Warning: Contains SPOILERS for The Journey of Flower!!!
Full disclosure: I dropped JoF at episode 30 because I wasn't really feeling the romance between the leads (even though I like the actors), but I don't regret watching it, because it gave me one of the best moments in Dramaland ever - one of the most epic verbal b!#@h-slaps of all time.
We love to hate second female leads who make life difficult for our heroine just because of the male lead. Often their comeuppance is just that they don't get the ML, sometimes they also get punished for their shenanigans, but very rarely does the FL directly get to deliver some payback (usually because the FL is so pure and innocent that she's above such pettiness). JoF is one of those rare instances where the FL gets to deliver a zinger to the SFL that was so classy, but such a direct hit that it left me thinking: "Ouch! It would have been less painful to actually just punch her."
Background
The SFL left her sect to spend millennia travelling with the ML (and others) helping the world, because she was in love with him. He rejects her love, instead choosing to become a sect leader and leaving such worldly desires behind. She becomes unhinged and crazy obsessive/possessive over the ML even saying something to the effect of "I can tolerate you not giving me your love, but I cannot tolerate you caring for anyone else." Enter our FL. She becomes the disciple of the ML and as they become closer it ignites the jealousy of the SFL who starts plotting against the FL.
The delivery
In episode 17, during a banquet, the FL gets drunk (thus sidestepping the "above such pettiness" requirement) and the SFL decides to take advantage of the situation to publicly disgrace her. They have a competition where each gets a turn to release 3 fragrances and the other has to guess the ingredients and method of preparation. Whoever is unable to correctly guess loses. The FL is able to correctly guess each of the SFL's 3 fragrances even the final ingredient which was the tears of the SFL shed during the full moon. When the SFL's turn comes, she's unable to guess 2 ingredients of the first fragrance released by the FL: the scent of the FL herself and the scent from the pillow of the ML.
The epic-ness
You may be thinking to yourself: "What's so epic about that?" A couple of things:
- The SFL's skill at fragrance making is legendary, so the FL beats her at the one thing that she's renowned for being good at
- The obvious: even though the SFL loves the ML and has known him for waaayyy longer, she's never gotten close enough to be familiar with his scent, while the FL is close enough to obtain the scent from his pillow...
- The even more obvious: combing their scents together in the fragrance is such a smack-in-the-face to her unrequited love
- This happens in the presence of the ML
- The FL is so nice that had she been aware that the SFL was in love with the ML (and sober) she probably wouldn't have used that fragrance for fear of hurting the SFL thus depriving us viewers of the satisfaction of a little revenge
- It's such a classy, faultless move by the FL: she doesn't do it with any thoughts of payback, she does it so innocently without any malice and there's nothing mean or wrong about it.
What's your favourite take down of a SFL by the FL?
