Notable Actors/Actresses
Bu Guan Jin: Chen Mei Ru
Rhydian Vaughan: Murong Jie Lun
My Babylonian Lover
[Recaps]
This is more of an appreciation post for the depth in the characters and the romance. This will contain ENDING SPOILERS and the only spoiler warning you're getting is this one that you're reading.
In this post:
Characters
Chen Mei RuJiang Hui ZhenDuan Shui LiuMurong Jie LunOuyang Wen ShanJiu Tian Long Nu
Romance
Chen Mei Ru. My appreciation for this drama began in Ep5 with Chen Mei Ru's speech. I was rattled by how relatable and deep her pain was. As she was pacing left and right, I was crying with her, tears trickled down. Our FL was stuck in time. For the past twelve years, she only grew old, she never grew up. She was traumatized by her childhood and what remained was fear to love and fear to dream. Our female lead has depression.
Murong & Chen Mei Ru
Ouyang & Jiang Hui ZhenLong Nu & Duan Shui Liu
Other Relationships
Characters
Ep5 (c&p): Chen Mei Ru breaks down. It's more than just from hunger, although it has made her more sensitive. It's her entire life coming down on her at this moment. She can't stand people: her aunt, her boss, the security guard, the kid at the hospital. She hates this world. She has always pretended to be happy in front of others. The real her disappeared at 12yo when she was mortified at school. Murong tries to hug her but she refuses to be touched. She wants to be alone. She doesn't like answering her phone; she doesn't want to receive wedding invitations; she doesn't want a conversation with her neighbour in the elevator; she doesn't want to meet her relatives over the holidays; she doesn't want to be asked about her work. Chen Mei Ru paces back and forth, tears falling. She doesn't want to talk to anyone because she wants to stop pretending. She doesn't want to tell people she's sad.
Jiang Hui Zhen. Jiang Hui Zhen's pain went unnoticed until Ep11, at least for me. I never saw her struggles. She masked it with her air of coolness, with her smiles, and with her boldness. She is an actress through and through on stage and in life. In comparison, Chen Mei Ru's depression was actually written on her face. Jiang Hui Zhen was seared by the same pain Chen Mei Ru underwent but she daringly smiled through each day. She fought hard for her dream to be a superstar and to prove to both Chen Mei Ru and herself that her their diary can create miracles. She's a warrior. She dragged Chen Mei Ru along with her to heal from their trauma.
Duan Shui Liu. Duan Shui Liu looks like a petty criminal (sorry Zhou You, lol), but he's the most innocent of them all. It's no wonder he fell in love with Long Nu, the most naive of them all. For love, he'd break a leg and lose his life. He also looks careless and stupid but man, is he perceptive. When Jiang Hui Zhen had no one to cry to, Duan Shui Liu was there. When Jiang Hui Zhen pretended to be cool, he saw through her farce. When Chen Mei Ru was bullied by her boss, he protected her. He could see through everyone's pains. He would also love Long Nu, asking for nothing in return. He's more of a giver than Jiang Hui Zhen is. Maybe that's why they dated.
Murong Jie Lun. Murong was scythed from betrayal and denied love. He fought in those battles, hoping to earn the loyalty of his people and the love of his father only to be betrayed by them. He is a prince who doesn't know what love is and ironically he becomes a character who only knows love. Now that I'm finished with the drama, I don't think Murong truly loved Chen Mei Ru until her emotional outburst in Ep5. He empathized with her because he could relate. In healing her, he was healing himself. What touched me the most was when I realized the world wasn't kind to him either, but he learned to embrace the world first for Chen Mei Ru. He should have been the one who hated the world, hated smiling, and hated interacting with people but for Chen Mei Ru, he loved the world, for her and himself.
Ep6 (c&p): If [Chen Mei Ru] hates the world, he'll love it for her; if she hates talking to others, he'll talk for her; if she hates smiling, then he'll smile for her.
Ouyang Wen Shan. The most loyal man. He carries the responsibility of his people. For that, he will avenge them even if every living minute is hell for him. On the surface he looks cold, but he's the warmest of them all, willing to sacrifice himself for everyone's happiness. Once he recognizes that Murong is a worthy leader, his loyalty knows no bounds. Who would make a better partner for our faithful Jiang Hui Zhen than Ouyang Wen Shan?
Jiu Tian Long Nu. Long Nu looks naive and innocent, pampered and loved. She is to be the foil of our ordinary Chen Mei Ru. Her exceptional beauty was used to elevate Chen Mei Ru’s average qualities. However, Long Nu isn't the Princess we all thought she was. She was neglected and ejected from her palace. She was incarcerated in an underwater prison. She was bleak but saw herself above everyone else and above Murong who she pitied because he actually yearned for love. She sneered at him. And just as ironic, Long Nu was programmed to only love Murong.
Romance
Murong Jie Lun and Chen Mei Ru
[Ep24] First of all, Murong is a King and not just a Prince Charming. He, as Hammurabi, created the first legal code. Although he couldn’t fulfill his vows of marrying Chen Mei Ru, he let his vows become a love letter in a code that will not just last millennia but will last as long as mankind exists. It is the “forever" in human society. In this way, he has accompanied Chen Mei Ru throughout her life with a different existence. He has created a civil society that Chen Mei Ru finds comfort in. Remember her job? She works in an IT security firm. She likes regulation and control.
[Ep24+15] In turn, our average girl made Murong a better King. However, whenever I think of Murong living alone in Babylonian time it hurts. He had said that time passes by infinitely slowly without her, so slow that he's afraid of time without her. Murong ah, how were you living alone?
[Ep24] I think Show was deliberate in making Mei Ru pick up the notebook that had the written vows on it. At the restaurant, Pilot Murong also told her to keep it. In a way, I think it’s Babylonian Murong personally delivering the vows to her.
[Ep24] Murong being a Pilot is a nice touch too. He had promised Chen Mei Ru that he would love the world for her, interact with the world for her, and what better way to do that than be a pilot?
[Ep24] Through meeting Murong, Chen Mei Ru believes in miracles. She’s no longer the girl who hates the highs and the lows of life. She can smile at weddings now (the scene where she passes by a couple taking wedding photos, our girl was smiling!). For Chen Mei Ru’s happy ending, love isn’t just being together with the man she loves. Love was a healing journey for her to love herself and love the world. Murong made that happy ending possible.
[Extra Ep + Ep16] I thought it was cute that Pilot Murong had to clarify he usually doesn’t mind others' business. He didn’t know why he saved her from the evil sister. It’s a nod to Ep16 when Murong said he couldn’t control himself from protecting her. Back then, it was out of love. And this time, is it also out of love? (Yes!)
Ouyang Wen Shan and Jiang Hui Zhen
This couple is unique in that they value friendship and love almost equally. Both are so loyal and both the guardian angels of Murong and Chen Mei Ru.
[Ep20 + Ep21] Knowing Jiang Hui Zhen's love for Chen Mei Ru, I think Ouyang was purposefully cruel to Jiang Hui Zhen. He made the decision to leave to make it easy for her. He tried to make her hate him a little and forget him a little because he was planning to keep Chen Mei Ru alive even if it meant risking his life.
[Ep24] I thought there was no hope for these two and that the only proof of Ouyang’s existence was in the mask which would mean the real Ouyang had died long ago. The only silver lining from Ep24 was that Jiang Hui Zhen started to believe in miracles again. And then the special episode happened!
[Ep24] The starry mask is Ouyang's way of fulfilling his promises to Jiang Hui Zhen. She wanted the flickering constellations to stay in place and he promised to guard her like the night sky. He honoured his vows with the mask that he made thousands of years ago.
[Extra Ep] Before Ouyang's disappearance from the contemporary world, he made a wish: if he had the slimmest chance of returning to Jiang Hui Zhen, he’d suffer any consequences. And so he's back with red hair and an embarrassing mother who wails on the floor. He’s whipped and smacked by Jiang Hui Zhen who for some reason is violent towards him, ha. In passing, he had said Jiang Hui Zhen, "this crazy lady" was going to be his “enemy” for life. Are these the consequences for him staying next to Jiang Hui Zhen? Bring it on :D
[Extra Ep + Ep13] What’s up with the red hair, though? It makes me wonder if it’s related to their argument in Ep13 when she yelled at him for only having money and no warmth. Well now he’s hot headed (with red hair as visible proof) and not a lot of money. Such a good boy, listening to everything she says.
Duan Shui Liu and Jiu Tian Long Nu
The most innocent couple. Long Nu was a princess who was never loved and Duan Shui Liu gave her love as natural as water flows and oftentimes overflowing. He cared about her down to her feet when no one ever cared about her as a person or her entire existence. He gave her a home when all she had lived in was a prison. Duan Shui Liu didn't know it, but he gave her the bare necessities of life that no one has ever given her. She fell in love with his simple and devoted love.
The “water” in his name adds a lot of facets to his character.
- He’s like water leaking in that he can’t keep secrets.
- He’s like water to Long Nu, giving her the essentials of life. He’s like water in that he’s clear and transparent and also quite perceptive.
- Furthermore, water seems to be the connection between him and Long Nu. She can control the wind and he is the water.
- Long Nu was imprisoned underwater whereas Duan Shui Liu was always injured in water (Ep10 and Ep22/23) but never died in the water.
- It seems like “water” is auspicious for him and perhaps why it was a portal for him to time-travel. Perhaps.
Other Relationships
I love this drama a lot for the other relationships too. There’s sismance, bromance, and unexpected friendships or rivalry.
- [Sismance] Jiang Hui Zhen always puts Chen Mei Ru’s feelings before hers. If both of them were sad, Jiang Hui Zhen would suck up her feelings and cheer up Chen Mei Ru instead. It was painful watching her be so selfless.
- [Couple] Auntie and Uncle (Ep14, Ep24)
- [Bromance] Murong and Ouyang (e.g. the men stepping into a bathtub)
- [Unexpected Friendship] Chen Mei Ru and Long Nu (Ep7; prison talk)
- [Unexpected Friendship] Long Nu and Auntie (Ep9)
- [Unexpected Friendship] Murong and Uncle (Ep14)
- [Unexpected Friendship] Chen Mei Ru reconciling with herself (Ep22)
- [Unexpected Friendship] Chen Mei Ru and Duan Shui Liu (Ep9)
- [Unexpected Relationship] Jiang Hui Zhen and Duan Shui Liu (Ep12)
- [Unexpected Rivalry] Ouyang and Duan Shui Liu (Ep16)
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