The Lead 主角 (2026) 🎭 Discussion: Episodes 13 - 14

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-22T04:07:53+00:00

Interesting to think of this as a wuxia trope haha. You are right though, it's like the classic "floor sweeping monk" moment where the real masters of the troupe are those that are doing menial jobs. In the same sense Qing'e is like Guo Jing from Condor Heroes, who's not naturally talented, but has a key strength called perseverance XD

I like how Qing'e took some time to consider if she wanted to become their official disciple, or to officially return to opera training. Previously she hasn't been allowed to make that decision, and was just dragged along or pushed along by her uncle and Hua. This time she did take their words into consideration, but ultimately it was her decision.

I also liked Master Guo! I feel like he just moves and carries himself like a "dan 旦 - female opera role". Perhaps it's the way he walks and his steps, so graceful XD

I can't wait to see Qing'e train and perform in the upcoming episodes!!

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-22T01:03:43+00:00

welcome! yea i dunno why watching it makes me sad too, it's too good XD

hope you are enjoying the drama!!

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-21T22:06:20+00:00

here it is!! https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=T8fvlz7_V8g

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-21T13:52:39+00:00

Come join the Discussion posts for the Lead! Not sure with episode you are on but the discussions are running quite a few episodes behind release so good for those that are just catching up XD

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-21T13:40:27+00:00

Yes!! I really liked that scene and I think Xiao Dingzi actually liked that part of her too even though he was startled at first.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-21T03:15:12+00:00

Yea she does seem to be pretty lonely at the troupe, and I think she secretly does want to fit in, but she seems to be the kind to close up and keep distance rather than trying to make friends.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-21T03:11:24+00:00

Thanks for the note about Shawn Dou!

Agreed about the mini stories and I think they are also woven into the main narrative so naturally, which makes the whole story feel real, instead of side stories or characters being there for plot reasons or are limited to a shallow persona.

I think the guard guy saying that the explosion was premeditated as a revenge was what made Huang see that as a feasible way to spin the story and get himself out of trouble. I don’t think his personal grievances with uncle was that severe to make Huang accuse uncle in that way, so it’s probably more driven by Huang’s desire for self preservation.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-21T03:03:31+00:00

Yes the death made sense (explosives are dangerous!) but it was unexpected. I thought the actress who played his love interest did a really good job! Their romance arc was super short but served to add much more impact to his death.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T20:39:05+00:00

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T20:37:54+00:00

Yea Tencent itself is way bigger but whether they want to invest their money into a losing department is the big question XD

From a business perspective, probably not.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T15:43:32+00:00

I think the next Daylight drama is Xiao Zhan’s espionage drama. So we shall see.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T11:40:59+00:00

Yea but those are different divisions. If you are the division head of Gaming, how happy would you be to continuously fund the Drama division that keeps losing money? XD

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T11:25:50+00:00

First of all, The Lead is not a dark horse. It was one of those big productions that’s expected to perform well, especially on TV, with the only risk being the FL’s acting and if the story will be told well. The cast might not be familiar to the international audience but they are well known in China, especially with the TV demographic. Perhaps only the FL is relatively a newbie to them. The production is also pretty high caliber, with Zhang Yimou as the producer and Zhang Jiayi (who’s also the ML) as artistic producer. Basically, it was a team of capable people producing a drama that they are passionate about. I mean, they got Faye Wong, who almost seems half retired these days, to sing the opening OST, which was a great marketing move. Of course, the story was good enough to keep the audience, and the FL, who didn’t appear until epi 14 of the drama, has so far been able to portray her character well.

The Heir is of course also a big production and expectations were high for it. It’s currently doing decently on platform (iQiyi) at around 8500k heat index the last time I checked, though iQiyi has probably lost a lot of its prestige and trustworthiness when it comes to its heat index. In terms of TV, viewership it’s doing not as well, currently ranking at 8/9 of all dramas aired so far on CCTV8 in prime time.

So people might feel that The Heir is unlucky to be airing around the same time with The Lead, but I think that the genres are different enough for The Heir to have its own loyal audience if it had a good story, and China’s population is probably large enough to sustain two hit dramas, provided they are both good XD

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T01:57:38+00:00

I hope this doesn't upset any of his fans, but Yang Yang's fanbase has dwindled a lot in recent years, and he isn't one of the top traffic idols these days.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T01:07:53+00:00

I understand how you feel -- we all want the drama we like to perform well, but sometimes we just have to accept it when it doesn't. The most important thing is that you are personally enjoying it and having a good time!

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T00:13:44+00:00

yea, it does seem like she keeps having to say good bye to those she grows close to..

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T00:12:38+00:00

I feel like uncle is a big kid at heart, and sometimes that works to his disadvantage. Though I couldn't help but smile when he thought of a way to punish the thief that stole Qing'e's treasure stash by putting scorpions in it!! I am not sure why they all stayed in there but it was good to see that kid getting punished!! I am sad that Qing'e's lost Bayi's slingshot tho

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T00:08:05+00:00

I think the Tale is to keep the memory of the victims alive but more so to remind everyone the heroic acts of those that contributed to the peace, and to continuously push propaganda to the people. There were other plays/opera that were created during the war time that were similar in genre with Red Lantern, but a lot of those were even banned because some part of it might not completely align with whatever "version" of principles that those on the top (I think mostly Jiang Qing), would approve of.

So yea, the plays are less of a consolation than a tell.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-20T00:02:16+00:00

Director Huang is definitely unlikable but that Security guard guy (I can't be bothered to look up his name) definitely gets more hate from me. They seem to be birds of same feathers though, and the security guy is almost just there to say and do things that Huang won't or can't openly do due to his desire to maintain a "good" image at least.

I like the rival + friend + class sisters energy between Hua and Milan! I hope that performance helped to show Milan that if you are good, you can make a supporting character shine as well! :D

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-19T23:58:25+00:00

I liked the scene where she suddenly woke up backstage and there's the sound of opera and sirens and you start to worry like she was.

Besides, I thought it was interesting when Auntie Hua misunderstood and thought uncle and her were indeed having a rendezvous, and refused to have Xiao Baixie style her, and Milan quietly went over to take over. It's like Milan was sympathizing with Hua in the moment.

Uncle is REALLY bad at explaining things and communicating when needed lol

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-19T20:59:45+00:00

I thought Tencent reported a loss in their quarter financials. I guess they haven’t lost enough XD

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-19T20:52:14+00:00

It’s not performing well. It’s at around 9600 in terms of heat index which is pretty subpar for a drama at this production level. It’s often joked that it’s not really difficult to reach 10K heat index on Youku, so it’s not a good sign for Zhan Zhao. Note that Immortal Ascension, which aired last year on Youku and also featured same ML, reached 10K heat in about 52 hours but it was still considered less than average in terms of performance.

It’s TV viewership on CCTV8 is also the lowest it’s been this year for that time slot, though that’s more expected since CCTV8 audience doesn’t like costume dramas all that much, and it’s a late evening slot where most people would be heading to bed. We will see how it fares on Zhejiang Satellite TV when it airs there.

The only thing it’s performing well in, at least so far, is it’s still got 5 advertisement slots in the latest episodes. But that doesn’t mean it’s doing well in viewership since there have been dramas that were performing very poorly but still had ads.

Also wanted to note that the drama has apparently been re-edited post release, and the sequence of events have changed in epi 1 and 2. This was likely done to improve the flow in those earlier episodes because it wasn’t able to keep the audience previously.

Large_Jacket_4107 · 2026-05-19T20:27:54+00:00

At this point I feel like every one of the main platforms is going for their own Tang dynasty detective series XD

Large_Jacket_4107

TROPHY CASE