Ryan Shen

**Ryan Shen** is Nicky's brother and the youngest of Jin and Mei-Li Shen. He is a quick-witted medical student who has to deal with the sudden return of his estranged older sister, Nicky.

## Biography

### Pilot

Upon her return to San Francisco, Nicky's brother Ryan and mother Mei-Li are both less than thrilled to see her back home.

After taking Jin to the hospital to recover, Nicky approaches Ryan at his clinic and reconciles with him over a game of ping-pong.

Frustrated by the authorities inability to act, Ryan goes out on his own to take incriminating photos of the Triads at the docks, with Nicky rushing after him to save him. Nicky wows Ryan with her martial arts skills, dispatching the mobsters as the police arrive.

### Silence

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 Zhang died, and she awakens terrified in her own bed. As it turns out, it was all a dream, including the nice breakfast.

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.

Later, 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 Zhang. 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.

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.

### Patience

Back at the Shen family restaurant, Nicky tries to help with the family business, volunteering to help at a special event involving one of Nicky's classmates, though her family is wary of her involvement. Finding her brother Ryan too busy at work to patch things up properly, Nicky instead befriends one of his patients named Faye, trying to form a union for protection from a manipulative local factory for the fashion designer King Kwong.

Unfortunately, Nicky ends up accidentally barging into Ryan's date with Joe Harper.

While at the event, Ryan calls Nicky with his diagnosis of Faye, revealing the chemicals in Kwong's clothing production are harmful.

Shocked by what Brett did behind his back, Kwong helps Faye and gifts Nicky and Ryan with some free designer gear.

Nicky narrowly avoids an emotional argument between her parents but dutifully picks up a shift at the restaurant to let Ryan go on a new date.

### Hand

Ryan for his part has his own romantic hang-ups on a date with Joe Harper, admitting to him that he isn't used to being in a serious relationship due to the commitments that come with his busy job.

### Sanctuary

Ryan's boyfriend Joe is then identified as a person of interest by the police for allegedly inciting the crowd, but Nicky's ex-boyfriend and assistant district attorney Evan Hartley gives her the heads up that the police intend to search the restaurant for him.

In the aftermath, Ryan and Joe privately decide to take their romantic relationship to the next level, with Joe especially impressed by how much Ryan and his family stood up for him.

### Rage

Before they go to the gala, Althea tells Ryan he needs to “schmooze” people to get funding for the clinic.

Later, Ryan, Althea, and Henry corner Nicky about her plan. Instead of trying to stop her, they’ve decided to help her.

Eventually, Nicky, Henry Yan, Althea, Dennis Soong, and Ryan arrive at the gala dressed to the nines. They go over the plan one last time: which has Henry mentioning how he will get to the server room and provide Althea remote access, that way she can open the doors to where the dagger is being held for Nicky and Henry during the mayor’s speech while everyone is distracted.

Unfortunately, Nicky bumps into Evan, who expresses surprise at seeing her at an event like the gala. Not long after that awkward encounter, the gang runs into Jin and Mei-Li, who the Soongs gave their extra tickets to. Ryan tries to distract them with an art exhibit, but they all get roped instead.

The plan doesn't go as smoothly as everyone hope when Nicky and Henry run into a security detail. Ryan distracts them by pretending to be inebriated and hassling the mayor about cutting funding.

Later that night, Nicky tells Ryan and Althea that she’s leaving and to look after their parents, as more goons for hire could be around.

### Guidance

Ryan advises Nicky to refrain from training and fighting to give her body a chance to heal from injuries endured during the fight against Zhilan.

### Destiny

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.

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.

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.

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.

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.

### Isolation

Ryan accompanies Althea to her women-in-tech seminar, where she tells him she wants to give back in a way she couldn’t when she worked full-time. He wants to stay due to his boredom with Joe away at a conference, but Althea encourages him to just enjoy his time alone as she shoos him out.

Meanwhile, Ryan dances around the house enjoying the temporarily single life as Althea catches him. Unfortunately, her phone pings with a text from Courtney. It turns out that she took the job with Chase after all because of the benefits, not understanding the full context of why Althea wanted her to stay away from her former place of employment. Ryan asks if she’s okay as Althea stands still, shocked. Althea and Ryan talk about what to do about the NDA and Courtney. She doesn’t want this to happen again and needs to warn Courtney. But she realizes she needs to tell Dennis first.

### Choice

As Mei-Li listen to Mei-Xue’s tapes, Althea, Nicky, and Ryan wait in another room. While they wait, Althea bothers her siblings about who they’re going to bring as their plus ones to her wedding. Ryan claims Joe hasn’t even met their parents. Althea and Ryan then tease Nicky about being stuck between Evan and Henry now that Evan broke up with Sabine.

Joe is catching Ryan up on his trip away. Ryan invites him back to Harmony Dumplings to eat and meet his parents formally. Joe gets a text message and his face falls.

Joe and Ryan arrive at Harmony Dumplings. Jin greets them and brings them back to meet Mei-Li in the kitchen. Jin tells them about their new plans to change things up and Joe offers to help Jin with the restaurant’s new logo in exchange for dumplings. Mei-Li teasingly berates Ryan for dressing so casually on a date with Joe. It seems Joe has won their approval.

Mei-Li expresses her approval of Joe and invites him to the wedding; much to Ryan’s chagrin, as he hasn’t asked him yet. After they leave the restaurant, Ryan asks him if he wants to go, but Joe looks skittish.

Joe then tells Ryan that he’s been offered a job in Chicago; that was the text he got earlier in the night. The job starts next week. Joe doesn’t want to lose Ryan, but Ryan pushes him to pursue his passion and take the job.