01x09 - Isolation

[bunniefuu]

Previously on
Kung Fu...

You are a descendant of Liang Daiyu,

the first woman warrior.

It was said that one member
of every generation

would be chosen to wield the sword.

Auntie Mei-Xue.

This is everything
I know about my sister.

It's yours.

You shut me out.

You betrayed my trust.

I'm sorry, Jin.

A dried plum blossom.

My sister's favorite flower.

You know, she pressed them
in between her school books?

- This?
- I don't know.

She sent it with one of her letters.

She would write to us occasionally

just to let us know that she was safe.

Over time,

the letters, they just
stopped making sense.

You have no idea where she is?

No, I have no idea.

I have so many questions.

Like, what was she like?

Nicky...

Look at these letters.

You will see why I never wanted you
to follow her path.

Our last plan
to smoke out Zhilan was a bust.

She has the sword, the dagger.

If your hunch is right, that means
she has a third w*apon, too.

Every day, she gets closer and closer

to unleashing the true power
of the weapons.

Who knows what her plan is
if she collects all eight.

- But if the legend is true...
- She'll be unstoppable.

We have to get ahead of her.

Your aunt's one of
the only people we know

who actually went looking
for the weapons.

Henry, if we can find her,
and actually talk to her...

Yeah, but your mom said
the letters stopped coming.

You don't even know if she's alive.

I know.

But I have to try.

It's my aunt and my family.

I can feel it.

This is the last one.

Forwarded to my mom by my...

The last letter Mei-Xue sent home.

And according to my mom,

she sent it with
this red panda figurine,

whatever that means.

She writes affectionately
about an old buddy.

Had to read the letter twice to realize
she's talking about her fringe jacket.

Fringe jacket?

What?

When we started
running out of scholarly texts,

I started looking at
more obscure sources.

Reddit, couple of treasure hunting
boards I found...

Conspiracy sites?

Conspiracy-adjacent.

Anyway, most of it was nonsense,

but I did find some old enquiries
posted by Professor Chau.

He was asking about
a mysterious woman in fringe

who he believed was after the weapons
in the '80s and '90s,

rumored to be a loner
and a fierce brawler.

Now the only details
I managed to find on her...

an Asian woman
who wore a green fringe coat.

Anything else?

A name. I'm guessing it's an alias.

Sandra Yang.

You're back.

You've, um, started the lunch prep?

I'm almost done.

Jin, should we talk?

I need time, Mei-Li.

You kept secrets from me
for decades about you,

your sister, Nicky.

I kept secrets, too, but I need time.

Of course, Jin.

Was it painful?

Braces on my legs, my back,

all through childhood.

Exploratory surgeries,

leg extensions, spinal correction,

rehab for years.

Pain is a constant for me.

No beginning. No end.

Is that what drives you now?

The source of all this anger?

Enduring pain.

It's what honed my strength.

My anger comes from elsewhere.

Betrayal.

Tell me, Kerwin.

What do you know of betrayal?

We should get back to the scroll.

And this?

Car accident.

Alas, no story there.

So my friend at DHS did me a favor,

pulled records for a Sandra Yang.

The last hit was 20 years ago.

She entered Canada through Vancouver.

And then after that, nothing.
She disappeared.

Okay, what was the exact date?

December 2nd, 2000. Why?

Mei-Xue's last letter.

It was just a few weeks later.

There's got to be something in here.

"The red panda, a sign, a sentinel,
I believe my journey ends here."

What are you looking up?

Red pandas aren't native to Canada.

Just searching for a connection.

"Roadside curiosities of North America."

Nash Creek,
small town in British Columbia.

They have a large red panda statue
on the edge of town.

- What?
- Same design.

She must have sent it from Nash Creek.

Mei-Xue was there.

I have to go.

Nicky.

I'm coming.

What about your classes?

I can reschedule.

And you and I can take turns.

I'll study while you drive.

I'll come, too.

Don't you have work?

Actually, I banked some vacation time.

I was heading up to Mount Hood
for some climbing, but I'm free.

What about your girlfriend?

Sabine's, uh... busy.

Alternating drivers,
we'd never have to stop to sleep.

Time for a road trip.

I don't like this, Nicky.

Mama, it's just Canada.

Auntie Mei-Xue is the only person
who understands what I'm going through.

And what it means
to carry this birthright.

If this is my path,

I need to know what she knows.

I need to know what happened to her.

Don't you?

Of course.

Ever since she's left,
I've wanted to know,

but it's been so long, Nicky.

And what if...

Sometimes, not knowing hurts less.

This document is hundreds of years old.

It chronicles
the eight guardian families,

those entrusted with the weapons
until they're needed again.

According to this section
on the battle axe,

the original guardian, Wang Yezi,

was given refuge by a religious leader
in Kengtung.

Modern day Myanmar.

We need more information on this w*apon.

This isn't quite enough to go on.

I know that you two have tension.

But perhaps your father knows something?

Out of the question.

We'll find another way.

I kept my end of the deal
by translating the scroll.

I did not come this far
to be stonewalled!

I'm not asking him for help.

Did he do this to you?

Hey.

- Hey.
- So what's the plan?

Take it in turns, only stop
to refuel and stretch,

we could make it to Nash Creek in a day.

- I'll take the first leg.
- Great.

You take the front.

You sure? You need more legroom.

Yeah, I'm good.

Well, here we go.

Women in tech seminar.
I'm proud of you.

It's been a while since
you've done something like this.

Longer than a while.

When I was working full-time,

I always turned down
invitations like this.

What changed?

I want to give back, and I want to get
back in the game after the wedding.

It'll be good to get my feet wet.

Okay, Ryan. Students are coming.

What's with the loitering?

I'm bored.

Still on reduced hours at the clinic.

Joe's at a criminal justice conference
in Chicago.

Can't I stay and watch?

N-O. I'm starting to get nervous.

A little advice from the land
of experienced coupledom?

When Dennis is out of town,
I catch up on reality TV,

I eat kimchi and curry,

I wear sweats.

It's heaven.

I get to rule my space again.

So, Joe's out of town.

Enjoy it.

Althea, hi. My name's Courtney.

I'm a huge fan.

Oh, thank you.

You're just such a pioneer.

I'm dying to hear everything
you have to say.

Like, what are your thoughts on the move
from relational databases?

- We've moved on?
- Yeah, I mean,

these days, it's all about Mongo.

- Oh, Mongo?
- I know.

The default to binary collation
is the worst.

And good luck collating
diacritics with Mongo.

I'll let you get to it.

Hi!

Are you sleepy? I can take over again.

Oh, no. I'm wide awake.

Let's let Nicky sleep.

Right. And it's my job
to keep you awake.

Won't that wake Nicky up?

Not a chance.

Pulled enough car trips with her,
she'll sleep through anything.

Saw that.

You saw nothing.

One night, he sat me,

my brother, and my sister down
at our Hong Kong estate.

He assigned us numbers.

A type of ranking

for how useful we'd been to him.

He gave me a three.

The least useful.

He spent my entire childhood

molding me into a perfect son.

The ideal copy of him.

But that night,
he said I failed to push back,

that he wanted me
to find myself in resistance to him.

Just a sadistic little test.

A test I failed.

So, I got drunk,

drove off the estate in a rage,

and plowed my car right into a tree.

This hand

got crushed between the steering wheel
and the door frame.

Never been quite the same hand.

Yet I was glad,

because I thought,

"Not him anymore...

I'm me.

Me.

Ready to resist."

I'm here working with you
for one reason,

and that's to see the look in his face

when he realizes I did the one thing
he failed to achieve.

You're closer than you think.

Perhaps it's time

for both of us

to put all our cards on the table.

Now, Kerwin,

what haven't you been telling me?

This was it.

The red panda was right here.

Guess this is why nobody answered
when we called from the road.

We can head to the local sheriff's
office, ask about a Sandra Yang.

Or go to the Hall of Public Records,
see if her name pops up.

She was here.

Uh, Nicky?

Give her a moment.

Once she gets that look on her face,
she has a way

of finding the right path.

Hi. We were hoping you could help us.
We're looking for someone.

This red panda
is the same one on your sign.

Panda? Always thought it was a cat.

Well, my aunt sent it years ago,
I think, from this town.

She might even still live here.

Asian, she might be about 60 now,
maybe wearing a fringe jacket.

Sorry, Dimples.

You're the first Asian folk
I've seen all year.

Mostly White and First Nations
living up here,

and tourism ain't what it used to be.

We'll have a round of beers.
And one for yourself.

- Sure thing, honey.
- So this panda,

we were thinking it might have
come from Creek Carvings,

but it looks like they closed down.

One of many.

- Town's dying.
- Sorry to hear that.

It's beautiful up here.

Funny when people say that.

Grew up here my whole life,

always wanted to leave.

See that guy over there in the vest?

That's Hank.

His dad, Duke, used to own this place
and the shop across the street.

He might be able to help you.

But he probably won't.

Thank you.

I'm surprised you reached out.

I kinda tanked that presentation.

What? No.

Who cares? You're obviously brilliant.

Anyhow, I wanted to pick your brain.

I've been getting some offers.

The bigger firms are offering
very competitive packages

and some VC-backed startups,

like one from Chase Matheson.

Chase?

I know you worked at Cloud Rush,
thought I'd take your temperature.

But, I'm guessing
it was a bad experience?

No. No.

Well...

Look, Court,

you're obviously a rock star.

You should be somewhere
where you can express yourself.

Somewhere where you can
pursue your inspiration.

I'm sure Chase promised you the moon,
but he...

micromanages.

You need somewhere
where you can flourish,

and I just don't see that for you there.

Okay. I guess it's off my list.

Mind if I ask you a question?

Hey, that's a nice pool cue.
Is that a custom?

It's about Duke.

He's your dad, right?

He was.

So, he's gone?

He's not dead.

He's dead to me.

Sorry to bring up a sore subject.

It's just I've come a long way

and if I could just talk to him
even for a minute...

I doubt he'll have much to say.

He shut us all out.

I'll take my chances.

Hey.

Can't you take a hint?
He doesn't want to talk about it.

And besides, you're
interrupting our game, so piss off.

Hey, come on, man.
There's no need for...

Come on, Hank!

Henry, watch out!

Call off your boys.

Why? This is the most fun
I've had all day!

Hey! Whoa, whoa, whoa!
I paid a fortune for that.

We didn't come here to fight.

All we want is your dad's address.

It's a couple of miles out of town.
End of Briar Lane.

Thanks.

Come on.

Hmm. What's going on here?

Uh...

Took your advice.

Taking some me time.

So, you're eating your feelings
while you wait for the spin cycle.

You told me to take advantage
of Joe being out of town,

sow my oats, do what I want.

Well, catching up on laundry,
looting Baba's Mint Chip

is what I want to do.

That's all?
Sounds pretty innocent to me.

And...

I'm going to catch up on
Love After Lockup.

- Mmm.
- Joe hates reality TV.

- Don't tell him.
- Your secret's safe.

Why're you here?

I'm here to raid
Nicky's calligraphy set.

I want to do some
mock-ups on place cards

before I commit to stationery.

Don't tell Nicky.

Althea.

Althea.

Hey.

Are you okay?

Definitely not okay.

Your father has three weapons.

Yes. The deer horn knives,
the crossbow and the short sword.

It took him 30 years to get them all.

Three weapons took you what,
a few months?

It's impressive.

Three weapons won't bring forth biange.

Well...

my father's weapons
won't be easy to obtain.

But, when the time is right,
consider them ours.

Why is biange so important to you?

Biange defeated armies,

changed history.

That kind of power,

to shape the future however I see fit.

With that,
no one will ever betray me again.

Two weapons left.

Two weapons we need to get
before your father does.

And no idea where to find them.

My father has been pouring
considerable resources

into an archaeological dig in Myanmar.

I always suspected
it was a weapons operation,

and when you mentioned Kengtung...

The dig

is a recently discovered religious site
close to the Temple of Dhammayangyi.

I will not reach out to him.

I won't ask him for help.

But...

What are you proposing, Kerwin?

We take a little trip to Myanmar.

We steal the axe.

It'll be especially satisfying,

taking it right out
from underneath his nose.

I thought I could live with it.

But if I keep silent,
Courtney takes this job and...

it could all happen again.

I have to break the NDA.

I have to tell her the truth and
somehow, I have to come forward.

This can't happen again.

Not to anyone.

But first...

I have to tell Dennis.

Anyone else clocking
the creepy axe m*rder*r vibes, or...

It's just rustic.

Not that different
from my family's cabin.

Oh, right, the cabin.

I don't think there's anyone inside.

Should we look around?

Yeah, I'll check the back.

Hello?

Mei-Xue?

Turn around real slow.

Who are you?
What are you doing on my property?

My name's Nicky Shen.
I just wanna talk, Duke.

How do you know my name?

Your son, he gave me your address.

My son's an ingrate.

Probably just screwing with you,
or screwing with me.

Look, I just...

I wanna show you something.

But I have to reach into my pocket.

Slow.

You carved this.

It belonged to my aunt Mei-Xue.

She also went by Sandra Yang.

That's her, isn't it?

- Get back!
- Hey. Whoa, whoa!

Get back!

Hey, calm down.

We're unarmed. Just put that down.

What is this?

You didn't tell me
that you brought friends.

- Go back to the car.
- Nicky...

I've got this.

Duke's not gonna hurt me.

We're just gonna talk, right?

It's okay.

Promise.

Sorry. My friends are protective.

Sandra always told me
that there were people after her,

one day they'd come looking.

How do I know
that you're not one of them?

I just wanna talk to her, I swear.

She's my mom's sister.

Prove it.

Prove that you mean her no harm.
Prove it that you knew her.

I didn't.

That's why I need to find her.

I'm not talking anymore
without more to go on.

You better get off my property.

Look, wait, wait. I can prove it.

Nicky? Are you okay?

Did something happen?

No. I'm fine, Mama. I just...

I think I have a lead
for Auntie Mei-Xue.

But it would help
if I knew more about her.

I don't know what else to tell you.
I gave you everything I had.

I need to know about her.

What did she look like?

She looked... beautiful.

Even when she was mad,
her eyes were kind.

She always looked out for
everybody else, animals, people.

She was like you.

There was this one time
when this boy was picking up my bag

and he threw me down onto the road
and this car almost hit me,

but Mei-Xue was there
and she stood right in front of me,

and she put out her hand
and the car stopped.

She risked her life for me.

Oh, Mama.

She was my hero.

- Mama, thank you. I'll call you later.
- Be safe.

- Hey.
- Hey. Uh...

Duke?

Sounded like Sandra, all right.

One day I was setting some rabbit snares
a few kilometers up in the snow area.

And this embankment I was standing on
gave way.

And then I just started rag dolling
my way down the slope,

bashing my head off rocks
all the way to the bottom.

And then when I came to, she found me.

She started a fire and built a splint
for my broken leg and a makeshift sled.

And then she dragged my dead weight
all the way back here.

Did you ever see her again?

Yeah.
She'd come and visit me on occasion.

She never did tell me
exactly where she lived though.

She never let me get too close.

She never said who she was running from?

Nope.

She told me to never go up there
and look for her.

But I couldn't help myself.

I went looking for her.

And I felt like I was
getting real close to her cabin

and then she found me.

It was the last I've seen of her.

How long ago was that?

Four years, one month.

I need to find her.

Told you, I don't know
exactly where she lives.

You got closer than anyone.

You go straight through the woods
about a kilometer,

and you'll hit the creek,

and you follow that
five kilometers west.

And there's a gap in the hills
to the north,

her cabin's up there someplace.

Thank you.

You want a word of advice?

If she sees you coming over the hill
with your two friends,

she will spook.

Don't think
you'll ever find her that way.

Did you hear that?

Hello! Hello!

Where'd she go?

What?

Where did she go?

I gave her some supplies.

She headed off into the woods.

She told me to tell you.

She said if she told you herself,
you'd just try and stop her.

She's gone.

We're not going after her.

Look, I'm worried, too.

But Nicky has made her decision,
she can handle herself.

In the cold? In the woods
with half-assed directions alone?

Yes.

We used to go camping all the time.

She's a better outdoorsman than I am.

She's certainly
more experienced than you.

If we don't hear from her
by the morning,

we call in help,
we go looking ourselves.

For now...

We have to trust her.

Yeah.

Gap in the hills.

There's plenty of space back here.

It doesn't have to be weird.

- I'm fine.
- Suit yourself.

It's only gonna get colder.

I, uh... I never thanked you
for that assist back at the bar.

Technically, you still haven't.

I'm kidding.

And I'm sure you had him.

Still.

Thanks.

No problem.

You ever notice whenever we help Nicky
on these adventures,

they always turn out like this?

You mean she always ends up
doing what she thinks is right?

Even if it means going alone?

Mmm-hmm.
I guess we should've seen this coming.

Can I tell you something?

Sure.

You asked me
why I was free this weekend.

I was leaving the city to clear my head.

Sabine and I, we, uh... broke up.

Oh, I'm sorry.

Does Nicky know?

You know, after everything
she's been going through,

it hasn't really been a
right time to tell her, you know.

Yeah, I get that.

Look, I know you and Nicky are, um...

It's okay, man.

We don't have to go there.

Besides, we both know it doesn't matter
what either of us do,

or what we feel.

- In the end...
- Nicky will choose.

A trap. You're hurt.

Okay, I'm not gonna hurt you.

Easy.

Okay, easy. Easy.

Dried plum blossom.
My sister's favorite flower.

Ka-Yi.

Mama and Mei-Xue.

She kept this photo all this time.

She missed her sister.

What is it?

I can feel it.

This is what I was meant to find.

I've learned so much
in my pursuit of the sword,

though I never found the sword itself.

I learned more than I needed

about the terrifying, corrupting power
of the eight weapons.

In the wrong hands

they could unleash biange,

and those hands could
bend the world to their will.

With what I know,
isolation became my only choice,

to stay here unfound
to keep my secret safe.

Myjourney had to end.

But if you're listening to this,
yours has just begun.

Who buried you?

Uh...

That's not what it looks like.

Hmm. Sure.

Glad you made it back.

Did you find her?

She's gone.

Are you okay?

I'm okay.

Did you find what you were looking for?

Yeah, I did.

Took off in the dark

Thought the thrill was gone

Didn't get too far

I know that something's wrong

Every generation,
one in our line will be compelled.

Drawn to the sword.

This journey is now yours.

Now I feel it is important to preserve
the lessons I've learned,

so you don't make
the same mistakes I did.

Don't carry your burdens alone,
as I had to do.

Hold on to these connections.
Savor them.

Let them in.

Connection. This is what life is for.

Take it from me, young one.

You'll never forget the people you love.

My deepest regret
is fighting this battle alone.