A little more than three years ago, Nicky’s mom sent her to China’s Yunnan Province under the ruse of a “cultural tour.” Turns out, it was actually a matchmaking tour, intended to help Nicky find a Chinese husband.
So, Nicky ran, and she was taken in by Pei-Ling, the shifu (master) of a Shaolin monastery.
Pei-Ling became Nicky’s mentor and guide. She taught Nicky (and the other women taking shelter at the monastery) Shaolin kung fu, helping them each to forge her own path.
But that all changed one night when raiders attacked the monastery. The raiders’ leader (and coincidentally, Pei-Ling’s sister), Zhilan, killed Pei-Ling for the sword of Liang Daiyu,a woman of Chinese legend who defended her entire village against raiders while the men were off at war—and, as it so happens, an ancestor of Nicky’s. With nowhere else to turn, Nicky returned home to San Francisco to find a way to track down Zhilan and avenge her shifu.
Upon her return, Nicky found other battles to be fought. Her dad and sister, Althea, were delighted to see her. Her mom and brother, Ryan, not so much.
For Ryan, it was more the fact that she was the only person who knew he was gay, and he felt abandoned. But her mom’s reasons were a more complex. She was angry that her daughter was so ungrateful about the sacrifices she made. She was also sad because she hadn’t heard from Nicky for three years: It made her feel like Nicky had died.
Eventually, Nicky proved herself to her family and reconciled their differences. What’s more, she managed to stop Zhilan’s nefarious plot. And in the end, rather than kill Zhilan to avenge Pei-Ling, she simply arrested the woman.
But it’s been six months since Nicky defeated Zhilan, and things feel a little too peaceful. Because even though she can rest assured that Zhilan is stuck in prison, Russell Tan (another pursuer of the sorcerer’s weapons) got away. Only now he’s after something of Nicky’s—something she never even knew she had but apparently is the key to the lost magic of the sorcerer—her cousin.
Very loosely based on the 1970s show of the same name (starring David Carradine), Kung Fu comes with the violence that you would expect from any martial arts-themed show. Occasionally we see blood and people die at the hands of bad guys. But for the most part, Nicky doles out justice without permanently harming anyone.
God’s name is misused a few times, and there are a few other mild curse words. The show is largely free of visual sexual content, but it’s clear that some couples are sleeping together behind the scenes. We also encounter same-sex attracted characters.
Audiences also get an interesting peak into Chinese culture, which occasionally brings up myths and legends (not to mention some discussion about prejudices against people of Asian heritage).
And of course, those myths and legends often turn out to be true. When Nicky first sees the Sword of Liang Daiyu, it glows. Eventually, she gains the power of the sword, known as “biange,” and returns that power to the Earth after discovering it can only lead to chaos and destruction, even in the right hands.
Some families will want to avoid Kung Fu because of the violence and mythology. But for others, it could be a way of showing the “warrior woman” from a new cultural perspective.
Nicky and her family try to resume normal lives while waiting for Russell Tan to make his next move. And they’re shocked when he attempts to kidnap a cousin they never knew they had.
There are several martial arts battles. And though weapons are occasionally drawn and fired, nobody is mortally wounded. (Although one of Nicky’s friends gets a nasty cut on his head.) Zhilan is beaten up in prison after a guard purposely allows several women into her cell to rob her. We see flashbacks of Zhilan killing her sister and her boyfriend. Mia, Nicky’s long-lost cousin, reveals that her friends were murdered in Tan’s first attempt to kidnap her.
Zhilan meets the ghost of her sister, who says it’s time for Zhilan to face everything she’s done. Ryan speculates that Nicky has superpowers from her contact with biange. Nicky finds she is able to sense Mia’s presence because of their relation.
Characters talk about “spending the night,” and one man is “sex shamed” for his recent string of lovers. A couple kisses. We see a shirtless man in hospice care. A woman wears a midriff baring top.
People drink alcohol. (Nicky notes that she doesn’t drink alcohol but she does give it.) We hear a single use of “h—.” Illegal activity includes stealing, hacking, and breaking and entering. A woman explains how Manila Town was overrun by gentrification and government corruption. We learn Mia was raised all alone in a cabin until she ran away at 16.
After the monastery where she’s been studying kung fu is attacked, Nicky returns home to San Francisco to mend bonds with her family.
A monastery is set on fire by raiders. Women studying there fight back with kung fu, but a few die. One woman is killed with a sword. Nicky gets a nasty cut from the sword and is thrown off a cliff by the wielder, but she manages to catch herself and climb back up.
Nicky’s dad has a black eye when she first sees him, and she later finds him beaten up and bleeding in an alley. Nicky and her friend fight against thugs carrying weapons. Later, she takes down several other bad guys and knocks one unconscious with a metal pole. A family receives a death threat.
Ryan expresses displeasure at Nicky’s return because he is afraid she’ll leave again. He says he told their parents he was gay but that they were in denial. A couple kisses at their wedding.
We learn about a Chinese legend involving swords enchanted by a sorcerer. Chinese figures are burned into Nicky’s hand when she touches one of these swords. A girl says a fortune teller is coming to her wedding.
Nicky and her mom argue about why she ran away. Nicky imagines conversations with her dead shifu, but it appears these are only in her head. People drink alcohol. People lie. We hear about racial prejudice. We hear a few misuses of God’s name.
Emily studied film and writing when she was in college. And when she isn’t being way too competitive while playing board games, she enjoys food, sleep, and geeking out with her husband indulging in their “nerdoms,” which is the collective fan cultures of everything they love, such as Star Wars, Star Trek, Stargate and Lord of the Rings.
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