Kung Fu season 3, episode 10 was an Althea-heavy adventure that left plenty of room for the whole cast to shine. Read on for our review of “Alias.”
When we pick up in “Alias,” Nicky may be physically in prison, but she is mentally in her mind-palace solving all of her problems with imaginary Pei-Ling. Meanwhile, the Shens are fretting at home and emptying piggy banks to raise $250,000 for bail. Luckily, Dennis screams money and his wealthy parents are eager to prove they should be a part of his life.
Related: ‘Kung Fu’ season 3, episode 9 in conversation: Bad times afoot in the private penal system
With Nicky out of prison but stuck on house arrest, the gang cooks up a scheme to try to get the incriminating algorithm from Delta Security. Only Althea has the means to navigate a tricky house party for wealthy investors and steal the data, but she does get a helping hand from our girl, Zhilan, resulting in what might be the best, most-unlikely team up of the entire series. In this episode we learn that Nicky is finally able to bear sitting on the sidelines and relying on the rest of the gang entirely, that Althea might be too good at lying and that Henry and Zhilan make a great team. And of course, to never trust a villain. About anything. Also, we finally get an implied family breakfast for Zhilan!
The official synopsis of “Alias” reads:
FORGIVENESS — With her world crashing down around her, Nicky (Olivia Liang) is forced to reevaluate her recent actions in order to move forward. Althea (Shannon Dang) goes undercover to gain more information about Delta Securities, and Henry (Eddie Liu) and Zhilan (Yvonne Chapman) follow a lead regarding Xiao’s whereabouts. Tiffany Frances directed the episode written by Brian Anthony.
Catch up on our conversation recaps or read on for our chat about Kung Fu season 3, episode 10 “Alias.”
‘Kung Fu’ season 3, episode 10 review in conversation
Natalie: So, kicking off Nicky’s short stay in jail – you called it. Pei-Ling in the mind palace.
Nichole: Yessss. I loved the “meadowverse,” as I think Olivia called it.
Natalie: I think I’m a bit like… “Hmmm, what!” With her having her Pei-Ling fantasies when Pei-Ling is alive. It’s like, do you truly care more about her as a person, or the version you built inside your head?
Nichole: I was of two minds about that.
Natalie: Not just the logistics of it – more the perception, you know?
Nichole: I think it was a little bit different because Pei-Ling is alive, but not really accessible even if she was standing right in front of her. So it makes some sense for Nicky to revert back to calling on her inner-Pei-Ling to help guide her through things.
Natalie: I suppose a mean part of me is like, she’s going to get upset when weak human Pei-Ling never lives up to the version she constructed while Pei-Ling was dead. This is the worst-faith take on it, I know, but I’m sensitive to people perceiving people as, you know, not the truth of them but a version they made up.
Nichole: Yeah, I totally get that and I think if she was having this vision while the real Pei-Ling was, like, having dinner with the fam, I think you’d have a solid point, but, in a way, right now, she’s in the same position she was when she first came home and she was seeing her Pei-Ling visions. So I think this is more her going back to her roots and trying to really focus on what Pei-Ling has taught her.
Natalie: I absolutely agree and I know that’s what the show means. I am just weirdly being like, “Wow let’s make it angsty.”
Nichole: Sometimes you gotta.
Natalie: Pei-Ling kicked her out of her escapism pretty fast, though! I feel like she could have gotten a couple of days of rest there.
Nichole: Yeah, she was like, “Nice to see you, glad you like it here, get the fuck out.”
Natalie: I liked the line “One must not mistake stasis for peace.”
Nichole: Pei-Ling was dropping nuggets left and right!
Natalie: But it still felt absurdly fast. Got to move the episode along… unless of course it’s Xiao still up in her business inside her brain, actively sabotaging her healing.
Nichole: Oh boy. I do not like that idea, but I don’t think that is what’s happening. I think it was what it seemed with no sneaky hidden sabotage.
Natalie: No, probably not. But you know. The angst.
Nichole: Sometimes it’s just meadows and mind-palaces.
Natalie: Perhaps. Nicky coming to terms with things and moving on still felt very fast. I wonder if the whole violent anger thing will come up again when she eventually sees Bo. The amount of trauma that she felt over her own behavior, I feel like that can’t be done. Do you?
Nichole: I don’t think she’s done processing it, but I don’t think she’ll be angry or violent when she sees him. I think it will be hard though, I don’t think it will be meadows and mind-palaces then.
Natalie: Do you think she has to apologize?
Nichole: That’s a great question. I don’t know that we can really say she knows the full story yet. She may have an idea that everything wasn’t quite how it seemed, but I don’t think she really knows that he wasn’t as complicit as she thought. So, I don’t know, I think they have to clear the air and she maybe has to admit that she crossed her own boundaries, but I don’t know if that means a straight up apology. In the end he is a bit culpable even if he was being played. So…I don’t know. I’m not even sure what I want.
Natalie: No. He’s out of the way for now, but I guess we will have to deal with him sooner or later. Now, from the preview we vaguely knew Nicky would be under house arrest, but did you think she’d be home helping to make plans quite so early in the episode?
Nichole: I thought she probably would be. It was pretty clear we were going to have an Althea-heavy episode and so it seemed like Nicky would need to be in on the front end of that. I mean, I guess there were a million ways they could have done it, but I had the feeling we were going to get the jail business out of the way relatively quickly.
Natalie: I guess so. But while Nicky is living her sparkly meadow dreams, the family is pretty frantic at home.
Nichole: They are so sad.
Natalie: I’d like to announce that I am officially UGH about the Soong parental situation regarding the rapist and am going to pretend that this was sorted off screen and Dennis’s estrangement was just him being a weird brat. But their presence later in the episode made for… a magical moment. So we’re going to roll with it
Nichole: Yes, I was pretty much like, “Okay, I accept it, please continue to deliver this content to me.”
Natalie: Nadia and Evan seem to be doing well navigating The System.
Nichole: Too well.
Natalie: You really think it’s “too well?” This is more for the end of the episode but they’re able to work as a united front – I guess Evan as Nicky’s lawyer, with an in at the DA. You think the ending spells trouble?
Nichole: Well, I just wonder if they can really get away with all the stuff they’ve been doing with no consequences. I mean, I’d love it! Please, let them get away with it! But I’m worried.
Natalie: Look, for now just be happy they got Nicky out of jail with a little help from the Soongs. Not sure what it means when you are out on bail like that – waiting to be charged, is it? She’s waiting for her trial?
Nichole: Waiting for the trial, I think.
Natalie: Yeah, alright. Well, I liked how she was all geared up to figure her way out… Then is startled by the ease of her release.
Nichole: That was very funny. I think it was an interesting way to bring Nicky back down to earth. Like, she’s ready to take charge, but really it shows how her whole team has to work together. It’s not just about her.
Natalie: I mean she JUST said, in the mind meadow, that it was wrong of her to charge ahead and try fix it all in a day. But this episode is definitely all about the teamwork and Nicky not really being able to take the lead on any front. Not as the ideas person, not as the fighter. She just has to sit there and stress out about it really. Obviously she’s involved, but she’s a bit hobbled.
Nichole: It was a very new experience for her! She handled it pretty well though.
Natalie: She did. I don’t think she was particularly edgy about that element, just the lack of control for someone defenseless like Althea.
Nichole: Yeah. She didn’t like having to put her in danger.
Natalie: I did think it was a bit funny that they were in the kitchen…
Nichole: At the kids’ table planning a heist!
Natalie: Planning like, a heist, while the parents were in the formal lounge having tea…
Nichole: Jinx!
Natalie: Is now a good time to talk about the fact this was one of the funniest episodes ever? Not even the plot, which had its moments…
Nichole: I was on the floor.
Natalie: But something about the performances, there was a naturalistic quality to some reactions that was next level good. “I scream money” being one.
Nichole: Oh my god. Perfection.
Natalie: Poor little rich Dennis. “What, I do…” Please. This man.
Nichole: My hero.
Natalie: Althea being like, “I’m the only one who can do this…. oh, God!” Like the determination and then the, “SHIT, this sucks…” then Ryan’s suggestion and Dennis’s mirrored “oh God…” Such a good group scene!
Nichole: You’d think it was perfect, but then there’s the next scene.
Natalie: I truly didn’t know I needed this from Kung Fu.
Nichole: It was everything I ever wanted when someone finds out about what is going on. Like, someone finally noticing THINGS ARE WEIRD…
Natalie: And Dennis.. he’s so bad at being forceful. The fact he walks in there and is like we need to make an investment! Half a million please. Like maybe Dad will hand it over, no questions asked.
Nichole: Not enough and then too much. Everything about it was perfect. Mei-Li…
Natalie: And then when they’re like… it’s interesting, the dad is not like hard no, he’s like… “Hmm, my son wants to make a business investment. I suppose I could look into it.” The fact that they’re so rich that it’s a sort of reasonable maybe is wild. But then when Dennis says they will lose every penny and he tries to explain that Delta is doing illegal stuff and hurting people… Oh man, he’s trying. And then being like “We need the money to go undercover and steal evidence.” These normal rich people are so shocked.
Nichole: Finally though! Someone is shocked!
Natalie: Diana being like, did you KNOW about this? Mei-Li and Jin, so awkward. “We.. er.. we… hmm.”
Nichole: Seeing them so wrong-footed about it was so good. Like, they’ve been so supportive and they’re such pillars for the kids in a lot of ways, so seeing them trying to explain it to these people they already feel a little weird with. God. It was brilliant.
Natalie: It was so funny. So, so so funny. “Yeah. That.” Just magical.
Nichole: Truly.
Natalie: AND THEY GIVE THEM THE MONEY.
Nichole: Just how rich are they???
Natalie: Rich enough not to miss either 750,000 or 3 million. Half a million for Delta, then I’m unsure if they paid Nicky’s whole bail of 2.5 million, or just the deposit of 250,000.
Nichole: I think they only had to pay the deposit. You just pay the rest if she runs.
Natalie: Jesus.
Nichole: I guess they scream money.
Natalie: They do. One final point about the Soongs. We haven’t heard about Carrie or Harmony in a while. How would you feel about Mei-Li pulling out of the corporate investment and just getting some money from the Soongs as silent partners. They seem to be fine with giving money away. Dennis and Althea being like “Actually we want to invest in this place properly, money please!” And Dennis becomes like, the restaurant’s business manager?
Nichole: I don’t hate it. The Soongs should be using all that money for good!
Natalie: I just wondered if it might be a possibility.
Nichole: It feels a bit too easy.
Natalie: Maybe? I really have no idea where Harmony is going, but if Dennis is back on “money please” terms… Let’s see.
Nichole: I feel like there are a lot of issues to wrap up and not a lot of episodes.
Natalie: Well, a big question is, have we already wrapped one this week? Let’s revisit at the end. In the meantime, get out of the way everyone, Zhilan’s back and she’s got a new coat.
Nichole: So happy to have our angry kitten back.
Natalie: I’d like to give her a shout out for correctly pronouncing Canberra.
Nichole: Ha! You are uniquely positioned to give that shout out.
Natalie: But what the fuck Xiao was hunting in Canberra is a mystery to me because it’s an extremely new city. Maybe some artifact in the ground, given the end of the episode. Or not an artifact, a natural source of something. Anyway, Zhilan creeping in and interrupting them was enjoyable to me, and I liked that they were quite gentle and patient with her. They didn’t criticize her even when she admits she’s stuck. She was expecting harsher.
Nichole: I really like how having Zhilan on the team isn’t just a given now. There is still this learning curve of how to deal with each other. And Zhilan is still her prickly self.
Natalie: I think it may be a given after this episode? But yeah, I really enjoy Zhilan being not evil, just blunt. Sometimes that’s just someone’s personality.
Nichole: Yes. She’s honestly so much fun.
Natalie: Mean people who do good always are. At least in fiction.
Nichole: LOL. Yes.
Natalie: So when the boys are pulling together a fake paper trail for Althea as Madeline Jung of Icarus (they’re all pretty good at that!) they discover the existence of a Wheeler brother, Matthew. What were your first thoughts about this? Because I had some, but I was wrong.
Nichole: I don’t remember what my first thoughts were exactly. I was surprised it veered so quickly into sibling rivalry.
Natalie: Basically, what they lay out — that the theory is Matthew is the true architect — I believed. But I thought Althea’s assessment of jealousy and bitterness was going to be wrong. I thought they’d get there and that idea would fall apart, and it would turn out that Matthew was the sinister type of silent partner. That David was his performing monkey.
Nichole: Oh, interesting.
Natalie: Yeah, I expected him to be worse than David, power-wise. However, that’s not what happened. Althea was right. He was a miserable incel doormat.
Nichole: Right. I was going to say he was just a terrible misanthrope, but your description is much better.
Natalie: More on him later. What did you think about Dennis and then Nicky being so reluctant to let Althea go and the way Nicky talks about it?
Nichole: I feel like they have a point!
Natalie: It’s a tough one, like respecting her autonomy while also being realistic about her level of self defense.
Nichole: Yeah. I think it is fair for Nicky to be nervous about putting Althea in danger without any way to protect her. But I am also glad that they all got on board.
Natalie: I liked when Althea said, “Trust me, the way we always trust you,” because the self defense element is one thing, but there are other ways to get out of a bind and Nicky did have the danger of veering into like… invalidating her autonomy.
Nichole: She did seem like she was moving that direction, but she pulled herself back.
Natalie: She thinks twice when she sees Althea’s disguise though.
Nichole: Althea coming down the stairs in her disguise is so funny. Everyone’s reactions made me laugh out loud. But Dennis continues to be the ultimate wife-guy.
Natalie: He’s got one job and he does it well. One thing that’s unclear to me is if David ever makes Althea. Later in the episode he runs Zhilan’s details, so he knows there’s a con, but he never seems to discover who Althea is. He actually buys it at the start, I think?
Nichole: I think he does buy it at the start. He seems intrigued by her.
Natalie: Even with the terrible cover-up about not hunting. He is like, “Oh a hot young woman with smart ideas!” Men are so stupid.
Nichole: Preach.
Natalie: Like I said, I didn’t expect the Matthew assessment to be true, but it is. He’s naturally anti-social but also bitter about not having any credit on the company. It sounds like David has been the person to do all the PR and meet investors and all. In another world this would be a very good partnership. The resentment is weird to me. Do you want attention or not? What was your take on this very, well, childish argument Althea overhears, and then how she gets in with Matt?
Nichole: The argument made me wonder how the company has made it this far! Like, is Matthew always hanging around in the background being so obviously angry and resentful? But I did love how Althea exploited it.
Natalie: I wasn’t expecting it to become crushy.
Nichole: I was not either! But, as previously mentioned — men.
Natalie: I mean it’s so gross.
Nichole: The assumptions!
Natalie: They pull Zhilan off of all her important Henry bonding, in order to show up and make Althea the underdog in a sibling dynamic. Which is a great plan, but the fact that that’s what makes Matthew interested in Madeline… ugh.
Nichole: He is in love with himself.
Natalie: I love Zhilan so much, though. I can’t believe she slapped her. I died.
Nichole: The way I was thinking of you this episode! I don’t think I’ve ever loved Zhilan more. It was so funny and she was so good.
Natalie: She’s the worst and she’s perfect. And she’s doing it all out of the goodness of her heart. Because she does not care about Nicky’s problems. Allegedly.
Nichole: [whispers]…but she does. I really love a scene where we have someone so brutal and badass trying to take it down a notch. Like fighting and not killing people.
Natalie: Matthew feeling sympathy for Madeline in this situation is not inherently evil of him, but it is kind of pathetic. There’s something about it that stops it feeling nice of him.
Nichole: It’s because it is, in this case, more narcissistic than sympathetic. He’s like, I’ve finally found my me to spend my life with.
Natalie: Ew. Althea really turns him into a sucker with flattery. But also, it’s like, if you built the program how did you lose ownership? You let yourself get walked on. You’re not a victim, you’re just an idiot.
Nichole: He says something in the beginning like, I accepted it because there were parts of the job I didn’t want to do. But, yeah, he wants to be the victim.
Natalie: That still should have been a 50/50 negotiation or something! But of course what makes it totally vile is his complete belief in his algorithm for profiling people. We talked about, does David believe this ethically?
Nichole: He just says it out loud!!!
Natalie: I don’t think David cares, actually. But this guy… He’s a megalomaniac or something.
Nichole: He’s the epitome of big tech. Just interested in doing something, not a care about consequences.
Natalie: Or he just hates people and is happy to exploit their behaviour. But at the start of the episode they talk about taking their… not their server, but I guess the programming, off-line and moving it here to this ranch? Taking it off of the server and relocating it? So I guess their little data program thing, what Matthew has, is the main source code on a hard drive or something.
Nichole: Yeah, that was my understanding.
Natalie: We learn that David may have a personal passion for private policing… or at least the money and control it offers. But that Matthew thinks the algorithm can keep growing into a sort of living breathing tapestry of data about all people ever. Just digitizing a map of humanity and using that for whatever industries can profit from it. Such a strange fixation and totally amoral.
Nichole: He really doesn’t care what it is used for.
Natalie: Truly bizarre. And I was shocked as hell when he was like, “Run away with me.” Men!!!! Men will interpret any attention any way they want!
Nichole: Literally no question in his mind that she would just go!
Natalie: I hate it so much!
Nichole: What did you think about how Althea apologized before she kicked him? I think it is also a big part of that whole dynamic he created. Like, where men make wild assumptions about a woman being interested in them and then you have to just make nice until you can find a way to escape.
Natalie: For me it really turned dark when he said her bags were already on the plane.
Nichole: Creepy.
Natalie: I don’t think he would have gotten violent… but you never know. I think her apologizing is also because of that assumption that he’s in earnest — he believes her, he likes her, he hasn’t hurt her, and she’s starting the violence and stealing from him. It doesn’t sit well with her to attack a really creepy “innocent.”
Nichole: Yeah, I agree, I think those are her reasons, but also, I think he was high enough on the creepy scale to get that kick without guilt.
Natalie: Yeah, I mean that sort of “I did nothing wrong, I am a victim” creepiness is a whole thing. David’s ready to straight up murder though. Deeply upset me when he came at Zhilan with a knife. But I did like that she got a fight with a theme song talking about people bowing down to her, legends only etc.
Nichole: YES. I love to see her absolutely destroying.
Natalie: I’m not sure if this question is moot, but what did it say to you, the fact that David Wheeler was so willing and ruthless to disappear Althea and Zhilan, just kill and bury them? I mean this is definitely the guy I want rehabbing petty criminals. But aside from that.
Nichole: Well, it really hammers home that he is not in this business for any altruistic reasons. He doesn’t care about rehab or reducing crime or whatever. It’s money, power, prestige maybe. The prison industrial complex is just a convenient outlet for his scheme.
Natalie: What do you feel about the state of America that the prison industry is one of the most bountiful for profit? Just casually.
Nichole: It is at the root of a lot of what makes America terrible. It is an absolute life ruiner for so many people, especially people of color in the US. It’s wild that we have a system that so demonstrably doesn’t work and yet we continue to funnel money into it. I mean, I say it doesn’t work, but, in fact, it works as intended, it just doesn’t work in terms of what most people think the goal of prison is.
Natalie: I think it clicked for me when I saw something, some numbers, about the cost of imprisoning someone, for a year, or 10, or 30 – the cost to the state, vs the cost of rehabilitating them in the community, even accommodation and all. And it is cheaper to let them out… IF you don’t factor in the profits from their labor.
Nichole: Exactly. And the system sets people up for failure when they are released as well. It’s terrible.
Natalie: Funnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnnn. Maybe Zhilan can kill him a bit.
Nichole: Just a little bit.
Natalie: I want to talk about a small moment that I personally took as very intentional. Maybe not, but I feel it must be. David corners Althea and says you can try the door, it’s locked… But after the scuffle, she just opens that same door and leaves. When Zhilan tells her to save herself. Did you notice that?
Nichole: I didn’t notice it!
Natalie: I went back and checked. The guards didn’t open it. It was unlocked. It was David just saying shit.
Nichole: That’s wild.
Natalie: Bluffing, making people assume the truth. It just made me think about how common it is that people get away with bluffing. It happens a lot – not just in media, in life. People just gambling on being believed.
Nichole: I feel like I need to rewatch now!
Natalie: I guess what I’m saying is, always try the door, even if they tell you it’s locked. And apply that theory to all things in life.
Nichole: I’m going to put my trust in you if we are ever in a life-or-death situation.
Natalie: Don’t believe things just because people tell you it’s true. Even with no sinister intention, always check yourself for mistakes or errors. Assume, ass, u, me, etc.
Nichole: This is very good life advice.
Natalie: That’s what people come to our network TV recaps for.
Nichole: Where else are they going to get it?
Natalie: It just said a lot to me about the psychology of David, and I guess also Althea – that he would try that and she wouldn’t still check. Makes me wonder how far he’s got in life just by telling people stuff.
Nichole: I often wonder what it would be like to be a person who can just tell people stuff without having to bother to be right about it. Do you know what I mean? It must be very liberating to not care if what you are saying is true.
Natalie: Do you think they even think about it from that perspective? I struggle with this. I always assume people believe in what they are saying themselves, even if they’re deluded. But there must be many who don’t.
Nichole: Well, I think it depends. Some people are so deep into the delusion that they think what they are saying is true. And I think some people just say what is expedient and don’t necessarily believe it. They just think it doesn’t matter because the most important thing is getting what they want.
Natalie: Like, sometimes I think about right wing political parties. Not even the psycho ones, the centrist, fake-reasonable ones. And I think about how they put together a platform. And sitting around being like hey, we’re going to try and shill this policy and say this is the best way to help people. When it is obviously something that will hurt people. Do they really believe their idea is the best way to help when it is so obviously not? Especially when it’s about something that is aimed to dupe poor people into supporting them when it hurts them the most.
Nichole: I think I’ve gotten more and more cynical about that situation in particular. I used to think they really believed, for example, trickle down economics, would actually succeed. But now I really believe they KNOW those things won’t help most people, but it WILL help them consolidate their money and power and that is all they care about.
Natalie: And they sit around being like “hahaha how can we trick them into buying this.”
Nichole: It is so hard for me to imagine. I really can’t wrap my head around it. Which I guess they kind of count on. We, as humans, I think, find it hard to believe someone would just straight up lie. Like, we want to find the kernel of truth in what they are saying. Even if we hate what they are saying, we think THEY must believe it.
Natalie: I totally agree. It’s really difficult. Leaving that issue alone for now, I felt awful for Althea, being told to get herself to safety and leave Zhilan behind. It was the right thing, with the algorithm, but it’s pretty crappy to just have to sacrifice a person and I loved her being anxious at home about whether Zhilan was okay.
Nichole: Yes to all of that! It was the right thing for Althea to do (vs. maybe Nicky making a different decision), but I was so relieved when Zhilan walked in the door.
Natalie: “Zhilan, tell Althea you’re fine” may be one of my new favorite moments in the show. Zhilan and Nicky are being so nice to each other now! Thank God.
Nichole: Zhilan was so funny this episode. It really took all the potential in that character and her relationships and showed us every bit of it. It was everything I ever wanted.
Natalie: She even got to eat the hero’s breakfast. Not that we got to see her pull up to the table. They’re punishing me.
Nichole: Why can’t we just see it???
Natalie: I have to assume it’s intentional. Just to fuck with us.
Nichole: Maybe we’ll get it as the final scene.
Natalie: God, I hope so. So a couple of end bits. 1)You’re the new DA of San Francisco and your staffer calls you down to a run-down PI’s office. You’re met with a former employee gone rogue who hands you some deeply suspect evidence. How do YOU react?
Nichole: I guess it depends a bit on how I was already feeling about Delta Security. Did she already have suspicions? I have to think someone in her position wouldn’t like Delta’s obvious overreach? Also, how much does she trust Nadia? I’m saying all of this because I was taken aback by how easy it went and so these are my internal justifications for why it went so well.
Natalie: Do you feel like this is case closed? I feel like there will be some final impact on the election? Also, that hard drive got kicked around a lot.
Nichole: I feel like Delta might have to make one more desperate grab? But, also, not a lot of episodes left, so maybe our focus is on Xiao now and Delta really is a done deal.
Natalie: If they’re caught, and Anthony is free of blackmail, Jin could step down… but who will want Anthony if his public policies seem so wishy washy? We’ll see, I suppose.
Nichole: Yeah, I think you definitely had a point when you said he has proven he doesn’t have the spine for his position.
Natalie: No idea how we’re getting out of that one. So the last part is perhaps the most concerning. We haven’t talked much about Zhilan and Henry hunting Xiao, aside from correct pronunciation of Australian cities. But they do return to tracking her on the map at the end, and it turns out she’s heading for a lithium mine that also has a large store of jyu sa. And when we see her there… well, events occur.
Nichole: Events definitely occur.
Natalie: What are your thoughts on said events?
Nichole: NEVER TRUST A VILLAIN!!!
Natalie: Well, yeah. I wasn’t expecting her to just gut those guys honestly, not when she was seemingly a legitimate (or at least black market) buyer. Just take your rock and go!
Nichole: Okay, first of all, just one tiny flex… When Xiao first shows up she says, “你找到吗?” which I understood without the subtitles so, please take a moment to appreciate all of my hard work for the last two years. LOL. Anyway, I felt pretty bad for those dudes she murders for no reason except they knew too much, I guess. But I actually really loved the scene and especially when she slips into her “true” form. That actress, Jennifer Khoe? She just has a very good face and she is so menacing. I really like her. And I also love when Vanessa is playing Xiao because it’s so different from Pei-Ling. Basically I could probably watch those two all day and be very happy.
Natalie: But… Her face is gone. Does that weapon mean she’s now Jennifer-faced in reality?
Nichole: I think so. But I don’t necessarily think it means Pei-Ling is gone. I think that weapon, or staff, or whatever, is giving her the juice she needs to assume her form. But if they defeat her, my assumption is that Pei-Ling would reemerge.
Natalie: Ass! U! Me!
Nichole: I KNOW! I just have to hold on to a bit of hope.
Natalie: And you’ll get murdered with a pick axe for your pains.
Nichole: What is she up to with that weapon, though? That is the question. Is it just to get her form back? I assume she has other nefarious plans.
Natalie: Truly still zero predictions about her plan. Not one. What does she want from us???
Nichole: I don’t think she likes us very much, to be honest. She is also a terrible misanthrope. Maybe she needs to hang out with Matthew.
Natalie: It’s really not looking good. The question is, what level of power are we talking about here? World oblivion? I don’t get her.
Nichole: I feel like it might be more personal. She doesn’t seem to care much about the world as a whole. But she does seem to hold a grudge. We better find out soon though! Chop, chop! The end is nigh.
Natalie: She’s standing in the way of Zhilan’s family dinner. Bitch better move.