S02.E10: Destruction

[AnimeMania]

UNINTENDED CONSEQUENCES - Nicky (Olivia Liang) is left reeling after a secret she's kept hidden from her family leads to some tragic consequences. Meanwhile, Mia (guest star Vanessa Yao) teams up with an unexpected ally, and Nicky and Henry (Eddie Liu) find themselves at a crossroads in their relationship. 

Jeff Chan directed the episode written by Melissa Rundle.

Airdate: May 18, 2022

[Trini]

So they didn't do it in this episode, but are they really going to take away the Magical Dream Realm in the same season they introduced it? Aw, come on. I was looking forward to the story possibilities with that.

But anyway, I thought they only had to strip the bell itself of magic? Why the Warrior/Guardian magic also? (I might have missed a line if they explained it.)

Not sure if Mia being more severely affected even though she has twice the powers makes sense, but it's *magic*, so I guess I'll roll with it.

Awwww - 😭 Sad times with everyone crying over Ryan. But at least Althea & Dennis continue to be the cutest couple, and Jin & Mei-Li the strongest.

Speaking of couples, I thought it was kind of a weird time to bring up relationship issues with Nicky & Henry in such a packed episode.

Aw man, are Henry and his dad going to get banned from the Wan Zai? Because I also wanted to see magic object hunting plots.

[thuganomics85]

Not surprised Ryan pulled through at the end, but I"m also not surprised him getting shot caused some friction amongst the Shens.  Hard to watch at times, but I think it makes sense: especially Mei-Lei having the biggest reaction and pretty much blaming Nicky for putting Ryan in danger and not giving them all the facts (which, to be fair, she isn't fully wrong there.  You need to trust your family more, Nicky!)  And then Althea trying to play peacemaker, but feeling like crapped since it meant she had to be the one to ask Nicky to leave (at least she has Dennis around being the best husband ever!)  Oh, and Jin breaking down away from everyone, but pulling himself back together before he went back in.  Good acting all around.

Vanessa Kai continues to be having a blast getting her evil on as The Alchemist.  I do wonder if we'll ever see Hallucination Pei-Ling again.

The family not only knows about Sebastian/Ryan, but Sebastian already knows the basics about what is going on now.  Welcome to family, man!

Heh, I love that Zhilan staying back to help Mia over chasing after Juliette is a big moment for her.  Almost acting like a normal human being for a brief moment!  But it looks like they already recapture her, so now Zhilan will probably teach Mia the art of torture!

Did seem like a weird time for the Nicky/Henry conflict with everyone that was happening now, but better to have that conversation now, I guess.  Have a feeling they won't be getting many breaks going forward!

Daniel still won't be winning father of the year, but at least he did the bare minimum by not letting the Wan Zai take out Nicky and Henry.  But I'm guessing he won't be welcomed in that organization anymore!

[paigow]

1 hour ago, thuganomics85 said:

But it looks like they already recapture her, so now Zhilan will probably teach Mia the art of torture!

Juliette: Waterboarding is so 2001.

Zhilan: This water is not for you...I am SO thirsty..We are going to play a counting game to 20.... 

[william0102]

I really had trouble staying in the plot with this episode. Suddenly Nicky and the rest of the guardians/keepers have power, even though last season the powers were removed from the weapons (and maybe Nicky) and returned to the earth. Didn't help that they waited until the middle of the ep to have evil shifu say they all had some power in them- which are we supposed to trust her in that? Assuming we can (since they all had some kind of attack thanks to the spell) their powers are to be perceptive to pick up Kung Fu, be limber, and maybe recover faster? Is that really what they want the powers to be based on since Mia is supposed to be some great evil power? You want me to believe the weapons had power imbued in them, AND the protectors had (dumb) powers imbued in them- and Tan still got them all? Do they want me to question the very premise of their show cuz of their lack of explaining?

I don't even want to get into the Nicky/Henry fight. I will just say he turned down the ring and a relationship with his dad for Nicky. And don't think I didn't notice that Evan scene thrown in there to try to respark the triangle. Henry sucked this episode.

And Mama Shen, I have a bone to pick with you. Yes it was your fault, no it's not because you stopped smothering your kids. It's because you told Nicky to protect Mia at all costs because she's your last tether to the sister you treated like she was crazy- just like you did Nicky. Maybe don't make the same mistake for the third time. Maybe you all should have been watching Mia instead of leaving it to Nicky who also has to stop Tan?

At least they gave us the nice Althea and Dennis scene.
 

Edited May 20, 2022 by william0102
edited because i can't type, like always

[Camera One]

It was a bit tough to see the mom turn on Nicky.  I mean, Nicky did need to learn to be more open with the information she finds out, but it was just too much.  These are all good actors, but some of the emotional moments felt a bit stilted, maybe the way they were staged, including the ones with Althea and the dad.  

It is good that the parents know about Sebastian and Ryan now, though I would have preferred to see Sebastian find out about Nicky and her secret in a more explosive/satisfying way.

With Nicky jumping head-long into the ceremony and then backing out, I actually don't blame Henry for lashing out at that moment.  Part of him must have liked being on the same side as his dad and now he was going to disappoint him, even though he had been wary of the ceremony himself.  

If one thinks about the bigger picture of stopping Russell Tan from gaining a supernatural power to create a devastating earthquake, I'm sorry but maybe Mia was the sacrifice that needed to be made.  Juliet had quite a head start.  I'm surprised she didn't send off an SOS and then find a place to hide in time.  I guess Mia and Zhilan are super trackers as well.

[tennisgurl]

Not surprised but still happy that Ryan is alright, but it was rough seeing the Shins at odds with each other. I can understand why Mei-Li was upset that Nicky didn't give them all the facts and that Ryan got hurt because Mia went off script, but she's been the one who has been all gung ho about Mia being a member of the family and this is going to be part of Mia being part of the family. Its not like Nicky forced Ryan to be a part of this, he chose to help out, and I don't really think that even everyone knowing everything would have changed much. I hope that this at least convinces Nicky to be more open with everyone, she has GOT to stop keeping these secrets. This is the CW, keeping secrets from your loved ones will always cause more problems than it solves. The acting was really great all around, and I love Althea and Dennis so much, they're just so adorable. 

Zhilan actually has a moment to be halfway decent when she went back to help Mia, which really is a big deal for her. Then of course she gets on with teaching Mia the fine art of torture, because that's the kind of coach Zhilan is. She's even coaching her in wearing lots of dark black sexy evil outfits. 

Daniel at least didn't let his treasure crew hurt Nicky and Henry, but now he's out of the club and Henry is understandably still not thrilled with him. Seriously, dads on this show are the absolute pits except for Jin, the best dad in the entire Kung-Fu verse by far. 

We better get back to the magical dream world soon, that place was too cool to be destroyed so early. In general I found a lot of the magical technobabble to be confusing, but maybe it will make more sense later? I think I have the gist at least.