Kung Fu season 2, episode 8 features one disclosure made and one disclosure withheld. What Sebastian reveals to Ryan creates a path to a brighter future, but the what Nicky withholds from Mia could have catastrophic consequences. Read on for our review of “Disclosure.”
Each week Kung Fu continues to provide unexpected twists and turns, and we continue to have long, drawn out conversations about it. This week, we tackle a new secret society called the Enclave, the return of Zhilan, who tearfully begs Mia to embrace her destiny and do some justified-murder with her, we see Evan finally brings down his former boss and then feel bad about it, and the maybe biggest surprise of all — Althea in sweatpants.
The official synopsis of “Disclosure” reads:
HARMONY DUMPLINGS’ 25TH ANNIVERSARY — As Nicky (Olivia Liang) wrestles with a secret she’s been keeping from Mia (guest star Vanessa Yao), she teams up with Evan (Gavin Stenhouse), who makes a major discovery about his former boss. Elsewhere, Althea (Shannon Dang) attempts to pull off a surprise 25th anniversary party for Harmony Dumpling against her mother’s wishes, and Ryan (Jon Prasida) begins to question what Sebastian (guest star JB Tadena) may be hiding from him. Tzi Ma, Kheng Hua Tan, Eddie Liu, Vanessa Kai and Yvonne Chapman also star. Joe Menendez directed the episode with story by Linda Ge and teleplay by Ryan Johnson & Peter Lalayanis.
Read on on for our reactions to Kung Fu season 2, episode 8 “Disclosure.”
‘Kung Fu’ season 2, episode 8 review in conversation
Natalie: So, this week’s episode is lucky number 8! Quite a few threads, and some big things come to a head, but before we get into the ongoing Tan plot and all, there’s one story that sits apart, really, which is that of Ryan and Sebastian. So let’s take a look at that first. When Ryan spots Sebastian getting into a physical altercation outside the restaurant, things kick off in terms of Ryan demanding answers about Seb’s secrets. At this point, what were you expecting the deal to be with that guy?
Nichole: I had no idea! Because you would think it would maybe be someone from his mysterious past life who wanted him to come back to the fold, but he was pretty clearly rejecting him, so I was baffled. This was a pretty tough episode for someone who’d like to make Sebastian some tea and tuck him into bed. Or… maybe a good episode because he seemed to desperately need someone to make him some tea and tuck him into bed.
Natalie: If only you could pop in and assist. In the first instance, Ryan was pretty pissy about it in a way I felt was a bit uncalled for. I don’t know.
Nichole: I had mixed feelings about it.
Natalie: Mixed how?
Nichole: Like, Ryan was pissy, but I thought the way Sebastian was like, “It doesn’t concern you,” would probably also have set me off into a passive aggressive snit fit, even though Sebastian is obviously my perfect son who has never done anything wrong. So I was very emotionally distraught for Sebastian, but also Ryan was a little justified. Also, I mean, not to just keep banging this drum, but JB is very good at his job. You know I have a soft spot for a character with a violent past who is afraid he’s not worthy of being loved and JB is really hitting all my buttons with Sebastian.
Natalie: Obviously Sebastian kind of had a clue about Ryan assuming things like, you know, some sort of drug or gambling debts, or that kind of “bad past,” but the truth was kind of surprising to me, for a few reasons.
Nichole: Same.
Natalie: Why don’t you tell me your thoughts first? I’m curious if we might have stumbled over the same parts.
Nichole: Well, first of all, not to trivialize manslaughter, but it is very mundane for Kung Fu, so I was a bit surprised it was something so disconnected from larger plot issues. The second thing that struck me was that the situation he described is more or less Nicky’s every day life. We never see those people she throws around again. Who is to say what happens to them? So, is Kung Fu trying to tell us something about that? It didn’t particularly seem like it, but it also seems weird that it would parallel Nicky so closely and not mean something. ALSO: I thought it was a weird thing to be disowned by your family for. It was very clearly not an intentional murder. It was mostly bad luck. He wasn’t just out beating someone up for fun. It just struck me as odd, even though, as previously mentioned, JB handled it amazingly. Ok. I’m done. I think.
Natalie: Yeah, so the last thing is one of my sticking points. Why has this caused a rift with the family? Like, it deeply, deeply sucks that it happened, and it is so shit, but why on earth has this been like, stay out of our lives? I get that recovering in society with a record, especially for a felony, is really hard. But… I mean, come on! It could be that his family is really strict and really proud, and that having any sort of badness or scandal or law trouble is like… the shame of it at all, like oh their son is in prison! Rather than them thinking he was an evil man? More like an uptight don’t want to be tarnished with any scandal, pride thing. Because I also was like… okay… unfair!
Nichole: But he also seems so convinced they’re right! I mean, honestly, I’m your mom now Sebastian. I guess that means I need to radically reframe my relationship with JB’s instagram, but it’s a sacrifice I’m willing to make so that Sebastian can have a loving family.
Natalie: The other thing I was like hmmmm about was… okay, you were in prison. Fine. Does that explain the martial arts skills with Chase? Did he do a lot of fighting in prison? You’d think if you were in for involuntary manslaughter you’d keep your head down. Or are both those skills, and the deadly punch, a result of some other other past?
Nichole: It felt like he must have done a lot of fighting pre-prison. But maybe there is more to uncover there. I don’t feel like his brother would have been introduced if we weren’t ever going to see his family again.
Natalie: I still feel like the way the episode was cut, with the Wan Zai and his reveal, I still feel that’s too… loaded. Maybe they’re all a deep Wan Zai family and that’s what the whole shame issue is. And the drawing of attention, maybe.
Nichole: Except — the Wan Zai are obviously pro-violence under the right circumstances.
Natalie: Yeah, but not pro getting caught and charged with a felony. Even without that, I don’t think the issue with his family is about the literal fact he killed this guy. My hunch anyway.
Nichole: Yeah. But still, I think it is bugging me that Nicky, Henry, Mia, even Evan to an extent, have all knocked people around like that! It’s just too close to home in that regard.
Natalie: Yeah. It definitely could happen to anyone. And like, Seb brings up the issue again, that he knows there’s stuff about Nicky…
Nichole: I wonder what he thinks Nicky’s deal is.
Natalie: If he truly has no connection to the world of lore and magic, I cannot wait to see his response when he finds out.
Nichole: I am just praying that he gets in on the action. I think I like it even more if he has no connection. But takes to it like a duck to water. Although, see now with this past, he’s definitely not going to go around gleefully beating people up! It introduces an aspect of reality that I wasn’t prepared for, lol.
Natalie: Imagine if Ryan had been like oh don’t worry about it, my sister hits people in the head all the time and probably has caused some to die. We recently almost killed an artisan called Ronnie.
Nichole: skldjfasdai. Sebastian is so tragically noble about the whole thing though, “Whatever you decide, I’ll understand.”
Natalie: He definitely hates himself. But he chose to come back to SF after travelling the world and trying to escape the memories. I assume his attempt to return to SF was family oriented. Even if he’s now lucked out with the job and boyfriend.
Nichole: In spite of all my misgivings about the actual deed, I really loved the resolution. Ryan coming in to drag Sebastian away from his work and manhandle him into the office was a nice reversal of the infamous doctor’s office visit. And I thought Ryan showed a lot of maturity when he was like, “now that I know, I think I understand.” Because they’ve been on these two different pages and Ryan has felt like he doesn’t really know him and now he knows why he felt that way, which opens the door to really knowing each other. Given the other main storyline this week, I thought that was a good example of the importance of communication. But also, their smiles at each other when they both realized it was going to work out. Emoji hearts were literally exploding from my chest.
Natalie: What do you expect to happen next for them?
Nichole: Oh boy. That’s a tough question. They’re probably at a relationship plateau right now. I would think the next big issue will be Sebastian discovering what is going on with Nicky. Given his fraught relationship with violence I guess that could cause friction. I just have my fingers crossed that Sebastian and this relationship make it past the finale. I hope Sebastian doesn’t die, because I would hate to have to throw my television into an active volcano.
Natalie: You gotta do what you gotta do. You mentioned the theme of communicating the truth, which is important this episode for Mia’s arc. She starts out in a really cute, cosy little plot which of course escalates quickly — and quite unexpectedly, even given the episodes cold open flashback, which we will get to in a bit. But she’s been making herself at home and is helping out at Harmony Dumplings!
Nichole: So cute. I guess the better to gut us with later. She gets so many cute little points of contact with each of them — little snippets of each relationship building. Well, except Ryan, but they had their bonding last episode.
Natalie: Yeah, the stuff with Althea, Nicky and Mia as a trio was great.
Nichole: Mia is so quick on the uptake with all their schemes. It really makes it sad she wasn’t raised with them.
Natalie: I pretty much assumed why Mei-Li didn’t want a party though. All season she’s had these issues of humility and shame at doing well when other local businesses are failing. So I was a bit like, read the room, girls.
Nichole: Yeah, they didn’t really seem to get that at all.
Natalie: It is tough, though. Part of me is like… yeah it is valid to play it down. Like I’m with her on it. What call would you have made, ultimately?
Nichole: Well, I think they resolved it with the best case scenario, but I don’t know if I would have thought of it! I think, for me, I always want to celebrate the good things in my friends’ lives even if things in my life aren’t going the way I want, so it wouldn’t necessarily occur to me to see it as prideful or boastful, although that is obviously a very valid point. I honestly don’t know what I would have done.
Natalie: Where do you see things going for Althea now? She’s a bit of a mess.
Nichole: Well, back to the communication theme of the episode, Althea has also been avoiding having honest communication with people. I just want to talk about Althea in sweatpants. Mia trying to butter her up, “You still look amazing even in sweats and a dirty hoodie,” everything about that and her reaction was too cute. I wish I could bottle it to use for a hit of serotonin when I needed it. But if her company really is a month away from complete insolvency I have no idea how that gets worked out, no matter what kind of positive attitude Althea has developed by the end of the episode. Unless Mama Soong steps in with the assist. Were you disappointed Dennis was off looking for work instead of wallowing with his dolls?
Natalie: Kind of. But yeah. I mean, all I can hope is that Dennis bought that house in cash, mortgage free.
Nichole: I wonder if we’re sidestepping the Dennis depression arc altogether. Maybe he’s going straight into provider mode. Must stay functional to support my wife.
Natalie: Maybe, but I would rather he be a house-husband. I feel like, storytelling wise, you know, Althea has to succeed with this.
Nichole: She does. She. Does.
Natalie: So that trajectory could save their financial future, but not Dennis’s career. Plenty more time for dolls. I would love it if he just totally pivoted to some wild creative career like a game tester or a historical reenactor at somewhere kids go on field trips.
Nichole: I love all of those options. Or, just throwing it out there, tank-top model.
Natalie: Sure, a side hustle. Poor Dennis. He’s not even in the episode and we are doing this to him.
Nichole: Some issues are too important to wait for an actual appearance from the character.
Natalie: Anyway, Mia and Althea have some scheming time as they plan a surprise party, which honestly sounds like a terrible idea. I really dislike surprise parties. I’ve had one, and it made me feel really shit inside and actually caused a fight between me and the person who threw it. I was only 15, so not an adult fight. But it wasn’t great! And Mei-Li doesn’t seem the type!
Nichole: It was ill-advised.
Natalie: And when she catches them, she repeats that she really, really doesn’t want this, quite emotionally. Which is fair. Silly children.
Nichole: But the scene with Mia and Althea party planning did result in one of my favorite lines from the episode.
Natalie: Yes?
Nichole: Well, there were a few actually, but “Not blaming you, I know you were raised in a barn.” And then, “How did you pick up your skills?” “Well, I have been running from assassins for the past year.”
Natalie: Yeah. Althea and Mia had an interesting interaction, because Althea is so like… frothy and light in her delivery about things. And so her probing Mia about her past was very like “so that’s weird, right? What was it like being so weird?”
Nichole: Yeah, she was a touch tone-deaf about it in a way that surprised me.
Natalie: “Sounds like a drag, being chased by assassins,” is maybe not quite sensitive.
Nichole: lol
Natalie: But she was gentle when Mia mentioned the similarities with their moms.
Nichole: Yeah, it seemed like she said things without thinking, but was still sensitive to Mia’s reactions.
Natalie: In those scenes she seems kind of like, still all blurty and haphazard due to her semi-breakdown. But she pulls it together to talk her mom around about the party and makes her change her mind.
Nichole: Yeah, she has her personal epiphany and brings mama along on the journey.
Natalie: Obviously we don’t see what move she will be making with her team next, and how that might end up saving the day, but at least she is keeping her skills sharp as an event planner. They agree to invite all the neighbours and celebrate the help they’ve given to Harmony Dumplings and if I was closing my store this wouldn’t exactly make me feel better but it’s the thought that counts I guess. But once Mei-Li is in on the planning, she sends Mia home for some supplies and… Dun dun dun! Now is the time to mention that our episode actually opened on Zhilan, spying on the Jyu Sa raid 2 weeks ago. She was there and she got her own rock, apparently. (Where’s Kerwin?)
Nichole: WHERE IS HE! When will he return from the war?
Natalie: Nevertheless, Zhilan got a rock and I guess the answer is all guardian families are guardians. There isn’t a chosen one per generation. Because that rock definitely wants to talk to her.
Nichole: I love how Zhilan can just figure all of this out on her own. All roads lead to Xiao, I guess.
Natalie: Excuse you, “Mother.”
Nichole: That was so upsetting to me given Zhilan’s obvious unresolved issues around her own mother. It felt extra manipulative.
Natalie: Now my question, given Zhilan’s behaviour later, do you think she’s drunk the kool aid? Accepted Xiao as her personal saviour? Is Xiao the reason she came back to talk to Mia? Because she doesn’t outwardly try to end Mia or anything the way Xiao wants, but we don’t really see Zhilan reject Xiao either, and I have another hunch. But first of all, what did you think of Zhilan creeping in like a stray cat to harass Mia?
Nichole: Very sexy of her to stand in the open window silhouetted by the moon with the curtains billowing behind her. But besides that, I was struck by her demeanor. In spite of her very aggressive plan to murder Tan, she still seems to have her sharp edges worn away. She’s very openly emotional.
Natalie: Yeah, I felt that too. She really seems desperate and less cold.
Nichole: She’s like, “Look we are both ticking time bombs for different reasons, why don’t we go detonate together at the time of our choosing.”
Natalie: Aside, of course, from “You killed your own sister.” “That was in the past” Shrugs. But okay, Zhilan tells Mia about the whole destiny thing and tries to prey on her trust again, “Nicky didn’t tell you, Nicky is afraid of you…”
Nichole: Do you think she really believes Nicky is afraid of Mia or was she manipulating her?
Natalie: No idea, and I think it depends on if Zhilan ignored Xiao or is in her pocket. She clearly got the intel from her but… Yeah. She pivots to Nicky not being able to handle Tan, but in the middle there’s this whole… “Nicky can’t do what needs to be done. But you know there’s another way. And I swear I thought she was going to tell Mia to kill herself. Like she actually says kill Tan. But I thought it was going to a whole… kill yourself so you don’t wreck the world place. And that would have been peak Xiao.
Nichole: It almost feels like she is indirectly saying that. Like, you are going to die a horrible death, so you should do it on your own terms. I felt like she was saying the mission will probably kill you, but you can take Tan out in the process. I don’t know. It wasn’t totally clear. But she definitely seemed to believe Mia was destined to become a killer and she wanted her to focus it on Tan. Like, why wait and kill a bunch of randos, when we have this perfectly good target that actually serves the greater good.
Natalie: Yeah. She’s kind of gentle about it… if you can be in that scenario. And… passionate? Like making all these points about how Russell deserves to die at her hands, and about how she’s the one person he can’t risk killing…
Nichole: Yes, she believes it. She is a zealot on a mission.
Natalie: Again, we aren’t exactly sure what Mia can do. Is her power just fight skills or can she manipulate other elements, like, magic or something. But either way, this leads us to Nicky and Mia reuniting at the party. Nicky’s whole… journey, which we will come to soon, has put her in the position where she wants to tell Mia about the issue now. And Mia seems to be rushing to her, also keen to tell her what happened. But Nicky is interrupted by an important delivery to do with her other plot — the research of Naomi and Fitz — and is like, sorry, I will get back to you on this later. And we see Mia, like, harden and change. And now, my first call was that this was unfair of Mia. She’s realised Nicky was about to speak to her about it, and can see the interruption is not Nicky’s fault and is urgent. She can take Nicky in good faith, so what is the issue waiting a few hours. But now I’m like… maybe she didn’t believe Zhilan at all about Nicky. And Nicky has just proven Zhilan true, that there is something to tell. Like that Mia was running to Nicky being like the mean lady came in the window and said all sorts of crazy things! Wanting Nicky to somehow deny it? And then the hardening at the end was Mia realising that it is perfectly true?
Nichole: I’d like to just shout out to Olivia here, because I feel like this stuff with Mia is so subtle. Like, Nicky as a character is so steady — it’s sort of a defining characteristic, so she doesn’t always get the flashy lines. But she’s really making this huge mistake with Mia and the way she sort of hesitates and turns away, but it’s also like maybe she knows she’s making a mistake. I don’t know, that whole scene was a real knife to the gut.
Natalie: What was your perception on what was happening to Mia there?
Nichole: I didn’t interpret it the way you did, but now that I read that, I actually think it sounds very on point, that Mia wanted Zhilan to be lying. I think I thought she was just giving Nicky the benefit of the doubt and then when Nicky was obviously going to tell her she was glad, but then let something else take precedent she felt like Nicky was turning her back on her and dragging out the lie of omission.
Natalie: Do you think she will call Zhilan?
Nichole: I think so. Trust is so important to her, I’m sure she feels really betrayed. I’m very upset about the whole thing. I hate it for Mia and I hate it for Nicky.
Natalie: So the thing that Nicky put Mia on the back burner to handle was a pizza box full of notebooks, the research that was being chased in the Nicky/Henry/Evan side of the episode, what you might call the A plot. The part pertaining to the ongoing Russell Tan saga. And it starts out with our friend Nadia flagging to Evan that DA Kim Hughes was leaving work unexpectedly and needed a tail. First question. Does Evan spend all day lurking in the parking lot of the building?
Nichole: I assume he drove there after the call from Nadia, but now that you mention it, how did he get there so fast?
Natalie: That’s where he stays all day. Haunting the place. Like the Phantom of the Opera.
Nichole: Only taking breaks occasionally to day drink.
Natalie: Dream life, really.
Nichole: To be honest, I was not expecting this Kung Fu to give me DA Hughes feels.
Natalie: I KNOW, RIGHT? When did you first start feeling the complications there?
Nichole: I guess as soon as she was like, “This is the last favor I do.” There was obviously some coercion going on. But I still wasn’t sure what the deal was. She could have just been tired of being Tan’s lackey. I thought it was interesting that the whole story made her sympathetic, but it still didn’t make her very likable. She’s still fairly abrasive, even if she didn’t deserve what happened to her. Score one for the Kung Fu writers allowing women to be unlikeable even when they are loving mothers. lol.
Natalie: I really wasn’t prepared for the whole child abduction thing. That’s terrible.
Nichole: Yeah. It was very bad. And I realize the point is that Tan can do whatever he wants, but I was also like, doesn’t the school have a list of who can pick up???
Natalie: Good point. Jumping back to what Evan and Nicky actually caught her out in, it turns out she was helping to smuggle someone called “the asset” back into SF, and I do not know what I was expecting, but it wasn’t like a twitchy white guy who didn’t want to be there. I thought it would be another sexy assassin.
Nichole: I really liked Fitz (Josh Dean). He was a such a good character. So twitchy, but also very spunky and able to think on his feet. He was easy to underestimate.
Natalie: He was interesting! But I had no idea where any of that was going for a while. What did you think of Evan and Kim’s chat, when he showed her the pics? I know you felt some sympathy, but what did you feel about Evan there? He didn’t have a very emotional reaction at the difference between like, Corrupt for Personal Gain, and Corrupt because Threat.
Nichole: This was an interesting episode for Evan. In some ways he has gotten exactly what he has been working toward, but it comes under these unexpected circumstances. He obviously isn’t happy with what is happening with DA Hughes. He doesn’t want her to take the fall. And he is a bit unintentionally complicit in it. I think he actually did have an emotional reaction, it was just subdued. Especially at the end when Nadia is like, “You could get your job back!” And he’s just like, “Hmmm.” I think he has realized the whole system is corrupt and is asking himself if he wants to be part of that.
Natalie: At the end, yes, I agree, but I more meant the initial scene. He absolutely thought that she would implicate Tan, and get him investigated. And was really dismayed that she would not do it. And yes, the path to his old job is back but he does not want it, especially when Kim says like, “that’s not how the system works for men like him.”
Nichole: In the initial scene I felt like his world tilted a bit, but he was still focused on the immediate threat and so couldn’t really digest her news properly.
Natalie: Kind of like he wanted to think the worst of her but then couldn’t, maybe.
Nichole: Yeah. He was ready to see this righteous punishment meted out and then his moral stance was cut out from under him.
Natalie: I was expecting the Asset to be complicit and an ally of Tan’s, so the whole Fitz airport struggle was surprising, but then he took the car! He is scrappy.
Nichole: So scrappy!!! Ok, but let’s talk about Tan being so mad at DA Hughes about it. His guy is the one who put Fitz in the car unrestrained with the keys??? The incompetence is coming from inside the house. Kim held up her end of the bargain.
Natalie: Men are always looking for someone to blame, but this was next level irrational.
Nichole: It really bugged me! I get that you’re doing evil things, but I at least expect some logic.
Natalie: Well, at least Nicky is able to find Fitz first, so they have a little head start. Really bending reality for me that those people, even with Nicky’s vague superpowers, could carry a safe out of the apartment, even one that size.
Nichole: I mean, she did also kick down a wall, so it didn’t bother me.
Natalie: It was drywall! I could have done that! No offence, Nicky.
Nichole: Hahaha.
Natalie: Look, I don’t know, maybe it wasn’t an impossible weight. Nevertheless, they manage it, so let’s talk about the actual hot property at stake here. Fitz and his girlfriend Naomi worked for Some Billionaire and they used their close access to become whistle-blowers. The safe contains a manuscript that spills the secrets of a whole linked network of evil super-rich, and for some reason, Russell Tan wants it.
Nichole: New secret society just dropped.
Natalie: You’d think this was simple — he doesn’t want things about him exposed — but nope! Tan isn’t even in “The Enclave,” but it WAS started by our buddy Sloane who set off the Yuelingcedent. I love evil rich guy secret societies.
Nichole: I am dying to know Tan’s deal. He’s not Wan Zai, he’s not The Enclave, he’s not a warrior or guardian. How did he get involved in all of this???
Natalie: Maybe he was just feeling left out and overcompensated.
Nichole: Maybe. He’s evil and rich, why can’t he be in the secret society!
Natalie: What did you think of the whole Fitz Naomi secret switcheroo? The fact that Nicky kept pushing Fitz about what might be in the book that Tan wants and he’s like “I don’t know!” At first I didn’t think much of it. 700 pages, stashed a number of years ago? If you know Tan isn’t a main character being implicated, I wouldn’t find “I don’t think he’s even mentioned” suspicious at all.
Nichole: The suspicion definitely grows. I was the same at first, like, yeah, it’s not too surprising. But I love the way Nicky just kept asking… and asking. When she knows, she knows. But I really loved the switcheroo! We stan supportive boyfriends in this show!
Natalie: You could show me something I wrote 5 years ago and I’d be like, oh, I totally forgot I had that opinion. So I really was like “leave him alone, Nicky! Writing is hard!”
Nichole: Yeah, Nicky made me more suspicious than his actual answers.
Natalie: I totally agree there. But apparently they put his name on it instead of hers for like, safety reasons. Which, I mean, he’s still super unsafe, and they’re still living together overseas, so I don’t exactly know how his name being on it helped. But I will roll with it for the sake of supportive boyfriends.
Nichole: Are they together? I thought he left and she stayed? I was sad because I thought they were apart.
Natalie: I thought that they were away together, and that she was in a safehouse and he was wanting to get back to her. Maybe I am the one who is wrong. Either way, they get the pages and the research notes, and this is the only copy, in paper. Uh oh.
Nichole: Big uh oh.
Natalie: And the goons have followed Henry! Oh no!
Nichole: They have got to get better at expecting Tan’s men are following them.
Natalie: This was kind of an unusual action scene for Kung Fu — the Fitz-eye view of the fight.
Nichole: Yes! And in such an enclosed space.
Natalie: People coming in and out of frame as he peeked into the hall… kind of funny.
Nichole: It was so well shot. I really enjoyed Henry ‘books for hands’ Yan.
Natalie: That guy is probably going to die in his sleep from a brain hemorrhage, but Henry isn’t too worried about it.
Nichole: Sometimes it do be like that.
Natalie: But ultimately they get into a stalemate where Head Goon has Fitz and Nicky is going to drop the book in the convenient open fire. NO FIRES IN A LIBRARY. NO FIRES IN A PUBLIC BUILDING, TBH.
Nichole: Who lit that fire? The only people ever in the library are Henry and Nicky.
Natalie: I am sorry. I liked Fitz, I did, but I was like Nicky, come on! Tan aside, the net good in terms of lives affected if that book can take down billionaire secret society, is worth more than that guy’s life. I know we don’t let people die right in front of us for the greater good but…
Nichole: I thought it was more that she was going to destroy the books rather than let them have it? But actually I guess saving Fitz’s life makes more sense.
Natalie: She was.
Nichole: But Fitz also nodded at her to go ahead and burn it right? I wasn’t sure if I was interpreting that correctly.
Natalie: He did. I am talking a little earlier, when they first get into the stalemate. But yeah, she throws it in the fire anyway, and it’s like, noooooooooo.
Nichole: But Fitz is so plucky and resourceful!
Natalie: He is outta there.
Nichole: With his stash of research!
Natalie: For better or worse, the manuscript only gets a bit scorched, and Tan is able to find what he needs quite easily. I had no idea where this was going until he shows us — the bell is all ready with the Jyu Sa but he needs the magic mallet as well. And apparently, because this was started by Sloane, the Enclave research contains a part about this artifact. I for one am going to be pretty bummed if the Shoobies infiltrate this secret society and only worry about the mallet and not about, you know, bringing down the billionaires for other reasons.
Nichole: Do you think Chase is mixed up with the billionaires?
Natalie: I do. I definitely think that is where some stories may cross paths.
Nichole: So, they have a very personal reason to take them down. On top of societal good.
Natalie: But can’t they just take them down because of the whole wealth hoarding ethical cesspit? Either way, let’s see some socialism up in this joint.
Nichole: I mean, the Harmony Dumplings party was basically a socialist party meeting.
Natalie: We shall see, I guess. I’m good with Kung Fu going full eat the rich, just as long as Kerwin gets to keep some silk shirts and robes and stuff.
Nichole: He needs them. For his mental health.
Natalie: I need him to have them for my mental health too. But that’s okay. That’s small scale luxury, not like, whatever is going on at the top of the chain here. How much of a plot do you think the Enclave will have?
Nichole: If it weren’t for Chase, I would say limited, but I feel like there might be more there.
Natalie: Next week’s episode is called “The Enclave,” so there’s going to be a little focus. I’m honestly still stuck on why Sloane, and now Tan, would want to raze the city. I don’t see how they gain from that, power wise. Tan is like, hold on to your hat, Juliette! It’s almost time to knock this place down! And I’m like sir, your house is there.
Nichole: I don’t know. It doesn’t make sense, but I have to assume it will eventually.
Natalie: Perhaps next week, then.
Nichole: I can’t wait!