“Patience” ended up being a high-stakes episode for many.
Nicky and Henry made significant progress with the Zhilan case, and more was revealed about the personal lives of the Shens.
Zhilan made headway and obtained another weapon, which begs the question: can she be stopped?
Thankfully, Zhilan got a lot of screentime on Kung Fu Season 1 Episode 3. Her character keeps getting more interesting, and Professor Chau also provided some information about Zhilan’s past that offered more to chew on.
Zhilan’s complexities were explored in-depth, which felt very well-earned for her character.
After she kidnapped and tortured the professor, Chau mentioned that weapons aren’t his only forte. He also learned a lot about the ancient families that protected the weapons, including Zhilan’s family.
He knew about how Zhilan’s (and Pei-Ling’s) father got killed at a very young age, and Zhilan had a strong emotional reaction to that knowledge, which showed a side to her that we haven’t seen.
Yvonne Chapman went into details in an interview The CW released, and she said that it seems Zhilan is the hero of her own story while being the villain in Nicky’s.
Her scenes with the professor showed that Zhilan’s emotions run deep, and she is not just collecting the weapons for ultimate power. Something else is going on from her past.
The professor was an interesting character, and it’s too bad we didn’t get to see more of him before Zhilan killed him.
Professor: I’ve been watching you. You’re necklace. The crane. The insignia of the Zhang family. One of the eight guardian families. You are Zhang Zhilan, you have a sister, Pei-Ling. Your father, I read somewhere that he was murdered. You must have been just a child.
Zhilan: You know nothing.
Professor: I have no reason to tell you where weapon the is, whether I speak or not, this ends one way. With me, dead. So, I would like that coffee — please.
What we did get from the professor were more details on the eight weapons. It’s interesting because now we know more than Nicky and Henry do, and it seems that Zhilan is now two steps ahead, not just one.
Nicky and Henry are going to have to act fast if they want to catch up to Zhilan. She is working quickly, and leaving them behind could be perilous for Nicky.
Luckily, Nicky and Henry made some advancements in their investigation. Nicky found something strange: A key inside the box that she and Henry had stolen from professor Chau’s office in America.
The key is the next clue in their investigation, but it seems like we’re going to experience some hiccups.
Evan is helping Nicky to track Zhilan, but he is skeptical of Henry’s motivations and started looking into his background.
The tension between Nicky and Evan has already been uncomfortable. Nicky is bound to find out that Evan is looking into her possible new love interest, and that’s an explosion waiting to happen.
Henry is interesting, though, and I understand why Evan would be eager to secretly do some digging into his past.
Henry showed that his knowledge doesn’t just include Chinese History; it also involves picking locks. I will admit that he conveniently has many skills that have come in handy for Nicky, and the reason could be something more than he’s letting on.
Henry and Evan finally met, and their introduction was strained. They both hold some feelings for Nicky, and now that they’ve met, the option to explore that rift is now on the table.
Sadly, Kung Fu is falling into a familiar trope: which hot guy will the lead girl choose?
I hope that that topic doesn’t get too much focus because the show already has cheesy action scenes — we don’t need cheesy romance scenes added into the mix.
Speaking of cheesy fighting, there was plenty of action to quench your thirst for it.
A fantastic training scene transpired between Nicky and Henry, and it contained some of the most believable fight choreography in the series so far.
Henry: Right now we’re training. You’re distracted, rushing it.
Nicky: Well if you just learned that your Shifu her own sister, who’s now probably kidnapped the one person who might know where the weapons are which means you may never find Zhilan? You’d be distracted, too.
Henry: Yeah, distracted maybe. Sloppy though?
Nicky took him down with ease, but they didn’t use any of the dreaded slow-motion editing I’ve come to expect, and I’m incredibly thankful for that.
Another great, fast-moving scene found Nicky taking down an armed assassin, breaking through a supply closet’s door.
Nicky’s flashback as she tried to break the door lent more insight into her years of training with Pei-Ling.
She channels her past, training, and mentor’s guidance to help her through challenging situations, and the flashbacks have offered valuable insight into Nicky’s psyche.
Nicky still had many emotions to deal with as she was still actively trying to patch things up with her family.
Ryan’s emotions were racing, and Nicky made more of an effort to mend things with him, discovering he had a secret date and possibly a boyfriend!
Joe and Ryan are adorable together, and both of their scenes were incredible.
Seeing minorities represented in the LGBTQ+ community is rare, and I was thrilled to see them represented here on Kung Fu.
Honestly, the improvements that each episode makes on the last are welcome, and I genuinely believe that the quality will continue to improve as the season progresses.
So far, the writing has improved, and everyone seems to be settling into their characters quite well. The continuing storyline is progressing nicely, and the family dynamic is improving naturally.
The first two outings had everyone balancing fraught emotions, and this round was no exception.
The whole Shen family has emotional baggage, and some are hiding more of it than others.
Althea and Mei-Li led interesting arcs, which left both of them emotionally drained.
Mei-Li and Jin are having significant issues with their marriage, and she felt the heat and ended in tears.
Althea had some sort of secret about an old boss that abused her or something along those lines. Not much was shown, but she wound up overwrought and defeated.
So, Kung Fu Fanatics, what did you think of this episode?
Did you enjoy seeing more Zhilan?
How long will Althea and Mei-Li be able to hide their emotions?
Let us know in the comments below, and remember you can watch Kung Fu online right here on TV Fanatic.