S01.E11: Attachment

[Trini]

Nicky and Henry follow a lead that brings them to a K-pop concert in Las Vegas... and on a collision course with Zhilan and Kerwin (guest star Ludi Lin). Elsewhere, Jin and Mei-Li make a major decision about the restaurant.

Viet Nguyen directed the episode written by Michael Deigh & Richard Lowe.

Airdate: 7/7/2021

[Camera One]

This episode had a high body count.  I was hoping the K-Pop star could be a recurring character as a Guardian who helps them out.  He got a lot cooler when he started to fight, but that hammer weapon was the most awkward weapon ever.   I don't see why Zhilan didn't just break into the hotel room during the K-pop show.  They already had no problem looping the security footage.  The murders were just so unnecessary.

The exposition lines are still a tad clunky and a real mouthful.  Zhilan's researching skills are way better than Nicky's... even without clues from dead relatives, she was able to locate all the weapons.  They've really rushed it with the weapons and Guardian mythology.   I don't even remember what that word means they keep repeating for what happens when someone gets all the weapons.  Bazinga?  

Nicky's weak and inconsistent fighting skills in the last few episodes made me really nervous about her show-down with Zhilan.  Kerwin was pretty much wiping the floor with them in the hallway.  Realistically speaking, he would have killed Henry too after using him as a hostage.

Nicky and Henry sleeping together was kind of fast.  That was a bit icky with the whole library bit at the beginning.  I gave a disapproving librarian look as the books were thrown to the floor.  Do siblings talk about their sex lives that openly in real life?

I liked the conversations with Ryan and Althea, and with their parents.  All that seems like a separate show.   So last night, the parents were 200% into renewing the menu and designing a new logo.  Did the landlord raise their rent after dinner, and they made peace with their decision to close the restaurant in the overnight hours?  The timing made no sense.  

LOL at the Shi-fu saying Nicky's family healing was because Nicky set it into motion by returning.  Except she caused the problems by leaving in the first place.  

Edited July 8, 2021 by Camera One

[thuganomics85]

I swear, at times I feel like I'm watching a kung fu version of The Amazing Race, where Team Zhilan and Kerwin are so ahead of Team Nicky and Henry that it is just isn't funny anymore.  At this point, I'm almost rooting for Zhilan because it feels like she's actually deserves it (a word I usually hate to throw around) considering how much she has pretty much accomplished single-handily.  And yet I'm fully prepared for it all to end with Nicky somehow swooping in and cutting her legs out from under her (probably thanks to random luck and a few plot points that magically go her way suddenly.)

Man, I was all excited to see a K-Pop star suddenly being a secret badass, and then he gets taken out with a swiftness.  Well, it was fun while it lasted!

At least the fight scene with Kerwin and Nicky/Henry finally let Ludi Lin get his Liu Kang on!

The Shen parents suddenly deciding to possibly shutdown seemed to come out of nowhere, but at least it led to a nice scene with Ryan, plus the scenes with Ryan and Althea earlier.  The family dynamics continues to be the highlight here (well, that and Shannon Dang herself!)

Nicky and Henry are certainly moving fast.  The fact that they had sex in the library itself makes me continue to wonder if Henry actually lives there.

[Trini]

I like Nicky/Henry and the opening was kind of a fun scene, but yeah, they're going really fast! I'm assuming there'll be little time for "reshelving" as they wrap up the season in the last few episodes.

I also didn't like that the K-Pop guardian got killed off. (With his own weapon - rude!) With all the weapons found, we're probably not going to get to meet another guardian.

Wasn't quite following the details about the parents and the restaurant, but I did appreciate having a family storyline that featured Ryan.

Zhilan is getting stuff done, I guess? Didn't expect she'd get all the weapons this soon; but then there's this forge stuff to figure out, so that's one way to stretch things out.

Nicky & Co. could always do case-of-the-week vigilante stuff; but I do wonder what the long term plan is with these weapons and Zhilan. Will it work for multiple seasons?

 

11 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

And yet I'm fully prepared for it all to end with Nicky somehow swooping in and cutting her legs out from under her (probably thanks to random luck and a few plot points that magically go her way suddenly.)

She's gonna win because of *magic*; I've watched too many of these Berlanti shows.

[tennisgurl]

A show about a K-Pop superstar who is also secretly a badass guardian of ancient magic that fights evil sounds freaking awesome, I want to watch that show. By day, he's just your average pop superstar, but by night, he's destined to guard his family legacy from the forces of darkness! And fight crime on the side probably. Sadly a concept that awesome was not yet meant to be, it really sucks that they killed him off so quickly, it seems like a real waste. He could have been a good reoccurring character, which this show really needs. 

Henry and Nicky did certainly move quickly didn't they? They're cute, but doing it in the library seems pretty...questionable. Does Henry just live there? Guys, people study on that coach. Other than that this was a rough one for Nicky, she basically failed in every way possible except that she and Henry are still alive. I know that Zhilan and Kerwin are the villains, but I do really admire their competence. They're basically evil Nicky/Henry, just better at everything and more murderous. I know that you usually have to have the bad guys be twelve steps ahead of the good guys for awhile to keep tension up and allow for a big dramatic victory at the end, but Zhilan is running so many circles around Nicky, its getting a bit embarrassing. Nicky will probably end up winning due to her chosen one powers, not because she's better at Kung Fu or is any smarter. 

The fight between Simon the K-Pop star and Zhilan was one of the shows better fights, until Zhilan got the better of him pretty easily, which has been an issue I've had with a lot of fights on the show. They end up being more like one sided beat downs than big fights between two or three skilled combatants, they end way too fast with not enough back and fourth. 

The Shens deciding to close their restaurant seems like it came pretty out of nowhere. They've talked about having money issues, but nothing so bad that they feel like they're going under. This did lead to a lot of nice family scenes though, so I cant complain. Poor Ryan, not only did he get broken up with by the first guy he introduced to his parents, its right before his sisters wedding and his boyfriend left him to pursue his dreams to help the disenfranchised, so he cant even really be mad. At least this meant he got to be more involved in the family plot. 

[Trini]

34 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

A show about a K-Pop superstar who is also secretly a badass guardian of ancient magic that fights evil sounds freaking awesome, I want to watch that show. By day, he's just your average pop superstar, but by night, he's destined to guard his family legacy from the forces of darkness! And fight crime on the side probably. Sadly a concept that awesome was not yet meant to be, it really sucks that they killed him off so quickly, it seems like a real waste. He could have been a good reoccurring character, which this show really needs. 

Well now I'm even sadder! 😩 😂  Speaking of 'secret guardians of ancient magic', Simon totally did a Sailor Moon gesture when he was talking to Nicky and Henry. hee!

 

35 minutes ago, tennisgurl said:

I know that Zhilan and Kerwin are the villains, but I do really admire their competence. They're basically evil Nicky/Henry, just better at everything and more murderous.

No, competent villains are good! That just means that the good guys have to step up their game. Not sure if that's going to happen this season with Nicky, but maybe next season.

---

Not about this episode specifically, but have we seen any other employees at the restaurant? The place isn't that big, but it's big enough that there should be other people besides the family working there, and I don't think we've seen that. Unless they had some in the background that I missed.

[paigow]

There was someone behind the front counter this episode.

[Camera One]

I was thinking about Zhilan and she was really competent except for when she was clearly photographed in the parking lot of Kerwin's dad's company, courtesy of Interpol.  Thanks, Evan, and now you're single and doing a job you hate, keep doing what you're doing.

It was funny how Henry mentioned his friend who has a computer program that cross-checks lyrics from any language, and he waits to ask Nicky before contacting the friend.  

Imagine if the K-Pop star hadn't recorded that song.  How do you say "dead end" in Korean?  

8 hours ago, Trini said:

With all the weapons found, we're probably not going to get to meet another guardian.

I was disappointed about that too.  There are other families out there with their own personal emblematic necklaces.  

8 hours ago, Trini said:

She's gonna win because of *magic*

Or The Forge™ only works with the Power of Love™, which Zhilan doesn't have.  Or everyone in Nicky's family holds hands evoking the ancient ancestor warrior woman, and Zhilan can't hold the weapons anymore without burning her hand.

If they want to keep Zhilan, maybe Kerwin's father shows up last minute and takes all the weapons, and now Nicky will work with Zhilan, who will be the snarky ex-villain who they keep around even though she murdered a number of people in cold blood.

[william0102]

I really haven't minded Zhilan being so far ahead with having the weapons, but you think Nicky would need at least one to make the forge work.

Anyway, last night's episode was fine for the most part, until Zhilan was talking with the guardian and explained how she found him. So, Zhilan somehow knows about the forge. Show, I'm gonna need you to explain how, like immediately. Especially since they specifically had Nicky state that they knew about the forge, but Zhilan didn't.  I get it, Nicky is supposed to be an average girl, we can't expect her to win everything, but she's never won anything against Zhilan. At this point, I don't see how she can believably beat Zhilan 1) to the forge, 2) stop Zhilan without some kind of weapon since she couldn't even beat Kerwin (with help!), 3) I will not buy the excuse that whatever her power is will summon the sword (or weapons) to her.

The parents deciding to sell because of rent being raised didn't bother me. What bothered me was Ryan's bratty behavior for most of that plot. I get it, and it's true, there are tons of gay people that don't get their first real relationship until they are older in life, but man he was real bratty. Also, did not like the library scene, it went on for far too long with them running around, and neither Nicky nor Henry were funny enough for it. Can I just have an episode of Althea switching between being annoyed/amused at Dennis having a D&D night? 

[Trini]

10 minutes ago, william0102 said:

... Anyway, last night's episode was fine for the most part, until Zhilan was talking with the guardian and explained how she found him. So, Zhilan somehow knows about the forge. Show, I'm gonna need you to explain how, like immediately. Especially since they specifically had Nicky state that they knew about the forge, but Zhilan didn't. ...

I don't remember if she mentioned the Forge specifically, but Zhilan said she found Simon because his constellation tattoo was the same one in her (or Kerwin's?) ancient scrolls; I assume some info about the Forge is there too.

[possibilities]

I'm afraid Nicky will find the forge and Zhilan will get two drunk fratboys to take it from her.

[paigow]

This will end up being a race to the nearest planetarium... and then finding the last fishing boat Captain who uses a sextant and paper maps

[norcalgal]

On 7/7/2021 at 11:41 PM, Camera One said:

This episode had a high body count.  I was hoping the K-Pop star could be a recurring character as a Guardian who helps them out.

 

On 7/8/2021 at 12:36 AM, thuganomics85 said:

Man, I was all excited to see a K-Pop star suddenly being a secret badass, and then he gets taken out with a swiftness.  Well, it was fun while it lasted!

 

On 7/8/2021 at 12:51 PM, Trini said:

I also didn't like that the K-Pop guardian got killed off. (With his own weapon - rude!) With all the weapons found, we're probably not going to get to meet another guardian.

 

On 7/8/2021 at 2:29 PM, tennisgurl said:

A show about a K-Pop superstar who is also secretly a badass guardian of ancient magic that fights evil sounds freaking awesome, I want to watch that show. By day, he's just your average pop superstar, but by night, he's destined to guard his family legacy from the forces of darkness! And fight crime on the side probably. Sadly a concept that awesome was not yet meant to be, it really sucks that they killed him off so quickly, it seems like a real waste. He could have been a good reoccurring character, which this show really needs. 

Hear - hear - hear!!!  

[Trini]

It's only this episode that I noticed that Yvonne Chapman (Zhilan) is credited as a 'guest star', I thought she was a regular this whole time. So maybe Zhilan will only be here for one season? Depends on where they plan on taking this weapon guardian story.

[Camera One]

55 minutes ago, Trini said:

So maybe Zhilan will only be here for one season? Depends on where they plan on taking this weapon guardian story.

If she's only one season, maybe she dies and her last words to Nicky are: "I should never have killed my sister.  By the way, there aren't just 8 weapons.  There are 88.  Find them all before... ... .... <dies>".

[paigow]

2 hours ago, Camera One said:

 By the way, there aren't just 8 weapons.  There are...

10 Rings 

[DanaK]

That was a rather gross death for the pop star

Just what accent is Ludi Lin (Kerwin) using? It seems to be a variation of British, perhaps Singapore? Or is that his own accent?

[Trini]

1 hour ago, DanaK said:

Just what accent is Ludi Lin (Kerwin) using? It seems to be a variation of British, perhaps Singapore? Or is that his own accent?

I've tried to figure that out myself, but I'm not that familiar with East Asian accents. I suspect Singapore, but his own accent may be mixed in as well. I swear I heard him use an Australian pronunciation in at least one scene, and when I looked into Lin's background, I found out he lived in Australia for a while; so at least that bit made sense.