The Apothecary Diaries: Maomao
April 21, 2024 1:42 AM - Season 1, Episode 1 - Subscribe
Maomao, a young apothecary raised and trained by her uncle and adoptive father Luomen, is kidnapped and sold into the service of the Imperial Court's Rear Palace - the "flower garden" where the Emperor's concubines are kept, along with the staff to maintain them. She tries to keep her head down in order to complete the term of indentured servitude she's been sold into - but a medical mystery winds up drawing her into the orbit of the eccentric master of the Rear Palace, Jinshi...
So, this series was another of the standouts of the Winter 2024 season - a season that had a number of compelling series to watch. This time, we get Imperial Chinese court intrigue mixed with medical mystery drama - think a mix of a Chinese period drama with House, MD, but with a female chaos gremlin/human cat in the place of a crotchety old doctor.
And with that, we start with Maomao, now being hauled off after being kidnapped, thinking about how she wound up in the basket that is transporting her to indentured servitude, if not worse. The day started with her adoptive father (and biological uncle) Luomen sending her on an errand to deliver medications to the Verdigris House, the high end brothel that the two are tied to. The brothel is ruled with an iron hand by the madam, whom Maomao calls Granny, and is the home to the Three Princesses - three high rank courtesans who are also basically Maomao's "big sisters". As Maomao documents her experiments - which she does to herself, as we can see from her arm, covered in bruises and marks - one of the Three, Pairin comes in to lecture her about hurting herself, and then Granny threatens to make her pay damages as a courtesan - resulting in the young woman making herself scarce, noting the medicines are on the counter.
With that, Maomao heads out to the herb fields as she said she would to Luomen - but this might not have been the best of ideas as the herbs have completely captivated her, which means that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings - which in turn leads to her capture by a group of brigands - which gets us back to her current basketed dilemma, noting that her father is going to be worried when she doesn't return, as she is brought to the Imperial Palace to be sold as a serving girl.
We then move to the Crystal Palace, home of the Wise Consort, Lihua - who is currently giving birth to the Emperor's son, before moving to the Jade Palace, where the Precious Consort Gyokuyou recieves a report of the birth.
And so, three months pass...
With that, Maomao has settled into a routine as a serving girl of the Rear Palace, noting that it's not much different from the brothels she's used to when one comes down to it, though she'd prefer to be back at the Verdigris House.With this, she does note the size of the Rear Palace - the "flower garden" where the Emperor's concubines are kept, to make sure the Imperial line is maintained. To that end, the only people allowed in the Rear Palace are the Emperor and his kin, the concubines and the servants who maintain them...and the eunuchs who manage the whole thing. As a serving girl, Maomao notes that she is pretty much expendable - the servants can lose their lives for the most minor of infractions. As such, her plan is to just keep her head down and work through her two year term of indentured servitude. The fact that she can read and write - a rare skill among the serving girls - could grant her a raise, but since a good portion would go to her kidnappers, she refuses to take it out of spite. She notes that there is a path to promotion - particularly comely serving girls can become concubines, but given her own slight build and appearance, she's not exactly on that particular list.
While washing clothes, Maomao is told by Xiaolan, her one friend and another serving girl about the appearance of a new eunuch of rather stunning appearance who is now in charge of the Rear Palace - and with that we're now introduced to Jinshi, the new master of the Rear Palace, as he looks in at the Crystal Pavilion, and where the Emperor's son is severely ill, along with the Wise Consort herself. Leaving the Crystal Palace with his attendant Gaoshun, an attendant from the Jade Pavilion brings them there, as the Princess Lingli is also suffering from the same illness. As such, the illness of the the children soon becomes the gossip topic du jour among the serving girls, as it's not just the current children that are ill, but there has been a string of deaths among the children of the consorts. In addition, with Lihua having born a son, this puts her in the lead to become the Empress Consort as well - but only if her child survives. Xiaolan notes that Lihua is also suffering from the same affliction and lists the symptoms, which starts the wheels turning in Maomao's head.
Walking with a basket of laundry, Maomao ponders the situation, trying to deduce what the issue might be, before dismissing it as just the wild imaginations of the serving girls. Though being catlike in nature, she decides to take a look at what's happening - and sees an ill and stressed Lihua openly attack Gyukuyou, accusing her of cursing her son - to which the Precious Consort notes her daughter is also being affected. The situation is creating enough of an uproar that Jinshi is pulled in to settle the matter - but with the chance to see Lihua for herself, Maomao has figured out the actual cause of the illness - white lead poisoning (which sadly has historical precedent.) Determined to find a way to let them know what the problem is, Maomao brushes past Jinshi, a chance encounter that is going to reshape her life...
Maomao uses torn scraps of her skirt to leave notes tied to rhododendrons at both the Crystal and Jade Pavilions, but the note is discarded as the former, and thus tragedy fails to be averted as Lihua's son succumbs to the poisoning. But at the Jade Pavilion, where the note was found and heeded, the situation is a happy one as with the source of the poison dealt with, Lingli is now on the mend. Of course, there is the question of who left the note and the flower (a symbol of warning), though Jinshi has his suspicions given his brush with Maomao - and thus he hatches a plan to pull her out of hiding.
As Maomao and Xiaolan enjoy a break (and the latter a steamed bun), an eunuch tells them that Maomao is to report to the matron of the serving women immediately - an order coming from Jinshi himself, so it is not optional. Wondering what is going on, and if it's a disipinary matter, Maomao files into the office, where the matron and Jinshi are waiting - the latter causing a bit of an uproar among the servants - though for Maomao, her only issue is determining his gender, though she notes it is a shame that someone so attractive as him is a eunuch. And with that, Jinshi holds up a simple note - "you with the freckles (i.e. Maomao), stay here." Since most of the servants are illiterate, the note means nothing, and so with Jinshi's dismissal they leave. But Maomao, being able to read the message and knowing full well it's aimed at her, is now caught out. Though while she might be caught out, she does have her pride, and brusquely brushes off Jinshi's hand in a cute little chibi animation.
This, you may note, is a setting of the tenor of their relationship.
As the two walk within the Rear Palace, Maomao is trying to figure out how she got caught, and exactly what her punishment is to be - only to find that she was brought to the Jade Palace, and seeing Lingli hale does reassure her that the warning - at least here - was taken seriously. Noting her response, Gyokuyou realizes that Maomao is the one who saved her daughter's life - giving her thanks to the young apothecary. Maomao is furiously backpedaling, as she doesn't want to wind up mixed up into court intrigue (but silly cat, it's far too late for that...) Jinshi pulls out the note, written on a scrap of fabric from servant's attire, and look, Maomao's dress just so happens to be missing fabric...and with that, her fate is sealed.
Caught with no way out, Maomao now explains her actions - she deduced that the illness was due to the white makeup powder - made of white lead, it poisoned the children, who being so young had little tolerance for it. The same makeup was used by the courtesans in the brothels, and they also wound up being poisoned by it. And with that , she reveals her apothecary training and her knowledge of poisons. Both Gyokuyou and Jinshi engage in recrimination about not knowing about the powder, and of being unable to warn Lihua of the danger. And with that, Maomao asks of her fate, scared that her life is forfeit.
Of course, neither has any intent of harming her - in fact, Gyokuyou has a promotion in mind, as Maomao is to move from a servant to being one of her personal ladies in waiting. Of course, this means that she's now smack dab in the middle of court politics and intrigue - which is the exact last place she wants to be. Still, she can't help being curious and having a strong sense of justice, after all.
And in a military camp, soldiers are falling ill all of a sudden - it looks like the apothecary is about to have a new mystery to solve...
So, this series was another of the standouts of the Winter 2024 season - a season that had a number of compelling series to watch. This time, we get Imperial Chinese court intrigue mixed with medical mystery drama - think a mix of a Chinese period drama with House, MD, but with a female chaos gremlin/human cat in the place of a crotchety old doctor.
And with that, we start with Maomao, now being hauled off after being kidnapped, thinking about how she wound up in the basket that is transporting her to indentured servitude, if not worse. The day started with her adoptive father (and biological uncle) Luomen sending her on an errand to deliver medications to the Verdigris House, the high end brothel that the two are tied to. The brothel is ruled with an iron hand by the madam, whom Maomao calls Granny, and is the home to the Three Princesses - three high rank courtesans who are also basically Maomao's "big sisters". As Maomao documents her experiments - which she does to herself, as we can see from her arm, covered in bruises and marks - one of the Three, Pairin comes in to lecture her about hurting herself, and then Granny threatens to make her pay damages as a courtesan - resulting in the young woman making herself scarce, noting the medicines are on the counter.
With that, Maomao heads out to the herb fields as she said she would to Luomen - but this might not have been the best of ideas as the herbs have completely captivated her, which means that she wasn't paying attention to her surroundings - which in turn leads to her capture by a group of brigands - which gets us back to her current basketed dilemma, noting that her father is going to be worried when she doesn't return, as she is brought to the Imperial Palace to be sold as a serving girl.
We then move to the Crystal Palace, home of the Wise Consort, Lihua - who is currently giving birth to the Emperor's son, before moving to the Jade Palace, where the Precious Consort Gyokuyou recieves a report of the birth.
And so, three months pass...
With that, Maomao has settled into a routine as a serving girl of the Rear Palace, noting that it's not much different from the brothels she's used to when one comes down to it, though she'd prefer to be back at the Verdigris House.With this, she does note the size of the Rear Palace - the "flower garden" where the Emperor's concubines are kept, to make sure the Imperial line is maintained. To that end, the only people allowed in the Rear Palace are the Emperor and his kin, the concubines and the servants who maintain them...and the eunuchs who manage the whole thing. As a serving girl, Maomao notes that she is pretty much expendable - the servants can lose their lives for the most minor of infractions. As such, her plan is to just keep her head down and work through her two year term of indentured servitude. The fact that she can read and write - a rare skill among the serving girls - could grant her a raise, but since a good portion would go to her kidnappers, she refuses to take it out of spite. She notes that there is a path to promotion - particularly comely serving girls can become concubines, but given her own slight build and appearance, she's not exactly on that particular list.
While washing clothes, Maomao is told by Xiaolan, her one friend and another serving girl about the appearance of a new eunuch of rather stunning appearance who is now in charge of the Rear Palace - and with that we're now introduced to Jinshi, the new master of the Rear Palace, as he looks in at the Crystal Pavilion, and where the Emperor's son is severely ill, along with the Wise Consort herself. Leaving the Crystal Palace with his attendant Gaoshun, an attendant from the Jade Pavilion brings them there, as the Princess Lingli is also suffering from the same illness. As such, the illness of the the children soon becomes the gossip topic du jour among the serving girls, as it's not just the current children that are ill, but there has been a string of deaths among the children of the consorts. In addition, with Lihua having born a son, this puts her in the lead to become the Empress Consort as well - but only if her child survives. Xiaolan notes that Lihua is also suffering from the same affliction and lists the symptoms, which starts the wheels turning in Maomao's head.
Walking with a basket of laundry, Maomao ponders the situation, trying to deduce what the issue might be, before dismissing it as just the wild imaginations of the serving girls. Though being catlike in nature, she decides to take a look at what's happening - and sees an ill and stressed Lihua openly attack Gyukuyou, accusing her of cursing her son - to which the Precious Consort notes her daughter is also being affected. The situation is creating enough of an uproar that Jinshi is pulled in to settle the matter - but with the chance to see Lihua for herself, Maomao has figured out the actual cause of the illness - white lead poisoning (which sadly has historical precedent.) Determined to find a way to let them know what the problem is, Maomao brushes past Jinshi, a chance encounter that is going to reshape her life...
Maomao uses torn scraps of her skirt to leave notes tied to rhododendrons at both the Crystal and Jade Pavilions, but the note is discarded as the former, and thus tragedy fails to be averted as Lihua's son succumbs to the poisoning. But at the Jade Pavilion, where the note was found and heeded, the situation is a happy one as with the source of the poison dealt with, Lingli is now on the mend. Of course, there is the question of who left the note and the flower (a symbol of warning), though Jinshi has his suspicions given his brush with Maomao - and thus he hatches a plan to pull her out of hiding.
As Maomao and Xiaolan enjoy a break (and the latter a steamed bun), an eunuch tells them that Maomao is to report to the matron of the serving women immediately - an order coming from Jinshi himself, so it is not optional. Wondering what is going on, and if it's a disipinary matter, Maomao files into the office, where the matron and Jinshi are waiting - the latter causing a bit of an uproar among the servants - though for Maomao, her only issue is determining his gender, though she notes it is a shame that someone so attractive as him is a eunuch. And with that, Jinshi holds up a simple note - "you with the freckles (i.e. Maomao), stay here." Since most of the servants are illiterate, the note means nothing, and so with Jinshi's dismissal they leave. But Maomao, being able to read the message and knowing full well it's aimed at her, is now caught out. Though while she might be caught out, she does have her pride, and brusquely brushes off Jinshi's hand in a cute little chibi animation.
This, you may note, is a setting of the tenor of their relationship.
As the two walk within the Rear Palace, Maomao is trying to figure out how she got caught, and exactly what her punishment is to be - only to find that she was brought to the Jade Palace, and seeing Lingli hale does reassure her that the warning - at least here - was taken seriously. Noting her response, Gyokuyou realizes that Maomao is the one who saved her daughter's life - giving her thanks to the young apothecary. Maomao is furiously backpedaling, as she doesn't want to wind up mixed up into court intrigue (but silly cat, it's far too late for that...) Jinshi pulls out the note, written on a scrap of fabric from servant's attire, and look, Maomao's dress just so happens to be missing fabric...and with that, her fate is sealed.
Caught with no way out, Maomao now explains her actions - she deduced that the illness was due to the white makeup powder - made of white lead, it poisoned the children, who being so young had little tolerance for it. The same makeup was used by the courtesans in the brothels, and they also wound up being poisoned by it. And with that , she reveals her apothecary training and her knowledge of poisons. Both Gyokuyou and Jinshi engage in recrimination about not knowing about the powder, and of being unable to warn Lihua of the danger. And with that, Maomao asks of her fate, scared that her life is forfeit.
Of course, neither has any intent of harming her - in fact, Gyokuyou has a promotion in mind, as Maomao is to move from a servant to being one of her personal ladies in waiting. Of course, this means that she's now smack dab in the middle of court politics and intrigue - which is the exact last place she wants to be. Still, she can't help being curious and having a strong sense of justice, after all.
And in a military camp, soldiers are falling ill all of a sudden - it looks like the apothecary is about to have a new mystery to solve...
It may have been a hit in Winter 2024, but it actually started in Fall 2023. At least in the West, it flew under a lot of peoples' radar for a while.
The first OP probably didn't help. Why do animators like to do women licking their lips? It never looks right.
The historical disclaimer is unusual. Possibly due to Chinese laws about such things (presumably a potential market for this show.)
They show the kidnappers taking notice of Mao in a quick shot.
Granny admonishes Mao not to set off explosives again(!)
The serving girls are given black mourning(?) belts. That seems oddly Western (white being the usual color of mourning in the East.)
Mao is into Visible Mending.
What was the point of gathering the group of girls? Mao was specifically sought out. Surely he could have tested her reading in a solo setting.
The ED is nice.
YouTuber LibeliumDragonfly has a 'viewing appendix' to the series (my FPP.) Episode 1 is the intro, so it's longer than the actual episode, but the rest are more compact. He's Chinese-Canadian and gives a lot of info about the setting and flora. Most important here is that the actual palace didn't need to kidnap serving girls; there were a lot of poor families willing to send their daughters to a slightly better life. Eunuchs were a different story, for obvious reasons.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:39 AM on April 21
The first OP probably didn't help. Why do animators like to do women licking their lips? It never looks right.
The historical disclaimer is unusual. Possibly due to Chinese laws about such things (presumably a potential market for this show.)
They show the kidnappers taking notice of Mao in a quick shot.
Granny admonishes Mao not to set off explosives again(!)
The serving girls are given black mourning(?) belts. That seems oddly Western (white being the usual color of mourning in the East.)
Mao is into Visible Mending.
What was the point of gathering the group of girls? Mao was specifically sought out. Surely he could have tested her reading in a solo setting.
The ED is nice.
YouTuber LibeliumDragonfly has a 'viewing appendix' to the series (my FPP.) Episode 1 is the intro, so it's longer than the actual episode, but the rest are more compact. He's Chinese-Canadian and gives a lot of info about the setting and flora. Most important here is that the actual palace didn't need to kidnap serving girls; there were a lot of poor families willing to send their daughters to a slightly better life. Eunuchs were a different story, for obvious reasons.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 10:39 AM on April 21
Granny admonishes Mao not to set off explosives again(!)
Maomao is overly curious (there's a reason she has a cat motif) and way too eager to experiment with chemicals. Luomen calls her "mad scientist" as a pet name.
The serving girls are given black mourning(?) belts. That seems oddly Western (white being the usual color of mourning in the East.)
Likely done with an eye to Western markets (which, they weren't exactly wrong here.) Besides, the series technically isn't in Imperial China (just a detailed facsimile), so they can play fast and loose with this.
What was the point of gathering the group of girls? Mao was specifically sought out. Surely he could have tested her reading in a solo setting.
To not raise suspicion, of course. Calling Maomao in on her own would have given Jinshi's game away, so he had to use a pretext that wouldn't give rise to what he was doing. The point of the note wasn't to see if she could read, but as a way to isolate her from the crowd.
Most important here is that the actual palace didn't need to kidnap serving girls; there were a lot of poor families willing to send their daughters to a slightly better life.
This will come up in a rather important scene later - and suffice it to say, Maomao (and through her, the original author, Natsu Hyuuga) has a rather different and less charitable view on the practice.
There's also an implication (especially given the above scene) that Maomao was abducted to be sold into sex slavery, but her kidnappers chose to sell her to the Rear Palace given her looks. That said, the assholes will get karmic retribution come the end of the cour, so please look forward to that.
Eunuchs were a different story, for obvious reasons.
This also gets discussed in later episodes for a number of plot related reasons - as I said, the series does not shy away from the darker side of the setting.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:51 AM on April 21
Maomao is overly curious (there's a reason she has a cat motif) and way too eager to experiment with chemicals. Luomen calls her "mad scientist" as a pet name.
The serving girls are given black mourning(?) belts. That seems oddly Western (white being the usual color of mourning in the East.)
Likely done with an eye to Western markets (which, they weren't exactly wrong here.) Besides, the series technically isn't in Imperial China (just a detailed facsimile), so they can play fast and loose with this.
What was the point of gathering the group of girls? Mao was specifically sought out. Surely he could have tested her reading in a solo setting.
To not raise suspicion, of course. Calling Maomao in on her own would have given Jinshi's game away, so he had to use a pretext that wouldn't give rise to what he was doing. The point of the note wasn't to see if she could read, but as a way to isolate her from the crowd.
Most important here is that the actual palace didn't need to kidnap serving girls; there were a lot of poor families willing to send their daughters to a slightly better life.
This will come up in a rather important scene later - and suffice it to say, Maomao (and through her, the original author, Natsu Hyuuga) has a rather different and less charitable view on the practice.
There's also an implication (especially given the above scene) that Maomao was abducted to be sold into sex slavery, but her kidnappers chose to sell her to the Rear Palace given her looks. That said, the assholes will get karmic retribution come the end of the cour, so please look forward to that.
Eunuchs were a different story, for obvious reasons.
This also gets discussed in later episodes for a number of plot related reasons - as I said, the series does not shy away from the darker side of the setting.
posted by NoxAeternum at 11:51 AM on April 21
Now that I think about it, Granny's mention of Mao playing with explosives does establish that she's familiar with such things.
Besides, the series technically isn't in Imperial China (just a detailed facsimile), so they can play fast and loose with this.
Indeed, it may be there specifically to remind us that this isn't historical China.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:13 PM on April 21
Besides, the series technically isn't in Imperial China (just a detailed facsimile), so they can play fast and loose with this.
Indeed, it may be there specifically to remind us that this isn't historical China.
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 12:13 PM on April 21
With the way they play fast and loose with the historical China-like setting, I wish the author hadn't picked this setting.
I couldn't shake off this uncanny valley feeling while watching the series and it ultimately led me to not like it as much as many people have. I thought The Raven of the Inner Palace did a much a better job with the fantasy China setting - they went all in with the fantasy aspect, avoiding the uncanny valley, and in addition did a better job of understanding harem politics.
posted by needled at 1:34 PM on April 21
I couldn't shake off this uncanny valley feeling while watching the series and it ultimately led me to not like it as much as many people have. I thought The Raven of the Inner Palace did a much a better job with the fantasy China setting - they went all in with the fantasy aspect, avoiding the uncanny valley, and in addition did a better job of understanding harem politics.
posted by needled at 1:34 PM on April 21
With the way they play fast and loose with the historical China-like setting, I wish the author hadn't picked this setting.
It took me a bit to stop expecting High Fantasy to kick in, but it's not really different from most historical fantasy in vaguely western European settings.
I bounced off of Raven because we get that you don't have nighttime duties already!
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:28 PM on April 21
It took me a bit to stop expecting High Fantasy to kick in, but it's not really different from most historical fantasy in vaguely western European settings.
I bounced off of Raven because we get that you don't have nighttime duties already!
posted by ChurchHatesTucker at 9:28 PM on April 21
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posted by NoxAeternum at 1:58 AM on April 21 [2 favorites]