S02.E05: Reunion

[Trini]

After receiving a new clue that could lead to Mia's whereabouts, Nicky and Henry race to find her before Russell Tan's forces do. Meanwhile, Mei-Li is tested when a new restaurant opens nearby, and Althea continues to struggle with the challenges of work.

David Grossman directed the episode written by A.C. Allen.

Airdate: 4/6/2022

 

[possibilities]

Althea had a lot of employees for someone who hadn't even decided what she wanted her business to be.

 

[Trini]

I liked that this episode had a bunch of not-the-usual pairings. I don't think there had been an Althea and Jin subplot before? That was nice; and now we've got a connection to Jin's friend and Althea's company, so he's not so much by himself in that storyline.

Mei-li and Sebastian's little plot was nice too. Henry and Zhilan's little exchange was funny. And of course Nicky and Zhilan was good for fight scenes and them annoying each other.

Aw - poor Mia. Sorry your father sucks. I thought that maybe he would have a bigger role/more interesting backstory, but I guess not. So who did bury Mei-Xue? I doubt it was Tan or his henchmen.

Everyone working together in different ways to find Mia at the beginning was a really great way to use the cast. I'm still worried about what they're going to with Evan now that he's unemployed.

ETA:

 

Edited April 7, 2022 by Trini

[william0102]

11 hours ago, Trini said:

I liked that this episode had a bunch of not-the-usual pairings. I don't think there had been an Althea and Jin subplot before? That was nice; and now we've got a connection to Jin's friend and Althea's company, so he's not so much by himself in that storyline.

Mei-li and Sebastian's little plot was nice too. Henry and Zhilan's little exchange was funny. And of course Nicky and Zhilan was good for fight scenes and them annoying each other.

Aw - poor Mia. Sorry your father sucks. I thought that maybe he would have a bigger role/more interesting backstory, but I guess not. So who did bury Mei-Xue? I doubt it was Tan or his henchmen.

All the little plots connecting back is useful, especially since the main theme so far this season seems to be community is good. Nicky accepting others help, the family's connection to the community. Much better use this season of the characters' connections/ talents. Plus the instances where Nicky teamed up with Kerwin and Zhilan seemed pretty organic.

Loved the Nicky and Zhilan scenes, especially when they showed up at the hanger. I was actively cheering them on. When the guards showed up I was: that's not enough people to stop them, lol. Then Zhilan snuck off and I was like: that will be enough to preoccupy Nicky though. My only real quibble about all of that was the cousin having such easy access to the force. But I have two theories as to why the writers chose to have Mia stun Zhilan. 1, quick easy way to get Nicky and Mia away from Zhilan without writing another fight scene (while also pointing out subtly that Nicky is still learning how to plan), and 2, if Mia can access that kinda power, it would give Zhilan a reason to keep coming after Mia for her own reasons.

It does suck that Mia's dad traded her for his wife. I thought that since Nicky and co found him so easily, that there was no way that was really Mia's dad, that it had to be someone placed by Tan. And when Mia had that line about her mom never telling her anything, I was like, ok yeah, that can't be him, lol. Good on the show for misdirecting me.

Pretty sure the grizzled old dude that Nicky chopped wood with was the one who buried Mia's mom, the dude who carved things in wood. It was implied because he was the only person who could find/knew his way to the cabin. He also had feelings for her, so yeah, I can't remember if they said it straight out, but I assumed it was him.

The previews for next week didn't really seem interesting to me. It came off like every other Berlanti Big Event TM. Hopefully I'm wrong though, every episode so far has been pretty good or better. Also, I'm so glad they went the route that Sebastian was holding back because of his job. Nice to see Ryan getting a little proactive, and that the kiss wasn't him cutting off Sebastian, I got tired of the whole Person A cutting off person B with a kiss trope back in the 90s.

[tennisgurl]

That was a fun episode, I like that they got pretty much the whole cast all working together, which fit nicely into the theme of community. Everyone was using their connections and knowledge all pooling their resources, I am really glad that this season has be so much more focused than last season. No random crimes of the week or subplots, pretty much everything this week tied together. We even got some unique character pairings, like Althea and Jin or the brief funny scene between Evan and Mei-Li. 

I love how when Nicky told Mia that Zhilan is a killer, she was just like "that's a feature, not a bug." Even if Nicky is clearly not a fan of Zhilan and (understandably) doesn't trust her, she is already settling into "snarky scary sometimes ally of the heroes" territory.

Poor Mia, sorry your dad sucks, at least you get cool aunts and uncles and such now.

[emma675]

This was a good episode and a good use of the whole cast in different pairings. I liked Nicky and Zhilan together, especially in the fight scenes. And I especially liked that Nicky knew Zhilan would betray her and prepared for that. I'm also happy Mia chose to go with Nicky instead of staying with her. 

I'll admit, I still don't know what Althea's company does. They're building an app? 

I liked that Sebastian calmed down Mei Li and talked her off the edge of trying to sue the other dumpling restaurant (and asking Evan to find criminal charges was hilarious). I'm not sure how I feel about him and Ryan, though. Sebastian still seems to be hiding something, to me, I just don't know what. 

I hope they can figure out what to do with Evan now that he's not at the DA's office. I like the character and the actor, so I hope they don't write him out. 

[Trini]

4 hours ago, william0102 said:

Pretty sure the grizzled old dude that Nicky chopped wood with was the one who buried Mia's mom, the dude who carved things in wood. It was implied because he was the only person who could find/knew his way to the cabin. He also had feelings for her, so yeah, I can't remember if they said it straight out, but I assumed it was him.

Ah, forgot about him for a second. However - if I'm remembering correctly - I don't think he knew she was dead? Or he didn't act like it when they met him; but I'm not sure.

 

4 hours ago, william0102 said:

The previews for next week didn't really seem interesting to me. It came off like every other Berlanti Big Event TM. Hopefully I'm wrong though, every episode so far has been pretty good or better.

CW promos can be misleading; but the show has earned my trust. The season has been solid so far.

[thuganomics85]

Man, between Henry's dad last week and Mia's this time (not to mention Russell in general), dads have really been dropping the ball on this show.  At least Jin more than makes up for it!

Glad Nicky and Zhilan have already crossed paths and did a little "Team up even though we hate each other, because we hate the Tans even more!" bit, even if it was going to obviously lead towards betrayal and an eventual showdown.  At least it was more even-handed this go around, although we didn't see a defiant winner this go around thanks to Mia's interference.  Then again, Zhilan was getting ready to pull out a knife, so that was clearly a disqualification.  Keep it clean, Zhilan!

I'm not sure I quite buy that Althea's idea will set the tech world on fire, but I'm glad she is making some progress with that now and is slowly becoming more confident as a boss.  Plus, it led to those scenes between her and Jin, which were nice and I'm all for Shannon Dang and Tzi Ma playing off one another more than they normally do.

Not sure if the new dumpling restaurant will come back into play, but I enjoyed the scenes between Mei-Lei and Sebastien.

Speaking of which, looks like Ryan and Sebastien finally hooked up (despite the latter's reservations over dating the boss' son.)  Hopefully this will work out better than Ryan's last attempt at dating.

Dennis continues to be a supportive husband: even if the living room is a cluttered mess and a possibility of the house going up in flames is right around the corner!

Nicky finally gets another visit from Hallucination/Ghost Pei-Ling.  She gets to pull double-duty this time with both Nicky and Zhilan!

Continue to like how this show actually lets its main cast have plenty of scenes together and doesn't have them feel like they're off in their own worlds.  Really helps sell the family dynamics (certainly helped by the strong cast and how they gel with one another.)

[AnimeMania]

3 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

I'm not sure I quite buy that Althea's idea will set the tech world on fire, but I'm glad she is making some progress with that now and is slowly becoming more confident as a boss.

I seems like a pretty good idea, especially for small local businesses. Seeing what is available, going on, happening in, or on sale in your neighborhood is not something that the internet does well. Local Businesses can specifically target their neighborhood. I am not sure what their business plan would be to make money though, since they would want to focus on small businesses and individuals. Places for rent, yard sales, block parties, food giveaways, dog walking services, restaurant menus and specials, local store sales, local news, etc. It is digitizing those small town newspapers and penny savers to have a more real-time relevancy.

Not totally relevant but, fish markets usually set the price of their wares based the amount of each item they have and you have to go very early in the morning to see what is available and the price. An app like that could tell you the prices and save you a trip since you wouldn't have to get out of bed, just to find out if they actually have what you want. This might be very relevant in a port city like San Francisco.

[paigow]

6 hours ago, AnimeMania said:

I seems like a pretty good idea, especially for small local businesses. Seeing what is available...

like making sure hyper-photogenic employment candidates have access to the same job opportunities as average looking people...

[possibilities]

On 4/8/2022 at 6:24 AM, AnimeMania said:

I am not sure what their business plan would be to make money though, since they would want to focus on small businesses and individuals.

Probably that will be handwaved by TV magic, but in theory I guess they could have a strategy where (1) people subscribe to access the app and get its guidance, (2) local institutions could sponsor it and/or give them a percentage of sales that came through the app, and (3) grants.

It might be something that the locals would get behind from multiple angles, especially if they also add things like events they also sponsor and sell tickets to, like performances by local artists, that have ticket sales and discounts for app subscribers, or exclusive offers of various kinds, as part of their "keep it in the community" promotion? 

Then they also run it in other communities, so they are pulling from more than one pool. 

But I still don't know what that room full of employees were doing. They can't write code for an app when she hadn't decided what the app was going to be yet. They can't really do anything, can they? So why did she hire them and what were they doing all day while she thought about it?

Edited April 9, 2022 by possibilities

[Cress]

There used to be a website in the Dallas/Ft Worth area called Pegasus News. They focused on "hyperlocal" news and events. So if you were in one particular suburb like Arlington, you could get content tailored to your area, rather than other suburbs or the whole metroplex. They also had a database of local restaurants, venues, and concerts, so that you could do a "hyperlocal" search in your area of what you wanted. Pegasus News seemed pretty good for some years, but I believe that the Dallas Morning News bought them out or something because they didn't want the competition with their own website.

I guess Althea could do something like that for San Francisco and maybe break it down into different neighborhoods/districts like Chinatown.

Edited April 10, 2022 by Cress
added link about Pegasus News

[Camera One]

This was a fun episode.  I was wary of the Nicky/Zhilan team-up, but it turned out to be more balanced than it was last season, and there were some nice zingers between them.  

For a moment there, I thought Zhilan would get to the Mia and she would be convinced to seek revenge.  I can't say I care much for her nor did I feel warm and fuzzy when she "reunited" with everyone at the end.  After they were so welcoming, Mia told her bio dad that they were not even her real family, so she's not a very grateful person.  

I too thought the biological dad was a fake.  He could have more potential but he seems more of an afterthought.  

While I liked everyone working together at the beginning, the whole process was a tad hard to believe.  Nicky walking around narrowing down the candidates when they should all have been on the same page to start with.  Plus it took 7 people to find Mia's father, while Mia with zero resources found him, and so did Zhilan who was off the grid.   

Melody Dumplings was quite hilarious.  I wonder why the line cook they poached didn't reveal Mei Li's secret recipe.  I am liking Sebastian more after this subplot with Mei-Li.   What's the rush with Sebastian and Ryan.  They implied they slept together without having a proper date?  A slower burn would have been preferred.

Althea is always entertaining but the app mumbo jumbo is a bit out-there.  I do like that she will be renting the space beside her dad.  The electrical hijinx at the house was laughable, though.  Why not spread out in the house a little, so they didn't blow the breakers?  Did they all arrive with their laptops uncharged?  It's not like they all have to be in the same room.  Or maybe they needed to be because it was an army of employees working on nothing waiting for an epiphany.

Edited April 14, 2022 by Camera One

[Trini]

8 hours ago, Camera One said:

Plus it took 7 people to find Mia's father, while Mia with zero resources found him, and so did Zhilan who was off the grid.   

I don't remember Mia's explanation; but Zhilan had Tan's info which she got from Kerwin.

 

8 hours ago, Camera One said:

A slower burn would have been preferred.

They've got a short season? But I agree.

[possibilities]

I may be the only one, but I didn't like that Ryan kissed Sebastian. I think they have great chemistry but Sebastian is saying he's afraid it's a bad idea because Ryan's mom is his boss. And I consider that to be a very reasonable, sensible concern. Ryan is in the position to ruin the guy's career and of course he thinks he won't, but you don't just over-ride that kind of concern and take advantage of the other person's vulnerability if you're not a jerk. I just don't subscribe to the idea that a kiss in that moment is romantic.

It's too bad, because I was really hoping the relationship would go somewhere, but I just don't like the "silence their objections with a kiss" trope. 

And, actually, even if there wasn't the issue of Sebastian's job, I just don't like the "kiss them to overwhelm their objections" idea. If they aren't sure they are comfortable with kissing you, then don't kiss them.

Edited April 12, 2022 by possibilities

[Just Here]

On 4/9/2022 at 12:41 PM, possibilities said:

But I still don't know what that room full of employees were doing. They can't write code for an app when she hadn't decided what the app was going to be yet. They can't really do anything, can they? So why did she hire them and what were they doing all day while she thought about it?

Neither do I.  The whole Althea's app plot so far hasn't been a showcase for supposed brilliance, because so far, it's been a case study in how not to develop a commercial app.

Plot-wise, a restaurant "point of sale" (POS) company, say specifically targeted for mom-and-pop Asian restaurants would have been easier to tie into (and easier to explain!). As far as drama goes, Dennis' family could have bought a small under-peforming restaurant POS company for Althea to turn around (e.g., conflicts with existing employees, customers, etc.)

 

6 hours ago, possibilities said:

I may be the only one, but I didn't like that Ryan kissed Sebastian...

You're not alone.  From an affirmative consent perspective, Sebastian was unambiguous that he did not want an intimate relationship.  We'll see if the writer's intend to use the Ryan/Sebastian plot as a cautionary tale or not.

[Stardancer Supreme]

On 4/12/2022 at 2:17 AM, Camera One said:

Melody Dumplings was quite hilarious.  I wonder why the line cook they poached didn't reveal Mei Li's secret recipe.  I am liking Sebastian more after this subplot with Mei-Li.

 

Because like most competitors for the same product, they would tend to cut corners to try to beat out the originators in some way other than superior product. Melody was trying to get more product out than Harmony, since they couldn't beat out Mei-Li's better tasting recipes.