Hand

**Hand** is the fourth episode of The CW series *Kung Fu*. It premiered on April 28, 2021.

## Synopsis

**KNOWING YOUR WORTH** - *As Nicky (Olivia Liang) and Henry (Eddie Liu) follow a new lead that brings them to a private collector in Napa, a tension-filled dinner with the Soong's leaves Althea (Shannon Dang) to question her worth. Elsewhere, Evan's (Gavin Stenhouse) suspicions about Henry continue to grow. Tzi Ma, Kheng Hua Tan, Jon Prasida and Tony Chung also star.*

## Plot

As the Shen family prepares for Althea's next marriage marital event ahead of her impending nuptials to Dennis Soong, Nicky finds that the burn on her hand inflicted by The Sword of Liang Daiyu is flaring up painfully mysteriously. Before Nicky meets up with Henry to discuss the origins of the ancient key they discovered inside the puzzle box, Althea teases her younger sister over her will-they/won't-they romance and advises her sister to act on the attraction she is feeling towards Henry.

Elsewhere in San Francisco, Evan is feeling guilty over letting his jealousy get the better of him, and investigate Henry. He gets a call from the friend who was looking into Henry, and initially he wants to back down, but it is too late. As his friend just emailed him the information he got on Henry, who isn't all he appears. As it turns out, Evan's background check on him reveals he has an extensive criminal record.
A local, wealthy entrepreneur linked to the key who conveniently happens to be out of town so Henry suggests that he and Nicky should break into his palatial estate to investigate for additional clues. Henry displays a surprising amount of prowess in break-in techniques and contemplates stealing a Chinese artifact he finds in the home, believing it belongs back in China rather than a mansion in the California Bay Area. Just as Nicky finds the box to be unlocked by her key, though, she and Henry are ambushed by a masked cat burglar who recovers the box under orders from Zhilan.

While the meeting between the Shen family and Soong family over dinner goes well initially, Dennis' father reveals he wants Althea to sign a prenuptial agreement. This coincides with an investigative reporter alerting Althea that her source dropped out in a sexual misconduct case linked to one of Althea's former employers. Snapping at the request, Althea vents about being objectified and storms out of the dinner.

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.

Henry meets with his fence Randall, who repatriates stolen artifacts back to their native culture. Revealing he stole the relic from the mansion, Henry gives it to his fence for information about who the mysterious burglar was while Nicky is quietly updated on Henry's past from Evan. Nicky challenges the thief to a fight, wagering the key if she loses, emerges triumphant and opens the box to recover the scabbard to the sword that burned her inside. Touching the scabbard ceases the pain in Nicky's hand and she relinquishes the scabbard to Henry for safekeeping, sharing a kiss with him after he confesses that he had a rough upbringing growing up impoverished with his grandmother before finding his true calling in Chinese history.

As Nicky and Althea catch up after the respective eventful evenings, Althea recounts that Dennis told his parents to drop the request for a prenup. Nicky however senses there's more her sister isn't telling her, and Althea reveals that her former employer sexually assaulted her while Nicky was training at the shaolin monastery in the Yunnan Province for those three years. An emotional Althea admits to feeling like she isn't strong enough to speak out about the incident.

On the other side of the world, Zhilan visibly loses her cool as she discovers she has received an empty box, with the scabbard missing.

## 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 (Credit Only)
* Tony Chung as Dennis Soong
* Tzi Ma as Jin Shen

### Recurring

* Yvonne Chapman as Zhilan
* Bradley Gibson as Joe Harper
* Donald Sales as Razor
* Françoise Yip as Diana Soong

### Co-Starring

* Brad Kelly as Gary
* Ronin Wong as Alfred Soong
* Peter Dewhurst as Randall
* Yasuhiro Nakatsuka as Courier

## Trivia

* On April 29, 2021 Max Gao revealed that early numbers showed that this episode was watched by 1.032 million viewers in the U.S. on April 28, 2021.
* On May 1, 2021, in honor of Asian American Pacific Islander Heritage Month, the Hello Sunshine Instagram page is honoring films and tv shows about various Asian cultures, and with Asian and Asian American casts.
* On May 3, 2021 it was announced that The CW had officially renewed *Kung Fu* for a second season due to premiere sometime in the 2021-2022 TV Season.
	+ Also on this day, America Young revealed that this episode was partially shot during the fourth of July holiday in 2020.

## Gallery

### Videos

Kung Fu - Season 1 Episode 4 - Hand Promo - The CWKung Fu - Season 1 Episode 4 - Getting Ready for Dinner Scene - The CWKung Fu - Kheng Hua Tan - Grudge Holding Is Genetic - The CWKung Fu - Gavin Stenhouse - Not Over Nicky - The CWDiversity Behind the Camera - The CWKung Fu Cast - Overcoming Stereotypes - The CWKung Fu - Season 1 Episode 4 - Prenuptial Agreement Scene - The CW
## References

1. ↑ "(#104) "Hand" - 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. ↑ ‘Power Book II: Ghost’s Bradley Gibson To Recur On ‘Kung Fu’ Reboot
10. ↑ April 29, 2021 Tweet -Twitter
11. ↑ Must See Watchlist for AAPI Heritage Month - Instagram
12. ↑ ‘Kung Fu’ & ‘Stargirl’ Renewed At The CW - Deadline
13. ↑ May 3 Instagram Post - Instagram