Zhushui literally means injecting water, as a dishonest butcher does to make meat weigh more. Applied to television it means padding: long recaps, slow-motion replays, stretched subplots and filler that turn a 30-episode story into 50 episodes. The habit grew because Chinese series were long sold to broadcasters and platforms by the episode, and a zhushui ju (注水剧) is one of the commonest complaints viewers make. Praising a show as bu zhushui, not watered down, means it moves fast; a review column said that of the opening of Blossoms of Power.
