Silence

**Silence** is the second episode of The CW series *Kung Fu*. It premiered on April 14, 2021.

## Synopsis

**FINDING THE QUIET WITHIN** - *When adjusting to life back at home doesn't go as planned, Nicky (Olivia Liang) turns to Henry (Eddie Liu) for help in her hunt for Zhilan (guest star Yvonne Chapman). Meanwhile, as Jin (Tzi Ma) looks forward to life getting back to normal, Mei-Li (Kheng Hua Tan) isn't as optimistic. Finally, after lending a hand to a young woman in need, Nicky finds the mental clarity she desperately needs. Shannon Dang, Jon Prasida, Gavin Stenhouse and Vanessa Kai also star.*

## Plot

Althea, Ryan, Mei-Li, and Jin cook Nicky a welcome home breakfast and surprise Nicky with their cheerfulness. All four immediately demand Nicky’s time, with Mei-Li already suggesting both an eligible bachelor and a law internship. Nicky tells her she’s not going to law school as she notices the smell of smoke in the kitchen as the chicken burns. She’s transported to the night Pei-Ling died, and she awakens terrified in her own bed. As it turns out, it was all a dream, including the nice breakfast.

Nicky goes to the marina, where she intercepts Evan running his usual route. She tells him about her nightmare and asks if he has any leads on Zhilan. He jokes that all she gave him was a first name and an admittedly good and detailed sketch, and Nicky says she wishes she knew more. She further shares that in her dream, her family was happy, and Evan says maybe if she talked with them more now that she’s home, her relationship with them would improve.

Back at the house, everyone is rushing around for wedding planning as Ryan tells Nicky he needs her to help out with Jin more now that she’s home. Everyone leaves for their errands, and Nicky is alone.

Going to her room, Nicky meditates to remember more details about Zhilan. She remembers a distinctive necklace and sketches it, including a symbol of what looks like a crane.

At the community center, Nicky finds Henry. She gives him the drawing of the necklace, and he recognizes the style of the art. They make plans to meet at the library later to investigate the lead further. She goes to leave, and Henry asks if she’s trained lately. She says she hasn’t been able to find her groove since returning, and Henry shares that he spent two years training in Beijing and also had a hard time coming home. He offers to train her at the park, which she accepts. Just then, she gets a text from Althea reminding her about her bridal fitting. Nicky sighs, knowing she won’t be able to train like wanted to.

At the dress shop, Nicky tries on bridesmaid dresses as Althea tells a mysterious caller to stop contacting her. Nicky asks who it was, and Althea smoothly lies and says it was a wedding vendor. Althea flatters Nicky by saying she looks so good in the dress that she’s worried it will be a Pippa/Kate Middleton situation. As she looks at Nicky’s shoulder, she sees the scar from Nicky’s stab wound. Althea is shocked, saying that they all thought it was a fire at the monastery, not an attack. Nicky admits that she “left some parts out” as Althea pulls her into a hug. Nicky shares the story with Althea, who is incredulous that Nicky wants to put herself in danger again by going after Zhilan. Nicky, still hurting from reliving Zhilan’s attack, lashes out, saying not everyone can live in a “bridal fantasy world”. Althea gets serious, saying that a lot has changed in three years and that “believe it or not, my life is no fairytale” as she storms off.

At the restaurant, Jin and Mei-Li argue over Nicky. Mei-Li is worried she’ll leave them again while Jin is hopeful she’s home for good. Nicky goes to the park alone, and as she starts her training, she flashes back to her time in China and the night Pei-Ling died. She replays her fight with Zhilan, and loses again. She goes to leave in frustration, but sees a man assaulting a woman nearby. She pulls the gun from his hand and easily beats him. She turns back to the woman, who grabs the discarded gun and runs. Nicky notices her wallet on the ground and picks it up as she watches the girl.

Nicky looks at a picture of the monastery and flashes back to her training with Pei-Ling. Pei-Ling defeats her, and she tells Nicky that her fear was taking over. She notes that a “right action cannot flow from fear.”

In the present, Nicky sadly puts the picture away. Staring at the wallet, she hears Pei-Ling’s voice tell her to help the girl. Nicky goes to the family restaurant, where Evan is eating his lunch. As it turns out, he’s been a regular there since Nicky left, telling her he actually had a better relationship with Mei-Li once they broke up. She tells Evan about the girl in the park. He offers to put her in contact with an officer who will take her statement, but Nicky is worried about involving the police. Evan leaves with his order as Henry texts Nicky. She goes to leave, and Jin sees her. He excitedly shows her that he saved a picture of their last game night together so they can pick up where they left off. They make a date for 8 p.m. as she leaves to meet Henry.

At the library, both Nicky and Henry are running into a wall researching. Nicky shares what happened with the girl in the park and shows Henry the wallet. He recognizes that a band in the wallet belongs to a local homeless shelter, and when the detective Evan knows calls, Nicky doesn’t answer. She goes to the shelter herself and spots the girl, who runs from her. When Nicky corners the girl, she pulls the gun on Nicky.

Nicky talks the girl down after a tense moment and takes the gun. The girl says her name is Ronda and that she thought Nicky was a cop. Ronda says the gun was meant to scare her mother’s controlling boyfriend Derek. Her mother was in an accident and has many health issues. Derek took over her mother’s appointments and medical bills along with her bank accounts, stealing from them both. When Ronda discovered this, he kicked her out. She wanted to scare him. Echoing Pei-Ling, Nicky tells Ronda that right action can’t flow from fear. She asks if Ronda is hungry.

Althea is running her cake tasting with precision as Nicky gives Ronda some of the food. Ryan and Nicky joke about the rating system as Althea sends them a death glare. Ryan makes a remark about Nicky “hunting down an international assassin,” and Nicky realizes Althea told him about Zhilan. Althea protests that she had to tell Ryan and that her plan is unrealistic. Ronda sees the cake, and Althea gives her a piece on the condition that she take part in the rating system. Nicky tells them about Ronda’s situation, and Ryan tells Nicky about transitional housing she probably qualifies for. Nicky’s stuck on how to get Ronda and her mom out, and Althea says Nicky should use all the years she studied law to find a way to help the young girl .

Nicky and Ronda go to Ronda’s apartment building, where Ronda tearfully reunites with her mother Carmen. Ronda begs her mother to leave with her, but Carmen says she can’t make it without Derek. Ronda says they can do it together and that Nicky has a plan to help them out. Nicky then tells them that they need to revoke Derek’s power of attorney, but before they can go further, Derek comes home early. Carmen stands up to Derek, and when Derek makes a move on Ronda, Nicky defends them by using her martial art moves on him. She also threatens him with legal action, saying she has a friend at the DA’s office aware of his crimes. He leaves in a huff, and Ronda and Carmen are relieved.

At home that night, Nicky realizes she missed her game with her dad. He’s asleep on the couch, and her mom watches as Nicky puts a blanket over him. Mei-Li chastises her, saying Jin waited up for her. She also says he waited for her after she left, never losing hope she’d be back one day. Mei-Li then confronts her daughter by saying how she thinks Nicky doesn’t really want to be back. In the end, she just had nowhere else to go. Nicky can’t deny this, but then Ronda calls and the mother and daughter conversation abruptly ends. Derek drained their bank accounts before Carmen could revoke his power of attorney. Mei-Li tells Nicky to just go, and she reluctantly leaves.

At the apartment, Camren reveals that Derek is probably spending all their money on card games right now. Nicky calls Althea, asking her to hack Derek’s computer. Althea is able to help Nicky get into Derek’s computer by trial and error of common passwords he might have used. Nicky gets the address of the underground card game. Nicky then decides she’ll go get the money herself despite Althea’s protests.

At the secret spot, Nicky forces her way in and accuses Derek of stealing. The man leading the game tells them to keep playing, smirking at Nicky and saying “my rules, darling.” Her plea goes unheard, so Nicky decides she’s done talking. She beats up the bouncers and tells Derek it’s over, ending her speech with a “my rules, darling” of her own. She walks out, money in hand.

Back in her room that night, she meditates her way back to the monastery and tells Pei-Ling she misses her. Nicky tells Pei-Ling she was afraid to feel her grief, but now she feels better. Nicky says she doesn’t know what to do without her. Pei-Ling then tells her mindfulness will give her the clarity she is desperately seeking.

The next morning, Nicky surprises Jin with a game. Mei-Li comes down the stairs to hear Nicky say she’s not going anywhere. Remembering Ryan asking her father to go for a check-up, Nicky makes their game conditional on him going for a check-up at the clinic.

Nicky calls Evan later to thank him for his help, and he tells her they found out Zhilan is in Singapore. But more importantly, Zhilan is Pei-Ling’s sister.

In the stacks at the library, Henry tells Nicky that he found the symbol. It’s a symbol for one of the families guarding each of the eight weapons, which makes Zhilan and Pei-Ling part of these guardians. Winston Chau is a professor who is an expert in these symbols, and Henry says he’s in Singapore now.

In Singapore, Zhilan menacingly walks up to Chau and introduces herself to him.

## Cast

### Main

* Olivia Liang as Nicky Shen
* Kheng Hua Tan as Mei-Li Shen
* Eddie Liu as Henry Yan
* Shannon Dang as Althea Shen
* Jon Prasida as Ryan Shen
* Gavin Stenhouse as Evan Hartley
* Vanessa Kai as Pei-Ling Zhang
* Tony Chung as Dennis Soong (Credit Only)
* Tzi Ma as Jin Shen

### Co-Starring

* Raugi Yu as Professor Winston Chau
* Kwesi Ameyaw as Alain
* Debbie Podowski as Carmen
* Link Baker as Derek Willmot
* Kathleen Keatings as Marisa
* Amanda Fix as Ronda
* Shawn Beaton as Edgy Looking Man
* Miguel Castillo as Croupier
* Jason William Day as Security Guard #1

## Trivia

* On April 14, 2021, Ryan Johnson revealed that in between scenes for Silence, the second episode of Season 1, Gavin Stenhouse was playing the banjo for Olivia Liang.
* On April 15, 2021, this episode delivered 1.4 million total viewers and a 0.2 demo rating, matching its premiere numbers to mark the best Week 2 retention of any CW series debuts this season.
* On April 19,2021, Hanelle Culpepper who directed the first two episodes of Season 1, and along the way, revealed several new pieces of information.
	+ Showrunner Christina M. Kim had a 50/50 gender-balanced writer’s room and was dedicated to a diverse production and to hiring women for below-the-line roles as well.
	+ The name of their production designer is a woman named Margot Ready, who was praised for doing such an amazing job. Especially in aiding with the storytelling of episodes that happen throughout the season, how they really deal with a lot of diverse social issues. For example, there’s one episode dealing with Black Lives Matter, for instance.
	+ Except for Tzi Ma who was already attached, Culpepper revealed she was part of deciding who the cast is for every character and their look and their wardrobe style. She worked with the costume designer for what the monk uniforms would look like, for the colors and how they layer.
	+ She also picked all the locations, like that beautiful monastery in Vancouver. Moreover, she worked with the production designer to find the apartment for Nicky’s ex, Gavin. Culpepper revealed how she wanted it to be brick, and feel like a loft.
	+ Culpepper also admitted they inherited some of the *Chilling Adventures of Sabrina*’s set because, at that time, they were coming in just as they were wrapping, so they went through all those sets and decided that the school set could be transformed into our community center.
	+ Culpepper also worked with the production designer on what colors they’d use, and how they’d change it, with the layout of the library and the books. This included minute things like choosing the wallpaper on the Shen family’s walls, and the look of Zhilan’s apartment.
	+ There is also a marked difference in the style and color palette in different aspects of the show, as well as the different locations.To which Culpepper admitted that a lot of that was in her original pitch. For China, and everything related to Chinese culture, she wanted color, with reds and warmth. She was further inspired by the rice fields because originally there was a scene in the rice fields.
	+ For San Francisco generally, she wanted to go with more neutral tones and less color, but Chinatown would have more color again.
	+ Culpepper further revealed that in China, where Nicky felt comfortable and safe, she wanted to shoot studio-style. But in San Francisco, where she feels out of her element and to create a sense of unease, she shot that stuff hand-held, but when Nicky’s in her fights and she feels comfortable again, she didn’t really want to use too much handhelds in those fights, so that’s why those are done with a lot more shots that are really precise and choreographed.
	+ The actors involved are not martial artists.
	+ Brett Chan is their stunt coordinator, and He was someone they hired early on because he’s done so much amazing martial arts work. Culpepper further stated that in looking at old kung fu movies, so much of it is the actors doing the action. So really didn’t want to have everything handheld, with stunt people doing everything, and cuts to close-ups on the faces of actors. In reality, she wanted to be with the actors doing the stunts. So working with Brett in terms of style, they considered which character might be more tiger in the way she attacks, or more crane? As a result, all the characters were assigned animal qualities, and he would design their fight style and movement around those animals.
	+ Pei-Ling Zhang for example is a tiger and crane, and Zhilan Zhang is an eagle claw. Then the other important thing to me was to have the actors actually do the fights. That was one of the things Culpepper had to fight for because initially, they wanted to start the actors a little later, but she knew they needed more rehearsal time.
	+ Brett also met with the actors and knew they’d need some solid training before the shoot. For Yvonne Chapman, they wanted to give her a week of fighting time. Brett said that kind of timing would be fine if we were going to use stunt doubles, but not if the goal was to use the actors in the fight sequences. So Culpepper fought to have the actors start sooner, so they could train and learn these fights.

## Quotes

Nicky: I miss you. It's been so hard finding the quiet within because I've been too scared.

Pei-Ling: Scared of what my child?

Nicky: Of feeling it. My grief for you.

Pei-Ling: Are you scared now?

Nicky: Not of that. Not anymore.

Althea: I should've known there was more to the story.

Nicky: I'm sorry. Today was supposed to be about you! Picking out dresses.

Althea: Ugh. If anything had happened to you! Why didn't you tell us?

Nicky: I couldn't! How do you think mom would've taken it?

Althea: Really bad!

Nicky: Ronda and Carmen are filing that restraining order. If you ever mess with them again, you'll be arrested. And if the cops don't get you... got it?

Derek: Got it.

Nicky: Now, like I said, that money is stolen and I'm taking it back. My rules, darling.

Mei-Li: He waited for you.

Nicky: I know mama, I just forgot, that's all.

Mei-Li: I didn't just mean tonight.

## Gallery

### Videos

Kung Fu 1x02 Promo "Silence" (HD) The CW martial arts seriesKung Fu - Season 1 Episode 2 - Nicki & Henry Catch Up Scene - The CWKung Fu - Season 1 Episode 2 - Why She Came Back Scene - The CW
## References

1. ↑ "(#102) "Silence" - The Futon Critic
2. ↑ ‘‘Kung Fu’ Reboot Pilot at CW Casts Olivia Liang in Lead Role
3. ↑ 3.0 3.1 ‘Kung-Fu’: Tzi Ma & Kheng Hua Tan To Co-Star In the CW Reboot Pilot - Deadline
4. ↑ 4.0 4.1 4.2 ‘Kung Fu’: Jon Prasida, Shannon Dang & Eddie Liu To Co-Star In the CW Reboot Pilot - Deadline
5. ↑ ‘Kung Fu’: Gavin Stenhouse & Gwendoline Yeo Join the CW Reboot Pilot
6. ↑ ‘Kung Fu’: Vanessa Kai Joins the CW Reboot Series
7. ↑ ‘Kung Fu’: Tony Chung Joins the CW Reboot Series
8. ↑ Antonio Jaramillo Joins ‘Snowfall’; ‘Kung Fu’ Casts Yvonne Chapman
9. ↑ April 14th, 2021 Tweet - Twitter
10. ↑ Ratings: CW's Kung Fu Stays Strong in Week 2, ABC's Home Economics Slips - TV Line
11. ↑ 11.00 11.01 11.02 11.03 11.04 11.05 11.06 11.07 11.08 11.09 11.10 11.11 11.12 11.13 Director Hanelle Culpepper on Filming Fights & Making History in “Kung Fu” - Motionpictures