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S01.E04: Hand


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As Nicky and Henry follow a new lead that brings them to a private collector in Napa, a tension-filled dinner with the Soongs leaves Althea to question her worth. Elsewhere, Evan's suspicions about Henry continue to grow.

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Original air date: 4/28/21

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It was nice to have an episode without a case-of-the-week. 

The fact that the Professor was right about the scabbard makes the villain super dumb for getting rid of him.  Accessories might come with all the weapons, and she would never know.  Since the Professor had the key to the box hidden in his temporary office, I wonder if he had planned to visit that collector to open the box.

So Henry's off-hand "Youtube" reason for why he knew how to pick a lock was not true.  While I understand his rationale for the dog figurine, his whole lie and how he went about it makes his morality a tad questionable.  The fact that he was "friends" with Randall who was a "good guy" who would bring the artifact back to where it's supposed to be but Randall somehow knew about this legendary for-hire thief called Razor, and was willing to reveal his location to them... the sequence of events felt convenient and unbelievable.  Especially when Razor lost the fight and they all sat down excited to find out what was in the box.  I did like Nicky's "I don't have a weak spot" line, though.  Why did Razor throw in the key for free?  Why not have the villain stew about it for longer?  Heck, sending the key would make it seem like Razor opened it and took the contents.

It was nice to have the subplots about the family members.  I liked most of it, and the scene with Nicky and Althea at the end was very good.  But there were some very clunky lines of dialogue.  I cringed at Althea's lines at the dinner, and even some of the lines with Ryan and his date felt unnatural.  

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(edited)

I'm glad the show isn't going the soap opera route of having the characters keep secrets all season that the audience already knows about. We're only on the fourth episode and they've already had Althea admit that her boss assaulted her and Evan told Nicky about Henry's record. The scene with Nicky and Althea was so good. Even when the plot points have me scratching my head a little, the relationships in the family seem very genuine and natural.

It seemed EXTREMELY convenient that Henry just happened to see an artifact that he recognized in that guy's house and that it was rare enough for him to use as payment to Randall. Even more convenient was the fact that Randall somehow knew that Razor had JUST stolen the box and already had a buyer lined up for that night. Am I supposed to believe that all of these shady thieves have a gossipy message board or group chat where they're constantly updating each other about their recent crimes?

Razor: What's everyone up to tonight? I just stole a dope box from a rich guy in Marin. I already have a buyer lined up for tonight so no pop ins from y'all. Group hang tomorrow night maybe? Let's get boba.

Even though Althea's duck speech was ridiculous, I'm glad the overall message was that she stood up for herself. I've been suspicious of her fiance from the beginning so I was still giving him the side eye. I wonder if he and his family planned that whole ambush just to get Althea to trust him even more because there's some asset she has that they want.

What was the obsession with Chez Panisse this week? I mean, they have delicious food but there are also tons of restaurants in SF. But hey, good for the Soongs for being willing to drive over the bridge for dinner on a regular basis!

Evan definitely overstepped by digging into Henry's past so it was nice to see Nicky shut him down immediately.

ETA: I want to try baba's gruyere dumplings!

Edited by ElectricBoogaloo
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5 hours ago, ElectricBoogaloo said:

Even though Althea's duck speech was ridiculous,

I loved the duck speech. 

But I almost didn't stick around to catch it after the opening scene remarks by Stereotypical Villainess who obviously took diction lessons from Cruella DeVille: 

  • "Rest assured, you'll be paid handsomely for your effort."

I almost expected Natasha Badanoff Zhilan to follow with some directions for tying Nicky's sister or parents to the railroad tracks.
To be fair to the actress, if I was given those lines to read, I would have chewed the scenery to bits myself.

As it was, I used the fight scenes to do stuff on my phone.
But Nicky and Althea remind me of my former work daughter who is now a thousand miles away, and I keep vainly hoping for more spiritual mindfulness stuff, so I'll watch once in awhile. 

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I am glad we took a break from the case of the week, so far the family stuff and the overarching mystery are the best parts of the show. Althea's duck speech was one of those slightly awkward very scripted TV speeches, but I am glad she stood up for herself and that she told Nicky what happened. In general I appreciate that things are getting out quickly, like Henry having a criminal past from when he was younger. The whole sequence of events with Henry seemed kind of confusing, but I did like Nicky having a kung Fu battle to get inside the box because the guy REALLY likes fighting people. 

Althea's fiancé seems so nice that I worry that he might be heading for a tragic end, especially if they need someone to be collateral damage to Nicky's quest without her actually losing one of her relatives or her love interests. 

The parents glee over Althea freaking out on her fiancés parents was funny. At least the in laws can pick good Champaign. 

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2 hours ago, tennisgurl said:

Althea's fiancé seems so nice that I worry that he might be heading for a tragic end, especially if they need someone to be collateral damage to Nicky's quest without her actually losing one of her relatives or her love interests. 

That's a good point, since he is the least connected to Nicky out of the recurring characters, along with Ryan's new boyfriend.

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Perfectly fine with not having any "cases of the week" for this episode.  Show definitely works better when it is more about the family dynamics and dealing with the Zhilan/the mysterious weapons.

So, Evan was right and Henry did have a criminal past after-all.  Of course, they made sure to let us know that not only did he have a rough childhood, but now his only real thievery is taking stolen items that don't "belong" to the current owner, so, hey, no harm, no foul, right?  Besides, being a thief is all good in TV land!  Hell, even being a murderer can be excused every now and then, depending on the situation.  It's only killing animals or any type of sexual assault that earns you the "You are irredeemable and must die!" mantle!

Speaking of criminals, Razor was certainly a character.  Hope he comes back at some point.  What can I say, I have a soft spot for the "criminal who has some kind of odd code and follows it" archetype.

Althea both snapping at her future in-laws and telling Nicky the truth about what happened to her was well done.  It's still early, but I'm definitely starting to think Shannon Dang might be a contender to be the breakout here, since she's getting some of the more meaty material on this show and has been handling it pretty well.  Althea in general continues to be my favorite character.

Both Althea's fiancee and Ryan's boyfriend are just so nice and understanding, that I have to imagine that at least one of them is either going to end up evil or end up dying in a brutal fashion in front of said love interest.

It was nice seeing a lighter side of both of the parents and how they were actually proud of Althea telling off the future in-laws.

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47 minutes ago, possibilities said:

So the hallway ooutside the professor's office had security cameras, but the wealthy collector or artifacts doesn't. 

Did Evan help to cover up the footage outside the professor's office?  Is he going to do the same when it happens again here (since I don't believe the wealthy collector wouldn't have security cameras).  

Or... Deleted scene: Henry also cut the power supply to the security cameras, disabled the motion detector, and did acrobatics over the laser tripwires, with a "Youtube!" and Nicky wasn't suspicious at all.

Henry was a juvenile delinquent years ago, so how would he know Razor?  Was he involved in high-level art thefts in his youth?

Edited by Camera One
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OK, the reality that the show's not actually shot in SF is a dead horse and I would try to lay off on it, but they sent a fake cable car on the rail-less street outside the dumpling restaurant and I'm not made of stone.

The fairy tale ended before the heroine opened the box? What kind of crap ass fairy tale was it?

Kudos to the show for having Evan's laptop keyboard be worn rather than brand spanking new.

Imagine if Nicky and Henry had gotten caught in the rich guy's house. Follow the thread of logic that led them there: "Well, my shifu was killed by her evil sister in China over one of eight mystical weapons, so we broke into a professor's office and stole his hidden puzzle box, which revealed a key, which an old children's book illustration suggests unlocks the priceless antique box because fake Google's search-by-image suggested it's the same box."

On 4/28/2021 at 11:06 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

What was the obsession with Chez Panisse this week? I mean, they have delicious food but there are also tons of restaurants in SF.

I'm also curious what the thought process was behind name dropping Chez Panisse so much rather than, say, The French Laundry (as famous, and more prestigious as far as Michelin stars go) or Benu (also 3 stars and with an Asian focus).

I feel like the three plots this ep had no real connection. No narrative connection, and no thematic connection. But I'm glad we got a break from the painfully portentous shifu character for a week.

This is a really minor thing, but it's a little weird that Nicky calls her mom and dad exclusively by Chinese titles like "baba" but her siblings are always "Ryan" and "Althea", never "jiejie"/"gege" or anything. It's not a lot weird, to be clear. 

7 hours ago, possibilities said:

So the hallway ooutside the professor's office had security cameras, but the wealthy collector or artifacts doesn't. 

Arguably the security systems were shut down when they entered the code at the front door. People might want anti-theft cameras but they don't necessarily want their cameras to record everything they do in their home.

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45 minutes ago, arc said:

OK, the reality that the show's not actually shot in SF is a dead horse and I would try to lay off on it, but they sent a fake cable car on the rail-less street outside the dumpling restaurant and I'm not made of stone.

Honestly, that one made me laugh when I saw it! I mean, you could see the wheels and everything.

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So let me get this straight...

  • It's okay for Nicky to commit breaking and entering so long as it's to get information in pursuit of her quest. (She did it this episode and in a previous episode.) She acts like she's entitled to break the law, and Evan seems willing to overlook her crimes (even though he's an ADA, sworn to uphold the law).
  • It's okay for Henry to commit breaking and entering so long as it's to help Nicky get information in pursuit of her quest. Nicky even defends him to Evan by saying that Henry was helping her, as if that is sufficient justification (which it apparently is).
  • But it's not okay for Henry to have committed breaking and entering in the past when he was a teenager. Nicky immediately distrusts him, even though she just committed breaking and entering herself. Evan immediately condemns him, even though Henry was a minor at the time and Evan has just glossed over adult Nicky's breaking and entering, not to mention that Evan getting into and exposing Henry's sealed juvenile records was problematic.

The more I watch of this series, the less I like Nicky. She's venturing into special snowflake territory, where there's a double standard when it comes to her actions and everyone else's actions. She acted like a hypocrite in this episode.  

However, I really like the supporting cast. I love Nicky's parents. Tzi Ma and Tan Kheng Hua's acting is so far superior to everyone else's that it's almost like they're acting in a different show.

Other than the parents, the most interesting characters are Althea, Ryan, and Henry. I don't know if it's the acting or the writing for these characters, but they are so much more layered and appealing than Nicky.  I want to see more of them and learn more about their stories.

Althea's fiance, Dennis, is attractive but kinda bland.  It's great that he's supportive of her, but he's just not very interesting (at least so far).

Evan is also kinda bland. It also doesn't help that he has zero chemistry with Nicky. 

Unfortunately, imo (although ymmv), Henry has little chemistry with Nicky as well. But, as I said, he's a very intriguing character on his own.

It's not good when the supporting cast is more interesting than the main character, especially when the heroine, Nicky, is supposed to have undergone this transformative, three-year, experience at a monastery in China.* Yet, except for some martial arts skills and a few timely flashbacks, she could've been anyone returning home from college.

(* I also have an issue with superhero origin stories where the hero spends three, five or seven years learning martial arts or weapons skills, and then manages to defeat opponents who have spent a lifetime training in the martial arts or weapons. I'm waiting for the epic showdown when Nicky somehow manages to defeat Zhilan.)

At times I feel that the show would've been better if Shannon Dang had been cast as the main character.

That said, I'm still rooting for this show to succeed. Sometimes a series takes a season to find its legs.

Edited by tv echo
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3 hours ago, tv echo said:

I'm waiting for the epic showdown when Nicky somehow manages to defeat Zhilan.

Rise Of Skywalker - Force ghosts help Rey kill Palpatine... pretty sure these writers have seen that movie.

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Maybe you shouldn't be so evil that you kill the expert on the things you are looking for so quickly, Zhalin. 

So stealing is only okay when it's for Nicky's mission. She's getting really annoying with her one track mind when it comes to the sword. 

I'm glad we didn't we have any by the numbers case of the week this episode. The sword mystery and the family are the best part of this show. I'm also glad that Althea finally told someone what happened. I hope her fiance doesn't die because of Nicky's sword obsession. He seems like a sweet guy, of course he could be secretly evil, which I hope he isn't. 

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(edited)
15 hours ago, arc said:

 

Arguably the security systems were shut down when they entered the code at the front door. People might want anti-theft cameras but they don't necessarily want their cameras to record everything they do in their home.

So the cameras recorded Henry and Nicky arriving at the front door and entering the code, and then when the owner gets home and finds the box is gone, they will be the only suspects. 

I'm finding the family is interesting but I really don't like the quest because the writing for the quest is terrible. I know these kinds of shows won't be totally realistic, but I've watched plenty of them that were much better. And they do write the family stuff with some depth, so it's not just that I'm cranky.

Edited by possibilities
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(edited)

It's like watching two different shows at the same time - a family drama with actually good writing and acting and a rather clunky attempt at Wuxia à la CW.

Althea's plot was way better handled than Nicky's although I never get the drama a prenup causes. It's the logical thing to do, but it should be handled between bride and groom in private. That said I liked how her fiance picked up that there was something else going on. On a sidenote: Are we sure Althea has no secret Wushu training? I was more impressed with her opening the clasp of the yoke of tradition necklace with one hand than with any of Nicky's moves.

Everything about the research for that box was beyond clunky. The convenient coincidences just kept coming and the threshold where handwaving turns into eyerolling was reached within the first 15 minutes. Some grumpy points for bringing up the Old Summer Palace's bronze heads and their complicated history but I think solving the legal and moral quandary of repatriating looted art is beyond the show's scope.

Edited by MissLucas
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15 minutes ago, MissLucas said:

On a sidenote: Are we sure Althea has no secret Wushu training? I was more impressed with her  opening the clasp of the yoke of tradition necklace with one hand than with any of Nicky's moves

😄 Glad I wasn't the only one! 🤣

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1 hour ago, shapeshifter said:

😄 Glad I wasn't the only one! 🤣

She must have a secret history with Henry... learning all kinds of thieving moves...

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On 4/29/2021 at 8:34 PM, thuganomics85 said:

Speaking of criminals, Razor was certainly a character.  Hope he comes back at some point.  What can I say, I have a soft spot for the "criminal who has some kind of odd code and follows it" archetype.

Althea both snapping at her future in-laws and telling Nicky the truth about what happened to her was well done.  It's still early, but I'm definitely starting to think Shannon Dang might be a contender to be the breakout here, since she's getting some of the more meaty material on this show and has been handling it pretty well.  Althea in general continues to be my favorite character.

Both Althea's fiancee and Ryan's boyfriend are just so nice and understanding, that I have to imagine that at least one of them is either going to end up evil or end up dying in a brutal fashion in front of said love interest.

I think there is more to Henry than what we were shown; why else would we get a deeply dramatic flourish when he touched the scabbard? I wonder if he isn't part of this Guardians of the Weapons club...

Can we stop with the near constant B&E? Kinda hard to root for the supposed heroine of the story if she has to turn into the Wushu version of Catwoman.

So... Nicky's hand is burned when she touches the sword. We would think that she isn't the rightful wielder of that sword, right?  She hasn't even bothered to study the marks burned into her hand.  That same hand starts burning as she gets closer to another relic... then stops burning as soon as she has the scabbard in hand?  Methinks the map to the other weapons is on her hand, perhaps?  C'mon show!  Are they watching the same "Kung Fu" that we are?

If we have to sacrifice one of the supporting characters, let it be Althea's fiancee.  Or maybe Evan. I'm not feeling him.

I don't think that Razor should have beaten Nicky in the fight.  He seemed like the Martial Arts training he may received wouldn't be nearly as extensive as Nicky's, seeing that she had the training of an actual Martial Arts teacher to learn from.  Plus, the hooded figure that attacked Nicky in the mansion looked about her size, not the size of Razor.  (I am trying not to pick this show apart, but I keep seeing the frayed threads!!)

On 4/30/2021 at 9:40 AM, tv echo said:

However, I really like the supporting cast. I love Nicky's parents. Tzi Ma and Tan Kheng Hua's acting is so far superior to everyone else's that it's almost like they're acting in a different show.

Other than the parents, the most interesting characters are Althea, Ryan, and Henry. I don't know if it's the acting or the writing for these characters, but they are so much more layered and appealing than Nicky.  I want to see more of them and learn more about their stories.

Althea's fiance, Dennis, is attractive but kinda bland.  It's great that he's supportive of her, but he's just not very interesting (at least so far).

Unfortunately, imo (although ymmv), Henry has little chemistry with Nicky as well. But, as I said, he's a very intriguing character on his own.

It's not good when the supporting cast is more interesting than the main character, especially when the heroine, Nicky, is supposed to have undergone this transformative, three-year, experience at a monastery in China.* Yet, except for some martial arts skills and a few timely flashbacks, she could've been anyone returning home from college.

(* I also have an issue with superhero origin stories where the hero spends three, five or seven years learning martial arts or weapons skills, and then manages to defeat opponents who have spent a lifetime training in the martial arts or weapons. I'm waiting for the epic showdown when Nicky somehow manages to defeat Zhilan.)

At times I feel that the show would've been better if Shannon Dang had been cast as the main character.

That said, I'm still rooting for this show to succeed. Sometimes a series takes a season to find its legs.

Zhilan was a bit short sighted in killing the professor so quickly.  That said, I don't know why Razor sent the key along with the box! Zhilan knew what she was looking for and now she may think that Razor has the scabbard, so she will come to SF (*cough*) and kill him for it.  If that doesn't happen next episode...

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Yeah, if they want us to root for Nicky, they shouldn't have her committing so many crimes. That being said, I'm still rooting for her. Might be a little too soon for her to be kissing Henry (although I'm down for that pairing), but maybe she's into reformed bad boys.

I'm pretty sure the birth order is Althea, Nicky, Ryan; but I don't think the show has made that clear? It's a minor nitpick, but the Althea/Nicky relationship doesn't really feel like older sister/younger sister.  (I grew up with two other siblings, so I'm sure that colors my view.)

Glad they are giving some layers to Althea. But I want her and her fiancé to be the one happy couple on the show! I know that's asking a lot for a CW show.  I'm side-eyeing Fiancé's parents for now.


 

On 4/29/2021 at 12:53 AM, Camera One said:

... Why did Razor throw in the key for free?  Why not have the villain stew about it for longer?  Heck, sending the key would make it seem like Razor opened it and took the contents.

...

 

23 hours ago, Stardancer Supreme said:

...

Zhilan was a bit short sighted in killing the professor so quickly.  That said, I don't know why Razor sent the key along with the box! Zhilan knew what she was looking for and now she may think that Razor has the scabbard, so she will come to SF (*cough*) and kill him for it.  If that doesn't happen next episode...

Ding ding ding! How else are they going to get Zhilan and Nicky together for their next showdown?

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24 minutes ago, Trini said:

I'm pretty sure the birth order is Althea, Nicky, Ryan; but I don't think the show has made that clear?

In this episode, Althea said she was Nicky's big sister.

No one has specified if Ryan is older or younger than either of his sisters, but in the pilot Nicky says, "What's with the lab coat? You haven't graduated yet, have you?" and then we find out he's a doctor, so he was in med school when she left three years ago. Nicky dropped out of Harvard just before graduation which would indicate that she's younger than Ryan.

Nicky seemed closer to Ryan than Althea so I'm guessing that Ryan and Nicky are closer in age than Nicky and Althea. Nicky knew who Althea's boyfriend was because they went to high school together so I think all three of the kids are very close in age, probably only 1-2 years between each of them.

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Ryan is working as a doctor so he must have completed 4 years of medical school and at least a 2 year residency. That would put him in at least his third year of medical school when Nicky left. He would be 1 - 3 years older than Nicky depending on when he started med school.

I'm watching but I'm not loving it. One reason might be because it feels very girly, like it's the offspring of Gossip Girl rather than Supergirl or even Nancy Drew. Maybe it's because Nicky regularly gets her ass kicked by Henry even though she spent the last three years doing little other than perfecting her fighting, maybe it's because she's spending time looking at shirtless pictures of Henry on her phone. It just feels off.

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On 5/2/2021 at 6:26 PM, ElectricBoogaloo said:

No one has specified if Ryan is older or younger than either of his sisters, but in the pilot Nicky says, "What's with the lab coat? You haven't graduated yet, have you?" and then we find out he's a doctor, so he was in med school when she left three years ago. Nicky dropped out of Harvard just before graduation which would indicate that she's younger than Ryan.

I wonder if they will clarify it at some point.  Ryan seemed to give off younger brother vibes so far, but who knows.  I was thinking that maybe Ryan was one year younger than Nicky.  During Nicky's absence, he completed his prerequisite requirements, got into med school and did the first 2 years of med.  Now he's in his third or fourth year when they get clinical experience, which is why he is working.  But he still hasn't officially graduated yet.

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Medical students work supervised in hospitals though. Ryan's working in an office or clinic and appears to be unsupervised.

He does give off vibes of being younger than Nicky but I attributed it to being hesitant because he's had to hide who he is most of his life and only recently come out. I think that he told Nicky that he only told his parents last year and he said to his current guy that he's never been in a relationship before.

After this episode I am liking Henry less and less because he's becoming too perfect, too much of a Gary Stu. Being the ace researcher and cute enough for the love interest would be enough, but he also is as good as or better than Nicky in fighting, he knows how to break into security systems (although not enough to wear gloves so that he doesn't leave fingerprints), he has a shady past that he's overcome and yet he is still in touch with all these useful people on the wrong side of the law. He embodies within himself the entire Nancy Drew gang except for the computer hacking skills but he may come up with those too.

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Sons are valued a bit more in Asian families, so I would peg Ryan as the youngest. Having 2 daughters then trying one last time for a son.

12 hours ago, statsgirl said:

Ryan is working as a doctor so he must have completed 4 years of medical school and at least a 2 year residency. That would put him in at least his third year of medical school when Nicky left. He would be 1 - 3 years older than Nicky depending on when he started med school.

I'm watching but I'm not loving it. One reason might be because it feels very girly, like it's the offspring of Gossip Girl rather than Supergirl or even Nancy Drew. Maybe it's because Nicky regularly gets her ass kicked by Henry even though she spent the last three years doing little other than perfecting her fighting, maybe it's because she's spending time looking at shirtless pictures of Henry on her phone. It just feels off.

I would say that Nicky is holding back and pulling her punches with Henry, which allows him to occasionally get the best of her.

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