Destiny

**Destiny** is the eigth episode of The CW series *Kung Fu*. It premiered on June 2, 2021.

## Synopsis

**SECRETS** - *Nicky (Olivia Liang) and the Shens deal with the fallout after a family secret comes to light. Althea (Shannon Dang) prepares for her bachelorette party. Tzi Ma, Kheng Hua Tan, Jon Prasida, Eddie Liu, Gavin Stenhouse, Vanessa Kai and Tony Chung also star.*

## Plot

Evan is on the phone with Sabine, who wants to talk, and is heading over to his cabin to do so, but Evan hears a knock at the door. It turns out to be Nicky, who still reeling from Mei-Li’s revelations. She tells Evan everything, telling him she feels like her first independent action going to the monastery is now part of destiny instead. Nicky mentions how Mei-Li pushed her away from Evan, and Evan lets her know that Sabine is coming to the cabin. Nicky leaves, disappointed. At home, Jin tells Mei-Li that she betrayed his trust and made him a worse parent due to his lack of understanding of Nicky. Later, Ryan calls Nicky in a panic to reveal that Jin has packed a bag and left the house.

When Nicky comes home, she ignores Mei-Li. She then tells Ryan what’s been going on as she accuses Mei-Li of “nuking” her marriage to their dad. They all choose not to tell Althea as tonight is her bachelorette party. Ryan and Nicky leave to find Jin, with Mei-Li staying back.

Althea, meanwhile, is freaking out about the party taking place somewhere in San Francisco. Her mother-in-law to be is coming, along with Dennis’ perfect sister Chloe, and she wants everything to be perfect. Dennis finds her binder full of tech ideas, and he’s impressed.

In the car, Nicky and Ryan talk about what Mei-Li revealed. Ryan believes she’s truly the chosen one, but Nicky’s not as confident. She says that she just wants to make sure Jin is okay first, and everything else is secondary.

They find Jin at a motel the family went to every summer, and he tells them he’s not going home. The three gather over dinner, with Ryan telling Nicky she should go back to the city for Althea’s party. She wants to stay, but Ryan tells her he took the day off and he can stay with Jin.

At the party, Althea is stressed as Nicky broaches the subject of telling Dennis about the NDA. Althea refuses to get into it, and the Soong family meets them in the entryway. Chloe and Mrs. Soong are not getting along, and the tension is palpable.

At the venue, Nicky gives a speech in tribute to Althea and Dennis. Poor Althea is torn between presenting the perfect image and having fun. Chloe drops Mrs. Soong’s phone in a drink by accident, and Nicky follows her as she flees. They talk about their mothers, with Chloe saying if Mrs. Soong knew the real her, it would kill her. Chloe takes a call as Henry arrives with a massive cardboard cutout of Dennis that Nicky ordered. Nicky’s about to tell him about what she found out, but Chloe runs in a panic. A man named TJ pulls her out of the venue as Nicky and Henry follow her. Chloe says she doesn’t want to do this anymore, but TJ insists she get in the car. Nicky and Henry watch as they speed away.

Henry and Nicky decide to go after Chloe and not disturb Althea’s party. Henry notices a custom design on the car and calls a friend who might know the designer. As the party is dying, Nicky forces Althea to enjoy herself while she takes on Mrs. Soong. Mrs. Soong confides in her that Chloe’s friends Allegra and Kendall were the reason they sent her to Hong Kong. As it turns out, they were bad influences.

Back at the motel, Ryan tries to plead Mei-Li’s case to Jin. But Jin says Mei-Li kept the secret for far too long. Ryan says sometimes you just get used to living with the lie after a while. He gets up to call Mei-Li as Jin stares at the TV.

Elsewhere, Nicky tells Henry that Chloe’s friends are big time thieves and that TJ and Chloe were definitely involved. Nicky heard TJ say something is going down tonight, and Nicky sighs. She goes to Althea to tell her what’s going on, including that she lost Chloe in the process. Althea barely holds in a scream of frustration, but then tells Nicky and Henry to find Dennis, who is currently at his bachelor party.

Ryan comes back inside, and Jin turns to him. He apologizes for not saying more when Ryan came out and not making his support clear. Jin asks if Ryan knows what Jin thought at the time, and when Ryan says no, Jin says, “I thought we were blessed with such a brave son. I’m sorry if the silence made you doubt, made you think we loved you less. We loved you more.” Ryan sobs as Jin asks him if he is happy. Ryan says he is, and Jin sighs in relief. He asks if Ryan is dating anyone, and Ryan reveals he’s with Joe. Jin tells him Joe seems like a good man, and that Ryan deserves it.

Nicky and Henry eventually find Dennis. The trio then realize that Chloe and her group are going to break into their own house. Althea tries to keep Mrs. Soong in the dark about Chloe, and they have a heart to heart about what she thinks of Althea. Mrs. Soong says initially she always pictured Dennis with someone quiet, but that she sees how happy Dennis is. All she wants is for Dennis to be happy.

At the Soong house, everyone is looting the drawers as Chloe tries to hide various items. TJ threatens her, reminding her he has footage of every hit they’ve done.

As Chloe tries to stop TJ and the girls from leaving, TJ pushes her down. Luckily Nicky shows up in the nick of time and beats the snot out of TJ and the others with Henry also assisting. Chloe admits that she is worried about what her mother will say, but Nicky says that no matter what, her mother loves her. Mrs. Soong hugs Chloe in relief.

At the party, Henry and Nicky fill Althea in. Ryan arrives and immediately starts drinking as Althea remarks, “That bad?” Ryan tells them Jin isn’t ready to come home yet. Nicky goes to the motel, telling Jin it’s time to come home. She tells him she’s mad too, but she knows Mei-Li is hurting as well. Jin reveals that when Nicky was in Yunnan Province in China, Mei-Li sent him to find her. He found her without Nicky knowing. When he saw how at ease she was in the monastery, he left her there without telling Mei-Li. He realized she finally belonged after talking with Pei-Ling Zhang. He says she was the real her, beautiful and powerful.

Back at home the next day, Mei-Li and Nicky talk. Nicky lets her know Jin is coming home, and she asks how Mei-Li knew it was her. Mei-Li tells her that at one year old, Nicky was carrying around Mei-Xue’s earring. Mei-Li knew she was destined to follow her path, and she didn’t want to lose Nicky too. Nicky says now she’s choosing this path to reclaim the sword, and choosing to forgive Mei-Li. But she needs the whole truth. Mei-Li agrees and opens a desk to reveal a box with everything Mei-Li knows about Mei-Xue. She gives it to Nicky.

## 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
* Tzi Ma as Jin Shen

### Recurring

* Françoise Yip as Diana Soong
* Richard Harmon as TJ
* Chelsea Clark as Chloe Soong

### Co-Starring

* Rebecca Olson as Sabine Smith
* Bianca Caroca as Kendall
* Grace Beedie as Allegra
* Avery Crane as Althea's Friend #1
* Gelsea Mae as Althea's Friend #2
* La'Shawn Burke as D&D Friend #1
* Kevin Osea as D&D Friend #2
* Sei Campbell as D&D Friend #3
* Cindy Gan as Restaurant Worker
* Dwayne Han as Go-Go Boy / Waiter

## References

1. ↑ "(#108) "Destiny" - 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