S03.E04: Harmony

[Trini]

With the grand reopening of Harmony Dumplings just around the corner, it's all hands on deck to make sure it goes off without a hitch. However, things take an unexpected turn when the Shens receive a mysterious threat on the eve of the restaurant's reopening. Elsewhere, Jin faces a new challenge and Ryan scrambles to find Sebastian the perfect gift.

Richard Speight, Jr. directed the episode written by Richard Lowe.

Airdate: 10/26/2022

[paigow]

Ryan cannot Uber / Lyft himself to the buy? WTF???!!!

Councilman Anthony must have hired an ex-Amazon employee as Campaign Manager... 

[possibilities]

I have no idea how anyone can canvass 500 addresses in half a day.

[Linderhill]

nice to see Richard Speight appear again, doubling up on his duties.  Interesting resolution to the problems the restaurant was having.  Someone needed to give that silly chef wannabe a serious smack down.

[Trini]

Well, I kinda wish they had advertised this as a comedy episode from the start. Things kind of went from serious to silly in a heartbeat.

That being said, I did appreciate the break from magic shenanigans. And the idea of a support group for people that Nicky has beat up was funny. This show is a little young to be doing callbacks to it's first season; but considering that because of the CW implosion, this might be the last season, I guess it's fine.

I really like that we've got a great cast here, and that you can pair up just about any two characters and it can work.

So Nicky, or even Sebastian, should have been able to take down the Reject Chef; but I guess it was funnier if she trashed the place -- comedy!

[possibilities]

Nicky took down a whole room full of Bad Guys solo and then in the next scene she and her crew were collectively unable to stop the one single Bad Chef and she was only stopped by Althea's accidental door to the noggin.

[thuganomics85]

Nicky really is a hero now: she's got her own Rogue Gallery and everything!  That was pretty fun, even though I'm glad they did show flashbacks since the only ones I remembered off the top of my head were Leif and Master Drake.  But I got a kick out of their being an actual support system for those who got their asses handed to them by Nicky and all that Zen went out the window once they laid eyes on her again.  And then Leif is just hilariously toiling away in prison trying to make himself look like a bigger threat than he his.  Hee!  Richard Speight Jr. is always delight: both in front of and behind the camera!

Definitely an overly comical episode, but I enjoyed it quite a bit.  It was nice taking a break over all of the mystical stuff and just focus on the family coming together to save Harmony Dumpling's reopening from a vengeful chef.  Realistically, yeah, they should have been able to take out Tracy much quicker than they did, but I can buy that some of them were trying to hold back and not physically harm her: especially since she looked like she was barely eighteen.

While I'm glad for Jin for getting a win (heh), part of me thinks that it was just overcoming low expectations, because Andy's campaign manager honestly kind of sucks.  I mean, I guess his approach is all about volume and quantity of voters, but if doesn't matter how many you talk to if you don't actually listen and try to address their concerns.

Dennis continues to be one of the best, most loyal friends anyone could ever have.

Like the idea of Althea working for Evan and his company.  That duo has actually become kind of awesome and I'm looking forward to more of it.

Nice seeing Pei-Ling interact with more of the main cast again.

At least Henry already knows that Nicky has a new boyfriend and is trying to move on and still be a friend/part of the family.  But I'll be very surprised if Nicky and Henry aren't a thing again come season finale time.

[emma675]

I guess I'm in the minority, I hated this one. It was too over the top and it made no sense that Nicky could take out multiple criminal baddies but not one female chef. And I'm petty, but I would have been pressing charges against that girl in a heartbeat. She doesn't get the job and trashes the place? Gtfo.

And I felt like there was a lot of weird dialogue where characters were explaining stuff that literally just happened in the previous episode. To each other.

Ryan also ticked me off. Stop trying to one up your boyfriend in the gift department, it's childish and annoying. Also, get an Uber, dude. Dennis is at work and has already helped you enough. 

[paigow]

14 hours ago, Trini said:

even Sebastian, should have been able to take down the Reject Chef

So he could be charged with Involuntary Manslaughter - again

[sweetandsour]

RIP Lil Dumpy!  Justice for Lil Dumpy!

Tracy the bad chef was seriously unhinged.  She didn't make some youthful mistakes, she cannot regulate her emotions and she responds in violence.  Getting a bump to the head and taken home by Mommy is not going to change her.  IRL, I would at least get a restraining order against her, even if I didn't press charges.

I was annoyed Ryan was running around on his gift crusade rather than helping his family at a predictably hectic time.

Loved the photo at the end of the original Grand Opening.

[Camera One]

This one was amusing, but I also agree with some of the criticisms.  I think the charisma of the cast made it work overall.

I was a little wary of the jump forward/"earlier that day" format (not sure if it has a name), since it's been so overdone.  I was thinking that the restaurant opening mess would be due to one of the unstable guests being invited (aka Pei-Lin of the Inner Alchemist or Henry of the Inner Compass).  

That campaign manager bossing Jin around was annoying.   You can't treat volunteers like that.  I thought he would get fired by the end or something.

When Nicky was telling Henry that he can still be part of the "family" and she will still be here for him, I thought maybe he was thinking about what happened with Evan, relegated to that male friend who sticks around and helps.

I agree the Ryan subplot shouldn't have happened in this one, not when his mom was getting ready for the big opening.

Tracy was pretty despicable and deserved more than being placed into her mother's custody.  

Somehow, it's hard for me to fully trust that corporate lady, even though she has been nice so far.

Overall, I still liked the episodes and have enjoyed the season so far.  I really hope the CW keeps the show.

[possibilities]

31 minutes ago, Camera One said:

Somehow, it's hard for me to fully trust that corporate lady, even though she has been nice so far.

I have the same feeling, but I think TV shows are afraid to alienate advertisers by saying bad things about big corporations, so they might actually have made her nice to temper that reaction. 

[Camera One]

I was surprised corporate was fine with them wearing overtly political campaign shirts on opening night.  

[Trini]

20 hours ago, Camera One said:

I was a little wary of the jump forward/"earlier that day" format (not sure if it has a name), since it's been so overdone. ...

'in media res'; and yes, it's overused on TV.

[Stardancer Supreme]

Heh. Nicky and crew was far too nice. I would have gone to jail after beating that girl into oblivion. Smacking her head with the door was not enough for the havoc she caused over a dumpling rejection!