S02.E13: The Source

[Trini]

Nicky teams up with an unexpected ally and sets out on a dangerous mission to take down Russell Tan once and for all.

Joe Menendez directed the episode written by Christina M. Kim & Robert Berens.

Airdate: 6/15/2022

[AnimeMania]

Season Finale

[william0102]

Lots of thoughts about this one. First, it really struck me as a series finale, with Mia going to the monastery, like Nicky had before the series had begun. Henry leaving on his Lara Croft quest. It was only the side plots that read more season finale:  Althea and the restaurant/the community coming together. That said, the biggest thing was Ryan and Zhilan calling Nicky a hero. Very Buffy swan dive off the tower at the end of the 5th season. (This episode was also the return of their more cliche writing, ie Nicky = hero, and Zhilan calling herself a monster, then sacrificing herself.)

Good things:
Dennis coming in clutch with his DnD lore!

Althea knowing she did the right thing, despite knowing there's gonna be consequences. (I'm going to assume her and Dennis are going to get pulled back into his family's clutches next season.

The community coming together at the end.

Everything Zhilan.

Last week, I had thought they were using some kind of tuner on Ludi, but nope, it was all his voice. He did a great job of matching Tan's voice and mannerisms this episode.

Nicky being the only one to remember the shared goal of getting to the source, lol And using some of her power against super powered Tan. We've seen her use it once for sure this season, but it makes sense she'd be able to block a couple blows with all the extra powers of the crumbling guardian and warrior lines and the realm.

Bad things:
So we did need Mia this season- except Tan could have had his immortality after he got the book, if he hadn't tried to kill Zhilan in prison. All he had to do was keep Zhilan in the prison, kidnap Nicky at his convenience, and he could have accessed the realm. Which also means that Nicky's plot driven throwing the book in the fire was even worse. So did we need Mia? Not really, but it's what the writers wanted.

Mia getting up after being drained of her blood. Really? We couldn't have had Mama Shen giving her some blood, and that's when she felt it all? (Also, I had completely forgot that Evan had Mia, I thought some how the lady from his office had gotten hurt, even though she had peaced out quick lol)

It looked like Shifu, but it could be the lady who made the lines. I still think it's hilarious that Zhilan is considered a guardian.

I will not believe they are dead until I see the bodies, but yes, the implication of Zhilan and Kerwin being dead are very bad.

Other thoughts:
Is Henry's sojourn to become Lara Croft supposed to be a setup for a possible spin off? Or are they just setting him up to be led/double crossed by the Wan Zi lady next season? Clearly, this is them making way for Nicky/Evan, and I dislike that couple, especially with Henry apparently not proposing to Nicky before he leaves/left. Give Evan, who for the life of me I keep calling him Ryan/Ethan and always have to edit my posts, to the office lady. She seems like she'd be good for Evan for a season while he figures out what he is gonna do with his life. 

The necklace Shifu/evil Shifu had was not Zhilan's necklace. So umm, show, where the necklace come from. You telling me evil Shifu just been waiting for the right body to die for her to take it over?

As a season finale, it was meh, made better by the actors. As a series finale, it would have been a good/decent one. Too many plots that either would have been easily solved by other actions, (Tan being a real mastermind and not losing his pieces before he knows all the rules, Nicky burning the book, etc) or better writing. The pacing for this episode could have been much better, I mean we literally had no confirmation about Henry's dad until Wan Zi lady showed up. And of course we got the spliced shots of Henry crying, still not sure if he couldn't cry in one take, it got cut down for time, or it was supposed to imply he cried over his dad for awhile- which we know he didn't since he had to be the one to find the portal and alert the others. Then there was the Mia being fine to get to the portal, travel through the portal, fight super powered Tan thing. And that was on top of them having last episode to work some of this stuff out.

Edited June 16, 2022 by william0102
Because I still can't remember that Evan's name is not Ethan.

[Cress]

I was so hoping that Kerwin could get turned back to himself, but no, he stayed Russel, and Zhilan killed him. I guess the dagger only worked if you stab them in the heart, since the shoulder wound healed. I really wanted Zhilan to survive. Are we sure that the entire realm got destroyed? If Tan died from the stab wound, wouldn't that release all the Source energy back out? I don't know if it was Pei-Ling or Xiao that came out to the real world at the end. Did she absorb all the Source energy? Does that mean Nicky's no longer a Warrior?

I would prefer that Evan be with the other lady and just continue being friends with Nicky. She doesn't necessarily need a love storyline next season. She can stay busy helping people after the earthquake, discovering whether she lost her powers, and dealing with the resurrected Pei-ling/Xiao mystery.

[paigow]

Zhilan, Russell and Kerwin got transferred into naked woman. 

Like Inside Out.. But each of them is Anger....

Edited June 16, 2022 by paigow

[Quark]

A good finale to a decent season. I hope this isn't the last we have seen of Zhilan, she is great.

Looking forward to next season's offering.

[thuganomics85]

Zhilan's mother: "Guardians do not kill."

Zhilan:  "Well, shit, mom, I'm about 100+ bodies too late for that.  Any way to walk all of that back?"

Fun, if predictable finale.  Russell was able to get to the source after-all, but was trapped in the Magical Realm thanks to Zhilan more or less sacrificing herself to prevent him from escaping back into the real world.  Kind of suspected that was happening once Zhilan finally acknowledged her sins and Nicky did the atypical "I forgive you" think that tends to happen on most CW shows when you turn your first season villain into more of an anti-hero.  That said, with everything going on, it isn't a stretch at all for them to find some way to bring Zhilan back if they wanted to.  On one hand, if they do, it would be quite cliched in a lot of ways.  On the other hand, I certainly won't complain if they find ways to keep Yvonne Chapman around.

Hope this isn't it for Kerwin himself either, because I still feel like there is more to explore with this character and deserves a better send off than "being used as a meat suit by his evil father."

Dennis Soong, ladies and gentleman!  Living proof that everyone should play Dungeons & Dragons because it can help save lives!

I think it's smart for Althea to tackle the fault in her app head on.  Depending on how much is revealed over her using the exploit to save lives, I still think she can come out ahead if she plays it right.

Nice seeing the community rally around the Shen parents and Harmony Dumplings.

Looks like it's now Henry's turn to discover he has some kind of mysterious past and is off on his own adventure that I'm sure will end right around time for next season's premiere!

Tease for next season is the introduction of some kind of mysterious naked lady wandering around the woods with a glowing necklace.  Couldn't tell but was that Vanessa Kai/Pei-Ling's actress?  I'm guessing it's connected to destruction of the Magical Realm and them wondering where all of the souls were going to go.

Pretty good second season overall.  It had the normal writing weaknesses and tropes that the CW is known for, but the fight scenes were better this time and the overall story was fun.  Still, the series shines best with its cast and the interactions between all of the characters, and I can't wait to see more of it next season! 

[Trini]

😭

Well, it seems like they wrote this as a possible series finale; and I was okay with most of the resolutions, except for Henry leaving Nicky to go on a quest (complete with 'Hicky's Greatest Hits' montage!).

Of course I'm sad about losing both Kerwin and Zhilan (permanently??). She had to kill him again! 😭

I was a bit confused by the detour with Suyin that didn't really go anywhere. I was thinking she would be a factor in stopping/killing Russell, but I guess it was just there for another fight scene. Also it might have been cool to see her and Mia interact, but, oh well.

So are Nicky and Mia's 'superpowers' gone? They didn't state that explicitly, but if the Source and dream realm are destroyed, I'd assume so. Also - even though I know there no chance of this happening now - I hope they cut way back on the magic/mythology stuff next season. I thought things got a little silly in these last few episodes, and I'd prefer them to return to lower-stakes, case-of-the-week stories.

Well, all the Tans are dead; who's going to run the family business now?

As for the end with the woman with the necklace -- I think it's most likely Xiao, but then why would she look like Pei-Ling?

19 hours ago, william0102 said:

Dennis coming in clutch with his DnD lore!

I really do like that even with this large cast, they give everyone a moment to shine and contribute to the plot. However, they haven't really figured out what to do with Evan this season, besides being one of Nicky's sidekicks.

19 hours ago, william0102 said:

Last week, I had thought they were using some kind of tuner on Ludi, but nope, it was all his voice. He did a great job of matching Tan's voice and mannerisms this episode.

I meant to comment on this in the previous episode topic, but yeah, I gotta commend Ludi for his performance, sounding and acting like Russell.

19 hours ago, william0102 said:

Clearly, this is them making way for Nicky/Evan, and I dislike that couple, especially with Henry apparently not proposing to Nicky before he leaves/left.

Obviously, mileage varies, but I don't think it's "clearly" that; this seems to be the one CW show not that interested in love triangle drama. However, I have to admit that's a possibility.

9 hours ago, thuganomics85 said:

Nice seeing the community rally around the Shen parents and Harmony Dumplings.

Yeah, that was nice.

[paigow]

21 hours ago, Cress said:

I would prefer that Evan be with the other lady 

Too bad she was the only person killed in the earthquake....

[Cress]

what? When was she killed? I thought she went to be with her family.

[Camera One]

I think this season has been better than the last, though I agree there was a bit of clunky and cliched writing in this one, especially with Mia the energizer bunny after getting a blood transfusion.  Hearing the term "The Source" gave me bad flashbacks of "Charmed (2018)".

"No, you go!", "No, you!", "No, you!" at the cave got a tad tiresome.  The "defeat" of Russell (if it was even successful) wasn't all that satisfying, with Kerwin being dead and no clever plan from the (bumbling) "heroes".  I expected all the spirits of past guardians and warriors would help Nicky, Zhilan and Mia to defeat Russell.

I can imagine there will be ways to have Zhilan and the Warrior/Guardian realm somehow survive, and she will somehow come back (just in time to warn Nicky about the woman with the necklace at the end).  I usually hate redemptions of the evil Season 1 villain, but this one wasn't handled too, too badly.  I have liked Zhilan this season, so I wouldn't mind if she did return.  At the same time, I think too many shows keep their original big bads around, and then create forced storylines with the protagonists who shouldn't want anything to do with them.

It is sad that Henry's dad died.  It would have been fun to watch them work together more.  But now he's pushing Nicky away when he was all about encouraging Nicky to accept help all season, which is just frustrating to watch.

Considering they knew the earthquake would occur, the dad and Ryan were pretty bad at helping, telling people in the hallway of the cultural center to go for cover when there were no tables or anything nearby.  Ditto for the mom and Sebastian at the restaurant standing around near the doorway.  Only Althea and Dennis get a star for actually taking cover.

I'm looking forward to Season 3.  I really hope this show will continue to survive in the new cancellation-happy CW.  The cast is excellent and so fun to watch, and all aspects of the show from direction to writing has improved from Season 1.  

Edited June 19, 2022 by Camera One

[tennisgurl]

That was a solid finale for a solid season, which had its flaws but I think was an improvement on the first season. We wrapped a lot of things up, to the point that it at times felt like a series finale, but left enough open that we still have a lot to follow up with next season. My biggest complaints about the finale was that I wish that Russel had been a more interesting villain in the end, and that Kerwin and Zhilan could have made it, although they have set it up that Zhilan could come back. I guessed that they would do the whole "hero forgives the villain who sees the error of their ways and sacrifices themselves" with her, but I am sad to see her go, especially having to kill Kerwin yet again. I also wish that Nicki had a more decisive victory over Russel, she pretty much just attacked him without much of a plan and let him destroy himself. Everything leading up to that was nice and suspenseful at least.

Mom: "A guardian can never kill!"

Zhilan: "...about that mom..." 

I like that they gave just about everyone some time to shine, one thing I have really liked about this season is that they have better used the ensemble. Dennis and his D&D knowledge for the win! I've seen Stranger Things, I know how often that game knowledge can be used to fight the powers of darkness! I like that this season really focused on the character dynamics and the mythology instead of the cases of the week, which I thought were the weakest parts of last season. I wouldn't mind them doing a few more cases of the week next season, especially if they want to take a minute to breath after a big finale, but I hope they make them more interesting than last seasons. 

I really liked the whole community coming together at the end. This was a fun season and I am interested in seeing what comes next.

[emma675]

I just finished the last two episodes and they were...fine. I feel like this season kind of sputtered out towards the end and it was the charming cast that kept it going. Do we know for sure if it's getting a third season?

I'm bummed that Kerwin and Zhilan are seemingly gone, I really enjoyed both of them. In my mind, Kerwin came to/back in the realm and the two of them are plotting their way out. 

Dennis with the DnD knowledge was the hero of this episode. 

[Trini]

3 hours ago, emma675 said:

Do we know for sure if it's getting a third season?

It was renewed in March.