan shouts at him, saying, "friends don't always get separated. If growing up means killing the person I was yesterday and abandoning the light in my heart, then I'd rather spend my life as a teenager."

There are many famous scenes in the play in which The team expresses it’s position and clarifies their ambition. However, Wang Juan feels that, compared with the "statement" and "sensationalism", the presentation of youthful sense is more dependent on the behavior of the characters. "Youthfulness is more thank just saying it out, action reflects the character. If the actions of The team do not match the position, it will only make the audience feel embarrassed. In the face of crisis, the first reaction in the face of trials and tribulations, the way to solve, in order to show the most real side of the character."

In the midst of all these disasters, the audience can still see the mischievousness of The team in it’s own way. The new head of the Academy was tricked into a dirty pond; pretending to be ghosts and gods to scare Yuan Tianguan's (Yuan Zhong Xin's father) informant; in order to get into the academy, Yuan Zhongxin and Zhao Jian pretended to be Wei's (Fu Weilun) parents ...... when facing the enemy, never follow the rules, once again proving that Liang instructor's line "The team is all sick! ".

This kind of disregard for the rules and etiquette of the arrogant and playful, as well as in times of crisis always unite as one tacit understanding, throughout the two seasons, together with the teenager's firm ambition, constitute the team’s hot-blooded characterized

"Caricature Outline" of the supporting characters.

Wang Juan is accustomed to writing stories with characters first. In Wang's perspective, the complexity of the plot can attract attention, but really let the audience persevere in chasing down, is the role.

"Character establishment mainly relies on behavior," Wang said, behavior is a footnote to the lines, can make the persona more down to earth, and a person's usual behavior is no more than the key moment, the ultimate situation, he made the choice.

In episode 6, Zhao Jian took the birthday dates, under the pretext of "persuasion" to visit Yuan Zhongxin, and the two were married in the dungeon in the dark and dripping rain. The proposal is ill-timed in the face of life and death, but it fits the boldness and rebelliousness of them.

"With one charge on top of the other, and the other still in mourning, suddenly getting married in a dungeon seems a bit abrupt at first glance, but for Yuan Zhongxin and Zhao Jian at the time, this was their true heart at the moment."

Wang Juan explained, "Yuan Zhongxin was imprisoned and tortured, Zhao Jian saw it all. Without Wei Chiyuan's and Yuan Tianguan's relationship, Lu Nanshan could not have worked with Yuan Zhongxin, and Yuan Zhongxin had no way to retreat, perhaps being locked up in the Prison for the rest of his life. Both of them don't know if they have a future. They don't have time."

There are many more of these unexpected and sensible emotional choices in the drama. When Pei Jing (Su Xiaotong) returns home to visit her parents, her family asks her to marry Wang Kuan as a concubine for the sake of her brother's future, and Pei Jing refuses without hesitation. It's not because she values her name, but because she realizes that "not belittling herself is the only way to respond to Wang Kuan's precious love."

The pure love of being straightforward can dull the growing pains and dilute the depressing feelings. This kind of fearless, unfettered emotional choices, but also the side of the protagonist group of youthful heart.

There are no ghosts or demons in "The Mutations", but there is a plague that is even more frightening. The story centers around a strange disease in Liaodong during the Tianqi period of the late Ming Dynasty. Royal Guards Chu Sijing (played by Huang Xuan) goes north alone to investigate the truth. From the trailer, it looks like a "zombie siege". No wonder some people are calling it a domestic version of “The Kingdom”.

The drama is adapted from Ma Boyong's novel of the same name and directed by Lu Yang, the director of “A Writer's Odyssey” and “The Wind Blows From Longxi”. While Ma Boyong's costume suspense dramas are characterized by a high density of detail and a strong sense of image, Lu Yang's style combines a strong dark flavor with anti-utopian references. The combination of the two is still quite promising.

Viewers who are familiar with Wang Juan know that he specializes in group portraits. He loves to made the character into a bad ending and also can build up a new character in minutes.

From the beginning of the broadcast until now, "Young Blood 2" has more than ten impressive new supporting characters. The two vice-chiefs of the eight-member team who don't get along with each other, who is clearly in love with Chu Niao(Wang Ke), Dou Like (Lin Jiachuan) who is ruthless but can't live without his pet chicken, and the one who is most popular among fans of the show is Wei Chiyuan (Ma Da Ming) who doesn't have a high IQ but is known for his intelligence.

Wang's approach to writing the supporting characters favors a "caricatured outline". "Because the scenes are relatively short, they have to be memorable in one or two scenes, so it's important to show the most special and distinctive side of the character in the fastest time possible." For example, Wei Chiyuan appears in the scene, interrogating Yuan Zhongxin as a dignified martial artist, but speaking in poor Mandarin, he reveals his identity as a "Yuan family conspirator" in a few words. The contrast between his identity and temperament makes Wei Chiyuan the most eye-catching person in "Young Blood 2".

"The personality of the supporting characters is very important," Wang Juan said bluntly, "I always write character biographies for the supporting characters, and after the appearance scene, I try to spread out more of his characteristics and show his contrasts. For example, Wei Chiyuan, later we can see his shrewdness. Why the two vice-chiefs of the eight-member team don't deal with each other is also a great point of interest for the branch."

There aren't many reversals scenes

In addition to the outstanding group portraits, "Young Blood 2" was a hit back in the day because of the intricacies of the cases and the unguessable twists and turns. Fans of the show called themselves "Tian Hu" (a silly little soldier in the first season) because they never guessed the plot correctly.

"Young Blood 2" continues the high energy suspense of the first season. Mi Qinmubei's (Yan Su) true identity, Wei Yanei's father's reversal, Wei Chiyuan follows Yuan Tianguan's...... not to unveil the mystery of the moment, never know this character in the end heart belongs to which camp.

Creating the "unexpected and reasonable" has always been Wang's comfort zone. In his opinion, there are not many real reversals in the two seasons of ‘Young Blood’. Rather than reversals, they are "narrative tricks" that obscure key information.

"The characters' actions are always in the viewer's field of vision, only that the characters' hearts don't fully unfold for the audience to see. Personally, I think that, except for some out-of-the-way knowledge that people can't grasp, the protagonist doesn't exceed the audience's perspective, but basically hovers back and forth between normal and smart, and sometimes a little bit down. People think it's unexpected, but in fact it's all a joke, and it's just a thought process that's been disrupted by the narrative rhythm."

Suspense drama information is large, fast-paced, Wang Juan worried about audience fatigue to see the chase can not be, used to exciting game plot to insert some laughs.

This time, "Young Blood", "Mr. Wayne", and other harmonic broken nicknames, so that the fans of the drama laugh to want to "want to check Wang Juan’s mental status! "

Wang Tire said that he doesn't categorize the punchlines when he writes. "Dialogue in the terrier really are written there, they pop out by its own, it has nothing to do with me"

In fact, the first season of comedy elements were not that bad, the style is more inclined to embarrassment, spoof, and the atmosphere of the youth academy is more compatible, not like "Mr Wanye" this kind of punchline.

With the emergence of starry secret agents one after another, the story of headmaster Lu and the previous generation of the six-member team reveals the tip of the iceberg. The Secret Pavilion group is still enriching. Asked if he will continue to write extras for Song Dazhi, Wang Juan said that in the past two years, there are too many debts, "a little tired of writing."

"Song Dazhi to really engage in a series, not only the last generation, just dissolved the Secret Pavilion has ten fast, each group has its own story. But right now there is no one or thing in particular that I want to write about."

Nowadays, Wang Juan is busy with the IP adaptation project at hand, and has no plans to write original stories for the time being. Original and IP adaptations, Wang Juan has no particular preference.

"Adaptations can stand on the shoulders of giants; originals have more freedom,yet more difficult. Although many viewers know me through mystery dramas, I don't write stories that focus on the subject matter, which ultimately serves the plot and characters. For me, the difficulty of writing costume, modern, any subject matter is the same, it's all about how to keep the story engaging and at the same time make the audience fall in love with the characters in the drama. Even if the story is about a kindergarten rice spoon fight, the creative difficulties remain the same."